A/N: yeah, I thought I could be clever with this one and go a more fun route but I think I kinda lost the theme a bit. Eh, we'll see what you think! Not really a lot to say.

Chapter Summary: Ezran knows, Soren knows, Claudia knows. Those two are sick on something that they can't see.

Word count: 2,573

Sick

"Oh my gosh," Ezran groaned. "Why don't you just go make out with her already?"

Callum started up in a shock as he looked over to his younger brother. "Wh-What!" he exclaimed, "Where'd that come from!"

Ezran gave his brother an unamused look as he raised a brow. "Seriously?" he asked.

When Callum stared at him wordlessly Ezran followed up by gesturing over down the courtyard. Callum's gaze followed his brother's direction without any hesitation, especially since there was certain someone who was stood in the centre of it. Rayla, outfitted in her semi-formal advisory clothing, had set of twin blades gripped within her hands. Twirling them effortlessly, she slowly turned, scanning her surroundings. Four crownguard, two equipped with longspears, two with broadswords. They were evenly spaced, weapons drawn, and slowly approaching the Moonshadow elf.

Rayla's eyes narrowed as she firmly gripped her blades and inched her right foot forward. The spearman in front of her flinched. He was easily impulsive. Smirking, she stepped forward and watched as he readied his spear for a lunge. But before he could even make his attack, Rayla pushed off her feet and launched herself backwards. She whipped her body around and spun like a top, readying her blades as she flew toward the other spearman. With no time to react, the crownguard simply moved his spear to block the oncoming attack, allowing Rayla to slash right through his spear and send him down to the ground hard.

As soon as she landed on her feet, Rayla turned around and prepared herself for the two swordsmen rushing at her. Simultaneously, they both arched their broadswords back—one aiming high, one aiming low. Right as they swung at her, Rayla hopped off the ground and twirled in the air, rotating between the two blades as the flew below and above her. As Rayla rotated in the air, she threw her legs out, scissor kicking both swordsman square in the face and flinging them a few feet back. She landed, back toward the final spearman, ears perked. She waited, she listened. A few steps edged close and she whipped her body around, forming an X with her blades to block the spearman's lunge.

Right as the spearhead connected with Rayla's blades, she clicked down on her handles, letting her blades curve into hooks and entrapping the spear. She spun her body on her right heel and threw her arms forward, flinging the spear out of the crownguard's hands. Simultaneously, she stuck out her left leg and kicked the guard straight in the gut, sending him flying back a few feet.

Proudly, Rayla flipped her blades into themselves, sheathing them as she stood straight and tall. After dusting off her hands, she hurried over to the beaten soldiers and helped them their feet, making sure they were unharmed and such.

Throughout all of this, Callum had his arm propped up on the table and his head resting in the palm of his hand. His face? Pure admiration. Ezran watched on as Callum let out a content sigh and batted his puppy dog eyes at his fiancée. This was getting ridiculous. "That," he claimed, pointing at his brother's face, "that is exactly what I'm talking about!"

Callum furrowed his brows at his brother's outburst. "What? What did I do!"

"I literally just pointed at Rayla for like five seconds and you instantly just got lost in her… again."

Callum scoffed. "I did not."

Ezran made a blank face. "What were we talking about earlier then?" he asked monotonously.

The Archmage opened his mouth but stopped himself as he pondered the question. "Uhh… jelly tarts?" he guessed.

Ezran sighed. "Lucky guess," he muttered under his breath. "But that's besides the point!" he declared, wiping the smug smile of his brother's face. "We were having a conversation and you totally checked out. Three times already! And that's today!" Ezran shook his head and laughed. "Honestly, I'm happy you and Rayla are engaged, really! Like, over the moon for you! But, I thought the whole we can spend time together?"

Callum's face shifted into confusion. "It is? We have been!"

"Oh really?"

The two brothers proceeded to exchange in a battle of shouting and bickering as Rayla finished assisting the guards she had just fought. "Nice work boys, but, not nice enough," she teased.

A few sighed at her remark whilst one chuckled. "One of these days Lady Rayla," he warned, quirking up a smirk.

Rayla laughed. "Until then, ya might want to invest in becoming a Sky Mage with all the air ya were hitting," she shot back. The guards laughed, shaking their heads as they brought their gear over to a nearby bench. Smugly smirking to herself, she looked over her shoulder and was happy to see Callum and Ezran watching. Or at least, it looked to be them watching, they were pointing at her after all. She turned back and chuckled at the disappointed guard stood in the entryway. "I thought ya said these were your best guards?" she teased, placing her hands on her hips.

Soren scoffed. "Yeah, well, they are to me," he pointed to himself. "And since Ez made me the Captain of the crownguard I say they're good."

