summary : When it's Callum's birthday, Rayla tries to give him a gift. Chat Noir and Ladybug must fight off the Crowmaster, a supervillain with the power to control crows to do his bidding.

quote : "Underneath them on a roof was a supervillain who looked like he had fused a bird and a pile of garbage together and called it a costume."

Notes :

I know there's a lot of notes, but I'd recommend reading them all so you actually know what's going on

MLB spoilers :)

I don't think Claudia is actually a bitch, but I need her to play the role of Chloe cuz there's no one else.

If it's confusing, Soren plays the role of Alya since he is Rayla/Marinette's friend, and Claudia plays the role of Nino since she's Callum/Adrien's friend and also Chloe. I didn't know who else to make Rayla's friend so I decided to use Soren.

The canon Miraculous universe gets yeeted out the window because I found the story easier to outline at first when I stopped trying to follow the canon to a tee and instead created my own plot by combining the two, and then it spiraled out of control and what is canon anymore

So basically I use the basic concept of the miraculous au (like there being different miraculouses, ladybug and chat noir and Hawkmoth, and the wish granted if the user has both the cat and bug miraculous) but changed the overall plot by a lot

Ugh I feel bad cuz it's not a simple, fun, happy miraculous au and instead I made it so complicated but at the same time I like it-

I couldn't fit characters like Ezran or Ellis into the story in a way that follows the canon of MLB, so they're still in here but they don't follow a canon role

I'm not good at coming up with plans or villain names so uh bear with me

Elves don't exist cuz it's a modern au

This takes place in Xadia, since that's the land of magic and it makes more sense for miraculouses to be there. I'd imagine Katolis/the Human Kingdoms would still exist, and Katolis and Xadia would have a similar relationship to the US and Soviet Union in the Cold War

I don't believe that Aaravos is actually Callum's father, but I need him to fill a role so here he is

I used the name Tinker for the end credits elf since that's the most widely accepted name right now and Ruben for the Crowmaster because I saw it on insta and it's the only name I can remember for him sooo

Uh spoiler alert there's not a happy ending

Like no one dies or anything and their identities do get revealed but like,,,, you'll see what I mean

Well it's not that unhappy of an ending but it just might not be the most satisfying cuz it's not the most ideal end

So the basic story in the beginning is Callum and Ezran moved to Xadia after the death of Mayor Harrow of Katolis, and Callum began going to the same high school as Rayla, who has a crush on him because she totally has feelings for him first in canon don't even argue-

Plus she's Marinette so she likes Callum/Adrien first

Also this story progresses a lot faster than the canon cuz I'm not writing 3 seasons worth of content, so this was hard for me cuz I like having a lot of buildup but there's kinda not as much as I'd like

Before you ask, no there won't be a sequel because the ending doesn't leave room for that

I know you say it as "Cat Noir" but I prefer to type "Chat Noir" because it looks more aesthetic

Also the basic run-down for those who haven't watched MLB: Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Chat Noir, two superheroes in Paris. In this case, Rayla is Ladybug and Callum is Chat Noir, and they are in Xadia. They don't know each other's identities (yet ;)). Hawkmoth is a villain who can akumatize people by turning their negative emotions against them, which makes them become supervillains. The miraculouses are pieces of jewelry with a kwami who can grant magical powers to the wearer. A kwami is a small creature that gives the power. Each miraculous has its own special power. Ladybug has lucky charm, an ability that gives her the power to create an object she can use to hatch a plan to de-evilize the akumatized person. Chat Noir has cataclysm, which destroys what he touches. In this story, I'm going to give them a bonus ability too because I can ;) If you're still confused, comment your questions or look it up

This is the one of the only two parts that actually follows the canon even a little bit-

Rayla fumbled with the box in her hands. It was covered with navy blue wrapping paper and had a red ribbon tied around it. She had wrapped the gift that morning while she was in a rush to be early, which had been a struggle for her considering she's late all the time.

