#Ezran: … you guys only need one room?

[zuppizup]

The inverse of ‘there was only one bed’…?

‘two beds? who needs two beds??’

Rayllum returning from the Starscraper to find Katolis castle destroyed, but at least they don’t have to have that conversation.

[sorinethemastermind]

Only One Tent

You've heard of the only one bed trope, but what about only one tent and no bed? Aka the "Yes, you can use me as a pillow" prompt won the poll. #Sorvus

 Soren had shared a tent with Corvus before. One of the first things King Ezran had done after reclaiming the throne had been to travel across Katolis; visiting every town and hamlet, no matter how small. Soren had accompanied him, of course. It was his duty as a Crownguard to ensure that the king remained safe. And though Corvus hadn't been a member of the guard at the time, he had traveled with them anyway. Their trusty guide to the woods and wilds of Katolis.

 He was such a tree guy. It was kind of cute.

 For the first week or so of their travels Corvus had insisted on sleeping outside, saying that the stars made a better roof than a canvas tent. Soren had tried to point out that the whole thing with stars was that there was no roof, but Corvus had just rolled his eyes and claimed that he was missing the point. 

 However as they'd traveled further north the nights had become colder, and eventually even Corvus had been forced to admit that the stars didn’t trap heat as well as good old canvas. So Soren had offered to share his tent with him. And, though he'd declined the offer at first, it hadn't been long before the pair of them were pressed back to back in Soren's tent, savoring each other's warmth as the snow fell outside. It had been warm, cozy, and wonderful.

 And somehow less uncomfortable and awkward than whatever it was they were doing now.

 Soren glanced over at Corvus from his side of the tent. The other man sat on the opposite side of the small canvas room, knees drawn up to his chest and arms folded. As much distance between them as there could be in the cramped little space.

 Soren cleared his throat. "Don't you think we should be helping? I feel like we should be helping."

 "King Ezran told you to rest." Corvus reminded him, barely sparing him a glance. Soren wondered if it was because of how many times he'd had to say that, or if it was something else. Like, maybe, he didn't know; the fact that they had kissed twenty minutes ago and the king had walked in on it.

 "But don't you think-"

 "King Ezran." Corvus repeated, putting extra emphasis on the words this time." Told you to rest."

 Soren let out a loud hmph. Ezran had said a lot of things. Like how the destruction of Katolis wasn't his fault. And how there was nothing more he could have done. And how the people were lucky to have had him there when they did. And those just obviously weren't true. So then, maybe he didn't need to rest either?

 "Why don't you get some sleep?" Corvus urged him gently, shifting a little bit closer. Soren looked up at him through the curtain of blond hair that had fallen across his face. He hadn't realized his head was drooping. 

 Straightening up, he rolled his shoulders. "Nah, I'm fine."

 "You haven't slept in nearly two days."

 "But." Soren pointed out. "I have drunk more hot brown morning potion in those two days than any other. So I'm wide awake! Really, we shouldn't even be in here. We should be out helping."

 He began to reach for the tent flap, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. His friend's - boyfriend's? - grip squeezed slightly as he spoke.

 "Soren. Are you okay?"

 The question caught him off guard.

 No. He was not okay. But people didn’t usually ask so he didn’t usually have to lie. Anyway, what did it matter? He was used to it. It would be weirder if he was okay at this point. Was anybody ever really okay, anyway? 

 "Yeah. Of course." Soren flashed a wide smile in Corvus' direction. "Why wouldn't I be?"

 "Because..." Corvus trailed off, too many reasons to name them all. "I'm just worried about you."

 Soren paused, his smile faltering. Then it was replaced by a smaller, genuine one. “You don’t need to be… Corvy?”

 Something in Corvus’ expression told him this nickname wouldn't stick any better than the others he had tried. 

“Alright, not Corvy.” he said. “How about-”

 “How about you rest like the king ordered?”

 “Fineee.” Soren groaned, letting the tent flap drop from his hand. “Just for an hour.”

 He flopped back down onto the ground, feeling the corners of his armor jab into his sides, the sticks and stones littering the dirt floor of the tent poking into his back. The saying should have been sticks and stones can break my bones, and they sure as heck make it impossible to sleep too.

 For a split second he wished he had accepted the bedroll Opeli offered him, if only so that Corvus wouldn’t be stuck lying on the cold, stony ground. But the selfish thought fled just as quickly as it had come. The hospital needed them more. He would have given them this tent too, had Opeli not insisted it was too small to be of any use. 

 And it was small. Corvus laid down on the ground beside him, the forced proximity making their shoulders bump. Not that Soren was mad about that. He tried to stop wiggling, for Corvus’ sake. If he needed rest, then his friend - partner? - definitely did. He’d ridden for days just to get here, and now was worried about him? 

 But knowing that they both needed to rest didn’t seem to make sleep any more attainable, and they both spent the next ten minutes staring at the canvas roof above them, eyes wide open, elbows and shoulders gently bumping into one another each time they moved. Unable to do anything else without disturbing Corvus, Soren had to be content simply wiggling his toes. Which, he realized after a moment, were sticking slightly out of the tent. It really was small. Or he was just big. It was probably that last one. He was a prime physical specimen, after all.  

 "What are you doing?" Corvus asked, rolling onto his side to look over at Soren.

 “I, uh, nothing. I’m resting.”

 Corvus didn’t seem convinced, so Soren rolled over to face him so he could properly explain why this should count as resting and now they could get up and go help. The words died on his lips when he realized that, in this new position, their faces were mere inches apart. Corvus’s hair tickled his forehead and their noses bumped as he shifted.

 “Really?” Corvus asked, his breath warm on Soren’s face. 

 Soren reached out and poked his nose.

 “What was that for?” Corvus asked, sitting up in his surprise.

 “It was right there, what did you want me to do!?” Soren asked, rolling onto his back to look up at him, blowing the hair out of his face. 

 Corvus blinked a few times, the color in his cheeks deepening. Then he looked away. “What are we, Soren?”

 Soren’s heart dropped and he sat up, propping himself up on one elbow as he looked over at his friend of two years. “I, uh. What do you want to be?”

 He knew what he wanted. And for a second there, when they’d kissed, he’d thought maybe that was what they were now. That maybe they were a thing. But the way he’d asked that… now he wasn’t so sure.

 Corvus took a deep breath and let it out slowly before replying. “I thought that maybe… maybe it was just the adrenalin, or the rush of having survived. Of both of us being okay. But what I would like is for it to have been… more than that.”

 Corvus looked at him, his eyes kind and smiling in that way Soren loved so much.

 “Corvus. We almost die, like, every day.” he pointed out. “And we’ve never done that before.”

 “But-”

 He stopped him with a quick kiss, which became a few kisses, and he felt that addressed Corvus’ concerns pretty well. 

“So… can I tell everyone that you’re my boyfriend now?” he asked, finally drawing back. 

 Corvus lay back down on the ground, crossing his forearms behind his head as a kind of makeshift cushion. “I suppose you can.”

 “Yes!” Soren flopped onto the ground beside him, punching a fist in the air. “I guess we already sort of told Ezran.”

 “I can’t believe…” Corvus trailed off, shifting so that he could pinch the bridge of his nose with one hand as he closed his eyes. He sighed. “What’s done is done.”

 “Yep!” Soren said cheerily, not feeling a drop of regret. “He was going to find out eventually.”

 He shifted uncomfortably on the uneven, stony ground. He’d forgotten how jabby it was. A stone pressed into the back of his head and he sat up, shoved it away, and laid back down. And just as quickly sat back up. 

 “Sorry, I didn’t mean to lie on you. I can move over.”

 “That would sort of defeat the point of me putting my arm there.” Corvus said, and Soren realized that it hadn’t been an accident. Corvus scooted a little closer, stretching his arm out further towards him. 

 “You hurt your head, Soren. The last thing we need is you banging it against a rock.”

 “So… you’re saying that I should use you as a pillow.”

 “Yes. I am a pillow.”

 “And you’re a pillow… for my health?”

 “What else would it be for?”

 Soren just smiled and lay back down, resting his head gingerly on Corvus’ proffered arm. One of the perks of working out, it seemed, was that muscles could double as pillows. More people should tell you that. He would have to keep it in mind. 

 Corvus rested his other arm across his chest, fingers absently playing with a torn edge on Soren’s armor. Curled up together in the warm closeness of the tent, Soren finally felt himself relax. He hadn’t realized how on edge he’d been until it all washed away. 

 Sure, he had a lot of work to do and there were people out there that needed helping. But he could take a couple minutes to shut his eyes, and just listen to the sound of Corvus’ slow breathing beside him, and the rustle of the tent in the wind.

 Anyway, Corvus needed to rest, and if Soren got up to go and help out around camp he was sure to follow. So really, the only way to make sure that his boyfriend got some sleep was to get some himself. 

 Soren closed his eyes, letting himself relax for the first time in at least two days, probably longer, and with a stifled yawn sleep took him.

[bittrlys]

THE GOOD

Viren and Harrow scene

CRAB SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Young Viren

Viren selfcest (<- stream of consciousness note that I stand by, he needs to learn to love himself)

Aaravos and Viren had a baby <3 (I like that this twist about the child to save him only works for people who weren't already joking about this being their lovechild all last season)

The heavyhanded diaogue is lol but its nice to see Viren's internal journey ("DAD I'M FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS" guys you really could have just shown that. But I guess Viren is literal even with his metaphors. I forgive him.)

Viren zoned the fuck out half the season still the best part of the show. But like I love the sense of crushing realization and weight of his thoughts. King of thinking <3

Nice to see Claudia also getting to do cool complicated things

Viren and Claudia literally carry the dramatic weight of the series on their shoulders -tm my friend

I appreciate that Terry continues to be down to clown

This blood elf assassin is hot ♥

I like the water elf design the coral horns are cool (and he looks like a Critical Role character)

I always love pirate towns so that's cool! And some brief actual intense stakes with the pirate captain.

Aaravos. FULL STOP. Like 10 lines of dialogue and he served with them all!

"If you see Claudia again tell her I said ..... hi" hahaa

THE BAD

The Rayllum (what was Callum even apologizing for?? Rayla just genuinely does not seem to like him.)

Janai immediately pivots in her belief because only villains are allowed to stick by their reasonable positions which oppose the desires of the main characters

Again, what changed Tidebound Tina's perspective and made her help them??? Characters will truly just change perspectives in a second if they're meant to be 'good' and not defy the main characters

Ezran is so entitled. Rayla is like oh this boat is a bad idea he's immediately like "WE NEED THAT ONE!" and then proceeds to get them all nearly murdered by pirates for some tadpoles and does not apologize at all.

That being said it seems the show just isn't that interested in Ezran or Rayla

Would it have killed them to include a scene showing why Rayla decides to show up and save the day in finale? She has no arc.

I understand the conclusion that Callum came to with ocean magic but I don't believe his process of getting there.

Can Janai do her damn job all she's ever shown doing is hanging out in her pyjamas pining and being in love. Tied with Zubeia who just hangs about talking about her husband and son all day.

THE UGLY

STOP WITH THIS DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS SHIT (why would the Archdragon of the Ocean give a damn about a human ruler? But like Oh! We Have To Respect A King!)

They show up to the library with only FIVE HOURS TO SUNSET instead of idk camping outside the city until the next dawn and coming in then. And then leave directly at sunset instead of giving themselves like an hour of wiggle room. Unreal!

They can't even let these entitled main characters even THINK Amaya died for their arrogance Like they can't even feel guilt about it for five seconds.

What's the point of having a deus ex machina dragon you insert in every scene to save their asses (god I need Zubeia dead) if she's just going to stand there and do literally nothing while Amaya is attacked. Rewatch that scene camera never cuts to Zubeia's face to even show her idk considering it? Being unable to help? Just get rid of this dragon already she weakens the plot to an absurd degree.

Zubeia surviving. Full stop.

Thunder killed off this group of elves for the crime of uhhhh doing weird blood rituals? Moonshadow elves (Thunder's personal hit squad) do blood rituals. Thunder just loves massacring any group of people who defy his tyranny.

It's surreal that Xadians NEVER comment on the humans in their midst like the show will not draw attention to the fact that humans are othered + marginalized. It perpetually feels like the writers are backtracking on lore they previously established because they don't want to make Xadians look bad.

Like I can believe a criminal port is full of all elements but this happens elsewhere in Xadia. Even the Archdragon of Ocean doesn't address the fact that Ezran is a human.

But it's not like the differences between humans and Xadians aren't noted because humans (like Amaya) still have to constantly grovel for Xadian approval + forgiveness. Like for WHAT. Should Amaya have to apologize to Rayla anymore than Rayla should apologize for coming to assassinate a 10-year-old Ezran in season 1?

for fucking tadpoles?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Callum, Rayla, and Ezran are UNSYMPATHETIC protagonists they literally will never face any consequences for any of their actions. Nothing really goes wrong for them -- they're always saved from trouble and they get everything ultimately handed them. They are supremely privileged, entitled people. Meanwhile Viren and Claudia go through 19 layers of hell just trying to get 1 thing done.

Overall I'd say it was better than season 4! 👍👍👍

[jelzorz]

Hey Jelly long time no chat! Hurt/comfort prompt “go ahead I’m listening” - whichever characters you’re vibing rn. Hope you’re doing okay, love Stormy xoxo

Ahhh Stormy it's been forever!! Hope you're doing well!!!

94.

The treehouse in Callum's backyard is ancient. It was there before Mom and Harrow had bought the house, already rickety and squeaky and unlikely to be safe, but he and Ez were fond of it anyway because it was cool, and because it was theirs. When they were younger, they had campouts in it, braving the cool nights with old books and scratchy blankets, their multicoloured night light projecting stars against the walls. It was a fort once, and a boat another time, and a castle another time after that. It doesn't get a lot of use these days, which is a shame—they've grown out of it physically and metaphorically but it's—well...

Callum's getting married tomorrow. It feels like the concept should be bigger, scarier, and though he's never once doubted his love for Rayla, or her's for him, the treehouse is familiar, and tomorrow, things will be... different, he supposes.

Not in a good or a bad way. Just different.

The space is smaller than he remembers it—and he's bigger, too, but it's hard to believe he could lie here comfortably once upon a time. Rayla, of course, is spending the night with her family, and he'll see her tomorrow all prettied up and beautiful (not that she needs to be—she's beautiful any day of the week), but Callum sits in the treehouse anyway, breathing in the summer air and basking in the remnants of his childhood.

Then the tree shivers with someone's footsteps, and Ez appears in the doorway. "Thought I'd find you up here," he says, hoisting himself into the cramped little room. "You okay?"

Callum chuckles to himself. "Fine."

"You look nervous."

"I'm not nervous."

"It's okay to be nervous."

"I'm not."

"If you weren't, you wouldn't be here." Ezran gives him a look, blue eyes so piercing that Callum can't help but look away.

He sighs. "Yeah," he breathes. "Maybe I am a little. But not, like, in a bad way? Just in... a nervous way."

Ez raises an eyebrow at him and settles against the other wall, knees knocking gently against Callum's. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

Callum snorts. "It just feels like it's all about to change, y'know?" He murmurs. "Rayla is—she's the love of my life, easily, but... I dunno, I guess getting married is real proof we're not kids anymore."

