𝙎𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙎 | 𝙍𝘼𝙔𝙇𝘼 & 𝙀𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙄
Prompt: [Written while listening to Emigrate by Novo Amor!] Rayla and Callum are resting for the night while they're out for some mission, and he reminds her of Ethari, so they recount memories Rayla has with and of him.
Warning[s]: None, I'd say it's all fluff :)
Pairing: Rayla & Ethari / Rayla x Callum
Word count: 1.6k
masterlist
i've been dying to write rayla and ethari, like parent ethari!! and we had runaan mentions, but that was like ONCE, or twice. so, i didn't mention that in pairings. but i hope you like it, because i love them!! they're adorable and very important to my heart. <3
Callum’s breath was a whisper in the wind when she was wrapped in his arms. The canopy above them swayed with the breeze. Stars glistened where they were sewed into the navy of the night sky. But the best thing? The moon was almost at its fullest, and she gleamed down upon them with her soft light. Callum slowly removed his arm from around her, and she kind of missed the warmth that radiated between them then. She glanced towards him and she saw him scavenging through his bag before pulling out his sketchbook and a pen.
He smiled at her and flipped to an empty page, she barely caught onto a few sketches of herself. Her eyes trailed up his face, meeting his gaze. He was blushing. She was grinning.
“You drew me?” She asked, as if she hadn’t seen the sketches, clear as day.
“Well—” He started, but turned away, scratching the back of his neck. She laughed, shaking her head lightly. He oddly reminded her of Ethari, and perhaps how he is—Was with Runaan.
“You’re adorable.” She smiled at him anyway, looking back at the stars, the constellations, the night sky, but mostly the moon. In her glory. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “You remind me of Ethari, a lot.”
“Do I?” The sound of pen scratching against paper stopped, and she felt his gaze on the side of her head. Silently, she nodded against her arms, turning to smile at him; for just a fleeting moment.
“Yeah, especially how he was with Runaan,” Her voice dropped after the mention of his name, but Callum was there, to pull her closer, back into his chest, and the comforting weight of his chin was back on her head.
“We’ll get them back, I promise,” His voice in itself was a promise he would not break. She could always count on that, at the least.
“See? Proving my point.” She chuckled. “I remember all my elfling days with Ethari and him.”
“I don’t know Ethari well, but you make him sound amazing.” Callum’s fingers grazed over hers.
She hesitated, then intertwined her fingers with his. “He is. I remember the first time Runaan tried to teach me how to swim.” She closed her eyes, Callum’s gasp of disbelief making her laugh.
The memory was clear in her head, she remembered it like she remembered the phases of the moon. The water glistened under the warm rays of the sun, and it looked beautiful, but to her? Terrifying. She gulped, the sound of the waves reminding her of the nausea that was pooling in her gut. She wasn’t allowed any time to linger on that, She was lifted by her waist and before she knew it, went catapulting into the lake.
The splash of the water made her flinch, but she was drowning—She would drown, so she moved, she flapped her arms, she did whatever she could. She paddled, but then, even amidst the water, she felt familiar and warm arms around her. Runaan.
She opened her eyes, and she was far too relieved to see the same turquoise eyes that she’d seen mere moments before he threw her into the body of water. He was smiling, almost amused. She huffed, trying to push away, but then remembering that she didn’t exactly know how to swim… yet. If this happened every day, she would most probably learn, at some point.
“Didn’t mean to frighten you, I just couldn’t think of any way that was better than getting your survival instinct to teach you,” He said, somehow managing to hold her and stay afloat.
“Well, I did think I was dying!” She looked away, and he laughed. She hated him right then, she truly did.
“Runaan! Rayla!” She could hear her saviour from across the water. Her head spun around, and she could faintly make out the silhouette of Ethari waving his head. “Get back!”
Oh, she could cry from the relief of hearing those last two words. She nudged Runaan, and he swam across, smiling. His eyes glistened with happiness. How could he be brooding at the Silvergrove but as soon as he saw Ethari it was like he was getting blessed by the moon?
When they reached solid ground, she considered kissing the grass, but Ethari’s arms were around her and a weight had settled around her whole frame. She touched it, a towel. She smiled, thanking him as he turned to his husband, his voice low as he scolded him for throwing Rayla into the water.
