Chapter Text
“ When do you plan to tell them? ”
Torbek jumped, skittering back a few steps as he jerked his head towards the goblinoid voice. Gricko was sitting atop a boulder at the edge of the river, kicking his feet idly as he wove some bright flowers into a chain. The bugbear blinked once, twice, then tilted his head. He slid, attempting and failing to make it look casual, back into the water, sighing at the coolness of the current.
“ Tell who, what ,” he rumbled softly back in the same tongue, rubbing absently at a matte on his thigh, near one of the tubes. The witchlight within flowed in a sluggish way, little whirls in the luminous liquid casting the clear water of the river into a magenta tinged kaleidoscope of colors. He stared at the dancing shades for a moment, distracted, until the goblin spoke again.
“ You know what I mean ,” Gricko pressed softly, a perfect mix of expectant and gentle.
“ Torbek does not .”
There was quiet for a moment. Gricko worked on with his flower chain, twisting the stems carefully into the loops and knots he needed. The bugbear went back to gently rubbing some of the worst mattes from his fur, letting the grime drift downstream. Even in the depths of the Faewild, it was peaceful, clear sounds and gentle music dancing from the natural world around them.
Torbek pulled his knees up again, staring vacantly into the dark blond of his knees. He more often than not forgot just how pale his fur truly was. Long, spindly fingers brushed through and bapped at the clean fluff there. Part of him wanted to grab a handful and tug at it.
“ Hey, Torbek? Do you remember my magic? ”
Side-eying the blond goblin, the bugbear nodded hesitantly. “ Yes, Torbek recalls. Gricko uses animal magic .”
“Righty-o!” He shot back in Common, tagging it with a wink and a flick of his fingers. He reverted back to Goblin as he turned back to his project with careful attention. “ I've always been a little better at the natural world than some; it's one of my very many skills .” He gave a playful wriggle and laugh, infectious in nature.
Torbek snickered himself, nodding. “ Gricko is amazing ,” he drawled carefully, “ but Torbek doesn't understand why he brought it up .”
“ Mm… dominion alongside the natural world can cause more than just fancy magic. It also makes one more attune to animals, to beasts or monsters. I can talk to all sorts of critters, you know …” Dark blue eyes glanced over, softened with a smile. “ And I can tell when natural cycles are due to come as well - even in humanoids .”
“ Cycles ?”
“ In this instance, I specifically mean Heats, Torbek .”
There was a deafening pause.
Gricko waited.
“ Torbek… does not have Heats anymore .”
“ Well ,” Gricko stretched his arms up, flashing a soft smile, “ My nose certainly says differently .”
“ Maybe Gricko's nose is just wrong. Torbek doesn't get Heats. He hasn't for forever .”
“ Forever seems rather long ,” the druid remarked as he hopped down, wading out to pat the bugbear's head. “ I just worry, you know? A father's heart never stops ~” He ruffled the fur there with little strain between the other's hunch and the conveniently placed stone on the riverbed, giving him a few good inches to work with. “... Sometimes… when a person feels very unsafe, or isn't very healthy, their body does what it can to survive. And so whatever things the body doesn't really need… Well, it stops. After all, while getting down and dirty can be a spot of fun, it's not usually something you need to do to live .”
Torbek stared into the water, twiddling his thumbs. He seemed to debate with himself, jaw working as he thought.
The goblin druid just offered a small smile, going in for the kill. “ There is no shame in something natural, Torbek. If anything, I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say that you being well enough and feeling safe enough with us for this to happen is a beautiful, wonderful, momentous occasion .”
“ Torbek doesn't want a Heat again. They hurt .”
The hand in his fur paused. “ What do you mean ?”
The bugbear sighed, rubbing at his eyes. The relative safety of not seeing the other - and, in fact, not seeing anything - gave the illusion of hiding and security. He sighed. “ Torbek hasn't had a Heat in a long time ,” he admitted softly, face flushing even hotter, “ and before, they were always bad. It makes Torbek's tummy and head and chest hurt. And it gets messy. And scary .”
“ Mm… have you gone through Heats with someone before, Torbek? Not just for the sex, but just having someone there can help .”
“ Torbek was alone .”
