Relationship between Jester and Fjord

Relationship
Jester and Fjord have been close friends since the start of the campaign, and budding lovers. They often reach out to the other to ask how they're doing, and have supported each other through their personal journeys. Though, as Veth pointed out, they have not "defined the relationship" between them, Jester's exaggerated waggling of her eyebrows seemed to confirm to Veth that she was still as "mad" for Fjord as he said he was for her.

The two of them grew up on the Menagerie Coast, and both have strong ties to the water, as Jester's father is a Water Genasi and a former sailor, and her mother is called The Ruby of the Sea. Fjord was also a sailor, and originally made a pact with a sea leviathan before he became a paladin of Melora, who, as the Goddess of Nature, holds domain over the seas. Additionally, they were both motivated to begin traveling because of questions they had about the father figures in their life. Fjord wanted to find Vandran and see if he was okay after the explosion of the Tide's Breath, and Jester wanted the find the father who disappeared before she was even born.

Apart from this, however, they appear to be very different. Jester is a very exuberant, playful and friendly person, while Fjord is much more reserved and serious. As their story progresses, and the Mighty Nein become more familiar with each other, they seem to have much more in common. Jester shows herself to be capable of being very sincere and serious; meanwhile, Fjord, becomes more willing to act silly and to let himself by the butt of a joke as he stops trying to imitate his old captain, Vandran.

Jester developed a crush on Fjord early on in their friendship, although at first it seemed very superficial. Fjord appeared to be oblivious to her flirting for quite some time. However, after spending a lot of time traveling together, Fjord began to admit that he may reciprocate her feelings. Jester, on her end, has reflected a lot on her feelings for Fjord, wondering if they were real, and if she still felt the same way for him. Fjord eventually admitted to Jester that he cared for her, and the two shared a kiss in private. A few days later, Fjord kissed Jester in front of the others, and declared that he was mad about her.

From the very beginning of the campaign, Jester has expressed that she thinks Fjord is physically attractive. She also stared at him with "heart-eyes" while he got oiled up by Maruo as they both tried to keep her distracted. Later, after a high roll allowed Fjord to be the one to successfully open a large metal door, Jester made it a point to remember what Fjord looked like so she could copy it into her sketchbook later. Fjord, meanwhile, has not said as much about his feelings on Jester's appearance, but was struck by just how "ripped" Jester was when she was showing off her magical tattoo.

History
During a panel at Emerald City ComicCon, Laura and Travis revealed that the first time Jester and Fjord encountered each other, Fjord witnessed Jester using her magic to play tricks on the people of Port Damali. This caught his attention because he had only recently received magical abilities from Uk'otoa, and was interested in learning more about magic. Sometime later, in another town outside of Port Damali, they ran into each other again while Jester was being chased by the town guards for having been caught stealing. They two of them recognized each other, and agreed to journey north into the Empire together. They traveled together for three or four weeks before they meet Beauregard and, a day later, the rest of the Mighty Nein.

Jester showed concern over Fjord's tusk filing and offered to support his choice either way about it. Fjord told Jester if she told him to stop filing his tusks down, he would.

Nott believed that Fjord and Jester were romantically involved, but Jester asserted that their relationship was platonic. She has since expressed her crush on Fjord - something that is sometimes played for comedy. Jester bought the erotic novel Tusk Love after realizing its hero, Oskar, is a half-orc like Fjord, and after reading it teasingly called Fjord 'Oskar' on several occasions. Jester seems jealous of Fjord's interactions with other women. During "Dangerous Liaisons", she drew pictures of Captain Avantika being stabbed with daggers following a flirtatious exchange between the two sailors. She also compliments him frequently, especially on him being 'handsome' and 'powerful'. Jester claimed that she was skilled in bed and offered to help Fjord improve his skills.

Jester was also thoroughly impressed with Fjord's ability to change his voice and accent. She pulled him aside while Beau was buying some wine to tell him that she liked all of his many voices, including his original one. Until, she was the only one who knew Fjord had been mimicking Vandran's accent.

Jester once claimed that Fjord had slept with her mother in an attempt to bail him out of an awkward situation with Ireena Clawmop, who had the impression that he wanted to sleep with her. Jester and Fjord both later admitted that this claim was, in fact, really creepy.

Immediately after the rest of the Mighty Nein rescued Fjord, Jester, and Yasha from the Sour Nest, Jester and Nott resumed their usual teasing jokes about the state of Jester and Fjord's relationship. Jester implied that the two of them had made a lot of "eye contact," while Nott joked about Jester and Fjord cuddling for warmth at night.

