A/N: Day 21, Aged Up. And of course, I do the exact opposite...

Chapter Summary: Over all her visits, Rayla's been slowly accustoming herself to human culture. But, nevertheless, there were still things that struck her as completely odd. Humans are weird. Childhood AU.

Word Count: 1,427

Refined Taste

Rayla was exhausted. Who knew three hours of training would be so tiring? Runaan was pushing her this time. He said just because they were visiting Katolis, it didn't mean they could relax on their training. Rayla didn't mind of course. She was excited to learn some new things from her mentor. And even more excited that Callum was watching as well. And even more, more excited they were going to have lunch right after. But, three hours was a long time.

So she understood why Callum would excuse himself early. But that didn't mean she'd let him off the hook that easily. So that was why she was on a mission to track him down.

But of course, she couldn't find him.

Runaan said he heard him mumble something about his room. King Harrow said the courtyard—but didn't specify which one, so Rayla checked all of them. And Queen Sarai said she heard he was hungry so the dining hall. And of course, it was then she realized none of them had actually seen him. They were just guessing.

So Rayla stomped around with a pout. Annoyed as ever. Until, she happened across the kitchen corridors, where noticed a familiar red scarf as she passed by. She halted in her tracks and peeked around the corner of the door frame.

It was Callum alright. He was sitting at the kitchen counter, smiling with delight as he munched on some sort of food. He looked like Queen Sarai whenever she had a plate of jelly tarts. Rayla growled as she marched in.

"Hey! ya've got some nerve!" she shouted, marching in.

Callum's eyes went wide as they darted toward the door. "Rayla!" he exclaimed.

"Ya ditch me during training! And when I tried to find ya so we can eat lunch together, I go on some wild chase for over an hour!" she complained, throwing her hands up with a glare, earning a wince from him. "And then I find ya, just sat here, eating this… this… what is this?" she asked.

Callum's chewing stopped as his guilt faded into confusion. "What? You don't know what this is?" he asked, holding up the block in his hand.

Rayla stared at it, bewildered. It looked like it was rotten. "That looks like it went bad months ago," she noted wincing at how Callum effortlessly swallowed his food. He had a plate beside these blocks of old food, which were filled with toast.

"Well, it did," he replied.

Rayla's eyes went wide. "What?"

"I mean, technically, it did go bad," Callum smirked.

Rayla stepped forward as she placed a hand on Callum's forehead, feeling up his temperature. "Are, are ya sick? Did ya eat somethin' bad for breakfast?" After feeling not extreme heat against his forehead, Rayla grabbed both his cheeks and stared into his grass green eyes. "Your eyes look fine. Are ya okay?"

Callum laughed, trying to shake his head out of Rayla's hands. "Ray, Ray, I'm fine."

She squished his cheeks as she leaned closer. "Callum, rotten food isn't food. It's bad!" she whispered with urgency. "I'm taking ya to the Doctor—" before she could leave, Callum grabbed both her wrists with a laugh.

"No, no, no, Rayla, I'm serious," he smiled, turning her back to him. "I was just eating some moldy cheese."

Rayla stood there. Blinked. Then opened her mouth. What was he going on about? "Uh… what… do ya understand what's wrong with that sentence?" she asked with a bewildered face.

Callum bit back on his chuckles, rising Rayla's rage. What was so funny about her being concerned for his well being? He was insane! "No, Rayla, this," he lifted up the block of disgustingness, "is Bleu Cheese."

Her head tilted in confusion. "But it's… white?" she pointed out in befuddlement.

Callum smirked. "No, no, it's… that's just the name. I… don't know why, but it is!" he quickly explained. "And uh, this type of cheese specifically, actually tastes good when it molds," he smiled, raising it up once more. "It's like… better. So it's better when it goes bad."

Rayla's face dropped into horror. "Ya do realize the words that's coming out of your mouth… right?"

Callum laughed as he shook his head. "Okay, okay, I'm not explaining this right, but basically, this is okay to eat!" he assured her. "I like eating this with toast! It's nice!" he gestured to the aforementioned plate, "it's not bad at all." He held it out to her. "Try it!"

