"Itâs so cool, Fjord. Wait until you meet Netflix."
WHAT: Fjord's arrival and pick-up! WHERE: DOA HQ! WHEN: Yesterday, interrupting Pride (sorry!) WARNINGS: N/A STATUS:Complete!
"Right this way, Miss Jester." The DOA aide had requested her presence and had awaited her arrival before showing her to where Fjord was patiently waiting. Walking and talking, she continued, "As I said on the phone, he is somewhat distrustful of us - which is perfectly natural, of course. He doesn't remember being here before, so that you're aware." With a final soft smile, the aid opened the door, interrupting an obviously perturbed half-orc in mid-sentence.
"I don't give a fu--- Jester?" Fjord turned his head in the direction of the door opening, his eyes immediately lighting on the presence of a blue tiefling. They'd told him they were getting a friend of his to come to pick him up since he'd refused to use the weird devices or really believe any of what they were saying. Hell, he'd only accepted their invitation to come back to this incredibly advanced city because they clearly had high-level magic and still didn't seem threatening. Still, he'd dropped back to using Vandran's accent as his default unknown situation response. "Wait," he paused and tilted his head slightly. He knew changing appearance was all too easy.
"What's something only Jester would know?"
The only downside of going to Pride that Jester could see was that being in a large, wonderfully loud crowd meant that it had been a stroke of luck that sheâd even heard her phone ringing when the DOA had called. She didnât know how long theyâd been trying to get in touch with any one of the members of the Mighty Nein, but sheâd left the celebration as soon as she heard the good news--Fjord was back. Fjord was back and that meant that being gone didnât mean being gone forever. It gave her a sense of hope that she realized she hadnât felt since they had lost Molly all over again.
Even though sheâd heard everything the DOA representative had said, she still somehow thought that, when she saw him, Fjord would remember everything that had happened over the past months. So when he clearly didnât, and didnât necessarily trust the sight of her, she couldnât help the concerned furrow in her brow.
This was fine. This was totally fine.
âWelllll,â she started, slipping further into the room, adorned head to toe with rainbows and tulle and face paint that wasnât her typical wardrobe. Probably not a point in her favor in terms of convincing Fjord that she was actually Jester. âOkay, so this one time when I was really little, I snuck into this party my mom was having. And it was like really, really fancy and there was-- wait, you probably need me to tell you something you would know, too. Hmm, oh! Remember that one time when you tried to hire three sex companions to babysit Kiri? That was funny.â
Fjord hadn't really been concerned by what Jester had been wearing, even if it wasn't her usual attire. It was still definitely her style and costumes weren't really anything new. Her initial story got his interest, though, but the way she wrapped it up caused his eyebrows to shoot up and he let out a bit of a cough when the DOA aide looked shocked.
"That," he began, before clearing his throat quickly and starting over in his actual accent. "That was just a misunderstanding. I didn't- they were- you know, it doesn't matter." He raised a hand to kind of dismiss the aide before stepping forward towards Jester with a kind of bewildered look on his face. "Jester, what the hell is this place? What they've told me sounds impossible, even for us."
Jester breathed a sigh of relief that Fjord seemed to at least trust that she was herself and the excitement of having him back won out over the worry about what he did or did not know. âOkay, but before we get to all of that, thereâs one really super important thing first,â she said, then rushed forward to pull Fjord into a hug. âOkay, okay, I know you donât remember being here before but I just need to tell you how happy I am that youâre back, and Iâm like almost 100% super confident that I can speak for the rest of the Mighty Nein in saying so and we just like really missed you, okay? Like everyone got really drunk on your behalf and everything. I had three whole glasses of milk and my weight in cinnamon pastries.â
She waited another moment before taking a step back, letting her arms fall back to her side. âBut itâs really hard to explain. Did you watch the welcome video? Itâs not so bad here, but even Caleb and Essek havenât been able to figure out how to control that magic that brings people here and sends them home.â
The hug was a surprise but he kind of felt like he needed to roll with it, so he awkwardly hugged back with a confused look on his face and listened to what she had to say. They'd mentioned the bit about him being here before and that it was common for people returning to not remember their previous visits, but in honesty at that point he started having trouble following, especially when they started trying to get him to handle weird devices that looked like something even Caleb would be impressed with.
When Jester released him and stepped back, he let her finish and then opened and closed his mouth once or twice before he tried to parse through it. "I was just standing near you all, watching this large sea beast come at us. But you have all missed me and I don't know what a video is, but I haven't watched anything. I just asked them to prove my friends were here before I was willing to listen to anything they had to say." If Caleb and Essek were working on the magic, he at least felt confident they'd figure this mess out, so that lowered the red flags in his brain a bit.
He raised one eyebrow and smirked. "Three glasses and that many pastries? That's serious."