Fjord was impressed but also disturbed by how well Jester seemed to handle the trauma of being kidnapped by the Iron Shepherds. He told Beau and Caleb Jester sang to try and cheer up the other captives. He seemed surprised when Caleb suggested this might be a cover for her pain. Fjord was a little inspired by Jester's resilience. He did not tell her this, but later did tell Jester that her singing voice was nice.

Soon after they set sail in search of Avantika, Jester and Fjord stood watch together at night, and witnessed a bioluminescent jellyfish bloom in the water. Fjord shared some of his knowledge about the sea and jellyfish with Jester, which prompted her to ask Fjord if he ever "[got] sad." Jester opened up to Fjord, telling him about the sadness she felt for her mother, specifically her situation in life, and Jester's desire to see Marion be happy. Both Jester and Fjord admitted that they felt sadness over the things they'd had in their past that are now lost to them, and sad about opportunities in life that they have missed.

While escaping the Temple of The Cloaked Serpent on Urukayxl, Jester ran out of air and began to drown. Fjord kissed her and gave her his own air supply, putting himself in danger of drowning to save her. Fjord is not aware that this was Jester's first kiss.

Although Jester has not discussed the kiss with Fjord, she has since asked for advice about men from both The Traveler and Nott. When asked by Caleb if she had feelings for Fjord, Jester said she doesn't know. Jester expressed that she is uncomfortable with the blood pact Fjord and Caleb made in Dashilla the Dreadful's lair.

Nott has on occasion tried to encourage Fjord to return Jester's flirtation, which Jester has typically been embarrassed and flustered by. After the first fight with the Incubus and Succubus in Asarius, Nott asked if Fjord and Jester wanted to room together (following Fjord enquiring after Jester's well-being), and Jester, who had already expressed irritation and anxiety at Fjord and Nott both putting themselves in further danger when the party was injured and Jester was out of spells and could not do anything to help them, reacted with uncharacteristic annoyance.

During the fight against the blue dragon inside the Happy Fun Ball of Tricks, Fjord accidentally left Jester alone with the dragon when his Blink spell caused him to vanish. Fjord seems to be trying to be more considerate of Jester since realizing how much that upset her.

As the party chased Obann though Xhorhas, they were attacked by a group of The Lost of the Sorrowsowrn. During the battle, Fjord was grappled and saved by Jester. As soon as he was freed he gave her a kiss on the cheek saying "thanks". Later during that same trip, as they were both climbing The Arbor Exemplar, the branch Jester was holding on to broke, and she began to fall. Fjord immediately dived after her. With the help of Caleb and Nott's Featherfall spell, he managed to get a hold of her hand and cast Thunderstep to bamf them both back up the tree.

While in the Xhorhaus, Jester pointed out that this was Fjord's first official home. She mentioned that their rooms were right next to each other, and offered to create a hole in the wall between their rooms with her magical paint. Fjord asked her not to do so, because of Beau's snoring. Jester also noticed that Fjord seemed to be uncomfortable around water lately, which he quickly denied.

While on their quest to reforge Dwueth'var, Fjord approached Jester and asked her to cast Sending to contact Vandran. After learning that his former captain was alright and was not searching for him, Fjord expressed doubts about not knowing who he wanted to be anymore. He also confided in Jester about his fears regarding Uk'otoa, and told her about the several hours he spent without his magical abilities while they were still in Xhorhas. He asked for her opinion of The Wildmother and Jester offered to help him find a new deity, vowing to "do anything to get [him] away from Uk'otoa," which she declared would be their new mission. The next morning, when Fjord revealed that he had been using a fake accent to the rest of the Might Nein, Jester tried to warn him about the change (thinking that he'd forgotten about it). Fjord apologized to Jester for making her keep the secret on his behalf.

After Fjord broke his pact with Uk'otoa, Jester expressed her concern about Fjord's safety while he lacked magical means to protect himself while traveling. When he got his powers back and became a Paladin of the Wildmother, Jester excitedly declared she was proud of him.

After Fjord made a pact with the Wildmother in Refjorged, Nott suggested that Jester take off Fjord's shirt, which she did after some reluctance. When Fjord asked for his shirt back, Jester sheepishly returned it, trying to come up with an excuse. Nott pointed out that they might have needed to resuscitate Fjord, to which he replied: "I feel well looked after."

