#i think that the jelly tarts are gonna be a big one
Note
Janai has a sweet tooth that very strongly reminds Amaya of Sarai’s. Sometimes it makes her nostalgic, but mostly she thinks it’s cute
was it necessary to hurt me this way, now, anon?
#excellent tho! 100!#49 to go#but really i'm all for janai having little mannerisms that remind amaya of sarai#i think that the jelly tarts are gonna be a big one#also SHE THINKS IT'S CUTE#haven't typed that in a forever#answered
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tdp - anastasia au
Thinking about a Dragon Prince Anastasia AU.
I don’t think I would change the universe very much- we would still have Katolis and Xadia, that long war and all those endless cycles of violence and grief within it. Moonshadow Assassins are still coming from the Silvergrove to enact their Dragon Queen’s vengeance.
Here’s the difference: King Harrow and his sons aren’t home in Katolis. They’ve been travelling, visiting other dignitaries at a conference in some other human kingdom. It was presented as a way of family bonding, but there was something tight and drawn in Harrow’s eyes when he suggested it.
They go anyway. They meet other monarchs. They feast on fine food. Successful conferences are often followed by parties, and this one is no different. The music is lively and the moon is full.
Then the elven assassins come. It is chaos. People are screaming everywhere, Callum and Ezran get separated from their Dad, and well…. You know the rest is history.
FEATURING:
Callum: playing the amnesiac prince who only really has some thread-worn clothes and a small little chain with the symbol of Katolis embedded in what can’t possibly be real gold. He feels like he’s missing something, something important, and really wants to get the Kingdom of Katolis in hopes of figuring out his past. He’s sort of surprised when an elf shows up and claims he might be the missing prince though. It’s ridiculous. Preposterous. Straight up impossible. Even if it is a little weird that he can remember that the King’s favourite jelly tarts are the persimmon ones….
(Also, moonshadow elves with brilliant purple eyes are suddenly appearing a lot in his ragtag sketchbook??? No idea why. Really. It’s not like she’s pretty. It’s just. She’s very aesthetically pleasing. For art purposes. Ahem.)
Ezran: playing the child king who lost his brother and father in one fell swoop when he was nine years old. He’s twelve, and he’s exhausted, but he has managed to work together with the other kingdoms to broker something like a very, very tentative peace treaty with Xadia. Lord Viren is his advisor, but it seems more like he’s there to undermine and trip him up at every possible opportunity. Ezran’s trying to find a reason to fire him, but one of the constituents of his young rule was that Viren would be there to…guide him. So just straight up telling him to leave without reason won’t work.
The last Ezran saw of his brother, he was alive. They had been running, and Callum had helped him up onto a horse and sent it cantering. He was supposed to have followed right behind him, but for some reason never did. He’s convinced that Callum must still be alive, though, even if that hope is dwindling. He’s offering a very high reward indeed for his sibling’s return.
(Ezran is tired. He’s tired, and he’s very, very lonely.)
Rayla: playing a moonshadow assassin who is desperately trying to redeem herself in the eyes of her people after letting the two princes get away through a hidden passage that fatal night. She’s been on her own for the last couple of years, ghosted from her home and more determined than ever to get this right. The protections around the palace have grown extensively since the attack, and If she has to use this nobody as a fake ‘brother’ in order to get close enough to King Ezran and finish the job, then so be it.
(Rayla doesn’t plan on falling in love. Stupid humans.)
Bait: Has gone on a miniature quest to find Big Brother Human himself, cause his Human is SAD and HAS BEEN SAD for SO LONG and it’s Not Good. He’s surprised, then, after a while of mindless wandering, to actually find Big Brother Human, smelling and looking a little worse for wear and definitely older, but. He’s got charcoal on his fingers. He scratches under Bait’s chin the same. His Human is gonna be so happy.
Bait forgot how annoying it was, though, that Big Brother Human does not understand him. If the Two Idiots would listen to him, they would not encounter HALF the problems they did.
(When all this is over, Bait’s gonna have some tales to tell.)
Viren: playing a royal advisor who is more than a little bitter that the crown has gone to an inexperienced child over him. He had been there, the night King Harrow had died, and he had made… sacrifices for his cause. This was not supposed to be the result.
Still, he is making leeway in winning the council over. The ridiculous treaty Ezran has made with the elves is shaky, and he can use this to his advantage. You can imagine his frustration, however, when he hears rumours about that overprivileged mongrel surviving. Callum had seen something, that night, that could ruin everything Viren has worked for. Something he could not be allowed to remember, or to live and tell the tale.
(The mirror in his basement has its own magics, its own way of reaching through miles upon miles and placing danger in an elf and a supposed prince’s path.)
Claudia and Soren: Working under their father’s orders, they’ve been given commands to make sure that the elf and a magical fake Callum never reach the palace, because they’re an endangerment to the crown and the kingdom’s safety. A trick from Xadia, according to Viren. A plot against the king.
(Soren asks what they do if it is the real Callum. I bet you know the answer.)
Amaya: Has moved closer to home with the withdrawing military presence after the peace treaty, as an extra measure of security and out of guilt of leaving her only family left alone for so long. She started conducting initial interviews of potential ‘Prince Callum’s’ the fifth time Ezran had come to her room, frustrated tears in his eyes, shakily signing about how he doesn’t understand why people would lie about being his brother like that, don’t they get how cruel that is? To give him hope and wrench it away?
Does she believe that her nephew is actually alive? No. Not really. Is the experience of interviewing people claiming to be Callum its own twisted brand of grief? Yeah. Sort of. But she’s willing to do it so that Ezran doesn’t have to, in hopes of making it some of those missing years for him. She’s shoring herself up for when he’s ready to hold a funeral, to stumble her way through helping him with this grief. She wishes Sarai was here.
(She also thinks that Viren is a piece of shit, but that is its own thing.)
#tdp#tdp ezran#tdp callum#tdp rayla#the dragon prince#anastasia au#my writing#is the first chapter of this already half written?#yes yes it is#i'm having fun :)
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love as magic :: rayla + callum’s mage arc (s4 update)
So I made a post about this over a month ago and a much longer meta about Rayla as an agent of Narrative Change in Callum’s specific arc with magic (as he has arcs with his family, grief, also running throughout Arc 1 and 2) forever ago ?? (Oct 2021 dear lord) but this is my unofficial follow up because S4 did what I’ve been hoping for for a very long time
Which is to say rather than leaving the parallels between Callum’s relationship with magic and his relationship with Rayla as purely subtextual, it finally made them 100% textual, thank you very much
So now I just wanna scream about why this is a big deal, to me, anyway
The first is that this is not technically the first time this has happened, with three main preceding events. The one that probably counts the ‘least’ purely because it’s supplementary material (although it did help me predict that Rex Igneous was gonna eat a jelly tart like 2 years in advance so you know, can also be relevant sometimes) is from Callum’s Spellbook, in which Rayla has a note saying “Love is magic” in agreement with him (and Amaya also signs it, so future Janaya foreshadowing maybe?) as the closing note / page of the entire book.
This sentiment is of course very well reflected in the other moments that draw the largest parallels between Callum’s journey with magic and his development with Rayla. When Callum connects to the Sky arcanum, he does so propelled by love from the memory of his mother and anchored in the present by love from Rayla, with pretty clear parallels.
And in his eyes, it is his love for Rayla that makes the wing spell work for the first time against all odds.
Season four continues this trend, then, with the creators confirming in multiple interviews that one of the reasons Callum became so obsessive about the mirror was to distract himself, and we see this first hand in their reunion scene as he goes to his half-empty Tome of Translation, then using the mirror as a wall, etc etc. Even throughout the season in terms of how he uses his staff as well, until he realizes he can’t use it as a crutch any longer and flat out drops it to pick up Rayla’s sword.
Okay cool, so Callum’s arc with magic often parallels this relationship arc with Rayla, even into S4. (If you’re interested in how it parallels in S1 and S2 I’d recommend the metas linked at the top.) Why does this matter?
Well, it lends itself very well to the idea that while reconnecting with Rayla, Callum will also connect to the Moon arcanum in a future season (likely season five) and possibly while breaking free of Aaravos’ brainwashing.
It also helps to balance out the negative side effects he’s experiencing due to magic use with some of the more positive ones, like the emphasis of agency in Callum’s arc or the fact it can help him protect his loved ones, like the rest of the Dragang.
TLDR; I think it’s a great example of how relational TDP is with its story arcs (i.e. Soren’s position as crownguard is about his own construction of self and also his relationship with Ezran, reaffirming each other in a loop) as well as how the show displays that the best things or characteristics in our lives can also routinely be our worst ones if taken too far to extremes, and I just think it’s a neat fun consistency and reflects how Rayllum’s dynamic changes every season, while Ezran has thus far routinely been there to anchor Callum as a foundational > transformative aspect.
#rayllum#mage boy#tdp#the dragon prince#tdp meta#arc 1#arc 2#s4#parallels#analysis#analysis series#moon arcanum theory#i am so sorry the last paragraph is one sentence but we're leaving it as is bc this was impromptu ok bye#s4 continually taking the undercurrents of the first three seasons and bringing it the forefront#my beloved <3#s4 is my best friend#wishlist achieved
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HE DEFINITELY ISN'T "PURE EVIL" ! I agree completely. The show has subverted expectations before and like let's b real they really shoved the "oh he's so evil and manipulative and gonna kill everyone" down our throats (like i feel like it gets repeated once every episode fr)
I'd be hella disappointed if there was nothing more to what we've heard. Thid has to be a set up for more. He's really cunning and manipulative, we've seen it, but we've only heard about him and what got him trapped out of the mouths of other characters. He is ancient, the things we were told about happened hundreds even thousands of years ago. Memories and events got twisted, forgotten and lost for sure and I've taken everything the archdragons and archmages have said with a generous pile of salt.
(also sorry if I'm overwhelming you with asks. I'm veryy excited to be talking about this with someone)
ITS BEEN CANONICALLY STATED THAT HIS PRISON CAUSED HIM A LOT OF EMOTIONAL PAIN AND TRAUMA. THEY DID A DTIYS OF HIM CRYING IN THE RAIN. I do think aaravos did all that shit. I also think the Aditi thing was literal because that’s so fuckign funny. like ok king get it ig?
also zubeia has personal beef with him so of course she’d be more biased against him. like I don’t think he’s a good person, but I do think that he’ll get a, well not redemption arc, but like. a domestication arc. simply give him exactly one (1) jelly tart (maybe some like. warhammer figures or something for enrichment) and he’ll be fine.
also you can’t solve the cycle of violence by beating the shit out of one dude. especially someone who HAS been as canonically wronged by people as aaravos has. Like he’s the ONLY reason that there were ANY survivors of sol regem’s FUCKING GENOCIDE. he clearly sees the archdragons as betraying him. It was considered a SPOILER by the creators to even answer the question if he had any friends (they eventually said that he did and that’s a big part of his motivation). and speaking of motivation, zubeia never brings up his motivations! I don’t know if she’s lying or just doesn’t know the full truth, but I don’t think her story is entirely accurate
personally my theory is that HE’S the star that rayla calls “leola’s last wish”. they both gave humans magic (she gave them primal stones, he gave them dark magic), leola’s last wish is the brightest star in the sky (even though he’s only at a fraction of his power, he’s still strong enough for like. four archdragons to not want to attack him head on), aaravos is kinda implied to be a guiding light in the elarion poem, leola’s last wish is used for navigation, there’s SOMETHING HERE.
do not apologize I’m also batshit crazy and I watched the season like two weeks ago I fear the blorbo brainrot is terminal
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Birthday trip day #1
Hi guys!
Here is my day one report :3
So I woke up Hella early.
They had waffles and they looked delicious but I normally get Motion sickness so I didn't want to take any chances. I ate a gogurt and drank some apple juice.
I was out of the hotel by 5 and at the airport by five.
Anyway So my flight was delayed I was 15 minutes late to my reservation at the Hello Kitty Café.
It was super fancy and I lowkey felt super embarrassed. Especially because my dress strap broke as soon as I sat down. Luckily I was able to tie it into place.
Anyway I’ll be doing a small review of all of the food.
The first thing I had was The birthday tea.
It was nice, I would have loved some more sugar because the tea was nice but I like it sweeter. Prolly bcuz the rest was a lot of sugar lol.
Anyway my suitcase had to come with me and I was dreadfully terrified of my dress riding up since I forgot my leggings so I tried to sit down and stay sitting down.
Also the staff was really sweet and were super nice to me even though Im sure after a six hour flight I looked a mess.
Our first treat was this yummy chocolate moose with a little cake on it because it was my birthday treat. at the bottom was strawberries and they were delicious :)
THEN they brought out the big guns.
I’m gonna go ahead and review everything. BTW, This whole tea was like 75 bucks.
Okay, so first course
The first thing I ate was this delicious salmon in a pretzel bun that I ate first because I was starving. The menu describes it as, salmon in a pretzel bun with cream cheese.
I do believe mine had wayy too much of the cream cheese. 3/5
The next one was the egg salad in a cone, idk why they served the egg salad in a cone but but it was crunchy and yummy. 4/5 because I wanted more.
then we had the pesto tart. I forced myself to eat the tomato as Hello Kitty Herself picked out and approved the menu. I hate tomato so it was awful lol. The mozzarella and pesto tart was okay. I kept thinking about Jimmy Pesto from Bobs burgers lol. 2/5 Because the tomato was icky.
The final thing was the cucumber milk bread “Sandwich”. I think this was the only thing I didn't like. It had cucumber dill cream cheese and milk bread. Tbh, it just tasted soggy and if I go next time and they have a substitute Im gonna ask for one. 0/5
Okay so our next treat was a crumpet and a spinach quiche. To me, I felt like this was exactly what Kronk’s spinach puffs tasted like, It was delicious and fluffy
The crumpet was delicious. it was even more yummy with the jelly. Next time I’ll be adventurous and try it was the butter as well. I liked everything on this plate so its a 10/5
Lastly, we have our desserts.