"Yeah," sighs Ez. "To be fair, it's a long time since we have been, but I get you. But y'know? You're lucky. Being an adult can be scary, but at least you and Rayla can face that together. Not all of us have the luxury of having a partner like her."

"You're only twenty-three, Ez."

"I don't mean me." Ez gestures vaguely around himself. "I mean in general. You and Rayla are two in a billion. Some people spend their whole lives looking for a partnership like that and don't even get close. Other people think they've got one and they fall apart anyway. But you guys? You're never not gonna be together. You'd find each other no matter what. And yeah, things are gonna change and we're not kids any more, but moving forward is exciting too. And you get to do that with her."

In spite of himself, Callum chuckles. "Practising for your best man speech, huh?"

"Your wedding's tomorrow," snarks Ez. "Gotta make sure I get it right." He grins then and leans across the treehouse to clap his brother's arm. "It's okay to be nervous," he says again. "And excited and scared and happy and all those other emotions. Those are valid. No one'd think any less of you for them. You get to be with Rayla either way."

Callum lets out a snort, his heart warm and his nerves easing, ever grateful to have a brother like Ez. "Thanks Ezran," he mutters. Then he he breathes and pats the floor of the treehouse. "You think any kids we might have might like this thing too?"

Ez's face splits into a grin. "Oh, one hundred percent," he says. "This thing's got a lot of memories in it. Won't hurt to add a few more."

[bandgeek4life8]

Guardians - chapter two the lost city of atlantis

Chapter 1

WC: 3, 453

Season 1, Episode 2: The Lost City of Atlantis

Previously on Guardian in Jim's POV "The Nightmares have emerged once more." Pabbie told everyone.

"GREAT GRONKA MORKA!!" Blinky exclaimed.

"And they attend to assimilate an army. They already have the witch Gothel, the bogeyman Pitch Black, the dragon tamer Drago Bludvist with his mother of dragons Red Death, the prince Hans of Southern Isles and Duke of Weselton, the cursed bear Mor'du, the Pirate "Captain Hook" Killian James, and the Boggan Mandrake. And I have a list of who they want. From my visions. But only two people I wish to say it to: Vendel and... James Lake Jr. Because she wishes it."

"Who wishes for me to know?" I asked him.

"Starling."

Some people are chosen for this life and have no choice but to accept its transgressions. Others spend their life completely in the dark about this life we lead. Some, like me, choose to live this life. It is a lot of work for anybody. Not just anybody can get into this life and survive its trials and tribulations. But we were born for this. To become guardians. But I'm not a guardian yet. I'm just an apprentice.

|{[INSERT_OPENING_SEQUENCE]}|

"Welcome to the first meeting of the Druidia Order." I announced.

"Did you have to name us after a planet in your favorite Star Wars movie?" asked the raven-haired time-traveller Wilbur Robinson.

"Spaceballs is not a Star Wars movie, Wilbur." Currently undercover spy, Walter Beckett told him.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Did your dad teach you anything about Star Wars?" asked blonde enpath/ hockey-player from Wisconsin, Riley Anderson.

"Only that he hated the sequels, he loves the originals, and respects what the prequels tried to do." Wilbur said.

"Can we please get to the topic at hand please?" I asked everyone.

Everyone in the room grumbled out a yes and we continued with the precedings. Wow. That sounds way too formal for me.

"Well what can we do? We already made allies with the Arendelle trolls via Elsa and Anna. We had Grand Pabbie alert the Trollhunter of the Nightmares." said Ted Wiggins.

"Which means a group of you have to go find the essence stones." Megamind appeared with a plate of, "who wants cookies?"

"Are you growing soft on us, Meg?" Megamind basically growled at Wilbur for the nickname he used.

"I am trying to babysit Gru's oldest daughter and her friends." Megamind told him looking the kid dead in the eye.

"What do you know of the essence stones?" I asked him, ignoring the intense staredown happening between the two makes.

Megamind turned his attention away from Wilbur only for the time-traveller to blow a raspberry at him and Megamind to turn back and glare at him I rolled my eyes. The same old stupid antics. "I know where you can find the essence stone of the ocean."

"If you tell me we have to befriend Poseidon or-."

"It's in Atlantis." Megamind said.

"Or that." I facepalmed. "And how would you know that?"

"Because I have an evil underwater lair in the city of Atlantis." Cue another facepalm from me.

"And why...? You know what? I don't want to know. So how are we getting there?" I asked.

"It's not a matter of how we, but rather how who is getting there." Megamind said.

"That makes no sense whatsoever, dude." Hiro said as he walked into the room followed by Lucy Tuchi.

"Some of us will go on the mission while the rest research the rest of the essence stones." Megamind suggested.

"You know... your ideas are normally terrible. But this one is actually a good idea." Wilbur told him.

The alien growled. "Easy now, Megamind. When we heading out? And who is coming along for the ride?"

"You, Rayla, Ezran, Callum, Sisu, Hiccup, Jack, Light Furry, Walter, and Toothless." Megamind told us. "And you will leave tomorrow. After school."

"Alright. Before we do anymore planning, I need pizza." I walked over to where Hiro plopped the pizza on.

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL HERE]}| "

I cannot believe he has the audacity for this! He knows we're not on the best of terms, and yet he does this." I sighed.

"I'm sure he has a reason." said Hiro.

"It's Megamind. It's a stupid-ass reason." I told him.

Hiro sighed. "But you miss hanging out with Toby and Jim. And you-."

"Don't even finish that sentence. I know what you were going to say." Hiro gapped at me. "I know what you were going to say. Only three people know it. And one betrayed me."

My phone vibrated in my hoodie's pocket and I opened it up to see a text from my grandmother, Margaret. "Is that Marge? What she said?"

"She's wondering about the you-know-what with the you-know-who." I told him. She wants to know about James Lake Jr being the Trollhunter. Grandpa would not be pleased with this anyway. But he's dead. And he doesn't matter.

"You have gym next block right?" I groaned. Of course I forgot. And why of all days did we have to do the Pacer test today!

"And we're doing the pacer test today too!" I would have banged my head on a locker if we weren't coming from History. "Kill me now! Woe is me!"

"Stop being overdramatic. And I'm off my way to Robotics." Hiro said once we got to the hall where we would part ways.

"Don't take over the world of robotics without your team first." I called out to gim.

"Yeah, yeah. Just focus on making chemistry after gym, but preferably during." the smart-ass called back.

I'm gonna kill him one of these days. Just you wait, Hiro Hamada. I grumbled and continued on my way to the ends of the earth. Also known as gym. Because I lack the athletic ability of a worm. My arms are basically noodles before submerged in H20. I got dressed in my PE clothes and walked outside to the bleachers where I plopped myself down on. Gym. The one class I don't have my safety net to catch me. The one block where I feel alone. Completely and helplessly alone.

"Hey, [Y/N]. Mind if we sit here?" asked Toby.

It was just him and Jim. What on Earth are they up to? I scooted some ways away from my spot and patted the spot beside me. Jim took the spot beside me while Toby took the bench in front of us.

"We haven't hung out just the three of us in awhile, huh?" Toby remarked.

"You both seem busy since the semester started. I can't blame you for that one."  I told them. The pair shrugged at me, but it was a lying shrug. I would know. I do the same ones. "Anyway, what are we doing for our History Project, Jamie?" I looked over at him.

"I don't know. Wanna brainstorm some ideas after school?" Jim asked me.

"Can't. I have a family thing." Lying to them has gotten harder since I found out. Hopefully they don't catch. But they're idiots. They won't catch on... I hope. "I can come over tomorrow after school if you want."

"That... Th-th-th-that'll be gr-gr-gr-great." What's with the stammer? It's weird. "Oh, don't forget about Pig Zombies on Saturday."

"Don't worry. I have it all set in my calendar. So, what time is the movie?" I asked them.

Toby and Jim shared a look. Oh that is never good. "We don't actually know."

"Then, what are we going to do about Saturday?" I asked them.

"We're more of idea men." Like they're any close to being men. "Creating a plan is someone else's problem." Of course.

"You two haven't changed at all, have you? I'll get to work on that sometime this evening. You guys still have email, righr?" I asked them.

"Who still uses e-mail anymore?" Toby inquired.

"Good point. I'll just have Lucy drive us to the theater anyway." I replied. "So, how are you and Claire going, Jamie?"

"O-o-o-oh, m-m-me and Claire?" stammered Jim. That's strange.

"Yes, you and Claire. You two are dating, aren't you?" I asked him.

"Oh, y-y-yeah. We're g-g-g-good." Hmm. Peculiar. But Jim's always been like this when pertaining to Claire. Nothing suspicious about that.

I hope.

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL_HERE]}|

Jim

"So, you have a study date with [Y/N] tomorrow huh?" Claire teased me while we walked to Blinky's library.

"What-. Wait! You told her!" I exclaimed to Toby who was on my left side.

"Of course, I did. Dude, you've been hopelessly obliviously in love with this girl since she stole your first kiss on the monkey bars when we were nine. And she-."

"She clearly has feelings for you, but she's not gonna act upon them since you know we're fake dating and all that jazz." Claire said.

I sighed. "You're the smart one. Couldn't you have come up with something... um... better?"

"What? Because a wuss like you was going to ask her out if I didn't say we were dating?" Claire asked him, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

I sighed once more. She clearly had a point. And Tobes seemed to catch it too. "He tried to ask her if she wanted to go see Pig Zombie 6 for her sixteenth birthday, but dragged me along with them because he wussed out of calling it a date."

Claire tapped her chin in thought. I do not understand girls. Then, she did the thing where you smack your fist against your hand in an aha! idea moment. Which is what transpired next. "I have a perfect idea for your movie date on Saturday."

"Am I going to regret this?" I asked her.

"I hope not. I'm helping you whether you want me to or not." Yea me! Internal frown.

We made it Blinky's library in which the four arm troll was talking animatedly to Vendell. About Essence Stones? What the fuzz buckets are those?

"Um, what are the Essence Stones?" I piped up.

"The Essence Stones are the only thing that can combat the Oncoming Storm." Vendel explained.

"Which is why we should be looking for them! We already know where one is! The Sea Stone!" Blinky told him.

"I already told you the Starling has this under control. This is her fight. Not ours. We shouldn't-."

"But then why have Pabbie tell us about the resurgence anyways?!" Blinky cut him off. I don't think Blinky has ever interrupted Vendel before. This is a first.

"Because to warn us of an even greater danger, Blinkous!! One that we have to face on our own! As Trolls!" the elder roared.

I never saw a look of fear as intense as the look that crossed Blinky's face when Vendel told him that. A greater danger? Even Aaarrrggghh! and Draal had the same look as Blinky. What did it all mean? Vendel left the library.

"I don't care what the goat says. We're getting the Sea Stone." Blinky told us.

"And how do we acquire it?" asked Claire.

"Hate Gyre." Aaarrrgghh! cried. Oh.

"And where would we find the Sea Stone?" Toby asked. "It's underwater right? And we can't breathe in water? So is it in an aquarium? Washed up on a beach?"

"I'll tell you where when we get to the Gyre." Claire, Toby, and I shared a look before shrugging our shoulders and following Blinky to the Gyre.

When we got there, we reached the Gyre and hopped in. "So, where are we going?"

"Under the sea. In an underwater palace where there is no water inside located in what you humans refer to as The Bermuda Triangle. Get ready for Atlantis." And before the three of us could protest, Blinky put in the coordinates and we zipped off towards... did he really say Atlantis? And the Bermuda Triangle?

But I didn't have time to question it as we arrived in a palace? And our clothes were soaking wet. But we never submerged in water? You know what? I shouldn't question it. Me and my friends huddled for warmth. It'll be awhile before we're dry. But why isn't- you know what? Never mind. I don't care.

"Okay, so where do we go first?" asked Toby.

"We head for the treasure room. The Jewel of Atlantis is the Sea Stone." Blinky told us.

"Why are we wet, but you aren't?" asked Claire.

"No clue." Blinky shrugged his shoulders.

The three of us grumbled but followed after Blinky with Aaarrrgghh! and Draal taking the rear. This is going to be a long evening. Our little group trudged, our squeaky footprints giving our location to anyone who would be here. And I think someone was here. Because a familiar ball of silver and blue was charging at us. Not us. Me. Followed by a march larger greenish-blue dragon.

"Hi, Azymondias." I said to the baby dragon when he jumped into my arms.

"I see you humans have already met the Prince. Starling's Zym seems to like you Mr Lake." the green-ish blue dragon said. Um... do dragons normally...

"YOU TALK?!?!" Thanks for that, Tobes.

"Of course, I do. I'm Sisu. Starling sent me after Little Azymondias to make sure he stayed out of trouble." Why aren't Blinky, Aarrrgghh!, and Draal freaking out about there being another dragon? And the elf being here?

"You six, now-seven, looking for the Treasure Room?" asked Sisu.

I shivered as a breeze went by. Why was there a breeze? We're in a dry castle underwater! This is just too weird.

"We were headed that way right now!" Blinky told the dragon.

Azymondias coughed. Or sneezed? I don't know. But he zapped me and I yelped and I'm... dry? Well alot dryer than before. Uh, thank you. Living dryer thay could kill me at any given moment. But you're still cute. So you're forgiven if you do.

"Well I wouldn't go that way! That's where Meg put his evil lair at." Sisu told us.

"Lair?" "Meg?"

"Meg is what the time-traveler calls Megamind. And he placed a lair here when he was going through his 'evil' phase." I did not know Dragons did air quotes.

"Time Traveler? Like the Doctor? Or Loki?" askes Toby.

"Looks like a mix of Matt Smith and Loki as a tween with too much hair gel. Alright, kids follow me." Sisu told us.

Zym appeared on my shoulder, wrapping his small body around on my shoulder and we followed the hopping dragon towards the treasure room. We had reached the treasure room, avoiding all the traps (that was on the ceiling for some strange reason). We arrived there. And Sisu peered inside before letting us enter. Strange.

But I couldn't help peering over Sisu's sboulder "Are you really angry that the Trollhunter keeps unknowingly stealing your pet?" That sounded like... no it can't be.

"Azymondias is not my pet. My pet sounds like I chose to take care of him. The bundle of zappy madness chose me to take care of him. So if anything, I'm his pet." Please tell me that's not who I think it is. But the-I'm guessing- Startouch Elf looks nothing like her. Not one bit. Well maybe except for the nose. And the eyes.

"You make absolutely no sense. And yet you love him anyway." the other voice said. A male with slick-back hair. This must be the time-traveler Wow. Sisu was spot on.

"Kids, easy now. We wouldn't want this to get into the wrong hands. Not this close to the Cotillion." A brunette male that appeared to be the oldest of the group. Why does he look so familiar to me?

"I have a question for you, pig snout. Meg said you wouldn't be here. Why the hell are you here? And why are you even here?" the elf asked.

"I stowed away because none of you are smart." the time-traveller said.

"Says the royal dumbass." the female elf sighed. "I'm so young and yet I feel so old." she emphasized. I was half expecting her to do a dramatic fall like they always seem to do in soap operas notthatIwatchsoapoperasinthefirstplacethat'sabsurd.

"I already knew that, dumbass." time-traveler said.

