Let's say “I’m always going to have your back. You know that, right?” for Ceidil and Thorn? :0 👀👀
~ M
For reference for anyone reading this who doesn't know: Ceidil is one of my DND characters, he's a half-elf ranger-bard, and he's going through it rn. Thorn is another player's character, and they're best friends with...some benefits.
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The firelight danced through the clearing in its burning orange glow, casting odd shadows around. The fire had a tendency to make Ceidil feel warm, almost comforted, but he wished the trees didn't look so many-fingered in its light.
The exhalation of his breath broke through the silence, the only thing he could hear for a moment. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the fire feels familiar in a way he can't explain. It hits him like a brick to the chest, weighing him into the ground, and his eyes well with tears.
"Are you...alright?" The sound of Thorn's voice tears him away, blinking as tears trailed down his cheeks. The sound of firelight and the distant chirp of crickets return to his ears.
"Yeah, 'course," He brings his hand to his eyes and rubs away the tears clumsily.
Thorn sits beside him, his hulking figure a newfound comfort for Ceidil, who gravitates closer almost automatically. Thorn is familiar, safe, he remembers his times with him, and he is as close to a best friend as he'd ever get.
"Whatever happens..." Thorn mutters, quietly, his gaze on the ground "...I'm always going to have your back, you know that, right?" Ceidil feels the tears return once more, screwing his eyes shut as he presses his head against Thorn's bicep.
His shaky exhalation tells all, curling up to him as his best friend wraps his arm around him.
"I'm scared," he blurts, his throat rupturing with his tears.
"I would be, too."
"What if the person I was, was so different to the person I am - what if they were a better person?"
Thorn shrugs. "Then they were a better person," he looks down at Ceidil with a grin, "...I like the person you are now, better or worse."
"With you around, definitely worse." The two of them laugh quietly. Ceidil exhales heavily, shaking his head. "I'm just overthinking."
"Nah, it's alright dude, you're going to find out who you are, all things considered you're doing well," he reaches a hand to undo Ceidil's braids slowly, combing his hand through the purple strands. "...if I'd lost all my memories and someone told me how to get back to that life I didn't even know I'd lost...fuck, I don't know, this is fucked up."
"It is, isn't it?" He sighs, leaning into Thorn's touch as the younger man begins to redo his hair carefully. It may be one of few things Thorn knew how to do carefully at all.
"Yeah, but you've got me, and the rest of us, but especially me, I'll absolutely kill things for you."
"I'll kill things for you too," Ceidil smiles, his eyes going to the firelight. He watches it bathe the grass in its glow and something about it forces him to take a deep breath, and, gently, exhale.
