Chapter Text
Jester had spent all of her life in her house.
Her whole seventeen years, she hadn’t left the house, only straying as far as the edge of the patio of their large section of land.
She knew it wasn’t her momma’s fault, she couldn’t help what she was afraid of, or that she wanted to protect Jester from the things she thought were outside.
But Jester was curious, looking out the window onto the stretch of land of their estate, gifted to get momma by one of her wealthy clients, ending in stables. Jester could just barely make out one of the horses being walked into the stables.
Jester was curious, and she wasn’t afraid like her momma. So, she made a split second decision, knowing that her momma was busy, and would be for a long while, to creep downstairs and out the backdoors.
Once she was outside she picked up the pace, walking briskly across the patio and onto the grass. It wasn’t until she was halfway to the stables that she second guessed herself, her footsteps faltering.
Her momma had to be afraid for a reason, right? There had to be a reason she didn’t leave the house, that she would visibly tremble when she rarely strayed onto the patio.
But other people went outside. The town was bustling, it was always busy, and Jester had never heard of anyone being hurt by anything other than a bar fight. It couldn’t be the town.
She picked up the pace again, a little faster this time, to give her less time to second guess herself.
She could hear laughter in the distance, coming from behind the stables, but from inside the stables she could hear the sound of horses fussing, and the grumbling of someone.
Jester slipped inside the stables quietly, her eyes landing on the woman a few feet away, her hands on the horses cheeks, looking into his eyes. She was slightly taller than Jester, maybe the same height if you threw Jester’s horns into the mix, her hair pulled up into a bun, with the underside shaved. She was dressed in baggy trousers and a sleeveless shirt, giving jester a clear view of her arms, which, sure, Jester could definitely appreciate.
“Listen, bud, I don’t wanna be doing this either, but we gotta get all that shit outta your hooves, it’s for your own good, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.” The woman spoke, and the horse seemed to visibly relax, his tail swishing slightly. “Okay, will you settle down, bud? Don’t kick me or shit, okay?”
The girl gave the horse’s cheek a little scratch.
“Atta boy,”
The girl turned to grab the hoof pick, and Jester took a few tentative steps forward, not wanting to startle the girl, but unsure of how to announce herself.
The girl wheeled around, throwing the pick up, with the intention of catching it again, whatever she was whistling dying out when she spotted Jester. She jumped slightly, scrambling to catch the pick but it clattered to the floor.
“Gods, did you bamf here?” She huffed, bending to grab the pick, but Jester was already scrambling for it.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Jester rushed out. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” The girl shrugged, holding her hand out for the pick when Jester got to it first. “You lost? This is a private property, and you kinda don’t wanna fuck with the dude who owns this place.”
“Oh, no. No, I’m Jester.” Jester smiled, holding her hand out toward the girl, who eyed her for a second, before gripping her hand.
“O-kay? That doesn’t answer why you’re here, Jester.”
“That’s usually where you tell me your name,” Jester tilted her head, and the girl stared at her for a while.
“Beau,”
“Beau,” Jester repeated with a little nod. “That’s a pretty name. It is nice to meet you, Beau.”
Beau looked curious now, her thumb smoothing over the knuckle of Jester thumb. “As much as I don’t mind a visit from a pretty girl, I mean it when I say you don’t wanna be snooping around the dude who owns this place’s shit.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry. I live in the house, me and my momma, and Nugget and Sprinkle.”
“Siblings?” Beau questioned unsurely.
“Pets. Nugget is my dog, he can bamf, and Sprinkle is my weasel, he doesn’t like me much.”
“Huh,” Beau nodded, dropping her hand from Jester’s. “I’ve never seen you around before, how long you lived there?”
“Oh, forever. Or, for as long as I can remember.”
“Okay, why haven’t I seen you around.” Beau asked, arms crossed across her chest, chin tilted up slightly as she regarded Jester.
“This is my first time leaving the house.” Jester said, dismissively. “You are in very good shape, Beau.”
That seemed to throw Beau completely, blinking once. Twice, then tensing a little more."Uh, thanks. Thank you. You do, too. Are , too. You are, too. I mean, you’re pretty.”
“Oh, thanks.” Jester bounced a little on her toes, a big grin on her lips. “I work out a little bit.”
“Mm, it definitely shows.” Beau motioned to Jester, and for a few seconds they just stared at each other. But then Beau cleared her throat, her eyes dropping to her feet as she shuffled back every so slightly. “Right, yeah, I suppose that technically means I work for you, huh? Can I do anything for you, miss Jester?”
Jester frowned, confused. “What? No, I don’t want anything. Well, maybe you could show me how to care for a horse. Or something. I don’t know, I just don’t want to go back home just yet, and you are the first person who isn’t my Momma, or super old people, that I have ever spoken to, and you seem really really awesome. I just don’t-”
“Hey, wow,” Beau held up a hand, stopping Jester dead, still raising and lowering herself on her toes, looking at Beau with an expecting eyebrow. “Breathe, Jester.” Beau chuckled. “It’s fine, you can hang out as long as you wanna. I can teach you anything you wanna know.”