"Go on, Trollhunter." Sisu used her tail to push me toward the elf's group to retrieve the essence stone. "Introduce yourself."

And suddenly I stumbled upon the room making the group's attention turn to me. "Um...hi." Cue the awkward wave. "I'm... James Lake Jr? I'm the... Trollhunter." I held out the Amulet of Merlin. I could practically sense Toby and Claire facepalming at this.

"Starling, I think this one is for you to handle." I now noticed the brunette boy that stood beside the other elf. Is that... Callum Schlott?? Um... I hope if that is him, he doesn't tell [Y/N] about this.

"I am the one they refer to as Starling as you must know. And we don't need you here. To help us." The girl's hand were running up and down a strand of her waist length periwinkle hair. [Y/N] did the same thing when she had long hair. Not the time Jim.

"I think we do. Because the Seastone is missing if you've forgotten." the other elf said. She sounds like Rayla. And sort of looks like her too.

"THE SEASTONE IS GONE!?!?!?" Blinky exclaimed.

"Unfortunately so. Now, one advantage turns out to be a setback." I didn't notice the other brunette who had a black dragon that was acting like a cat by his feet.

"Do you have any leads?" asked Claire as she stepped forward.

"Just a Roman Penny. No clue from where though." Starling told us. "Now, I think it's time you kids return to California. Don'tyouthink."

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL_HERE]}|

"So Atlantis was a flopp?" I had already told Draal about the whole atlantis situation.

Luckily mom had another night shift at the hospital, so Draal could walk around freely while I made dinner for myself. Elbow Pasta and Meat Sauce it appears to be.

"Yes, it was, Draal." I turned the TV on and started flipping through the channels to find the one I wanted. "At least, I met Starling. She was not what I was expecting."

"Most elves aren't. You humans expect them to be small and cute because of the Claus, but they aren't." Draal told me.

"Actually, I think," I found what I was looking for. The French food competition show the World's Greatest Chef Competiton. "she was the exact opposite of what all of you were saying. Sure she was a tad harsh to us, but I think she didn't want to involve us in the Essence Stones. Like she didn't want anymore added help. I don't know." A knock sounded on the door.

"Were you expecting anyone?" asked Draal.

"Not that I know. Toby and Claire wouldn't knock. They'll just barge on in." I told him.

And before I got to the door, the door opened to reveal a boy with white hair, incredibly pale skin wearing a blue sweatshirt and brown trousers. "Don't be such a pussy, Hiccup." That was Sisu.

"Yeah, we're only here since Zym wants the trollhunter to be his dragon rider and to train him how to combat magic." white hair said.

"Um... what are you doing at my house?" I asked them as I held my wooden spoon in my hand, ready to strike them if necessary.

"You and Punzie would be great friends, squirt." The platinum blonde ruffled my brown hair to make it messy. My hair now looks like the dragon boy's hair.

"We're here to train you. I'm Hiccup. And this is Jack. Jack Frost." Wait. What? I'm lost. "I live over in Berk Manor. And you have wandered in a den where you cannot get out of." the brunnette introduced.

"Which is why Starling didn't want you to get involved. By trying to help us with the Seastone, you and your friends have put a target on your back. Starling didn't want that. But now we have to help you. To train you. Hiccup here is a Dragon Rider. And even though Azymondias isn't big enough to be ridden. He will be. I suspect sooner than you think, so he's going to train you to ride him. And I and many others are going come here to help you train against magic. Since the people who will come after you to kill you will have magic." Jack Frost told me. Now I'm really lost.

"So let's begin."

@trollhuntersfanatic

[shiramoonshadow]

Hi! The vip panel with Jason Simpson, Luc Roderique and Adrian Petriw lasts longer that the first one, so I've transcribed the first 30 minutes and I'll try to have the last half hour left by tomorrow. Sorry to keep you waiting!

Luc, favorite king Harrow scene? (This was mine)

Luc: That’s a really tough one. I think my favorite scene to watch... pretty much anything in “heart of a titan” are my favorite scenes to watch. I literally just re-watched “heart of a titan” before doing this and it gets me every single time...Um..from the scenes of watching I love those scenes where Harrow is just standing on the balcony watching his sons, watching Callum draw a little picture in the dirt of Harrow and realizing that Harrow means something to him or where he's talking about making history a narrative of love instead of a narrative of strength and watching Callum and Ezran have a little wooden sword fight, and then Callum hits a little too hard and accidentally hurts Ezran and he can see that and immediately drops his sword to make sure that his little brother's all right. Those scenes always get me. My favorite one to act was probably...episode three; his goodbye to Callum. It was pretty early in the process of recording and I just remembered the feeling in the room like every other actor in the room was so amazing and really gave us the space to play that scene, and it’s the most emotional moment I’ve ever had in a recording booth in an animated session.

What did you do in that moment where you broke Viren’s heart forever and it never recovered? So Viren’s resigned himself to do the right thing, he’s come to terms with the fact that King Harrow is right and he’s in the wrong and he’s got to be a better person, a different person, and he goes in to kind of walk side by side and king Harrow says “get on your knees b****, you are my subject and you’re going to get in line and you’re going to shut your mouth”, and then it broke Viren’s heart forever. Tell me your process.

Luc: That’s an interesting one for Harrow because it’s very counter-intuitive to I think how he normally operates, but I think they have such a long-standing friendship in relationship, like I have those friendships in my own life where you know a person so well and you know all of the things you love about them and the reason that you’re still their friend, but the things that just...they are like family, right? Viren will just not get off of this dark magic thing and I have seen the harm that dark magic can do in the past and it just like Harrow lets his emotions get the better of him. I said it before, it’s like Achilles heel and I think in that moment he was just “I need to show him who’s in charge here. I need to show him what’s going to happen and he knows that the only way to do that is a show of strength and a show of authority.

What do you think Jason? Is that the moment where we lose Viren for good?

Jason: No, I don’t think we’ve lost him for good. I mean, I have high hopes and as an actor I have...Um..you know, you want to progress and grow and I think there’s a whole lot of growth potential and hopefully it’s coming because the guy’s got a long way to go to redemption, but you don’t need someone else’s approval to find redemption but it certainly helps when you’ve hurt other people and you want their forgiveness and that’s not going to come easy at all, but I want it to be there because, you know, he’s such a great character and he’s...we’ve got Claudia in the mix and their relationship is going to grow and there’s going to be struggles and so; no, Viren is not long gone but that definitely was the catalyst for him...maybe not the catalyst, one of them. For him..Um...going forward with what he was doing, I think he always had plans but now his friend is gone...is he?

What’s your favorite scene Jason?

Jason: Favorite scene overall...There’s a couple of things that get me excited…

Other than Harrow?

Jason: I do love the...it’s very very short but it’s a moment where...well no, actually my favorite scene is Amaya and Janai at the helms deep there, oh wrong show, um... just that full action sequence, it's so exciting, it gives me goosebumps every time I watch it, it’s so exciting, and the sword and she grabs her and she pulls her up and… My favorite scene to work on was just a very short scene with the mirror and Viren trying so hard to figure it out and he puts the crap in his eyes and it was a really raw emotional moment for me, the most emotional I’ve been on the show as an actor. He is clearly screaming at himself, “you’re worthless, why did I waste my time?” It really touched a nerve in me. I’ve had those moments staring into the mirror myself, so that was a very touching moment.

Adrian, what’s your favorite scene?

Adrian: My favorite scene to voice is...maybe not a scene but a sequence, was doing the whole in the first season, the whole sort of the banther lodge sequence when we come and Callum is there and Rayla's hiding. That was one of the first sort of times as Gren, as an actor, I really had to play with this dichotomy that the character has? I don’t know if dichotomy is quite the right term, but where Gren has his own voice as his own character but then when he speaks for Amaya there has to be this shift and you know, he has to sort of take on this sort of confidence and poise that she has, so having to play the shift between speaking to Amaya and to Callum as Gren and speaking for Amaya, making that transition was really interesting. Favorite scene overall is really tough...I don’t know if I can pick an absolute favorite but one that always comes up, I just really love the moment in s1 with Amaya at her sister's grave, when she's signing to her sister and there's no captions. It's such a powerful scene all thanks to the animators and it’s honestly one of the most common scenes that people bring up to me when we’re chatting at cons and stuff like that and, you know, I thought there was a lot of brave choices there and it was also just something I just had never seen in a cartoon before. That’s always stuck with me and that was one moment when I was first watching the first season that really hit me, that I was like “wow I’m really proud to be a part of this thing”.

What relationship changes more from this point on from s4 forward, Jason what changes more, Viren and Claudia or Viren and Aaravos?

Jason: I think it’s gonna...this is me speculating, this is not-

Yeah, yeah. Of course, nobody knows anything.

Jason: Yeah (Wink). I think his relationship with Claudia is going to be strained because she is going to be moving forward in the path that he might move forward, but he is going to be seeing things in a whole different light and I think that has to do with the way he will be treated, maybe cast aside by Aaravos. Um... I think he's gonna be fighting for his daughter's life.

[About conquering Xadia] maybe it’s just Aaravos hiding intentions, but it felt very like, what are we doing bro? Like is there a plan? Like can I, can you give me something? Like, to me it felt very much like Viren was in charge and you’re saying at that point Aaravos knows everything?

Jason: It certainly can feel like Viren is in charge and it can certainly look like it. It does not mean for one second, in my opinion, that Aaravos is pulling all the strings. Let me use a very very very terrible analogy. A smart person decides to use a drug because it heightens them and they figure I’m smart enough, I know when to stop, I can control this, but it gives me more. They lose control, it sucks them in and no matter how smart they are, no matter what their plans are. That’s a terrible way to put that...I can see that exact thing happening with Viren and Aaravos. The beautiful thing about this is we all watch the same thing, we all see the same visuals, we all hear the same dialogue but we can have completely opposing opinions. You and I could have a complete argument and never convince each other, . That's awesome.

[blutopaz15]

Happy Ezran Appreciation Week! Day 3

Jelly Tarts / Family (Click for Ao3 Link!)

Ezran really liked having a sister. 

Partially because it meant he had a co-conspirator against Callum. So when their favorite jerkface started being—well, a jerkface—a few days into their vacation at the Banther Lodge, Ezran now had an accomplice in his efforts to get under his skin in return.

It had started when a particularly crabby Callum started griping about charades one evening. As far as Ezran could tell, Callum’s wild flailing could only have been his interpretation of swimming, so he rattled off every sea creature he could think of as the seconds ticked away. When the sand ran out in the timer, Callum started in on him, ranting about how obviously he was pantomiming flying. Ezran had just crossed his arms, calling him a sore loser. Callum’s face had reddened, and when he let fly a particularly salty insult, Rayla’s head whipped around to glare at Callum faster than Ezran had ever seen before.

“Don’t yell at him!” She looked ready to throttle Callum when he scoffed in response. Her jaw was set in anger when she and Ezran shared a conniving look.

The next morning, when Ezran woke up, he found Rayla calmly at the table, a cup of tea in her hands, while the sounds of Callum tearing through his room mumbling in frustration came down over the balcony.

“What’s going on?” He’d asked with a yawn.

Rayla just pointed to one of the statues across the way in the sitting room, which was now sporting a red scarf. Ezran grinned and joined her at the table, where she poured him some tea too.

The next day, Callum had started griping at him again, this time about Ezran using the last of the snowman/elf supplies. Apparently to Callum, using two carrots for a snowelf with both a nose and horns was an offense worth yelling over. Ezran shouted back that he was a jerk, and Callum stomped away, apparently unwilling to acknowledge his stupitude.

Rayla’s appeared at Ezran’s side as Callum stormed off. “Meet me in the kitchen when the clock strikes three tonight,” she said mysteriously, before disappearing to follow Callum’s steps into the woods. 

Ezran pieced together from the way they sat at opposite corners of the room over dinner and the way that Rayla camped out with blanket and pillow in the sitting room at bedtime, that whatever she’d had to say to Callum in the woods had not been pleasant or well-received. 

He’d asked if everything was okay after Callum had disappeared to go to bed, and she’d been reassuring. “Eh, it’s fine. Don’t forget the plan.”

So, at three in the morning, Ezran came down the stairs and heard pots and pans clattering in the kitchen already. 

“Rayla?” He set Bait on the counter, and he obligingly glowed a little brighter to add to the dim lantern light.

“Morning, Ez!” She called cheerily, reaching for the flour on a high shelf in the pantry.

“What are you doing?” He asked, rubbing at his eyes.

“We’re going to make jelly tarts!” She explained with a grin.

“Okay! I’m always up for jelly tarts,” he said, turning to the cabinet to survey their jelly choices.

“Fake jelly tarts,” she clarified. Ezran gave her a puzzled look. “...and I guess we should make some real ones too while we’re at it.” She shrugged.

“I’m not following,” he said, looking away from the jars of jelly to understand.

“Well, for Callum we’ll make some ketchup tarts.” She held up the glass bottle of ketchup. “And I guess for us we can make...I don’t know...raspberry? Strawberry? Whatever you want, as long as it’s red,” she smirked mischievously.

“Rayla, you’re an evil genius,” Ezran grinned back, and they got started.

—

When the morning came and they heard Callum’s door creak open, Rayla and Ezran hushed each other and scrambled to the table, sitting at the side nearest to the part of the platter with the real tarts.

“Oh, good. I’m glad you’re both up,” Callum, dark circles under his eyes betraying a restless night, came to sit opposite his brother. “Listen, guys. I thought about what you both said, and you’re right. I have been really rude and grumpy and...jerkface-y...lately. I’m sorry. And I’m ready to pay the price.” He stood and waited for a response, clearly expecting Ezran to insist on a jerkface dance. 

Rayla looked to Ez, uncertain if he’d want to continue on with the rest of their prank given Callum’s apology. Ezran raised his eyebrows and glanced at the platter, smile almost undetectable.

“No need, Callum,” Ez started, holding up a hand diplomatically. “We forgive you.”

“In fact, we made these as a peace offering,” Rayla played along and plucked a tart from Callum’s side of the plate to hand to him. 

“Wow, I really don’t deserve you two,” he started, then took a bite. The ketchup oozed out, betraying its entirely un-jelly-like consistency, but Callum seemed not to notice. Ezran looked to see Rayla’s mouth twitching like his was as they both tried desperately to contain their twisted glee. 

“Thank you for being—” He froze and stopped chewing, his face growing red. Ezran broke first, grin giving way into a giggle and then full-bellied laughter as he watched Callum examine the red goop and stick a finger in it to taste it on its own. “Okay, I deserved that.” His face fell into a good-natured and understanding frown.

Rayla wiped a tear from her eyes as she cackled alongside Ez. She choked out the words between waves of laughter. “That’s what you get for messing with my little brother.” She winked at Ezran as she called him her brother. Ezran really liked having a sister.

[scarletemeterio-thesecond]

hey, i saw you write for tdp, could i request a soren x reader imagine where reader is a half-elf or something like that? please make reader gender neutral if you can

Omg, my first request! I love this idea, there are not enough Soren imagines, and of course I'll make it gender neutral! I hope you like it! It's a bit long because I had to put some context in it, much love <3

•••

Uncovered Secrets (Soren x Reader)

Warnings: Mentions of death

Genre: Angst, a lil bit of fluff.

