#aka happy birthday rayla!!!

[blutopaz15]

rayllum week 2023

prompt: flowers

rated t, 2k

He probably doesn’t remember, and honestly…it’s okay.

She doesn’t blame him.

She’d decided that this morning, after the toppled pile of books and the rushed apology she’d woken up to.

“Sorry, Rayla! And, uh…morning!”

Callum’s steps had stuttered towards her, and even with sleep crusties and too much sunlight in her eyes, she’d still gotten a little swoony over that dorky-cute smile flashed in her direction, the bedhead he hadn’t even sorted out yet, that over-eager enthusiasm all over his everything…but then he’d turned away instead of coming closer. He’d jumped right back into sorting the books that he and Kazi had clearly been pulling off the shelves for at least an hour or two already, and she couldn’t deny she’d been a little disappointed—

“This pile’s for Aaravos, that one’s for the coins, and…let’s start a Sky magic stack, just because.”

—but she really couldn’t begrudge him that.

There were plenty of more important things to worry about besides her birthday, after all.

Anyway, she’d only mentioned it…what? Once? When they’d been sleep-deprived on the back of that ambler, pretending like they were listening to each other’s answers to five-, then twenty-questions, rather than just staring at each other’s lips, hardly keeping from kissing again?

But then, he’d mentioned it once too, on the road back to the Nexus, wondering aloud if—

If they’d be back to Katolis in time for their birthdays.

Even if he does remember…nothing is just about what she deserves anyway, as far as birthdays with Callum go, Rayla resolves when the morning passes without a word about it.

She spends the day stewing like that—excusing herself when Callum’s dumb, adorable face makes the regret too much to handle, trying to distract herself with patrolling and target practice, avoiding the reproachful looks from Amaya she’s been getting since they’d gotten here yesterday that she knows she deserves but really, really doesn’t need.

It’s dusk when she heads back inside, but research stretches on until nightfall, and she spends the difference talking herself out of the downward spiral that’d convinced her Callum was too hurt still to even bring up birthdays, let alone have any interest in acknowledging hers. Her head stops spinning—finally—once she and Stella retreat to their little corner of the abandoned Bookery, though.

Judging by the height of the pile that Callum had stacked there beside his bedroll—Sky magic books, she guesses—he’s been busy…and that’s all the reassurance she needs.

He just…doesn’t realize it’s her birthday, she tells herself again, like she had this morning. Clearly, he just has—they just have—a lot going on.

With the moon new, it’s dark enough that even she strains and squints to read the spines of the books, wondering to herself as she looks at the stack if she should tell him or not.…until familiar footsteps bring some firelight to their little not-quite camp.

“You have quite a collection going here, mage,” she chuckles, kneeling by his books, the light letting her confirm that, yes, this whole pile was Callum’s personal Sky magic stack. “Think you might need to send a few of these home to—oh.”

…and she doesn’t need to tell him, apparently, if the fistful of flowers and the smile on his face mean what she thinks they mean.

“It’s your birthday,” Callum starts, setting down the lantern to free a hand to hold out…and she exhales.

She thinks she hides the tingling wave of calm that comes with Callum reaching for her and knows she hides the relieved tears that prickle—just a bit—in her eyes, easily blinking them away before she even puts her hand in his.

“It is,” she says, just a hint of a snicker in her answer. Rayla smiles as she leans into his warm steady hand to stand…and that’s almost familiar again—the brief shows of support, the fleeting moments of comfort, the gentle reminders that he’s there for her. She almost leaves her hand there, covered completely by his, her thumb drifting to his wrist…but lingering like that was uncertain territory still since she’d been back. She remembers how surprised he’d been at her head on his shoulder and how stiff he’d been the whole time on her shadowpaw…so she pulls away and points to the flowers in his other hand instead, each bloom the same vibrant red. “What are these?”

“Uh…orchids, I think?” He examines them himself, peering down at the little bouquet held between them then tilting them to her, holding them out til the soft petals brush her hand. “I guess Sunfire elves do a lot of flowers, so when I told Kazi I needed a gift for you…”

“You told them?” she asks, fingertips brushing his as she takes the flowers by the stems, knowing no one else would’ve had a reason to know about her birthday if Callum didn’t mention it, wondering if anyone else had known all day.

“Just them. I asked them to keep it to themself.” Callum explains, haste in his voice, and Rayla looks up from fiddling with a leaf, realizing that her doubt might have read as displeasure. “You were…quiet this morning, so I thought maybe that was best?”

