#yes this is the 'viren and harrow first meeting' fic

[kradogsrats]

I'm gonna have to rewrite several chunks of this fic, including this particular one, because I've apparently made Kpp'Ar about 80% too autistic... but the fact that I wrote it like 2 weeks ago made me have a wheezing fit at the line about Viren's "finery" in that one episode:

“Is that what you're wearing?” Viren, a spoonful of honeyed oatmeal halfway between the bowl and his mouth, looked down at his clothing, then back up. "What?" Kpp'Ar looked at him impatiently. “You heard me. Is that," he made a small gesture that nonetheless encompassed Viren's entire body, "really what you're wearing today?” Not long after he’d gotten settled in Kpp’Ar’s house, the irritable mage had marched him through the city to a tailor’s shop, where he’d simply tossed the tailor a small purse of coins and indicated Viren, saying only, “Make him presentable.” The next several hours had been a whirl of measuring and fitting and adjusting of more clothing than Viren had ever imagined wearing—shirts and trousers and vests, all in soft wool and fine linen. A few of the shirts and vests were even trimmed with gold thread at the cuffs or hem, which he'd been certain was far too much, but Kpp'Ar had only nodded.

It had been overwhelming, even if most of the new wardrobe—and what a thing, to have a wardrobe—was practical, sturdy trousers and undecorated shirts easily cuffed out of the way. He'd taken weeks to feel even slightly comfortable wearing them, and almost cried when he discovered he'd stained a sleeve carelessly leaning his forearms on the table. Kpp'Ar had received his stammered, increasingly frantic apologies with ominous silence, then simply showed him where the various solvents brewed for removing stains were kept and waved him away, untroubled.

About to affirm that yes, obviously the plain work clothing currently on his body was what he was wearing that day, Viren paused. It was far from the strangest abrupt questioning he'd received from Kpp'Ar, but still strange enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck with suspicion. "Why?" he asked, carefully. “What’s today?”

“We’re going to the castle,” Kpp'Ar said, as if that were something Viren had already been told and ought to remember.

“The castle,” Viren repeated. “As in, the royal castle?”

“Do you know of another one? Don't ask pointless questions, boy.”

Viren bit back a sarcastic reply regarding the pointlessness of Kpp'Ar's own rhetorical question. Such remarks were usually lost on him, anyway—Viren had yet to determine whether he truly failed to comprehend them or only pretended such, given the rare glimmer of his own, extraordinarily dry, wit. It was also possible that he was mistaking the occasional ironic coincidence around what was otherwise total sincerity for a sense of humor.

“Why are we suddenly going to the castle?” he asked, instead.

“Unfortunately, a royal summons cannot be refused.”

"A royal summons?" Viren finally put his spoon down. It wasn't going to make it to his mouth any time soon, and at the morning's current rate of stunning revelations, he'd probably wind up dropping it and splattering oatmeal everywhere. "What could the king possibly—"

Kpp'Ar silenced him with a look. "That is a matter between him and me, and thus no concern of yours. While I am occupied, you will avail yourself of the royal library."

Viren immediately perked up, any misgivings forgotten. The clerics of Katolis had collected and preserved texts on all manner of topics for centuries. Kpp'Ar owned more books than he had ever imagined in once place, but had mentioned several times—possibly with a touch of envy—that the royal library held even more. Given Kpp'Ar's general disdain for the city and even more so for the castle, he hadn't really expected to ever see it.

"If you’re going to get ready, go do it." Kpp'Ar's scolding voice interrupted his brief, book-filled reverie. "The carriage will be here for us in half an hour. If you're not on it, you'll be walking."

Viren shoveled the rest of of his oatmeal into his mouth as fast as he could eat, then scampered to his room.

Twenty-five minutes later, he joined Kpp’Ar on the front steps. There hadn't been time to bathe, but he'd scrubbed his face and managed to tame his hair by carding wet fingers through it, and he'd brushed his teeth. He'd also, of course, put on his best trousers and shirt, and the open, long-tailed vest that by its cut showed he labored with his mind, rather than his hands.

He’d been keen to see what his mentor considered to be proper dress for an audience with the king, and so was deeply let down when he clattered down the front stairs and found Kpp’Ar wearing exactly what he wore every time they left the house. Viren couldn’t tell if he had even shaved, though it looked like might have at least made an effort to scrub the more persistent ink stains from his hands.

Sensing his disappointment—or at least his scrutiny—Kpp’Ar gave him a brief glance up and down. “You didn’t have to change clothes,” he commented.

Viren's jaw dropped. “You told me to!”

“I am certain I did not.”