Fjord noticed Jester's worry about the passage of time within the Heirloom Sphere as they were searching for Yussa and she was worried that she could miss out on TravelerCon. As they left through the blue dragon's lair, he approached Jester and said that he realized the last time they were in there she'd been "in quite a pinch", he also called her using Revivify on Nott remarkable, and said that he was "glad [Jester's] here." She returned the sentiment and opened up about her not wanting to go back to "all the bad stuff" in the outside world.

As the Mighty Nein were preparing to return to Zadash for the first time after Jester discovered that The Gentleman may be her father, Jester approached Fjord for advice. She wanted to know if he thought their friends would mind if they took the time out to visit The Gentleman at The Evening Nip. Fjord reassured Jester that their friends would understand and respect Jester's desire to talk to the man who may be her father face to face, and told her not to "devalue" her own interests for the sake of the group's plans. Fjord promised that if it was what Jester wanted, they would make visiting The Gentleman a priority while the Nein were in Zadash.

On Rumblecusp, Fjord expressed his concern to Jester about the Traveler. He seemed to genuinely care about Jester's safety. Fjord later expressed his fear that if people got mad at the Traveler for disengaging with them, they could possibly turn their anger towards Jester due to her acting as Artagan's high priestess. He explained that he would support Jester in whatever she did, but that if the Traveler hurt her or caused harm to come to her, he wouldn't support that. Fjord also told Jester that he felt she had been keeping her internal feelings and discussions with the Traveler to herself, and that she could tell him.

Fjord admitted to Beau that he wanted Jester to be happy. He felt strongly for her, but understood that her early feelings for him might have been whimsy. He wanted to explore the world, see lands he hadn't seen, and find the things that people were scared of and solve them. He hoped she was a part of that. While Jester was holding onto the Traveler as he was being carried away in chains, Fjord used Hex and Relentless Hex to grab onto her. He called out to her, asking her to let go of Artagan. Artagan eventually shoved them both off of him, sending them falling. Caleb caught them with Feather Fall, and Yasha and Beau kept them from landing in the lava.

While the party was briefly in Rexxentrum before heading north, Fjord gave Jester a tiny unicorn figurine he had bought earlier, which thrilled her and she kissed his cheek. She excitedly told Beau about it and they both giggled about Fjord and Yasha.

A few days after the encounter with the undead Avantika, Fjord pulled Jester aside, concerned about how Lucien seemed to be focused on her with scrying and messages. Not sure if it would help, but hoping to provide a sense of security, Fjord gave Jester the Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location that Caleb had given him. Jester then asked Fjord how he was doing after Avantika's attack and the still-looming threat of Uk'otoa. Fjord said that he was all right, but was troubled by trying to move forward with his new life when the old life was still haunting him. He said he wanted to deal with his past before moving on. Fjord also admitted to Jester that he had contracted with Kotho to find his old crewmate Sabian, and Jester used Sending to contact the bounty hunter. Jester also asked Fjord to shut her mouth when it dropped open while she was Scrying in the future, which he agreed to help with.

Before resting for the night inside the Tower, a few days later, Fjord talked to Jester in her room. He expressed concern about her after the ritual with a circle of stone statues showed her a vision of the city in the Astral Plane. Fjord told her that watching her on the pillar was the first time he didn't try to stop something that was happening to her. He realized that they were getting into more dangerous situations and didn't want her gambling with herself, and that he wanted them to get through this and return home to the Menagerie Coast. Jester said that she would try to be safe, but if it came to it, she wanted to do everything she could to stop the city from returning. Fjord brought up the promise he made to Marion that he would look after her and admitted that he "cares very much for [Jester]". He pulled her in close and asked if he could kiss her, to which she nodded. After they shared a kiss, Fjord said he couldn't promise to let Jester throw herself into that kind of danger again, and told her that he had been wanting to kiss her for a while. They say goodnight and Fjord returned to his room where he found little sleep. Jester went to sleep holding the porcelain unicorn figurine that Fjord had given to her.

A few nights later, Jester took watch with Yasha. After learning about Yasha and Beauregard's upcoming date, she whispered to Yasha that Fjord had kissed her. She told Yasha that it felt like butterflies, and that she was surprised to feel more comfort than burning passion, which she expected from reading romance novels. She also said that she would wait to kiss Fjord again until after everything had died down, since Lucien's presence was making it weird. During the following watch, Fjord told Beauregard that he had shared his feelings with Jester and kissed her. When Beau asked how Jester reacted, Fjord seemed uncertain, but said she seemed happy. Beau mentioned that she noticed them avoiding each other one morning, and Fjord worried that he may have made things weird, to which Beau reassured him that he was doing great.

