Archive of Our Own ^beta

The light was bright and cheerful as it shoan through the windows of Twigs Inn at the End of the Road. The simple room in which Morning Frost was staying was tidy and the tabaxi took a deep breath of cool air before rising. He donned his robes, slid on his shoes, and pushed the door open. 

“Augh! Morning Frosty!,” Gricko chuckled a bit at the unintentional wordplay before continuing, “I was just comin’ to get ya!” The goblin grinned at him, completely ignoring the fact that he’d hit him with the door and grabbed at Frost’s hand to lead him into the kitchen where he could smell breakfast cooking. His tail flicked only a tad irritably as the chipper goblin started chattering away about breakfast and what hootsie had been up to since the pair had awoken. Frost allowed himself to be led to the kitchen, the smell of warm bread, butter, and honey hanging in the air. Kremy and Gideon weren't present yet, assumedly still sleeping, but Twig, Torbek, and Hootsie milled around the kitchen with twig moving large plates of toast and, hopefully avian, eggs while Hootsie entertained herself by swatting at the long coat tails that hung behind Torbek’s chair. 

“Hootsie please… Torbek only has one coat. Can't we play a different game instead?” The bugbear pleaded as sweetly as he could despite his gravelly voice while he tried unsuccessfully to shift her attention to a length of dirty yellow ribbon that dangled from his hand. The owlbear showed little interest and continued to tug at the lanky bugbear's coat, stopping only briefly when Gricko put a hand on her feathered head.

“‘Ootsie tha’s rude. Uncle Torbek asked you to stop; come ‘ere and eat your breakfast!” Gricko proceeded to pull 3 plates out piling them high with thick slices of bread coated in variations of butter, jelly, and honey before setting them in front of 3 chairs and helping Hootsie up into hers. Frost raised an eyebrow but sat regardless muttering a quick, “Thank you Gricko.” before picking up a piece of bread laden with butter and honey and taking a bite. It was delicious, most of Twig’s cooking was surprisingly good as long as the recipes weren’t too complicated, but the ratio of bread to butter to honey was perfect and Frost felt his whiskers twitch ever so sightly with satisfaction. 

“Thank you for breakfast, Twig.” Morning Frost rumbled out, taking another large bite of the sweet bread in front of him. The brownie looked up at him, seeming confused. 

“Well I mean you’re welcome but I dunno why you’re thankin’ me, on account a’ it was Gricko that made it.” The brownie shrugged and took an enormous bite of a piece of bread piled with so much jelly that it was actually fairly impressive that she was able to move it without the pile toppling to either side.
“Oh, right uh then, thank you Gricko.” The goblin smiled a blinding smile at Frost and the tabaxi saw the tips of his ears twitch like they always did when he was excited. 

“You’re welcome Frosty!” The goblins eyes scrunched a bit, “Oh, you’ve er, got somethin’ on yer face.” 

“Oh oka-” Frost’s voice cut off abruptly, his body freezing as the goblin beside him leaned over holding a damp napkin and gently wiped his cheek, the napkin pulling away with a slightly yellow honey stain. His heart beat faster in his chest but Gricko just smiled up at him as he cheerfully proclaimed that he had “got it.” Gricko settled back into his own chair, turning to watch hootsie as she tore small pieces of the bread and ate them. 

 Frost took a few moments to look at Gricko, but the goblin seemed to have completely moved on from the last minute or so without any fuss. Nothing seemed to be amiss, with the exception that Gricko didn't ususally touch Morning Frost so much. The tabaxi narrowed his eyes, glancing quickly to Twig and Torbek who were looking at the pair of them too. The little brownie looked mildly interested at the exchange but Torbeks eyes were wide and the bugbear grinned a toothy grin and gave Frost an ill timed thumbs up. 

“How are you feeling this morning Gricko?” The tabaxi watched his friends face closely for any signs that something was wrong but he just continued watching Hootsie eat her breakfast as he responded. 

“I’m feelin’ fine Frosty, ya worrier.” The goblin leaned forward to wipe a sizable glob of beezleberry jam off of Hootsie’s face before settling and tucking into the breakfast he’d made himself. Morning Frost squinted a bit at Gricko, looking to sense any sort of magic at work in the kitchen they sat in but found the place as unremarkable as ever. He even muttered a quick detect magic spell, feeling the drain on his psionic energies but still turning up nothing out of the ordinary. He rose from his seat, brow furrowed as he made his way back to his room to think on the subject, passing a tired-looking Kremy who was followed by a grinning red fire genasi. 