Rayla's eyes widened more as she backed away. "What!" she yelped. "No, no, no, no, no way!" she rapidly muttered. "Callum, I'm taking ya to the Doctor, because ya're clearly not thinking straight with all the food poisoning."

Callum scoffed as he rolled his eyes. He took her hand and embraced it. "Rayla, I'm serious! This is a thing humans do!" He looked up in thought. "I'm pretty sure it was the Kingdom of Duren that first discovered this… technique. Trust me, it's safe!" he smiled, raising the block of death food up to his mouth.

Rayla screamed, "No!" And whacked the food poison out of her best friend's hands, sending straight into the furnace gates. She stared at Callum in shock. "Are ya crazy!"

Callum sighed. "Rayla, why'd you do that!" he whined. "It was a good block of cheese too!" he groaned as he reached for another block of cheese? Rayla instantly slapped his hand. "Ow, what're you doing?"

"What're ya doing!" she questioned. "How are ya not getting how dangerous this is!" She grabbed his hand. "We're going to the Doctor, now." Callum grabbed at the table, attempting to weigh himself down as his best friend pulled him away. "Callum… we need… to… leave!" she urged through her gritted teeth.

Callum furiously shook his head as he grabbed onto another block of cheese. "Rayla, c'mon!" he said in annoyance, raising the cheese to his mouth. "Let me… explain—"

"No, stop!" she reached for it but Callum immediately ducked.

He rolled underneath the table and popped up on the other side. "Ah hah!" he triumphantly exclaimed. "Now, let me explain!"

Rayla's eyes narrowed as she hopped onto the table. With determination laced within her face, she pointed at the corrupted cheese in his hands. "This clearly has poisoned ya! And I will save ya Callum!"

"Wait, wait—" his words died in his throat as Rayla decided to act.

By acting, she jumped onto him, holding him in a vice grip as she started slapping the cheese out of his hand. Repeatedly, she shouted, "This is for your own good!" Callum still seemed so protective of it. It must've been corrupted with some Dark Magic of some sort. Rayla needed to save him. And so their battle began. His profuse pleading about preserving the food, went by Rayla's determined mission to save him.

And with one final swipe, the plate of moldy cheese flew out off the table and onto the ground.

She was a hero.

::::

"So… it's just… aged up cheese?" Rayla inquired with a curious tone.

Sarai nodded with a smile. "Yes! It's… it's quiet soft and chewy. And I promise," she pushed the plate toward the young elf, "It's safe to eat."

Rayla glanced down the table. To her right, sat Callum, with an eager and motivation smile, nodding her along. Her left, sat Runaan, smiling at her with amusement whilst King Harrow was sat at the head of the table. With hesitation, Rayla slowly picked up her fork and took off a piece of the supposedly safe cheese. Queen Sarai said it was safe. And she trusted her.

With a smile, Rayla shoved the piece into her mouth.

And regretted it.

After two bites, she noticed that… it was not as good as she thought it was. And it was also because, well, she didn't exactly like cheese. She might've forgotten all that in the heat of all the discussion. Her face scrunched up in disgust, which was well noticed by the rest of the table. Sarai wore a look of worry, whilst the men shared in their sympathies and winced at her. Rayla turned to Callum who merely chuckled.

"Forgot you didn't like cheese, eh?" he teased, nudging her with his elbow. "Now you know how I feel about your moonberry juice."

That was well deserved payback.

Rayla forced a smile. With a mouthful, she said, "Ya want the rest?" Callum's face lit up. And Rayla slid the plate over without hesitation.

A/N: And that was that! I think I've done enough future stuff-with or without the Rayllum family around-and since everyone really likes it, I decided to do this for the Childhood AU. It's fun to write, and well, this was a fun idea I came up with as soon as I heard Aged Up.

Review Response:

Sassysapphire: Literally you JUST asked, and JUST received! Ha, glad you love these little scamps!

Next prompt is Proposal!

Until next time,

- Bleh