Our delicious Apple Pie, Im sure the recipe is exactly the same as Hello Kitty’s Mama makes.. it was yummy I wish it had apples though.
Our second was a keroppi petite four which was lemon lime flavored. It was yummy and so cute i felt bad eating it.
and finally our finale was a Hello Kitty Raspberry Macaroon which reminded me of the one from Disneyland. That was my favorite.
Lastly she gave me this little lemon candy and for some reason an empty cup.
Was not sure about that lol.
After that I wandered around the mall for a bit. I wanted to stay longer but my phone was dying and I couldn't find anywhere to charge it. So I decided I’d come back another time.
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and it’s good
DeanCas coda to 15x19: ‘Inherit the Hearth’
He hasn’t stopped praying.
From an empty world to one filled with people, Dean has gone to his knees every night—on the floor, the gravel, the dirt—and prayed. Head down. Face pressed to his knuckles. Dear Cas…
From each failed plan to their eventual, anti-climactic victory, Dean shares it all. And when it’s all over, when they wake up the morning after with no Jack, no Cas and no world to save, it’s bittersweet. Confusing. Like being released into the wild after living in a cage.
Where does he go from here? What does he do?
What does he want?
Sam doesn’t have a problem finding his own answers, but then again, he never has; he was the one with the life outside The Life: the college boy, the dreamer. Dean… Dean needs some time to adjust. Regroup. Grieve, maybe—whatever the hell that looks like. So, he serves himself a bottle of Jack, grabs a box of Pop Tarts, and makes his way to his recliner. First day of freedom? Dr. Sexy and sweet oblivion sound awesome.
“Hey, uh, what’re you—” Sam cuts himself off, skidding to a halt in the doorway of the Dean Cave. He’s got that pinched look on his face, the one that means: inevitable bitch face, concerned edition. Dean waves him off.
“Chilling out,” he mutters, taking a long pull from the bottle. “Figure I deserve a vacation.”
Sam narrows his eyes. “A vacation.”
“Yeah, genius. A vacation. You know, a little me time?” Dean takes another pull. “You got a problem with that?”
Sam shifts his weight. Frowns at the floor. It’s weird to see him like this; he’s so big, now, but that move is straight out of his teen years—when he’d been gangly and awkward and angry and unsure. He looks up, resolved, and Dean heaves an internal sigh. Whatever the fuck Sam is trying to do, he doesn’t want any part in it.
“What if you come with me?”
“Nope.”
“Dean—”
“Look, Sammy, we fought the big fight, we won, there ain’t nothing left to do,” Dean says reasonably, bitterly, turning back to the DVD menu. “So I don’t wanna go into town, or to the store, or wherever else you’re planning on gallivanting to today. I’m gonna watch my show, drown myself in booze and pass the fuck out, because that is what I’m owed. Capiche?”
“Eileen texted. I’m… I’m going to go get her.”
It’s weird, Dean thinks, how many times a heart can break. He clenches his jaw and swallows the lump in his throat, blinking rapidly. Allows himself a second—one second—of envy and jealousy before he slaps a smile on his face and nods. “Good,” he says. He means it. “You should.”
“So…” Sam trails off.
“So…” Dean echoes.
“…Come with.”
“Sam, I’m not gonna crash your romantic reunion okay? That’s weird.”
“Dean—”
“Sam.” And there’s more that comes out in that word than he ever intended. It hangs heavy in the air between them before dropping to the ground like a stone. Loud. Shattering on impact. Dean thinks his voice might have cracked and his vision is blurring because this pity? This is fucking worse. Shoving a Pop Tart in his mouth, Dean chews with his mouth open in the vain hope that his table manners will prove an adequate distraction, but that shit hasn’t worked for a long time.
It tastes like sawdust.
“Just go,” he says. “You have to go, man.”
It’s as much a plea for his brother as it is for himself, and for one long, terrifying moment Dean thinks Sam’s going to refuse. That he’s gonna be dragged across the country to witness his brother find happiness in a way he will never be able to have.
…But Sam is kind, not cruel, and when those big eyes of his fill with tears, Dean has never been so happy to have given himself up. He watches as his little brother’s shoulders slump. As he readjusts his duffle.
“I’ll be home in two days,” Sam says. “If you’re dead, I’m gonna pissed.”
“Yeah yeah,” Dean replies, forcing himself to tease. To be excited. He deserves this. “Go sing in the rain or whatever.”
“Or whatever,” Sam volleys back, a smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. He looks so happy, and Dean can’t stop himself from mirroring the expression. It hits him all at once, then—a sucker punch to the gut, the heart—that no matter what, he did right by his little brother. That he’s grown up to be smart, and kind and caring, and now he can be happy. And Dean—Dean’ll figure it out. But Sam’s taken care of and that’s… good. That’s a lot.
“Hey, Dean?”
“Mm.”
“I love you,” Sam says. He’s seven and thirty-seven and Dean feels something inside himself ease and break all at once.
“Yeah,” he murmurs. “I love you, too.”
Sam grins.
***
There’s no more frozen pizza.
It’s already a fucking travesty that the pizza place doesn’t deliver to their secret underground bunker, but Jack polished off the last two pies—and while it’s a little bit hilarious to think of the ‘New God’ (his kid) scarfing down shitty plain cheese in his pjs, it’s also awful, and painful. So Dean slips on his shoes, grabs his keys, and shoulders on the jacket with Cas’s handprint over his hole-y sleep shirt.
It’s not like he’s sober, but he’s done worse.
It feels like a shitty pizza day, so Dean makes a beeline for the Wal-Mart and its frozen section, stocking up on two of every topping from the cheapest brand they’ve got. He grabs popcorn, chips, twizzlers and margarita mix, because fuck it, and smiles at the cashier. It’s not an epic romantic reunion, but this is what normal people do, right? They take an entire day and wallow without the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Dean’s cradling his spoils, twizzler hanging out of his mouth, shuffling out of the garage when—
He freezes.
The kitchen. There’s someone banging around in the kitchen.
Not like aggressively banging—one quick sweep around the area confirms no signs of forced entry—but just like… moving shit. Washing the dishes from this morning, or getting ready to make something new. Dean’s heart is caught between hope and heartbreak and he forces himself towards the latter. It’s probably Charlie, or Bobby or Jody or Donna or, hell, even Jack or Claire. No one else can get in. And if it’s something dangerous… well, Dean doesn’t have a weapon on him, and his damn pizza’s thawing.
But it’s not Charlie or Bobby or Jody or Donna. It’s not Jack. It’s not Claire.
…It’s Cas; freshly showered, dressed in Dean’s fucking clothes, making himself a sandwich.
He’s beautiful. Dean’s shirt—AC/DC, the one with the mustard stain on the collar—is just a little small on him, and he’s humming, and Dean has to blink once twice three times to make sure he’s not a goddamn mirage but no he’s still there, still scooping grape jelly onto the good bread and then putting the dirty spoon on the counter like a friggin’ heathen and—
“Are you gonna wash that?”
It’s sure as fuck not what he’d meant to say, but it gets the job done. Cas drops the spoon—the spoon—and whirls around like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Dean,” he breathes, like Dean’s name is some kind of benediction. Like it’s important.
Dean clutches his groceries tighter to his chest. “A-Are you…?” he asks. Steps forward. Steps back. Stares because he can’t, he can’t— “Are you real?”
Cas is barefoot. He’s quiet when he steps across the linoleum. His hair is turning fluffy where it’s drying and his eyes are blue and bright and he’s a miracle. “I’m real,” he confirms quietly. His hand twitches by his side, and Dean thinks that’s fair. Thinks that he gets that Cas has reservations because of—because.
But they’re unfounded.
Dean drops his spoils because they’re an afterthought; nothing is more important than knowing, than reaching out to touch his fingertips to Cas’s shoulder. To his jaw. He can’t stop the tears from springing to his eyes like he can’t stop himself from laughing. Smiling. And suddenly he has Cas in his arms and he smells like Dean’s soap and Sam’s fancy shampoo, and they’re holding—clutching each other, and Dean turns his head because it has to be now he has to say it now: “Cas, I—”
“I know,” Cas interrupts. “You don’t have to—I know.”
“Yeah?” Dean asks, voice high with something like hysteria. The whole thing is so absurd, so insane, so fucked, that it’s all he can do to bury his face in Cas’s neck. To squeeze his eyes shut. To talk. “Well, you’re a friggin’ moron,” he says. “And you got no goddamn idea what you’re talking about, because—because you changed me, too, you dick.” Cas’s fingers dig into Dean’s waist and Dean’s heart pounds like it’s trying to escape and his throat is dry and he’s sweating and he’s gonna be sick, he’s gonna die— “A-And I love you.”
He wrenches himself away, then, glaring like he dares Cas to take the words away from him. “Okay?” he asks, rhetorically. Menacingly. It’s a declaration and a confession and a challenge. And Cas meets his stare unflinchingly. He reaches up to thumb at the wetness on the apple of Dean’s cheek. “Okay,” he says. He nods. Leans in. “Okay.” Their mouths brush. “Good.”
It’s not even a real kiss, so Dean can’t be blamed for how he chases; how he breathes good, in faint agreement like a lovesick fool, and moves until they’re kissing good and proper—slow and sweet and then deep and wet and it’s good, it’s so good, he’s so good.
Later, they’ll have to make every thawed pizza. They’ll drink the margarita mix and share the same popcorn bowl and pay no attention to Dr. Sexy playing in the background. They’ll talk about Chuck and Jack and Sam. They’ll stare. They’ll tease. They’ll flirt.
But for now, Cas twists his hands in Dean’s shirt and Dean buries his hands in dark hair. They pause for breath only to come together, again and again and again.
And it’s good.
#destiel coda#coda fic#15x19#spn 15x19#s15#spn spoilers#second to last coda ever folks#it's fucking emotional#adventures in fanfic
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The Thief and the Tinker, Part 3: I See Fire
part 2
Part 3
Viren: Well how do you suggest we get him out?
Claudia: *grins, brandishes marshmallow on toasting fork* Unharmed is just another kind of harmed
Viren: Claudia no
Claudia: Claudia YES
I See Fire
Angst rating: 9/10
Viren is clever enough not to take the Silvergrove on alone, no matter how badly he wants Ethari to make him a magic key. Aaravos could be cooking in that pod for a while longer, but Viren still has a trustworthy and badass ally at his side.
Oh yeah, it's Claudia Time again!
Claudia is a powerful and imaginative dark mage, and she has the tainted Sun staff. So, you're the magefam, and you've made it to Xadia, to the edges of the Moonshadow Forest. And all you need to do to get the power of your dreams is to threaten one soft craftsman. But how do you find one specific Moonshadow elf in a hidden Moonshadow village somewhere in the middle of a giant spooky magical forest?
You burn him out.
Credit once again to@random-fandom-ramble for reminding me of this forest fire headcanon, because it fits so well. and so I don't get all the blame for this one, lol
Because see, that's not ordinary fire. Oh, no. That's dark magic fire. We've seen that before. It leaves permanent scars. Remember Sol Regem's eyes?
That's going to be the landscape when Claudia's fire gets through with the Moonshadow elves' home. Where I live on the US West Coast, they name forest fires, and if they combine, they get called complexes. So maybe we can name this fire the Dark Tragedy Complex? Because I do have to wonder... you could start a dark magic forest fire easily with a tainted Sun staff, but how do you put it out?
Two things are going to happen if these events should unfold. One is angsty. The other is also angsty but then amazing.
Firstly, Viren is going to get what he wants. He'll find Ethari, whose tree burned down :(. He'll show him the coins, and he'll offer a trade. Build what he wants and make it work, and Ethari can have his family back, uncoined and free.
And Ethari will say yes.
He'll say yes no matter what anyone else tries to persuade him to do, and I hope they do try, because see: Ethari has to make it look good. He has to make it look like he's all in on Viren's plan, to Viren. Even if that means turning his back on his people in their time of greatest need.
Secondly, the Moonshadow elves are going to be collectively homeless and bereft, hungry, injured, terrified, angry. They will have nowhere to go. They will be a people without a home. And no one else in Xadia will help them. Maybe they're too terrified to hide Ethari's people in case doing so brings Viren down on them, too. We've seen how ordinary elves flee in terror from dark magic. Maybe they're all fighting other issues, too. Viren knows all about stretching resources too far during times of crisis. Whatever the case, there will be no welcome anywhere in Xadia for the Moonshadow elves of the Moonshadow Forest.
But here's where it gets amazing. Because one hand will reach out. One small hand, from across the border. Good King Ezran will stand up on the seat of his throne and say, "You can stay here. I have forests. You're tired, you're hungry. You need medicine. Let me help."
And I'm gonna cry like a little baby.
How many cycles does this break, how many circles does it complete? Moonshadow elves used to live in Katolis before the border was created. When humans were under threat of total annihilation, the Moonshadow leader's daughter spoke up and asked for mercy. That mercy came in the form of land reassignment, and the Moonshadow elves had to give up their ancestral home, their Nexus, and travel east across the new Border. But that mercy got paired with justice, and the life-loving Moon Druids probably had to swear some kind of blood promise to keep an eye on the humans forevermore, and to kill any individuals who got out of hand, as if their sins were the Moonshadows' responsibility now.
That's got to breed a little resentment, a little superiority. "Look what we sacrificed for you, and this is how you act. Ungrateful." And maybe that was partially Luna Tenebris's goal: to hold to her vision of justice, she had to make the elves who shared her arcanum feel a little resentment. Moonshadows love life, but we can't have them being too soft to keep Xadia safe from dark mages, now, can we? I will never stop cackling over dragon politics okay, never
But the Moonshadow elves never figured on King Ezran. A soft boy who refused to let his father's assassination harden his heart, because every life is genuinely important to him. I've seen headcanons for Ezran getting the Sun, Earth, Ocean, and Stars arcanum. How about Moon, too? Because this is very Ethari of him, and if these stories of Viren's plan and the Moonshadow elves' displacement were actually to happen in tandem, the contrast between Ezran's soft choice and Ethari's hard one would be mindblowing.