He sought answers, so Frost spent the rest of the morning meditating. He concluded that while he felt that Gricko’s behavior was a bit different than usual, it certainly didn’t warrant any type of concern unless the behaviors were to escalate or if he began to display any other odd, fey symptoms. 

“‘Ey Frosty, Kremy thinks we oughta set off now that everyone is fed n’ the like.” Gricko popped his head into the room where Morning Frost sat silent. The goblin, as per usual, took no note of the fact that he was meditating and immediately let himself the rest of the way in, tutting at the mess that Frost had left from his sorting his pack last night. 

“Y’know, twig works very hard to keep this place nice and you’re just throwing your things on the floor.” The goblin shook his head in mock disappointment but dutifully gathered the offending items and put them back into Frost’s pack gingerly. When he finished he patted the enormous pack happily before stating. “Well ‘t least its all packed up now!” The smaller man nodded, as if cheking his work, before delivering a quick flick to Frost’s ear and scurrying out leaving only a muffled “we’ll see you when you’re ready!” already lugging the backpack into the hallway. 

“Gricko let me. Uh. let me help you with that.” The goblinoid smiled but continued hauling the large pack over his shoulder. Frost moved forward and grabbed the pack from the smaller man’s shoulders, depositing it easily outside of his door.

“Oh well thank you Frosty!” 

“I mean it is… my stuff? Mostly… I guess?” Frost settled the bag against the wall, raising a questioning eyebrow at Gricko. The goblin paid him no mind, already scurrying off  assumedly to gather his own belongings.

The seven of them gathered outside of the inn and watched as Twig shrunk it to the size of a handbag before beginning the walk towards their next adventure. The walking was much the same as usual, Kremy and Gideon took up the front with twig riding on one of Gideon’s muscular shoulders, followed by Torbek. Hootsie trotted in front of Gricko who chattered at her, leaving Morning Frost to bring up the rear, the way he preferred it. He took the time to think about the events of the morning, reflecting on Gricko’s stange behavior. It’s not as if the contact was unwelcome or unwanted it was just strange for the goblin to break the social rules that the two of them had followed for so many years. Frost decided to try something, fuled assuredly by only curiosity as he matched his pace to Gricko. The smaller man glanced up at him as they matched strides but only gave him a gentle smile before continuing his chattering to Hootsie, who had found herself entertained by the various bugs that flew through the air around them. Frost felt a surge of nervousness flow through him but pushed past it as he allowed his hand to grasp Gricko’s shoulder, pulling the smaller man closer to him. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was expecting but was stil surprised when he felt the man relax under his touch and let himself be guided until he was leaning into the deep emerald green of Frost’s robes as they walked. Frost felt his tail swishing behind him, the traitorous thing happy for the contact, reacting to his mood as Gricko grinned up at him and began to chatter happily up at him. 

Odd… Morning Frost noted but felt no urge to let Gricko go. They walked like that for hours, until Kremy called a break for lunch during the heat of the day. If the reptilian found anything odd about their arrangement he said nothing, but Gideon grinned a shit-eating grin as he turned around and saw the pair of them, fixing Frost with a smile that implied all sorts of filthy things, though he had the wherewithal to not say anything. 

They broke for lunch, sitting beneath the shade of a large tree. Gricko pulling out some leftover bread and butter while Frost retrieved some of the jerky that he had stashed in his pack. Hootsie accepted a rat snack from Gricko before coming to sit at Frosts feet, head cocked to the side with her eyes like huge round saucers, the tabaxi sighed ever so slightly before giving the little owlbear a piece of jerky. The little creature chirruped happily and lay down to gnaw at the tough meat. 

“Awr, did uncle Frosty give you a nice treat, my lovely girl?” Gricko plopped himself on the ground beside Morning Frost, shuffling so that his head was resting in the tabaxi’s lap. Frost blinked, feeling his tail curl around him, with the tip of it curled almost protectively over Gricko’s chest. The goblin chuckled a bit, stroking the soft fur absentmindedly, sending soft jolts of electricity up Frost’s spine. He was unused to others touching his tail but oddly felt no pull to remove it, instead using his large, furred hand to brush the fine blond hair off of the goblins face, running his thumb over his large, pointed ears and noting the way the twitched under the attention. He could have sworn that a soft flush bloomed across Gricko’s face as he ran the pad of his finger over the tip, but the goblin said nothing, just tilted his head so Frost had better access. He looked up to find Kremy staring at the pair of them, eyes squinted like he was trying to figure something out. Frost shot him back a look that was probably just as confused as the alligator was. It seemed like something clicked and Kremy turned to Gideon muttering something to the genasi who’s head whipped around to look at them. 

