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cdrart · 8 years ago

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Art by me Writing by @bloomingednae

Day 7: Camlann (Family/Fate) Late

“There’s so much time, to figure out the rest of my life And you’ve already got me coming undone, And I’m thinking two, is better than one.” ~ “Two Is Better Than One” - Boys Like Girls feat. Taylor Swift

“You have to catch me!”

His legs were burning. He felt like he could pass out any minute now as he kept running, and that voice that just kept calling to him-

“Come on, you slow poke!”

Mikleo finally gave in and broke into a Windstep, clearly exhausted from having to keep pretending to not be fast enough to catch the individual (In fact, he realized that he was no longer pretending and actually could not catch up to said individual because he was just that slow).

He finally caught up to the small child and easily carried them into his arms, a light squeal of laughter emitting from their throat with orange eyes full of joy. Once he began to calm down, Mikleo placed the child back down on the ground and the child looked back up at him, hands on his hips.

“You cheated! You used an arte to get to me!”

Mikleo playfully mirrored the child back. “Well, who’s the one that also used Windstep to get away from me?”

The child stuck his tongue out. “But I’m a child and that’s fair!”

Mikleo shook his head. “No mercy, even to the old people like me?”

The child looked up at Mikleo and laughed. “Oh come on, father, you don’t look a century old!”

Mikleo gave a light tap on the child’s forehead and laughed back. “And you talk as if you’re a century old.”

The child began to furiously move his arms about and pouted. “I’m gonna tell Papa that you’re teasing me real bad today!”

He stifled a laugh; smiling instead, he mused the child. “That was a compliment, not an insult!”

There were footsteps behind him as he heard the grass rustle lightly. Accompanied with a light laugh, the individual stopped right behind him before speaking.

“What’s this, with all this century talk?”

Mikleo turned around to face the source of the voice, only to have the light of the sun suddenly blind him-

But before he was completely blinded, he saw a glimpse of an all too familiar orange feather-

He jolted awake and immediately regretted opening his eyes quickly. Squinting, he realized that the sun had moved its position as it got later in the day and what had been a good, cool spot underneath the tree was now an area blaring with sunlight. Mikleo slowly attempted to shield his eyes with his left arm, but realized it was a lot heavier than what he remembered until he quickly looked in that direction. Sorey was lying face up, quietly napping as well with the shade of the tree completely engulfing him. Mikleo smiled at seeing Sorey in such peace and he slightly laughed when he forgot that his hand was intertwined with Sorey’s. Sorey didn’t seem to wake up from Mikleo’s accidental movement, and he sighed with relief. As quietly as he could, Mikleo shifted closer towards Sorey to escape the sun’s rays and he lay back down once more in a comfortable position, fingers still interlocked with Sorey’s.

“Have an interesting dream?”

Mikleo visibly shook at the sound of Sorey’s voice and he quickly turned to him, only to see his eyes still closed, a smile on his face. Sorey laughed lightly at Mikleo’s reaction, and Mikleo squeezed his hand hard in response. Sorey slightly grimaced at the sudden grasp, but he quickly recovered. He cracked one eye open to Mikleo and grinned.

“Oh come on, just curious.”

Mikleo looked back up towards the branches and pouted. “You didn’t have to pretend, you know.”

Sorey placed his free arm behind his head and he sighed. “I was gonna let it pass, but I dunno, something felt off with the way you were shifting about.”

Mikleo huffed. “Sorey, the sun was in my face.”

He heard Sorey laugh a bit, but there was an undeniable serious tone underneath his words. “Yeah, but. I dunno, I just felt it, you know?”

Mikleo just rolled his eyes at Sorey’s typical lack of description, but didn’t respond. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind in the trees, a relaxing sound that he had not heard in a very long time. Out of all the locations they decided to relax in was the town of origin, the place that started it all; their very birth location, the village of Camlann.

Internally, Mikleo felt both astonished and slightly unimpressed at how ironic it all was. Camlann, where they were both born, where the Age of Chaos began, where they were found by the people of Elysia, and where they were ultimately separated. Granted, it was still a mile or so from where Sorey had awakened, but it was close enough.