“That may just be the problem, then, my fine furry friend!” Small hands cupped the bugbear's cheeks, pushing his gaze up. Squinting passed the light, Torbek pouted at the other. Gricko just grinned. “Please, Torbek, let us help you. We'll only do what you feel comfortable with, and I'm sure we can at the very very very least make it a little more bearable.” The sweetness carried on for a moment - then that soft, beseeching smile turned a touch more suggestive, a bit more flirtatious and poignantly more naughty. “And, of course, if you so consent, I haven't a doubt that any of the other fellas would jump at the opportunity to have you mewling for them - myself included, of course.”
The noise that escaped the bugbear was an odd mix of a strangled wheeze, a cut off whimper and something near a keening moan. His face was very quickly pulled back, hidden behind his hands as the burning heat tried valiantly to damn near scorch his fur off of his face. He squirmed, thighs pressing together as he tried to focus back on the cold water to soothe the inferno building in his bones.
Gricko, the bastard, just giggled. He switched back to Common, still laughing even as he gave a quick little snap. “You have full choice there, my friend! Just wanted to let you know your options.”
A hand reached out, patting gently on his head once more, and Torbek peaked between his fingers to shoot the goblin what would be a glare on anyone else - on the former rogue, however, it just looked almost pleading.
“Hey, it's gonna be okay,” the goblin soothed softly. “Whatever you want to do, I'll respect it. I just want to make sure that whatever you choose, you're safe. Okay?”
Torbek sighed, nodding.
Gricko smiled.
The goblin moved off to gather his flowers and the large chain he'd been crafting - Hootsie deserved her crown, after all - and packed his items up. Torbek remained in the water, still relying on the chill to fight the heat bubbling within his body.
“Gricko?”
“Yeah?”
“.... can you… tell them?”
The goblin smiled. “How about I send the lasses off to a girl's night, that way we can all talk together.”
“.... okay.”
“I'll have Kremy make something extra good for dinner though!”
“Thank you.”
Topaz with sparkles of magenta met lapis lazuli. Gricko gave a warm, loving, supportive smile, the expression as easy on his face as breathing, offered without hesitation. “Thank you for trusting me.” With that said, the druid turned on his heel and nearly pranced back to camp. He had so many things to do~.
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“Pardon?”
“Torbek is going into Heat,” Gricko said simply as he swallowed his mouthful of stew. He gestured loosely towards where the Bugbear in question was curled into a ball, seeming impossibly tiny compared to the rest of the party. The druid just smiled slightly at the little distressed groan. “S’why I sent the girls off for a girl's trip. Twig ‘n Hootsie are already off at the Inn, and I sent their Fun Sleepover Bag, too.”
“Alright,” Gideon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Lemme get this straight - Torbek’s goin’ into Heat and you’re jus’ now tellin’ us.”
“Yep!”
“While we are out in the middle of the Faewild,” Frost picked up, blinking slowly as his tail thrashed.
Gricko turned his smile to him. “Well, not the middle- middle, but yep!”
Kremy rubbed his temples as he tried - and failed - to keep an annoyed hiss from his voice. “And it is while we are rawdoggin’ it in these woods that you choose to inform us at the last minute.”
“Yeah, that just about sums it up,” Gricko beamed. There was a heavy, suffocating silence. The tension was almost impressive.
The Torbek sniffled. “T-Torbek is sorry,” he hiccupped, moving to rub away the tears in his eyes. After his long soak and almost-bath - and the combined efforts of Twig, Kremy, Gideon and Gricko in the last month - his fur was almost clean, far brighter and almost curly. The speckling of ginger in the blond made him seem somehow younger or healthier, and the tears and scent only served to enhance the air about the blood hunter.
Gricko moved to open his mouth, but found himself silenced by a tail, spluttering pass the fur. He watched instead as Gideon stalked over and knelt quickly in front of the bugbear.
“Aww, hey man, s’all okay, we was jus’ worried. Nobody’s angry at you for nothin’,” warm hands cupped a fluffy face, thumbing away tears. “We were just mad at Gricko for waitin’ so long. If'n we'd known…” The fire genasi sighed, shaking his head.
