1. When protests against police brutality arise, privileged folks (generally white people) tend to ask "well, what about black-on-black crime? isn't that a problem, too?" I'm here to tell you that it is incredibly important to recognize this sentence for what it is: a tactic for drawing attention away from the racism embedded in America's police force. Think of it this way - no one ever asks about "white-on-white crime", do they? Even though most white victims of crime are attacked by white assailants! The fact is that higher crime rates are intrinsically rated to poverty, and because of systemic racism, POC (especially Black people!) suffer from greater poverty (think about how public schools in areas largely occupied by POC receive less funding). So next time some asshole tries to bring up "black-on-black crime", recognize their statement as the red herring diversionary tactic that it is and call them out on it!

HAVE Y'ALL HEARD - NETFLIX PICKED UP THE SAGA! WE'RE GETTING ALL 7 SEASONS OF TDP! I'm ecstatic, if you couldn't tell. Maybe this is 2020's way of apologizing for everything we've gone through. Anyways - I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

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"Is everything in place for Ezran's party?" Harrow asked frantically as he returned to the main room of his house, anxiously pacing back and forth. "He's going to be back with Soren any minute -"

"Dad, it's perfect," Callum interrupted, trying to mask his own nerves in his attempt to reassure his stepfather. "Ezran is going to love it." He glanced at Claudia, who was sitting on the couch behind him, and silently mouthed, Right?

Claudia rolled her eyes. Which was fair. She put up with them panicking every year. "Both of you are stressing yourselves out way more than necessary. Everything is fine and Ezran will appreciate and adore all of it! Besides, he said himself that he hates big, fancy parties, right? So you listened to him, you processed that information, and you created the perfect, simple, super fun gathering customized exactly to his wishes. Not to mention you've having his party the day before his birthday, just like he asks every year! I promise. It's all gonna be great."

"I just wish Amaya could have made it," Harrow said with a sigh. "It's been such a long time since Ezran last saw her, and -"

"- and that is not something within your control," Callum pointed out, already feeling calmer thanks to Claudia's logic. It's a good thing she knew how to keep a rational, level head. When she felt like it, at least. "Besides, didn't you say she'll be coming for winter break instead? So it's not like me and Ezran won't get to see her at all this year. Her visit is just delayed."

Harrow hesitated, then nodded, though the stress lines on his forehead didn't entirely disappear.

"As a complete outsider to these family traditions," Rayla said from the recliner she'd lay claim to, "I think everything looks awesome. You've got a cookie cake, his favorite jelly tarts, a bowtie for Bait - what more could he want?"

Harrow groaned. "Of course! A party hat for Bait!" He shook his head, chastising himself. "How could we forget?"

"Lucky for you..." Claudia began, fishing around in her purse, "I'm prepared for everything." She pulled her hand out and opened her palm to reveal a small red party hat. "One Bait-sized accessory, at your service!"

Harrow sighed in relief as Callum took the party hat from his friend and carefully fastened it to Bait's head. The lizard licked its eye in response.

"They're five minutes away," Rayla announced, quickly reading a text on her phone. "Also, Soren says they did pick up Aanya already, he just forgot to send a text about it."

"And there we go!" Claudia said triumphantly. "Now all the guests are accounted for. Neither of you have any reason to continue stressing."

Harrow chewed his bottom lip. "I'm... I'm going to check the kitchen table one last time. Make sure the food is arranged correctly."

Callum started to follow his father into the kitchen, but was abruptly stopped by Claudia grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling him backwards.

"Oh no you don't," she said, shaking her head. "The two of you in one room is bound to create more unnecessary panic over something ridiculous." She proceeded to sit him down on the couch next to the chair Rayla was lounging on. "You stay here. I will make sure your dad doesn't have a crisis."

"So..." Rayla said after Claudia had left the living room and gone into the kitchen. "Do all people from Katolis stress so much over birthdays, or is this experience unique to your family?"