Now, here they were, merely resting at a site that had become an iconic location in terms of the many stages of their lives. Camlann was now considered a sacred site of the now awakened previous Shepherd, and had turned into an area full of foliage and peaceful wildlife. There was no one there except the two of them and Mikleo couldn’t tell if it was fate or not that was dancing all around them and toying away at his emotions, pointedly remarking at all the previous experiences they had here before.

Especially with that insanely odd dream he had just now. Was that Sorey, or...?

Mikleo shook his head. He concluded that, one, he couldn’t assume it was Sorey just because he saw a feather, and two, he didn’t even want to take care of a...child.

...Of course, if it was someone in need, that would be a different story and he would welcome the individual completely and raise them as his own.

Mikleo realized what he was thinking and shook his head even more furiously and decided to just let the thoughts go and be done with it.

Just as he decided to cast away the thoughts and drift back to sleep, a low hum came from Sorey along with a gentle squeeze on his hand. Mikleo didn’t open his eyes to this, as he just wanted to fall back asleep.

“Not planning on telling me, hm? You know, I don’t look much, but I do worry about you a lot.”

Mikleo just laughed. “Sorey, you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

Sorey turned to Mikleo and he smiled. “Alright. Then give me some.”

Mikleo groaned, realizing he just dug himself a hole right into Sorey’s trap. Sighing, he opened his eyes but continued to gaze at the branches, noticing the sun’s rays filtering through the leaves. His thoughts floated towards the individual covered by the sunlight in his dream, and it dawned on him that he forgot how the person’s voice sounded like. He concluded it wasn’t relevant and tried his hardest to explain what he saw.

“I really...don’t know how to explain it. Actually, I don’t even think I want to talk about it.”

He heard Sorey sigh and stare back up at the trees, just as Mikleo was doing. There was a silence between the two of them before he began to speak again.

“Why not?”

Mikleo shifted uncomfortably. “Because...it’s embarrassing,” he faced away from the trees in the opposite direction of Sorey. “It’s just weird, alright.”

Sorey noticed Mikleo’s actions with a quizzical look. It suddenly began to dawn on him.

“Wait...are you blushing?”

Sorey heard Mikleo mumble something and Sorey sat up, trying to see Mikleo’s expression. When Mikleo realized what he was doing, he turned to Sorey, his face a shade of red and averted eye contact with him. Sorey just sat, patiently waiting for Mikleo to explain his story.

“What’s so embarrassing about it? Dreams are images that depict small moments we’ve seen and thought of in our heads while we sleep, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.”

At this, Mikleo glanced at him with a deadpan expression. “I shouldn’t be hearing that from you, of all people.”

Sorey scratched the back of his head and sheepishly grinned. “Okay, well. I’m a different case of sleeping and dreaming, so I’m an outliner that shouldn’t even be considered.”

“But really,” Sorey squeezed his hand again (this was starting to become a habit of theirs), “it looked like it at least bothered you somewhat. Or it made you curious of something.”

Mikleo glanced up at Sorey, which he knew was a bad idea; the moment he locked eyes, Mikleo couldn’t avoid not telling Sorey, especially with the patient expression that he so often held. He sighed, and realized it would probably do them less harm if he was just straight out with it. Inhaling, Mikleo blinked once and stared at the branches above again.

“...I dreamed I was taking care of a child.”

Silence fell between both of them as a gentle wind came by and flowed through Sorey’s ponytail. A noticeable shade of red was forming on Mikleo’s face again, but Sorey couldn’t help but want to grin; he held it back. He tilted his head in thought, feigning confusion.

“Um...okay? That’s-”

“I’m about ninety five percent sure it was my child,” Mikleo interjected, still avoiding eye contact with Sorey. “I’m also about ninety five percent sure it was his child too-”

Mikleo’s eyes widened, realizing his slip up and he quickly glanced at Sorey, who evidently noticed his shocked expression and mirrored a similar demeanor. He tried to quickly recover by looking away from Sorey and clearing his throat.

“I-I mean-”

Mikleo couldn’t find any words and fell silent, face still completely red, if but a darker shade. He couldn’t tell how Sorey was taking it, but he didn’t want to find out and kept himself busy by counting the branches above him.

