Invisibility
Day 2 - Playful
Lana couldn't see Bud after they made camp, and she wondered if he had wandered off into the forest by himself. No one else seemed overly worried, so she decided to relax with a book for a while before getting worked up over nothing. Then an invisible force keeps tapping the cover of her book, and she's going to figure out what's going on.
AO3
Lana couldn’t find Bud anywhere, which was concerning since he was nearly a seven-foot tall dragonborn. He had been missing half the day since they had made camp in the mountain pass, but they hadn’t gone very far. She just didn’t understand how he could have gotten lost or how she lost track of him.
She frowned before continuing, wondering if she should have kept a closer eye on him. She didn’t think she needed to, but apparently he wasn’t the radiant beacon she had assumed he would be in the forest.
Karlach and Gale reassured her that Bud was probably wandering around the forest once they settled. He wasn’t one to stand idle, and she wasn’t sure that was exactly the truth. He always seemed to be content sitting and chatting with her.
As she sat next to her tent, she grabbed a book and leaned against the tree trunk nearby. If Bud wasn’t going to be there to entertain her, then she would find a way to handle her own entertainment.
That was when she felt something tap her book. She glanced up, but she didn’t see anyone. Lana furrowed her brow, looking around as she wondered if maybe someone had thrown something at her. After not finding any rocks or anything of the sort, she went back to her book.
Then it was tapped again. Lana put down the book, wondering if maybe there was a magical something nearby that was messing with her. However, Shadowheart, Gale, and Wyll were all far enough away and engaged in their own worlds to give them an alibi. Karlach and Lae’zel were sparing, and Astarion was reading as well, not even looking up when her eyes landed on him.
She exhaled, realizing that it really only left Bud in the running. She could see Halsin, but Lana would sooner bet that Bud was playing a prank on her than the druid was.
So, she held up her book again as she pretended to read, predicting when the tap was coming. Just as she was about to feel the tap, she flicked her book down. What should have been air was an invisible mass as the book connected with something, making a loud noise. Then Bud cried out in more surprise in pain.
Lana jumped, startled that his voice was so close to her.
He... he was invisible?
“Bud?” Lana asked as there was a soft exhale in front of her. She frowned, not thrilled with the realization. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Well, I was trying out a new spell, but then I thought that I could tease you a little bit,” Bud admitted before pausing. “I forgot that you are hard to tease. You smacked my hand very hard there.”
“Well yeah, you scared the hell out of me,” Lana hissed, still unsure where to look. At least he was talking to her. “Where you just stalking the group earlier? Does anyone else know?”
“I don’t know if anyone else knows, but I told Gale that I had planned to practice some new magic today. I doubt he knew about the invisibility spell,” Bud offered as she rubbed her eyes. She felt like she was going insane. “Did I worry you?”
“Did you worry me?” she scoffed in a mocking voice. “Bud, you don’t know where anything is outside of the druid’s grove, same as me. If you get lost, what are you going to do?”
“Ask for directions.”
“From whom?”
“Point taken,” he admitted reluctantly before sighing. “I didn’t mean to make you worry, I promise.”
“I know,” she grumbled. Bud was likely thinking that this would be a lighthearted, funny prank. If they weren’t in the middle of the woods and maybe in a town or city, it probably would have been. “I just thought that you had been left behind, and I wanted to go look for you. Luckily, the others knew better than that.”
“I’m sure they would have turned around if I didn’t show up in the morning,” Bud offered. Lana frowned, wishing she could smack his shoulder, but she had no idea where it was. She could smack his nose or his knee for all she knew.
“That’s definitely not the point here,” she reminded with a glower before exhaling. This was getting them nowhere. He wasn’t interested in hearing how she was worried or anything. “I’m at least glad you’ve had your fun.”
“Hardly. You weren’t even surprised,” he complained before she smirked.
“You are going to have to do worse than that, Bud,” she laughed then frowned. “But make sure that you don’t scare the fuck out of me, alright? I would like to be able to walk around still without being afraid that you are going to jump out of the shadows at me.”
“That’s why I started out by tapping your book. I was testing the waters,” he remarked thoughtfully. “Although if you are going to smack me with a book over a tapping, I’m not sure I should prank you.”
“Ah, some wisdom after all,” she teased with a laugh. She could almost feel the attitude rolling off of him. “So, are you going to make yourself visible any time soon, are you going to be invisible for the rest of your life?”
There was a beat of silence as Lana waited for an answer. Then she thinned her lips and exhaled.
“Bud, I don’t know the first thing about magic,” she warned before he sighed.
“I can figure it out,” he remarked irritably. She nodded with a forced smile. “I can.”
“You’re the sorcerer. Not me,” Lana reminded as she leaned against the bark of the tree. “Do you want me to get Gale or something? I’m sure he could help.”
“Yeah, help make fun of me, I’m sure.”
“No, if I wanted to do that, I would grab Astarion.”