“If we'd known, we'd have hunted down a nice place to tuck you up in,” Kremy cut in as he ladled some soup into a bowl to bring over. He shooed his husband to the side, kneeling down to tug at the blanket cape the bugbear had curled himself into. “Yeah,” the warlock nodded absently, “somewhere nice and cozy for ya - and we'd have all the blankets set up, anything ye'd need for your nest - all of it ready and waiting.”
“N… Nest?”
It was quiet for a moment. Gideon stared for a moment before shooting up to head back to the fire, leaving Kremy to gape silently. Gricko and Frost, equally wide eyed, watched on as Torbek, thinking he'd said something wrong, began shrinking back.
The lizardfolk shook his head sharply. “I- sorry ‘bout that, Torbek, just surprised. Ain't ya ever made a Nest before?”
“Torbek doesn't… think so?”
“What did ya do for your Heats in the past, then?” The conman curled his legs slightly, shifting into a more comfortable position with a little toothy smile.
The bloodhunter tilted his head in thought. He hadn't been lying to Gricko about the decent chunk of time since his last Heat. It was definitely before he'd been captured - don't think about it don't think about it don't think- but he did recall the general checklist. “Torbek's Heats were always sort of random,” he confessed, “so tracking them was hard. Between that and the other stuff, Torbek just made emergency plans.”
“What does an ‘emergency plan’ entail,” Frost asked candidly, refreshingly familiar as he sipped his broth.
The bugbear smiled, embarrassed, claws fiddling together as he held his bowl. “Torbek traveled a lot, so any time the Heat started coming, Torbek would go somewhere safe to wait it out. Sometimes it was harder to hide if the woods or mountains were too far away, but Torbek got very good at it. And eventually it was hard to ever smell it. The cramps would hurt, but Torbek is used to pain so it's not too bad.”
There was a deafening silence. Then, with a slow, hissing sigh, Kremy moved to press his fingertips by his eyes. The warlock simply breathed for a moment, working through the wave of emotions suddenly choking his throat.
As a Beta, he was not quite as driven by the needs to mate or nest, nor was he beholden typically to the biological force of a Heat or Rut. As a businessman , however, he had made sure to look into it to account for his employees - he was not the most morally sound man in the world, he'd admit that freely, but he was far from cruel. Understanding cost and reward was simply a facet in profit management.
As it was, he'd damn near completely forgotten that Torbek was an Omega. The bugbear hadn't requested Heat leave like some of the others at the Carnivále, and between that, the general lack of stereotypical olfactory input, and everything else going on, it was almost a given that that tidbit of information was lost in the chaotic mess.
Now, however, Kremy’s stomach felt like it had been torn out, tied pretty with a bow, and deposited right back in his abdomen.
Torbek’s confused blinking did nothing to help matters.
“Alright,” the reptilian man breathed. “Alright, then. Usually, during Omega Heats or Alpha Ruts, there will be a desire for… soft things. Security, even. It’s an innate instinct. To have access to soft things or comfortable spaces is usually a pretty big indicator that you’re safe. Understand so far?”
Torbek nodded.
“So then the urge to nest is the want to make a space feel comfortable and safe. Out here,” Kremy gestured to the treeline with a bitter twist of his mouth, “Well, comfortable may be a little out of range. But we can work with safe.” Turning back, he reached out, gently patting the bloodhunter’s arm. “How do you feel most safe, Torbek? And be honest with me, please.”
There was a pause as the bugbear twiddle his fingers, rubbing the edges of his blanket. He blinked slowly, then glanced to his lap, face visibly pink as his fur bristled slightly with embarrassment. “Torbek… already feels safe.”
“Yeah? How so?”
He worried at his lip before offering a shy response. “Torbek has never felt safer than when you’re all here.”
There was a brief pause.
Gricko squealed, managing to somehow escape Frost’s clutches to go careening across the camp just to collide with the bugbear. His arms wrapped as far as they could around whatever he could reach, attaching like a particularly excitable leech. “Oh, you’re just too cute!! Of course we’d protect you, Torbek, you're our friend and we love you~”
The former rogue chuckled softly, moving to wrap his long arms around the short goblin with a smile. “Torbek is glad.” He absently nuzzled against the other's blond hair, the soft revv of a purr blooming in his chest.
Kremy gave a wane smile, nodding absently as he regarded the scene. After a brief moment, he seemed to decide something. “Alright, then.”
