#I uwu'd while writing this

[randomnameless]

quand je dis que jvc c'est de la merde

Nopes' second birthday!

While I could rant all day long about its default and all, fwiw this game, at least for me, cemented the BL house as the only ones who got interesting writing, of course compared to House, removed some blinders about the GDs and kind of surprised me at how the devs were legit writing Ferdie, and the BEs who were written and not uwu'd with negative character development.

What else to enjoy from this game...

The NPCs, of course, they're the best addition (Special Mention to Mark the Monk, and Carol the Imperial General!) and of course the lizard paralogue (and in general, lizard interactions).

Also a mention for Billy who managed to be something else than the empty stand-in for the player, even if the plot is, well, Nopes' plot (or to be more critical, Fodlan's plot) so we can't ask much.

I'm afraid those are the only positive things I have to say about this game though.

[moon-towers]

Growing Pains

Oneshot - Rayla has been off all day, dismissive even. When her restlessness keeps Callum up all night he goes to investigate what's been eating at the Moonshadow Elf lately. Very gentle, implied Rayllum pining/interest

Read under the fold, or here on Ao3

- * - * -

Callum shifted in his sleeping sack, unable to fall asleep. Ezran was sprawled half out of his own sleep sack, one arm firmly wrapped around Bait’s sleeping form. It was Rayla who continued to toss and turn, occasionally getting up and pacing restlessly before returning to her spot on the ground.

Callum considered her actions, she is a Moonshadow Elf, she thrives under the light of the moon after all. But they’d already spent a few nights together and Rayla had never been this on edge as they all settled in for the night, and even if she did get up to move around sometime in the night she was typically near silent. 

Callum stared at the outcropping of rock above him, the dim light of the dying fire dancing across the stone. He considered how after their evening meal Rayla excused herself for a walk around their resting area, to ensure its safety for each of them, and then she disappeared into the underbrush until the sun had just dipped below the horizon. Callum had attempted to strike up conversation with her, but she was brusque, electing to perch in a tree at the perimeter of their campsite.

Ezran was already asleep by the time she jumped from the tree and tossed her rucksack to the ground to try and sleep. Callum supposed she thought him to be asleep as well, as she got up to pace around for the third time this hour. This time, however, she clambered through the small clearing with an uncharacteristic inelegance. Callum turned, propping his arm beneath his head to catch a better view of the elf as she continued toward the treeline.

He wrinkled his brow as he continued to observe her, the way she clung to the tree just as it came into arms length, or the way she drug her hands through her hair, roughly pulling against her scalp. Callum debated on taking the opportunity to reattempt sleep now that Rayla was much further away, her strange ritual quieted by the distance. He had only just closed his eyes when a muffled moan caught his ears.

Callum sat up, digging through his bag for his waterskin before rising to approach Rayla. He took stock that her twin blades sat on the ground beside her bag, folded neatly.

“No slishing and slashing if I startle her, at least,” Callum murmured, fidgeting with his waterskin as he neared the elf. Callum stood only a few feet away now, still unnoticed by Rayla, who leaned against the tree pressing the heel of her palms against her eyes. “Rayla? I brought you some water, didn’t know if you needed it,” Callum murmured, more for his own sake than hers, not wanting to risk totally surprising her with his sudden appearance.

She only groaned in response, lifting a hand to reveal one lilac eye, shadowed by heavy bags beneath it. Callum wordlessly brought the waterskin to her free hand, pressing it into her grasp as a silent urge to drink from it. Rayla’s other hand fell from her face to unscrew the cap, keeping her eyes on Callum before taking a careful gulp and returning the container to Callum.

Silence passed between them for a few moments. “So,” Callum started, kicking at the ground as though he were afraid to continue his sentence. “Are you gonna tell me what’s been keeping you up, or do you just want me to leave you be?”

Rayla only turned her eyes skyward, Callum followed suit, searching for what she might be looking for on a cloudy night like tonight. The moon could barely be made out, a faint shining sphere draped by a curtain of clouds. If his memory was correct the moon was still waning somewhere between half and new moon. He wondered briefly if its stages had any effect on Rayla.

“It’s really nothin’” Rayla breathed, loosing a half-hearted laugh. “Sorry if I kept ya up with all my amblin about.”

It was Callum’s turn to let the silence between them linger, he wasn’t sure how to respond. He didn’t know Rayla well enough to press the issue, and he had already prefaced with the concept of leaving her alone if she wishes. He could kick himself, of course she’d opt to push the human away when she was clearly in a moment of weakness. The analogy of a wounded animal jumped to the forefront of his mind, but he pressed it back, unwilling to liken her to a desperate creature just because she wasn’t human.

Rayla released an aggravated groan and half sat-half fell to the ground, pulling her small form as close to herself as she could, hands clasping just above her temple. Callum was still for only a breath before dropping to his own knees, unsure how to proceed from here.

“Rayla, you really can’t think I believe you when you say it’s nothing, right?” His hands hovered over her, somewhere between a protective stance and comforting hug.

“It’s just my head,” Rayla ground out, her eyes screwed tightly shut, contorting the dark marks that dripped down her face not unlike tear lines.

“A migraine? I know that Ezran has got a herb for that somewhere in his bag--”” Callum jumped to his feet. “I can brew tea for it--I swear it works like a charm every time--”

A four-fingered hand clutched his own hand in a crushing grasp. “No, it’s--it’s not the brainy bits that hurt… its…” Had she not been in so much pain Callum may have noted the embarrassment that was painted across her face. “It’s jus growin’ pains.”

