criticalkink | CR Campaign Two: Mighty Nein era (characters)

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CR Campaign Two: Mighty Nein era (characters)

The rules are under the cut for you to read if you haven't already checked out the profile!

Welcome to the kink meme for Critical Role!

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What is a Kink Meme?
It's pretty simple. You post a prompt and your fellow fans get inspired and write fic based on that prompt. As it is a "kink" meme, a great deal of fic will be of the smutty variety, so if you aren't into that or not of a porn-reading age, this place won't be for you. Not all fic has to be smutty, but it does have to be kinky.

Clarification: This is a kink meme, therefore prompts must be kink-based. It is not a general prompting/headcanons meme. There have been a couple of people confused by that, so we're just making it extra clear.

Please only post one prompt per comment so to avoid any confusion.

How do I prompt?
Post each prompt as a new comment to the main post. Include pairing (or threesome or more if that's your thing) and anything else you want to add. You should put, at the very least, the pairing in the subject line along with a specific kink if it applies. You can put the whole prompt in the subject if it will fit, but if it doesn't, use the comments. For example:

Subject line: Beauregard/Jester, friends to lovers

Body of comment: Jester's been letting Beau use her for sparring practice. That kind of proximity does things to a tiefling.

I see a prompt I want to write! What now?
Go for it! You don't have to claim it, and fills can be written by more than one person. Once you've finished you must post it as a response to the original comment. Responses should use a subject line that includes the pairing, rating & any necessary warnings (i.e. incest, non-con, etc.). If you have titled your fic you can also include that. Also, as LJ limits the size of comments, if your fic goes into multiple comments, please note that your comment is part 1/5, part 2/5 and so on. Using the prompt above, the subject line could read:

"Punches and Pastries, Jester/Beauregard, M, 1/3"

And now some rules...

Since we're all supposed to be adults here, let's act like it. Be respectful to your fellow posters.
Your kink is not someone else's and their kink may not be yours. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's really that simple.
Please no bashing of other pairings. Just like with kinks, everyone has their own flavors, and this is neither the time nor place for ship wars. This meme is meant to include the entire fandom.
Crossover prompts are allowed, but they must include a Critical Role character as a main part of the prompt.
RPF is also allowed, but please prompt it over here!
Het, slash, femmeslash? You're all welcome here. The more the merrier!
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The most important rule of all? HAVE FUN.

Now go forth and prompt!

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It was not often that Essek was called home to his mother's house. The last several times had always proceeded grave news - the death of his father, the loss of a beacon, the outbreak of war.

Now an armistice was looming on the horizon, and Essek was left brooding over what bad news might have followed him home from the peace talks. It wasn't as if he didn't have plenty of it to potentially expect.

To satisfy his curiosity, more than anything, he answered the summons and arrived early for supper on the appointed night. His mother and her attendants were there, his brother was not, and worst of all there was a stranger sitting instead in his brother's seat.

He brutally refused to let any sign of surprise show on his face at the sight. As the newcomer's eyes flicked to his face and then gave him a once over, Essek was only mostly certain that he succeeded.

And when the shock passed, his mind raced to take in other details - an older drow. Not entirely a stranger - Issa of Den Daev'yana was a common enough sight in the castle. An older soul in more ways than one, on his sixth lifetime, beloved for his poetry and blood brother to Daev'yana's Umavi. No apparent ambition of his own, but skilled at making connections with powerful people.

(Skilled enough that, when he'd once tried to...press himself on Essek, thirty years past when Essek had still been but an apprentice to the last Shadowhand, one of Essek's first lessons about surviving in the Bright Queen's court had been that reporting the attack or making a fuss about it would be a waste of time. He'd simply tamped any lingering feelings about the attempted violation deep down into the back of his mind, been grateful that it had ultimately only been an attempt, and that had been that.

Or at least, he'd thought that had been that. Suddenly being confronted with those eyes again, Essek had an ugly moment of feeling as if he were naught but ninety years old again, young and out of his depth, a cold shiver down his spine and a fist around his heart.)