But not today! She was determined to be early enough to catch Callum before he walked into the building and met up with Claudia. It was Callum's fifteenth birthday. From the first time he had arrived at school, Rayla had seen him with his nose in his sketchbook, so she had decided to get him a set of colors to use. She was a bit apprehensive to give him the gift, after all, she was known as the scary girl with strange pigmentation under his eyes and bumps on her head and don't even get her started on her pointier ears. It wasn't her fault she had been born with disfigurement! But nevertheless, she didn't want him to be disgusted by her or anything, because unfortunately for her, he had stolen her heart.

She had actually disliked him at first; he was friends with Claudia, and she had always been a bitch to Rayla. Usually it was just verbal insults which Rayla could deal with, but one day she went further and out gum on her seat. When Rayla walked in, she had seen Callum messing with it, and she had interpreted that as him sticking it on her seat. The misunderstanding had been cleared up the next day, however.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a certain bleach-blonde haired boy, her best friend in fact, walking over to her. Soren and her had been friends for ages; they met on the school's fencing team and had been companions ever since. He could be a bit of a dumbass, though. He noticed her hiding along the stairs. "Rayla?" He questioned loudly, negating her need to hide in the first place. "What are you doing here?"

Stricken by panic, she peered over the rail of the stairs at Callum, who hadn't seemed to hear Soren practically screaming. Luck was on her side that day it seemed. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned back to Soren, who was opening his big mouth to yell something else. She yanked him down to crouch in the grass with her.

"Wha-"

She covered his mouth with her hand. "Shh!"

His eyes drifted to the box tucked carefully under her arm. Voice still muffled, he pointed to it and asked, "What's that?"

She felt her face get warm, and she hoped it wasn't noticeable. She meekly replied, "It's for Callum, since it's his birthday today."

"Oh yeah!" Soren exclaimed, snapping his fingers. He cocked his head to the side. "Why haven't you given it to him?"

She gazed over at Callum, who was waving to his driver with a smile. He was so soft and kind and compassionate, and she was so clumsy and awkward and dumb. She huffed. "What if he doesn't like it? What if I go over and give it to him and he... I don't know, steps on it or something?" She balanced the gift on her leg and put her hands on her cheeks. "What if I trip over my own two feet and drop it and then it breaks? What if Claudia comes over and rips it up in front of him? What if-"

Soren waved a finger in her face. "First off, stop with all the what-ifs. Second of all, Claudia wouldn't do that."

"She might!" Rayla protested. "You know she doesn't like me."

He crossed his arms. "I know my sister; she's not that bad. And don't interrupt me when I have actual thought for once."

She giggled at that. "Alright, go on."

Soren puffed his chest out. "You have to have confidence, my friend!" He dramatically put his hands on his hips and let the wind tousle his hair. Then he dropped the pose and peaked at the box. "What did you get him, anyways?"

She grabbed the box and held it tight to her chest, almost shamefully. "It's lame," she grumbled.

"What is it?"

"A set of colors," she mumbled, looking down. She was sure he would laugh and make fun of her for getting him such a stupid present, but instead, Soren put his hand on her shoulder and smiled brightly at her.

"He'll love it! You have no idea how often I've had to listen to him rant about how he doesn't have any colors," he assured. "Now, go give him the gift before he walks into school. He's almost inside."

"What?!" Rayla exclaimed, whipping her head around. Sure enough, while she and Soren were talking, Callum had ascended up almost all of the stairs. She was going to lose her chance!

She grit her teeth. She had dealt with unfair referees in fencing matches, teasing from kids since Kindergarten, Runaan, her adoptive father's, sometimes horrendous training, and Claudia's bitching for years. She could handle potential embarrassment in front of the boy she liked. The adorable, artsy, quiet boy that she really didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of because then he would hate her and they would never be friends or speak, much less date, and oh god oh god-

Making an impulsive decision, she dashed out from her hiding place and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She caught up with Callum fairly quickly, seeing as how he wasn't in a rush or anything. He turned to her and waved shyly.

"Hi, Rayla," Callum greeted, and the soft way he said her name made her melt inside. Not trusting her voice, she held the gift out in front of her face with no explanation, squeezed her eyes shut, and waited for rejection.