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Summary: See request

Word Count: 1978

part 2

I've always had to hide myself from everyone. I had to learn from a young age how to do it. I've always been told how, when I was a baby, I was found at the border and given to my father after saying he would take care of me, and he has ever since. I'm a hybrid, half Moonshadow Elf and half human, so I had to learn as soon as possible how to do magic in order to create illusions to hide my appearance. I remember when I first did it at the age of ten, I was so happy, all those years of covering my head and half of my face were over, I didn't even have to paint my eyebrows anymore; I could finally be normal and treated like any other human in Katolis.

Life from that moment really changed for me. My father was a respected general so I'd always lived in the castle, but I started hanging out with the other kids, Prince Callum and Lord Viren's children. We quickly became inseparable and did pretty much everything together. I think it's safe to say that everyone knew about my special friendship with Soren. I don't know why, but we just understood each other even from a young age, and it only got stronger as the years passed. He was always there for me as I was there for him, he'd helped me a lot when my father passed away and I trusted him with my life, we knew everything about each other... except for what I really was. I thought about telling him a couple times but I knew it was wrong, and I knew how much humans hated elves, even Soren. But this was the life I had, I was destined to hide from the people I cared about the most. Or at least, that was until Rayla appeared in our lives.

The two Princes, Rayla and I discovered that the egg of the dragon prince hadn't been destroyed, and we were going to take it home to its mother. During our trip, I decided to tell them the truth, if Rayla had been accepted as our friend then there was no reason to fear anymore. Thankfully, I was right, nothing changed between us and I even stopped using magic to hide my true appearance. It was weird but at the same time it felt right, it was freeing.

We've been staying with Lujanne for a few days now, enjoying the little dragon's company and giving ourselves a little break. Rayla and I knew we had to go, though, but the Princes weren't very interested on leaving yet, so we agreed to stay one more day. Everything seemed fine but the elven girl and I felt a bit unsafe, so we decided to take turns and keep guard in case something or someone decided to appear.

It was my turn to keep guard so I was looking for Rayla to replace her but when I found her she was lying on the ground, surrounded by two people. I prepared myself to attack, thanking my father for all those sword and combat lessons he'd make me take, I wouldn't let them hurt her.

"Get away from her!" I yelled as I approached them, but I stopped when I realized who they were. Soren and Claudia were standing a few feet away from me and it felt like I hadn't seen them in a lifetime.

"Oh, great, another elf?" Soren said. "So what, there's like a whole other group of you?" I could sense the hatred and disgust in his voice. He didn't recognize me, neither of them did. Before I could say or do something, Rayla woke up and took them by surprise.

She started fighting with Soren and I got out of my trance only when Callum showed up, trying to calm everyone down. He was happy to see them and I would've been too, but I just couldn't believe what had happened.

"She kidnapped you and Prince Ezran, how can she be good?" asked Claudia about Rayla. "And it seems like she didn't act alone because there's another one of them too!".

"No, wait! There was no kidnapping, Claudia. We went with her by choice" explained the older Prince. "And what do you mean by 'another one of them'?"

"Well, what does that mean then?" said Soren, pointing at me. Hearing him speak about me like that was the worst thing I could've ever imagined.

"That is (Y/N)" answered Rayla, clearly annoyed at the blonde boy.

"What do you mean? (Y/N)'s hair is not white and they don't have horns, or pointy ears, or those weird things under their eyes! Stop lying!"

"Soren, she's right. It's me" as soon as I said that I used my magic to change how I looked, going back to how they knew me. "I'm a hybrid, I've been using magic ever since I was ten to blend in".

I could tell he was shocked and he opened his mouth to say something but the words never came out.

"Listen, guys, it's late. Let's just get some rest and cool off, okay?" We all agreed to Callum's words and went back with the others but I could tell there was a thick tension in the air. And that tension stayed there until we all went to bed.

When we woke up, we had breakfast together and I started using my magic again, at least when Claudia and Soren were around, I already knew what they thought of me and I didn't want to put up with their looks too. I spent all day learning some magic with Lujanne, it was nice to learn from an actual mage and it didn't hurt to get my mind off some things for a while.

When I was done for the day and ready to go to bed, I heard someone knocking the door.

"Come in" I said loudly.

"You'll never guess what happened today, (Y/N)" said Rayla as she entered the room, we had become good friends in the last couple days and it felt nice to have someone kind of like me around. She told me about what Soren had done earlier that day, and about how she tried to talk to Callum but he didn't pay any attention to her. "And I just talked to Lujanne because maybe she would help me and I realized that the only way for them to completely trust me is by telling them the truth, even if it hurts them".

"The truth? What do you mean, Rayla?"

"This is not easy to say but... Their father is dead and I've been wanting to tell Callum but I just don't know how to and I-"

"Hey, Rayla. It's okay, you're just trying to protect them, I'm sure they will understand. We're friends, remember?" I interrupted her, trying to clam her down. She let out a deep breath and nodded with her head. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course, (Y/N). We're friends, remember?" she said, repeating my words. I smiled weakly before continuing.

"I'm not totally surprised about what you said about Soren, not after how he reacted with me at least. And you know what's the worst part? I'm sure that his father is behind what happened earlier today. I know him but he just needs Viren's approval, you know? And it hurts, a lot actually. I just hope he realizes there are people who truly care about him before it's too late".

"You like him, don't you?" I opened my eyes at her words, trying to deny it but all she did was smile. "You're not very good at hiding it, (Y/N)".

"I guess I'm not. I just hope that deep down you are wrong and that they both realize that what they're trying to do is wrong".

"I hope so, too" she hugged me tight, wrapping her arms around my neck. "It's late, I think I'm gonna go to bed" she said as she started heading towards the door to go to her room.

"Go, I'll stay up a bit longer".

And suddenly that 'bit longer' turned into at least two hours. I couldn't sleep, I just kept thinking about Soren and his attitude. I decided to get out of my room and go to the Moon Nexus, if I was going to stay awake thinking about things at least I would have a nice view while doing it.

I was standing against the edge when I heard someone coming. I started hiding my true appearance out of instinct but was interrupted in the middle of the act.

"You don't have to do that". Soren's voice sounded loud in contrast to the silence of the night. I stopped using my magic and he came to my side. "Can't sleep?"

"Yeah... What made you change your mind?" He stood there looking confused, not understanding what I was talking about. "Yesterday you didn't even recognize me without the illusion and even looked disgusted at the sight of me. What's changed?"

"I noticed you hide your elf-like features when I'm around, but I've never seen you being more you than when you stop hiding" I looked at him confused, I thought I'd made sure to use my magic whenever he was around. I could tell he saw how disconcerted I was. "I saw you practicing your magic earlier today and then playing with the kids. I've never seen you so... Happy and free".

There was a brief silence between us until I broke it.

"That's because I've never truly felt like that, until I stopped hiding".

"I'm sorry for acting like that yesterday, I was a fool. And I think you look really cute like this".

"So you don't hate me?"

"How could I ever hate you? You're the most important thing in my life, (Y/N)".

I smiled at his words and turned my gaze to the water underneath us. I looked into his eyes again and we started getting closer and closer, but just when our lips where about to touch, I backed off.

"I'm sorry but I really need to ask you something. Why did you lie to the boys earlier, saying that King Harrow missed them?" he looked confused and a little bit scared.

"W-What to you mean?"

"There's no way you hadn't known that he was dead, you literally are a Crown Guard, Soren. So just tell me why you did it, please".

Again, there was silence, but this time it was tense and extremely awkward.

"I-I'm sorry but-"

"But what? You can't tell me? Why? Because it would ruin whatever plan your father has regarding the Princes?" I stopped to look at him but he was avoiding my eyes. "Because you don't want to admit that it was a strategy to be able to kill the boys a lot easier by making them trust you?" I said, remembering what Rayla had told me before about the zip line.

He just stood there, now a few feet apart from me and I could se how surprised he was, but I also could see something else, that I was right about my assumptions.

"You don't understand, (Y/N), I-"

"Oh, no, Soren. I think I understand really well".

As soon as I said that I left, going back to my room with tears running down my face, and ignoring Soren's voice calling for me. How could he even think about doing that? How would I tell the Princes? Would I even tell them at all or would I just try to keep them safe without destroying the image they had about his so-called friend? I had so many questions and not even one answer. I only knew that Rayla wasn't wrong at all.

•••

Oh, boy, this took a long time to write. I was thinking about doing a part 2 but I'm not sure about it.

-Mica :)

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

Replay ch. 4

Callum gulped as he sent the text to Rayla.  She was fully in her rights to reject a drawing session in the woods.  Not only that, but he was asking her to bring her own clothes because he didn’t know her exact measurements.  Was he asking too much?  He read the text again.  ‘If it’s not too much trouble, I was really imagining drawing you among the trees, like a faerie or an elf.  If you have any flowy clothes that you are alright with getting dirty, please wear those. I’ll send you the location if you’re comfortable.  If not, we can do the beach or my backyard.  I just can’t imagine drawing you in a confined space like my studio. I don’t think it would fit your spirit.’

Callum internally screamed. Did he really send that?  She was going to rescind her acceptance of his request to draw her, wasn’t she?  ‘Her spirit’? He had met her once!  What was wrong with him?  It was true, though.  That was something about her that, despite the suit and the situation that they met in, made him feel like she would be more at home running barefoot through the forest or relaxing by the sea.

Either way, now all he had to do was wait for her to reply back.  If she rejected the offer, well, he didn’t want to think about that, because that meant he probably was never going to see her again.  Meeting her once was enough to make her haunt his every thought for the past three days.  While he and his friends had finally ironed out how they were going to go full-time with YouTube, she had been right in the back of his mind.  

He had looked up her name and ran across a few things.  She really was the daughter of two bodyguards of the British royal family and her adoptive fathers ran a famous Celtic jewelry shop in Aberdeen, the designs being a mix of traditional shapes and styles and new materials.  She did dance for years as a way to channel her energy. There was even a video online of her at sixteen doing a ballet routine to a Kylie Minogue and Madonna compilation. She had inserted traditional Irish step dance in a way Callum never would have thought worked but it did. Maybe that was because of the sheer joy on her face as she moved.  That made her departure from dance all the stranger and it’s also where information about her basically stopped.  The most recent thing he found was that she worked for Patel and Associates Anti-Fraud Law Office.  

A lawyer…his faerie was a lawyer.  It certainly explained the suit but it was almost absurd.  Here he was imagining her running through the trees and she was surrounded by paperwork in her daily life.  Did she enjoy it?  Did she like spicy food?  What was her type?

Callum hit his head against his desk.  He needed to stop letting his mind drift to her and whether or not she could ever be interested in him.  There was no way someone like him was her type.  She couldn’t hide just how toned her long legs her in her suit.  She probably worked out often while he was a lazy twig that indulged in sleeping in too much.  Also, she was a lawyer.  A lawyer falling for a YouTuber/artist?  Yeah, right.

A stray chip hit his forehead.  Callum looked up to glare at Soren.  “What?”

“You thinking about that hot girl at the cheese shop again?”

“What?  No!”  Callum could feel the blush creepy up on his cheeks and all the way to his ears.

“It’s fine if you were. She was smoking hot.  I never thought I would find white hair hot, but DAMN.”

Claudia hummed in acknowledgement.  “I’m calling it now; she’s Bi or Pan.”

“What makes you say that?” Soren mumbled around a bunch of chips.

Claudia winked.  “Gaydar.”

“Wishful thinking?”

“Maybe some of that, too,” Claudia shrugged.  

“She’s got two dads,” Callum mumbled.

Soren, Claudia, and Ezran all turned to him.  “Does she now?” Claudia asked.

“Yeah.  She told me at the shop.  It was the painting of Aunt Amaya and Aunt Janai that made her accept my offer.  She was raised by her parents’ friends, hence, two dads.  They run Gael Jewelers in Aberdeen.”  

Claudia immediately pulled out her phone, probably to look them up.  Shortly after, she whistled.  “Wow. She comes from a really good-looking family.  Her mom is a totally MILF.”

Soren rolled his eyes. “Claudia, you can’t just-” Claudia shoved the picture in his face. “MILF alert.”

“Mm-hmm.”  Claudia scrolled through.  “Ethari and Runaan and are also incredibly attractive.  Damn.  What is in the water in Scotland?”

Callum rolled his eyes. “Guys.  Let’s focus.  Do we need a production manager?”

Claudia shrugged.  “My vote is you’re in charge of creative for group projects, we run our own channels, and we hire an editing assistant.”

“We also need a social media manager.  Ez can’t do it all on his own while he’s in school.”

Ezran nodded.  “It’s nice that you guys do your own channel stuff, but, sometimes, it would be nice to have some help.”

“Do we need a strong social media presence?  We have YouTube and Twitter.  Isn’t that enough?”

Ezran scratched the back of his neck.  “Maybe? Claudia’s got a large following on Tumblr ever since she came out during one of her make-up tutorials.  Her super casual ‘my ex-girlfriend taught me how to do this and this is the first time I’ve done this eyeliner look since we broke-up’ just made her blow-up and our channel gained thousands of followers over-night.”

Callum nodded.  “We gained a lot of followers after I did that art tutorial with Janai, too.  A lot of people just went gaga over her and I see a lot of requests for her to come back on the channel.”

“Which is where a social media manager could come in handy.  Maybe they could track requests so we don’t have to?”

Soren sighed, taking another handful of his chips.  “We also need someone to help us with events.  Getting us into them, working booths…being famous is hard work.”

“We aren’t famous, Soren.”

“Beg to differ.  I get stopped all the time.”  Soren flexed his arm.  “And it’s not just because of these guns.”  The other three in the room rolled their eyes.  

“Himbo,” Claudia coughed, no-so-subtly.  

“WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! Stop using words I don’t know!”

“Stop being a himbo.”

“CLAUDS!”  

Ezran and Callum shared a look, snorting at their childhood friends’ teasing.  Soren and Claudia couldn’t go five minutes without teasing each other or making a serious situation humorous.  “Can’t take them anywhere,” Callum whispered.

Ezran nodded.  “Bait is better behaved.”

Callum eyed the frog in the glass bowl Ezran took with him wherever he could.  “He’s glaring at me again.”

“Because you won’t stop thinking about that girl.”

“It’s not my fault she won’t leave my head.  You saw her, Ez.”

“Yeah, she’s beautiful, but she’s not running through my head like she is your’s.  Are you even ready for another relationship?  After Melissa-”

“Melissa was a nightmare. She constantly asked to be introduced in our videos.  I didn’t know at the time, but you were right, she approached me because she wanted to piggyback off our growing fame.”  Callum ran a hand through his hair.  “I was an idiot.”

Ezran put a hand on his shoulder.  “I wasn’t going to say that.  I was going to say that Melissa really hurt you and I want you to be careful.  You didn’t even like her that much, if I remember correctly.”

“She was nice, pretty, liked some of the same things I did.  But she didn’t really inspire me to be better or push my art.  She only encouraged the YouTube thing, not what I actually like.”

“She is why we got almost fifty thousand subscribers in one week, though.  That story broke and you had to give that little video and it really stuck with people.”