Ezran completes the circle by inviting the Moonshadow elves to return to Katolis, to their ancestral home. They left long ago, paying the price for an act of mercy, but they were welcomed back by the mercy of humans, repaid after a thousand years, repaid in the face of tragedy. Tragedy on all sides. Tragedy Ezran wants to stop from happening, by being brave and caring and soft, and by being the first to break this thousand-year cycle between Katolis and the Moonshadow elves.
Rayla is his friend. And these are her people. It won't matter what they've done, only that they need help in a time of great desperation. And of course he'll help them. He's Ezran, and he's Katolis's greatest treasure.
Oh, what's that you say? Inviting the Moonshadow elves to settle in Katolis again would make it easier for Rayla to live with Callum in the future? Oh gosh, how about that? What a deal. *smug matchmaker noises*
And once the Moonshadow elves understand that they're safe and begin to trust Ezran--which could happen very quickly, because saving a Moonshadow elf's life when you didn't need to is a really fast way to prove you're trustworthy--maybe Ezran will be encouraged to take the next step toward peace, and eventually other elves and dragons will come to meet together to talk it over. And Ez will offer them jelly tarts, which they will love.
Back to Ethari, because we're not done with him yet. Ethari is soft, but he isn't weak. He won't be a willing pawn for Viren. He loves Runaan to the point of invention, and his devotion is more constant than the moon itself. He'll agree to do what Viren says, and he'll be Very Sad. But his spirit is in no way broken. Viren bribing him with the coins containing his family will only have the opposite effect. It'll give Ethari something to fight for.
We could get Focused Chaos Ethari. We could get Angery Trickster Ethari. We could get Rules, What Rules? Ethari. Let him try to steal the coins, try to break them, try to kill Viren, and be stymied at every turn, until he settles and seems cowed. And then all he does is craft his way out of the problem. What if we are gifted with Iron Man Ethari, who pretends to build a fake Key for Viren, but meanwhile he's really building a coinbuster with whatever he can get his hands on - primal stones, magically imbued gemstones, stolen artifacts, his own arcanum, his own reputation as the Master Craftsman of the Silvergrove. He'll use almost- almost - anything, to stop Viren and free his family.
Ethari may have to choose between those two things, though. And he's a hero, deep down, just like his family, just like his daughter. If he has to choose, he'll choose to stop Viren and save Xadia. He'll pay the same price as his family has if he must.
He'd let Viren think he was motivated purely by wanting his family back, but Ethari is far too steeped in the illusion and sacrifice for that to be all there is to his motives. It's a so-close-and-yet-so-far thing, how he and Viren almost embody the same ideals. Almost. Ethari would take one look at Viren, who just burnt down his whole Forest, he'd see the biggest threat in Xadia, and he'd say anything to get a chance to stop this juggernaut of destruction from getting his hands on whatever that ultimate power really is, locked behind that missing key. If he has to abandon his people and bawl his eyes out to convince Viren he's in, then he will.
And Viren wouldn't make it easy for him. He knows clever when he sees it. He went through all this trouble to persuade Ethari to work with him. He would need to keep Ethari as off-balance as possible to ensure that he keeps working as he should.
Angsty jewelry, anyone: Viren giving Ethari his husband in pendant form to remind him what he's working for, when Viren and Ethari both know full well that only dark magic can open the hellcoins. Ethari wearing another pendant of his love, except it's not a metaphor this time. It's literally his love, in a coin around his neck.
Viren would know that Ethari would have to stay close to Viren of his own free will if he ever hoped to free Runaan. And making people bind themselves to you is a big power flex. Remember that TDP stream future-season teaser note about Bait being in a creepy restraint in a future season?
This card is written on in all-caps, so that really could be "Bait" or "bait," or--knowing this show--both. Viren's been using Runaan as bait for Ethari all along. Putting his coin in a dark magic pendant casing for Ethari to wear would be a great parallel for that. Oh god. Oh man.
Maybe he'll stab the coin's scary casing right through that circle on Ethari's chest, right over his heart, make that Iron Man reference really obvious. Ethari also losing his shirt at some point, for angsty Viren-related reasons? It's more likely than you think. I mean... Ethari is literally involved in both forms of forging at this point. Shirt's gotta come off for uhhhh work reasons. And because he's hot. Because of all the forging. I mean how else are we finally going to discover what his markings look like
I mentioned that I liked god-tier villains, right? Yeah, this is amazing. I haven't wanted to die and ascend over an idea for quite a while, but Ethari vs Viren in a drawn-out battle of wills would kill me in the best way. Especially since, while it looks like they're essentially fighting for who gets Runaan, they're truly fighting a much larger battle with much higher stakes. They're fighting for the future itself. It's an epic struggle between the Narrative of Strength and the Narrative of Love. And we've seen what happens, over and over, when the Narrative of Strength gets to call the shots.
On a meta note: If Runaan and Ethari's story arc isn't a love letter from one trauma survivor to another, and on a broader scope to all survivors who see it, I don't know what is. Sometimes life just chews us up and spits us out and we can't stop it and it breaks us. But sometimes we can reach out and grasp the chance to help each other, even after that, even when it hurts a lot, because we know what it means to be loved, and to love, and to want a safer future for each other and for people we'll never meet. The future is worth standing together for, helping each other back up for, fighting side by side for, even if you can't see how it'll end, or even how to begin. We are stronger together, and sometimes we need to fight for our "together" before we can fight for anything else. And that's worth it, every time.
This is glorious, it's beautiful, it's tragic, it's amazing, it makes me want to dance, it makes me want to scream into the void, it makes me want to slap someone with a semi truck. No, someone specific, don't worry, and he super deserves it.
Because Ethari is going to win. He was always going to win. He's soft, and he's clever, and he hasn't forgotten what love means. It's what he's fighting for. Not power, not control. Love. He doesn't want to dictate Runaan's future, or anyone else's. He just wants his husband--and everyone else--to have one at all.
So he's going to win.
What beating Viren looks like, I can't guess yet. TDP is no stranger to angst, so there will probably be a high cost involved in thwarting the dark mage. Maybe not everyone can be rescued from the coins. Maybe Ethari will lose his life, or his soul, or his vision, or something else really angsty. Viren could even kill him and resurrect him as a smoky craftsman, or a zombie craftsman, or something equally biddable but horrible. The only thing I'm sure of is that Ethari would never willingly make a working Key of Aaravos Ethari as long as there's a chance Viren could possess it. But I do believe that if he gets the right opportunity while he's busy saving the world from Viren's dark intentions, he'll break his husband's hellcoin open somehow and set him free, even if he has to smile at the devil to do it.
part 4
#tdp#tdp theory#tdp speculation#tdp parallels#viren#ethari#laindrin#runaan#moonshadow elves#moonshadow assassins#hopepunk#tdp angst#heavy angst#tw trauma
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I just finished writing the first vip panel with Rhona Rees, Paula Burrows, Jack De Sena and Omari Newton. My old post was erased (but I posted it again), I don't know what's wrong with my computer or this app, but if I try to minimize the page it erases everything I had written, so sorry for the double post. This is only the first part.
I've written the questions like the moderator asked them:
Rhona, who did you have a chance to work with in the booth and be next to and then we’ll go Omari and then Paula.
Rhona: I think most of the core cast were there when I got a chance to join in..Um..Paula, Racquel, Jesse, Omari you were in the booth for one of my episodes I believe. Jason, Sasha, yeah and first time I’d met Jack as well so, I mean, this was pre-pandemic, these days we’re all recording separately and it has made a real difference..Um.. recording cartoons is one the most joyful things you can do and I know that I don’t know how you guys have felt recording separately but it’s not the same, I miss the magic of being able to bounce off each other’s energy.
Omari: It’s sad. I would agree with you, like most of the main cast was there when I went in, you know? And I think we had a day where we overlapped but I’m trying to think now..Had this show been cast in this covid times? I don’t know if it would have had the same magic it does, if we did not all get to know each other and riff off each other... It is so much of the show, especially a show that relies on kind of humor and heart, relies on the connection with other people so yeah, I really miss it too.
Rhona: Yeah, and that connection, you know, between Paula and Jack’s characters, how do you build that when you’re not recording together and you’re not even hearing the delivery of the other people, like I think it’s great that you guys already have that established, so that if we move forward and things still aren’t ensemble, you’ve already established that connection and you know you can probably predict maybe how things are gonna go
Paula: Yeah, yeah. I mean, we’re being so lucky on this show like I don’t know, we usually record in a big U, so we’re all sort of shoulder to shoulder, I have Jack on one side and Jason on the other, so Callum and Viren, but across from me is Sasha and Omari are usually across from me as well, so you’re your scenes with people..Um..I don’t know, this is a new world going forward. I haven’t done any animation recording only solo records, throughout the pandemic I’ve only done commercial so I haven’t really experienced it yet, but in terms of recording The Dragon Prince, the only people I didn’t get to record with were the sunfire elves and Aaravos.
Are there other ships besides Rayllum..Um.. What is that ship with their aunt that’s deaf and…
Paula and Jack: Amaya?
Yeah! that's a ship, right?
Paula: they’re a thing
Jack: I think that’s certainly shippable if it’s not canonically a ship.
Omari: Someone sent a video of Corvus and Soren like they edited it and put it on youtube and I was like “Oh!”
Jack: I’m sure with Callum, I’m sure people, you know, there’s a Claudia thing as well but I always felt like-
Paula: Excuse me?
Jack (laughs): There was, but then they go on a date at the moon nexus.
Do they?
Jack: Yeah, kind of, and then she tells them his dad died so it’s not like a great date, it doesn’t go super well.
Paula: Was that a date or like a kidnapping?
Jack: I think Callum thought it was maybe a date
Rhona: I feel like a lot of my dates go “is this a date or a kidnapping?”
Omari: The fine line, right Rhona?
I think this is my favorite (Janaya’s picture), whether or not it felt like it and I loved Gren’s smile in the background.
Jack: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Paula: I have never looked so happy.
Right? So are there any others, like shipping Callum with different people seems really...It’s very clear that Rayla and Callum are a thing.
Jack: Yeah.
Rhona: I mean, when I was recording, me and Jesse were joking that Nyx and Soren would be a fun ship because they both kind of had this kind of slightly…(sorry, I couldn't hear what she said because someone talked at the same time and her audio wasn’t the best…) They never interact yet in the show but like let’s just throw it out into the universe and see what comes back.
Paula: I would like to see Bait fall in love.
Jack: Aww…
Rhona: With jelly tarts?
Jack: (laughs) Yeah, he has already.
Any other ships? No?
Jack: I mean, do people ship in sort of like a backstory way? Do people ship Harrow and Viren? Because I definitely have that mentioned.
Paula: right?
Jack: I think it’s a very textured friendship thing but I think there’s plenty to read the other way if you-
With Viren I could see but do you honestly think that-
Jack: I think that’s maybe more what I think...yeah I think it’s more.
Paula: There’s something that can be perceived as very saucy between the two of them.
Jack: There’s a vibe.
What is your favorite moment in the show? Rhona, and then Omari, and then Paula and then Jack.
Rhona: I think the moment when Rayla is meeting her... like ancestors by the pool, I don’t know how to describe..do you know that scene I’m talking about?
Jack: It’s the moon nexus, right? She’s like through the memories.
Rhona:Yeah, that was beautiful. I think that or when you guys have all those little fuzzy. What are those little fuzzy..?
Jack: Adoraburrs? Is that what they’re called?
Paula: They are adorable.
Rhona:Yes! I think those... That was like such a sweet moment and then, yeah, I really remember that. I really remember that moon nexus scene as being so emotional and beautiful and mature. (I think they may be talking about the Silvergrove scene?)
#the dragon prince#cast and crew#rayllum#Rhona Rees#paula burrows#jack de sena#omari newton#janaya#soren x nyx#virrow
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Just Like This | Chapter One
Summary: Rayla and Callum have been best friends since elementary school. Now, years later, Rayla is discovering new feelings for her best friend. The only problem: she's about 99% sure he doesn't think of her in the same way. Not willing to risk their friendship, Rayla continues to hide her feelings for Callum. How long until the truth comes out?
a/n: Hey everyone! Here it is, the greatly anticipated Rayllum high school au! Please please please reblog this, because Tumblr won't show this post in the main tags due to an affiliate link! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!
Word Count: 3372
Warnings: Language
Read on Ao3
~~~~
Sunday, September 30th, 2020
Katolis Supermarket, 5:31 PM
“Who wrote this list?” Rayla complained loudly, stalking behind Callum at the grocery store, shaking the piece of paper in his face. Her fellow sophomore was pushing a cart around, eternally focused on the task ahead.
“Well, Claudia suggested it, but everyone else added on,” Callum replied, not even looking at her. Stopping in the middle of the isle, he grabbed a 12-pack of soda and loaded it in the cart. “What’s next?”
Looking over the extensive list again, Rayla frowned. “Uh, it says… ‘those little animal cookie things with sprinkles, you know the ones’.”
Callum finally turned to look at her, a wide grin on his face as they both said “Soren,” in unison.
“Jinx,” Rayla giggled, “You owe me a soda.”
“Okay… just take one from the pack when we get home?”
Both teenagers continued through the store, Rayla getting bored of walking and hanging off the front of the cart, laughing as Callum made a big deal of struggling to push them around.
She supposed they should be hurrying. Evening was approaching quickly, and soon all their friends would be over at Callum’s place to study. Callum had dragged her off to the grocery store to get snacks for their cram session, considering she lived only a street over and had a car.
“We’re all going to be sick by the end of the night,” Rayla sighed, loading more snacks into the cart.
“Well, at least we’ll be awake,” Callum, ever cheerful, turned his head around to grin at her.