When none came because Callum hadn't said anything, she slowly opened one eye. He was gazing at the gift like it was an amazing piece of art, or a trophy, or something he was completely mesmerized by. "Oh, Rayla, you didn't have to do this."

"I- uh," she stuttered, unsure of how to reply. She simply shoved the gift more in his face. Delicately, he lifted his arms to take the gift from her, like it was a fragile piece of clay and something that needed to be protected.

But then...

"Hey, Cal!"

A girl with long, wavy black hair with purple at the tips and a pencil skirt paired with an off-shoulder top Rayla was almost sure was against the dresscode and a prissy pep in her step bounded over to Callum. She swung her arm around his shoulders and exclaimed, "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, Claudia," Callum quietly replied. He was still looking at the biz in Rayla's outstretched hands.

Claudia seemed to just notice she was there, and she scrunched her nose at her. When she noticed the gift, she smiled at Rayla, but it wasn't friendly; it was patronizing. While making direct eye contact with her, she said, "Come on, Callum. If we don't hurry in, we'll be late."

Callum's eyes drooped, like he was expecting that he wouldn't be able to get her present, which she would still gladly find a way to give to him. "But-"

She grabbed Callum's arm and started dragging him away. "Let's go!"

Callum turned his head and gazed back at her, or rather, her present, longingly. His look tugged at her heart strings; he looked like a kicked puppy, and she wanted to hug it all away. The pair disappeared into the school building.

Rayla sighed. She hadn't been expecting things to go her way anyways; luck only seemed to be on her side when she wasn't a civilian. It was still disappointing, however. She had been even more excited for Callum to receive her gift when Soren mentioned how badly he wanted colors. As for Claudia, she wasn't sure why she was so dead set on making her school years hell, but in the end, she was just another cliche bully. Rayla didn't care.

Totally.

Soren wandered over. "That could have gone better."

"Thanks Captain Obvious."

"Well hey," Soren said, clapping her on the back, "at least you tried. That's what matters, right?"

She felt a smile creep onto her face. Soren always managed to look on the bright side and remain positive. She suppose that was one of tech reasons they made such good friends; they both did their best to stay positive in stressful situations, even though for her, it was mainly sarcastic.

"Sorry about Claudia. She's not usually so..." he trailed off, waving his hands vaguely in front of him.

She waved him off. "Nah, don't apologize for her." She knocked into his shoulder. "You're Soren, not Claudia."

"Even though we share a braincell?"

Rayla laughed. "Yes, even though you share a brain cell."

Mood successfully lightened, Soren smiled at her. She smiled back. "I can just give it to him later."

"That's the spirit!" Soren whooped, pumping his fist into the air.

Their joy was ruined, however, when from outside the building, the two heard the shrill ring of the late bell. They shared a quick glance, and then they sprinted into the building.

Ruben was absolutely giddy that morning as he walked into the classroom and took his seat. He had recently been promoted to 'Crowmaster' at his job, and as a gift, his boss, the Crowlord, had given him a set of colored stamps. And no, they weren't the cheap, plastic kind. They were fancy and metal and proper stamps he could actually use in his job and outside of it if he chose.

He sat in the aisle seat of the middle row, and next to him was his good friend, Marcos. Marcos was confident and sporty, and Ruben was shy and awkward, but they shared a sort of edgy and emo-ness, and they bonded over things like Panic! At The Disco and piercings. He found that they liked to stamp each other's hands like little kids.

Marcos admired the green stamp on the back of his hand. Ruben had his own blue stamp on his wrist. The rest of the stamps rested in a box that he kept on the edge of the table.

Other students began to file into the classroom, like the pair Callum and Claudia. Ruben wasn't sure why Callum hung around her; she was mean and acted stuck-up, but from what Ruben had seen, Callum wasn't like her at all. They arrived a couple minutes before the bell, which was fairly good timing, and Callum took his seat in the front row while Claudia headed up to the back. As she walked past his desk, her arm brushed against the array of stamps, and Ruben watched in horror as the box slid off the edge and the stamps scattered onto the ground.