Callum remembered that video.  As a way to quiet down any questions, he had made a short video detailing how they had met (in a coffee shop), why they had never gone public (he had wanted to keep his private life and his YouTube life separate), that she had met his family but they kept it hush-hush (impossible not to meet Ezran after knowing Callum for a week), and that the break-up had not been mutual.  Callum had broken-up with her because he had felt that it wasn’t working because they wanted different things.  Melissa pushed the YouTube thing, and there was nothing wrong with that, but, if Callum was going to be known for social media and videos, he wanted to be proud of what he put out into the universe.  He loved his art more, and, if he could, that would be all he did.  Melissa had wanted to do sponsorships and Callum hadn’t.  They just had different values and desires and no one else was owed this knowledge, but Callum had been forced to do damage control because people would not stop asking.  “Yeah. I was really surprised that that happened.”

“People value honesty. I think it comes across in our videos and your art tutorials that you are not in this for the fame.  We’ve done meet and greets and you are just awkward as anything.  Melissa showed her true colors on her own with posts afterwards.”  Callum didn’t even want to think about how Melissa had tried to monetize their break-up.  It had been bizarre to see her sponsored by a make-up wipe company to tell her side of the story, which basically confirmed everything in Callum’s video, but with the caveat that she had wanted him to reach new heights and that YouTube and not his ‘lame art’, as she had put it, was the way to do that.  Their fans had not taken kindly to that and Melissa had lost thousands of followers she had gained overnight in even less time.

“Social media is weird, Ez. No matter what, we have got to stay away from the drama.  We do not want to be involved in any of that.”

“Yep.  That’s why I think a social media manager could help.  A good one.”

“I’m all for it if that’s what keeps our noses clean.”  Callum straightened when his phone alerted him to a text.  

He opened it to see it was from Rayla ‘The woods?  OK.  I’m still bringing my friend.  When’s good for you?  It would have to be on a weekend for me because of work.  Sorry about that.’

“Holy shit,” Callum whispered.

“What?” Ezran looked over his shoulder to read the text.  “That text sounds weird.  Callum-”

“I know, Ez, but she didn’t say ‘no’.  She didn’t reject me.”  Ezran raised a brow.  “You know what I mean.”

“You’ve got it bad.”

“I just need to draw her to get her out of my system.”

“Either that or she is your muse.  Poor Aunt Janai.  She was having so much fun being your muse.  So was Khessa.”  Callum chuckled.  Khessa, Janai’s older sister, did enjoy modeling for Callum.  His exhibit on women of color had been a smash hit in part because of her always accepting when he asked.  She had once modeled with a crown while sitting on a throne and that particular piece now hung in her house in her living room, showed off to everyone who came over.  Callum smiled as he remembered that exhibit.  His crowing achievement, to this day, was the portrait of his mother, eyes softened, and an easy, loving smile on her lips.  People thought of her as this rough former military general and tactician who once taught at military academies.  They didn’t know that she had a sweet tooth or that her relationship with Callum’s father had led her to leaving the military because she saw that the push for peace was more important.  

She was now known for her discussions on US-South Korean and US-Thai relations because both her parents were immigrants and her own history in South Korea.  Sarai and Amaya had both spent half their childhoods in South Korea in Korean schools, helping Sarai learn how the rest of the world saw the States. She and Amaya and joined the military because it helped pay for university, but both found they were really good at it. So good at it, they extended their contracts before finally leaving to focus on family and peaceful negotiations. Callum was proud of his mother’s work and was proud of the picture showing the softer side of her so many people didn’t see.  

He shook his head and sent a quick text to Rayla that next Saturday worked for him if it worked for her.  This Saturday was in a few days and, if things went how Ezran wanted, they were probably going to be doing interviews all weekend for a social media manager.  “Let’s get a social media manager, Ez.”

“YES!”

------------------------------------------

Rayla smiled at the text. The woods was a bit of a strange option, but she was excited.  She hadn’t had a chance to go running through the trees barefoot in years.  She was going to have to ask Corvus if he was willing to head out early so she could do so.  She mentally thought of her wardrobe and realized she didn’t have anything flowing that she was willing to get dirty.  She was going to have to go thrift store shopping.  

Was she really going to go buy a dress so a random artist that she had met one time could draw her surrounded by trees?  Yeah, she was and she was going to look so good she was going to haunt his mind like he haunted her’s.  His voice followed her and she had watched all of his videos in three days.  She barely slept because she wanted to hear him more or see him smile or laugh.  She felt like one of those stalkers who was convinced a famous person was in love with them, but she had met him in real life.  He had approached her, he had asked to draw her.  Either way, she wanted him to be tongue-tied when he saw her and, hopefully, she was going to quell some of the fire that refused to leave her belly since they had shaken hands.

[bjorntheluckybastard]

Amnesiac

it'd been four years since Rayla's disappearance, and three since she'd been assumed dead.

when the news that rayla was assumed to be dead hit Callum's ears he couldn't take it, he'd already suffered her sudden disappearance a year prior and now with the possibility, she'd never come back he couldn't cope, it took him years to mourn her loss, going through the stages of grief and finally accepting the fact that if she were alive, she'd have come back by now.

the last time she'd been seen was when villagers of a small town had seen a " woman with half of her hair white and the other half black attack a Moonshadow elf with dark magic and take her away" the woman was assumed to be Claudia but no one could know for sure because the location they were suspected to be in was completely abandoned by the time they'd arrived there.

the only evidence of rayla ever being there was in a small room in the dungeon of the place, a chair with cuffs on the arms and legs for holding people in place in the middle of the room, torn pieces of the fabric of her clothes, blood splatters on the chair and floor, and a chunk of the end of her horn was found in the room. Callum had to be consoled for days after what he'd seen and imagined what they'd done to Rayla.

now three years after that Callum was beginning to heal after her loss but still not being able to love anyone other than her, so to distract himself he dedicated himself to helping his brother in whatever way he needed him.

today he, Ezran, and Soren were traveling to a camp of Vikings in the mountains, they'd been raiding small towns and fighting other clans so Ezran wanted to see if a peace treaty could be made and get them to convince other clans to sign it too.

the task was going to be a hard one but this clan, in particular, was known for being a lot less brutal than some of the others so it was a decent place to start.

" so how'd you convince Corvus and Opeli that you only needed me and Soren on this trip?" Callum asked "well 1 I'm their king and 2 it'd be better if there were fewer of us so that they don't feel threatened by us to keep this as peaceful as possible" Ezran mainly wanted to spend time with Callum to help him get over rayla but there was truth in his statement. " eh who cares I'm the only protection you guys will need anyway," Soren said with a smug grin.

they arrived at the camp a few hours after dawn, for a small place it was extremely loud and active, the warriors were either training, drinking, talking, or just fighting, well there were other things but those were the main things.

" Hej!" the three turned to see a tall dark-skinned man covered in tattoos and scars " you must be the king that wishes to have me and my kin bow at your feet" he laughed " I am Kludd Jarl welcome" he put out his hand for Ezran to shake and grabbed his forearm and slapping the other arm with his hand, a bit shocked by the sudden rough greeting Ezran smiles back at Kludd " its an honour to be here sir". Kludd stands back and points at Soren " so is this one your Drengr?" the three look at Kludd puzzled " my what?" Ezran asks confused, " Drengr, it means courageous warrior in our tongue, I assume that's what he is because of the few members of your party", " well I would consider myself pretty courageous" Kluss smiles " Glad to meet a fellow warrior" kludd puts his hand out for Soren to grab and pulls him into a back slap hug, whacking Soren on the back.

now Kludd turns his attention to Callum " Hej friend, what's your purpose in this party?" kludd once again puts out his hand to greet him, Callum grabs it expecting the rough pat on the opposite arm " I'm the king's brother, and a mage" Kludd looked impressed " I should introduce you to our seer at some point, but for now I will allow you to acquaint yourselves and look around we shall speak again soon".

Soren goes with Ezran as he's the one guarding him on this trip so Callum explores on his own, the men and women are loud and intimidating but are very friendly towards him, it's odd he thinks, ' they seem so friendly already I don't know why we really need a peace treaty'.

he wanders around greeting the warriors and acquaints himself with the blacksmith, Gunnar, he's an absolutely massive man with impressive arms for building weapons and armor, he kind of reminded him of Ethari, ' damn I've not seen Ethari in almost a year I should send him a letter asking him how he is' he thought to himself. Callum tried to keep as much contact with him as possible after Rayla was assumed dead Ethari had lost all of his family and was heartbroken further. during his thought of what he should say in his letter, he notices one of the warriors looks distinctly different than the rest, with horns and white hair they were an elf, a Moonshadow one. Callum only saw the back of their head but they had an undercut with a scar on the back of their head and a chunk of their left horn missing replaced by a piece of metal, ' huh kinda looks like the same amount of Raylas horn that we fou-' the realization dawned on his face, there's no way it's one little similarity it couldn't be the dead assumed love of his life, could it?

then the elf turned around, he'd recognize her beautiful violet eyes anywhere, and her voice and accent were slightly different but there's no way he wouldn't know, that's rayla.

the overwhelming feeling of excitement, anger, dread, and sheer relief felt like he'd just been shot through the chest , he runs up to her and places his hand on her shoulder " I cant believe it, after all these years you're alive!" he expects her to be excited to see him or at least be shocked that he's there but she looked so confused " uh yeah I'm alive, whats it to you?" that's not what he was expecting, he hadn't expected her to be so neutral about it "cmon rayla you know me" he hopes she'll at least know who he is " Rayla? who the fuck is that?" how could she ask that? he thinks to himself she has to be joking, and if she is it's certainly not a funny " wha- you are!" he says trying to keep his temper in check, " no I'm definitely not my name is Randvi and I've never seen your sorry mug in my life" her words shattered Callum's heart, she turned to leave but he grabbed her arm involuntarily " do you fucking mind, piss off you bacraut" she jerks her arm away from him and walks off leaving poor callum just stood there trying to comprehend what just happened.

" so I just get over the fact my girlfriend was assumed dead and I've finally found her and she doesn't remember me? fantastic" he mumbles the bitter statement to himself as he searches for kludd, hopefully, he will have the answers Callum needs.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

TDP Casino AU

Nyx is a croupier who earns big tips by being charming

Runaan's head of security, and the Moonshadow assassins are his team

Aaravos is the main stage act

he does all kinds of shows: singing, dancing, magic, stand up comedy

Aaravos walks onto the stage and owns the room

Viren is the piano player he flirts with constantly

and his magic act assistant

and his water boy

Aanya is a gymnast and contortionist

she can shoot a bow with her feet while doing a handstand

Gren is the friendliest waiter ever

Amaya is the bartender he works with the most

Janai works in a snack shop across the hall from the bar, serving BBQ and baked goodies like chocolate covered pretzels

she and Amaya have a friendly rivalry even though they’re totally dating

Harrow owns the casino but no one ever sees him in person, he lives in the penthouse with his green parrot and his wife Sarai

Sarai teaches yoga and aikido in the casino gym

she wipes the floor with everyone

their sons have free run of the place but they actually take an interest in the casino's workings

Callum is very interested in what goes on behind the scenes, the magic that makes everything happen

Runaan does not like Callum poking around his security monitors

Ethari is that badass buff dude who literally makes custom swords in a forge located off the lobby

he's always busy, he knows his audience

Ethari watches anime and can make anyone any sword from any show

and he makes jewelry trinkets for the jewelry shop across the lobby from his forge, too

it's run by Lujanne

Rayla is Callum's lowkey bodyguard

Runaan doesn't like it at all but it's the most logical choice

Callum likes it a lot

Opeli works in accounting 

she's always trying to get all the other departments to cut back on their budgets

Opeli: Amaya, you don't need to use such fancy drink stirrers at the bar, come on. 

Opeli: Amaya, do we really need stainless steel frozen cubes instead of ice 

Opeli: Amaya the napkins do not need to be monogrammed 

Amaya: rude gesture

Opeli secretly sends Aaravos full on dozen-rose bouquets to his dressing room tho

He's the Star and he knows it

and so does she

Ibis is the restaurateur who runs the rotating sky restaurant on the top floor

Ibis: Of course my prices are sky high. That's the point

Opeli: nods and uses her employee discount to eat there every day

Corvus works for Runaan but in a subdivision where he tracks illegal activities inside the casino, like drug deals, instead of things that affect the casino directly

he can hack the electronic doors, hot wire cars, and bluff his way through any conversation

Runaan looks the other way because he does these things for the casino

Crow Master is the IT guy

someone keeps messing with Viren's email delivery system so he's constantly bothering CM to fix it

it’s Claudia

Claudia rigs the odds on the machines with her hacking skills

Runaan can never catch her because Nyx covers for her

Clauds spends her ill-gotten gains supporting a nonprofit butterfly sanctuary

Soren is a cabana boy

his adoptive aunts, Amaya and Janai, glare daggers at anyone who even thinks about not tipping him well

he also runs swimming classes for dogs and they all love him

Ezran goes with him to visit the Good Boys in Ellis’s doggy day care every day

Avizandum is a high roller

Zubeia is his gem-studded wife

Zym loves to make friends with everyone when they come to stay for a while

Sol Regem is another whale

he always wears red tinted glasses so no one can read his eyes when he's playing poker

he always wears exquisitely tailored bright marigold silk Italian suits

he tans by the pool a lot and Soren brings him his favorite drinks

they’re all lit on fire

Soren has definitely scorched an eyebrow fixing Sol Regem’s drink before

Because Zym's so friendly, and such a tempting kidnapping/ransom target, his parents hired a couple of bodyguards to watch him 24/7: Lain and Tiadrin

they wear matching suits and blue mirror shades

and they will absolutely drop you if you even look sideways at Zym

but they're suckers for all the kids in the casino and are always offering them money for ice cream

Kasef is in charge of valet parking, he's very particular about the rules of where you can park what

he arranges for cars to be detailed, but he plays favorites

he leaves a sprig of fresh flowers in Amaya's cupholder

she never knows who leaves them

she gives them to Janai 

he orders Aaravos's limo for him, and it's always fully stocked

when he orders a hired car for Runaan, it's always older with a driver who likes garlic

Ethari thinks Runaan likes garlic

Runaan does not really like garlic

Villads drives the casino shuttle bus to and from the airport

no one is sure how

Khessa runs the tanning salon and beauty parlor

Zubeia won’t let anyone else do her hair, only Khessa

Runaan won the annual casino employees’ Best Ponytail Competition last year and Khessa was grumpy for a week

Kazi gets their nails done there (and so does Crow Master)

but their main job is in PR and interpreting for foreign guests

Kazi has friends in every time zone, and they’re the only person who has ever met Harrow in person

(thanks to the peeps in discord for being so inspiring!)

[v1ren]

@seaglass-sunsets - Merry Belated Christmas and Happy Belated New Year, friend! I filled in for your Secret Santa and wrote you a little special something~! As it turns out, I, too, quite enjoy the found family trope so I kinda hope to play into that a bit. Hope it’s to your liking!! ^u^ 

/// \\\

Sitting up against the wall, lilac orbs admiring the moving bodies in front of her, Rayla frowned softly.

