Plot: Three moments in Douxie's lifetime where he remembers his best friend, Illy......... and their reunion, 900 years later.
Notes: Takes place wayyy before ToA but also during Wizards, Just them and an exploration of Douxie thinking about Illy throughout the centuries, small Peter Pan Return to Neverland reference :3, WE ARE SO BACK BABSSS LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I miss them.
Trigger Warnings: Fear of a loved one's death, brief mention of one night stands and flings. Let me know if there are any that I missed-
Douxie always held his life back in Camelot in his memories, in his heart. Despite everything, Camelot was his home and where he spent a good while of his life there… That was where he was accepted as Merlin’s apprentice, where he met Morgana and gained a permanent place to live with his familiar and learn magic.
But it was also where he met his best friend, Illy….
Of course he would always remember to keep his life in Camelot in his memories, even with the kingdom long gone by the time he started his journey to other kingdoms and villages, to other countries and lands…
Memories of the people he cared about so deeply and the times he had there, they were special to him…Merlin, Morgana……
Illy..
There were three specific moments in his centuries long journey where he thinks about the spellcaster, his best friend…
The first time was…. So simple… When Douxie looked back on this moment, he almost chuckled fondly, thinking about how something so small could remind him of her…
He was travelling to a neighbouring town at the time, taking a longer route through a flourishing field. With Archie on his shoulders, he was walking along the dirt path and looking around the area, taking in the scenery of the open field.
The clouds floating around slowly as the wind gently blew through his hair as something small caught his golden hazel and green eyes nestled amongst the soft grass as he quietly strayed from the dirt path and towards the open field.
“Douxie, where are you going?”
Archie asked as he watched his wizard familiar kneel down on the soft grass and stare at the small bundles of forget me nots nestled on the ground.
“Look Arch, forget me nots!...”, Douxie said, a hint of excitement in his voice as he glanced at his cat familiar as he saw Archie tilt his head, “Indeed, Douxie…what about them?”, his familiar asked curiously.
The young wizard has never really shown interest in flowers before…
“They’re Illy’s favourite…remember?..”, The wizard replied in a soft voice, turning his head again to stare at the small flowers, waving around through the wind as he felt a small, nostalgic smile spread across his face.
“It is….I’m surprised you remembered…” Archie said as he watched his young familiar roll his eyes playfully as he glanced at the black cat on his shoulder, “Of course, I remember….”, he mumbled before going back to looking at the flowers quietly.
“I wonder what she’s up to….”
He wondered out loud, a worried frown quietly making its way to his face as he fully sat himself down with a sigh, “I hope she’s alright..”, He mumbled, holding the bud of the flower in his hand, being careful not to pick it off.
“I’m sure she is, Douxie…. She’s a strong spellcaster…wherever she is, I’m sure she’s safe..”, The familiar on his shoulder said as he gently bumped his head against Douxie’s as an attempt to cheer him up.
“R..right….of course she is….I suppose I’m just…realising how long it’s been…since we last saw each other..”
“Well…. You’ll see each other again Douxie… I can’t tell you exactly when that is…but the day will come.”
Archie watches as Douxie takes a breath, smiling a little sadly as he nodded, “You’re right, Archie….I just have to wait and see..”, He mumbled, carefully picking a small bundle of the forget me nots.
“For now…I can find ways to just…remember her..”
Douxie took out his heavy leather bound notebook out of his pack, carefully opening to two empty pages and placing the bundle of flowers and closing the book, pressing the flowers into its pages.
He packed up his notebook before standing back up, being careful of Archie perched on his shoulder as he spotted a sparkling turquoise butterfly fluttering past in the distance, smiling as they continued their journey.
Centuries later, another moment came…
Well, less of a moment and more of a realisation on Douxie’s part, he admits as he thinks back on it.
It was the 90s, he had just gotten into a relationship with a mortal girl, Alice. She was sweet and kind, he was happy with her despite the relationship not lasting long.
