flurry_of_beaus

[So Jester has mostly been pretending like she doesn't....care that she barely sees Beau. It's fine, whatever, she has friends.

Except then one day two of them are NOT THERE ANYMORE Probably.]

essek and caleb are gone
i think
i sent them messages and then i tried to do sending when they didn't answer and it just

didn't work

[ Yup, pretending's good. Pretending is great. Beau figures that if anything important happens, she'll find out. It's not as if she's stopped paying attention to them; she's just been avoiding them. Spying on your friends rather than talking to them about their days is totally normal.

Which means she's completely taken by surprised by Jester's text. ]

that's not possible

[ It completely is. ]

have you gone to theirs yet?

people disappear all the time
one of my friend's boyfriends just did

i haven't yet
i mean it's probably locked but we could still get in

[She's saying we because she expects Beau to come check it out with her. She's not even asking.]

[ Not what she wants to hear right now, Jester. And with tone lacking in text, especially for someone like Beau, it sounds a lot like Jester's telling her to calm down, this happens, get over it. ]

I can get in

[ One way or another, that is. ]

Meet me there.

yeah i'll be there

[It doesn't take Jester long to get there, so she just...waits outside the door to Essek's place. Her tail swishes behind her anxiously while she does.]

[ Beau doesn't waste time. She doesn't bother even really acknowledging Jester as she strides right up to Essek's place and pounds her fist on the door. ]

Essek!! CALEB, YOU SMELLY GINGER MADMAN!!

[ She tries the door which of course is locked. So she slams her shoulder into it this time. ]

You got thieves tools? [ Not that she'd know how to use them proficiently, but she's seen Nott work. ]

[Hello to you too, Beau. Jester watches Beau pound on the door, her arms folded across her chest. But when she actually asks her a question...]

I mean, no, but I can use Dimension Door to get us in.

Oh. Right.

[ That's probably a better answer than breaking down the front door, or any of the doors. But Beau kind of wants to take her ~~aggression~~ fear out on something and those were the best candidates.

But sure, Jester, we'll do it your polite way. ]

Would you please, uh... [ She jerks her head back towards the building. ]

Yeah. Sure. Gimme a sec.

[She has to actually be touching Beau, though, so Jester steps close enough to do that. The spell doesn't take much prep, so Jester just....touches the tips of her fingers to Beau's arm and then says the words she needs.

And then they're in the apartment! The very quiet apartment.

Jester drops her hand, like, immediately once they're in.]

[ Beau totally doesn't notice that hand drop except in the way that she totally does but prefers to focus on the whereabouts of two wayward wizards. So she stomps through the rooms first, just to make sure they're not hiding anywhere in plain sight, then starts to look more closely. ]

Footprints, broken furniture, signs of a struggle. Do you see anything?

It looks....pretty normal....

[Jester starts off by taking the more detailed approach, trying to think what she would do if she was investigating something with Nott.

But seriously. It really looks like they just sort of...left and didn't come home?]

[ It looks depressingly normal. It looks terrifyingly like Caleb and Essek simply disappeared.

And Beau can't have that. ]

Where's their circle? Maybe something broke and they can't get back. Maybe-- Maybe LIES has them somewhere.

[ That has to be it, right? Beau can't lose Caleb right now, she can't.

Because she hasn't been being that great of a friend recently and she needs him to be back so she can fix that. It can't be too late. ]

...I don't think I've seen their circle?

[Jester looks like she's concentrating. She's mostly been in all the common areas. And Caleb's room. And Essek's bedroom. Once. Well, maybe that's Essek and Caleb's bedroom now.]

I mean, I'm sure they have one. They've got to have one. There's a room Essek uses for stuff that I've never been in. [She's poked her head around and been told that no, she doesn't get to go in there, so, like...that means something, huh?] It's over there.

[Pointing down a hallway.]

[ Beau stalks off down the hallway and doesn't stop until her foot has made contact with the door in question. She's taken to heavier boots these days, as she doesn't need to be ready to run at any minute, but even with a bit of steel toe, the door doesn't budge.