“Both are capable enough, and I don’t need either of their help,” Bud reassured as Lana shook her head.
“Well, how did you turn invisible in the first place? Did the knowledge suddenly pop into your head?” she wondered before he hummed.
“I have a book of spells, but it was just to turn object invisible. I wondered if I could turn myself invisible. I didn’t read far enough to read to learn how to make objects visible again,” Bud admitted. Lana wondered if he was like before he had lost his memories or if this was a side effect of his condition.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” she whispered with a sigh.
“Well, you could move over so I could sit next to you,” he mentioned as she glanced to her sides.
“Which way?”
“To your right.”
Lana moved as he requested before feeling him sitting next to her. She breathed out through her nose as she picked up her book again. She wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but she had been interested in the book she brought out.
A few moments after she opened it to read through the page, the book flipped towards her as Bud tried to keep from laughing. She was about to lightly hit him again with the book.
“You’re like a cat,” she griped, picking up the book from the ground. She had lost her page, and she was starting to lose her patience. “It’s clear that you want to do something. What do you want to do?”
“I can hardly annoy you when you can see me,” he replied. She smacked where she thought his knee was based off of where she had moved for him. Another thwack sounded, and Bud groaned more in irritation than in pain. “Damnit, Lana.”
“I’m not really interested in being your entertainment if you’re going to annoy me,” Lana explained firmly. A beat of silence fell over them.
“You’re right,” he relented as she hummed.
“Why were you so focused on that, anyway?”
“I feel like attention seeking is the best answer.”
“Then I feel like you wouldn’t have turned yourself invisible,” Lana remarked as if she had stumbled on a huge secret. The silence was deafening. “Although, once you figure it out, it will come in handy for adventuring. You don’t have to worry about sneaking around. You just have to be quiet and light on your feet.”
“That was my hope,” he replied.
Lana leaned back against the tree with her eyes closed for a moment before feeling some of the hair in her face get moved to the side. When her eyes opened, she saw nothing there.
“I don’t like that I can’t see you,” she admitted. The touch on her face faltered before it tucked the hair behind her ear.
“Oh? Why is that?” he wondered, trying to keep a casual tone.
“Well, when I feel your touch, I expect to see your face, but I don’t. It’s just a ghost touch, like you’re not actually there. I don’t like that feeling,” Lana muttered, her cheeks flushing a little at the admission. “So, if you need help turning visible, I would like to help.”
“I will probably need help, but not right now.”
“Why not now?”
“Because I want to hear about how much you don’t like it when I’m not actually here right now.”
“You’re impossible,” she muttered with a smirk. “Weren’t you listening when I was saying I was worried about you?”
“Well, you made it sound like I was a child lost in the streets,” Bud informed before she felt his hands around one of hers. “But then you made me feel like a long-lost lover or something.”
“I sound romantic to you? Are you sure that the spell didn’t mess with your head?” she laughed, her cheeks a deep red now. Not many people ever called her a romantic. She was usually too brash for that.
“I’m pretty sure it didn’t,” he replied with amusement, now enjoying her reaction. “How would I know if it did? Would you be able to check me out when I turn visible again?”
“I suppose I can see if you hit your head too hard on something. See if there’s a goose egg or swelling.”
“Aw, that’s it?”
“I’m not a cleric or a healer, Bud, you know that,” she chuckled as she felt his thumb move over her skin in a comforting way. She inhaled slowly.
“No, but you soothe more than they ever could,” he whispered in her ear. She clenched her jaw, feeling a little overwhelmed as he felt like he was everywhere and nowhere.
“If you keep making me react like that, the others are going to notice something is going on, if they haven’t already,” she warned. She could almost see the smile on his face in her mind.
“Oh? Do you not want them to see you flirting with a ghost?” he wondered. She frowned, not sure what she wanted at the moment. Well, she supposed that she wanted him to be visible again so she could see his face, but he was so much more playful and bolder when he couldn’t be seen. That was proving to be fun, too.
“They’ll come over here and ask if I’m alright, and I will tell them that you’re invisible,” she replied as he chuckled. “I’m not going to make excuses for you.”
“You would spoil our fun like that?”
“I’m just warning you to be careful, so I don’t have to spoil anything.”
“Ah, I like this game,” Bud practically purred. Lana rolled her eyes as she bent her knees to cradle her book. She could at least pretend she was reacting to her book. She was just glad to be far enough away that no one else could tell what was really going on. “What other rules are there?”
“Fine,” she relented. She had wanted to talk to him in the first place anyway rather than to read. She just couldn’t see the sorcerer. “If anyone notices that I am acting weird, you lose.”
“But how would I win?” he wondered as she hummed.
“You are constantly winning as we sit and chat.”
“That is cheating, my dear.”
“Says the invisible man.”
“I suppose.”
“How would you like to win?” she wondered before it led to a moment of silence while he thought. She leaned against the tree as she waited for an answer.