When Mikleo got to branch number seventeen, Sorey just laid back down wordlessly. What Mikleo failed to notice was the undeniable smile that formed on Sorey’s face; a mix of shock, joy, and hope. Sorey spoke, a slight crack in his voice as his tone was lower than his normal volume.

“I’m sure you’ll look as if you’re still not a century old by the time you’re a ‘father’, Mikleo.”

At this, Mikleo couldn’t tell if he was distraught, embarrassed, surprised, or relieved; he turned his head quickly in Sorey’s direction, who still was looking up. It was as if he was purposely avoiding eye contact with Mikleo, and before he could stutter out anything relating to the dream, Sorey suddenly turned and locked eyes with him. There was a look in his eyes that Mikleo had never seen and it stopped him so suddenly as a surge of mixed feelings began to form. Sorey, on the other hand, opened his mouth to speak; the sight of Mikleo flustered, surprised, serious, and so beautifully and consciously there beside him was beyond anything he could ever ask for, and he felt his heart bursting with a number emotions, which fueled him even more to speak. He smiled once more, and grasped Mikleo’s hand firmer, locking their intertwined fingers even more.

“Marry me.”

The words that came out his mouth flowed smoothly without hesitation and so suddenly that Mikleo wasn’t even sure if he heard correctly. His mouth was slightly open and he felt too stunned to speak; maybe it was adrenaline rushing him forward because he automatically sat up and took noticeably deep breaths before finally facing Sorey again.

“I...wait, this is...so sudden...we’re seraphs...isn’t this-”

Mikleo began to curse at his own clumsiness, but the amount of emotions he felt along with the pounding of his heart in his chest was so much to bear in itself. He kept stumbling on enough words that gave Sorey time to finally sit up, expression unreadable as far as Mikleo could tell. Taking a deep breath, Mikleo finally caught his breath.

“Okay, wait, isn’t this like...mostly a human tradition - I mean, it’s also in seraph culture, but - what I’m basically saying is that, I’m a little confused-”

Mikleo could’ve sworn he saw Sorey choke back a laugh, but he didn’t take the time to notice nor reprimand him. Once his words became somewhat clear to Sorey, Sorey began to stand up, unlocking his fingers from Mikleo’s. Before Mikleo could even speak again, suddenly missing the warmth of Sorey’s hand in his, he noticed Sorey deftly pull out a small box from his pocket and turned to Mikleo, still standing. He laughed as Mikleo just stared at him with eyes still in shock and he shook his head a little as he sighed. Mikleo watched as Sorey finally knelt on one knee, propping open the box while doing so.

“You know,” Sorey started, “I was going to go the old, simple, plain route just now, but since you insist that it’s merely only a human tradition, I guess I can revert back to my human genes for just a second and propose the ‘correct’ way, am I right?”

“Regardless,” Sorey continued, “I did want to go about it this way too, but since we were just laying there, it felt just right. But, let me restart and take it back a bit,” Sorey spoke, voice as light as it always was, and he continued to lock eyes with Mikleo. With a firm tone, he smiled at Mikleo, green eyes slightly glistening against the rays of the sun filtering through the trees.

“Luzrov Rulay, my one and only Mikleo, will you marry me and spend the rest of our dream together until eternity?”

Since Sorey had begun to move, Mikleo had not moved one inch. He was still in the same position when he sat up and (he gave a good guess) that his expression was still the same throughout the whole process. He didn’t even know if was still breathing, but by the looks of Sorey’s happy expression, he bet another guess that he very much still was.

Mikleo finally took a breath and decided to slow down his thoughts, grounding himself in the situation while doing so. He took a look at the box before him and he smiled; the box itself was nothing significant. It was covered in cloth of a dark brown hue with hints of dark red imbued, but the exterior itself was worn with some of the corners seemingly tattered. It was lined with a gold trim that wrapped itself around the box; from what Mikleo could assume on first glance, it was something that more than likely dated back from several centuries ago and probably held some importance back in its era. It was no easy find, that was to be sure. Yet another discussion that he and Sorey could get into much later.