At his smile, Rayla felt her heart give a small wayward flutter, though she squished it down quickly. Tonight was important; she needed to pass this test to keep her grade up, and it wouldn’t help if she spent the entire night mulling over how cute her best friend’s smile looked.
“Yeah,” She chuckled, trying to pull herself back to the present. Keep it together, Rayla.
They got their unhealthy amount of junk food, collectively winced at the price, bought it anyway, and set about loading it in the backseat of Rayla’s car.
In no time at all Rayla was driving, Callum reclining in the passenger seat. With the radio cranked up, neither felt the need to talk, content to sit in the comfortable silence.
It was hard to believe that they’d been friends for eight years now. Rayla could still remember the first time they met like it was yesterday.
She was eight years old, in second grade, having just moved to a new school after her parents left on a military tour and she went to live with her uncles. Her first day of school had gone off without a hitch.
That is, until she met Callum at recess.
Content to play by herself, Rayla had been making use of the free time by pretending to build a fort under the slide. While pretending to hammer in nails, she noticed a small group of kids nearby. Two boys and a girl.
While she couldn’t make out all the words, the body language she saw was more than enough. The bigger boy, a head of blond hair, was pointing at the smaller, brown-haired boy, and laughing. The girl, black hair tied in two pigtail braids, was looking between them, unsure of what to do.
Curious eight-year-old Rayla snuck up, for she’d always been good at sneaking, and listened in on the conversation.
“Soren, shut up, he’s going to cry!” The girl said.
“Oh, so little Callum’s a crybaby now?” The boy, Soren, taunted.
“I’m not a crybaby, Soren!” The other boy shouted, though he couldn’t hide the sniffle at the end of his sentence.
“Oooh, Callum’s crying! Who’s gonna help him, his dad? Oh wait-”
Soren didn’t get to finish his sentence.
Well, she thought as she sat in the principal’s office twenty minutes later, Runaan will be happy to know that I’m learning something in my karate class.
All four kids were in the office, sitting in chairs in front of the desk. Callum and the other girl, Claudia, were both still sniffling from residual tears. Soren, fresh from the nurse’s office, was holding an ice pack over a rapidly blackening eye.
The door opened, and in came the principal, shaking her head with a sigh.
“You three again?”
“We didn’t do anything!” Soren shouted, voice whistling through the new gap in his teeth. Oh yeah, she’d knocked a tooth out as well. “She started it!”
“Well you were being really mean to that other kid!” Rayla protested. She and Soren glared at each other from their respective chairs, accusatory fingers pointed straight out.
“I wasn’t being mean, I was just joking!” Soren explained, “Callum’s my friend!”
“Well Soren, what you said was really mean-” Claudia interjected, but the boy, who Rayla had learned was her brother, interrupted.
“Callum, you know I was joking, right?”
“Well…” Soren’s face fell as Callum dropped his gaze to his lap. “It did kind of hurt my feelings, Soren…”
“Wait, you’re friends?” Rayla exclaimed, glancing curiously between both boys. “I thought he was bullying you! And my parents and uncles always said you have to stand up to bullies and-”
“I’m not a bully!” Soren shouted. Voices began to rise between them again, and the principal was forced to interject.
“All of you, quiet down. I’m going to talk with you each individually, and we’ll see what happens then. Callum, come with me. The rest of you: play nice.”
In the end, Rayla got suspended for two days for fighting, and Soren got one day for bullying. Despite the massive lecture Runaan and Ethari subjected her to, Rayla couldn’t help but feel like she’d done the right thing in the end.
When she returned to school, she was surprised to find Callum approach her at recess, a little paper bag clutched shyly in his hands.
“Sorry my friends and I got you in trouble,” He said, passing the bag to her. Opening it, Rayla’s face split into a huge grin at the sight of two tart-things waiting for her, filled with jelly.
“Soren’s usually pretty nice,” Callum continued, “But he doesn’t know when to stop talking. If you hadn’t stepped in, he would have said something mean without thinking, I’m sure. So you kind of helped both of us, in a way.”
“Oh. Well, you’re welcome, I guess. And thanks for the tarts.”
She was about to turn away and enjoy her spoils, but then Callum kept talking.
“Do you want to come play with us? Me and Claudia are pretending to do magic, and Soren’s a knight. You can do magic with us, if you want.”
Well, this game was certainly right up her alley. “I’ll play,” Rayla conceded, “But only if I get to be an elf.”
Callum grinned broadly, pointing to where the two siblings were playing. “Of course.”
~~~~
“The snacks are here!” Rayla called into the house, arms laden with shopping bags. Callum shut the door behind them, similarly burdened with the case of soda.
The pounding of feet sounded overhead, and several heads poked over the stairwell to glimpse the pair in the kitchen. “Finally!” Soren cheered, racing downstairs to try and rifle through the bags Rayla was carrying.
“Not yet, you lump,” Rayla scolded, pushing past the senior boy, “We’ve got to get upstairs at least.”
“Thanks for going to get snacks,” Claudia called, and her thanks was echoed by the other kids there. Callum and Rayla both shrugged, and made their way upstairs to the game room, where they’d all be studying.
Sitting on the various bean bag chairs and couches, the rest of the study group cheered when the food and drinks arrived. Andromeda, Callisto, Ram, Skor, and Marcos all leapt up to snatch the snacks they wanted. When everyone was sitting again, food in hand, Callum gave a dramatic clearing of his throat, turning all the heads in the room towards him.
“So, uh, thanks for coming over. Hopefully we can all actually get some studying done, since, you know, that’s what we’re here for.” He fixed a firm glance on the two couples in the room. “Ground rules: no making out in my house, don’t be super messy, and also please actually study. Soren, no idea what you’re doing here since you’ve already taken this history class, but okay.”
The older boy shrugged, taking a big gulp of his soda. “Moral support. A welcome distraction.”
Callum clapped his hands together once. “Okay then. I actually made a schedule for this, and if we follow it, we can cover all of the sections by… midnight, I think. 11 pm if we work really fast.”
“You made a schedule for studying?” Callisto asked in disbelief. Andromeda laughed, throwing an arm over her partner’s shoulder.
“Yes, I made a schedule for studying, I think it’s going to be very helpful!” Callum defended, crossing his arms over his chest. Even talking with the other two people, his green eyes somehow still managed to find Rayla’s.
She met his gaze, just for a second, heart pounding, before she looked away again. “Well, guys, if Callum wants to make a study schedule, good for him. Let’s just get started; I really need to pass this test.”
“Since when have you been worried about grades, Rayla?” Skor snorted, reclining in a beanbag chair, dumping spicy chips into his mouth.
“Since I’m in four extracurriculars and if I don’t pass, I don’t play.”
“Try-hard,” Soren coughed from his seat. Rayla just flashed him her middle finger, eliciting wild laughter from the rest of the room.
“Guys,” Callum whined, “I’m trying to be productive-”
“Okay, let’s start,” Claudia said, placing a gentle hand on Callum’s arm. It took everything Rayla had not to glare at the other girl, biting back the unwarranted flash of jealousy.
That’s all in the past. We figured it out.
Usually, she could forget just how close Callum was with Soren and Claudia. But then, something like this would happen, and she’d be reminded that before he met her, it was the siblings who were his best friends.
Having known them his whole life, it was no surprise that he’d developed a massive crush on Claudia in middle school. And he never shut up about it.
His confession at the end of seventh grade had very nearly torn their friend group to shreds. He wanted to ask her to the end of year dance, and when Claudia accepted he was ecstatic. Rayla had been happy for him, and just hoped that when they started dating, they wouldn’t be weird about it and make her and Soren uncomfortable.
But as it turned out, Claudia only thought of Callum as a friend. When she told him, Callum was crushed.
Rayla could still remember opening up her front door to see her best friend standing there, tears streaking down his face.
“Rayla, I just- I can’t believe how stupid I am-”
She pulled him into a fierce hug, and didn’t relinquish her grip on him until his mother came to pick him up. At school the next day, nobody could stop her wrath as she stalked up to Claudia and demanded answers.
“How could you?! You know how Callum feels about you, and you led him on anyway!” Rayla shouted.
“I didn’t want to hurt his feelings!” Claudia insisted, “And I do know how he feels and I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea-”
“No, I know what flirting looks like, and you led him on! He believed that you felt the same way!”
Claudia looked on the verge of tears, and some sick part of Rayla was glad for it. Let her feel bad for her actions, let her feel the same way Callum was feeling.
“Look, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. I just… I don’t see Callum in that way.”
“Then why’d you keep flirting with him?” Rayla’s voice was dangerously low. Their shouting match had attracted a small audience in the school cafeteria.
“I…” She was at a loss for words.
“You know what?” Rayla snapped, “Save it for someone who cares. Explain yourself to Callum, not me. It’s him who needs the apology.”
The next few weeks were tense. Hardly any of them spoke to each other. Even though Soren was in high school and had nothing to do with the drama, he still sided with his sister, like Rayla knew he would.
Things worked out. Slowly, but surely, they worked out. But not without a lot of tears from everyone involved, a lot of yelling, a lot of accusations. Things worked out.
But even after Claudia and Callum were on speaking terms again, he decided to ditch the dance. Rayla, who never was going in the first place, was more than happy to offer up her couch for a night of movie watching and junk food eating. And sure, Claudia’s Instagram photos were cute, but for Rayla, nothing could beat the fun she was having with her best friend, right here.
Rayla was pretty sure that was when she’d started to fall in love with him. Or, more accurately, when she realized that she already had fallen in love with him.
However, confessing your love to your best friend after a recent heartbreak seemed like a bad idea. So she kept it to herself.
Which, she supposed, was how she found herself here, three years later, still madly in love with her best friend who was none the wiser, getting jealous over a relationship she both knew was purely innocent and also she had no claim over anyway.
Cool, Rayla, very cool.
Shoving down her stupid feelings, Rayla listened as Callum went over his plan for the evening. Review through chapter 2, take a 15 minute break, review through chapter 4, continue pattern until they got through all the chapters they needed.
The plan was met with a loud groan of complaint from Soren’s end. “Callum, why are you even doing this? You literally have a photographic memory.”
“Well, you guys don’t, so really I’m helping all of you!”
“I mean…” Rayla snorted, “Soren does have a point. Why are you so worried about studying, Callum?”
The teenage boy scratched at his neck awkwardly. “Well, uh, it’s kind of embarrassing, but… I’ve only skimmed for answers this entire time. I need to actually read the passages to remember it.”
Rayla just rolled her eyes. “Callum. Everyone on earth just skims for answers. We know you’re all goody two-shoes, teacher’s pet, but chill. You’re going to be fine.”
“How are you so chill, Rayla?” Callum demanded, “Weren’t you just freaking out, like, two seconds ago? Hello, Miss I’m-in-every-sport-imaginable?”
“Changing the subject!” Rayla declared loudly, “Open up the textbook, Callum!”
~~~~
“Time check,” Ram moaned from where his face was pressed into one of the beanbag chairs, “How much longer?”
“We’re at-” Callum attempted to respond, but was cut off by a yawn.
“Chapter six?” Rayla asked, though she wasn’t too sure herself. All the words were beginning to jumble together on the pages. At some point her notecards had gotten mixed up, and random dates and events were scattered all over the room.
“No, the time,” Ram complained. The other boy sat up, brushing his shaggy white hair from his eyes. “What time is it? My curfew is 11:30.”
Callisto grabbed their phone and took a glance. “11:15.”
“Ok, let’s review,” Callum suggested. However, the entire room gave a loud groan of complaint.
“My brain is melting!” Soren cried, dramatically tossing his head into Marcos’s lap. His boyfriend rolled his eyes at his antics, though he threaded his fingers through the other boy’s blond hair.
“Soren, you don’t have to take this test tomorrow!” Claudia snapped, “Don’t start whining!” The girl looked almost ready to start pulling her hair out.
“Alright,” Andromeda sighed, “My mom’s calling; she’s probably here to pick me up. Thanks for this, Callum. If I find a quizlet I’ll send it in the groupchat, okay?”
“Yes!” Skor cheered, “Quizlet is my lifesaver!”
“Pass me some Doritos, Rayla,” Callum muttered in quiet defeat. Rayla hummed in agreement, grabbing the chip bag from the pile of snacks nearby. Her friend was so tired that he didn’t even complain when she took a couple for herself.
One by one, the room began to empty. Callisto’s dad came to pick them up, Ram agreed to drive Skor home, and Claudia, Soren, and Marcos piled into Soren’s little car to drive off into the night.
That just left Rayla. And Callum. Alone.
“Place is a mess,” Callum sighed, taking in all the damage. Although they’d started out pretty clean, as the night wore on everyone got lazier and started just piling the trash where they were sitting. Crumbs spilled over the carpet, and empty soda cans rolled about.
“Let me help clean,” Rayla offered, “I mean, some of the mess is mine.” She gestured to the notecards spilled everywhere. Her mind was a bit fuzzy from exhaustion, but she was pretty sure she and Soren had started throwing them at each other at one point.
“No, it’s fine-” Callum sputtered, but Rayla just rolled her eyes.
“Let me help. Then we can both go to bed and you won’t get in trouble for the mess.” She left no room for argument, and started gathering up all the garbage and stuffing it in the empty grocery bags.
They worked in companionable silence, just tidying up the room. Rayla knew his house well enough to know where everything went, and tossed out all the garbage and swept up the lingering crumbs. Soon enough, the room looked nearly spotless again.
“See, fast!” Rayla chuckled. She glanced at her phone. “Just in time, too. Runaan’s asking where I am.”
Callum surprised her with a sudden hug, catching her off guard for a moment before she returned it, trying to calm her fluttering heart.
It’s just a hug. Friends hug all the time, don’t get all excited.
“Thanks for coming,” Callum said, a tiny bit breathlessly, “I know you were worried about the test and I wanted to help, sorry it got kind of out of hand.”
“You… organized this all… for me?” Rayla hoped her face wasn’t as red as it felt.
“Well, yeah,” He laughed, “Even though you probably didn’t need it. You know all the material really well.”