“We’re busy,” she nods. That’d been the right move, she thinks, even if she’d spent the day assuming the worst, and she squashes the urge to touch him as extra assurance that he’d done the right thing. A big deal about her birthday after what she’d done to him on his, would’ve been…not great. Her eyes fall back to the flowers, and she shuffles her weight to her other foot. “Plus, everyone’s kind of very not happy with me so—”

Rayla stops when his hand slips into hers, lifting her head and finding Callum staring at her sweet and sincere as ever—

“I’m happy with you,” he says, eyes half-lidded, smile sideways.

He’s leaning in, she thinks, paralyzed in place, knowing her mouth is hanging open, knowing she’s looking at his lips…but then the sideways smile there breaks to a wide grin and he repeats himself, squeezing her hand tight enough to snap her out of it.

“And it’s your birthday!” Callum exclaims, and then—

He starts singing, with his own special…Callum-ness that she’s sure isn’t actually a part of the Katolis birthday song.

Right out the gate, she has to bite her lip to stifle her laughter down to a giggle at the silly, dumb dance moves he’s clearly just making up to make her smile, and she almost loses it at the dramatic flourish he adds to the third birthday. Too quickly, the song is over, though, and she’s about to teasingly clap for him—

—but then his lips are on her cheek.

It takes longer than she cares to admit for her to grasp that it’d just been the wishes and kisses and laughter and love he’d just sung about that’d made him kiss her, and she covers the spot where his lips had been in the meantime, not quite knowing what else to do. There was no point in hiding her wide eyes or flushed cheeks, obviously, she realizes, especially seeing how satisfied Callum seemed with her response to his little performance.

“That…that was the—”

“Katolis birthday song,” Callum nods, grinning, and takes the flowers from her hands, leaving them on a table before cheerily pulling her to a spot without books underfoot, “and there’s a dance I’m supposed to learn, right?”

…and her pounding heart falls.

“Callum—” she starts, the words in her letter as fresh as the night she’d written them—for the both of them, apparently—and she swallows thickly, reminded again of all it had—how she had—ruined between them.

Callum shakes his head before she can say more, though, eyes soft and reassuring, and—

—it’s…okay, apparently.

“We’re not missing any more birthdays, alright?” he says, more unbothered than she can understand, easily putting a stop to the spiral she’d spent the day on with a final squeeze before he drops her hands and gestures to the open space around them.

It just takes a blink and a breath, and she follows suit, moving forward.

“Okay, well,” she starts, looking around, considering where to begin. “It works better with more people, but—”

“I can go get the others if you want?” Callum asks with a shrug, a thumb pointed over his shoulder…and she shakes her head in immediate answer, uninterested in spending her birthday with anyone but him.

“No, no, just—uh…just us is fine.” Showing him is obviously the answer, so Rayla presses on his shoulders to switch their spots. “The birthday elf—uhh, person—is supposed to be in the middle, and you kind of dance around them, so…belated birthday dance to demonstrate?”

Her proposition comes with an apologetic smile—she’d meant to make it back to the castle in time for his 17th—and he nods, everything about his answer soft, silent forgiveness.

She spends her first round humming music she hasn’t heard in ages, the second naming the steps as she goes, the third telling him the counts.

By her fourth, she hardly even blushes when the chain of turns at the end of the dance brings them nose-to-nose, close enough to kiss, which was kind of the point when your lover was a part of the dance, but…

She shouldn’t…so she doesn’t.

“Okay,” he says as she comes in close again. “I think I’ve got it.”

“Yeah?” She grins at the head-rush of his breath on her cheek before smoothly spinning away…except that she can’t, because Callum’s caught her hands again and uses her momentum to take her place.

“Eh…mostly?” he shrugs, before drawing a dramatic breath and setting himself up like she had at the start, his leg outstretched at something like the angle she’d shown him. She counts while he copies her, his memory accurate…even if the execution is a little off.

Really, though, considering the swaying in place that Katolis called dancing she’d seen those couple of weeks in the castle…he does pretty great, she thinks, tickled at him so attentive to learning something so familiar to her.

He starts that last series of turns that she knows will bring him in close, and she knows she shouldn’t kiss him kiss him…but he’d gotten her cheek earlier, hadn’t he?

“You’ve got it,” she nods after her lips leave his soft face, stomach fluttering at finding him almost as surprised and flushed as she’d been, then moves on just as quickly as he had. “Then usually you do it again—it’s supposed to be eighteen times for an eighteenth birthday—but kind of…rotate around? If there’s more than one dancer, that is.”

“Eighteen Moonshadow Birthday Dances, coming right up!” Callum says, determinedly setting up for another round. The steps flow, one into the next, a little better this second time, and she tells him so as he starts spinning in towards her again…but he pouts in answer instead of giving her another melty smile like the first time. “What…no kiss this time?”

