Nylan & Ragnar, Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Dear god, I am so sorry, but my extremely exhausted and voerworked brain seems to have gotten confused, and as a result I have written the wrong chapter for this week's update. That means next month, you'll be getting two chapters of "Caged Among the Stars." Sorry again!

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“Do you have everything you need?”

“I think so. Oh wait, I should bring a book to read!”

It was the day after my birthday party, almost three in the afternoon, and I was only just  getting finished with packing for a camping trip. To be fair though, it was a complete surprise. As in, I only learned about it last night, as my birthday party was ending.

It was just after I walked back inside from the backyard. Ragnar seemed kinda down, almost like he was disappointed about something. I was gonna ask him about it, but before I could, Khazak came right up to me.

“Nylan,” he started, pulling Ragnar over with him. “I can’t believe I forgot, but I actually have another present for you.”

“You do?” I’ve always liked presents.

“You have tomorrow off, yes?” I nodded my head, and he continued. “Well, now that I’m settled back in after my trip, I wanted to take you out camping with me and Ragnar. Just the three of us.

“Just the three of us?” My excitement dropped at the mention of camping, though looking over at Ragnar, I couldn’t say it was completely nonexistent.

“Yeah, just the three of us.” Ragnar quickly agreed, looking eager. “We can meet up at my place tomorrow at three.”

“Okay, yeah. I’ll be there,” I managed with a smile.

And I would be there already, but I was running late because of good old procrastination. It wasn’t that I didn't want to go, but camping has never really been my thing. It was always something Ragnar and Khazak liked to do, but I prefer to sleep under a roof and in a bed at night. But what did I know, maybe it would actually be fun.

“A book? Are you sure?” My dad asked as I started searching through my bookcase.

“Yeah, there’s a chance I’ll get bored out there,” I answered, settling on a nice trashy romance for the night. “A really good chance.”

“Well, try to have some fun,” Dad chided as I headed towards the door.

“I will,” I promised, and then I was out of the house. It was only a fifteen minute walk to Ragnar’s house from mine, but I was still a half hour late by the time I finally got there.

“Nylan!” Ragnar's mother Vrixa greeted after opening the door and quickly pulled me in for a tight hug. “We had a wonderful time at dinner last night. I hope you have fun camping. Ragnar and Khazak are in the den waiting for you.”

“Nylan!” Khazak greeted me as I entered the room. “We were starting to worry you might not make it.”

“Nope, here I am!” I tried to sound excited,

“You all packed?” Ragnar asked with a smile, and I suddenly was excited.

“I think so.” I showed the pack on my back. “I don’t have a bedroll though.”

“I should have a spare one!” he replied with a bright smile. “Let me grab it and we can head out.”

With our gear on our back, we walked all the way to the city’s northern gate. Another annoying thing about living in a secret city is that you can’t just leave whenever you want to. Rangers are constantly patrolling the forest, so you have to “check out” at the gate so they don’t think you’re an intruder, even if it's just for a single night. After getting our badges that will alert those on patrol that we are allowed to be out here, we start to march.

“Where are we headed?” I asked because I definitely didn't know my way around the woods.

“There's a nice little clearing that Khazak and me like to use,” Ragnar told me. “This will be our first time there since he got back from Maname.”

“YIt is a very nice spot,” Khazak continued. “It has nice tree cover to keep it cool during the day, and it is not far from the river.”

“Sounds good,” was my reply, even though I had know way of knowing if that was accurate.

It was a twenty minute walk to get to this campsite, and the rest of our afternoon and evening were fine, I guess. Okay, no they weren’t; I absolutely hated every minute of it. Despite the shade, it was hot and muggy the entire way there, there were bugs everywhere, and it took over an hour just to get our tents up.

I barely had a moment to sit and rest before Ragnar and Khazak both pushed me to go on a small hike with them, which turned into an impromptu fishing trip. Fishing is whatever - I mean, I guess I prefer it to hunting - but I wish I had brought my book or something because it is also boring. By the time we got back to camp, I was starting to wonder why I agreed to come at all.