“You asked whether I was wearing my ordinary clothes to the castle, where you apparently have an audience with the king, himself—was that somehow not an implicit order to change?”

Kpp’Ar blinked several times, as if trying to wrap his mind around a completely alien concept. “I thought it was an odd choice for you, since you otherwise take such care with your appearance in public.”

Viren bristled, but fell silent rather than argue further. It had seemed so obvious, but now doubt needled at the edges of his mind. He wasn't ashamed of where he came from, but he didn't like to stand out and be marked as someone ignorant of the social context—that was when people began to treat him dismissively, or worse, with pity. Kpp'Ar obviously didn't care about such things, but he had also never needed to care. Still, the fact that he hadn't cleaned up more suggested that Viren might have overcompensated, and would be ostentatious—

“You look very fine,” Kpp’Ar added, awkward as always in his reassurance. “You needn’t worry that you’ll be out of place.”

“Thanks,” Viren mumbled, not feeling particularly better.

[rittywritestdp]

Can you please do a Aaravos x female human mage fic, who is related to calum (maybe it takes place years before the events of tdp and the reader takes one look at aaravos and quickly falls for him)

oh my god bless you, yes. Okay so the reader is going to be an adopted daughter of Amaya here, and the King’s Niece. 

✴Aaravos x Royal!Mage!Reader

“Alright, that will conclude the lesson.” Viren said, both hands atop his staff. “I have a meeting with King Harrow, clean the study, and get some lunch.” Viren said, to both you and young Claudia. He smiled at his daughter, before turning to leave. Which left you with the little fourteen year old who was already stepping to begin cleaning up the small pile of squished beetles and butterflies. You moved silently to the beakers and vials, picking the tray up and stepping to the water basin. “When do you think Father will let me use these things we’re learning?” Claudia complained. “I started when I was fifteen.” You replied easily. You liked Claudia, but Viren favored her. He would never pay you the same attention that he paid her, which you suppose you could understand, she was his daughter after all. The part that bothered you is the fact that he encouraged her to learn spells that he wouldn’t even allow you to copy into your spellbook. He claimed Harrow and Amaya wouldn’t allow him to teach you anything more advanced. You didn’t want to believe that. “I want to start nowwwww.” Claudia moaned, tossing the carcasses of the bugs out the window and tossing the rag she’d cleaned with into the washbasin. “I’ve copied all the spells, I know all the words.” She complained “Have you asked him about it?” You tried, placing the books you’d used back onto the shelves. “Are you insane?” Claudia laughed, starting towards the door to exit the study. “Do you want to come get lunch with me?” She asked, and a smile pulled at your lips. That sounded nice. “Sure.” You replied, starting after the younger girl, just as a book fell from the shelf and hit you on the foot. “Ouch!” Claudia laughed. You grasped your foot in pain, you didn’t even realize what you were looking at for a long moment. The moment your eyes focused, and you saw the tome you knew well with pages you’d never seen before, your mind swam. ‘Stay.’ The words said. You furrowed your brows, blinking at it. “Y/N?” Claudia asked, her laughter stopped, her footsteps started to return. You practically fell on the book, closing it and grasping your foot. “This just….really really hurts Clauds, I’ll. I’ll catch up with you in a moment.” You quickly thought up anything you could to get her away. “Did you break your toe??” Claudia asked, coming near to lean down and look over you worriedly. “It will pass, I just need a moment.” You told her. She stared at you, concerned, before nodding and exiting the study. You let your foot go and closed the door, pressing the book open trepidatiously and dragging your finger down a page you’d read a thousand times. Maybe…you were hallucinating? Perhaps it was a symptom of the magic you used. Then the words on the page dripped and then poured and black colored the entire page. ‘Good’ written out in white against the inky background. You were silent, you tipped the book up and tried to look for runes or sigils, to look for any sign that this was a spell or a trick that Lord Viren was playing. ‘Two horn worms, three pinches of dragons tongue, a smidge of powdered quarts, and a single drop of blood. Sir ath athin no thore.’ “A spell? I cannot cast without Lord Viren to supervise me.” You cleverly said, Lord Viren was surely behind this and that was exactly what he would want to hear. You stood, and placed the book on the shelf, before going to meet with Claudia. On your way back from the Kitchens, you nearly ran directly into Viren. He must just now be on his way to eat. You remember the book, and you think of the test. Had he truly met with King Harrow? Or had it simply stepped out to test you from afar? “So when’d you learn to control books?” You grinned, trying to show off how clever you were. Viren didn’t smile, his eyebrow raised ever-so-slightly. He seemed to be willing to humor you, but not amused.“You’re just upset you bruised your toe.” Claudia giggled as she slipped past the two. Viren furrowed his brows, first at his daughter then at you.