Shock and bad memories made him clumsy. It seemed as if Essek blinked, and he was sitting in his usual seat, conversation going on around him. He must have made the usual introductions and said the correct niceties on auto-pilot. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"--return from Bazzoxan soon," his mother was saying - the topic of conversation must have turned to Verin, as it so often did.

His finger were starting to twinge in warning. Essek made himself stop gripping his knife as if it were personally responsible for all his troubles. He ducked his head and tried to actually focus on what he was eating.

"Praise be to the Luxon that the conflict left him unharmed," Issa answered easily. "Perhaps we will even be fortunate enough to have him return for the ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Essek asked, before he could stop himself. The sight of both their gazes turning towards him made him feel cold, made him want to wilt - he knew he should have kept his mouth shut, should have made them involve him if whatever was going on was so important, but the feeling of being talked over like he was nothing but a child who needed time to get over a fit rankled in the way little else did.

(As both their gazes turned towards him, he felt a flash of childish wishing that Verin might be here with them already. Gods only knew that he and his brother often hadn't seen eye to eye, but, but...Essek was truly fond of him all the same. He knew in the way he let himself be certain of little else that at least Verin would be on his side against whatever storm was about to break.)

His mother cleared her throat delicately - a sign that he had been trained since childhood to understand meant "control yourself". A warning. He hated her for giving it now of all times, but made himself heed it for his own sake. He knew by the slow smirk spreading over Issa's face that the older drow wanted to see him crack. Essek would refuse him the satisfaction.

"That is why I asked you here tonight, Essek," she said. "In these changing times - certain decisions must be made. Though the conflict is coming to an end, that must serve as nothing more than an opportunity to us to strengthen ourselves and our dens in preparation for the next stab of treachery from the Empire. The head of Den Daev'yana approached me with a plan to perhaps allow just that. In these changing times, Essek, we must be prepared to change with them - to strengthen our house, in preparation for the next storm."

"We must stand together," Issa added and gods, just the sound of his voice made Essek want to shudder with revulsion. He held himself back with increasing difficulty and simply leveled a waiting glare at the stranger instead. Issa was entirely unmoved - he simply sat there, chin in one hand, trailing the fingers of another idly tracing the rim of his wineglass, smiling at Essek like a cat staring down a wounded canary. "And what better way to unite our disparate dens than with a wedding? Two families becoming one, to withstand the tests of time. Essek--" And this time, Essek was entirely unable to hold back a shudder of revulsion as Issa reached across the table and trailed his fingers lightly over the back of Essek's tightly clenched hand. "--I mean for you to be my bride."

"I refuse," said Essek immediately, and there probably were a thousand better ways he could have expressed his feelings in that moment, but none half as sincere.

"You do not," said his mother, sharply, and -- and he'd long ago learned not to expect anything from her, made himself understand long ago that she was a mother by blood only. Yet something in the finality of her voice still made him stare at her in disbelief, a stab of betrayal lancing through his heart. Somehow, it only fully sank in then just how many plans had already been made, while he was only the afterthought.

That brief flash of his own weakness only made him angrier. Essek made himself uncurl his aching hands and brought them down flat on the table instead, hard enough to make the cutlery rattle. "Do you mean to drag me to the temple in chains, then?" he demanded. "Are we to become as barbaric as the Empire in that respect as well? If not, then I refuse. I am not some...some unwanted bastard child, some third son you can trade for favors, I am not Verin, I--"

He made himself stop. Made himself breathe. You are getting hysterical, he told himself, though the words came to him in his mother's voice. Essek bowed his head, pinched the bridge of his nose, made himself breathe.

"--and, just as importantly," he finished, once he trusted himself to speak again. "I am Shadowhand to the Bright Queen." I thought that would be enough for you. "I have no time for marriage, for keeping a house. It is foolishness to even broach the subject."

"A replacement Taskhand can be found easily enough," said Issa lightly. Essek's fingers itched to choke the life out of him. And then -- and then the absolute bastard reached over to trail those long artists' fingers down Essek's cheek, along his jaw. "But I'm afraid there's no replacing you in my eyes. You're the only one for me, Essek, my darling."