“Hungry?” Ragnar took a seat on the grass beside me, and I remembered why I came.

“Yeah,” I answered, once I stopped staring. “It smells good.”

“It is just about ready,” Khazak told the both of us, still hunched over the fire.

“Who did more cooking on the road?” Ragnar asked as Khazak started taking things off the metal grate he set over the fire. “You or Ayla?”

“Who do you think?” Khazak didn’t even bother turning around. “Short of roasting meat on a stick, Ayla has not cooked in years.”

“It’s good to have you back.” And my watering mouth agreed.

“It is good to be back.” He approached us where we were sitting, a steaming plate in his hand. “Here we go.”

On the plate were most of the fish we caught, each on a metal skewer. There were also a few skewers with just vegetables, potatoes, carrots, and slices of squash. I helped myself to one of each, sure that I would be back for seconds. The fish was covered in herbs and had been grilled perfectly, its juices running down my hand.

“So, how's training been going?” Ragnar posed to Khazak.

“It is going,” Khazak replied, sounding tired. “They certainly like to work us hard in the early mornings.”

“They did the same thing with my class.” Ragnar assured him. “They’re just trying to weed out the people they know will quit when it gets rough. Things will lighten up in a couple of weeks,”

“And what about you?” It was my turn to ask a question. “What's work like for you, Mr. Officer? That uniform fit well?”

“I’ll have you know I've gotten plenty of compliments on my uniform.” He turned to me with a wink.

“I... bet you have.” Thinking of him in that uniform had me blushing, but I was hoping I could chalk it up to embarrassment at my lack of a comeback.

“How has work been for you?” Now it was my turn to answer. “Is Ragnar’s father a good boss?”

“Lenas is a great boss.” I nod, even though calling him by his first name felt wrong. “I really like working in the bookshop. Even on busy days, its quiet.”

“Do you think you’ll be there a while?” Ragnar asked me next. “Is there anything else you want to do?”

“I’m... Not really sure.” I got a little quieter. “I mean, maybe. I do love books.”

“Well who knows, maybe Dad will want to sell it one day,” Ragnar continued. “I know he was secretly hoping that I’d take over, but he gave up on that when I never really took much to reading.”

“Maybe...” It wasn’t the worst idea, but the truth was I did have something else I wanted to be do.

Writing. Ever since I finished reading my first book, I've wanted to be a writer. To create characters and entire worlds for other people to read and get lost in just sounds perfect to me. But I also thought it was embarrassing, too embarrassing to tell my friends, so I always kept it to myself.

After finishing dinner, we stayed up a little longer, talking and hanging out. At night, when the air was cooler, it was actually kind of nice to be out there, and I grabbed my book to read by the fire. Before I realized it, I was woken up by Rangar’s hand on my shoulder after accidentally falling asleep. I crawled into my tent and  was out like a light.

I wouldn’t say I was cranky the next morning, but I wasn't exactly pleased when I woke up and remembered I was still in the forest. The one upside was borrowing Ragnar’s bedroll - it still smelled like him. Grumbling as I got out of my small tent, I was met with the most wonderful sight - a shirtless Ragnar, in little more than a loin cloth, stretching his arms over his head. Thankfully his eyes were closed, or might have seen my tongue fall out of my mouth.

“Morning, Ny!” He greeted after seeing me exit.

“Morning.” I smiled, and tried not to stare.

“Good, you’re both up.” We turned and saw Khazak already awake and sitting by the fire, because of course he was. “I thought that after breakfast, we could go to the springs today.”

“Really?” The suggestion immediately brightened my mood and woke me up. “I’d love that!”

“I thought you might.” He grinned, then passed me a few small bread rolls. “Here, my Ruda made them for us. They're stuffed with venison and onions.”