Callum couldn't help but laugh at her comment, feeling some of the tension ease from his shoulders simply from her sitting next to him. "Probably just unique to my family."

Rayla smiled. "I figured." She pushed her hair behind her ear - a section too short to have made it up into her ponytail. "But seriously. I know you and Professor Harrow have been planning this for the past two weeks."

"You only witnessed like 40% of that planning."

"Yes, and it was still incredibly hectic." She chuckled. "Anyways. My point is that Ezran is going to love it. So why all this panicking and freaking out? The two of you have given me so much secondhand anxiety."

Callum hesitated, then sighed, placing his elbow on the arm of the couch to rest his chin on his hand. "It's… kind of an odd story. Basically, on Ezran's fifth birthday, our mom left for the tour that she ended up… er, passing away during."

Rayla's eyes widened. "Oh. Okay. I - I don't mean to pressure you to tell me, Callum. If it's something too personal, then you definitely don't have to share it. I mean, unless you want to. Otherwise, you can, uh, embrace the panic?" She cringed at her haste. "That was awful. Sorry."

Callum chuckled at her flustered response. "No, you're fine. And I realize, now having heard myself say it out loud, that my word choice sounded like, super dramatic and angsty. But that's not it at all." He adjusted his scarf around his neck. "Even though Mom had to leave on his birthday, she didn't want to miss his party, so the day before his actual birthday we had a small celebration. Just the four of us and one poorly-made cake." A soft smile formed on his lips. "Ever since, Ezran has kept with that tradition. Have the party the day before his actual birthday, and only invite a few people. Although he has definitely upgraded his quality of cake. It's sort of… in her memory."

Rayla initially seemed to be at a loss for words, but soon a gentle smile danced across her features. "That's really sweet. And I can't lie - I feel incredibly honored that I'm considered a close enough friend to have been invited."

Callum chuckled. "When Ez was making a list of people he wanted to come, you were higher on it than me."

Rayla snorted at his words. "Wow. That's savage of him." She reached out to take Callum's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "But in all seriousness. I promise Ezran is going to adore everything you and Professor Harrow have put together. I think he will especially appreciate Bait's very fashionable party hat and bowtie."

Upon hearing his name, the lizard made a noise somewhere between a croak and a squeak. Seconds later, there were several knocks at the door.

"And now the guest of honor himself has arrived," Rayla said, helping her boyfriend to his feet before releasing his hand. "Shall we go greet him?"

Callum laughed at her play-formality. "Yes, I suppose we shall."

It turned out, however, that Claudia and Harrow had beaten them to the door and already let Ezran, Soren, and a petite girl with light brown hair and golden-blonde highlights - Aanya, presumably? - inside the house.

"Happy birthday, Ezran!" Claudia exclaimed, crushing the boy into a hug. "I can't believe you're 14 already. It makes me feel so old."

Ezran laughed, returning the hug. "Thank you, Claudia." When she released him, he turned around to pull his friend forward. "Everyone, this is Aanya. I have AP HUG with her. She is currently the only person in any of my classes who I tolerate. She is also ten times cooler than all of you combined."

Everyone laughed at his comment, and Aanya rolled her eyes but was still clearly smiling. "It's nice to finally meet all of you in person," she said, nodding towards the group. "Ezran talks incessantly about you guys. Mostly positive things, of course."

Callum was almost surprised at the rather professional manner with which the girl presented herself, but then again, Ezran was also ridiculously mature for his age, so it wasn't out of the park to have expected that his friends would be, too.

"That's my dad," Ezran began, "although you've met him before because he's had to pick me up after school so many times." He then pointed at his brother. "That's Callum, my identical twin."

A smile twitched at the corners of Aanya's mouth. "Right."

"And that's Claudia, Soren's sister."

"The superior sibling," Claudia said with a wink, ignoring her brother's dramatic eye roll. "Pleased to meet you."

"Last but not least, Rayla," Ezran concluded. "Callum is her boyfriend."