“-No fuckin way.” the genasi said before a sound smack hit him in the chest, the green scaled hand not enough to cause any damage but the venomous look in Kremy’s eyes shut Gideon up quickly enough, though not before he shot Frost a goofy grin, waggling his eyebrows at him before turning back to Kremy and Torbek. 

Very odd. He thought to himself as the party began to pack up to once again begin the trek. He almost missed the weight of the goblin as he stood up, giving a gentle tug to the tail that waved itself in his face before gathering his belongings and getting Hootsie ready to travel once again.

 Frost was puzzled. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening. The rest of the party didn’t seem to see anything amiss and while he wasn’t unhappy with the change in Gricko’s behavior he wasn’t sure in the slightest as to what was going on. The goblin spent much of his time entertaining Hootsie which, thankfully, left Frost to his thoughts for much of the afternoon. They had all been subject to the magics of the feywild since entering this realm but they seemed to wear off naturally after a fairly short period of time, he’d never seen them last for a full day. He supposed it could be a different type of magic but he hadn’t sensed anything this morning and his friend’s behavior hadn’t changed nearly all day, and oddly enough he missed the contact he’d been enjoying this morning as Gricko walked ahead. 

The sun began to set and Twig started preparing to set up the Inn at the End of the Road in a clearing so they would have a decent place to rest. Gricko wandered over to Frost, leaving Hootsie to wrestle with Gideon while Kremy watched with mock disdain and as the two rolled around in the dirt. 

“Oh you’ve done it now Hootsie-” The alligator smiled as Gideon hefted the Owlbear into the air, dramatically swinging her through the air before pretending to slam her onto the ground, placing her gently down complete with sound effects. The young cub hooted and chirruped in delight. Gricko smiled at the pair of them, watching them play as he absentmindedly stroked the tail that Frost had hardly noticed had snaked itself to twine around the goblin. He felt the hair along his spine raise as the goblin stroked upwards towards the base of his tail, his breath caught in his chest and he thanked every deity he’d known of for the fact that his fur covered any signs of the blush that he could feel rising in his cheeks. I’ll ask him once the inn is all set up I- Gricko ran his fingers up the base of his tail once more and the traitorous thing twined around him more firmly, the goblin allowing himself to be pulled closer and smiling up at Frost who did his best to look unaffected, though Gricko would have likely noticed how large his pupils were. He really should stop the goblin but he found that he didn’t really want to and the pair stood and watched as the Inn sprung up and Twig called all of them inside. 

Frost found himself moving to the room he’d been staying in and depositing his pack quickly, determined to find Gricko and figure out what was going on. He didn’t have to look hard as Gricko was still setting up Hootsie’s bed in his room when Frost found him. 

“Oh heya Frosty! D’ya need somethin’?” The goblin looked up at him, apparently satisfied with his work. 

“Gricko what’s… going on?” Frost lamented the fact that he hadn’t planned what he was going to say and he finished his statement lamely. 

“Oh! Not much, jus’ setting Hootsie up ‘er bed.” Gricko responded, gesturing at the nest of pillows and blankets he’d made for the owlbear. 

“No I mean, with- with you? With us? The- touching?” Frost was usually more eloquent than this but it wasn’t coming out right when he spoke.

“Oh d’ya not like it? We never really discussed pda n’ the like.” Gricko looked up at him with his full attention, a rarity.

“P…pda? No it’s fine but, uh, why?” That was not the response that Frost had expected, not by a long shot.

“Is it so strange I’d wanna touch my partner?” Gricko raised an eyebrow at him.

“Partner… Partner?” Frost wracked his mind for some recollection that would answer his questions, maybe he’d lost some of his memory to a fey curse? It wasn’t as if he’d never thought about Gricko in that way but they’d never-

“Yeah we, well, I thought we talked about it a few days ago?” Gricko seemed uncomfortable, even somewhat upset as he spoke.