I quickly tore through mine, practically bouncing as I hurried back to my tent to change. I had a pair of shorts I wouldn’t mind getting wet; we could swim naked, like we did when we were kids, but I wasn’t confident I’d be able to... contain my excitement, downstairs. Once the orcs were finished eating, they changed as well and were off.

The walk to the springs is a hilly one, and I was panting by the time we reached the top, but seeing those clear blue waters made it all worth it. I didn’t even wait for the other two, just ran forward and jumped in with a laugh. When I felt two splashes behind me, I knew I wasn’t alone.

We had a great time just swimming together, joking around and splashing. I laid back and looked up at the slightly cloudy sky, listening to the water flow over the small waterfall. It was perfect.

“Dammit.” Or so I thought. “We forgot the towels.”

“You mean you forgot the towels,” Ragnar corrected Khazak. “You said they were in your fancy new magic backpack.”

“Fine, I forgot the towels.” Khazak rolled his eyes as he climbed out of the water. “So I will go get them.”

“I mean, I think we’ll be fine without them,” I tried stopping him. “It’s not like we haven’t ‘air dried’ before.”

“Nonsense, I brought them so we could use them,” he insisted. “I’ll be back before long”

“That’s nice of him, at least.” Ragnar and I watched as our friend disappeared over a hill. “I guess it's just you and me for a bit.”

“Guess so,” I agreed, both of us treading water.

“So, now that we’re alone...” Ragnar looked around as though someone might be eavesdropping. “...What do you really think about working for my dad?”

“What?” This question actually surprised me. “I told you, I like working for him. He’s always been really nice, and all the customers love him. I mean, he’s my boss, I hope he likes working with me.”

“...Good.” He broke into a grin. “That was a test. You passed.”

“Spirits, you are so stupid.” I rolled my eyes and splashed him with both hands.

“Hey!” He sputtered and splashed me back.

And so I splashed him again, and then he splashed me, which of course led to a mini splash fight, with both of us flinging water at each other haphazardly and scaring anything that might be in the water with us.

“Gotcha!” Ragnar cried out in victory after grabbing a hold of me and pulling him towards his chest so I couldn’t use my arms.

It had the desired effect of stopping our splash fight, but it also had us pressed together; chest chest, skin on skin. Still treading water (he has got some strong legs), we both stared into each other’s eyes, and I swear it felt like my body was heating up even though I was neck deep in the water. Our faces started inching closer and closer together, until--

*KRACKATHOOM*

Until rain started pouring down from the sky.

“Shit.” Rangar, pulled out of the trance we were in, looked up in frustration. “It’s a thunderstorm, we need to get out of the water.”

“Alright...” I tried not to look flustered as we pulled ourselves out, facing away from Ragnar to hide the half-erection I had that was still growing.

We both got our shorts on and started walking in silence, not having brought anything else with us. I tried not to let my frustrated emotions show, but this sucked. This was like the only thing I actually wanted to do out here. I knew Ragnar could tell something was wrong just from the way I was stomping as I walked.

“Everything okay?” he cautiously asked as we trudged down a hill. “It’s just a small storm, maybe we can come back--”

“It’s not the rain!” I snapped at him without meaning to.

“Then what is it?” If he was hurt by me lashing out, he didn't show it.

“It’s everything about this stupid trip!” I finally broke and let it all out. “Like, why did you guys even invite me out here? You know I don't like camping, or the outdoors. How is this a present for me?”

“First you made me go on that stupid hike yesterday,” I started to rant. “Then I got a million bug bites when we were fishing, and I don’t care what Khazak says, it’s hot and muggy and I hate it. And the one thing I actually wanted to do, going to the springs, gets ruined by the weather. This birthday trip sucks!”

When I’m angry, I tend to pace and gesticulate wildly, and this time was no different. As I yelled, I stomped down one of my feet dramatically - and immediately I slipped on the wet grass and went tumbling down to the forest floor with a shriek. I hit the ground with a thud, and then cry out when I feel a sharp pain - something’s wrong with my ankle.