During the Mighty Nein's second encounter with the white dragon Gelidon, Jester used one of her highest spell slots to cast Heal on Fjord. She did it begrudgingly, only because it was Fjord. Fjord took it as a sign that she really loved him. After the fight was over, he walked over to Jester and kissed her in front of everyone, then thanked her. Jester was surprised, but seemed pleased. When Veth scoffed in shock, Fjord simply said "What? I'm mad for her." Veth asked if Jester was also mad for Fjord, to which she responded by a smile and a wink.

Several days later, after rescuing Marion, Yeza, and Luc from Nicodranas and leaving them in The Gentleman's care, Jester and Fjord took a walk together around the Blooming Grove. Jester confessed to Fjord that she had lied to her mother about running way from the fight with Lucien and the Somnovem to save her own life, because she did not want to hurt her mother's feelings. Jester then asked if Fjord wants her to reach out to Vandran before they return to Eiselcross, as Vandran was the closest thing Fjord had to a parental figure, and the two of them had yet to personally reconnect since the explosion on the Tide's Breath. Fjord said he appreciated Jester's offer, but did not want her to go through the trouble. He told her that the possibility of reconnecting with Vandran in the future would be one more motivation for him to survive their adventure in Aeor. They try to reassure each other that the Nein will easily defeat Lucien and thwart the Somnovem's plans, and walk back to the Clay family home, hand in hand.

Despite her discussion with Fjord, Jester's curiosity got the better of her. Out of sight of Fjord and her other friends, she scried on Vandran and Sent him a message on Fjord's behalf, even though Fjord had asked her not to reach out.. Jester felt guilty about doing what Fjord had asked her not to do, and came clean to him the next morning. Fjord was shocked to hear that Jester scried on Vandran, and he was even more shocked to find out that Vandran was reading Tusk Love. However, he insisted that he was not upset with Jester. Travis confirmed on Talks Machina that Fjord was not upset with Jester because he actually did want to know how Vandran was doing, but Fjord is still learning to be vulnerable and ask for help when it comes to his own wants and desires. Fjord saw Jester's decision to reach out to Vandran as a reminder that he has people in his life who are willing to help him, and her actions affirmed his feelings for her.

Trivia

 * Travis, who plays Fjord, has stated in the past that he doesn't like or want to roleplay D&D romance. Laura, his wife, who plays Jester, joked early on that she would flirt with him during the second campaign just to mess with him, saying he could never turn his own wife down.
 * After Travis finally initiated romance by having Fjord confess to Jester and ask to kiss her, the entire cast cheered, while he hid his (very red) face in his hands. Matt said he was proud of his growth, and asked how it felt to roleplay romance. Travis responded "It was great".
 * While Jester was reading the smut novel Tusk Love, she began to refer to Fjord as "Oskar", like the half-orc love interest in the story. Jester also seemed to recognize herself in the protagonist, Guinevere, even mistakenly calling her "Genevieve", which was Jester's birth name.
 * Fjord and Jester's playlists have featured songs about each other.
 * In Jester's first playlist, the song You're Somebody Else by Flora Cash was about Jester's conflicted feelings following her kiss with Fjord. Laura's commentary was "When you think you know someone and you really like them but then they start behaving differently than you’ve ever seen and you don’t know if it’s the real them finally peeking out or if it’s just a mask they’re trying on for a little bit and you feel really confused about it. Also, they sort of kissed you."
 * In her second playlist, Jester's feelings about Fjord are explored further with the song Summer's Gone by Aberfeldy. After mentioning Jester had been desperate to find a storybook romantic relationship in the previous song, this one's description reads: "Is that someone she was looking for Fjord? She thought it was… it could still be? But it feels like the seasons are changing and she’s growing up. Can those feelings grow up with her?"
 * Fjord's second playlist hinted at feelings for Jester in the description for the song Blue Healer, which reads: "I never thought I would feel like this. And despite my stubbornness, you've worn me down - and I hope for more."
 * In, Travis created two nameless NPCs who may have been a reference to Fjord and Jester. The woman was described as having blue skin, and the man as "greenish-skinned with large lower teeth". They had a baby with them, possibly a hint to the fact that Laura was pregnant at the time, which had not yet been announced. The couple and their baby were present in the first scene of Grog's tabletop RPG, in which Pike accidentally projectile-vomited all over them.