It wasn’t because of anything terrible, Alice was amazing really, but Douxie had gotten used to not being attached to mortals….it was harder as an immortal to do so and he’s built a wall around himself.
He just couldn’t bring himself to stay in relationships with mortals long term, most times they end up being very brief single nights of intimacy…
But he also noticed something else, how much she reminded him of Illy… It wasn’t too obvious at first, she has small physical similarities….
She was a brunette, freckles littering her cheeks like Illy… she was a little on the shorter side as well.
But what really hit the young wizard hard were the similarities in their personalities, his girlfriend was well read, she was smart and kind. She was shy at first but grew to be more talkative as their relationship went on.
She was gentle and soft spoken…
She reminded him so much of Illy, she reminded him of his best friend…The best friend he hasn’t seen in centuries at this point of his life.
Douxie was laying in his bed as the realisation hit, staring at the ceiling and getting so lost in thought as he tossed and turned.
He never expected to think of Illy this way, of course he didn’t. She was his best friend, he hasn’t seen her since Camelot….
He’s never had these thoughts before….
Never realised if any of his partners, as rare as it was for him to be in relationships, he never realised if any of his past partners ever reminded him of Illy.
His face burned, going warm as his cheeks turned red as he thought about it, sitting up abruptly as he covered his face with his hands with a heavy sigh. Running his fingers through his bangs as he glanced out the window.
“Douxie, are you alright?..”
He flinched, hearing Archie’s voice as the cat familiar jumped up the bed as he glanced down at him for a moment.
“I….I don’t know….I guess…I was thinking..”
“Whatever about?..”
Douxie thought to himself quietly as he looked out the window for a moment before glancing at Archie, “Do….you ever notice….that Alice is a lot like Illy?..”, he asked quietly.
There was a silence in the room for a moment before Archie spoke up, seemingly in thought the whole time, “I suppose so…. She isn’t completely like Illy, of course…but I suppose she does remind me of her….why?..”
“I…I just never realised it before, I suppose….and it’s…I’m not sure why I’m thinking about it. Illy’s just…..my best friend..and I shouldn’t be thinking about this…..right?..”
“Well….I wouldn’t say it’s an awful thing to think about… You’re maybe just realising you have certain traits you gravitate towards.”
“I…guess?...”
Douxie mumbled, sounding unsure of himself as he took a breath for a moment, “Do you think we’ll ever see her again?... It’s been……centuries…since we left Camelot, since we said goodbye… We haven’t seen her at all…”
“...We have no way of knowing if…..if she’s even alive…”
He let out a shaky sigh, getting up from his bed completely, opening the window and leaning his head on the window sill. Staring at the night sky quietly as he felt tears prick at his eyes.
Archie quietly jumped onto the window sill next to his wizard familiar, sitting himself down as he nuzzled his head against his young wizard, purring as an attempt to comfort him.
“Maybe someday….we’ll see her again….. There’s also no way for us to know either way…but if she is alive…then we’ll see her again someday….”
Douxie let out a shaky sigh as he gently leaned his head a little against Archie as he purred, the both of them looking out the window as he could have sworn he saw the same glowing turquoise butterfly he did centuries ago flying by in the distance.
He smiled sadly, sighing, “Maybe you’re right, Arch….thank you..”, he mumbled softly as they stared at the stars together.
Years later, he was tossed onto a flying ship.
Narrowly escaping the Green Knight and his attacks on the bookstore with Merlin, Toby, Steve and AAARRRGGHH in tow. Archie having been with him since the start of the night like he’s always been.
They were flying through the sky quickly, Douxie holding onto the side of the ship as it slowed down slightly when the castle came into sight.
The young wizard’s breath caught in his throat for a moment at the sight of his old home flying in the sky, effectively having drowned out the excited conversations from the two kids and his old Master in the distance.
Douxie smiled fondly, leaning slightly on the railing of the ship as he looked at his old home, memories of his time in Camelot slowly flooding back to him..
Memories of Illy resurfacing….