And no way was she going to pass up that invitation.

Of course, she appeases him before grinning and sending him on his way, singing the tune now—on to a third, and fourth, and fifth repetition—each finished with her lips pressed to his cheek.

By his eighteenth time through, he has the pattern down pat. He hums along with her, even, and, of course, finishes the turns with his beaming face tilted to the side, welcoming her kiss like she’d worried he never would again.

…and she wonders about that last wish she’d had for Callum’s fifteenth birthday.

He’s done dancing now, and still just as close, still reaching for her.

“Happy birthday,” he says, leaning in again…and she’s just as still and speechless as before.

Her eyes flutter, her tongue wets her lips, her breath falls on his cheek, and he crashes into her, his arms locked around her waist, his heartbeat against her chest—

…his hug warm and tight and close.

…and that’s okay too.

[raayllum]

fic masterpost ~ rayllum edition

a/n: this post is subject to change and be updated as early as February 15th 2021 (with fulfilled prompts from Rayllum Valentine’s Week) so while you are welcome to reblog it, it is long and will only get longer! There will be changes! This post, as the title says, also only includes my Rayllum fics - which while the majority of what I write for TDP, are not at all. I’ve done my best to organize every piece of writing (from long multichaps to 200 word drabbles) into a coherent system under headers and as per chronological order (in terms of the pieces, not when they were posted) as can possibly be. I would love if this introduced you to a fic or ficlet of mine that you previously weren’t aware of! (There were certainly pieces I’d entirely forgotten I’d written!) Happy reading, and a big thanks to the fandom of being so supportive of my writing for the past 2.5 years! :)

Canon 

i do not believe in love at first sight. but god damn. (look at you.): callum’s pov for his first meeting with rayla in 1x02, ficlet

by the boat: a missing scene set after 1x04, featuring some slight rayllum and trio fluff, ficlet

each time (you happen to me all over again): “Hey, I like her too. But the thing is, she’s… not telling us everything. I can feel it.” Or, a oneshot in which Callum likes Rayla, against his better judgement. Set in between 1x03 and up until 1x06, 870 word ficlet

pivot: ‘He likes her too much.‘ For “Meeting/Friendship” for the Rayllum fanzine, “Falling for You,” set during 1x05-1x07 of Book One: Moon, 2.7k

the scarf: set in between 1x06 and 1x07, ficlet

because she’s rayla: the more he understands her, the more he loves her. OR: how Callum fell in love with Rayla, season by season. IN-PROGRESS, 1.8k+ threeshot 

turn against: Callum and Rayla reflect on betrayal and abandonment, post-3x01. 2.4k, oneshot

heights: could slot into early 3x01 post sol regem (aka when ez is travelling back), pre 3x02 ficlet

i don’t believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now: missing scene from 3x04; callum gets a little jealous when they make camp at the oasis, ficlet

second sight: “Was it love at first sight?” Corvus asks. OR: Callum and Rayla reflect on what love is. Set during 3x05-3x09, written for the “Falling for You” fanzine, 3.5k

that isn’t part of the spell: Ezran’s POV of the moment he finds out Callum and Rayla are ‘a thing’ in 3x07, ficlet

all through the night: Callum and Rayla’s first night at the Spire. Angst hurt/comfort set during 3x08, ficlet

i’ll explain later: On the eve before the Final Battle, Amaya has some catching up to do with her nephew. Set during 3x08, mentions of Rayllum & Janaya, 1.9k, oneshot

i really do: An oneshot comprised of missing Rayllum moments/scenes from S3 (including post-3x09). Spoilers abound. co written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs. 3.9k, oneshot

21 Days: They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. // A Rayllum ficlet for every episode from 1x03-3x05, updates daily. COMPLETE, 14.4k

Could Be Canon (fics that haven’t been proven or denied thus far)

doesn’t deserve this: Callum approaches the Dragon Queen with a request, post-3x09, ficlet

a broken cycle: Rayla has nightmares about when she and Callum met, post-s3, hurt/comfort, ficlet

rumination: Callum and Rayla learn what Claudia did to revive Viren, ficlet

autopsies: claudia sees callum (and rayla) for the first time since 2x07, ficlet

i want to hang out with you basically for the rest of my life: post war proposal that technically fits right in to canon, somehow (even if it was written after s1), ficlet

things you said when you thought i was asleep: callum talking to their baby, first pregnancy, post war, ficlet

