Mom doesn't get paid until two days from today, so hopefully I might get something then, but if you can I will take any fluffy Widomauk you have to give.
Molly doesn’t notice the difference at first.
It’s pretty common for Caleb to send over his cat to members of the group--except Fjord, because he starts breathing funny when Caleb let’s Frumpkin get too close--and Molly has accepted it as Caleb’s way to give people a hug.
He saw him hug Nott a few times and once he hugged Beau, but it was the weirdest hug Molly has ever seen in his whole life.
But for a few weeks now, Frumpkin keeps climbing up on Molly’s lap, purring and curling up to sleep. Molly is not--contrary to what certain unpleasant someones might say--an idiot.
He knows that Frumpkin does everything Caleb asks of him. This fey cat doesn’t need sleep or food, yet Caleb makes him do those things. So every time Frumpkin curls up into a ball in Molly’s lap to sleep there, it’s Caleb telling him to do so.
Molly wonders if he should comment on it, but he decides not to. Since he came back from the dead it’s been almost five months and there are still nights he wakes up sweating and panting from seeing Lorenzo’s face above him and a glaive buried in his chest.
Most of the time, when Molly wakes up from those dreams, he finds Frumpkin not far from him. Two months ago he even slept on Molly’s chest while still being in an octopus form, which was pretty weird but not too weird to not make him feel a rush of endearment and maybe something else.
Something he hasn’t discussed with himself or anyone really.
But now, Frumpkin is by his side almost all the time when they’re on the road. As an owl, he sits on Molly’s shoulder or horns. As a cat, he purrs in his lap or is wrapped around Molly’s neck like s scarf.
Maybe this is Caleb’s way of saying “I’m glad you are back, Mollymauk.”.
Molly is not ready to examine the possibilities further, that is, until he takes Nott up on a drinking contest which he immediately regrets after just two drinks. Nott is a bottomless pit when it comes to alcohol, but Molly has a desperate need to feel alive so he keeps up with her as best he can and enjoys the buzz and the dizziness.
After the thirteenth shot of hard liquor he has to forfeit in fear of vomiting all over the tavern floor and when Molly gets up he stumbles and lands on Caleb, who immediately goes stiff under the sudden weight of a purple, intoxicated Tiefling spread all over him.
“So sorry, Mr Caleb”, Molly says and hears the slur in his words. He giggles full of delight. Caleb is surprisingly warm.
“It is no bother”, Caleb says. The liar. Molly pokes him in the ribs and tries to get up, fails and gives up after the first try.
“Y’know. Your cat. He sleeps on me all the time.”
Caleb shifts under him and Molly turns his head. Yasha obviously feels some sort of pity for Caleb because she lifts Molly up und sits him down on the floor in front of him. Molly tries to glare at her but it falls short and Yasha simply shrugs. Molly loves her very much.
“Well, he is very soothing, you know. And it seems like someone who was dead for a few months could use some soothing. I can make him stop if he is bothering you.”
Molly let’s the fact sink in that Caleb tried to comfort him during the last weeks and weeks. That he probably noticed how... well. How traumatized Molly is.
This is Caleb’s way of saying he cares.
“It’s not a bother at all, Mr Caleb. He really is quite soothing. Even as an octopus”, Molly answers and his tongue stumbles over the last word. Damn Nott and her tolerance for hard liquor.
Caleb snorts and the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.
“If you ever feel like going on an adventure, you could come over and keep Frumpkin company while he soothes me, you know.”
Molly barely notices how Nott and Jester start dancing a few feet away from them while Caduceus, Beau and Yasha watch them. The world has zoned in on Molly’s hands on the floor and the heart in his chest that is still his and still beating.
Beating way too fast after his careless words.
He doesn’t look up at Caleb and coughs slightly before turning his gaze over to Nott and Jester. That’s when Frumpkin climbs into his lap and starts kneading his thigh.
When Molly looks up after all he sees Caleb watching the girls as well, but his face is deep red. When Molly looks at Frumpkin the cat does what Caleb calls a “blep”.
He supposes he can wait. As someone twice back from the dead, he feels like he can afford to have a little patience.