Claudia turned her head and took a surprised step back when she heard the clanging, and Ruben rushed to scoop his stamps up while Marcos picked up the box. He opened the lid of the red stamp and his stomach dropped. The actual ink design of the stamp was broken. He checked the green one and found it in the same condition. He had worked so hard for his promotion, and the reward he had earned had shattered in front of his eyes in a second.

"I'm sorry," Claudia half-heartedly apologized. In his frustration, he kind of wanted to punch her in the face. "Why do you have stamps anyways?"

His anger melted away and was replaced by sadness. A lump formed in his throat. "They were a gift," he mumbled, trying not to cry. As he continued to look around, he couldn't find the blue stamp anywhere.

Claudia hummed in acknowledgment and didn't comment anything else. Ruben stood and returned to his desk. In front of him, Callum twisted around in his seat, and Ruben's day brightened just a tad as he held out the missing blue stamp in his hand. "I managed to catch this one," he said shyly, not making eye contact and squirming in his seat.

"Thank you," Ruben replied, and he took the only surviving stamp from Callum's hand. He collected all of the colorful stamps and arranged them back into the box.

"I'm gonna go put these back into my locker," Ruben whispered to Marcos, who looked at him, concerned. Ruben bitterly glanced back at Claudia, who had taken her seat and seemed to have already forgotten about the ordeal. He dashed down the steps and out the door.

The room was dark and cold and deprived of sunlight. It wasn't a very happy place, but that fit the purpose of the room. Negative emotions were accepted and used there.

For the first time that week, light flittered throughout the room. A mysterious figure hummed as he gazed through the glowing mirror. Cream colored worms wiggled around on the floor and walls and ceiling, covering every inch of the lair. The person grabbed one of the squirming creatures and placed it in his palm.

"A young worker who's reward was broken," he monologued, peering at the worm in his hand. "Those aren't the strongest negative emotions, but I will make do."

He covered the worm with his other hand, and purple negative energy flowed through his palms. He let it simmer for a moment before uncovering the worm, who's color had changed from cream to plum. He set it on the rim of the mirror and watched as it crawled through the glass and out into the world.

"Crawl away my little akuma, and evilize him!"

Now, he waits.

The akuma found Ruben in the locker room. He didn't know it was there; no one ever did. By the time he was akumatized, it was too late.

"Crowmaster, I am Hawkmoth," the voice spoke, voice like rich chocolate. "I will give you the power to get revenge on the one who destroyed your gift, and in return, you must get me Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous."

Crowmaster nodded. "Yes, Hawkmoth."

When a barrage of crows flew into the window, Rayla knew something was up.

Class had been going on for not even an hour, not even five minutes, and someone had already been akumatized. As much as she could empathize with the victim, after all, it wasn't their fault, the frequent attacks had began to get boring and repetitive, and they lasted far too long and she had begun to miss more and more class because of them. She was beginning to believe Hawkmoth purposely chose school hours to akumatize people.

She managed to sneak away from the class under the excuse of checking for other students, but instead, she headed for the girl's bathroom. It wasn't that she didn't care about the other students, she did, but she could check up on them later as Ladybug.

Once she locked herself into a disgusting stall, a pinkish-red creature flew out of her vest pocket. She was her kwami, Tikki. Rayla had sewn in a special pocket inside her vest for her to reside in, as they never knew when an attack would occur. Plus, it was easier than having to wear the same two pairs of pants because only some women's clothes have pockets big enough for Tikki to hide in.

The kwami sounded urgent as she said, "I think the Crowmaster is turning civilians into crows he can control. You must hurry!"

She didn't question how Tikki knew any of that; it was a sixth sense thing. Rayla nodded seriously. "Tikki, spots on!"

A familiar hum of energy circled around her, changing her from head to toe from Rayla to Ladybug. When she emerged, she was clad in a red suit with black dots spotted all over and a mask to match. Her white hair had been put into pigtails, where one was tied with a red ribbon, and one had a black ribbon. Two braids ran down the side of her hair, and the unusual bumps on her head had been transformed to look like horns and her pigmentation to markings. A yo-yo rested by her side. Tikki had been absorbed into her earrings.