“Th…the Compendium of Magical Components?” You tried. Viren didn’t answer, he simply waited for an explanation. “It fell from the bookcase?” “And hit your toe?” Viren asked, voice dry. “Yes.” You answered, seeming stupider by the moment. “Then perhaps put books away properly?” He said, passing by you and moving into the kitchens. You stood, deadpanning the hallway before you. So…it wasn’t a test? It wasn’t Lord Viren. He doesn’t play tricks, and he doesn’t lie about tests. You nodded, trying to think of any possible explanation, before starting at a slow and inconspicuous pace back to Lord Viren’s Study. A few guards noticed you, but it was normal to come in here. “Just, just going to do…inventory for Lord Viren.” You nervously told Marco. He was a nice guard who just got assigned to some of the lower priority Guard Stations. Marco nodded, not sure what to do with that information, and you slipped into the study, immediately thumbing the shelves for the Compendium of Magical Components. A brown and silver tome, well-worn and thick. You pulled it from the shelf and turned it to the exact page you’d been on before, rubbing the page until you saw it swirling into a black, inky abyss. Tossing it onto the desk, you began to gather the components, and a pestle and mortar. Then you remembered that this….wasn’t sanctioned. You drew the curtains, not before seeing Soren out sparing with your mother. Not before Soren seeing you. And then getting shield bashed with a thankfully wooden shield and knocked to the ground. You slammed the curtains closed and instead imagined seeing your mother berating the poor boy for looking away. Then you picked a chair up and propped it against the study door. If anyone tried opening it and couldn’t, you could be in trouble, but you’d be in more trouble if anyone saw what you were doing. All of the components, ground up, even the drop of blood - produced from a needle prick. Finally you recited the very simple incantation, and the moment the magic faded you saw a room in the bowl. In. The. Bowl. Lord Viren had never let you cast spells more complicated than…than… a light spell, this was…out of your league. And out of your experience. A haze of tiredness washed over you, and you closed your eyes for a moment. Then the page of the book flipped as though a stiff breeze washed over it, and your eyes snapped open. You didn’t even have time to look at the book, however, for a pair of purple eyes, the sclera black, eyed you. The faintest crescent on the creature’s dark purple lips. Were those stars on their cheeks? Whatever…whoever they were…they were beautiful. Simply enchanting. “Who…are you?” You asked, voice low. They shook their head so gently, and raised a Startouched finger to press against their lips. You felt yourself growing warm just looking at this person, and nodded. They raised a book, and flipped the page to one of black. The same words that you’d just read. Their drug their finger in a line, and you cast your eyes to the book. The very same line. ‘Who are you?’ You asked. ‘My name has no meaning to you.’ the book replied. You frowned slightly. ‘What are you?’ ‘Here to help.’ the book said, and you looked into the little bowl to see them smiling playfully. ‘With what?’ ‘Magic.’ You raised your eyebrows, and made sure to let them see your surprise. The page was wiped clean of your words, and blank and black once more. ‘I have a mentor.’ ‘I will teach you anything your heart desires.’ The book read and you felt your heart start to pick it’s pace up with each syllable you read. The words swam in your head and you swallowed thickly. Lord Viren would not be happy to know about this person. Lord Viren could not know about this person. A sharp knock came to the door, and you nearly jumped out of your skin, dumping the potion into the wash basin and slamming the book closed, picking it up and sliding it into the empty spot on the shelf where it belonged before scooting the chair out of the way and opening the door with the largest smile on your face that you could muster. Soren. He smiled, face red and hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. “H-hey, how’s it.” He paused, shuffling his helmet over to his other arm and leaning against the door, feet crossed cooly. “How’s it hanging?” He tried.“Fine, fine, why do you ask?” You laughed, almost nervously. He quirked his lips sideways, a thought moving through his mind (you could always see Soren’s thoughts, as his face always scrunched in one way or another as he thought. “Oh, I just. Are you busy?” He asked. He was already red faced but you assumed he would be flushing now, had it not. “Yes.” You replied curtly. “C-Cataloging inventory for Lord Viren.” You added, to make it less suspicious. Soren immediately deflated. “Ah, yeah, okay. Cool cool.” He nodded, peeking past you into the room. “Well, better get back to work.” You said, smiling and pressing the door closed, before turning and sliding down to sit with your back against the door. You didn’t have time for Soren, you were enamored with whoever that was on the other side of the window-potion. You were in love. This turned out….longer than I meant it to. I just…love Aavaros okay, thanks. *Side-Note, I personally didn’t realize Aavaros was male until he spoke so I transferred that to the reader lmao-☼