When we arrived at camp, Brick had set up the two tents and a campfire. I summoned some salmon, and he set them up on sticks to roast, then pulled me onto his knee and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been pushing you too hard. I forget sometimes how little you are,” he murmured into my ear. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m worried about Bastion too. I don’t want to delay any more than you do.”

“It doesn’t mean things should be unnecessarily hard for you, though,” he said, kissing my cheek for emphasis. “Nightfall was right. I’ve been stuck in my head so much I’ve forgotten about what this must be like for you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is, Emma,” his voice was tired. “I’m not used to this. The soft things. I’m a warrior, and the life I’ve led before I met you has been largely fighting, sleeping rough, and trying to do my best to keep Bastion out of trouble and prove I’m more than just brawn despite the fact every job I’ve ever taken has relied on me being exactly that.”

“Brick…” I placed my hand on his arm, trying to offer him some comfort, but he shook his head.

“Please, Emma. Listen. I know you see me as more than that, but… I’ve taken you for granted. I never thought anyone would love me the way you love me. I never thought I could have anything like this. I never knew I liked to bake before I met you. You’ve opened my eyes to what life can be, and yet… it’s not all about me. I love you, Emma, and that means putting you first. I haven’t made things easy for you, the way I’ve been focused on this mission and the way I’ve treated Nightfall when I know you love him. I apologize if my actions have caused you concern.”

I chewed on my lip, not sure what to say to that.

“I had a lot to think about last night, when my only company was Jackal’s snores. I have arranged things differently tonight. I hope it will put you at ease.”

He lifted me off his knee and fetched the fish, which were cooked through. He handed one to me and called out to Jackal and Nightfall to come back. Jackal emerged from his tent, and Nightfall from the forest where he had been gathering a few more logs for the fire.

We ate together companionably, and I felt like there was less tension between Brick and Nightfall. I wondered what else they’d said while I was out of earshot.

When we finished our fish, we threw the sticks into the fire and Brick instructed Jackal to put the remnants of the fire out when it burned down to embers. Then he took my hand and led me into his tent, with Nightfall following us close behind.

I turned to look at him questioningly, but his dark waterfall of hair covered his face as he stooped to fit inside the tent. I looked at Brick instead but noticed behind him he’d rolled out three bedrolls side by side to line the floor of the tent.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“You were worried when you were with me because Nightfall was worried. Then Nightfall said you were worried because of me again last night. I did you a disservice,” Brick said. “And now I am making amends.”

I sat down on the middle roll and blushed. “I don’t know if I’m ready for… uh…”

“No,” Nightfall said hurriedly. “We need to sleep tonight. We have the final stretch of our journey ahead of us in the morning. We just want to ease your worries and help you sleep well.”

“What he said,” Brick grunted. “You have worries enough. We don’t need to be among them.”

“And you don’t mind sharing a tent?”

Brick laughed. “We’ve slept in tighter spots than this in the past. Come, lie down, and have a rest. I’ll tell you about the time we had to sleep in a cave on our way to a barrow wight’s lair.”

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“Alright,” I said, taking off my belt and laying my short sword along the edge of the tent. “But if you want me to have sweet dreams, you’d best keep the details of the barrow wight to yourself. I’m not a fan of skeletons and ghosts.”

His tale soothed my nerves, and I nestled down next to him. Then Nightfall lay down in front of me and I draped my arm over him. Brick drew lazy designs on my arm with his finger, caressing me gently as he spoke.

“…then Bruiser rolled over and accidentally shoved Bastion out the cave opening. He was lucky he woke up in time to grab hold of the ledge or we would have lost him then and there. By the time he scrambled back in, he was soaking wet from the rain…”

Brick chuckled at his own story, caught up in the memory for a moment.

“He’s gotten himself in trouble so often, but I’ve never been so worried about him as I am now,” Brick admitted. “What he wrote in that letter… and necromancers. I can’t imagine anything worse.”

I rolled over slightly until I could see his face.

“We’ll catch up to him, and we’ll save him,” I vowed. “I promise.”

I didn’t know if it was a promise I could keep, but I had to hope. We all needed hope.

