Work Text:
YOU'RE not Frumpkin
AN : Okay, so this was supposed to be something else entirely, but as I was going along I thought it'd be nice to have some Jester and Frumpkin one on one and this was the result.
Jester sighed. She was doing that a lot lately. Everything was happening so fast. First, there was the stuff with Obann and Yasha, then there was all the chaos of the happy fun ball, and of course, all the high-to-do with the cult in Rexxentrum, and then the political bs with the Bright Queen and King Dwendal, and Nott's failed transformation, and Beau's family problems, and Caduceus's family situation as well, come to think of it. So many things that needed to be done that she barely had any time to think about Travellercon, and what she would need to do for it. And it left her with even less time to think about what her friends had been joking about regarding him and how real he was and whether she was in a cult.
She didn't believe she was in a cult. She couldn't be. Cults only happened with people who were pretending to be gods, and the Traveller was definitely a god. How else would she have all her amazing powers? She sighed again.
Her friends just didn't understand. They teased and joked about it, and she let them and joked alongside them. But she never let on just how much their words and jokes hurt. She absentmindedly waved her tail from side to side. The paintbrush she had been using dripped green onto the blank sketchbook page before her. Another sigh, this time much longer than before. She just wasn't in the mood for painting.
"Mrrrooww," a soft voice called from the door. She turned to see the orange familiar staring at her with a cocked head. It reminded her of Caleb when he would raise an eyebrow in confusion. And that image forced a chuckle out of her.
"Hi, Frumpy. Did Cayleb send you to come and check on me?" she asked but the cat didn't answer. He only trotted over and leapt onto her desk knocking over some unused brushes in the process. With barely a glance at the mess he'd made, he made a big show out of sitting down and twitching just the tip of his tail.
"Cayleb's a good friend, ya know, Frumpy?" she asked as she reached up and pet him.
"Mrrow." She sighed again. She was alone in her room and would be for hours. Beau, Fjord, and Yasha had all made an announcement that they were taking an afternoon run and wouldn't be back until much later. Her fellow cleric was doing some gardening, and Nott and Caleb were both working on something in their joint lab/library. Normally, she would be okay being along because she always had the Traveller to talk to, but lately he hadn't been replying to her as much.
"You know, the Traveller hasn't said very much to me lately, Frumpkin, and I know he's got, like, a lot of things to do to get all sorts of ready and stuff for Travellercon and stuff like that, but it still hurts, ya know? I mean, he's always been there for me and stuff and now he's not, and I just…" she trailed off. Tears were welling in her eyes, and she was glad no one was there to see her break down.
"Rrrroow?" Frumpkin chirped as he pawed at her. It was enough to get her to crack a smile.
"You're a good kitty, aren't you?" He chirped in response and pawed her again to her amusement.
"Yes, you are…You know, it's no wonder that Cayleb likes you sooooo much. You're, like easy to talk to, you know? And you listen, and don't pass judgment or stuff," she ranted. She let out another sigh.
"Can you keep a secret for me?" Another chirp was her reply.
"Okay, but you can't tell anyone, especially not Cayleb." The bengal cocked his head again. He chirped again.
"Okay soooooo, Cayleb has been acting super nice and stuff to me lately, and I mean he's always been really nice and stuff, but I don't know, maybe it just feels like he's been being even nicer than usual. Maybe he just wants to, like, make me feel all sorts of, like, good and stuff like that. I like to think so, at least. He's just, like, always so good to me. Like, he always knows just how to make me feel better, and he smiles at me and stuff. He's got a suuuuuuper cute smile, and you know, he's preeeeetttttty haaaaanddddsoooomme and stuff, and," she paused her rant for a short sigh. Her face was turning red as Frumpkin rubbed his head against her hand. She let out a giggle and gave him a few scritches under his chin, delighting in his soft purrs.
"Do you think he likes me, Frumpy?" she asked. The cat cocked his head again and she giggled, but it lacked any humor. She sighed morosely.
"I think I might have a crush on him, Frumpy, and I don't know what to, like, do about that, and I don't think that he likes me the same way or anything and I just feel so stuuuuupid. You don't think I'm stupid, do you?" she whispered. She turned to look at the bengal. He shook his head once.
'That was strange,' she thought. Frumpkin sometimes acted smarter than the average cat, but he did have his limits and she was fairly certain that understanding speech was beyond his understanding. Let alone responding to someone, especially in such a distinctly human-like fashion. Perhaps Caleb gave him some kind of command to respond like that or maybe it was a coincidence.
She decided to use her epic detective skills to solve this mystery. She would start by watching to see if he would scratch or continue shaking his head. He watched her and meowed again, cocking his head as he did so. She couldn't help laughing at him again.
It must've been a coincidence as he went right back to staring at her and rubbing and pawing at her insistently for attention. She responded to his persistence by repeatedly saying okay and giving him another chin scratch. From this angle, it gave her a good look at his face and the dark stripes along both sides of it.
He closed his eyes briefly as she moved to petting along his face and moving to his massaging his ears. This time while continuing her ministrations she got a good look at the cat's eyes. They were a deep-blue color instead of their normal amber. She yelped and covered her mouth as a warm flush quickly flooded her cheeks in its pink glow.
"YOU'RE not Frumpkin!" she shrieked. She covered her steadily reddening face in shame.
"CAAAAAAAYYYYYYYLEEEEEEBBBBB, you jerk! You totally let me think I was talking to Frumpkin." She didn't care if the entire house could hear her tirade. She was pissed and she was planning on making sure that everyone, especially her Zemnian friend, knew about it.