With the fighting over, their main enemy killed, and the sudden awakening of Queen Zubeia, they were thriving in a time of peace. It was meant to be a joyous occasion, a moment of calm after all that they endured. Everyone (on their side, at least) was safe. They were together. Elves and humans. The more she looked at it all, sat within it and absorbed it, the more surreal it all felt. Looking at Callum now, laughing and playing with both Ezran and Zym, it was hard for her to believe that just days ago, they were falling from the Storm Spire. One of them already content with the thought of dying, accepting the death that would come for her, while the other defied it. Fell with her and saved her. 

He sprouted wings, and looked so happy about it too.

The thought pulled a small laugh from her, a finger gliding across the stone floor in awkward circles. She dropped her eyes to her feet, pulling her knees closer against her chest. 

They were safe here and yet...something felt wrong. Like she was dressed in someone else’s skin or wearing someone else’s boots. Did she really belong here? With them? With Callum?

“Hey.”

She looks up at the voice, unfamiliar to her ears for the briefest of moments, but as soon as her eyes fall upon the blonde man in front of her, she sighs with recognition. She rolls her eyes and turns her gaze back to the boys several feet in front of her.

“Yeah, what?”

Soren had done his fair share of aiding the Xadians, despite the distrust Rayla still felt for him. Who knew when he might turn on them. Maybe this was all some ruse. Some sick, twisted plan to ease into their trust before ripping it out from under them.

Leave it behind you, Rayla. 

Right. This was different. He was different. Despite their ‘history,’ he’d proven himself a worthy ally. Proven that he could be trusted.

“Sorry,” she murmurs. “Didn’t mean ta snap at ya.”

The blonde returns the words with a soft, wholesome laugh. He takes a step toward her and crosses his arms over his chest, shoulders rising and falling in a nonchalant shrug.

“Nah, man-- er...uhm...well, just, don’t worry about it. I get it.”

She raises a single brow, shifting her gaze over to him.

“...Ya do?”

He keeps his eyes on the young princes, shifting onto his heels.

“I mean, yeah. I’m tired too. Beating up baddies and partying with elves and dragons is a lot of work.”

She snorts with laughter, following his gaze and watching the way Callum lights up whenever Ezran calls out to him. The soft cries of joy springing from Zym fill the room, small zaps of excited electricity dancing along his tail. She supposed it was a lot of work; meeting and introducing yourself to everyone, celebrating in their newfound peace.

“You should join ‘em, y’know?” 

Soren’s speaking again but this time, she keeps her gaze focused. Eyes unwavering in their current position. 

“I mean, Callum would probably melt into a puddle of gushy, oozy embarrassment, but it’d be so worth it.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but the boys were moving toward them now - both pairs of eyes locked on her. A giggle came from Ezran, a sound so remarkably soft and warm that she couldn’t help smiling. Couldn’t help the calm that came over her, reassured her that things were okay.

But when Callum looked at her, with eyes so loving, shining with both ease and comfort, Rayla felt safe. She felt welcomed and serene; like returning home for the first time in ages. It was a feeling she only ever found in him. The boy that was brave enough to fight for what he believed in and kind enough to accept for all that she was, and all she had ever been.

“Hey guys. We’re going to get some food. Maybe you want to come with us?”

Ezran is the first to talk, Zym cradled against his chest. They’re both looking from their elf friend, to the guard standing beside her; both of which are giving the young prince an awkward stare. It seemed Rayla wasn’t the only one struggling to decide whether or not she belonged. Thoughts asking, ‘Should I?’ were a bit too loud in each of their heads; their hesitation recognized by those staring back at them.

“C’mon, Rayla. You haven’t eaten anything since like...what? Last night?”

She blushes at the blunt comment, shooting an immediate glare over to her prince.

“No, I had...berries for breakfast.”

Now it was Callum’s turn to react; a brow raised as he stares her down. She was always so unbelievably stubborn. Eager to hide her own pain or needs in an effort to appear strong. Appear brave and infallible. It never worked. Not on him.

“So like, what? Six berries?”

“Eight, actually.”

“Oh, wow. Nearly a handful.”

The response is layered in sarcasm, both of the lovers staring each head-on and attempting to break the other. Truth be told, Callum was just as stubborn as the Moonshadow. As infuriating as she was to him at times, he had the same effect. More so when he was putting his life in danger for something stupid.

“Awe, c’mon. Food is great!”

It was Soren’s turn to speak up now, shifting away from the wall and focusing his attention on the elf. He gives her a soft smile, nudging his chin toward the boys.

“And they really want you to go. Go have a good time.”

“You too, Soren,” Ezran pipes in almost immediately, earning everyone’s gaze. “We’re all going to eat now. Because...we’re a family.”

A silence lulls over them, everyone’s eyes pulling away from the young prince as they absorb the phrase. Run it through their head repeatedly and allow it to sink it. Find a place within their heart and mind and call it a home. Settle in comfortably as a reminder that things were different now, but they didn’t have to be feared.

“Yeah...” Soren is the first to speak, stretching a hand out toward Rayla. She looks to him, eyes wide and heart skipping a beat. It’s a remarkably kind gesture and she hears the words even before he finishes with:

“We’re a totally cool, totally hungry family.”

Callum stretches out his own hand, eyes softening ever-so-slightly, just for Rayla. For the love of his dreams and the reason his smile shines just a bit brighter these days.

“All of us.”

Ezran nods proudly, Zym yipping with glee.

She feels the sudden warmth of tears behind her eyes, but swallows down the emotions that swell in her chest. Ignores the beating in her chest and the relief that pumps through her veins. 

She takes both hands, pulling herself up and stepping beside all of them; carrying herself beside them. With them. 

Her hand slips into Callum’s, the boy giving it a tight squeeze as he offers her a gentle smile. She leans against him, finding an extra bout of strength in his warmth. In the way he leans back against her. She feels the vibrations of his laugh as Soren rattles off a joke, Ezran adding on to it and eliciting laughs from all four of them. 

This was where they belonged. Right here. Right now.

For the rest of their lives.

[kuviras-eyeliner]

Monster: The Dragon Prince (Whumptober 2020)

Wahoo, I can’t even explain to you how excited I was to hear that Whumptober is back in session! Yes, I have school. Yes, I’m also doing Inktober. Yes, my grades are falling in everything besides language arts– but I’m doing what I love, and if I’m going out I’m going out proudly! (Kids, don’t follow what I’m doing)

@whumptober2020​

No 1. Hanging

~

“Callum?” Rayla asked. Rayla sprinted over to the pile of bags that were drenched in blood, as she ran across the bushes. She found a limp body laying on the ground as panic seized her, as her violet eyes witnessed a body bleeding out with dampened and bruised skin laying beside her.

“Callum!”

But when she turned the body turned over, she found Soren half-conscious. She shook her head unsure of what to do as she felt her hands shaking against her chest.

Grabbing onto his shoulders, she slapped Soren over her shoulders like a rag doll as she struggled to bring him back to Xadia- but in her mind she didn’t really care, being honest.

Where was Callum?

It seemed like hours until they finally reached the med bay, where Soren had stayed last time.

“Uh, hi-” Rayla began, only to have several doctors push her away.

“No service. Sorry.”

Rayla soon felt enraged as she exclaimed, “You guys are doctors! What are you doing, you should be doing your job. We have the crown guard himself hurt right now, come on!”

A man with silver glasses and large, bushy eyebrows like feathers in a black blazer approached her. He was half-bald, with long boots that went across his knees and a grey mustache- he appeared to be around 40-50 years old. The thing that struck out to Rayla the most was that he had a golden badge on the side of his jacket that read, “Five Kingdoms Origination Head Officer - Aazrail.”

“I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice. “We need to you leave- there seems to be…” The man continued. “A bit of an issue.” The man’s voice- Aazrail’s voice was dry and husky.

“What kinda issue do you mean?” She demanded when all the buttons clicked- she knew what this was about.

Before thinking twice, she exclaimed, “Is it the virus, what was it called, Verum Accusman?! Then you guys should have another room for people to be treated in!”

“Don’t tell anyone about the virus."

Callum’s warning rang through her mind as she soon realized what she said. Her hands reached for her daggers, preparing for the worst when the man suddenly broke into a wide smile, ear to ear.

"Oh, why yes! How rude of me,” he sighed. “Of course, of course, yes, there’s a room next door.” The man said, putting on a mask and white gloves as he led her to another room.

Oh, Rayla thought, So I guess it doesn’t have to be a secret anymore. She assumed.

“Do you need any assistance?” A nurse with the same badge asked behind him.

“I’m good, thank you.” He said, his smile not falling.

Something was off- and she couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

  She was right.

The moment she entered the attic, a sense of dread filled her as she looked around. It looked like a garage- just imagine your own garage but it’s completely pitch black with glass shards everywhere and a constant beeping at the back of the room, filled with cobwebs and dust.

It looked just like that- but a thousand times worse.

“Where are we?” She growled, not looking back. She placed Soren on a mat beside her.

“Oh, you know. Just some little…” Aazrail began, suddenly locking the door shut. “Difficulties.” He said, and within two seconds a sunforge blade was pointed up towards her chin.

But it didn’t seem like a sunforge blade- it was a deep and cursed shade of purple that smelled like burning rubber, stinging her eyes and nose.

And even faster, the man pushed her to the floor, chains suddenly locking onto her wrists and heels- she normally wasn’t scared. But this time it was worse. She found her feet floating in the air- why? She wasn’t flying. She didn’t remember passing out-

“Tell me something,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “And I’ll let you go.”

“What… i-is it?” Rayla strained through the rope between her head and neck.

It was a noose. Suddenly, she panicked. She normally never did- but this was terrifying, thoughts piling after each possibility into a list.

Her head was going to fall off and she was going to die. She would never be able to see Callum again or hear is goofy laugh. She would never be able to say goodbye to Ezran, and she’d fail everyone again.

She struggled to breathe, the rope tightening between her collarbone and jawline.

“Tell me,” Aazrail growled, waving the blade. “Who gave you the information about the virus? That is top-secret information that no one should know about expect our testing recruits.”

“I’m n-never going to t-tell you th-that,” she said, gasping for air in between her sentences.

He placed the sunforge blade against her armor as she cried out in pain.

“Tell me now. Or the punishments will be worse.”

“Never.” She said, her thoughts now getting fuzzy.

“We’ll do this the hard way then. Answer these three questions and I’ll let you go.”

Rayla laughed to herself despite the situation she was in. She was hysterical, almost loopy or high- the lack of oxygen was probably getting to her. “Ha. Do you think that a widdle game puzzle will let me tell you? Aww.”

“Question one,” Aazrail dismissed in a shaky voice- he seemed to be losing patience. “Where are you from?”

“X-xadia,” she said. How was this information helpful? Everyone knew she was from Xadia- she was an elf.

“Question two,” Aazrail growled again. He licked his lips as if he were seeking a slab of meat, almost dog-like. “What kind of elf are you?”

“A-a Moonshadow elf.” She said almost automatically.

“And have you met the Dragon Queen?”

“Y-yes,” she strained.

Silence hung over the air which seemed like forever as a tidal wave of thoughts swarmed through Rayla’s head- her literal head. When was this over? She needed air. If she didn’t get any soon… how would she get back home?

“Callum. Son of Sarai and step-son of former King Harrow and step-brother of present King Ezran. Is that right?” He sneered.

Rayla was shocked- she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her mouth gaped open wide as she lost control, thrashing and pulling against the noose and demanding to be let go.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Aazrail said, taking off his blazer. “I’ll let you go.”

What he said was true, he would let her go from the noose- but not in the way Rayla expected.

“Bring in the box!” The man cackled like a maniac as a large, clear glass box that was double her size wheeled in the room. She would definitely be able to fit in it. What, were they going to trap her?

Ha. Do they think a little box will stop me?

Aazrail slowly and steadily released her chains, but when he took off the noose he dropped her in the box she laughed.

Rayla flipped out her blades, ready to strike the box saying, “Did you guys really think that a little-”

She stopped, realizing that her blades only deflected against it. “What’s going on?!” She directed. She couldn’t get through it.

“I can’t just let you go- then you’ll tell everyone else about the virus,” he sighed like a sad puppy with fake sympathy, locking the box shut.

In a panic, Rayla tried banging against the glass doors. “Let me out!”

“You’re so silly,” Aazrail teased as at least 50 other men and women stomped towards the attic, all wearing “Five Kingdoms Organization” Badges. “Is the trap set?” He asked.

The rest nodded.

Then it all came crashing down to Rayla- the entire Five KIngdoms Origization was evil- they would hold victims captive… and then one?

Then something else crashed, soaking her boots.

Water, her greatest fear was slowly filling the box. If it went high enough, it would suffocate her as she would drown- she’d die alone.

“Have a nice death!” Aazrail exclaimed, saluting her and locking the attic shut.

So here she was:

Alone.

With no one to help.

With Soren and Callum supposedly dead.

And she was about to be drowned in her greatest fear.

[ko-chan-the-blueberry-donut]

Fate’s Divergence Chapter 4

@the-bagel-queen

@astraskylark

@theanxiety-tm

@terra-mations

@deyinger

Thank you all for so much support for this story! I’m glad people are enjoying it so far!

Disclaimer: I don’t own Dragon Prince

-------------------

Callum tossed and turned, restless, in his bed. His eyes drifted to the moon, its glow reminding him of the elf girl’s white hair. He wondered what she was doing right now. Was she sleeping soundly? Was she restless just like him?

He hoped she was comfortable. He remembered his first night as a prince in the palace. He was super jumpy—constantly startling at any shadows in his new room. Everything was so foreign to him…

He sat up, a realization dawning on him. He had at least his mother when he first came here to help him settle into sleep while she didn’t appear to have anyone. His mother and the king didn’t mention she had any family. Was she an orphan?

Callum rose out of bed, his mind trying to uncover the mystery of the elf girl. He remembered how his family said Xadia couldn’t help her—was she upset Xadia kicked her out because she helped humans with the Titan’s heart?

“She must be lonely…” Callum whispered to himself, grabbing some stuffed animals to take with him to give her. “I’ll give her some of my toys to make her feel more at home!” He concluded quietly, smiling at his great idea.

He surveyed each toy critically, making sure to grab the dragon stuffed animal as well as tons of other animals. He hoped these made her happy. They were gifts from his mother and auntie. Hopefully, she didn’t think him too babyish for having them.

“It should be fine. Girls usually like stuffed animals…” Callum tried to reassure himself, remembering Claudia proudly showing off to him her own collection of stuffed toys. With that assertion, Callum crept out of his room, struggling with all his stuffed animals in his arms, and snuck down the hallways to where he remembered was the elf’s room. Luckily there were no guards patrolling down his hallway yet or else they definitely would notice a small boy almost drowned in stuffed animals. Arms overflowing with the plushies, he felt he dropped some before finally getting to his destination.

Arriving at her door, Callum silently opened it, sneaking inside. As soon as he opened the door, however, he could hear crying. Alarmed, Callum hurried inside the elf’s room, closing the door behind him so no one would catch him.

There she was on the bed, curling into a ball and sobbing her heart out. Callum’s heart squeezed uncomfortably at the scene. The moonlight washed over her like a pretty glow, highlighting her snow-white hair, horns, and pink pale skin. Seeing her, Callum was reminded of the beautiful princess with long hair trapped in her tower waiting for someone to come see her.

Dropping the toys, he scurried over to her side and laid a hand on her shoulder, not reserved at all in touching her.