With a clap of his hands, he shifted to his knees, flicking a wrist elegantly with a crisp snap. As if awaiting just such an order, the shadows around the campsite jumped into gear. His own bedding and bag whirled across the small distance, Gideon's own just a hair behind. A few tendrils snaked their ways around and across earth and tree alike, one even going so far as to coil gently around an exposed ankle, tickling golden-ginger fur playfully.
Just as quickly as the motions began, they ceased. Kremy quickly shucked his coat, grabbed his blanket, and tossed the fabric with perfect flair to drape over the bugbear's shoulders. Torbek was left to blink as he inhaled, a hand shakily moving to touch the freely offered blanket, the scent of herbs, spices, and something deeper, darker, sharper blossoming across his senses. The purring seemed to double as his pupils dilated and he instinctively snuggled further into the softness now at his cheek.
Gricko, partially forgotten but content in the remaining arm, just watched on fondly, absently scratching the other's bicep, mindful of the tubing and his own claws. Torbek was always rather touch starved - unhealthy, he noted idly, especially in a goblinoid, extra especially in an Omega - but the delight the large bugbear had in the simplest of life's pleasures was bittersweet. He never seemed to take for granted a single thing, and the joy was infectious. At the same time, the druid ached absently at the reminder of how long the other has gone without even the barest of kindness. As movement caught his eye, however, he placed a mental pin in the thought - Torbek would soon have little reason to go without now and moving onwards.
Spearmint, parchment, and anise seed seemed to waft over them as Frost sunk gently to the ground at their free side. The tabaxi silently set his belongings down as he curled his body into the bugbear's space, just shy of true touch. He left his body language open, but very poignantly offered his own blanket to the growing hoard. “Would it be welcome,” he rumbled softly, “for me to touch you, Torbek?”
There was a strangled noise, undistinguishable from a moan or plea, but the bloodhunter's frantic nodding had the others cracking soft smiles. Frost's blanket joined the goblin and other tokens in the large fluffy lap, and the sorcerer reached out and let his paws drag firmly but sweetly along heated limbs.
Torbek seemed to sag into the touch, and Frost met him easily, shifting to catch the other's weight as Kremy slipped into the other side, bracketing the biggest in the party with gentle support.
“That's it,” Kremy soothed, “There's a good boy. We've got you, turkey boy, ‘s all good now.”
“You are safe here,” Frost reiterated gently, a tinge of hesitancy that seemed to bleed away with each passing moment. “We have you, Torbek. None can hurt you here.”
Never one to be left out, Gricko let his own touch move to the other's chest, nothing too sensual for the time being without explicit consent. He smoothed his hands over ribs, near collarbones, murmuring in the fluttering heartbeat and rumbling purr. “Good lad,” he breathed softly, “‘m so proud of you, you were wonderfully brave. Thank you for trusting us, thank you for bein’ you.”
Senseless assurances and babbles floated about, turning Torbek's mind to mush. He couldn't stop the purring or instinctive press into each gentle touch, melting beneath their ministrations. Tears were shed at some point, quickly cleared away with unflinching touches. His blood seemed to burn in his veins, not like the oversaturation of witchlight but unlike anything else he'd felt before. He shuddered to pieces under their care. It was only as an equally warm hand settled firmly at his nape that he nearly went boneless, exhaustion tugging at his every fiber.
Gideon coaxed him back, guided into turning slightly before the genasi gave a final tug. Torbek - and Gricko, still in his limbed cage - tumbled, barely catching himself before the fighter pulled him down, partially in his lap, partially against his torso, hand still a burning balm on his neck. “We gotcha,” he flashed a grin, biting back a chuckle at the pink flush darkening on the bugbear's face. “You just get some rest for now, y'hear? We'll keep you safe and snug.” There was a moment of hesitation, then the fire user craved just a touch to press a gentle kiss to the taller man's forehead. “Sleep,” he reiterated. “We'll getcha all sorted and sated in the morning.”
With the order washing over him; with Kremy curling half into his side, half along Gideon; with Gricko having squirmed to settle comfortably in his hold; with Frost curling into his back, his tail wrapping boldly around his thin waist - with all of that, Torbek was able to do little else but obey, warm, safe, surrounded.
Maybe this time a Heat wouldn't be so very terrible…