Frost thought back to the conversations he’d had with Gricko in the past few days, memory landing on a conversation from two nights past. Gricko had come into his room once again while he was meditating, and had seemed nervous. He’d rambled off some story about his uncle Glorbo- 

“Well see me Uncle Glorbo used ta have this pal, they was best buds and they travelled all over tha place together an’ well they spent all their lives together. N’ well me mum said they loved eachother a lot n decide tha’ they wanted to just travel an care about eachother an’ I guess what I wanted to ask was do you wanna do tha’ too?”  

Frost had hardly heard the story to be completely honest, hadn’t realized it’s meaning,  and had responded with mild irritation at having been interrupted “Is that not what we’re already doing?” The goblin had grinned at him, brushing a hand over the fur on his jaw before nodding “Right, right yeah! See ya at breakfast Frosty” 

Understanding crashed over him and he wanted to smack himself for being so dense, but Gricko was looking at him eyes confused and concerned as he watched him process the information that he’d just been given.

“Oh- OH.” 

“‘M sorry if I wasn’t clear enough I just thought maybe you felt tha same way I did.” The goblin looked hurt and was speaking softly “If ya just wanna be pals tha’s okay too-” 

Frost’s brain wasn’t working right, trying its best to process and problem solve and catagorize his feelings all at once, but he thought back to the day prior and the way his heart had pattered in his chest when Gricko had touched him and how he had truly enjoyed it. This was his best friend, he’d known him for years and he already loved him. There was no other choice to make. 

He sat down hard on the bed, the smaller man now at eye level and looking like maybe he wanted to leave. 

“Gricko I’m sorry-” the goblin’s face twitched, clearly trying to maintain some composure as Frost rushed ahead, not giving him time to run, “I’m sorry I’ve been so dense. Of course I want you to be my partner, there’s nobody else in the world that I’d rather spend my time with, except maybe Hootsie.” he smiled at the other man, who was grinning ear to ear. He reached out a hand and pulled the smaller man close to him scrunching his nose as the fine blond hair tickled him. He tucked the goblins head under his chin and felt a deep rumble in his chest, enjoying the solid weight in his arms. 

He felt the goblin’s arms wrap around his neck tugging his head down. He let himself be lead into a gentle kiss, feeling Gricko’s hands ruffling and tugging at the hair on the back of his head, seeking to deepen the kiss. Frost obliged, smiling into the kiss and feeling a smooth goblin tongue meet his own rougher tongue. The goblin let out a little whimper as he reciprocated stirring something inside Frost. 

Frost broke off the kiss, looking into Gricko’s soft blue eyes pupils blown wide, “Do you want to-” 

“You’ve got no idea how long I’ve ‘wanted to’ Frosty.” 

He felt nimble fingers tugging at his robes and shrugged them off, the fabric pooling around the pair of them. Gricko pressed soft kisses down his now exposed throat chucking lightly as he felt the vibrations of Frost’s purring buzz against his lips. Frost tugged the smaller mans vest off, carefully running the pads of his fingers across the warm skin that was exposed. 

Abruptly he stood up, hoisting the goblin with him and stepping out of the robe that had tangled around his legs before flipping the small man so that his back was pressed into the mattress and Frost was flush against him. He recalled the rection he’d gotten earlier that day and licked a rough strip up a long, pointed ear. The ear twitched and he heard Gricko whine below him, tilting his head so that the tabaxi couldhave better access. He nipped it lightly and felt Gricko shudder, before pressing a line of kisses down his neck, nibbling gently under his jaw and catching him once again in a deep kiss. He felt the goblin’s hands roaming over his torso, stroking and pulling the tabaxi closer. 

“Ngh, Frosty” the goblin said, tongue thick and breathing raggedly.

 He muttered an incantation into the kiss feeling his mage hand working to undo his trousers while his own hands moved to undo Gricko’s belt and shuck the baggy blue trousers he wore. He could already feel the goblin’s interest, his cock hardening beneath him. With the belt gone he quickly removed Gricko’s pants and small clothes, tearing the latter with a “I’ll mend them later” before pausing to look at the man beneath him, it wasn’t the first time he’d seen Gricko naked but this time was different. The goblin’s eyes were dark with lust, pupils large and skin flushed he dipped his head to flick his rough tongue over the other man’s nipple which perked up under his attention. He tweaked it lightly with his hand while he sucked hard on the other one drawing another whimper out of his partner. 