“Only thanks to you, and you know that,” Giving him a friendly punch to the shoulder, Rayla couldn’t contain her grin. “I do feel better prepared, though. I’ll pass. If my brain doesn’t turn to mush first.”
“You’ll ace it,” Callum assured her, “I’m sure of it.”
His green eyes were so bright. And his smile so genuine. Rayla returned it, albeit with less enthusiasm. “Thanks.” Her voice sounded stupidly high-pitched, even to her.
He held her gaze for another long moment before glancing down, at the buzzing phone in her hand that she hadn’t even noticed, too caught up in staring. “You should go. Get some sleep for the test tomorrow, huh?”
“Yeah,” Rayla breathed, “You too. I’ll see in English tomorrow.”
It was an effort to leave the room. To walk down the stairs, quietly so she wouldn’t wake his parents, and out the front door. To open up her door and get in the car, turn the key in the ignition.
The entire street was silent. That’s how it always was, she supposed. The first to arrive and the last to leave. A glance up told her Callum was staring out his bedroom window at her, watching her leave.
With a heavy sigh, Rayla put the car in reverse. Pulled out of the driveway.
She wasn’t naive. Callum had always been big on physical contact, and it had never meant anything more than he cared. She wasn’t willing to put her heart on the line like that, not when she was sure he didn’t like her that way.
Rayla was a risk taker. Always had been. But this? To risk the relationship she already had with her best friend? That was one risk she would never be willing to take.
~~~~
a/n: Poor Rayla! I would like to apologize to everyone in advance; the pining is not going to get better for a LONG TIME
Tag List: (comment to be added or removed)
@hipster-rapunzel
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rbb04: cooking/baking
It's not like Soren was trying to find out first— Rayla certainly hadn't intended for him to: he's usually the last to find out about these sorts of things, and this, especially, should have been one of those things— but he hadn't really expected to be the one holding her hair back this morning, and he's pretty sure that she didn't either.
She did look a little under the weather at breakfast today, but the early July heat is stifling, so Soren'd shrugged and hadn't asked. She'd agreed to spar with him anyhow, so she can't have been feeling that bad. He had noticed the way she faltered though. Rayla doesn't often falter in a fight. Her movements are swift and deliberate, and she's had a home in Katolist for four years now, so Soren knows when she's holding back.
He was going to ask about that, but then she'd dropped her blades, clapped a hand over her mouth, and tried to stumble back into the keep without an explanation.
She hadn't made it very far.
Soren wrinkles his nose and cringes at the way she gags. "Do you, like, need to see a doctor or something?" he asks awkwardly.
Rayla groans. "Nope."
"Are you saying that because you're being stubborn or...?"
"No, I saw him yesterday." She takes a breath to steady herself, but she doesn't yet try to move. It's like she knows the worst of it isn't over, and it makes Soren grimace on her behalf.
He waits, wondering if there's more to follow. When there isn't, he prods. "Well?"
Rayla doesn't say anything for a while. For a moment, it feels like she won't at all, but then—
"Baking."
"Don't insult Barius like that," he snorts, because while Rayla's been here four years, he's lived here all his life, and Barius has never once made a bad jelly tart.
Rayla gives him a look from the side of her eye. "No, me," she groans. "I'm doing the baking."
Soren pauses, confused. "Shouldn't you be in the kitchens then?"
Rayla shuts her eyes and draws a patient breath which, even in her state, makes him feel like he's missed something. She waves a hand vaguely, and he catches it and helps her gingerly to her feet while he mulls over the sentence.
"I don't get it," he says aloud. "Aren't you gonna burn whatever it is you're baking if you're down here..."
"Moon and stars, Soren."
He scowls at her. "Well excuse me for being worried about your thing in the ov-" He stops.
Rayla gives him another look. A different one this time: a little panicked, a little thrilled, a little guilty that this how this coming out, because as he puts the pieces together, he knows she'd wanted Callum to know first, but he's away, and he won't be back for a few days yet, and this—
This is huge, and terrifying, and—
And as much as they make fun of each other and bicker, Rayla's like a sister to him now. It's too big a deal to keep secret, even for her, and she must have wanted to tell someone. But Callum's been away, and Ez has been busy, and he's probably the first person she's seen that she trusts enough for something like this (which is a little sad— or is it sweet?) and Soren doesn't realise how much she's leaning on him until he slackens his grip and her knees buckle.
Rayla yelps but he hardly hears her.
"You're—?"
"Baking, yes," she hisses sharply, eyes flitting around the courtyard like she's checking to make sure no one else is around.
"But— how?"
She gives him a third look: an incredulous are you seriously asking that question etched into the lines of her face, which, yeah, fair.
He shakes his head. "Callum doesn't know yet?"
She mirrors him. "It's in-person news."
"But the wedding's not for another month."
"And?"
Soren purses his lips. It's not a scandal to him. Not really. Callum and Rayla have been together forever, and it was always just going to be a matter of time. He helps her back up. "Are you even going to fit into your dress?"
She pauses this time, caught between are you serious and relief that that's his biggest concern. There must be so much going in her mind right now, Soren can't even imagine it, but then—
Then she laughs. "How big do you think women are at ten weeks?"
"I don't know, I've never been pregnant before, have I?" He grins, despite himself, watching the way the tension leaves her shoulders and the fear fade from her face. "Are you... okay?"
"I think so?" Rayla swallows. "I just— I dunno how Callum's going to react? We always talked about it, and I know he's always wanted— but I didn't think—"
"Hey." He stops her there. He can see her spiralling and this? This isn't worth a spiral. This is worth celebrating. "He's gonna lose his mind. In a good way. I can't see him ever not being excited about this. It's gonna be fine."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." He grins at her and claps her shoulder; a proud not-quite brother, an excited uncle-to-be. "Callum's gonna freak in the best way, I almost want to be there when you tell him. Or. Maybe not. You two are gross enough as it is." He shudders. "If there's anyone you should be worried about, it's Opeli."
"Ha!" Rayla's laugh echoes through the courtyard as it breaks from her lips. She seems calmer now. He's glad. "Think she's going to have a heart attack when she finds out?"
"Oh yeah," snorts Soren. "That I definitely have to see."
#rayllum#rayllum birthday bash#im playing a game called 'whats the loosest way to interpret these prompts?'#pregnancy#soren and rayla are bros in the future fight me#i cant find the insert cut button on the app#sorry team!
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LoL Chapter 27- Hermits
Masterpost
A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)
Its not often the hermits get a chance to all be together. And while they know battles lie ahead of them, they take this moment to enjoy being a family again.
______________________________________
Etho appears beside TFC, causing the mineral mage to sputter out the coffee he was sipping. “I caught sight of xB a few islands down!”
The hermits murmur with excitement and follow Etho to the shoreline. Sure enough, xB is hauling Hypno and Beef onto the warm sand. Hypno thumps his hand against his head, an attempt to escape his clogged ears which only fails for him. “Can’t we take a sky turtle next time?”
“But it’s more fun to swim!” xB chuckles, and with a flick of his finned ears and his grey tail he runs to hug the hermits. “It’s so good to be back, guys! I can’t remember the last time all of us were on the island together.”
“You guys said something about taking back Lairyon?” Beef raises an eyebrow, looking over at Doc. “This isn’t your rebellious phase coming back, is it?”
“We’ll explain everything on the way. TFC has a lot to tell.” Etho wraps his arms around Hypno and xB, before disappearing into their shared shadow.
The kipling laughs, shaking his head and looking around the island. “Some things never change. I see you haven’t fixed the hole in False’s forge either.”
The hermits laugh, the entire group filled with life as they return to the guild hall. Joe and Cleo regale the missing hermits with the story of their victory at the Chimaera’s Championship. Their battles and challenges in the arena, facing off against the best guilds and winning the cup. They also tell Hypno, xB, and Beef about the heist, the discovery.
“Why am I not surprised?” Hypno hums, tapping his fingers against the wood of the table that he sits down at. TFC pats the boys on the head, grabbing at Beef’s face and tapping his finger on a scar he sees. Beef shrinks away, concerned for a second, but the guildmaster only chuckles in response.
“I can’t wait to hear that story. It’s good to have you guys back.” TFC pats him on the back. “Treat you to a pint of beer next time we go to town.”
“Let’s hear about this big job you’ve got planned for us first.” xB raises an eyebrow. In response, TFC rolls out his map.
The paper has changed since they first decided to go after Dolios and his creepy crystals. If there’s one thing an outlaw guild knows how to do, it’s to find new jobs through the grapevine. “Dolios has these tales silenced. I’ve heard of at least six other guilds being attacked or wiped out by unknown magic. Unfortunately, we’re too late to help them.” Team ZIT glance at one another, but focus on the here and now. “But there are places we can make a difference, as well as get information and better ourselves as a group.”
TFC motions to the Evernight forest. “An old friend of mine said there has been stories of familiars and companion animals going missing. No trace of where they went, except for a few patches of charred grass.”
“Charred, or drained?” Mumbo muses. To anyone, that sounds like the signs of a dragon ravaging Foresta, but after Mumbo’s duel with a draconic mage he knows dragons aren’t that dastardly. Nothing is as dastardly as Dolios.
TFC grins, the newest member and the guildmaster sharing a knowing glint. “There’s also Shellor- which, I believe one of our hermits here knows quite intimately.” Etho gives a two fingered salute, rocking on the back legs of his chair until they fall out from under him, dumping him on the floor. Doc, Beef, and BDubs laugh at him. “There’s a few spies who’ve seen things Dolios has done, but the hard part will be earning their trust.”
“Hmm, yeah. I don’t think I really left Shellor on a good note.” Etho grimaces.
“That’ll be you, Keralis, and Grian’s problem. Meanwhile, we also need some help in the magical beings department. And if there’s one group that has mysterious, arcane magic on lock, it’s-”
“The fae!” Stress slams down her hands, a bright smile on her face. Iskall jolts upright and nearly hits the table again on the way down. “But where will we go? The fjords? The mountains? Heartbreak Trench?”
“The flowerfruit fields. While you’re there, you and BDubs can gather ingredients that we’ve been running low on.” TFC glances at the map, running a finger over the lime green patch on the map. “We do have two confirmed crystal sightings, as well as Gildara. Edenswell seems to be falling ill to dark magic, and there’s reasonable belief that Dolios isn’t getting these massive rocks from nowhere- he’s using gems from the mines.”
Heads peek over one another in an attempt to see the map. The charcoal diamonds and swirls. Gildara still sits untouched, and every hermit looks at one another. Do any of them want to return to the beginning of this all? Even to put an end to the dark magic plaguing the land, the memories of what they saw, what they experienced, still remain.
Except for those that weren’t there. “I don’t think I’d mind checking out this hokey little town you guys keep talking about.” Beef grins, glancing over at Hypno and Wels. “We’ll have that place brimming with flaxen fields and green gardens all over again.”
TFC grins, dipping his head in thanks to the returning hermits. He leans back, looking at the filled guild hall. “It’s been so long since we’ve all been together. If only it were on good terms.”
“It feels good to return home.” xB ruffles his hair with a scaled hand, looking around for a second, then returning to speaking. “Even if it’s just for a short time, we should enjoy everyone being together again.”
“What I’m hearing is we need to have our signature hermit celebrations.” Tango’s face splits into a devious smile. All around him, other hermits get a similar smirk on their face. Before TFC can agree to the idea, the hermits are gone. Cleo rushes to her wrecked pirate ship, hefting kegs of ale with the aid of Stress. Wels commandeers False’s forge to begin baking his favorite sweets, while Mumbo, Grian, and Iskall work together to fix the pennants, lanterns, and flags that decorate the guild hall in a myriad of colors.
Tango snaps his fingers, and a small flame dances at his fingertips, jumping from his nails to the wicks of the lanterns. He ducks out of the way just in time to avoid being smacked in the face by a massive fish, tossed from the sea by xB and grabbed by Grian midair. The whirlpool mage disappears back underwater, back to hunting in the realm he was born in.
The sun begins to inch towards the western horizon, turning the sky ablaze in a mosaic of pinks, oranges, yellows, and reds. A blue flag flutters against the ancient oak tree, catching on a branch. BDubs reaches out from his seat near the food platters, hardly even glancing away from the fresh baked goods, and with a flick of his wrist the branch bends away and the flag flies free again.
False appears beside Wels, grabbing a brownie from the hot pan and sticking her tongue out at him as she passes. When Wels objects she’s quick to retort. “You used my forge. It’s rental payment, paladin.”
Beef sets out plates, which are promptly ignored once Impulse and Zedaph have finished cooking the tuna xB caught. Music swells from a music box the creation of Ren, with the help of Mumbo, the upbeat songs written and composed with Joe and requests from the other hermits for their favorite tunes.
The music thrums against the low roar of talking, the sound only broken by the common lilt of laughter. Hermits tell their stories, whether they be heard for the thousandth time or a new tale to tell. Beef causes Hypno to flush as he recounts the prank he pulled on the dream mage. Hypno turns bright red, quiet voice cracking over the tale. “I smelled like centaur shit for a week! It was awful, I’ll tell you that.”
A raucous laugh erupts from that table, overshadowing the story of Mumbo’s duel to xB. “I swear on my life, I thought she was gonna swallow me whole. Or burn me like coal.” Mumbo shakes his head. “I don’t think I ever want to go up against a draconic mage ever again in my life.”
“I’m surprised a kipling, a draconic mage, and a desert wizard were one team. That’s a strange group. I don’t think I’ve even met each of the others.” xB takes a bite of his fish, marinated in fresh fruits that Cub plucked from nearby islands. “But I’m sure that kipling gave you guys a run for your money. That magic she had… it’s rare beyond imagination. In kipling legend, it means a legendary hero is about to arise.”
“He definitely kicked Ren’s ass. I don’t think I ever saw so much water moved at once.” Mumbo shakes his head, and stuffs a red jelly tart into his mouth.