She hustled out of the bathroom, out of the school, and out onto the streets. In the sky, she saw a giant sphere of crows that had squished together, and more were joining by the minute. Underneath them on a roof was a supervillain who looked like he had fused a bird and a pile of garbage together and called it a costume.

She looped her yo-yo string around her hand and then let it fly. She trusted that her aim was true, it always had been, and it wrapped around a lightning rod and hauled her up.

That was the life she loved. As Rayla, she was clumsy and shy and dumb, but as Ladybug, she could be confident and sarcastic and powerful while still being kind. She didn't see Ladybug as an alternate persona of hers, more like her being able to show a different side of herself. Maybe Ladybug was her true self. As Ladybug, she could be free and fly through the skies as wind whistled in her ears and fight crime and help people. As Ladybug, she didn't have to worry about school or Claudia or Callum, and she could just be.

That lasted for a moment.

She landed on a roof near the trash-bird, and her responsibilities came flooding back. The downside of being Ladybug was that there was the weight of all of Xadia on her shoulders. She had to save everyone and be a good example and make all the right decisions when half the time she had no idea what she was doing and was winging it and hoping nobody noticed. She suppose that was why she had a partner.

She threw her yo-yo, wrapped it around his legs, and pulled. He toppled over, making an embarrassing squawking sound. The bird-cult above them broke structure for a moment. It was surprising easy; maybe she wouldn't even need Chat Noir's help that day.

That's what she thought until the trash-bird pointed at her and shouted, "Crows, attack!"

He sicked the birds on her! If she was being honest, she was a little offended, though she wasn't sure why. She scrambled away a bit ungracefully though she hoped no one could tell, and she jumped across rooftops to get away, but it wasn't working. The crows reached out to poke her, and to be frank, it was more annoying than harmful. The trash-bird himself emerged from the crowd, seemingly recovered, and he sharpened his claws and snarled at her. She wasn't that intimidated; his costume kinda ruined it for her. But he swiped out to hit her and her reflexes didn't want to work apparently, but she was pulled out of the way through a window.

Her savior threw her up into the room, which was a rude move but at least she was away from the crows. They sealed the window shut, and she heard crows bang into the glass repeatedly, though it luckily didn't seem to be shattering yet. Luck was on her side as Ladybug.

Chat Noir turned back towards her. She smiled at him as a thank you for saving her. She had gotten cocky, and they needed to focus.

Her partner bowed playfully. "Hello M'lady!" he greeted. He was clad in a plain black suit with a collar that had a red bell attached to it that clinked when he moved. He had a belt that was supposed to represent a tail and little black cat ears peeking out over his brown locks.

She dusted off her clothes even though there was no need to. Not bothering to dance around the point, she stated, "He's turning people into crows."

"That's a pretty dumb superpower," Chat Noir commented, looking back at the crows. The window was still holding up okay, but the Crowmaster would be coming after them soon, and she was worried he would be able to break through it.

"We should get moving," she said, and without another word, she slingshot herself out the window on the other side. Chat Noir followed, traveling by extending his baton. They climbed onto a roof of the building they were in and faced a group of crows and an angry Crowmaster.

"Crows, attack!" yelled the Crowmaster.

Chat Noir gazed at him innocently as the swarm of crows flew towards them. "Isn't this attempted murder?"

Ladybug sighed. "I can't tell whether you're being serious or making a bird pun." She quickly changed gears and smiled, however. "Toucan play at that game."

Chat Noir placed a hand on his heart and dramatically gasped. "Please sparrow me the bird puns."

"So now your a mocking bird?"

"Don't make me fly off the handle."

"Look out!" She shouted. For a second, she had forgotten about the murderous crows that were speedily approaching. Chat Noir swiped at them with his baton, and they parted around the two. They came back quickly though, and Ladybug tried to swat them away with her yo-yo as Chat Noir used his baton to knock them aside. It didn't do much good, as the birds poked and prodded at her hair and her suit and her earrings, which she was extra careful to protect.

Eventually, she grew tired of playing bird-keeper, and she threw her yo-yo into the air and chanted, "Lucky Charm!" A bag of seeds was dropped into her hands. Oh well, she had been given much stranger before. At least the seeds were pretty self explanatory.