He shucked his own trousers and smallclothes with one hand as he continued his exploration of the goblin’s body pressing light kisses down his stomach as he made his way, torturously slowly to the cock that now pressed itself firmly against his chest. It was hard and flushed red at the tip and Frost licked an experimental strip from the base to the tip that had Gricko bucking up against him

“Please Frosty-” the man moaned up at him, but the tabaxi simply licked it again, enjoying the heady taste and the smell of the other man’s skin. He suckled a testicle into his mouth, rolling it gently on his tongue before moving even lower, hiking the goblin’s legs onto his shoulders so that he had access to the other man’s hole. He ran his tongue over it, enjoying the way the goblin twitched and sent his mage hand to stroke a gentle pace over the man’s cock. 

He heard Gricko whine as the cool, magic hand grasped him and felt him tremble as he tried to buck up into the pressure. Frost began licking in earnest, thrusting his tongue inside the goblin and listening to the gasps above him, feeling his own hard cock pressing into the bed, desperate for any kind of friction. He pushed himself back upwards so that he and Gricko were face to face again, and felt the small man whimper as his mage hand moved, releasing the goblin’s leaking member as it searched through Frosts pack for the small bottle of oil that he’d usually keep as a component for spells. 

The tabaxi captured Gricko’s mouth again, the man warm and pliable under him while he aligned himself and rutted their cocks together moaning into the kiss at the pressure, Gricko grabbed at him, the stubby claws on his hands scratching lightly through the fur on his back and scraping against his skin. Frost felt the vial of oil plonk onto the bed next to them, and he lifted himself just enough for the mage hand to be able to menuver the bottle over Gricko’s sensitive hole and dribble a good amount onto it. The bottle was capped once again and Frost felt gricko moan loudly into his mouth as the mage had inserted a finger into him and began to prep and stretch him. Frost’s own cock throbbed and he reached down, grabbing both of them in one hand and stroking Gricko keened at the velvety soft feel of Frost against him and bucked against him, drawing a strangled moan out of the tabaxi who thrust downward, milking the friction between the two of them while Gricko began to grind himself down onto the mage hand. Frost looked down between the two of them, their cocks hard and leaking against eachother, coating both of their stomachs in precum, and Gricko, tight hole having been loosened and glistening with oil. Gricko whimpered a protest when Frost removed the hand he'd been using to hold the two of them together, but quieted when he felt Frost align himself at his entrance and slowly slide himself in. He groaned a gravelly moan once he was fully seated and took a moment to steady himself inside the tight, wet, heat. He pulled himself out nearly all the way then slammed back in, forcing a cry from Gricko whose cock twitched against his green stomach. 

“Is that okay Gricko?” Concern dripped from Frost’s voice as he forced himself to still, unwilling to hurt the small man.

“Yes please, just, please move I can’t-” the goblin gasped out trying to move himself up and down on Frost’s cock. 

The tabaxi needed no more encouragement as he began to pound a brutal pace into the goblin, gripping his hips and pulling the goblin onto his cock. Gricko moaned, leveraging himself to meet Frost’s thrusts and giving out a loud cry when Frost hit that bundle of nerved inside of him. Frost grinned and adjusted his angle so that he was hitting that same spot over and over, Gricko was crying out with every thrust, moaning as his cock slapped against his stomach. Frost cast mage hand once more, using the phantom limb to pump the goblin’s dripping member in time with his thrusts. The smaller man tensed, Frost could feel the man’s hole spasaming around him as he came with a loud cry, spattering the both of them with beaded pears of white cum. Frost pounded into him as his mage hand milked the goblin’s cock through his orgasm. Frost felt a tightening in his testicals, the telltale lightning up his spine as he pushed himself over the edge slowing his thrusts as he rode out his own orgasm, suddenly feeling very tired. He pulled out his softening cock and scooted next to Gricko in the bed. He pulled the small man to his chest, using a hasty prestidigitation spell to clean the pair of them up and kissed the smaller man softly.

“Next time you want to ask me something life changing, can you please make sure I understood the question?” The goblin smiled and nuzzled his face into the soft fur of Frost’s chest.

“Sure thing Frosty. Anything for me best pal.” The goblin’s ears drooped contentedly as they spoke.

“And partner?” Frost tucked an arm under Gricko’s head, resting the other over top of him.

“And partner.”