Shock made him freeze for a second too long. A fresh wave of anger sent life flooding back into his limbs. Essek moved quick as a cat to swat Issa's hand away. "Do not--!"

The sound of the slap seemed to echo much too loudly in the suddenly crypt-quiet dining room. The sound seemed to take much too long to die away, leaving Essek with only the sound of his own breathing in his ears and the heat of their twin stares on his face.

Unbidden, he found himself staring at his mother, a plea building in his throat that he steadfastly refused to give voice to. You know. I told you what he tried to do to me. Why are you doing this?

"Deirta?" Issa asked, still sounding so very light, entirely unruffled. "Might I have a moment to speak with your son alone? It's true that we've imparted a great deal of information in so little time - if I could just explain to him some more of the facts of the matter..."

"Yes," Deirta said. Her voice was very cold. Her hand was gripped so tightly around the stem of her wine goblet that her knuckles stood out pale. "I think that would be a fine idea."

"Wonderful." Issa stood up, gave his mother a sweeping bow, and then nodded to Essek. "Come along, then." And he swept out of the room, towards the back garden.

Hating the idea of following like a summoned dog but knowing better than to waste time arguing with his mother, Essek got up without a word and followed.

He truly did intend to just talk. He knew, even now, that turning his attempted fiancee into a pulped ball of flesh with the power of gravity wouldn't actually solve all his problems. And he shouldn't have needed to. He was the Shadowhand, now, not just a weak and helpless student. He had power and influence of his own, he had allies, there should be no reason for violence because they could not do this to him...

Issa was seated in one of the garden chairs outside. Essek took a seat in another one, steepled his fingers in front of his face in an attempt to hide their shaking. "Well?" he asked, not bothering to hide his disdain now. "I'm waiting. What could you possibly have to say to convince me of this?"

Issa leaned back in his chair, a deliberately slow insouciance in the gesture that set Essek's teeth to grinding. He rested a finger against his lips in mock-contemplation, looking Essek over.

"You won't be Shadowhand for much longer no matter what you insist," he finally said. "Allow me to assure you of that right now."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Threats are for blowhards and fools. I am neither. I am simply stating a fact - imparting some information I received from certain sympathetic parties."

Oh.

Essek could have sworn that his heart stopped beating for an instant. His ears were suddenly full of ringing that might have been screaming, so much so that he nearly missed what Issa said next. "Those sympathetic parties told me that you've been involved in some very nasty business as of late, darling. The sort of thing that the queen would be most displeased to hear about. Really, it's a minor miracle that I was able to intercede on your behalf - to make them agree instead to leave you be if agree to step down, to step aside, and be mine instead."

"And if I don't?" Essek heard himself ask, much too quietly.

Issa chuckled as if the very idea were some childish joke. "Then the Bright Queen will hear of what you've been up to. What you've done while sneaking around her back. You have such a lovely face, Essek - it's only grown lovelier since last we saw each other. It would be such a shame to see it broken in the Dungeon of Penance or swinging from a noose."

Essek felt as if the noose had already closed around his throat - he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't see a way out...

Shock kept him frozen and rooted to his seat as Issa stood up slowly and approached him. Roiling terror kept him still as the older drow reached down to caress his cheek, then further down to take hold of his wrist.

And pain made him gasp as Issa suddenly gripped hard enough to make bones grind together, as he yanked Essek forward and off-balance, enough to lean down and murmur in Essek's ear.

"But there's no need to fear, darling. I'll take very, very good care of you..." His voice was a low, warm, intimate murmur. He swiped a thumb over Essek's lower lip, nipped his teeth against Essek's earlobe, and this could not be happening, this had to be a nightmare, this felt like a dream except for the terribly close heat of his fiancee's body, crowding him, looming over him.

"...as long as you don't give me a reason not to."

Then just like that, he was gone, he was stepping away, and Essek was left to clutch his bruised wrist to his chest and curl in on himself and try not to hyperventilate as Issa went back inside, confident in the expectation that Essek would follow.

OP Here. Casually grinning from ear to ear. Literally can't stop. I love this. I loooooooooooooooove it. I fucking hate Issa in the best way possible, such a well written villain! Ooooooooohhhhh! Like my toes are curling and I'm internally screaming from joy (it might be external normally but it's 12:31 AM atm) and I just am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy and excited I can't even articulate it.