"Rrrrooooowwww…" the bengal beside her wailed morosely. He gave her the saddest look she'd ever seen from him and tried pawing at her again. His eyes were still deep blue, though. This time she intended to keep a closer eye on that. Caleb-Frumpkin kept at it, though, until finally she sighed and placed her head in her hands. She was still mad at her friend, but she was also upset. This wasn't how he was supposed to find out about her crush.
She had it all planned out in her head that she would be suuuuuper cute and flirtatious and playfully trail a finger down his arm; his arm would get goosebumps, of course. Then she would tell him how handsome he looked in a sultry voice and if she got lucky and he was seated, she would slowly perch herself on his lap and lay her head on his shoulder. He would freeze and possibly even shudder and she would make sure her mouth was close enough to his ear so she could whisper sweet nothings in it between giving him pecks on his cheek and neck and ear and shoulder and everywhere in between. He would shudder and melt at her kisses and that's when she would finally whisper in as sultry and sexy a voice as she could just how handsome he was and how she had just the biiiiiiiigggggeeeeessstttt of crushes on him.
It was supposed to be all romantic and sexy and stuff like that. Not all secrecy and embarrassment. And to top it all off, she'd confessed to his cat. HIS CAT! That had to be the worst part of it all. She'd told her feelings to an animal who also kind of wasn't an animal, at least right now he wasn't. He did still have Caleb's mind even if he had the body of a cat.
While she was having her little breakdown and tears were starting to frustratingly trail down her cheeks, Caleb-Frumpkin butted his head against hers and when she didn't look at him, he started licking her tears. His tongue was rough, and it scratched her skin in the worst way, but she didn't pull away or motion for him to stop. She was beyond caring at this point. Her big secret had been discovered in the worst possible way imaginable, and she just wanted to be left alone.
This was one of the worst days of her life, and she'd had a lot of those since meeting the Nein. The tiefling's tail angrily wagged in an erratic dance. She was fed up with being lied to and tricked and just sick of having bad days. She closed her eyes and continued silently sobbing as the bengal continued licking her tears. And thusly, she didn't notice that the familiar's eyes were no longer blue, but their normal amber color again.
She didn't look up when the furry animal left her side, nor did she move when she was suddenly joined by another. He moved slowly and deliberately, taking great care to ensure that his bootsteps were audible. His long coat swished behind him as he approached and laid a rugged hand on her exposed shoulder. She shook at the touch, but only from surprise.
"I don't want to talk," she muttered. Her words were muffled by her hands, but they were just discernible enough for him to understand. He nodded despite knowing she couldn't see.
"Just listen zhen." Her ears twitched towards the words in recognition and she dropped her head and arms fully onto the desk. She buried her face in her arms and choked out another sob. His face fell in a pain-filled grimace.
"Uh…I.." his words caught in his throat.
He cleared his throat and tried again, "I'm…uh…fery…uh…fery…sorry, Chester." His accent was noticeably thicker than usual, but nerves and emotion tended to do that to him, so she wasn't worried.
"I…uh..sent Frumpkin up here to…uh..check up on you. I know it has been…uh..it's been rough for you lately." He paused and collected his thoughts.
"It's been rough for all of us, really. And I just vanted to make sure zat you vere alright. You are alright, right?" he asked. She shook her head. She didn't think he'd see it, but right now she was mad and didn't really care. He nodded again.
"Ja, I sought so." So, he did see, that was a surprise.
"I….uh…didn't sink zat you….uh…zat you vould…umm…uh…zat you vould..uh..tell him vat…" He had to lick his lips a few times before continuing. Were they always that dry? He couldn't remember, even with his keen mind. And was it always so warm in the house? He didn't think so, but that didn't stop his cheeks from warming or his palms from getting sweaty.
"Just go away," she whispered and his heart broke a little at hearing it. He briefly considered wrapping his arms around her, but he didn't want to end up on the floor from her shrugging him off.
"No, Blueberry. I'm stayink right here."
"I don't want to talk to you right now, Cayleb. I'm preeeeetttty pissed at you! You were a real jerk, ya know?" she spat. She lifted her head up just enough to unbury herself and face towards the beds.
"I know, and I am sorry. If I had known you vere goink to say somesink like zat I vould hafe stopped a long time ago." He gripped her shoulder slightly and absentmindedly rubbed circles with his thumb.
"Um…you know…you are fery..uh..pretty yourself," he shyly offered. His face was beet red now. Her head jerked upright and she turned to see him ducking his head to hide his visible flush. A small smile rose to her face at the same time as the color returned to her cheeks.
"Ja?" she asked with a hopeful lilt. He nodded but refused to look at her. She giggled. He definitely was cute when he was being shy.
"Cayleb?" He hummed in response.
"I like you." A smile quirked his lips up.
"I like you too, Jester," and if that was all that he was going to offer that night she would be content with it.
His apology was accepted with a back-cracking hug and a gentle peck on his cheek, and she giggled when he froze in his tracks. He excused himself from the room with a mumbled lie about hearing Nott calling, and she let him go but not before planting another kiss on his hand. He blushed his way out of the room, calling well-wishes and goodnights behind him.
They were awkward around each other for a day or two afterwards, but they quickly recovered. Neither mentioned their mutual feelings, and if they were slightly more affectionate with each other or more mindful of the other, the rest of the Nein nor themselves didn't say a word. Things would definitely be different from now on. She would pay him more attention, even going so far as to sneak in a little flirting here and there, and he would take time to sneakily brush against her or sit abnormally close and give her one of his love-filled smiles. And on top of everything else, she would be sure to pay more attention to Frumpkin's eye color from then on because you never knew when they would actually be a Zemnian blue.