The birds flocked from Chat Noir to her when the seeds were placed in her hands. "Chat Noir, distract trash-bird will you? Try to find the akuma, I think it's in his hand."

"It's Crowmaster!" Trash-bird protested, but she didn't really care. She threw her yo-yo and vaulted away, and the crows chased after her. Her partner stayed behind to occupy the Crowmaster. She flew throughout Xadia, a swarm of crows hot on her heels. She found her target soon enough, an open grassy plain where she could drop off the seeds and return to her partner. She sprinkled the seeds around the field and one by one the crows stopped chasing her in favor of eating. Once the bag was empty, she found a trash can to chuck it in because save the environment, and she made her way back to Chat Noir and the trash-bird.

They were locked in combat, but it was obvious that Chat Noir had the upper hand and more training. The Crowmaster refused to open his right fist, and she bet that the akumatized object was inside. Trusting that Chat Noir could handle it, she stood back and let him take him on.

Chat Noir got him pinned in a way that left his arm underfunded, and she calmly strode over, pried his fist open with no effort even though he was struggling against her because she was Ladybug and could do what she wanted, and took a blue chess-piece looking thing out of it. She snapped it in half and discovered it was actually a stamp. Out of the pieces crawled a purple worm.

Chat Noir released the Crowmaster, who was transforming back into his civilian self. She spun her yo-yo in a circle, and caught the akuma within her yo-yo. "It's time to de-evilize!"

The yo-yo worked its magic, and when she clicked it open, a cream colored worm slunk out of it. She held it close to the ground so the worm could crawl away. Since the bag of seeds had been thrown away, she tossed her yo-yo up into the air and shouted, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Her magic cure went to work, and she watched as the people in the field returned to normal people. Other than that, there wasn't much damage, so her cure swiftly cleaned everything up in less than ten seconds.

Chat Noir held out a closed fist, and she bumped hers against it. In unison, they said, "Pound it!"

The Crowmaster, or now, Ruben, rubbed his head and looked around. "Um,,, hi?"

She knelt in front of him. "I'm sorry about what happened to your gift."

Ruben clenched the stamp in his hand a little tighter, as if he just noticed it was there. "Oh... it's okay. I guess it's the promotion that really matters, not the present that came with it."

"Well, I'm glad that's resolved," Chat Noir said, striding over towards them. "I didn't even have to use my Cataclysm."

"Yeah," she agreed, "it was surprising easy today."

Chat Noir casually shrugged. "Oh well, it'll probably get worse from here on out."

She raised an eyebrow. Sometimes she wondered what his life must've been like for him to speak so nonchalantly about things getting worse. She worried about him sometimes.

Her earrings beeped. She held out a hand to Ruben, who took it and she pulled him to his feet. "I have to get back." She turned and threw her yo-yo. Chat Noir waved as she swung away, and she grinned back at him.

He was right, though. Things were easy that day. Too easy. And it was certainly going to get a lot harder from there on out.

Callum slunk back into his bedroom through the window. He had stayed out for a while after school as Chat Noir just to enjoy Xadia without the pressure of his father, Aaravos', job and reputation. That wasn't an usual act; ever since he gained his powers, he'd been using them more and more often to escape from his house. That combined with the events of that day and the fight with Ladybug, he was feeling confident but also thoroughly exhausted. But there were two things he still had to do that night.

He left the lights off as he wandered over to the door that connected him and his little brother, Ezran's, bedrooms. He knocked on it lightly. No response. Oh well. It was pretty late out, and it was his own fault for staying out so long. He would have to celebrate alone.

Out of a cupboard, he took a small cupcake with chocolate frosting and vanilla cake. He and Ezran had secretly made it the same day they were making jelly tarts while Aaravos was out on business with his assistant, Viren. It was a few days old, but it was still better than nothing. He would take a stale cupcake over silence at the dinner table that Aaravos once again didn't show up at.