"Then maybe ya should make them your guards!" she offered, clapping her hands together. "Ah, see? Problem solved!"

"They were—are, my guards," he explained, "but since I thought they were good enough to be in my elite guard, I thought they'd be good enough for you." He glanced over to the bench and pouted with slumped shoulders. "But, it would appear not."

Rayla snorted. "Aye, ya could say that." She shrugged. "But also, as I keep tellin' ya, I don't need guards!" she drawled, frowning at Soren.

"I get it, I get it," Soren dismissed, "but it's protocol by the King himself. If Ez wants you to have guards then you get guards."

Rayla rolled her eyes. "Even if I don't want 'em?"

Soren frowned as he crossed his arms. "Why do you even want to be armed? You're an advisor," he gestured to her outfit, "You literally have no need to do anything. Besides, with guards you can focus on your fiancé instead of showing off to him." He nodded over to said man and chuckled.

Rayla glanced back and smiled at Callum. To which Soren rolled his eyes, he should've expected that. Her smile was lovingly sick and pure, as were her innocent eyes. Soren whistled over to the guards gathered at the bench and raised his brows, nodding over to the oblivious Moonshadow elf. They took one glance and shook their heads in disagreement, in synchronization. Annoyed, Soren frowned at his guards as he crept up on the unsuspecting girl. He removed his sheathed sword from his belt and held it upside down. He watched as Rayla contently sighed at Callum, tilting her head at him like she was lost in his eyes. Smirking, Soren hurriedly swiped at her feet with the handle, tucking her legs out from under and causing her to release a squeak and fall nearly face first onto the ground.

Luckily, Rayla was experience enough to react and catch herself from face planting. She turned around and frowned at the head guard. "What gives!"

Soren chuckled as he extended his hand to help her up. She accepted, albeit reluctantly, and stood up. "If you are like this when you're with Callum, how are you going to defend yourself?" he questioned. "That is why you need guards."

Rayla rolled her eyes as she dusted off her navy blue, thigh-length skirt. "Har, har," she sarcastically replied. "I was just… interested in what they were talkin' 'bout is all!" she defended.

"Then what were they saying?" Soren inquired, throwing a knowing brow.

Rayla opened her mouth to respond but silence herself as she realized she had no idea. "Uhh… me?"

Soren glanced over at the two and sighed. "Lucky guess." He pointed his finger upward as he stated, "That doesn't change the fact you were distracted. And if you can afford to be distracted, you can afford to have some guards."

"I wasn't distracted!" Rayla exclaimed.

Soren snorted. "Please, you're so lovesick it's actually sickening in of itself."

"I'm not lovesick!" Callum declared, rising to his feet as he slammed his hands down on the table. All eyes within the courtyard shot over to the Archmage and the King. Sheepishly, Callum winced as he realized the amount of attention he brought over with his reaction and shyly sunk back down into his seat.

Ezran scoffed as he looked over at Rayla and Soren. He smiled, glad that he got their attention, and waved them over. "Soren, settle this for me," he requested.

Soren happily marched over and stood firmly straight. "Yes, King Ezran?"

"Callum," he pointed, "is lovesick. Right?"

Callum instantly huffed at the claim whilst Rayla chuckled. Before he could even defend himself, Soren nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely. But I'd argue Rayla is even more love sick than Callum," he jerked his thumb over to said elf.

"What!" she shouted. "Am not!"

"She's just kind, and endearing," Callum defended, crossing his arms at Soren. "And just loves to make sure I'm safe, that's all!" He flashed a smile at Rayla as he added, "That's who she always is. She just loves to protect and watch over those who need it."

A small flush overcame Rayla as Soren and Ezran dumbfoundedly stared at the boy. "You realize you just said you're someone who needs to be protected and looked after, right?" Soren checked over, cocking his head in confusion.

"And what's wrong with that?" Rayla inquired. "I think it's very sweet Callum's willin' to admit his own faults. He's always aware of it," she sweetly smiled back at her fiancé. "He's always passionate! And he wears his heart on sleeve and ain't 'fraid to express how he feels."

"See?" Callum gestured at her as he looked at Ezran. "She's literally defending me right now, how sweet and kind is that!" He turned back to Rayla and added, "Speaking of, you're the sweet one."

Rayla cooed, "Aww how?" She leaned over and pointed back at him. "By sayin' that ya're only solidifying my case 'bout ya bein' sweet."

Callum shook his head. "No—"

"Oh, my, gosh." Soren groaned. "Forget it, you're both equally lovesick on each other." He threw his arms up in defeat. "Yeesh," he sighed.

