Fidget seemed almost unreasonably enthusiastic about getting to bed. It wasn’t enough that she had already stripped herself naked in a blink, no, she also tried to yank on the rope belt that kept Arvel’s trousers secured. All of this without a care in the world that Rain was standing in the wide open doorway.

“Whoa, whoa!” Arvel said, swatting her hands away, “I can undress myself. I’m not even done making the bed yet!”

Fidget pouted and flopped down on the pile of stripped sheets on the floor. She watched Arvel return to making the bed, before looking at Rain, and saying, “Come in already. Door shut when sleeping. Gets drafty.”

“I-I’m not sleeping in here,” Rain answered, glancing away from the goblin, red-faced.

“You slept here before,” said Fidget, tilting her head to the side as her ears perked.

“That was different,” said Rain, “I was alone then.”

Fidget leapt to her feet and raced to grab one of Rain’s hands in both of hers.

“You don’t have to be alone!” Fidget replied, clutching her hand tight, “We can all be together! Just like a goblin den!”

“A goblin den?” Rain echoed, surprised.

Fidget nodded excitedly; “Dens are great! Warm and cozy and everyone is close together. It’s safe and you never have to be lonely.”

Rain’s cheeks reddened more deeply as she asked, “What kind of things go on in these... goblin dens?”

Fidget stared at her, confused, before saying, “Sleeping. Life, I guess? You can cook in den. Poop outside though.”

Arvel shucked his shirt off into the growing pile of dirty laundry, and said, “I guess you were imaginin’ all kinds of lewd stuff happening but I’m pretty sure we can keep our hands to ourselves while we got a guest.

“Th-that’s not... I wasn’t imagining things!” Rain stammered, her face practically burning with a blush; “Especially not things like... that!”

Arvel grinned at her and said, “I think it’d also mean a lot to Fidge.”

Rain looked down at Fidget, still clinging to her hand. The goblin’s eyes were sparkling with hope and excitement. Rain nibbled her lip, before giving her a small, shy smile, and said, “Alright. I’ll stay.”

“Yay!” Fidget exclaimed, letting go of Rain’s hand and immediately grabbing hold of her skirt to yank it upward.

“WAIT!” Rain shrieked, pushing down on her skirt, turning the battle for her garment into an awkward tug of war.

“Fidget, let people undress their own damn selves,” Arvel said, sitting on the edge of the bed as he toed his boots off.

Fidget let go of Rain’s skirt and pouted as hard as they’d ever seen, her lower lip poked out, and a snaggletooth with it. She folded her arms, stomped one foot, and said, “Fine.”

Rain was hesitant. She knew she couldn’t sleep in her traveling clothes, especially since they’d been soaked and dried and her hem was stained with mud. She untied her apron first to toss it on the laundry pile, but then paused as she started to unbutton her blouse, watching Arvel for guidance. He seemed as though he were leaving his trousers on as he climbed into bed.

‘When in Farlan, do as the Farlanans do,’ she thought to herself, as she slowly opened her blouse and shrugged it off her shoulders. She unlaced the waistband of her skirt, and shed her clothes until she was left in her ruffled bloomers and a lace-edged camisole.

She heard a strange sound, not unlike a stifling of laughter.

“What?” Rain asked, glancing suspiciously at Arvel.

“You still wear those weird frilly things?” he asked, pointing at her lower half.

Rain lowered her hands to cover herself and shouted, “They’re bloomers! They’re perfectly normal undergarments for a lady!”

“Looks lumpy!” Fidget said.

“Why you need that many ruffles?” Arvel asked.

Rain shut her eyes tight and shouted, “I’ll accept no further critique of my undergarments!”

“Fine, fine,” Arvel replied, kicking his feet up on the bed as he lay down in the middle of it. It was clearly a bed designed just for one person, and while Fidget didn’t take up that much space, fitting another fully-grown human in seemed a more challenging proposition. Arvel rolled onto his side and said, “Hey Fidge, I know you like being the little spoon but I think you should lay behind me tonight.”

“What?” Fidget asked, indignant, “Why is Rain little spoon?”

“This is a big enough adjustment as it is,” he replied, “It’ll be easier on her to get comfortable without a naked goblin rubbin’ up on her all night.”

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Fidget grumbled, before climbing up on the bed and scrambling over Arvel before she wiggled between his back and the wall. She draped an arm around Arvel’s shoulder, and a leg over his hip, before announcing “Fidget isn’t little spoon. Fidget is backpack!”

Arvel laughed and pulled the sheet up over them. He lifted it up from one side of the bed, his arms outstretched and welcoming as he said to Rain, “Come on. Should be plenty of room.”

The ‘plenty of room’ he offered was a narrow space between his body and the edge of the bed. Rain closed the door behind herself before she walked over and sat down on that edge. She slowly laid down, her head resting on Arvel’s outstretched arm. She felt tense, so near the edge, but would not remain that way for very long. As soon as she was on her side, Arvel pulled the sheet up over her, wrapped both arms around her body, and pulled her back tightly against him.

“Over here,” he said, “You’re gonna fall off like that.”

One arm was around her shoulders, the other around her waist. She could feel his breath on the shell of her ear, and the tickle sent a shiver up her spine.