âRight, right, sorry. Sometimes I forget that the things that have become I guess kind of normal here were so not normal back home. But sea beast? Were we on the Ball-Eater? And you like almost died forever and we were going to Travelercon?â Well, that was good, at least. If he remembered all of that, then he was still on par with the rest of the Mighty Nein that were in Vallo. That made things a little easier. âWell, now that you know weâre here, you should let them do their spiel. And their video is super cool and thereâs music and maybe that will help with the whole âWhat is Vallo???â thing? But we can get to that before you leave here. And we can show you how to use the phone to send messages! I love the emojis.â
Shrugging, Jester grinned back at him. âWell, you know. I was very distressed. We all were.â
She rattled off everything that had happened like it was ancient history and that was a little disconcerting. "Ah, is video their word for putting on a play, then? That doesn't sound so bad. But yes? Is- Is that not what you and the others last remember before this place? ⌠Is there more?" Now he was feeling a little distressed. While he didn't quite follow what she meant by sending messages (wasn't that something only she, and to a lesser extent Caleb and Nott, could do?) and "Emo G's," he knew it had to be something 'cute' for it to get that kind of attention from Jester.
Fjord spread his hands kind of helplessly and looked around, ready for her to lead the way to whatever a video was, though it struck him a moment later that she said 'fone' and they used the same word for the device on the table. He raised a finger quickly to suggest she wait one moment, then he scooped up the weird device before nodding that he was ready. For whatever.
âYeah! Kind of exactly that!â Jester replied. âItâs like if someone put on a play and then everyone else could watch that same exact performance again some other time. So like art that moves and captures more than just one single moment. Itâs so cool, Fjord. Wait until you meet Netflix.â She grinned, attempting to no avail to bite back her excitement--over the new things they would be able to introduce Fjord to, over Fjord being here again. Today was a good day. âOh, but no, thatâs what pretty much all of us remember. Itâs just...well, Iâve been here for awhile now. Like three months, almost four? Caleb and Essek have been here even longer.â
Moving to his side to peer over at the phone screen, Jester pointed to a button on the side. âOkay, so this is what you push to power it on. And now--â she waited for the screen to light up before adding, âyou swipe your finger over the screen like this. Then this little picture--or icon--here is where you go to send messages. And the best part is that you can send as many words as you want and itâs unlimited. You can literally send unlimited messages Fjord, and everyone can reply back to them unlimited times and you donât even have to cast a spell or anything. We can talk to each other literally all the time and we donât even have to be in the same room.â
Fjord's brief mental questions about who Netflix was or if they were part of the Mighty Nein in these apparent months(?!?!) that they were all here were immediately swept away by Jester turning on the device and walking him through how it worked. He was proud of himself, though, because all their time together certainly helped him follow her rapid-fire instructions without really missing anything and he kind of just stared at the device, then looked at Jester, then back at the device. "This portable magic will be really useful when we get back to Exandria. Can you imagine being able to just chat with anyone at anyt- you mean even when they're sleeping?"
He tapped the screen a few times while she responded, idly wondering how it all worked. If they'd been here months, he had to imagine it was limited to this place only, but how they were here for months but next to him right before he showed up. Nope, that was not something he was going to spend much time trying to figure out. Better to just lean into it.
âWell thatâs the thing,â she started, pointing toward the network icon to show him how to send messages through that channel, too. âI donât think anything we learn or come across here goes back with us when--if we return home. Some people have been here for a long time and have never returned home, others come and almost immediately go back, but I donât think they remember being here when they get back and itâs like no time passed at all there.â And then, because it felt important to say it, she frowned and said, âMollymauk was here. Heâs...not anymore. Iâm really sorry.â
Fjord almost dropped the phone at the conclusion of her explanation, but rallied and only bobbled it for a second. "Huh," he responded, a range of emotions storming across his face. It seemed like every time they turned around, Molly was still there in some way. Here, he'd actually literally been there for a time? He wasn't sure how to process it. "Was he, uh. Was he okay? No, don't answer that. I'm sure he was great and probably wanted us to know he didn't blame us for anything. Because he's Molly."
Slipping the phone into his belt pouch, he instead wrapped an arm around Jester's shoulders. "I'm glad you got to see him. Now you want to get out of here and go see this play? It sounds like I need to see a lot of stuff."
Jester looked up at Fjord for a moment, watching the varying shades of emotion, wondering how much of it reflected what had been there only a couple of weeks ago. But it wasnât her story to tell, it was his, the same as Essek and Calebâs future story belonged to them. So she swallowed back the feelings that always seemed to surface when Molly was the topic of conversation--back home and now here--and said, âHe was very much still our Molly. He was everything I remembered him being.â She let out a breath, wrapped her own arm around his waist and gestured toward the door. âThen right this way, my friend. You are so not even prepared.â