AU as of S2

your heart is your masterpiece: It’s Rayla’s sixteenth birthday. Callum knows exactly what to get her. [Rayla/Callum] title is from “i’ll keep you safe,” by sleeping at last, 1.8k oneshot

frostbite: rayla tries ice cream, ficlet

sweep the leg: rayla trains callum, ficlet

the amulet: post 1x09, the kids go amulet shopping.

when you’re around i don’t know how to hide my feelings: quietly pining rayla feat. cloud counting, ficlet

participation medals of the heart: callum likes claudia and rayla knows this, ficlet

i know your weakness. it’s kisses. you are doomed: cute established rayllum closest to being set during s2 i guess? ficlet 

AU as of S3

a speculative take on 3x01, during the scarf exchange and based on spoilers released at october comic con 2019, ficlet

seem impossible: rayla teaches callum to dance, based off the s3 trailer, ficlet

based off of rayla pulling callum close to her to jump down in the trailer, pining callum, ficlet

speculative take on the pining callum still that got released, written to be set around 3x04 (picture is actually from 3x08), pining callum ficlet

sleeveless callum insp & based off s3 promo pictures, pining rayla, ficlet 

speculative reunion with amaya, featuring callum defending rayla from his aunt, based off tiniest screencap from s3 trailer, ficlet

things you said when we were on top of the world: exactly what it says on the tin + pining callum, ficlet

term of endearment: rayla calls callum an elvish word and he asks tinker what it means, just under 1k ficlet

things you said after you kissed me: first kiss, shocking similar to 3x05, ficlet

things you said when you were scared: rayla gets injured, callum is worried, ficlet

rayla dreads their separation, speculative late s3, slightly angsty pining rayla, ficlet

rayllum can’t say goodbye, speculation end of s3 get together, pining callum, ficlet

i think you are beautiful and would like to kiss you: rayla and callum meet again at a ball after the war, pining callum, ficlet

still into you: callum plans a proposal to rayla in katolis after the war, 1.2k, oneshot

in search of silver linings (we discovered gold): co-written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs. Rayla and Callum travel through Xadia, and maybe fall in love along the way. Post-s2, semi-fan season 3. COMPLETE, 84k

Dragonguard Rayllum (post-s3)

don’t go where i can’t follow: Post-S3. When Rayla realizes the extent of Callum’s devotion to her, it takes a trip back home to come to terms with it. Fluffier than the summary makes it sound, I swear. co-written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs. 2.1k

i should let someone know (maybe when i’m better): Rayla has a fever that brings out some unintended emotional consequences. Callum is there to help. co-written with @thosefiveadoraburrs, 3.8k

south star: post-s3 oneshot about rayllum stargazing and making decisions. co-written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs. 1.5k

and since we’ve got no place to go (let it snow): rayla and callum’s first winter at the spire

unprovoked: Rayla asks Callum about his mother, ficlet

bleed: Callum has a minor injury and Rayla frets over him, ficlet

hair tuck: Callum notices an adorable quick of Rayla’s, pining Callum, ficlet

messy hair: Pining Rayla featuring Callum’s messy bedhead, ficlet

AU as of TTM

you said, “are you serious?” (i said like a heart attack): Soren doesn’t understand why Rayla is with Callum, until he does. co-written with @thosefiveadoraburrs. Rayla/Callum and onesided Soren/Rayla. 6.2k

a mighty ocean or a gentle kiss: The castle physician notes how much time Callum and Rayla spend together, and makes a strange recommendation, 3.1k

at every table, i’ll save you a seat: Rayla and Callum’s first Valentine’s Day as a couple, post-s3, based off official art ficlet

let there be light (let me be right): Series of oneshots based off 5 of 16 prompts from Rayllum Birthday Bash 2020, 7.4k+, complete.

do over: Rayla realizes that Callum hasn’t had a great first date experience, and is determined to give him one. 8.3k, for Day 2 of Rayllum Valentine’s Week

Post TTM: (series is numbered)

callum’s pov of “through the moon”’s immediate aftermath, angst, ficlet

rayla’s pov of the immediate aftermath of through the moon, angst ficlet

now the day bleeds into nightfall: Callum follows Rayla into Xadia, but before that, he makes a stop at the Silvergrove, 3.4k (#1)

but sometimes the lines get all blurry: In perhaps the cruelest stroke of fate, Claudia finds her first. // Post-TTM including spoilers, 2.7k (#2)

just wait for me to come home: Rayla runs and Callum chases her. It’s their own cycle to break. OR: the post-TTM reunion fic with a with a whole lot of angst, 16.8k (#3)