She looks expectantly to Jester and holds out her hand. Dimension door time? ]

[Okay, sure, Dimension Door. This time Jester does take Beau's hand and everything AND VERY SPECIFICALLY DOES NOT LOOK AT HER WHILE SHE DOES IT.

But also, oh yeah:]

Since I've never been inside, it could be like...a little dangerous?

[Someone could get their knees struck by a table. Get their knees stuck in a table? It could be not great.

Jester waits for a response before she actually does it, still holding Beau's hand.]

[ Beau also follows suit and stares directly at the door, refusing to make this awkward. More awkward. Something. She's focused on Caleb and Essek, sure, not at all on the fact that Jester's not looking at her. ]

Let's do it.

Okay. Let's go.

[Jester makes the gesture, says the words, and--

Um. It....doesn't work. Well. It works a little. Basically it works until it doesn't, it works until they hit a barrier and it throws them back out. And. Really. They hit it.

Jester's on her ass, sitting right in front of Essek's door, blinking dazedly up at it. What the--]

Um. [There's muzzy quality to her voice for a second.] I....guess he doesn't want anyone to get in....

[ Beau makes an oof noise as the wind gets knocked out of her and she lands on her ass as well. Then the cursing starts. ]

Fucking piece of shit secretive dune-fucking-mancy-fancy drow son of a bitch.

[ Growling, she climbs to her feet again and kicks the door. Like a proper high kick attack, not just with her toes. ]

Where are they?

[Jester is just...going to sit on her ass for a little while longer, thanks. She watches Beau attack the door and does nothing to help just yet. Probably Beau needs some time to wail on the door by herself.]

I don't know....

[Her voice doesn't waver at all, shut up. She's not concerned about her friends just disappearing. Like Fjord. Like Molly.]

[ She beats on the door with her fists, then kicks it, which does hurt her toes a little but she doesn't care. Let the pain come. There's a flurry of blows as she expends a fiery piece of energy in thirsty seconds of rage, then she pushes back from the door.

Her eyes are glassy and wet, but she refuses to look at Jester. Who will only make it worse. ]

He can't be gone. [ Her voice is quiet as a whisper. ]

[Jester watches all of that, pulling her knees up to her chest. But after Beau speaks up again, at how quiet she is...

Part of Jester feels like she shouldn't be touching Beau at all. There's another bigger part of her that hears that whisper and hurts and she can't even help it, she's getting to her feet and getting closer and wrapping her arms around Beau from behind. (She kind of thinks there's half a chance Beau might push her away or try and hurt her but that doesn't really matter.) She wants to rest her cheek against Beau's back but at least she doesn't do that.]

We can keep looking. Go ask someone.

[...No, her voice is definitely trembling now but it's also obvious she's trying so hard to be strong.]

[ Beau doesn't pull away. She doesn't pull Jester any closer, either, but rests her hand tiredly atop the tiefling's. Her eyes are fixed on the door, but she's not really seeing it at all. She's just seeing the empty space. ]

No. [ Her voice cracks a little, but she recovers. ]

They're gone. That's it. They're just gone.

I'm sorry, Beau.

[Jester knows they are, really. This happened with Molly and Fjord, it happened with Imoen and Juniper. It just happened to Neria. It just happened to Noah. It keeps happening to her and to people she cares about. It sucks.]

I'm sorry it was him ["Him". Caleb. She means Caleb.] and not--

[Her. Because she and Beau aren't really talking and she messed things up and they're still friends - they're still friends.... - but probably it would be better if Caleb were still here and she wasn't.

Her voice is small now, as well as shakey. She doesn't want to finish her sentence but she hopes Beau....gets what she means.]

[ It takes her a second. It takes her a long second to parse that inflection in Jester's words. She picks up on the fact that there's a secondary meaning immediately. But the idea that Jester would ever think that Caleb's more important to Beau than Jester (that any member of the Nein is more important to her than another), is a terrible, no good thing. It makes her withdraw, flinch back with a wounded look on her features that she cannot control. ]

Jester...

[ Has she done this? Made her friend doubt her? Of course. Of course she has. Because Beau hasn't been a good friend to Jester, ghosting on her and keeping her distance.

This is all Beau's fault. ]

No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jester, and you've got nothing to apologize for.

+1 fun

text; un: littlesapphire

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