Keralis stands, tossing his woven hat from the brown curls of his hair, and inviting himself onto the open floor. “I love this song! Come on, my wonderful friends, let’s dance!”
The setting sun casts a golden glow, bouncing off verdant leaves, twisting along the waves of the Ashioll sea. Laughter and music dance in the gilded light, playing in the curls of Zedaph’s hair as he joins Keralis. The two bumble around, drunk from Cleo’s ale but enjoying themselves immensely.
Only one hermit wasn’t taking part in the festivities. Atop the canopy that protects the guild hall below, Xisuma watches as the stars appear in the sky. For a few moments in the day, the void and the sun share the space above. And he always thinks of the one person he knows he should forget by now. But he would’ve loved this, even if he’s constantly worrying about being caught doing something wrong.
“Hey X, you gonna mope up there all day or join us?” Jevin grins below, one hand placed on his hip and the other waving Xisuma down. “Just because you’re a void mage doesn’t mean you have to a-void everything!”
Xisuma rolls his eyes, but smiles beneath his mask. “After that terrible pun, how can I say no?”
#hermitcraft#hermitblr#hermitcraft au#hermitcraft fanfic#wizard au#wizard hermits#wizard etho#wizard tfc#wizard grian#wizard false#wizard wels#wizard hypno#wizard beef#wizard xb#ethoslab#tinfoilchef#grian#grianmc#falsesymmetry#welsknight#hypnotizd#vintagebeef#xbcrafted#writing
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Oh Mickey, pt 4
Hey yall, I am SO SORRY for the delay! I don’t even have a great excuse, other than horrible procrastination... but hopefully this one will make up for it! It’s a little shorter, but action-packed. Hope you enjoy it! (Read parts one, two, three)
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The first time you and Mickey hit a gas station, you tell him at the last second you’re not ready.
“That’s okay baby, not a problem,” he tells you, and kisses your cheek. “You just slide into the driver’s seat and be ready to floor it, okay baby?” He kisses you again, then pulls on his mask, grabs his pistol and gets out.
“Be careful!” You yell to him; he gives you a thumbs up before running into the store. You scramble over to the other side of the car, your hands shaking. You try to watch, but the windows are blocked by racks of chips and candy. You can hear muffled yelling, and things feel like they’re taking way too long. Just when you start to get really worried, he comes barreling out the door, a plastic bag full of cash in his hand.
“Go go go!” he yells as he jumps in the passenger seat; you floor it as soon as he’s got both feet in the car. The tires squeal as the car jerks forward, fishtailing a little as you pull out onto the street. “That was perfect baby, you did so good!” He kisses your cheek and rubs your back as you speed down the road. You feel a surge of adrenaline and endorphins, your lips curling into a grin.
A few days later, you stand outside a corner store with him, grasping the straps of a backpack tight in your fists.
“You’ve got this baby, okay? I’m gonna run in first. When I whistle, you get in there and start grabbing shit. Okay?”
“Okay,” you breathe, nodding. You can do this. He kisses you, brief but hard. He pulls his mask down and nods to you. You stand just outside the door, waiting. There’s the crash of a shelf getting knocked over, there’s him yelling for the clerk to put his hands up. And a second later, there’s his whistle.
You pull your own mask over your face and run in. You head down the first shelf you come to, and start throwing food in your bag. Jerky, crackers, cans of tuna, a jar each of peanut butter and jelly. Some candy. A big bag of cheetos. You move to the cooler, grabbing some water, beer, soda, juice. A glass bottle slips from your hands, shatters onto the floor and makes you jump. The backpack won’t zip all the way, but you get it as close as you can. There’s room in the sides for a couple more bottles, and some more snacks.
You look up and catch Mickey’s eye; he’s got the cash, and nods towards the door. You nearly slip on the spilled drink, but Mickey’s right there to catch you. He takes your hand and pulls you out, gets you in the car before clamoring over the hood and jumping into the driver’s seat. You hear the clerk shouting at you but you don’t dare look back. You’re pushed back into your seat as Mickey guns it.
“Oh my god baby that was fucking great!” Mickey cheers, reaching for your hand again. “You did so fucking good baby, I’m so fucking proud of you!” He leans over to kiss you, the car swerving a little.
You grin and let out a shaky breath.
A month has gone by. Sure, you could’ve driven to Florida and back a dozen times by now, but Mickey says he doesn’t have enough stashed away yet. And you’re not complaining about the ride not being over yet. Plus, the two of you have gotten pretty good at this.
“Strawberry or Cherry pop-tarts?” You call from one of the aisles. “They’re out of the Smores ones.”
“Strawberry,” Mickey yells from behind the counter. “Hey, see if they’ve got those Lucky Charms cereal bars.”
“Already grabbed a whole box,” you reply with a smile. You finish loading one bag and start on the next. You’re out in the middle of nowhere, so you’ve got some time. You grab some tampons and bandaids, and a two-pack of toothbrushes.
“Hey baby, you think Mr Floppy needs a friend?”
You turn around and smile at Mickey as he holds up a little stuffed cat. You nod and he tosses it to you; you tuck it into the chest pocket of your shirt, patting its little head. You look back up at him, biting your lip. “Hey Mickey… can you grab a pack of, um…” You blush and point to the condoms hanging on the back wall.
“Way ahead of you babe,” he replies with a wink. “We grabbing a motel tonight?”
“We should probably get across the state line first, but sure.” You grab a pack of orange cupcakes and tuck them in the bag. “Okay that should be good. Let’s get out of here.”
“You got it baby.” He hops across the counter and slings an arm around your shoulders as you head out to the car. You can hear sirens in the distance; the two of you look at each other and grin. It’s always more fun when there’s a bit of a chase. You’ve made it this far, and though in the back of your mind you know it probably won’t last forever, for now you’re having the time of your life, and nothing can take that away from you.
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(@raylaswife, I don’t know if you actually wanted something written off that apartment post, but if you did I hope you like it.)
————
It’s not even that Callum’s luck was bad, not really. It was more...inconvenient. It had been inconvenient that he’d forgotten Soren “borrowing” the last of their milk for his protein shake and that he had to eat dry cornflakes for breakfast. It was inconvenient that he’d run to catch the bus to the art shop and gotten to the stop just as it was pulling away. And it was definitely inconvenient that he had forgotten both his keys and umbrella, which resulted in him dripping onto the doormat, still struggling with his bags, as he called to his brother through the door to their apartment.
He couldn’t blame his inconvenient luck for the silence from the other side of the door though. That was all him. “Ez?” he tried again, pressing his ear to the wood. “I know you’re in there bud; I can hear the tv”. A few quick shuffled steps were followed by the click of the remote, then nothing.
“Listen, Ezran....I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled like that”. He really shouldn’t have, Callum knew. But when he’d found the last piece for his portfolio not drying on his desk like he left it, but instead lying facedown on the kitchen counter, jelly toad - and finger - prints covering the edges of the canvas, he’d snapped. “I’ve just been really stressed out about applying to art school, but I know that’s not a good excuse,” There was no response from the other side of the door, but he knew his brother was there. That was one of the many great things about Ezran - no matter how mad they got at each other, he was always willing to listen when Callum tried to explain himself. “and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you”.
“Or Bait”.
Callum couldn’t help but grin at that. “Or Bait. It’s just with...” his head dropped down to lean his forehead against the door as the full weight of finishing his portfolio while also cramming for community college finals; of suddenly finding himself as the main caretaker for his brother; of all the things with their dad that he was still trying to avoid dealing with - huh. Maybe he should try calling that therapist Claudia kept not-so-subtlety recommending - hit him again. “everything; it’s been....hard lately”.
There was a soft thump as Ezran let himself lean against the door. “Yeah, I know.” he said softly, his voice sounding like he knew exactly which ‘everything’ was weighing on Callum the most. They stood in silence for a moment, the door between them, before Ezran continued. “Okay then. I accept your apology.”
Callum straightened up and reminded himself for perhaps the millionth time how lucky he was to have a brother like Ezran. “Thanks Ez.” he smiled, before shuffling his bags into more manageable positions and reaching for the doorknob, “Now just unlock the door and we can -“
“But Bait does not”.
Callum froze, his hand stopping just before the doorknob, barely catching one of the bags as it threatened to slide off his arm and onto the floor. “Wait, what?”
“Bait has heard your apology,” Ezran was interrupted by a large snort, and Callum pictured his brother holding his pet toad’s big grumpy face up to scowl at him through the apartment’s peephole. “but he is not convinced that you deserve forgiveness”.
Callum resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He thought they had stopped playing along with the idea that his brother could understand Bait back when Ezran was in middle school. Then he heard a faint sniffle through the door and realized that maybe the toad wasn’t the only one who hadn’t fully forgiven him. “I see. And what would you recommend I do if I wanted to get back into Bait’s good graces?”
A beat. Then: “Bait says that if you’re really sorry....you have to do the thing”.
“I - wha- Ez, seriously? Out here?”
“Hey, Bait makes the rules. I am but his humble spokesperson”.
Barely containing a snort of laughter, Callum relented and carefully dropped his bags to the floor. “Alright, I’ll do it. But tell Bait that he might have one less jelly tart on his plate tonight.”
“Bait has decided that is an acceptable price to pay”.
Grinning, Callum rolled his shoulders out, stepped to the middle of the hallway, then spun around and bowed to the peephole he knew his brother was watching him through. “Very well. Let’s begin”. And then he danced.
Honestly, he didn’t ever really mind the dance once he got started. It was all high kicks and flailing arms and whatever weird or funny faces he could think to make; and it was actually kind of fun. It helped to let off some steam and just be goofy for a few minutes, Ezran’s laughter and clapping egging him on to throw in even sillier moves.
“Bait says knees higher! Knees higher!”
“Bait can’t even see my knees!” Callum called through a laugh.
“He can tell by your steps that your knees aren’t high enough!” Ezran shot back. “Come on, up up up!”
Once his arms started to burn, Callum knew it was time to bring out his big finishing move. “Get Bait ready!” he called in the direction of the apartment door, “this is gonna blow his mind!”. He launched himself into the air, spinning around with his arms wide, before coming down to land on one foot and kicking the other up in front of him. “Ta-“
“You planning on keeping this up all night,” an amused voice called from behind him, “or can I use the intermission to actually get into my apartment?”
Callum spun around so fast that the leg he was standing on nearly gave way, only just managing to grab onto the doorknob of Unit 4C before he dropped - very embarrassingly - onto his rear end in front of a total stranger. What a first impression.
To her credit, the stranger looked more entertained than annoyed. She looked about his age, maybe a year older, leaning against the wall with a reusable grocery bag slung over one shoulder and her hair - so blonde it almost looked white - tied up in a bun on top of her head. She was watching Callum with a small smirk lifting the corner of her mouth, and he realized belatedly that the keys dangling from her finger were in fact for Unit 4C. He also realized that he was still hanging off her doorknob. He should probably get up. Why wasn’t he getting up?
To his dismay, the smirk dropped into a frown and she pushed off the wall, crossing her arms over her chest while never taking her eyes off of him. “Is this something you do often?” she asked, a slight accent lifting the end of her sentence - Scottish, maybe? Welsh? - “Staring at strangers?”
Callum sprang up straight, face heating as he tried to find some way to save any part of this interaction. “No! No. No, of course not, no, because that would be a, um, really weird thing to do...” his thoughts trailed off as he finally looked the stranger dead-on. “...You have really pretty eyes.” Why would he say that?!
She did, in his defense. Bright violet eyes that popped open in surprise over his complete inability to keep his stupid foot out of his stupid mouth. “Thank you?” she replied, looking confused; the tips of her slightly pointed ears turning pink. And now he was embarrassing her on top of everything oh god this was a disaster.
“Anyway!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together as if it might dissolve some of the awkward energy in the air. “Sorry about all the,” he waved his arms around in a bad imitation of his already bad dancing “...that. I don’t normally do that in that hallway. Or anywhere public if I can help it”. The stranger just kept standing there, watching his floundering with an at best bemused (and at worst annoyed) look on her face “It’s kind of this whole thing -“
“It’s Callum’s Famous Jerkface Dance!” Ezran’s voice called out from behind their door. Callum jumped - he had almost forgotten that Ez might still be within earshot - and the stranger whipped her head around looking for the source of the noise, pulling her bag closer to her as if she was preparing to defend it from an unexpected attacker.
“Sorry! Sorry.” Callum winced, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering how this conversation had gone so far off of normal. “That’s Ezran, my brother. He’s over in our apartment” he jerked a thumb behind him towards unit 4D “You can meet him later.” the stranger quirked an eyebrow. “Or not at all!” he continued in a rush. “Because why would you want to meet the brother of the guy who you saw doing the -“ he paused, risking a glance towards her, “um, how much of that did you see, by the way?”
The stranger’s smirk was back, but Callum couldn’t decide if he should take that as a victory or not. “Enough”.
Right. So he was never going to be able to talk to his new neighbor again. “Oh. Okay, cool, uh, yeah....” he stammered. “It’s just this thing that we agreed on when we were kids, that I do to apologize when I’m being -“
“A jerkface?”
“Yeah, see, you get it!” he was relieved to see that her smirk had softened. It seemed like she had decided he was in fact more entertaining than he was annoying. “Anyway, sorry you had to walk in on that. It’s pretty embarrassing”.
“Nah,” she replied, looking like she was barely holding back a laugh, “It was cute”.
Callum couldn’t really say for sure what happened after that. There was a roaring in his ears, and his grasp on the English language suddenly disappeared. He must have sputtered something though, because the next thing he knew the stranger actually was laughing at him. “Hey Ezran,” she called to the door behind him, her sparkling eyes never leaving his, “is your brother always this articulate?”
“Most of the time, yeah.” Ezran’s voice called out (sounding very amused by his brother’s suffering).
“Thank you for that Ez.” Callum hissed, his face burning red and hoping his brother could see the glare he was leveling at the peephole. He turned back to the stranger with an awkward laugh, praying they could both pretend he’d played this whole thing off much better than he had. “Family, right?” he chuckled, hoping to find some kind of ‘can’t live with ‘em’ commonality.