It was already on a plate and had a candle, so all Callum needed to do was light it with the lighter he had stolen the previous night for that specific purpose. It took a few tries to get a flame, but once he had one, he lit the candle and set the lighter down. He placed the plate on his bedroom floor, and he sat down next to it, knees drawn up to his chest.

"Happy birthday to me," he quietly sang, "happy birthdays to me. Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me."

He held the plate up in one hand, staring at the flame for a bit before he blew it out. The smell of smoke wafted through the room, but he didn't care enough to open the window. Being as quiet as possible, he tore off the wrapper and began to eat the cupcake.

He sighed. He knew that normal kids would be partying with friends or celebrating with family, but Callum didn't have enough friends to have a party with, nor did he have any family other than Ezran to celebrate with. Aaravos was never around, and when he was, he rarely spoke to Callum. Viren scared him, and his aunt, Amaya, lived too far away. So he sat alone on the carpet of his bedroom in the pitch black of night silently chewing a stale cupcake. What a great way to spend his fifteenth birthday.

But there was one thing to be happy about. He had hidden it away under his bed as soon as he'd gotten home. He tucked the plate and wrapped and lighter back into the cupboard to throw away and clean up the next day, and he crawled on the ground and reached under his bed and grabbed the gift beneath it.

He couldn't see the colors in the dark, but he knew that the wrapping paper was navy and the bow was red. He knew that it had been wrapped with special care just for him, and it made his heart swell just looking at it. Ezran's sweet message of happy birthday and his hug and Claudia's curt but meaningful wish in the morning couldn't compare to how Rayla had left the box by his locker for him to find in the afternoon before he returned to his house.

He wouldn't say him and Rayla were close, but he wouldn't say they didn't know each other either. If he had to label their relationship, he would call them acquaintances, or distant friends. That was why he hadn't been expecting her to go out of her way to get him a gift; he hadn't been expecting anyone to even remember his birthday, much less get him anything. Ezran was too young to purchase something on his own and Aaravos would never allow him to get something that didn't fulfill a specific purpose, even though it would've been a present. He didn't want Claudia or Soren to get him anything either, and he was sure if Viren found out, they wouldn't hear the end of it. So for Rayla To bound up the stairs that morning and hold out a gift for him, he had been stunned in awe.

Carefully, he undid the bow and slid it off the box. He was a bit worried that the paper would make too much noise, so he muffled it by unwrapping it under his bedsheets. Unfortunately, he couldn't see what she had gotten him in the dim lighting, and he couldn't turn the lights on in case someone saw it.

Dejectedly, he balled up the paper and began to slide the box back under the bed to deal with in the morning until he remembered that he had a lighter in a cupboard. He stood up and made his way over, excitement almost making him forget to be quiet. He retrieved the lighter and bounded back over to the box. He tried to light a flame once, but it died out. Again he tried, but it didn't work. He growled faintly, and tried a third time. The third time must've been the charm, because he got a flame. He held it close enough to the uncovered box the read the letter but not close enough to potentially catch it on fire.

He read what was on the box, and a smile crept onto his face and his heart squeezed with appreciation. She had gotten him a set of colors. He had been begging for colors for months since he was tired of only having pencil or pen to draw with. How had she managed to not on,y get him a gift, but get him a gift he really wanted?

He slid the box under his bed and flicked the fire out. He doubted he would be able to fall asleep, as he was too happy about his new colors. He hid the lighter back with the plate, and curled up in his bed and lay there, staring at the stars.

Even though he had celebrated it by himself, for the first time since moving to Xadia, Callum didn't feel so alone.

End Notes :

for anyone outside the US, Kindergarten is the first year of school in America (not including preschool)

I know Rayla is a bit out of character, but I need her to play the role of Marinette, so Rayla is more clumsy, shy, and dorky outside of Ladybug. I'd imagine without the rigorous Moonshadow Elf assassin training she'd be like this anyways

Again, I don't think Claudia is a bitch in the show (I actually really like her!) but I need her to fill the role of Chloe, and Rayla and her don't get along in the show sooo,,,

She'll get her redemption,,,, eventually,,,, maybe

Sorry it got fast paced towards the end of the battle,,, I got bored and tired and wanted to move on :)