#this fic was written cuz i was eating candy in the rain. rain is so inspirational honestly

[victoriantreecat]

The wind made fuzzy patterns in the ever falling rain. The gentle shower tossed about before it came down to settle on the crop fields. The wooden parapets and walkways atop the cobbled-together walls were soaked through, water dripping down in dismal rivulets.

Martyn let out a heaving sigh. It was not bad weather, per se, just a little, well, cold and damp. And their little hut with its lattice roof was already full of water pooling in the enchanting well, as he could so clearly see from his perch by the door- the only really dry part in all of Dogwarts today.

The rain started getting a little heavier.

He sighed again, ran his thumb over the engraved blade of his axe, worried at the smeared dried blood that seemed to be sunk into the iridescent blue crystal even days after the test, glanced up at the rain trickling in through the roof, considered going down to the basement, dismissed that idea (the floor must be flooded down there, and the villagers complain like nobody's business when their feet get wet). Better he stayed up here , the drizzle wouldnt stop enemies, much as he would have loved it to. Yes, keep watch up here, protect his home. So he stretched his back and surveyed the misty air of the fort.

A gentle splash sounded beside him, the pattering of paws through a puddle, and he glanced through the latticed wall to see Ren coming up from the basement. Ren was glancing around, seeming to search for something within the rain-soaked walls. A brief smile of affection allowed itself onto Martyn's lips before he schooled himself and called out, accented,

"My liege, where are ye going?"

Ren's ear flicked up, and his shroud swirled around his shoulders as he turned towards the hut's entrance.

"Me hand!" He replied in the same lofty brogue. "I was comin' to find ye, me friend. May I come in?"

Something in his cadence was hesitating, Martyn thought, easily leaning over to lift the door latch.

Ren came around the corner, chill drops of rain starting to dust his crown- the water and the blood starting to flow mingled down. And as they came face to face across the threshold, Martyn felt a dread that he would see his king pierced by an arrow from an archer he had missed in the deepening shadow of this rain. But the king now passed bloodlessly through the doors Martyn held open, to stand cramped in the entry, between the gentle flood on either side. His boots were damp, the basement had indeed been flooded- Ren remarked as such, dropping the accent to a hardly audible burr. Still, that slight awkwardness peeked through.

"Well, me lord, what were you looking for me for then?" He gazed up, waited patiently, silently probed his king's countenance.

"Well uh, so I, I've been setting this up for about a week now, and, um, well I thought that today would be the best day to, well, show it to you…" He trailed off, all traces of his thick accent gone now. This was him honest, then, unreserved and unhidden. And he reached into his belt pocket and brought forth a few tiny pinkish crystals, each with an iridescent blue core.

Martyn stared down at them, poised and curious, as Ren stuttered on.

"They're uh, they're my first time making, like, rock candy." The sticky crystals glinted in the dull rainy light as Ren continued. "With a sugar kinda syrup and some roses I found. Err, yeah."

"Milord, thats genius!" Martyn chuckled, eyebrows raised.

"Er, would you like to try one?" Ren's tail was wagging just slightly. "I uhm, I used little chips of diamond to start them, so dont break your teeth!" His lopsided grin showed a little peek of his canines. Martyn reached out to take one of the tiny grains, marvelling at their ephemeral beauty as he plucked one from Ren's calloused palm.

"They just came out of the syrup, my dude, so they're still a bit, er, sticky." Ren looked a bit sheepish, and at this distance, Martyn could see the pinkish residue pooling on his hands. His own fingers had the stuff on them too.

"Yeah, they sure are," he agreed, before popping the little sweet into his mouth.

It was a starburst of sweetness, rosy and round. It bloomed on his tongue, tasting of spring and sunsets, a gentle reprieve from the cold. It was bliss.

Martyn opened his eyes, let the corners of his mouth relax to a contented smile. He met Ren's eyes through his sunglasses.

"Thank you," he said, quiet as the rain that seemed to soften, falling on the fields. "Thank you, Ren."