The elf seemed to have finally realized she wasn’t alone for as soon as he touched her, she jolted and gazed up at him. Callum retracted his hand hurriedly, not wanting to scare her, and held up his hands in surrender.

“Hi!” he said, nervous and waving awkwardly. What should he say? He knew she didn’t speak Common and he didn’t speak Elvish. “Um! Don’t cry! I’m not gonna hurt you!”

Her eyes lit up in recognition, and she backed away a bit from him, scared.

“Hurt?” her eyes were alarmed and Callum rushed to reassure her.

“No! No hurt! I come in peace!” he tried to convey. He hoped she knew some more words.

“No… hurt?” this time, the elf furrowed her brow in confusion, trying to grasp what he was saying. He detected her voice had a strange accent.

“Right! No hurt! Just here to help!” Callum smiled reassuring her. He hurried to where the toys were discarded and brought them to her. “Here! I brought these to help you feel better!” Callum excitedly showed her his toys.

---------------------

Rayla blinked, not expecting the human child to show her what she presumed to be his toys. Her hand reached out tentatively, the boy watching her with an encouraging smile. She paused.

“No hurt?” Rayla checked again, her suspicious eyes finding his, ready to detect any sort of lie. The boy nodded.

“No hurt.” He assured her again. He climbed onto the bed, getting closer to her, before showing her his toys again. “No hurt.” He repeated.

Rayla studied him, and found he was not lying. The boy was not there to hurt her. She traced his features with her violet eyes, remembering him with her kidnappers. It seemed he was their offspring.

What did this mean? Was he not aware she was going to be executed? And yet, his presence here, the fact that her door wasn’t locked like she thought, her kidnappers being gentle with her… all signs were pointing to possibly another reason she was here.

But… the titan’s heart! She saw it. Why else would these humans keep an elf if it wasn’t for Dark Magic? She remembered Runaan’s stories. How humans only wanted power and nothing else. They were heartless and cruel.

So why was a human child sharing his toys with her?

Rayla reached out a hand again, hesitantly petting the soft fabric. The boy’s smile grew in happiness, and he handed her the dragon plush.

“I know you can’t go home to Xadia, but this guy will always protect you! He’s like your Dragon King, right?” the boy asked. Rayla furrowed her brow, trying to pinpoint words she recognized, and found he was referring to her king. She gazed down at the stuffed toy, and sure enough, he did resemble her king.

“Amin aran…” Rayla mumbled in mourning, touching the stuffed toy. Tears shined in her eyes, and the boy began to panic.

“Oh no! He wasn’t supposed to make you cry! Do you want another toy?” the boy asked, but Rayla couldn’t understand him. She clutched the dragon toy tight to her chest, shaking her head. She wished someone knew Elvish so she could talk to someone. She appreciated the boy’s efforts, but it wasn’t the same as Runaan or Ethari or her parents.

However, the boy surprised her again when he crawled over and hugged her to his small frame.

“No hurt!” the boy repeated. He gestured to the stuffed toy and himself. “No hurt. You’re safe here.”

Rayla sniffled. It seemed he was trying to comfort her. She didn’t understand why. She didn’t understand humans at all. She was tired and scared. The boy held her close as she cried, clutching the stuffed dragon between them.

Somehow, his embrace made her feel less alone.

--------------------

Sarai had risen early. She was accustomed to this since having Ezran, for he needed feeding in the early hours. Harrow was dressing for the day, preparing for today’s event of Viren’s spell. Both he and Sarai were solemn, knowing what the kingdom of Duran lost in order for them all to be saved.

“We will meet the delegates of Duran first before performing the spell.” Harrow told her. He gazed down at the memento the queens have given him to deliver to their daughter. “We need to pay respects.”

“I agree. If it wasn’t for them buying us some time, we wouldn’t have made it.” Sarai was also thinking about little Aanya. She couldn’t imagine how Aanya would grow up now, without the love of her mothers.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the doors.

“King Harrow! Queen Sarai!” the guard called. Harrow went to open the doors. The guard was huffing, as if he had run all the way to their chambers.

“What is it?” Harrow asked. The guard gave them a frantic look.

“Prince Callum is not in his bed, Your Highnesses!” the guard informed them. Sarai and Harrow immediately went to follow the guard.

“Where could he be? He usually doesn’t wake this soon after sunrise.” Sarai carried Ezran with her, clutching him close, as if afraid some unseen force would take him as well.

“Don’t worry, Sarai. We’ll find him.” Harrow reassured her. He gave a determined look at the guard. “Search everywhere! If he was taken, they couldn’t have gone far.”

Soon Amaya was called to join in the search, as well as some other soldiers. The more time passed, the more they worried something could’ve happened to Callum. It isn’t like him to leave his room and not come to the royal bedchambers if he had woken early.

Passing through a hallway, Amaya noticed some stuffed animals on the floor. She recognized them as Callum’s immediately. Curious, she followed the trail of more stuffed toys before she arrived at a bedroom door.

Amaya gently opened the door, peaking inside, her eyes critically taking in the surroundings before landing on the large bed in the middle of the room, the gentle glow of the morning sun shining on the occupants in the bed. The sight that greeted her made her eyes soften. She waved to a guard passing by to get the king and queen. Soon, her sister and her husband were rushing down the hall.

“Is he hurt?” Sarai fretted. Amaya smirked.

It seems your boy is getting his flirting started early. Amaya said. She held open the door. Look inside.

Sarai, Harrow, and a few guards peaked in, and sure enough, Callum was safe and sound, and he was cuddling the elf girl to him in his slumber. The elf girl allowed Callum to snuggle her, clutching his stuffed dragon Sarai had given him close. Everyone felt their hearts warm at the scene.

“We were so concerned with giving the elf privacy we didn’t think to check here at all.” Harrow whispered. Sarai gave him a smile.

“We certainly are silly.” Sarai agreed. She, Harrow, and Amaya made their way into the room, dismissing the guards. Sarai went towards Callum, caressing his cheek. “Callum, sweetheart, it’s time to wake up.”

“’m comfy…” Callum groggily protested, bringing the elf girl closer. Harrow, Sarai, and Amaya had to contain their giggles. However, it was Ezran who decided there was enough quiet.

Baby Ezran gave a loud shout, wanting to join his brother on the bed, and Callum and the elf girl sprung up, disoriented and startled. Callum wouldn’t let go of the elf girl, trying to protect her, before he realized it was just his family. Sighing in relief, he eased his grip off of the elf girl and smiled sleepily.

“Hi mom!” Callum yawned. He then became more aware and gave them a quizzical look. “Did something happen? Why is everyone here?”

Ezran, seeing his big brother awake, held out his arms from Sarai’s hold to indicate he wanted to be with him. Sarai gave both her boys a fond smile.

“Nothing’s wrong, sweetie. We just didn’t know where you were.” Sarai reassured him.

“Oh, I was with Moonlily!” Callum simply said, standing on the bed and going to give Ezran a kiss. The three adults were confused.

“Moonlily?” Harrow parroted.

“Yeah! We don’t know her name yet and she reminds me of those pretty flowers I saw in a book about Xadia once, so I am going to call her my Moonlily!” Callum told them happily, gesturing to the elf who was watching them warily from the bed. He turned back to the elf, grasping her hands, pulling her to stand on the bed too. “Moonlily! Come here!”

“Boy works fast.” Harrow teased Sarai, who rolled her eyes, but she was also smiling.

As for the elf, she eyed them with distrust, which Callum noticed, and he rushed to soothe her.

“No hurt you!” Callum told the elf. The elf girl gave him a skeptical look.

“No… hurt.” She said, doubtful. Callum turned to the adults.

“I think she thinks we’re going to hurt her. I found her crying last night and she seemed really sad.” Callum frowned at them. “We’re not going to, right?” he began to panic, thinking he put his Moonlily in danger.

“No, sweetheart! Of course not.” Sarai immediately reassured Callum.

“She’s our guest here, Callum. No harm will come to her as long as I am king.” Harrow promised. Callum sighed in relief.

“That’s good. I don’t know how to tell her she’s safe.” Callum appeared sad. “It hurts when she cries.”

Harrow, Amaya, and Saria exchanged looks before glancing towards the elf who was watching them with suspicion. Sarai put Ezran down on the bed, and the elf watched fascinated at the baby human boy crawling to her. She knelt down on the covers, reaching out a hand shyly.

Ezran didn’t waste time and clutched some of her small fingers with his even smaller ones. He giggled happily at the feel of her skin, and the elf couldn’t help but smile nervously.

“Vedui' ai Edan” the elf said. Sarai couldn’t help but give a smile at the wonderful scene.

“Little one,” Sarai called, making the elf glance at her. “We won’t hurt you. Please don’t be afraid.” She reached a hand out and ruffled Ezran’s hair, who gave a shout of delight.

The elf examined her critically, and the three adults made sure to appear non-threatening as possible. The elf chanced a look at Callum and Ezran again, appearing pensive about whether or not to trust them.

-----------------

Rayla observed the adults in the room, weighing their words—or the ones she did know—in her head. It appeared they too, were not trying to hurt her.

If they meant her no harm, then why did they take her from Xadia? Rayla was frustrated. She wanted answers, but it was clear with the language barrier she wasn’t going to get them.

It was clear to her they were in Xadia now to get a magma titan’s heart, but for what? And why? If she knew these things, she could find it easier to determine motives, to judge for herself if she was truly out of harm’s way or not.

Rayla couldn’t help but chance a look at the human boy and his baby brother. They gave her happy smiles in return. The boy really didn’t think his family was going to hurt her.

For now, she would have to believe in him.

She turned to the three adults watching her curiously, and got up, picking up the baby human and handing him to her kidnapper.

“No hurt?” Rayla checked again, looking for any deception.

“No, little one.” The woman said, smiling gently, taking the baby into her arms. “No hurt.”

Rayla sighed in relief, nearly collapsing on the bed. It wasn’t all the answers or everything she needed to know, but it was knowledge that was comforting all the same.

For Rayla, that was all that mattered for now.  

---------------------

There’s chapter 4! I hope people enjoyed the Callum and Rayla interactions!

Translations:

Amin aran = My king

Vedui' ai Edan = greetings small human

[jelzorz]

57a

It’s not that Callum doesn’t like Ez’s toad. Bait can be cute when he wants to be and his generally grumpy disposition (if toads can be called grumpy at all) is a funny little personality trait that comes off closer to endearing than anything else. Ezran’s had him since he was six, and he was their dad’s before that—secretly, Callum thinks that he can’t be a normal toad because surely normal toads don’t live this long, but no matter—

He doesn’t dislike Bait and that’s the point of it. What’s not so clear to him is why Ezran needs a brand new terrarium for him.

“What’s wrong with the old one?” he asks. They’re pulling into the pet store in a little town just out of state, which is ridiculous on its own because there’s one five minutes from where they live, but Callum understands to certain extent. Once he’d driven out to Caldera just to chase down a specific brand of watercolour paints which is fair, in his opinion—it’s hard to get quality products for a reasonable price—but still. Caldera isn’t out of state.

It took them two hours just to get out here and it’s hot and humid and the air conditioning in Callum’s car failed two and a half years ago, and while Bait’s not with them, he’s probably grumpy enough to make up for it.

Ez rolls his eyes. “It’s ancient,” he says pointedly. “Dad got it second hand and it was ancient then. Bait deserves a better terrarium than that.”

“That still doesn’t explain why we had to come out to Silvergrove,” snaps Callum. He puts the car into park and turns the engine off with a scowl. “There are pet shops in Katolis City, what’s the matter with them?”

“They’re just not as good.” Ezran huffs, climbing out of the car. “The ones here are made with quality materials that are locally and ethically sourced. And we’re supporting small business.”

Callum bristles. “Now you just sound like Dad,” he mutters darkly. It’s not a bad thing. Harrow’s a councilman for a reason, and one of the better ones, too. He can’t dispute that. It’s only fair Ez takes after him. It’s still annoying, though.

The store itself doesn’t look particularly special. It’s got an old-timey sort of feel to it, and the hanging sign is weather worn and in desperate need of a new paint job. Callum squints at it and makes out a bunch of swirling letters that read The Shadow emPawrium: exotic pets and pet supplies before he rolls his eyes and shoulders open the door for Ez. 

It’s pretty cramped. The air conditioning is a welcome change, but it feels like he can’t move in here without risking knocking something over. There are a bunch of fancy birdcages here, and cat trees taller than him over there, and a girl, silver haired and lilac eyed, sitting bored by the register with her phone in one hand and a stocklist in the other. 

Callum feels his mouth go dry. She’s very pretty. Even the practised customer service smile she greets them with makes his heart skip a beat or two. Her name tag reads Rayla, and she sets her phone down as the doors swing shut behind them.

“Hey,” she says, Silvergrove accent obvious even in the single word. “Can I help you with anything or are you guys just happy to browse?”

Callum opens his mouth to answer her, but he feels the words get all jumbled up in his throat before he can even voice them. Ez, though, personable as he is, swoops in before Rayla (hopefully) notices. 

“My toad needs a new terrarium,” he says brightly. “His is pretty old and I reckon it might be time to get him a brand new set up. The Internet said you guys had some really good ones.”

Rayla laughs–a sweet tinkling sound that makes Callum feel all hot and sweaty again in spite of the gentle air-conditioned breeze. “We sure do,” she says. “Just in the back corner over there. Can I help you pick out something specific?”

“Nah,” says Ez, waving her off. “We got it. Callum, come on.”

“What? Oh. Yeah.” Callum offers Rayla an awkward smile and trails after his brother with stiff, heavy legs. If Ezran notices, he doesn’t say anything–he’s happy to start examining terrariums and toad supplies without much preamble. Callum lets him at it and stares around the rest of the shop curiously. Once or twice, he catches himself looking over at Rayla. There’s a very specific moment when he actually meets her eye, and her lips tilt upwards into something a little more genuine before he has the sense to tear his eyes away–

But when he does, Ez is smirking at him with something like a smug looking grin. “See something you like?”

Callum flushes. “Um.”

“You can just go talk to her, you know.”

“That’s not what this is.”

“Isn’t it?” Ez snorts and jerks his head over at Rayla, knowing smile on his lips.“She’s been looking too.”

“I don’t–wait, really?”

Ezran lets out a huff, obviously amused and obviously done with Callum’s lack of nerve. He turns back to the terrariums, picks out one of the bigger ones, and does the next worst thing: he waves a hand and catches Rayla’s attention. “Excuse me!” he calls. “Hey! Sorry to bother you.”

Rayla glances up at them, sets her phone down once more, and hops off her stool “You’re no bother,” she says amicably, making her way towards them through the narrow aisles with a deft sort of grace that makes Callum want to look at her even more. He has to duck his head to avoid showing the very obvious blush rising in his cheeks, but then Rayla’s standing right next to him and he’s pretty sure there’s no point. “What can I help you with?”

“If I get him a new set up entirely, do you think it’s worth getting Glow Tonic too? It’s supposed to be really good for his skin but I’ve never tried it.”

Rayla hums thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t hurt,” she says. “It might help with the transition, y’know? Toads can be pretty nervous around new things. We don’t have any in stock though. I can order it in for you?”