“Really?” Jester smiled brightly, and Beau gave her a little smile in return.
“Sure,” Beau nodded, jabbing her finger toward the horse. “Old Ridley here is being a little difficult. He isn’t a fan of storms, and I think one is coming tonight.”
“How can you tell?”
“He just gets super fussy, restless, will give me a hard time.”
“No, I mean how do you know there is a storm coming?” Jester clarified.
“Oh, I can feel it.” Jester’s eyebrows raised in surprise and curiosity, wondering how she could feel a storm, but then beau grinned at her. “Kidding. A friend of mine is a sailor, he has a good idea of how to tell when a big storm is coming.”
“Oh, okay. I like storms, the rain is comforting.”
“Only if you are indoor,” Beau agreed, nudging her head toward the stool a few feet away. “Why don’t you sit down? Tell me about yourself, but I have to get Ripley all set and settled for the night.”
“Okay, okay,” Jester agreed, moving to sit on the stool, attentively watching Beau as she gave Ripley’s butt a little scratch before running her hand down his leg, murmuring calming things to the animals, which prompted him to bend his leg.
Beau kneeled beside him, resting his leg on her thigh as she began picking the dirt from his hoof.
“So, Jester, how old are you?” Beau asked, glancing over at Jester, who rested her elbows on her knees, her chin braced in her palms as she stared at Beau.
“I’m seventeen,” Jester let the ‘e’s run a little, not missing the little smile that tugged on Beau’s lips. “You?”
“Same,” Beau hummed.
“Have you worked here long?”
“Since I was fourteen,” Beau answered, slightly distracted by the job at hand. “Tell me about you, Jester.”
“Oh, okay, well, I am a tiefling, obviously, and I really like to bake, and my favourite colour is pink. Oh, and I follow the traveler, have you heard of him?”
“I can’t say I have,” Beau shook her head, flipping the pick to brush away loose dirt.
“I’m sure you have seen his symbol around,” Jester waved a dismissive hand, her tail flicking behind her. “He is so cool, Beau. And so much fun, we get up to all kinds of mischief at home. He has been trying to get me to come out soon, but I wasn’t sure. He promised her would be there to protect me.”
“You talk to your deity?” Beau asked.
“Yeah, yeah. Sometimes,” Jester nodded quickly. “He is super nice, and he helps me when I need it. I have a whole bunch of drawings of him, but my journal is in my bedroom.”
“I’d like to see those sometimes, if you end up coming back.” Beau said. “You must be very special, Jester. I have never heard of someone having regular, and seemingly friendly, communications with their deity.”
“Oh, it's no big deal.” Jester scoffed. “Do you follow anyone?”
“Nah, it’s not really my thing.”
“Oh, okay,” Jester nodded.
Beau placed Ripley’s foot on the ground, moving on to the next hoof. “You’re jewels on your horns are really pretty.”
“Oh, thank you!” Jester hands moved to her horns, fingers brushing against the jewels there, smoothing over the ribbon on the left horn. “Momma gave me them, I like them a lot.”
“They suit you,” Beau hummed, giving Ripley’s back end a little pat, her eyes on Jester. “Wanna give it a go?”
“Oh, no. no, thank you, I would just hold you back.” Jester shook her head.
“That’s fine, I don’t mind.” Beau smiled, holding the pick out to Jester. “Come on, you’ve come all the way out here, it would be a shame if you didn’t do something new.”
“Oh, okay,” Jester nodded, slowly standing, a feeling of anxiety bubbling in her chest as she walked closer to Ripley and Beau.
“Hey, he's a good horse, he won’t hurt you.” Beau assured, reaching out to pull Jester closer to Ripley’s front leg, placing the pick in her hand.
Jester stared down at the tool, then looked up at Beau, who was looking at her with a soft little smile, and Jester relaxed immediately. “I don’t know what I’m doing,”
“No, you wouldn’t if you have never done it before,” Beau grinned playfully, motioning for Jester to come up alongside Ripley.
Jester moved until her shoulder was against Ripley’s, and waiting for Beau to give her verbal instructions of what to do next, but she jumped ever so slightly when Beau stepped into her space, her front pressed against Jester’s back, slightly off to the left.
Jester’s tail, apparently now having a mind of its own, flicked and swished a few times, before settling against Beau’s waist.
“Okay,” Beau hummed, and Jester felt her face heat up at the close contact, chalking it up to the fact this was the first person she had been this close to who wasn’t her mother. Beau ran her hand down Jester’s arm, until she reached her hand, bringing it up to press against the front of Ripley’s thigh. “You can’t just yank their foot up, they don’t like that very much, plus, it's kinda disrespectful. And a huge part dealing with animals like this is respect, if they don’t respect you then you’re fucked.”
“He won’t respect me,” Jester said, feeling a little breathless at how gentle Beau was being with her.
“He will, they can sense it, you’ll be fine.” Beau promised, and Jester found herself believing her. “Give him a little scratch, he is kind of needy for being as broody as he is.”
Jester laughed softly when Beau chuckled in her ear, and began scratching Ripley’s thigh.