Ezran rolled his eyes. "Listen, I get it, you're newly engaged, you've finally got the approval of both the Kingdom and Xadia, but man, can you guys go one minute without being… you?" When the two gasped in offence, the King scoffed. "C'mon guys, you have to realize it right?"

Rayla frowned as she grabbed Callum's hand. "Aye, I realize that ya two have a problem with me and my finacé for no reason!" She dragged said fiancé with her and muttered, "Let's get outta here Callum."

Soren and Ezran watched as the two stormed out. They exchanged a quick shrug then went on about their day. There was no convincing those two. They were definitely too lovesick on each other.

::::

Rayla had her arm propped on her table as she rested her cheek in the palm of her hand. Letting out a content sigh, she smirked as she dreamily blinked at the boy across from her. Callum was currently sat in the lounge chair of the library sketching in his book. He occasionally glanced up from his sketchbook, eyeing up the scenery around him with a wondrous curiosity. He was so excited to learn Ezran had renovated the library, and so he wanted to sketch the new layout.

Everything was cleaner, there were more attendants around, and a lot of the furniture was either refurbished or replaced. Callum was happy to capture the new design. And Rayla was happy to watch.

Claudia, on the other hand, was happy to smack Rayla on the head. They were literally just in the middle of a conversation about the latest trade deal between Xadia and Katolis, a conversation Claudia thought they were both invested it. Suddenly, the elf just trailed off mid-sentence, completely disregarding her friend as her attention focused on a certain someone.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. She was not jealous, that ship had set sail long ago. In fact, Claudia was very happy for the two. She helped Callum with his proposal, gave him advice on what not to do and how to do it. In the end, she was happy to witness a teary eyed Rayla gasp out a very quiet yes to Callum's big ask. It was such a sweet and pure moment to watch.

Now, she wished she could use Dark Magic again to suck the life out of herself.

Because boy did she regret helping them now. Ever since they got back from their trip in Xadia, they claimed to want to spend time with their friends but either found themselves always around each other or were too busy looking at one another to even notice their friends. All in all, it was getting very tiring.

"Rayla," Claudia called out.

"Aye?"

"You were saying?"

"Uh-huh…"

Claudia rolled her eyes once more. Maybe there was one way to get her to talk. "Callum's sketching?" she offered.

"Yeah, he's real cute…" Rayla softly agreed.

Claudia frowned. "No, I… do you want to still talk or not?"

"Look how focused he is!" she squealed, slightly pointing at the boy. "Aww, his face is scrunchin' up! That means he's shading!"

"That's great… but, we were having—"

"Oooh, his lil' eyebrow went up, he made a mistake!" Rayla gasped. "Aww, the poor boy," she placed her hand on her heart, "he was so close now he's gotta erase."

"Unbelievable—"

"He's scrunchin' his face again!"

"That's it!" Claudia screamed, shooting straight out of her chair. Both Callum and Rayla were startled out of their trance. "I am done!" she declared, packing up her stuff. Before either one could even ask her about what was wrong, Claudia shot a finger at Rayla and said, "Why don't you just make out with him already!"

"What—"

With that, she stormed out the library in a huff, shaking her head in annoyance as she left. Callum and Rayla watched her leave, both staring wide eyed at the girl's sudden outburst. They eventually found each other's gaze and smiled with a shrug.

"What was that about?" Callum asked.

"Beats me," Rayla replied. She smirked as she walked over Callum's seat and sat beside him, wrapping her arm around him as she leaned close on his shoulder, carefully not hitting him with her horns. "How's the sketch?"

Callum proudly smiled as he showed her. "Whattya think?"

"Beautiful," she said in awe. Her gaze fell on his as she added, "Like ya."

Callum blushed as he began skimming through his sketchbook. "I think these beg to differ," he countered, referencing the pages and pages of Rayla he had.

"Nah, if ya ever drew yourself ya'd make something even more beautiful."

"How about we say it takes one to know one?"

"Aye," she pecked his cheek, "I can settle for that."

Callum stared lovingly into her eyes as he slid his fingers into hers, wrapping softly around them. "If I had to be lovesick, I'm glad it's on you."

A/N: I hope you liked it! I just always thought when the two get engaged they become THAT couple. So, of course I wanted to try capturing that. This was the first time I've ever written Ezran, Soren, and Claudia before. It was nice to have them around and write them all friendly like.

In case you're wondering, this is obviously post-war and alls well and good. I haven't worked out the logistics of what happened because I don't want to touch canon. So... feel free to imagine to your own desires!

This came out late because Google Docs was being iffy and wouldn't let me load on my phone or computer, so editing it was rough. And then I had a whole family thing so... it just came out late. Again, sorry.

Tomorrow is scarf. nothing clever this time, trust me.

Until next time,

- Bleh