“Nylan!” Ragnar was immediately at my side. “Oh spirits, are you okay?” He looked up and down my body.”

“My leg.” I pointed at the offending limb. “I think I hurt my ankle.”

“Shit.” He looked down at my bare foot. “Do you think you can walk on it?”

“I dont know.” As soon as I tried to put any weight on it, a fresh burst of pain shot through my leg and I hissed. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Everything’s okay. We’re okay.” It sounded like he was saying that more to himself than me. “I’m going to carry you back to camp, alright? Khazak should be able to heal you, at least enough to walk.”

“Okay.” I nodded, not having any other options or ideas.

Ragnar very carefully picked me up, holding me like a bride to his chest. I could already feel the tears coming to my eyes from a combination of pain and the embarrassment over my little temper tantrum that caused it. I was a mess.

“I’m so sorry, Nylan,” Ragnar apologized as he walked. “This is all my fault.”

“No its not.” I sniffled. “It's mine. Or maybe it's Khazak’s for planning this,” I tried to laugh.

“Actually.” I looked up to see Ragnar gritting his teeth. “This was all because of me. I asked him if he would say that he planned all of this as an excuse to invite you and have . ”

“Why didn't you just invite me yourself?” I still didn't understand.

“It's...complicated,” he replied while looking forward.

“Complicated how?” I think I knew what he was getting at but I needed him to say the words and confirm it.

“Complicated because...” Ragnar paused, no longer walking. “I... I like you, Nylan.”

“I like you too...” I responded, suddenly feeling a million butterflies in my stomach.

“No, I don't mean like a friend,” Ragnar tried to correct me. “I mean I really like you.”

“I knew what you meant,” I said, the pain in my ankle fading to nothing. “I really like you too.”

“You... You do?” He looked shocked.

“How could I not?” I was equally surprised. “You’ve been kind and sweet to me since the day I met you. You make me smile every day. Even when I'm frustrated, you still make me happy. And I mean... Have you seen what you look like?”

“That's... I'm nothing special.” He looked a lot more pleased than his words let on. “You though... You’re smart, you challenge me, and you make me laugh. I’ve had a crush on you for years.”

“Me too.” Spirits, we were stupid. “...Why didn’t either of us ever do anything about it?”

“Because you're both idiots!” A familiar voice rang out from the forest ahead of us, before Khazak came walking around from behind a tree. “Now will you kiss him already?”

I was wet, cold, and my ankle hurt, but Ragnar did exactly that, and I’ve never felt happier.

“What are you doing with that?” The journal I was reading is snatched out of my hands.

“I was just reading.” I looked up to see an annoyed Nylan looking back. “I mean, I saw my name on it, so I thought it was for me.”

“It is,” he starts, holding the journal close to this chest. “Or it will be. But it's not ready yet.”

“Alright.” I mean, that seemed like most of the story. “But you should know that I really liked what I did read.”

“...You did?” He looks at me behind his lashes.

“Of course.” I smile and pull my elf onto the couch and my lap. “I loved reading how our story started. Even if it is a reminder of how stupid we used to be.”

“Yeah, we kinda were idiots,” he admits, putting his arms around my neck.

“I'd wanted to ask you out for so long.” I bury my face in his neck and inhale his scent. “I’d even plan it sometimes, like the night of your birthday party. I almost did when we were out on the porch.”

“I knew it!” He kisses me triumphantly.

“I can still remember rushing over to Khazka as soon as I got inside.” I try not to cringe at the next memory. “I was already coming up with the camping plan and practically begged him to invite you for me. He knew I was desperate.”

“He’s a good friend.” Nylan pulls back, lifting my chin to look at him.

“He is.” I leaned forward and kissed Ny, before lifting and carrying him to the bedroom. “And I have so much to thank him for.”

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This isn't the end of the story, patrons! This one is just getting split into two different tales. The next two chapters will be about Nylan becoming Ragnar's avakesh!