“If you move your hand away from me, I win,” he suggested before she grimaced.
“You aren’t going to bite me or anything, right?”
“Are you going to suddenly cause a scene to make sure you win?”
“Point taken,” Lana admitted. This was a game, and she was willing to play fairly. “Anything else?”
“What do we get when we win?” Bud asked.
“Bragging rights.”
“You are terrible at this.”
“You should just tell me what you want then instead of complaining,” Lana countered with a sigh, pretending to be bored. She didn’t want to come off as irritated, even if she was starting to be rather annoyed.
“Is a kiss out of the question?” Bud pondered quietly and carefully. The playfulness was gone from his tone, and she glanced at where she had heard his voice before remembering that she could see him. Lana stared at her book again before tilting her head to the side.
“No, I suppose not,” she answered, remembering the kiss in the grove. She wasn’t opposed to it at all she found. “I think that would be a good prize.”
“Then I shall endeavor to win,” he replied with a smile in his voice. Lana exhaled, realizing that he was taking this as a challenge now.
The game was to keep her hand as still as possible, regardless of what he did. However, he couldn’t do anything that would cause her to make a scene. Those were the rules of the game. If she moved her hand away from him, then Bud would win. Well, she wouldn’t exactly lose, but her competitive side wouldn’t let him get away that easily.
So, she sat and started to read with one hand on the ground and the other handling the book. She wasn’t exactly sure why this had turned into a game, but it wasn’t the worst way to pass the time.
Then she felt feather-light touches on the skin of her hands, and she had to bite her lip. It tickled just slightly enough that she wanted to remove her hand, but she kept it still and closed her eyes briefly. She could ignore it after a few moments, but Bud had anticipated that.
His claws dragged against her skin on the back of her hand in an almost threatening manner. She knew that he would break the skin, but she could see the indents they were causing in her hand along the skin. It was interesting to watch, but the sensation was weird as well.
After that, Lana felt his hand envelope hers, slightly lifting it from the ground. The hard ground gave way to the soft flesh of his hands, and she was comforted by the warmth that it gave. She felt his thumb stroke the skin where his claws had just been, and she glanced to see the skin move slightly on its own as well. That made her want to move her hand again, but she was determined to win this game somehow.
“I think your hand fits rather well in mine, don’t you think?” Bud whispered in her ear as she felt the weight of his head rest on her shoulder. Then she felt his arm under hers as if he were wrapping it around her arm to hold her hand better. “Maybe we should do it more often to see how well we fit together.”
“Who’s the romantic now?” she tried to tease, but she found her anxiety was too high for it to come off as playful. Her voice sounded too breathy for that. She felt his laugh in his chest beside her.
“I never said I wasn’t a romantic, my sweet,” he murmured as she clenched her jaw, feeling him draw circles in her palm gently with a claw. “In fact, I think I rather like the idea that I’m only a romantic for you.”
She inhaled sharply as he gently pinched her hand. He had distracted her enough with his words that the pinch had surprised her, and she moved her hand out of his before she realized what she had done. Then he hummed, which she could feel the rumbling in his chest from.
“And it looks like I have won,” he remarked softly as Lana exhaled in defeat. She felt his arm snake around hers to take her hand again. “I was serious about our hands fitting nicely together, though.”
“Oh really?” she mumbled, looking over at his voice, still finding empty air. “I’d find it a lot more sincere if I could see you.”
“Fair enough,” Bud replied. Lana exhaled before she saw Bud reappear next to her, making her jump.
“So you did know how to become visible,” she hissed accusingly. He lifted his shoulders with a guilt smile.
“I had an idea. I didn’t read how to reverse the spell, but I could guess,” Bud admitted as Lana stared at him in disbelief. He carefully brought her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles sweetly. “Are you saying you didn’t enjoy our game?”
“I’m not saying that,” she remarked before shaking her head at him.
“So, when do I get my prize?” he teased. Lana raised an eyebrow at him. “Or have I been disqualified, since I turned visible again?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t have gotten a prize if you were still invisible,” Lana informed before Bud beamed. “But the prize comes with stipulations.”
“Interesting.”
“This is a one-time prize, and this game was a one-time thing, got it? I don’t like being surprised by an invisible mass, and I don’t like the idea of kisses as prizes.”
“Then why did you agree?” Bud wondered, suddenly concerned. Lana stared at him before glancing away.
“Because I would get to kiss you regardless of if I won or lost,” she answered before shrugging. “And after the kiss we shared in the grove, I wasn’t opposed to the idea. I just don’t want them to become a common award if we keep playing games.”
“But it sounds like you want another kiss.”
“If you’re amenable.”
“Very much so,” Bud grinned, holding her chin between two fingers to guide her mouth towards his. She pressed her lips against him before throwing her arms around him, uncaring who saw them now. In fact, if the whole camp knew that Bud was taken, then all the better.