Brick hovered over me, and I felt my heart swell. He traced his fingers up my arm and caressed my cheek gently before lowering his mouth to meet mine in a gentle, loving kiss. His mouth slanted across mine as he deepened the kiss, still moving slowly but full of adoration and devotion. But just as I was beginning to feel the stirring of passion rising in my body, he pulled away.

“I love you, Emma. Sleep well.”

I blushed again, realizing I’d just been losing myself with him right in front of Nightfall. I looked over at the dark elf, almost afraid of his reaction, but he was watching me with warm, affectionate eyes.

“I can see you are concerned, but you needn’t be. It puts me at ease to see you like this,” Nightfall explained. “I had not imagined an orc could be so gentle, but perhaps I am guilty of stereotyping him the same way my own race has been. I was wrong to think the worst of him.”

“Well, to be fair, you’ve probably seen him cracking skulls more often than kissing maidens,” I said, and he offered a rare smile.

“Perhaps,” he said, then lay down again, pressing his body close against mine. “Sleep, my Emma. All is well tonight.”

I breathed out, relieved, and let sleep take me. It was easy, feeling so closed in and safe surrounded by their accepting embrace.

My dreams were calmer that night, although I still saw Bastion and Bruiser dancing through the fog, just out of sight. I felt myself call out to them, begging for them to wait, but I felt Brick’s grasp on my waist, keeping me tethered to reality and my dreams faded back into a peaceful nothingness.

I woke early, my bladder demanding to be dealt with, so I slipped carefully out of bed and crept towards the forest to find a place to relieve myself.

On my way back to the tent, I heard Nightfall give out the least dignified yelp he’d ever uttered, followed by a grunt from Brick. I slipped back in through the tent’s entrance and saw Nightfall pressed up against one wall of the tent and Brick on the opposite side, rubbing his jaw.

“What happened?” I asked, looking between them. “I just stepped out to go to the bathroom.”

“He… he molested me,” Nightfall said accusingly, straightening his sleep-ruffled clothing and trying to regain some composure.

“I didn’t realize you had left,” Brick shrugged. “I thought it was you.”

I burst out laughing at the image. Brick pulling Nightfall in for a wake-up smooch and getting decked in the face for his trouble.

Brick relaxed at my laughter, joining it with his own chuckle. “Sorry, Nightfall.”

Nightfall shook his head and straightened his shoulders. “Just don’t do it again.”

Brick grinned at him. “This story’ll beat the cave one for sure.”

“You’re not telling Bastion about this,” Nightfall bristled. “I can admit it’s a little funny, but you are not telling him, or I’ll kill him myself when we find him.”

“Well, that would put a bit of a damper on our rescue mission,” I frowned. “Do you guys not get along?”

“He is handy enough on a mission to fill out the numbers,” Nightfall wrinkled his nose. “But he is a disgrace of an elf, carrying on the way he does in bars.”

“But…” my jaw dropped. I’d picked up on a little animosity between them, but nothing I thought was a huge deal. Part of me had thought it was just the same generalized disdain and discomfort Nightfall had for almost everyone and everything in this world. A feeling I could relate to when it was directed at the badly designed world we were inhabiting, but not when it was focused on my friends.

“They’ve got an old rivalry, Emma. Don’t let it concern you,” Brick said, scooching over and laying a hand on my shoulder. “He thinks Bastion’s too rough around the edges, Bastion thinks he’s too dark and miserable. All wood elves and dark elves are like this – and both races also hate the high elves for being narcissistic misanthropes.”

“Is that true?” I asked Nightfall.

He bristled under my stare. “Perhaps my dislike of him stems from… habit. But he is important to you. My threat was a turn of phrase, nothing more. I will endeavor to show him more… kinship, but I would still prefer my embarrassment to not be used for his amusement.”

Brick sighed. “Fair enough. If you can compromise your habits, I can change my own. For Emma.”

“For Emma,” Nightfall nodded in agreement.

“Look at you, getting along and all,” I smiled. “Now, we should get up and start looking for tracks. The sun is starting to rise.”