Disclaimer: I don't own The Owl House!
Title: Your name is pounding through my veins, can't you hear how it is sung?
Summary: "You... want to marry me?" The idea as it leaves Eda's mouth is ridiculous, teasing. As if wanting that was somehow the worst joke she's ever heard. Like the idea of wanting her is... wrong.
Setting: the flashback in Eda's Requiem
...
Raine blames it on the music, but it's really Eda's eyes. They flit and flicker across the lute, absorbing knowledge- drinking it up, enamored with new notes and ways to play them. The gentle warmth of a successful spell. They're warm as amber, fiery as fire bee honey, and they find themselves leaning into her shoulder as they watch, entranced.
"Enjoying the show?" she asks, lip quirking in that way it does.
Raine let out a sigh of contentment, snuggling in. "Marry me," they say, unflinchingly, unthinkingly; the way being with Eda always makes them. The music stops.
Eda's voice is heartbreakingly soft. "What?"
Raine's heart stops. They straighten with a splutter. "I mean- I'm so sorry, that was so forward, I shouldn't've-" they whine, cupping their cheeks as they grow warm. "Aaaaaa, what's wrong with me?"
"You... want to marry me?" The idea as it leaves Eda's mouth is ridiculous, teasing. As if wanting that was somehow the worst joke she's ever heard. Like the idea of wanting her is... wrong.
"Of course I do," they respond, firmly- if they're already in this pothole, might as well start digging, right? "But, I mean- I shouldn't've just. Brought that up. Marriage is something both parties should agree to prior to a proposal, even if the actual proposal is a surprise, and-"
Eda's hands are on their face, gently turning them towards her. Her thumbs run comfortingly across their jawline. "You're gonna make somebody very happy one day, Whispers," she reassures. "Somebody you can grow old with."
Raine swallows. They don't know how to explain that the white in Eda's hair is part of what they love about her. Not when the curse is so hard for her to talk about. When it ripped her from her sister. "I don't want something like that," they say, but it's a lie- they'd want it a million times over, if it was Eda. "I want you."
"Even if I end up a criminal?"
"You already are a criminal."
Eda snorts. "Heh, yeah."
Raine grabs one of her hands and squeezes, sitting up. They stare out over the field rather than look at her- speeches aren't something they're very good at, especially when eye contact has to happen. "Can you just... imagine it?"
"Okay," Eda agrees readily. It's her turn to lean on their shoulder. "We're married. We rent a nice house. Every night, we get home from a long day at work and cook dinner. We watch the crystal ball together. And every night, we part in the hallway, because I can't sleep unless I'm in a nest. I down elixirs and stalk the halls as a monster. Every night, you wait for me to not turn back. You wait for me to become this thing forever."
"Eda," they admonish.
"Don't lie to me. Don't pity me. We both know how my story ends." Eda reaches up and kisses them on the side of their face, just shy of their cheek. Raine shivers, instinctively. "Ah, the timing just never was right for us, was it?"
It was, Raine thinks. It is.
They take her hand and squeeze, forcing a watery smile. "I guess not."
Author's Note: I have Many Feelings about Eda's Requiem, so here's a few to share lol. I imagine Eda had a lot of her own internalized ableism to work through when she was first cursed- she had no warning, no prior learning, and Gwen unintentionally made her feel like a monster.
-Mandaree1