The following post is the first chapter of a fic created (almost) entirely from a conversation with @gravemagicks regarding how my OC muse Beau and her Percival Graves met in one of our multiple avian!verse plots, and occurs a few months prior to the start of our thread Tatterdemalion.
Be warned: it’s a long one and contains quite a bit of detailed exposition that may eventually find its way into the thread.
The Thubans of the Kaeilia and Scathlier flocks had long been neighbours, friends and allies. When their heirs were young, the two chieftains made an arrangement regarding the boys’ futures and the futures of their two flocks. When the time came, should the two Polarises present upon puberty as an Alpha and an Omega respectively, the two of them would be mated to each other and strengthen the alliance between the flocks. However, should they present as either both Alphas or both Omegas, then whichever of the two flocks’ Lyras--the younger of the two North Stars to either flock--presented as the opposite to either of them would instead become mated to the Polaris of their neighbour flock.
As it so happened, the Polarises of Kaeilia and Scathlier did, in fact, present as an Alpha and Omega respectively. And both their younger sisters as their opposites.
Percival Graves, Polaris Scathlier, being the elder of the two by a few years, came of age before Beau, and he was immediately sought by many an Alpha of other flocks as a potential mate. But Percival had admired Beau since before their parents made their arrangement, and so he found many an excuse to wait until Beau came of age rather than agreeing to any other offers of courtship.
Oh, he entertained some suitors, but there was always some reason for him to reject them in the end.
Then Gellert Grindelwald, Thuban of Hollows flock, came to pursue a suit to Percival, and he was far more persistent than Percival’s previous suitors.
By this point in time, Beau had come of age and was entertaining suitors of his own, though none of the Omegas who came to attempt to attract him managed to hold his attention for long--if at all. His thoughts were far more drawn to the Polaris Scathlier, whom he’d greatly admired since they were children--had crushed on, even--and whom he hadn’t seen in quite some time.
Alarmed by Thuban Hollows’ persistence--and unable to simply approach Beau now that the Polaris Kaeilia had come of age--Percival made a passionate argument to his father, imploring him to speak to Beau on his behalf and insisting that his true reason for rejecting all his previous suitors was because he had wanted Beau the whole time. Desperately, Percival offered his father a deal: Should Beau reject Percival, he would settle for being mated to Gellert.
Eamon, Thuban Scathlier, agreed to this deal. Rather than directly approach Beau, however, he instead spoke to Mireille, Thuban Kaeilia, and told her that it had come time for them to find out whether their arrangement would come to fruition with their sons or their daughters.
Mireille summoned Beau to the meeting room to inform him of the arrangement between Kaeilia and Scathlier, and that the Polaris Scathlier would like to pursue a suit to him. Upon being asked his choice, Beau immediately agreed to meet with Percival.
He truly hoped Percival would be the right Omega for him--and not only for his own sake, though his heart already seemed fixed on the other Polaris. Beau’s sister Belle had already set her eye on Adam Proulx, an Alpha of their flock, and Beau would hate to tear her from her chosen Alpha simply to honour an arrangement.