Essek remembered the rest of the meal only in fits and starts, in scattered scenes and fragmented voices. If he said anything more, it was entirely on autopilot, the barest of niceties, and nothing more was expected of him. His mother and his husband-to-be were content to keep talking over his head.

One thing he did remember all too clearly was that Issa kissed him good night as they were making ready to go their separate ways. Feeling trapped, feeling lost, feeling exhausted and cold, Essek remembered allowing it just for the sake of getting it over with and not delaying his own escape any longer.

He remembered that Issa prolonged the kiss for just a second longer than he would have had to in order to make it believable. Just to remind you that he can Essek thought to himself, fists clenched to the point of pain at his sides.

He remembered staring helplessly as his fiance - as his captor made his way down the street in one direction, then remembered pivoting sharply in midair to drift away down the other direction. If he said anything to his mother in farewell, he didn't remember it.

In fact, the next time Essek was properly aware of anything, the next time he managed to blink his vision clear enough to stay that way, he found that he'd crossed half the city - he must have, because there was the great tree of the "Xhorhaus" rising over the rooftops not far away at all. The way his heart surged in his chest at the sight was its own sort of pain - raw and needy and dangerously warm, all the more sharp in contrast after hours on end of hatred and fear. He felt himself drifting closer even before he realized it - and then he stopped, took a breath, and turned around to go and find a shop that might still be open.

When he finally knocked on the Mighty Nein's door a little under an hour later, it was with a bottle of decently expensive wine tucked under his arm. The shitty night he'd had was no excuse for being a poor guest, after all.

It was Nott - Veth, her name was Veth now, he had to remember that - who opened the door. Her face broke into a smile at the sight of him. "Hey there, Essek!" She opened the door even wider to let him in, and he was happy to drift inside - into the sounds of everpresent chatter, into the scents of herbs and cooking, into the light. "What brings you here?"

"Just...in the neighborhood," he said - and just like that, he was as awkward and out of place as ever. The feeling didn't rankle as much as it usually did, though. After all, he knew that they - somehow, miraculously - did not mind.

No, the most important thing was to keep them from figuring out what had truly driven him here tonight. "I saw that you all had returned and thought I might as well check in." A beat, and then he belatedly remembered to add: "I brought wine."

"Great!" The bottle was gone from his hands before he could blink, and suddenly Veth was examining the label with a proprietary eye.

"Veth?" called a voice from the next room over - Fjord's voice, in the kitchen. "Who is it?"

"Just Essek!" Veth called back. "Here to say hello!"

"Hi Essek!" Jester's voice this time.

He smiled, his heart already feeling a little lighter, the hours before already feeling a little more distant, and glided over towards the kitchen to check in with the others.

It turned out that he had arrived at the tail end of their own supper - a few scattered dirty plates were still on the table as Caduceus cleaned the rest in the sink. Fjord and Beau were playing cards, Jester was sitting on the kitchen counter scribbling away in her sketchbook. After greetings were exchanged and Essek attempted to apologize for the intrusion or interruption, Caduceus shook his head and beamed.

"Not an interruption. Hell, you still hungry? We got leftovers."

"Starving," Essek agreed emphatically - and, before he knew it, he was being sat down at the table after Beau and Fjord hastily made room for him, and a plate of some steaming casserole of roots and vegetables and mushrooms was being set down before him.

The first bite nearly made him moan with relief - he knew he must have eaten before, but he also knew he hadn't tasted a bit of it, and it certainly hadn't settled his stomach at all. But this...the way Caduceus could turn the plainest of fare into something delicious had to be a divine gift in its own right.

And things quickly...settled, after that. Once the brief surprise of Essek's arrival had faded, the Mighty Nein went back to their business, simply folding him in to the space and accepting his presence as if it were normal. And when they did, it was easy for him to pretend, even if only for a while, that this was normal. That before had not happened. That this was his life, and nothing outside the door existed.