Growing pains? Callum recalled the soreness in his joints from growth spurts maybe a year or two ago, but never severe headaches like this. He tried to remember a time his head hurt in a way that wasn’t a headache--had she hit her head when patrolling after dinner?

“Are you sure tea wouldn’t help? Just because it’s not a migraine doesn’t mean it won’t help your headache!”

Her hand, still holding him by the wrist tightened once more. “No you dobber! My horns--” Rayla ground out the words, throwing her head back against the tree, releasing Callum’s hand to throw her arm over her eyes. “I could cut these things off right about now, been killin’ me all day.”

Well, it certainly explained her sour mood today, Callum thought. He hadn’t considered that before though, the physical process of Rayla’s horns growing and pressing against her skull. It gave him a whole new appreciation for her endearing term for he and Ezran--flat-skulls.

Still wary about deliberately touching Rayla, Callum rocked back to sit on his bottom. They sat for a long moment without moving, though Rayla continued to squirm uncomfortably.

Callum finally elected to help however he might, angling so that he sat slightly behind Rayla. He set down his water skin, cautiously rubbing his hands together before weaving them into Rayla’s hair until the pads of his fingers found her scalp. Gently he applied pressure, methodically moving his hands across her skull, trying to relieve the grinding pain she felt.

“What in the name of Xadia are you doing, Callum?” Rayla’s words conveyed annoyance, but her head lulled back into his touch a bit. Callum’s face reddened, thinking of the way his mother would lovingly massage his head and hair as a young boy when he felt scared or stressed.

He looked away, back up toward the cloudy sky where the moon now barely peaked through the grey cover. “I just wanted to help--we have a lot of travelling to do still to get that egg back home, so you have to be ready for tomorrow too.”

Rayla hummed in response, leaning more into the touch until her shoulders fell squarely against Callum’s chest. His hands were not as tough and callused as they should be, considering how often he skipped out on training with Soren. He was never one for brute force, rather more delicate tasks like drawing or writing.

Instead Callum’s hands wandered carefully across Rayla’s scalp, mindful of the sensitive horns that jutted from just above her hairline. As his hands moved he was also sure to avoid her elven ears, unsure of how she might respond to him touching them without permission. Callum was shocked she had not yet batted him away from her head, since even he still wasn’t entirely sure what possessed him to touch her like his.

“Growing up I got nothing but tough love from Runaan,” Rayla murmured, splitting the silence which had settled between them. “It wasn’t all bad, he taught me a lot about how to handle life. I guess no one ever showed him a lick of tenderness though, because this--” she tilted her head into his hands a bit, “--is a far cry from his tried and true strategy of lickin’ your wounds in private.”

Callum could have laughed at her voicing the exact analogy he’s just mentally denied himself, but he instead focused on the conversation Rayla had presented.

“My mom,” he paused, unsure what to say. It was a tough subject for him, and Ezran had no real memories of their mother, making his happy memories with her feel even more bittersweet. “She would always massage my scalp or play with my hair as a kid. I think she coddled me so much because she was trying to make up for my dad dying and her remarrying.”

Rayla tilted her head so she could look toward Callum, “I suppose that’s better than being the one living in shame for their parents actions.”

Callum looked back down at the girl beneath him, studying the patterns in her horns, the way her chest rose and fell rhythmically, and how her heavy lidded eyes had finally shuttered her lilac orbs even as she spoke.

“I think I work so hard because I’m always trying to make up for their failure before the Dragon King.” She wrung her hands, fingering the ribbon around her wrist. “I might not be cut out to be an assassin, but I know it’s my duty to get that egg back safe. It means so much to Xadia, and has even wider implications for the relations between Humans and Xadians as a whole.”

Callum nodded thoughtfully, also aware of how important their mission was. He was grateful though that their conversation had seemed to help bring her attention away from her state of pain. He pressed his fingers into the base of each horn, kneading the sensitive scalp flanking her dark horns. Rayla only shimmied in, giving him greater access to her scalp, a silent beckon for him to continue.

She looked peaceful like this, Callum thought.

His fingers brushed against the crown of her head, watching how his ministrations seemed to melt away the tension that previously marred her features.

Rayla’s body was almost entirely slack, and her breathing had deepened. She’d fallen asleep. Callum blushed, feeling the heat rush in his ears at the way she slouched against him. He was stuck, pinned between Rayla and the tree behind them.

He briefly wished he had his sketchbook so he could capture Rayla in a moment where she’s totally unaware--a rare state for her. Callum settled for committing the image to memory, finally pulling his hands from her hair.

Hesitantly, Callum secured one hand respectfully against Rayla’s waist to ensure she didn’t slide off of him in her sleep. His other hand briefly toyed with a longer section of her hair, unsure what exactly to do in this position.

Callum pressed his head back into the tree trunk and gazed up into the sky once more, noting it had cleared considerably since he first looked. The waning crescent was clear, surrounded by the shimmering light of surrounding stars. He fell asleep like that, holding Rayla close, sure that she would wake before him and never mention this night to him again.

Before truly drifting off, Callum promised himself to draw her sleeping face from memory in his next free moment. Because when she had her guard down, she looked just like the silver moon that emerged shyly from its gray cover of clouds.