“She could have caught a cold,” Ethari whispered, drying Runaan’s hair. Runaan shrugged, and Ethari slapped his shoulder playfully.
Rayla laughed, and they turned to her. Runaan frowned, but Ethari grinned. She returned it.
“Once we head back, I’ll get you some warm tea ready, and snacks, okay?” Ethari reassured, going back to rebraiding his husband’s hair after drying it off. Rayla hummed in happy acknowledgement. She went and hugged his torso, muttering a small ‘thank you.’
“I remember that day very well, I still think I owe Ethari one for that.” She opened her eyes and looked at Callum, he was already looking. She blushed, smiling.
“He sounds amazing, I’m glad he got you out of there, although it’s not like you’re particularly fond of water now, anyway.” Callum played with one of her braids, and she didn’t stop him, she just chuckled.
“I still am not, but at least I have a good memory that I can relate it to.”
“True that. Do you have any other memories with him?” Callum asked, and she was glad he did. She had so much to say about him. He practically raised her, and was one part of the reason she was who she was as a person. For that, she owed him a lot.
“Oh, I have so much.”
She started recounting the time she kept on insisting she would like to see Ethari working. She firmly remembered it, thanks to her butterfly blades that laid next to her, then. She traced her hands over the ridges and carefully created shape, and a smile tugged at her lips.
“Can I see you work?” She asked, glancing around her, at the many weapons that hung around the walls, the metal scraps on the table, the sketches for commissions and then she saw two necklaces, just hidden away in a corner.
Ethari chuckled, “of course.” He nodded. “But, be careful of the forge, and if it gets too warm for you, let me know.”
She saluted jokingly, and he shook his head, getting to work. She watched him, eyes intent on the way his hands moved, methodically but meticulously still, the way he glanced from sketches, at the forge, back at the hammer in his hand. At some point she had gotten closer, but he apparently didn’t mind, he smiled softly.
“This is so cool,” She whispered, reaching forward for the blade that was wrapped in his hands. He turned towards her. Her hands stopped.
“It’s for you,” He said, pushing the two blades towards her. “They’re your butterfly blades, made just for you.”
She gaped at them, then at him. And started shaking her head, trying to tell him that no, he shouldn’t do that. But he silenced her, and handed her the blades. And they felt just so right in her grasp, like they were just for her.
“I love them.” She grinned, and she traced her fingers over the ridges, over the details, over everything, the wood. The metal. Ethari chuckled. Gently, she placed the blades on his work desk, turning back to him. And she lunged at him, for a hug.
She engulfed him in a hug, well, as much of him as she could. He hugged her back, placing a hand on her head. “I’m glad you do, Rayla.”
“I could never forget that, as long as I have these.” She smiled at the moon, it was always there, much akin to how Ethari had been, for her entire life.
“I’m glad you have someone like him in your life, someone to ground you,” Callum whispered, and she raised an eyebrow at him. “You know, you’ve got a knack for throwing yourself headfirst into dangerous situations.”
She laughed, hitting him on the shoulder playfully. “You’re starting to sound way too much like Ethari, I’m so glad it was awkward when you first met him.”
“Hey!” He sounded slightly offended, but that dissolved into small fits of laughter between the two. “Well, you’re not getting rid of me.”
“Yeah, of course not. Ethari never got rid of Runaan, quite the same thing.”
She shrugged, and he huffed, falling into peaceful silence once more. She placed her head on his shoulder. Moments like these reminded her of Ethari, and Runaan. The both of them, together. And when she would get between them, demand hugs and detours around the forest that surrounded their home. She remembered her life as an elfling, when it was much more peaceful. But, she didn’t mind this either. She had Callum, and that was enough. And she knew that back at the Silvergrove, Ethari was always there, always waiting. He was there to ground her when she needed it.
Her eyes fluttered shut, memories of her and him together flitted faintly in the darkness created, and a smile tugged at her lips. He’d always be there, wouldn’t he?
For now, she was wrapped in Callum’s arms, and that’s what mattered most. And their safety, of course.