The stranger smiled back at him, but her eyes suddenly looked....almost sad. “Yeah, family...” she trailed off, twisting a braided string bracelet around her wrist for a moment before she blinked and seemed to come back to herself. “Well, anyway,” she lifted her grocery bag and avoiding his gaze “I’d better get this inside before my ice cream completely melts”. She spun around and started to unlock her apartment door, leaving Callum blindsided yet again. Had he said something wrong? Offended her? Should he apologize, or would that make things worse?
But before he could fall completely down that thought spiral, she turned back to him and her eyes were warm again. “But it was really nice to meet you, Callum. And you too, Ezran!” she called across the hall.
A happy “Mhmm!” came from behind the door of 4D; the sound of someone whose mouth was too full to actually speak. Callum couldn’t help but laugh: “He’s probably 6 jelly tarts in at this point, but take it from both of us that it was really nice to meet you too.....” he trailed off as he realized he’d never actually gotten her name.
“Rayla”. she supplied with a grin.
“Rayla.” he repeated, grinning back at her. It was a pretty name (though thankfully this time he kept the thought to himself). “So, I guess we’ll see you around then?”
She stepped into the doorway of her apartment and turned back to face him. “I hope so.” she replied, shooting a wink at him just before the door closed.
Callum stood frozen in the hallway for another moment before he could remember how to make his legs work. He walked as quickly as he could into his apartment and leaned up against the back of the door, trying very hard to ignore the urge to spend the rest of the day sketching his new neighbor’s pretty eyes.
(It was inconvenient to realize, half an hour later, that he had left his bags outside their door, but somehow he couldn’t find it in himself to complain.)
#also: 1. sorry @everyone i have no idea how to add a ‘read more’ to this on mobile#and 2. it’s been so long since i’ve written anything please accept this mess#rayllum#the dragon prince#longpost
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The Long Game ch. 4
Rayla watched on as Ezran and Callum argued. “I’m telling you; I can talk to animals!”
Callum folded his arms. “It’s the raccoons all over again.”
“Callum!”
“No. This is why you don’t have friends!” Rayla’s eyes went wide at that.
“Callum! Stop it!” She wasn’t even sure how they had gotten in on this bizarre argument. One minute they were enjoying their free time between lessons and the next Ezran was talking about how the horses were complaining about kissing in their stalls. Callum hadn’t taken kindly to it, calling Ezran a liar and now, apparently, Ezran could talk to animals. Rayla felt a headache coming on, but she also knew Ezran didn’t lie. “Just hear him out.” Rayla bent down to look Ezran in the eyes. “Ez, can you prove it?”
Ezran nodded. “The mice saw you two having conversations on your balconies. Every night, you two talk.”
Callum shook his head. “You could have easily overheard that. My room is right next to your’s and you have a balcony, too.”
Ezran groaned. “I’m sorry about the raccoons, OK?! I didn’t know they were all liars, but I’m not lying!”
Rayla put her hand on Ezran’s shoulder. “I know you believe this, Ez.” She looked at Bait in his arms. Ezran had always seemed hyperaware of Bait’s feelings….She took Bait and walked over to the stacks, ignoring Ezran and Callum asking what she was doing. “OK, frog. I’m going to tell you something nobody in this castle knows.” Bait looked up at her with his grumpy face, but croaked in acceptance, at least, she supposed he did. When she looked behind her and saw that the boys were still far behind them, she picked Bait up and whispered close to where she assumed his ear hole was. “My parents names were Tiadrin and Lain. My adoptive fathers called each other ‘My Heart.’”
Rayla turned back to Callum and Ezran, walking back with Bait. She had no idea what Bait was capable of communicating, but she figured, if Ezran could understand any of this, it would convince her. Rayla handed Bait to Ezran, and gestured for the glow toad to talk.
“What’d she do, buddy?” Ezran sighed. Callum raised a brow, clearly wanting to know himself. Ezran looked up and smiled. “That’s adorable.”
“What is?” Rayla asked.
“Your dads calling each other ‘My Heart.’ That’s so romantic!” Rayla’s eyes went wide. Callum looked at her, waiting for her to speak, she was sure.
“He can talk to animals,” Rayla said. Before Callum could ask, she walked away. She was going to have to be even more careful. If Ezran could hear the mice…she couldn’t say anything out loud. Nowhere was safe. Rayla’s eyes went wide as her breath came out in harsh pants. Had she slipped at any point? Would Ezran be able to understand her mumbles to herself? Rayla but her hand to her chest as she felt her heart beating loudly. “Oh, no…oh, no.”
“Rayla! How you-you OK?” Rayla looked up to see Soren, staring down at her. “You look like Callum when he’s having an anxiety attack.”
Was that what was happening? Blood was rushing in her ears. She had already failed and now…what if they figured if out and locked her up? They would kill her. Callum….Callum would hate her….Why did that hurt more than anything else? Rayla felt tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “I’m fine,” she whispered. She couldn’t let anyone see her be weak. She was not weak. She was strong and brave and she would not fail in her duty.
“You don’t look fine. Do you want me to take you to your room?” Soren wrapped an arm around her shoulder, lifting her up. When had she sunk to her knees on the floor?
“I said I’m fine!” She pushed him away, putting her hand on the wall to steady herself. “I’m fine. Thank you, Soren.” Soren backed up, nodding at her.
“Do you want to, maybe, talk about it? I can be an ear for you if you want.”
“No. I’ve got it. Just learned something that shocked me.” Rayla walked away from Soren, ignoring his disappointed face. She didn’t have time for his flirting, even when he was trying to be kind. When she made it to her room, she settled on her bed and laid against the bed. She tried counting backwards, tried working through it. She tried a Big Feelings Time in her head, but nothing was working.
The tears of frustration came hard and they came fast. She was going to fail, just like her parents. She was a failure. This is why the guild had sent her. They had sent her to fail, get rid of her and end her miserable bloodline. She could feel herself spiral down deep into corners that couldn’t possible be true, but certainly felt true in the moment. Or was it true? Did they think she was doomed to fail?
She heard knocking on her door, but ignored it. She didn’t want to see anyone. “Rayla?” She turned her head to see Callum, his soft eyes staring right at her. Rayla turned away. She didn’t want him to see her like this. “Soren said you were upset.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“Leave me alone,” she whispered in her pillow. “You wouldn’t get it.”
Instead of him leaving, he sat on the bed next to her. “You’re right, I probably wouldn’t.” She turned to look at him. He smiled down at her. Softly, hesitantly, he stroked her cheek and ran a hand through her hair. Rayla’s breath caught in her throat. “When my anxiety gets to be too much, I imagine my mom. It’s been so long since I’ve seen here, but she’s this calming force in my life. I miss her, all the time. I don’t remember my father, at all. I just know I have his eyes and talent for art.” Callum removed his hand, moving to the art journal he kept at his side at all times. “Do you want to see something?”
Rayla nodded, sitting up. She rested her head on his shoulder, taking in his scent of rosemary and balsam. He flipped through the pages until he finally landed on a picture of Sarai, Harrow, him, and Ezran. “It’s beautiful.”
“I draw this picture every year. I want to remember us from back then. My mom can’t grow old anymore, but I want us to have a family portrait every year anyways.”
“You look so much like her.”
“Thanks. It’s always a compliment when people say that.” He was quiet as he slowly flipped the pages for her to look through. “You missed the Jerkface Dance.”
“I did?” she whispered.
“I did the trick you did, with Bait. Ez now knows something really embarrassing.”
“What?”
“NOPE! It’s bad enough he knows.” Rayla didn’t push it.
After a few moments, she sighed. “I felt trapped by the fact that Ezran understands the mice. If he does, does that mean we don’t have secrets here?”
“I felt really upset about that too. Ez said he ignores the mice and has asked them to be quiet when they know he’s there. At least, about the things they hear around the castle. It’s too much of an invasion of privacy.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“He is. I felt really bad for saying that’s why he doesn’t have friends. Ez has always been a weird kid. But, that’s not fair, is it? He’s the future king. No matter what he does, people are going to look at him differently.”
Rayla raised her head, turning Callum’s head to look at her. “You’re both just doing your best. It’s too much burden for one so young. It’s not just him; everyone looks at you differently, too. I heard Viren offered magic lessons.”
“Claudia did. Primal magic since she has a primal stone. I’m gonna learn sky magic.”
Rayla smiled. “Do you promise, no dark magic?”
“I promise. It’s a shortcut and all it leads to is disaster. My mother…maybe she would still be alive if dark magic hadn’t been an option in the first place.”
“Maybe. Maybe it was her time. Who’s to say?”
Callum stared in her eyes. “It gets worse when I look in your eyes.”
“What does?”
“That tingling something’s off.” Rayla turned her head away, letting him go. “I’m sorry! That was rude!”
“No, it’s fine,” Rayla wrapped her arms around herself. For a second, she had forgotten the spell was there. He had looked at her like she was everything…stop, Rayla. Just stop. She couldn’t have him. She turned back around, Callum still looking at her. “Thank you. I feel better after you told me that Ezran doesn’t heed the mice.”
“I thought that was it. But Soren wasn’t sure. And, since he watches you so much…”
“He needs to stop. I’m not interested. Not my type.”
“What is your type?” It was so quiet she wasn’t sure she had heard right.
Rayla looked at him for a few moments. “Smart, willing to admit when they’re wrong, loving, kind.” She gulped. “A massive dork. Come on, we have lessons still.” She couldn’t give him time to think about what she had just said. If they did, what if he felt the same? Would she throw everything away to be with Callum? Rayla turned her head to look back at Callum, hand still holding her’s. Yes, she would give it all up if he loved her back as much as she loved him. She could never give him a chance to.
-------------------------------------
Callum huffed as he did his fifth fulminis. “Claudia, isn’t there any other spells?”
“You’re not ready, Callum,” she muttered. She was watching him with a critical eye. “You’re very quick with a primal stone, honestly. It took me weeks to get to this level. Dark magic was always easier.”
“Maybe I’m destined to be a sky mage?” Callum asked. The possibilities would be endless.
Claudia shook her head. “We were born with nothing. That’s why we need dark magic and primal stones. Come on, try dark magic. I’m sure you’d take to it right away.”
“No thanks,” Callum stood firm. Claudia was always trying to tempt him with dark magic and dates these days. He didn’t get it. The dark magic, he could. Claudia didn’t see just how dangerous it was yet. But the dates, that made no sense.
“OK. You wanna go get some jelly tarts?” And there was the date.
“No thanks.” Claudia nodded, not looking too torn up. “Is Viren asking you to ask me out?”
Claudia’s back straightened, turning away from him. “No?” It came out as a question. “I just think you and I would be good together.”
“Yeah, while I’m in love with Rayla and you’re not even attracted to me.” Claudia was quiet for too long. “You know I’m in love with Rayla, right?”
“So is Soren. Soren would be a good choice for her. He’s always trying to impress her and his sword fighting skills are pretty good.”
Callum looked down at his feet. That was all true. Rayla was too cool and pretty for him. She was his teacher and his friend, nothing more. There’s no way he could convince someone like her that he was even an option. “I know. I just don’t want us both to be miserable with each other.” Callum walked out of the room, heading towards the grounds. It was almost time for his lesson with Rayla. He saw her facing off against Soren. As always, it was clear as day that Rayla was the superior one with a weapon. She dodged and flowed like it was a dance, sweeping the leg effortlessly when she got bored of the match.
Callum saw that the crown guards around them were nursing injuries of their own. Rayla had probably gone through the lot of them. She finally swatted Soren’s sword out of his hand, putting the tip to his chin. “I win.” Her voice was crisp and clear, turning to look at the lot of the other guards. “He lasted longer than all of you. Do not forget that he is the head of the crown guard for a reason. You all need to stop making jokes about how a tiny girl keeps beating him. I think I remember Queen Sarai being the former general and incredibly skilled with a spear. Also, isn’t General Amaya a woman?”
One of the guards looked disgruntled. “You’re a slip of a thing and you’re so good.”
“I’ve got a lot of toned muscle. I prioritize speed over bulk. It’s not that complicated.” Rayla looked over at him, as if she had known he was there the whole time. Had she? “I’m doing the same with Callum. Making a move faster is just as important as might.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Doesn’t everyone?” Rayla walked away, handing the sword to a random guard and grabbing two spears. “Good, you’re here. Let’s get this session underway. They were a good warm-up.” Callum followed before her, in awe of just how cool she sounded. They went to their more secluded grounds and went through the warm-ups of stretches and following basic spear-holding positions. “Eventually, we’ll get you doing swordplay again. Just to please everyone. How was your lesson with Claudia?”
“She suggested dark magic again.”
“And you said ‘no’?”
Why did she always sound so concerned when she asked that? “Of course. I have no interest in it.”
“Good.” Rayla turned away for a moment. She quickly spun the spear in her hand and turned to face him, moving to strike. He blocked her, trying to hold her ground as she added power behind her moves. She moved around him, trying to teach him how to keep grounded on his feet. “Better! Stand firm. No matter what, you cannot lose your balance. It’ll all be over if you do.” Callum nodded, bending his knees a bit. “Bad choice,” Rayla whispered. Callum couldn’t stop her from using her spear to sweep his legs out from under him, knocking him flat on his back. “You reacted to what I said in an obvious way. If you had waited, maybe I wouldn’t have noticed.”
“You’d have noticed. Don’t act like you wouldn’t have.”
“True.” Rayla stared down at him before offering her hand to help him up. “You are getting much better, though. I’m proud of you.”
Callum flushed at her words. It had been a little more than a year since she had arrived, crashing into their lives and disrupting his heart in every way. She now had to look up at him as his growth spurt had started. He watched as she spun the spear in her hand again, moving like it was a dance partner. Everything she did was like a dance. Perhaps, in another life, she was a dancer for a theater troupe. “Thanks.”