Ez brightens (more, if that’s even possible), and he nods enthusiastically. “That’d be great! Do you think you could ring us when you get it?”

“Sure can,” chuckles Rayla. “What’s the best number to call you on?”

“Mm.” Ez sneaks a glance at Callum. “I never have my phone on me when it matters. Do you think you can call Callum instead?”

Rayla turns to look at him. Callum almost turtles into his shirt out of embarrassment. Ezran’s gall, honestly–but he offers Rayla a sheepish smile anyway and shrugs. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “It’ll probably be best just to call me. If–if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” says Rayla. She glances at her sneakers with that same little smile that makes Callum’s heart flutter, something pink in her cheeks, and swings her arms with a flattered grin. “Did you pick a terrarium?” she asks Ez after a moment. 

“Oh, right, yeah.” Ez points it out to her and the rest is all business. She retrieves a flatpack one from the back room and heaves it to the counter, Ez pays for it, and then they wrangle it out to the car and set it carefully in the back. 

Callum shuts the boot with a heavy thud and notices that Ezran purposefully makes himself scarce so that it’s just him and Rayla standing together by the back passenger door before, finally, Rayla unlocks her phone and holds it out to him.

“Put your number in that,” she says, lips tilted upwards, blush in her cheeks. “Callum, right?”

“Uh. Yeah. Thanks.” Callum only flushes more. His fingers feel sweaty as he taps his number into the screen, but she’s smiling the whole time and he’s almost certain employees aren’t supposed to take customer details with their personal phones, and he knows she knows what Ez was up to, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “You’ll–um–you’ll call me, right?”

“Yep. See you guys next time.” She takes it back and steps back onto the sidewalk as Callum climbs into the car, and she waves, even, as they pull out and Callum makes a U-turn at the roundabout a little way down the road. 

For a while, Ez says nothing. And then he snorts and smirks at Callum. “Still think coming all the way out here was a waste of time?”

Callum has nothing to say to that.

[zuppizup]

Beach

Obligatory beach ‘episode’. My only excuse is that it’s still stupid hot in Australia.

Summary: Rayla attempts to confront her fear of water.

Pairing: Rayla/Callum. hints of Amaya/Janai

Word Count: 2742

AO3 Link: Beach

—

Rayla looks out at everyone enjoying the beach. Ezran and Soren are trying to ensure Bait stays close to shore. The little glow toad is clearly enjoying his unlikely swim and is making numerous breaks for freedom.

Ezran frets about some sea monster getting a taste for his grumpy companion, continually directing Bait’s froggy paddle back towards shore.

Despite the warm afternoon sun, Rayla shivers, the memory of rushing after the little guy still making her anxious.

It was years ago now, but it still turns her stomach to think of those few minutes in the deep, dark lake. The feeling of being submerged in the murky waters still makes her heart race.

The oppressive crushing sensation of water all around her is something she still detests.

Her eyes drift to Callum, Amaya and Janai. They are swimming a little further out.

The sight of Callum so far from shore makes her heart race but she cannot tear her eyes away. She knows she is being irrational, that this whole water thing is ridiculous, but she truly cannot help it.

So, she elects to watch over him, despite her unease. If a sea monster attacks or he gets a cramp, she needs to be ready to spring into action.

For a supposed holiday, this trip has been anything but relaxing for her. The weather has been unseasonably hot and the only relief seems to be the glistening waters beside the summer retreat of the royal family of the Sunfire elves.

She sits in the shade of a tree, hot and uncomfortable. It probably doesn’t help that her clothing is traditional Moonshadow dark greens and navy, though she at least has short pants on leaving her legs exposed to the occasional breeze. Her hood and armour she has left back at the cabin.

Callum’s looks over at her and raises his hand in a wave. She smiles as she raises her own hand to return the gesture.

He says something to Amaya and Janai before he begins swimming towards shore.

Callum ruffles Ezran’s hair as he chats to him and Soren briefly on his way out of the shallows.

Rayla feels her heart skip a beat as he begins walking up the sand towards her, clad only in short, baggy pants. She’s still surprised at the changes in him while they’ve been away from each other. They try and see each other as often as possible but it’s not always easy. She is Dragon Guard while Zym is still young and his mage training frequently takes him away from extended periods.

This latest period apart has been one of their longest; over four months. In fact, she didn’t even think she would see him so soon but he had secretly asked Zubeia if she could have her birthday off. Before he even explained that Ezran, Amaya and Soren would be making a trip to Xadia the Archdragon had agreed happily. She was fond of all of them considering what they had done for her and her son.

It was handy having their birthdays close so they could celebrate together.

Callum had clearly spent the past few months training hard, though, he had been slowly gaining muscle ever since she met him. She hasn’t really thought it was something she cared about either way but the sight of him jogging up the beach to her, water glistening on his toned shoulders and bare chest makes her breath catch.

“Hi!“ He grins as he plonks down next to her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

“Ahhh, get off me!” She protests out, pushing him away, grinning. “You’re all cold and wet.”

He chuckles, grabbing her around the waist and shaking his soaking hair. “You look like you need to cool down!”

“Stop!” She wriggles in an attempt to free herself, laughing hysterically. A year or two ago she might have succeeded but he’s noticeable stronger these days.

“Nope! I’m doing my princely duty and rescuing you from heat stroke.” He winks and her heart skips a beat. It’s not just his body that has changed these part four months. He has lost the last remnants of his teenage visage, his jaw now stronger, more pronounced. She can’t help but grin back at the cheeky glint in his forest green eyes. She had always thought him cute, even very early on (though she would have been loath to admit it), but he’s truly become handsome in recent years.

“You know, you don’t have to sit here with me.” She squeezes his hand. “I’m fine.”

He kisses her cheek before nuzzling her neck. “I want to be with you.”

Her pulse races as she leans back, looking him in the eye. “Honestly, I don’t mind if you want to go swimmin’ with everyone else. I’m happy just relaxin’ here. I don’t want to ruin your holiday.” While she truly wants him with her, she knows he rarely gets time to relax with his family and she does not want to get in the way of that.

He rolls his eyes. “Because you look super relaxed sitting all by yourself in the heat.” He tucks a strand of hair behind her delicately pointed ear, clearly enjoying the shiver the tender gesture elicits. “Rayla, the only reason I’m here is because I want to see you.”

“Oh really?” She grins. “Shall I tell Ezran and your aunt that?”

Callum snorts. “Ok, well maybe not the only reason but the main reason.” He slips a hand under her legs and swings them over his own, sighing. “Let’s never go that long without seeing each other again, deal?”

“Deal.” She presses her forehead against his before leaning forward to kiss him deeply.

“Grooooooooss! Get a room!”

They giggle into the kiss but are otherwise unperturbed by Soren’s playful taunting. Rayla makes an obscene human gesture Amaya taught her in the Crown Guard’s general direction without looking.

“That doesn’t work as well when you’ve only got four fingers.” Soren yells back.

They break apart, laughing.

“Who invited Soren?” Rayla asks sarcastically.

“Bait, I think.” Callum leans back on his hands as Rayla sprawls on the rug, her legs still draped over Callum’s.

They rest in companionable silence, Callum’s hand gently ghosting back and forth across her calves. She watches him through hooded eyes. He is smiling contentedly at the others, snorting in amusement every now and then. He looks uncomfortably hot though, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes often and wiping his brow.

Rayla takes a deep breath, looking out over the sparkling water. “Ok.“ She nods at him. “Let’s do this.”

Callum furrows his brow. “Do what?”

“It’s too hot and I’m sick of seeing you sweating. Let’s… let’s go into the water.” She swallows, looking him in the eye as she sits up.

Callum smiles softly, leaning forward to take her hand. “Rayla, it’s ok. I told you, I like hanging out with you.”

“It’s fine, Callum.” She nods reassuringly. “I… I want to. Seriously.”

He can’t help the small laugh that escapes his lips. “Em, you don’t sound that convincing.”

“Well, don’t expect me to go out far.” She looks at him seriously. “I’m just going to sit in the shallows but we can cool off at least.”

He sighs, gazing at her with a soft look in his eyes.

“Come on.” She gets to her feet and holds her hand out for him.

Callum allows her to pull him to his feet. “Are you sure?”

She rolls her eyes, stubbornly making her way to the shore. “I’m sure.”

She does permit him to catch up and before they make it to the gently lapping waters, she takes Callum’s hand in her own. He gives it a reassuring squeeze.

She smiles meekly, stepping forward into the water and sighing a little as the cool water laps her toes. “It feels ok, I guess.”

Callum smiles, stepping out deeper and turning to face her. “Just do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

She moves to sit down, before suddenly re-thinking. “You didn’t see anything gross in here, did you? Jellyfish or fish or crabs?”

Callum winces. “Well, I didn’t see any but…” He shrugs.

She considers this but elects to sit down anyway, Callum following suit. She rests with her legs pulls tight against her chest before slowly stretching them out into the water. After a beat, she shuffles forward a little so that the water comes up to her bellybutton.

Tentatively, she looks over at Callum, finding him beaming at her.

“Well done.” He leans forward, kissing her softly.

She rolls her eyes, trying to hide her discomfort. “I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, Rayla.” He takes her hand under the water.

She looks over at Ezran and Soren, then Amaya and Janai. They have all moved a little further away from them and have turned their backs slightly. She’s known them all for years now and she knows they’re all well aware of her phobia.

She appreciates them not staring, yet it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing or shameful. She knows Callum and Ezran were right years ago when they told her it’s weird that Moonshadow elves never show fear but it’s hard to simply throw of years of cultural influence.

She shuffles out further, not letting go of Callum’s hand. The gradient is very slight which makes her feel a little more comfortable and in control. She is happier they are at a lake as well. The water is relatively placid, compared to a rushing river or wavy sea.

She keeps going until she is forced to stand in order to keep her head above the water. Callum moves around to stand in front of her, taking both her hands in his.

“Don’t push yourself.” He rubs his thumbs over the back of her hands.

“It’s not so bad.” She breathes, eyes resolutely down cast, searching the shimmering water for wildlife. She glances up at Callum and smiles at the attentive look on his face. “Thanks.”

“Any time.” He nods, continuing to follow her lead.

She steps forward once more, the water now lapping at her chest. Her foot connects with something solid and moving and she feels the terror rise in her chest.

She lets out a strangled “Eep” sound and launches herself at Callum, wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his middle in an effort to escape whatever it is that is down there.

“Rayla!” Callum calls out in shock as he wraps one arm around her waist and uses the other to steady himself. Miraculously, he manages to stay on his feet and keep both of them above water. “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” He shifts her a little, his free arm coming around to hold her as well.

“There’s something down there!” She squeaks into his neck, gripping him tightly.

Callum grunts from her crushing grip. Her arms are tight around his neck, but her legs are squeezing him almost painfully around the ribs. Not only does it make it hard for him to breathe but it is incredibly distracting. “Rayla,” He chuckles. “That was me.”

She leans back to look at him, her face centimetres from his. “What?”

He leans his forehead against hers. “That was my foot.”

“Oh.” She flushes. “…Sorry.”

“It’s ok.” He grins softly at her. “I wouldn’t mind some air though.” He gently squeezes her legs as he attempts to shift her weight.

She loosens her grip a little, looking somehow both embarrassed and miserable. She hides her face in his neck again. “I don’t want to put my feet down.” She grumbles.

“Here.” He uses one hand to guide her legs away from where they’re wrapped around him, guiding them so that she’s resting against his chest. He slips that hand under her knees and the other around her back, cradling her against him in a bridal hold. “That ok?” He presses his cheek against her head between her horns.

“It’s better...” She pulls him closer, her arms still gripping his neck tightly.

“Want to go back in?”

“No.” She sounds sullen.  

“Rayla,” He chuckles. “You are clearly not comfortable.”

“You like the water.” She sounds adorably grumpy.

He snickers. “I kinda like you being happy more.”

She shrugs and he elects to take that as a yes.

He carries her without protest until they are completely out of the water, at which point Rayla attempts to get down.

“Oh no,” He grins. “I’ve got you now. You have to let me get you to the rug at least.”

She rolls her eyes, glancing at the others.

“Hey, this is tradition.” He shifts her weight slightly.

“What?” She queries.

“Carrying someone like this.” He blushes. “It’s not an elf thing?”

“No,” She looks confused. “What kind of tradition is it?”

“Em, a good one.” He grins goofily. “Though if you don’t want Amaya to give us hassle, we should probably stay away from thresholds.”

She furrows her brow but elects to allow him to carry her to the rug. “Humans are so weird.”

Once they reach the rug, he lets her down gently.

Rayla sighs, wrapping her arms around her legs. Callum sits next to her and slings an arm around her shoulder, kissing her temple.  

She sighs. “At least we were able to cool off.”

Callum snorts. “Eh, not sure having you jump me like that fits my definition of “cooling off".”

She moves back to look at him, slapping his arm affectionately. “Callum!”

“What?!” He raises his eyebrows, laughing. “I haven’t seen you in months! I’m not a saint.”

She pouts mockingly, attempting to hide a grin. “Eugh, I can’t believe you took advantage of me in my moment of need.”

He wraps his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek. “I’m pretty sure you took advantage of me!”

She rolls her eyes, smiling lopsidedly before looking back out to where the others are still enjoying the sparkling waters. “I’m sorry. I thought I could do it.” She sighs.

Callum’s stomach drops. “Rayla, stop.” He pulls her closer against him. “I don’t want you to do that to yourself just because you think I want to swim or whatever.”

She shrugs. “I should be able to get over it.”

“People don’t just “get over" lifelong phobias.” He looks at her, though she is clearly avoiding his eyes.

She takes a deep breath before she glances at him. “You did.”

“What?” He looks at her, perplexed.

“You know, the heights thing?”

“Oh.” He flushes. “I thought I managed to hide that.”

She rolls her eyes, grinning softly. “You did not.”

“Huh, well, that’s not the same. I never liked heights, but I didn’t have a phobia. And anyway, you were there to reassure me.”

“Even with you I’m still too much of a coward to deal with water.” She looks away again.

“Seriously, stop it.” He sounds impatient before he takes a breath and starts again. “You saved Bait, didn’t you? And you sailed across the sea for Zym. When you need to, you face it. That doesn’t mean you have to enjoy the water.”

“You didn’t like heights and now you fly all the time. You managed to face it and now it doesn’t bother you anymore.” She bites her lip. “No matter how much I try I still hate the water.”

“Are you talking about the Storm Spire?” He pulls her around to look at him. “I wasn’t afraid of the height.” He ponders for a second. “Well, I was because it was stupid high, but I was more afraid of losing you.” He cups her cheek. “I’d have done anything to avoid that. I’ve lost so many people I love already; I couldn’t bear to lose another.”

She leans into his touch. “It was still stupid, and I still can’t believe you had never done that spell before you jumped, dummy.” Despite her harsh words, her cheeks are stained pink and she has a soft look in her eyes.

He narrows his eyes at her, grinning. “You do realise most people think that was insanely romantic, right?”

Rayla rolls her eyes as she slips her hands around his waist. “Most people are idiots.”

“Well, I guess you love an idiot then.” He smirks as he leans in to kiss her.

She grins, as she moves to kiss him back. “Pfft, I knew that before you threw yourself off a cliff.”