However, what caught Mikleo’s attention was the ring itself; it was a very simple gold band with very small pale blue and orange crystals lining the middle. Each crystal was tiny, but had varying sizes and Mikleo could tell it was handpicked and added to the band, adding a sentimental touch to it. He also fathomed another guess that this was also the combined work of Lailah and Edna who probably figured their previous Shepherd would be too oblivious to know how to add it directly on the band (he could only imagine Edna rolling her eyes as she told Sorey which crystals were safe to pick and Lailah happily humming away while sealing the crystals within the band with fire artes). He knew, though, the design itself was Sorey’s idea over all.

He realized that he was inspecting for so long that the silence between them started to become unbearable. The sudden question still echoed in his mind; it reverberated in his ears, mind, and heart and had him feeling emotions he couldn’t explain. Looking at Sorey, he realized that Sorey hadn’t moved one bit; his expression still waiting patiently completely unreadable other than the same surge of determination he had noticed earlier when Sorey first asked.

As if suddenly welling within him, Mikleo had the urge to laugh; but, try as he might to hold it, he found himself nearly doubling over much to Sorey’s confusion. The normal ‘confused yet intrigued’ expression rested on Sorey’s face once more, replacing his earlier demeanor. Despite that, his posture was still the same, much to Mikleo’s amusement.

By all nature of everything, Mikleo knew it was rude to laugh; in fact, it was probably distasteful given the current situation they were both in. However, he couldn’t help but sum up the events before him: his previous thoughts on Camlann, where it had led them, and how it resulted to this one moment, ending in unity together for an indefinite amount of time. He concluded that fate did indeed play its hand in their lives and intertwined their experiences into one, no matter how divergent their paths were at one point; and the stronger that one bond became with the two of them. Like the red string of fate, their lives always crossed into each others’ with the passing of time.

Mikleo recomposed himself, and smiling, he sat up and stared at Sorey, this time with a similar expression which Sorey had demonstrated earlier. He gently held the hand which Sorey was holding the box with and nodded.

“I’ll be more than honored to spend forever with you. Yes...so yes, I’ll-”

He suddenly began stumbling on his words, and an unexpected quiet sob escaped his lips instead, tears streaming down his face. As if all the adrenaline from earlier began to wear off, the surge of mixed emotions suddenly erupted into uncharacteristic tears. He began to wipe his face quickly, confusion in his demeanor as tried to hide his face.

“I-I’m-I’m fine, I just...what in the world...”

He felt Sorey’s arms encircle him and at once realized how embarrassing it was to suddenly breakdown. First laughter, now tears...Mikleo knew he was a mess and recovering it at this point was probably pointless. His usual serious character was clearly broken down into his vulnerable state, but he found that he couldn’t have it any other way being in Sorey’s arms.

He pulled away and glanced up at Sorey who was completely wordless, but upon looking at his expression, Mikleo knew that Sorey needed no words to explain how he felt. He looked purely content and at peace and he knew that was enough for Sorey.

And he knew it was enough for himself as well.

Clearing his throat, Mikleo coughed and crossed his arms, trying to regain his composure. “...just saying, seraphs can get married too; it’s not just a human tradition.”

Sorey was caught off guard for a second before recovering, his usual competitive expression taking over. “Oh, yeah? Then why hasn’t there been any proof-”

“Mason and Natalie were married; I hope you knew that, especially all these years,” Mikleo interrupted, feeling triumphant as Sorey’s expression turned into surprise.

“W-wait, what? Gramps never mentioned it, so I thought they were just two people living in the same house-”

Mikleo rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, they were just casually living in the same house-”

“Just like we were!” Sorey interrupted Mikleo this time, eyes wide. Mikleo just shook his head and stared back.

“That was only when we were kids. Why do you think Gramps had me move out when we were eleven? Well, mostly to have you get ready for the world outside, but...” Mikleo trailed off.

Sorey hummed in response to Mikleo. “Whatever, I still think it originated from human tradition that seraphs eventually developed.”

Mikleo raised his brow, a smirk suddenly forming on his face with a familiar hint of competitiveness. “Do you really want to test me?”

Sorey laughed, and he leaned over to Mikleo, placing a light kiss on his forehead. Pulling away, he smiled and continued to hold Mikleo.

“I’ve got all the time in world.”

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