She smiled back at him. “Dinner will be soon, Your Highness. Go wash up.”
“What about you?”
“I want to stay here a bit longer. The peace and quiet does me good.” He nodded, leaving her behind. When he turned back for a last look, he saw her looking back at him, a soft look on her face. What did that mean? It reminded him of how his mom had looked at Harrow back when she had been alive. But, he couldn’t hope for that from Rayla. Someone like her was made for far better than him.
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1x02 thoughts:
callum immediately trying to make amends with his brother my heart
runaan i love you but sometimes you’re not a good parent
likewise, callum is simultaneously the worst and best liar ever
the guards also don’t get paid enough to put up with callum’s bullshit, either
always love the foreshadowing here of both rayla’s fear of water and that she’s able to set that aside to do what she thinks has to be done
and that she almost falls off a cliff, but ultimately catches herself.
the score is amazing thank you frederik
the callum and rayla parallels starting immediately with wanting to “make it right” to father figures think it’s too late
harrow quietly trying to dissuade callum’s worries with “war is full of uncertainty” he’s such a good dad i cry
“take care of your brother” yeah im crying
gasps it’s time for my babies to meet
rayla stop teasing him he’s already stressed
i do like how they meet when callum is at his most vulnerable, though; like, where he is at the start of the series, he has nothing to use against her. but through meeting her and through the journey they go on, largely together, he’s able to become someone who does stand a chance against an assassin and can defend himself.
“hey you swept the leg” and i sold my soul
i love the lil detail of the torches in viren’s room still like, burning. like of course they would but it’s such a small background detail that’s still nice and grounded and consistent
rayla, apologizing to your target may not be the most “my heart is hard enough to do whatever it takes” thing
ezran coming in at the last second to save his big bro’s life
also the ship tease, bless
i also love that tdp is clearly a world with art and paintings?? and like, old ones. it just feels so much more real
ezran saying “uhh, jelly tart?” in response to an awkward situation has jason mendoza throwing a molotov cocktail to get out of his problems type of energy, and i love it
“you lied to me!” “okay, how is that worse than trying to kill someone?” is forever going to be one of my favourite exchanges in the show tbh
do you think bait and ez like, rehearse, or does ez just use his connection with animals / bait and sends properly acknowledged vibes
we may not pay now but we will pay the blood price eventually.
god being a guard while your king (who may not be alive in 24 hours) and best friend / high advisor is arguing must be the worst. like when a couple is arguing and you’re a cashier but with stakes and 10x the awkwardness
viren’s “your discomfort is understandable” vs claudia’s “but i don’t understand, the spell would save his life” whoo boi
also harrow’s “at the time i thought they were necessary. now i don’t know” and viren’s “[harrow] usually about the right things, but about this... i don’t know”
viren’s speech really is “some of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice i’m willing to make” not even the ethical issues of like, would you ask for a volunteer? what if no one volunteers? if you asked someone, could they refuse even though you’re the king? etc.
“get out” is so good
ezran you brilliant, beautiful boy
callum and rayla were really gonna duke it out in the dungeons eh. i do wanna write that minor au tho
“he’s a glow toad” ez now’s not the time
the reveal of the egg is perfect and i cry
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Sweeter Than Chocolate - BoruSara, DYF AU
Genre: Romance / Fluff / Humor
Rating: K
Written for D3 for @borusaraweek2020: Boruto’s Birthday
…
Her grip on the small pouch of pink tightened by the tiniest bit. Sarada bit her lower lip and took a shaky breath.
Why am I so nervous? It’s just Boruto…
She closed her eyes and listened. He was already at the clearing, running around a pile of gifts he had received for his birthday from the party his pack—and the entire village—threw for him. Boruto was chattering excitedly to himself, dragging out presents from the wagon he used to help them carry it all.
Tentatively, Sarada peeked from behind the tree and her eyes widened at the sheer amount. She leaned back on the tree and looked at the small pouch in her hands. She forced herself to wake up late in the afternoon to be able to have enough time to make these for him… her mother only ever made them once a year and would give it to no one else other than her father.
Her papa hated sweets, but he always seemed so happy to eat them. Sasuke let her have a piece before when her mama wasn’t looking, and it was delicious, nothing like she had ever had before. Surely, Boruto hasn’t had these before, too. Her papa always said in all of his travels, no one ever made chocolates like her mama and they were simply the most special things in the world.
She peeked at Boruto again and caught him opening a box of pastries. Judging by the smell of it, the baker probably gifted it to him.
It was the baker’s profession to make sweets. And basing from the sweets that Boruto had brought her from their shop, they were all delicious. Her gaze dropped to the pouch in her hands again and she frowned.
It took her three tries to get it right, and although her mama offered to help, Sarada was stubborn and refused. This was a gift from her for Boruto, for his birthday. One that she worked hard to make, just for him. It had to be special, and it was… wasn’t it?
“Sarada?” Boruto called. “I can smell you, ya know?”
She pouted and hid the pouch behind her back, under her coat. Her face stayed puckered even after she had stepped into the clearing. Now that she was closer, the mountain of gifts seemed even bigger and it made her pouch of chocolates feel even smaller and insignificant. What was she thinking, making him something when it wasn’t even a skill she had? Well, a skill that definitely wasn’t up to par with the baker’s at the very least.
“You got cinnamon rolls from the baker?” Her eyes locked on them, wanting a bite.
“Yeah!” Boruto grinned and picked up the box. His wolfie ears were upon his head, tail wagging. He presented the box to her expectantly. “He said I could have a box of anything I wanted in his shop and I asked him for these. They’re your favorite, right?”
Sarada’s eyes widened. It was his birthday, he could have asked for the jelly tarts or meat pies that he liked from the baker… but he asked for cinnamon rolls for her? “Boruto…”
His ears dropped and his tail stopped wagging abruptly upon seeing her forlorn expression. “W-what? Don’t you like cinnamon rolls?” He grimaced and whined. “I knew I should have asked for the strawberry shortcake instead!”
Sarada brought a hand up to her mouth, an attempt to stop the fit of giggles from overtaking her. He was so silly.
Boruto sniffed the air, ears perking up and tail slowly wagging. “What’s that smell?” He persisted on his quest to find what the new smell was, making him take tentative steps closer to Sarada. His nose poked at her hand, breath tickling her skin. “It’s coming from you.” Big blue eyes flicked to meet her dark ones. “What did you touch?”
“N-nothing!” Her cheeks flooded with heat and she averted her gaze, hands flying to her back pocket, holding on to the pouch of sweets. The pouch suddenly felt ten times heavier. She never could hide anything from him. Darn him and his sharp werewolf senses!
“You’re lying to me,” he deadpanned. “I can hear your heart beating faster.”
Sarada released a short shout of frustration, face turning a deeper shade of red. “Ugh, fine!” She shoved the pouch into his hands. “H-Here! Just take it!”
The young werewolf held on to the pouch, eyes wide and inquisitive. First, he held it up to look at it and then brought it closer to his face to smell. His tail started wagging, slowly at first, and then the speed picked up when he asked, “Did you make this for me? It smells good.”
Her arms crossed across her chest, nose up in the air. “I did.” Although she wanted to appear proud, her heart was racing and the pink tint on her cheeks refused to leave. “Happy birthday.”
A big, bright grin spread on Boruto’s face, whiskers curling and eyes forming half crescents. “Thank you, Sarada.”
Although she was looking to the side, she peeked at him, watching as he unraveled the light pink ribbon and wound it around his wrist before sticking his index finger and thumb into the pouch. He pulled out a small piece and looked at it as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. “What is it?”
Chocolate was a rare commodity, but Sarada was also astounded he didn’t recognize the scent. Or perhaps, she didn’t cook it right and that’s why he didn’t know what it was. “It’s chocolate.”
“Chocolate?” Boruto’s ears perked up. “I’ve seen and heard about it but I’ve never had it before.”
“What?” Sarada blinked. “Why not?”
“Yeah,” Boruto sat down on the grass and crossed his legs in front of him, still inspecting the little piece of chocolate and giving it a tentative lick. Instantly, his blue eyes went wide and a grin spread on his face. “It’s good!” Boruto flicked the entire piece into his mouth. And then another, and another, soon, he was emptying the pouch into his mouth, cheeks puffy and his eyes bright with delight.
Sarada’s mouth twisted. “Y-you’re not supposed to eat it all in one go…” her father only ever had a piece every so often and would take a few days to finish it. Even if Sarada didn’t need food to survive, she liked taking little bits of sweets every now and then.
“But it’s so good!” What he said was barely recognizable, as he was still chewing. Finally, he swallowed and his tongue licked around his lips, capturing every little bit left. “That was delicious, Sarada. Thank you!” He beamed. “I don’t understand why dad never let me have any. Or… anyone in the pack for that matter. We’re all missing out.”
Sarada tipped her head to the side and walked over to sit on the grass next to him. “What do you mean your dad never gave you any?” That sounded awfully weird… and mean. Chocolates were good and Naruto seemed like the type of dad who wouldn’t hold back giving Boruto all the good things he could get his hands on.
“I don’t know… he just never really did. Said something about it’s not good for me and like, he also doesn’t eat it, ya know?” Boruto shrugged. “But that was my first taste and you made it. It makes it even more special. Definitely the best gift I got, ya know?”
Her lips parted and dark eyes went wide. “Best… gift?”
“Yeah!” Boruto grinned brightly. “Thank you.”
Sarada was feeling so happy that she didn’t mind when Boruto tightly wrapped his arms around her and peppered her face with kisses, and then, he was licking her. She laughed, asking him to stop but he kept on licking her face. Gradually, his small pink tongue felt rougher and a little wider. Boruto pushed her down on the ground and morphed into a wolf before her eyes.
She giggled seeing him morph. It didn’t matter how many times she saw it, it still amazed her every single time. Sarada rested her hands on his warm muzzle, and Boruto settled for languidly licking her face and plopping down on the ground to nuzzle her. He sighed and a small content whimper escaped his throat. Sarada petted his head, and stroked down until his neck, her hand disappearing into his thick coat.
‘Come on, Sarada!’ he gushed. ‘Come look at my other gifts, look at it!’
Although she heard him loud and clear in her mind, the large wolf was whining and barking in excitement, pushing his bum up in the air and wagging his tail furiously.
“I don’t know if you want me to look at these gifts or play tag.” She laughed.
‘Both! Yeah, both!’
“Whatever you want.” Sarada grinned and leaned her forehead on his. “It is your birthday, after all.”
The two of them huddled over by the wagon, Sarada picking at the half-opened boxes and looking through Boruto’s presents, briefly wondering how heartwarming it would be to receive gifts from people on her birthday. She’s already had a few decades on her, and the only people who ever gave her gifts were her parents. To be fair, her family had been traveling and she barely made any friends. Unlike Boruto, who had lived in this town and grew up with people and a pack. He was always surrounded by others, unlike her.
“Do you like them?” Boruto grinned, peeking over her shoulder. He turned back into a human, although his wolf ears remained on his head.
“Me?” Sarada asked, looking back at him, faces mere inches apart. “W-Why me? They’re yours.”
“They gave it to me, but I’m sharing it with you,” he shrugged. “That means they’re ours now.”
“Why…” she gaped. “Why would you share it with me?” Boruto had never been stingy with sharing his belongings with her, but for him to tell her that they were as good as hers… it made her heart skip a beat.
“Because what’s mine is yours,” he grinned.
Her cheeks flooded with heat. “Boruto…”
Gruuuumble
Sarada blinked. “What was that?”
Boruto looked down at his bare stomach with a puzzled look on his face. “Ummm….”
Gruuuuumble
He gasped and held on to his stomach, suddenly feeling sick. “Oof. That hurts,” he winced and fell on the ground, rolling on his side, and getting into a fetal position. Boruto groaned and shuddered when a wave of pain hit him, tummy making more weird sounds, reverberating throughout his body. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
Sarada covered her mouth, scared and not knowing what to do. She had never seen Boruto get sick before, much less this in pain. “I-I’ll go get help!”
.
.
.
Naruto carried Boruto to bed and chided him. “I told you to stay away from chocolates, Boruto. They’re poisonous for us, ya know?”
Boruto groaned and held on to his tummy, face more green rather than its usual beautiful tan color. “You never told me!”
Sakura placed a wet towel over his head and placed a concoction of herbs next to him. “And you ate the entire thing,” she giggled. “Who knew chocolates could make a werewolf fall on his knees.”
Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Kinda lame, I know. But it’s why the whole pack and I genuinely stay away. It won’t necessarily kill us but it does make us sick for a few days depending on how much we ate.”
Sarada sat on the side of his bed, eyes downcast. It was her fault that Boruto got sick. It was her handmade chocolates that made him sick!
“But it was so good,” Boruto mumbled and looked at Sarada, forcing a weak smile on his face.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered.
“At least now you know, darling.” Sakura stroked her hair and looked at Boruto. “I’ll come in to check on you a little later.”
“Thanks, auntie Sakura,” Boruto muttered.
Naruto showed her the way out, leaving the two in the room.
“I’m sorry,” Sarada repeated again.
“Don’t be sorry,” Boruto placed his hand on hers. “It was really good, and I loved my gift.”
“But you’re sick!” Sarada screeched. “And on your birthday! This is all my fault.”
“Hey,” Boruto looked at her pointedly. “I ate it all in one go, and you didn’t know. Besides, you made it for me. This is worth it.” He patted his stomach and smiled at her. “I’ll get better faster if you stay here and nurse me back to health, ya know?”
Sarada puffed her cheeks and averted her gaze. “Fine. It is your birthday after all.”
Boruto made room for her to sit next to him in bed. “Read me something?”
“Okay,” Sarada smiled and picked up the first book on his bedside table. She settled herself under the covers with him, immediately feeling so much warmer. She opened up the book and cleared her throat before she started reading aloud.
Things might not have worked out exactly as she planned, but they got to spend more time together, and that’s all Boruto wanted for his birthday.
...
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