He can’t help the feeling of his racing heart as the memories resurface, questions flooding his mind eternally.
Is she here? Has she been here for a while? Master Merlin…didn’t mention her…
Has she changed much since he last saw her? She had to have changed somewhat…it has been centuries..
Would….she even remember him?...
Would she recognize him?...
His head was reeling at the thought….hoping so badly that his best friend did remember him…that she could recognize him right away.
He was finally going to see her again!
The excitement was making his heart jump around in his chest, the closer they got to the castle…
Oh, if he only knew what would happen…
He could never imagine he would have to bring an entire group into hiding at Hex Tech, almost suffering the wrath of Zoe, who….he really owed after that day.
He could never imagine that he would have had to go back to the past…
He would never imagine he would have reunited with Illy from his Camelot days before he could even see her from his own timeline..
He never imagined that Illy would kiss him before the Battle of Killahead…
He glanced down at the girl in question, the girl currently occupying his brain amongst all the danger and adrenaline.
She looks…different, her hair was significantly shorter, messily cut and draping just above her shoulders. She was dressed differently too, her lady in waiting gown in shades of green replaced with an outfit more befitting of a wizard.
A dark green vest over a white tunic top, a wrapped around skirt, pants and heavy brown and silver boots. Silver detailing scattered all over now that he had the time to really take in her different look.
Her eyes were still the same shimmering turquoise…but at the moment it seemed hardened…her eyes seemed puffy and red…as if she had been crying.
She looked upset.
Douxie felt a pang of pain when he noticed….was there some form of guilt in there as well? Maybe…was she upset with him? Because they haven’t seen each other in so long?
He couldn’t tell…
And perhaps he had been looking at her for a tad longer than he intended…because as soon as he glanced away, he tenses, hearing her quiet voice.
“Douxie?..”
Douxie looked back down at Illy, seeing her look up at him quietly, her turquoise coloured eyes almost inspecting him in a way he just couldn’t explain..
“..Hello, Illy..”, He said, his voice soft as he did, being mindful at how tense she seemed.
There was an awkward silence as they looked at each other, Illy staring at him for a moment, looking him up and down before glancing down, “....You changed…” She barely whispered, her voice fragile and almost solemn..
The now Master Wizard looked down at her, the hurt in his chest getting a little worse… something happened to her…and he wanted to know everything, but there was so much going on at the moment.
Douxie reached out, taking Illy’s hand in his with a soft squeeze as she whipped her head up to look at him, “Not really….not ever… I’m still the same moppet you knew…all those centuries ago..”, he said, a fond smile appearing on his face.
He watched as Illy let out a shaky sigh as tears appeared in her eyes, in that moment, that was what she saw… the same moppet she befriended and fell in love with all those centuries ago.
She squeezed his hand back gently, a small giggle escaping her.
“I guess you are…..I really missed you, Douxie…” She mumbled softly, leaning her head on his arm, gently.
Pulling a soft chuckle from the taller wizard, a sound Illy thought she would never hear again before today….
And you have nothing to apologize for! We’re all about celebrating love this month and that includes jlaire. I don’t want to limit the requests/prompts to outwardly queer relationships.
As far as commissions go, I’m not taking on any new ones until after I move. I keep choosing to draw over going apartment hunting, so I need to eliminate the distraction even if it’s bringing in some money… But I can let you know when I’m back up for business if you’d like!
I don’t normally join into ship week stuff, but these prompts look fun c:
for @jlaireweek and today’s prompt is Shakespeare. Thought it would be cute that they still recite lines from the play to each other, just to be the cute kind of corny romantics.
((super quick doodle since I was at work but omg not supposed to be daylight I freakin swear XD Imma fix that tomorrow XDD))
EDIT: I added the evening version since I was so busy with work I kinda forgot to add the extra dark blue to the BG in the first one XD good ol monday goofs ha!
kaledo-art
prguitarman
germansingergirl
discoholicmusic
titsay
stormborns
andulkaphoto