“Cold?” Arvel whispered.

“N-No,” she stammered, “It’s warm.”

“Good,” he said softly, as he began to drift off.

The next morning, Rain woke to the feeling of Fidget climbing over her like a piece of furniture. Arvel grunted as he caught a heel in the ribs, and Rain yelped when Fidget flopped on her bottom on the edge of the bed and landed on Rain’s arm in the process.

“Breakfast!” Fidget said, “Breakfast!”

Arvel grumbled, wrapping his arms around Rain tighter. One of his hands slid under the hem of her camisole, petting across her tummy, and a bright flush rose on Rain’s cheeks.

“No, not breakfast,” he grumbled.

“Get up!” Fidget shouted, hopping off the bed. She ran to the foot of the bed and threw the sheets up, so she could grab his ankle and start tugging.

Clinging to his warm, soft anchor of comfort, Arvel grabbed more tightly onto Rain, burying his face in her hair as his fingers pressed into her flesh.

“U-Unhand me!” Rain protested, beginning to squirm.

Arvel slowly opened his eyes, blinking the sleep from him, before looking down at the girl in his arms. He said the first thing which struck his waking mind: “You’re not a goblin.”

The next thing to strike him was Rain’s elbow.

After a quiet breakfast and the necessary morning chores, Arvel and Rain made ready to leave the house. Fidget was nervous, pacing as she watched them prepare to leave.

“We want to get a move on soon,” Arvel said, “Wind’s picking up, so it might start storming sometime soon. Gettin’ real tired of all this weird weather.”

“I thought it was strange,” said Rain, “I heard this area was horrendously dry, even by the standards of the Nathulan Province.”

“I’m startin’ to think I never should’ve nicknamed you Rain,” he said, “Didn’t have this kind of weather til you showed up, and it mostly cleared up when you were gone. Now you’re back and things’re getting weird again.”

Rain gasped at the offense before she turned and walked out the front door in a huff.

“Oh come on!” he called after her, “It was a joke!”

Arvel sighed as she stormed out, then looked at the nervous Fidget.

“So are you gonna come with us?”

“Eh?!” she squeaked sharply, “C-Come with you? To the human camp?”

“Yeah,” he said, “They’re gonna be our new neighbors. Sounds like from now on.”

“No!” Fidget said, stomping her foot, “Humans dangerous! Bad!”

Arvel sighed and said, “Humans aren’t all dangerous. Just like goblins aren’t. But as long as you think they’re gonna hurt you, and you bow up and show your teeth, then they’re gonna think you want to hurt them, and they’ll get their spears out... Then nobody can get along. So just try to say hi and be good, alright? Rain will put in a good word for you.”

Fidget balled up handfuls of her skirt tightly in her fists, and asked, “You sure?”

He grinned and said, “She’s the marchioness. They sorta have to listen to her.”

Fidget toed at the floorboards awkwardly for a moment before she turned and ran to one of the sacks of linens that were delivered the night before. She pulled out a red-and-white gingham curtain and swept it around her shoulders and up over her head like a cloak, hiding under it.

“That’ll do,” he said with a smirk, nodding toward the door as he stepped outside.

The wind was heavy and the clouds were dark by the time they reached the settlers’ camp further down the hill. Several folks were running about trying to secure their tents with more stakes and tension lines, while others had simply resigned themselves to breaking down their tents until the weather passed.

Fidget clung to the back of Rain’s skirt, keeping her head down, and covered with her makeshift cloak. She only peeked out beside Rain’s hip when she heard a familiar voice, coming from a group gathered around a makeshift table made of boards laid across the tops of two barrels.

“How many barrels of rainwater did we collect yesterday?” Ser Lunette asked.

“Ten at my last count,” Frederik replied.

Another man chimed in to say, “We’ve already started digging the well, and we’re going to line it with barrels. It will last us at least long enough until we’re able to start cooking bricks, or quarrying stone for something more permanent.”

“Speaking of which, I’ll be organizing survey crews today,” said Frederik, “to locate the nearest fresh water sources, and from where we can source stone, clay, and lumber.”

“Y’ain’t gonna want to do that,” Arvel said as he approached.

The group around the table turned to look at him. Some of their eyes brightened at the sight of their savior, accompanied by the marchioness in good health, but some of them tensed at hearing their plans so quickly belittled. Lunette and Frederik were on opposite ends of that spectrum, respectively.

“May I ask why?” Frederik questioned.

“Well y’can, but I was gonna tell you anyway,” said Arvel, “The best stone and lumber you’re gonna find is up on the mountain, and the mountain is where the most danger is.”

“We came to found Elediah’s Trail with a full appreciation for the risks,” Lunette said, “I anticipate sending guards with both surveyors and workers when needed.”

“It ain’t tenable,” Arvel replied, “Me and my pa had to collect lumber when I was a little kid, and it was tough, even with demons being absolutely terrified of him. I got snatched off the ground more than once, like a hawk grabbing a squirrel, and they knew my pa was in earshot. They ain’t gonna care about repercussions of grabbing one of your people.”

“Do you have solutions?” Frederik asked sharply, “Or just criticisms?”

Arvel looked directly at him and said, “Yeah, my solution is that y’all go home.”