“He loves it when you scratch the front of his chest, so he could do this all day.” Beau said, her hand seemingly subconsciously coming to rest of Jester’s hip, but Jester was hyper aware of everything Beau in this moment. “But when you feel confident enough just start slowly running your hand down the front of his leg.”
Jester nodded, and when she began running her hand down Ripley’s leg, Beau’s hand followed her, her hand ghosting over the top of Jester’s.
“You’re doing really well,” Jester almost jumped at the soft words whispered into her ear. Everything was a little too much, she was too on edge, she should really get back to her room, because being out of her home was having an affect on her she hadn’t really anticipated.
Jester hadn’t really expected much to happen, she had expected Ripley to just ignore her, then she would give Beau the pick back and go back to her room. But as she Jester reached the ankle area Ripley lifted his foot.
Jester gasped. “Beau, look. I did it!”
“You did,” Beau hummed, offering Jester a sweet smile when Jester looked back at her, their noses just barely avoiding bumping together. “Now, just knee down, rest his leg on her knee and pick away. You don’t need to be shy, their feet are pretty tough.”
Beau quickly took a step back after that, and Jester watched her huff out a breath, rubbing her hands on her thighs.
Ripley was patient with her, allowing Jester to pick out the dirt from the crevices of his hoof, Beau coming to crouch beside her, telling her when to brush away the dirt, where was more sensitive.
“Way to go,” Beau smiled, accepting the pick Jester was holding out to her. “You don’t wanna do the rest of’em?”
“No, that's okay. It was fun, really fun, but you will do it faster.”
Beau nodded, moving to Ripley’s other side, setting about picking Riley’s other hoof.
“I should probably get back, I don’t want momma to know I’m gone.” Jester said, and Beau glanced over her shoulder at her.
“If you give me a few minutes and I can walk you back.”
“Oh, you don’t have to.” Jester swayed slightly, her tail flicking behind her.
“I want to, but I do have to get Ripley settled, give him time to unwind before the storm hits, so I will probably be another ten minutes.”
Jester nodded, lifting onto her toes before sitting on the stool.
Jester talked a little about her home, and Beau told Jester stories from adventures she and her friends had gone on, and Jester listened in awe, insisting Beau kept talking, even after Beau had apologised for talking too much.
Beau told her of the time she and her friends had sailed to an island just off the Menagerie Coast, and ended up having to fight a small pack of Axe Beaks, which almost resulted in Nott losing a finger.
“That sounds incredible,” Jester gushed, coming to a stop at her back door, turning to Beau.
“It was a lot of fun, could have used one’a those healing potions or whatever, we were all hurting for days afterward.”
“Oh, I know healing spells. Cure wounds and healing word.”
Beau’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Aw, no way?”
“Yes, yeah. The traveler taught me, I know a whole bunch of spells.”
“Well, I guess next time we will have to bring you along,” Beau leaned her shoulder against the wall beside the glass sliding door that lead into Jester’s kitchen.
Jester wasn’t really sure how she felt about that, wondering is Beau meant it, or if she was joking. And if she did mean it, was she only using her for her spells.
“We have a cleric, but he was pretty wiped afterward.” Beau said.
“So, it would be good to have a back up cleric?” Jester was teasing, but Beau’s eyes widened.
“Well, I mean, sure, it’s always good to have extra healing stuff.” Beau nodded, scratching the back of her head. “But like- I mean- you're cool, and I think you’d have fun. I know my friends would like you. And I like her, I enjoyed your company today, you made work go by pretty fast.”
That made Jester perk up, her tail swishing behind her as she raised up onto her toes. “Really?”
“Really,” Beau nodded, one corner of her mouth hooking up into a little smile. “I dunno what the deal is, why you haven’t left home much, but if you wanna hang out you can most likely find me in the stables like you did today.”
“Okay,” Jester smiled big, and Beau stared at her for a short while, before nodding.
“Get some tea, wrap yourself up in a blanket and sit by a window tonight for the storm. Fjord thinks there is going to be lightning, and I don’t know about you but I love to be cosy in a situation like that.” Beau said, pushing herself off the wall, backpedaling toward the edge of the patio.
“That does sound really nice.”
Beau nodded, giving Jester finger guns, which was oddly charming and endearing, if slightly nerdy. Jester couldn’t not smile when she watched Beau visible curse herself under her breath. “Have a good night, Jester.”
“Goodnight, Beau.” She replied in a sing-song voice, waiting for Beau to get about twenty feet away, smiling wider every time Beau glanced back at her.
Her mother was, thankfully, still occupied when she got inside, so she had no idea Jester had even left the house.
Jester was on her bed, scribbling in her journal (mentioning Beau every other sentence), when the first crack of thunder rumbled. Jester perked up, a smile pulling on her lips as she hopped off of her bed and down to the kitchen, grabbing herself a mug of tea and her fluffy blanket, settling on her window seat with Sprinkles wrapped around her neck, Nugget tucked under her bent knees.
She spent the night watching the lightning light up the sky, the sound of the rain pitter pattering against her window calming her.