The feeling lasted until he'd picked his plate clean. Until he'd stayed a little while longer after that. Until he remembered himself at last, remembered that this was not truly his home, that he'd have to leave sometime. He could not hide here like a child afraid of a monster beneath the bed.

His resolve lasted until he laid a hand on the doorknob, and then it failed him all over again. Then he sighed, long and tired.

"Jester," he said, because of course - strange and sweet as she was - she had walked him to the door. "May I use your bath before I leave?"

"Of course!" she chirped. He could not meet her gaze, but he felt her looking him over, checking him for signs of dirt or stains, doubtless curious by the suddenness of his request. He certainly would have been, in her place.

"Just, ah, just a feeling," he hastened to add, in answer to the unspoken question. A beat, and then: "...please."

"...okay," she said, notably quiet and subdued this time - in his haste to reveal nothing, he had already tipped his hand, and cursed himself for it. "Just follow me!"

He followed her away from the door, down the stairs into the heart of the house, into the place beneath the roots of the tree where the hot tub was. Essek took a deep, steam-scented breath, then started to shrug out of his mantle and shirt.

"Oh!" Jester said, bringing him up short. "Oh you meant like a bath-bath. Not just, like, soaking your feet some more?"

He knew already that his feet and legs would be in particular agony in a little while - they always were, whenever circumstances led to him holding himself tense for too long. It was true that he'd entertained the hope that maybe the hot water could ease that building pain...but the true heart of the matter was that he felt the need to scrub himself raw, and here was hot water to do it in.

But he could not say that out loud, dared not betray any more. So he just nodded, staring at the floor, feeling a blush darkening his cheeks already.

"Okay!" Jester said hastily. "That's okay! I mean, it's a really nice hot tub, and I'm glad you finally want to enjoy it some! I already had a bath, though, so I'll just, like...let you chill out, then?"

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose." The joke felt stiff and flat on his tongue, but when he darted a glance upwards, he saw the smile on her face grow a little more pronounced. Esse mustered up a weak one in return. "Thank you, Jester."

"You are welcome!" She gave him a hearty clap on the back and then she was gone up the stairs, practically skipping. Essek let out the breath he'd been holding, waited for the sound of her footsteps to die away, then finished undressing and eased himself into the water. As expected, the shock of the sudden temperature change made his knees give a warning twinge - but he gritted his teeth, breathed through it, and finally submerged himself almost entirely. Even sitting on the benches that surrounded the interior of the pool, he was in almost up to his neck - this hot tub had been made for taller people than him, which sadly included Jester when Essek deigned to let his feet touch the ground.

Still, once the momentary shock passed, he could already feel his tension easing, muscles relaxing. Essek leaned back fully against the edge of the tub, tipped his head back, and let his eyes fall closed. Up above, he could still hear the sounds of the Mighty Nein puttering around, but growing slowly fainter as time ticked on. Of course, it must have been getting late. Presumably, even they had to sleep sometime.

But soon, Essek found himself so relaxed that he didn't so much as twitch when he heard another set of footsteps coming downstairs. It was quiet enough by then to recognize them easily enough - and he'd long passed the point where their owner could make him afraid.

Sure enough, when Essek next opened his eyes, the figure of Caleb Widogast swam into view overhead. The human was staring down at him with a curious smile on his face and a warmth in his eyes that made Essek's breath catch.

"Jester said you had stopped by," he said. And then: "May I join you?"

Essek nodded without hesitation and moved aside. "Of course."

Caleb stepped away to undress, and then he slipped into the water beside Essek, and - and before anything else, he leaned in for a kiss, and Essek met him halfway.

Checking back constantly for updates cuz I'm absolutely loving this XD like this is everything I could have imagined and more

This is so good. Looking forward to more. :)

I know right?? It's so hard to wait but it's also soooooo worth it.

I check back up on this literally every day, I just love it so much and can't wait to see where it goes! <3

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CR Campaign Two: Mighty Nein era (characters)

FILL: The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 1/?)

The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 2/?)

Re: The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 2/?)

The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 3/?)

Re: The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 3/?)

Re: The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 3/?)

Re: The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 3/?)

Re: The Most Delicate of Chains (Part 3/?)