Canon Divergence

looking for a way to break in: In a world where the moral lines of Dark Magic are less evenly divided, Rayla is a Moonshadow elf in the service of the royal family of Katolis. Assigned to be Prince Callum’s bodyguard on a pilgrimage arranged by tradition, she soon finds her feelings becoming harder to deny - and their world harder to protect. co-written with @thosefiveadoraburrs. IN-PROGRESS, 73.9k+

at my worst, i worry you’ll realize you deserve better: early 20s with a dash of angst, vaguely canon divergence, ficlet

wait for me: hadestown inspired, callum makes a deal with aaravos and goes to get rayla back, ficlet

i will always love you, or anyway i will always have loved you now: married rayllum with kids, but not to each other, feat. romantic what ifs

the future is brighter than any flashback: It’s Sarai’s third birthday at the Silvergrove and, naturally, the whole family comes over to celebrate. [Gen+Moonfam+Rayllum post war oneshot] co-written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs, 10.3k

if heaven and hell decide: Claudia convinces Soren to play the long game. OR: a post 2x03, canon divergence where Claudia and Soren travel with the trio rather than betraying them right away. co-written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs, ongoing, 8k+

(if time is money then) i’ll spend it all for you

(if time is money then) i’ll spend it all for you: Set four years post-S3, Runaan and Rayla’s parents are de-coined. Now it’s time to adjust to how the world and their daughter has changed, including her relationship with one particular human. co-written by me and @thosefiveadoraburrs. COMPLETE, 146.4k

a typical afternoon in the silvergrove for rayllum’s kids, Rae and Juni, set post fic, ficlet

AU

luck: Callum and Rayla meet at a DnD club. Modern AU, 3k

based off of eerna’s pirate AU, callum helps a pirate rayla get out of jail to help his brother, ficlet

the most wonderful time of the year: Modern AU. Ezran drags Callum to a “Meet Santa” even. Rayla works as a holiday helper. Christmas fluff ensues. 2.8k

[moonshxdows]

elf family hcs

runaan and tinker met because runaan could never really decide on a bow from the armory. his captain at the time suggested he get a custom-made sword-bow

he wasn't expecting to be struck entirely silent when he sees the blacksmith's apprentice

it only takes a few years until they make the bonding oath, the moonshadow elf marriage tradition

tinker is a sarcastic little shit that only drops the act when he's with runaan, and runaan is stone-faced until tinker cracks a stupid joke

the elders say they were the type of romance that gets turned into storybooks and stories told until the end of time. they're right, but not for the reasons they thought

they both wanted to start a family, but adoption isnt super common in elf culture, so they settle on taking care of the kids that runaan trains. theyre mostly happy, but kind of hope for something more permanent

enter rayla

her parents were always a bit busy being dragonguard and all that so it wasnt uncommon for runaan to take care of her while they were away

aka tinker took care of her bc runaan was always out being an assassin and doing assassin things

he acts like he cares way more than he actually does, though. rayla burrows her way into his heart quickly, and he loves her by day three

he also cant say no to her

the day runaan came home to rayla running around with her first knife was the day he lost ten years off his lifespan

"babe you can't give knives to three-year-olds she's gonna hurt herself"

"she was bored and wanted one what else was i supposed to do!!!!!"

as she gets older rayla loves her uncle parents. she just... sometimes loves the one that doesn't make her do drills first thing in the morning more

"tinkerrrrr runaan is being meaaaannnnnn"

"don't be mean to rayla, darling"

*muffled groaning from the training room*

as she gets older, she doesnt see as much of tinker, since she moves to the assassin's barracks when she's thirteen

"runaan why does she have to move out. she could just live with us forever"

"how are you having empty nest syndrome she's not even our child"

rayla still makes a point to see him as much as possible, sometimes purposely scuffing her old sword so she can visit him

"oh hello, rayla, what a surprise. i never would have expected to see you here."

her custom swords were a gift for her fourteenth birthday, and she didnt stop hugging tinker for a solid ten minutes afterward

(they make her feel like part of the family since the design matches runaan's. tinker did that in purpose)

(what she doesn't know is that runaan ans tinker see her as part of thr family as much as each other- and that they feel her absence on the days when she goes to visit her actual parents)

then the king is killed. then rayla's parents go missing, presumably fled in cowardice.

rayla goes sobbing to runaan, and she swears that she's never going to be like them

runaan ans tinker knew her parents. they knew that they were good people, and would never do anything like this. they didn't tell rayla this

runaan gave her the day off and so she sat around the forge and talked to tinker, already feeling better by the end of the day

the day runaan and rayla leave for the mission to kill the human king and prince is probably thr worst day of tinkers life

usually with missions he's not afraid. runaan is the best they have.

but this mission feels different, and as soon as they leave, he's hit with the feeling that he's not going to see either of them for a very, very long time

he's right