Same Same Different
Rating and Warnings: General Audiences, Gen, No Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caduceus Clay & Fjord
Characters: Caduceus Clay, Fjord (Critical Role), Jester Lavorre
Tags: Post-Canon, Aromantic Asexual Caduceus Clay, Queerplatonic Relationships
Published: 2022/11/20
Word Count: 1117
Caduceus hears from some old friends and has a reunion, and goes on a hike, makes some tea. Fjord is awkward. They’re (queerplatonic!) friends your honor!
For azhdarchidaen.
(Sidelong glance at the Mighty Nein Reunited episode that aired literally this week because of course it did) it’s fine it’s fine I’m still calling this “post-canon”
Hope you enjoy! I love Fjord and Cad’s relationship and it was so nice to get back in their heads again <3
Originally published on Ao3 for the "A-Spec Flash 2022" collection
The message came sooner than Caduceus expected—it had barely been a year since they parted. Life in the Blooming Grove had returned to, well. As close to normal as one could expect from this family. Which meant a slowly escalating prank war among his siblings, his parents and aunt getting comfortable leaving the Grove again, and tea. A lot of tea. He was enjoying a cup of it, watching the sun rise while sitting at one of his favorite graves (an elf, name forgotten, headstone worn bare by time, but Caduceus remembered she had been buried alongside her pet turtle, and he liked her for that), when the quiet was disrupted by a voice in his head.
“CaDUCEUS!!!! Hi it’s me, Jester! Did you forget me? Do you miss me? Fjord misses you a lot BUT he did NOT want me to—”
Caduceus smiled slowly, took another sip, and waited.
“—tell you that! Aaaaanyway, we should meet up! We’ll be in Nicodranas in ONE MONTH come meet us there! You can respond to this message!!!”
He waited a few beats, just to be sure there wasn’t another follow-up, then replied quietly, not wanting to (outwardly) disturb the peace of the morning.
“Hey, Jester. Good to hear from you, hope you’re doing well. I’d love to see you both. I’ll be there. I’ll bring some new tea.”
He stayed at the grave, finishing his tea, then stood up and stretched. Yeah, it was about time for an adventure. He never had the wanderlust of the rest of his family, but it would be good to stretch his legs a bit.
–
Fjord didn’t expect how easy it would be, to slip back into the rhythm of having Caduceus around. They decided on a hike, east of Nicodranas into the mountains: a couple weeks on land, a nice break from sailing. Kingsley decided to stay in Nicodranas, exhibiting an entirely un-Mollymauk-like awareness of when the others needed some alone time. Jester did not have that awareness, or if she had it, she chose to ignore it in favor of being nosy, not that he minded her presence. It was comfortable, the three of them. The conversation flowed easily, as if they hadn't been apart for a year. Caduceus told them what his family had been up to, restoring the Grove and retaking the ground that had been lost to the Savalirwood. Jester chattered nonstop about her and Fjord's adventures both on and off the ocean. Fjord talked, shyly, about his experiences with the Wildmother, how he’d been trying meditation, whittling, a few other small crafts, trying to find the things that brought him closer to her.
They made camp that night at the foot of the mountains, planning to climb one of the smaller peaks tomorrow morning. Jester wanted to become a giant eagle and fly them to the top, but Fjord insisted they walk. “Sometimes it’s good to do things the slow way, Jessie.” They only needed one tent; they were used to sleeping in a big pile, even if it had been a while since that was the norm. Fjord hardly even minded the snoring.
Morning found Caduceus and Fjord up early: Caduceus wanted to watch the sunrise, and Fjord had been woken up when Jester rolled over and punched him in the ear in her sleep. They exchanged nods and Caduceus started making tea while Fjord rekindled the fire from the coals. They sat next to each other in silence as the sky slowly brightened. It would take a while before the sun came up over the mountains to the east, but it was a quiet joy to watch the world slowly wake up. Fjord finally screwed up his courage and broke the silence.
"I ... missed you. I'm sorry about Jester butting in like that, but I’m .... glad you're here, Caduceus. Hadn’t realized how much I’d been used to having you around, whether for advice, or companionship, or … you know."
Caduceus nods. "Yeah. Yeah. I missed you too. I mean, uh, being at the Grove has been great, just, really great. It's my home, my family’s great. But you’re my family too, you and the Nein? My home, my ... other home, I guess. I have more than one of those now.”
Fjord sighed, “Yeah … that’s the problem with traveling. You collect new places and people, and they all feel like home, and then you're always just a little homesick. That’s why I keep going back to the sea even though it’s clearly a terrible idea. Can’t stay away.” He paused.
“… I admit I was a little worried, though … that, I don’t know. You’ve helped me so much, with the Wildmother and all, and you’ve really changed my life. And I have really missed having you around. But I didn’t want it to seem like, uh, like I only cared about getting advice from you? Or that you were less important now that me and Jester are, uh, are together. I dunno. I didn’t want you to feel … left out. Or something.”
Caduceus was silent for an almost uncomfortably long time. Then he leaned over … and softly smacked Fjord on the back of the head.
“Ah! What was that for?!”
“Fjord,” and he was smiling. “You could have just asked. How long have you been overthinking about this?”
Fjord flushed. “I mean, not …”
“It's not like that with us. Not after all we've been through. This isn’t … we didn’t sign a contract. You don’t have to give me something in return, or be my friend in a certain way. You and Jester have your thing, and I’m happy for you, and you and I have our own thing. I told you before that I love you like family and I meant that. It’s … there aren’t any conditions on that love. It’s yours even if we never talk again, I mean, I hope that wouldn’t happen, I like being around you, but if it did, you’d still be family to me.” He sipped his tea with finality.
Fjord stared into the fire thoughtfully. “That makes a lot more sense than it did in my head, to be honest.” He broke into a smile and made eye contact with Caduceus for the first time all morning. “Yeah. Yeah, ok. I can work with that.”
Silence descended again. They sipped their tea. Back in the tent, Jester woke up, stretched loudly, and began rustling around and packing up their things. Fjord put his cup down and stood to go help her, and paused before walking away.
“You’re right as usual, Caduceus. And … I love you too.”
The sun broke over the top of the mountains. The trio walked east, together.