Callum felt his face heat up at his brother's blasé proclamation, though he was slightly appeased by the fact that his girlfriend, too, was blushing. It was always nice to not be the only one embarrassed.

"It's nice to meet you, Aanya," Rayla said, offering the girl as collected a smile as she could muster. "Ezran sings your praises all the time."

"Yes, that sounds like Ezran. And it's nice to meet you, too," Aanya replied. "If you don't mind my asking, where are you from? I don't believe I recognize your accent, and I consider myself well-versed in the different dialects of Katolis."

Hesitance flickered in Rayla's eyes, but it disappeared quickly. "I'm from a place called Silvergrove. It's a... a pretty small town. In Xadia."

Aanya blanched at Rayla's words. "Oh," she stammered, her professional manner slipping and reminding Callum that she was just a 14-year-old kid, barely older than Ezran. "You're -" She cleared her throat and tried to reassert herself, though uncertainty still flickered in her eyes. "I see. You're from Xadia."

And just like that, the tension in the room increased by a hundredfold.

"How about we go play some board games?" Harrow finally said, clapping his hands together in an obvious attempt to break the awkward silence. "That sounds like a good time, right?"

Ezran hastily nodded, taking the initiative to herd everyone into the main room. "Yeah, Dad, that's a great idea!" As he moved Aanya past Rayla, he mouthed a very clear, I'm sorry.

Callum waited until everyone else had gone into the living room to fully direct his attention towards his girlfriend. "You okay?" he asked softly, taking one of her hands in his.

Rayla frowned, biting her bottom lip. "Yeah." She pushed the same loose hair from earlier behind her ear again with her free hand. "There was something… weird about that girl's reaction. I don't think it was… well, it didn't seem like typical anti-Xadian xenophobia."

Callum blinked. "What do you mean?"

Rayla sighed. "I don't know how to phrase it. Something about the face she made… It looked more sad than… er, wary or disgusted. I guess." She shrugged. "Whatever. Just ignore me. I don't know what I'm going on about."

Callum gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Well, whatever it is you're thinking, I'm sure you're right."

Rayla rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "You're too sweet."

"I try my best."

They rejoined the partygoers just as a deck of cards was being dealt in a circle.

"We're playing poker!" Ezran said cheerily. "Not with money, of course. Whoever has the most chips at the end of a currently undecided number of rounds gets the first piece of cake."

Rayla raised an eyebrow. "Are you gambling your birthday privilege?"

Ezran grinned at her. "Is it really gambling if I know I'm going to win?"

"Huh. Alright. I dig the confidence." She sat next to Claudia, pulling Callum down to her left. "Deal us in."

"Ezran inherited Sarai's confidence and her infinite luck," Harrow said with a chuckle as his younger son finished dealing cards and then began divvying up chips. "He has beaten Callum and I at every game imaginable since he was six or seven."

"It's pretty much impossible for Ez to place lower than second," Callum added, trying not to grimace as he looked at his cards. "If he loses, then you should assume he lost on purpose."

"Therefore I obviously have a winning streak to maintain." Ezran passed out the last of the chips before picking up his cards. "Shall we?"

It was clear within the first three rounds that Ezran was indeed going to maintain that streak. And easily so, too. Aanya and Rayla managed to sneak in a few wins every now and then, but the chips continued to stack up in front of Ezran.

After folding for the umpteenth time in what felt like the millionth round, Callum decided his time would be better spent working on his art project rather than losing at poker. The showcase itself was about a month and a half away, but submissions were due a few weeks before then, which meant he had to get a move on. He was just about finished with the stadium half - it only needed a little more shading on the west. Soon he'd be able to start on the Colosseum part, which he couldn't deny that he was ridiculously excited for. It was his intention to finish the sketch by the end of the next week. Hopefully he'd be successful.

As he sketched, he glanced up every so often to see how the game was going. Soren's chip count had dwindled down to less than a third of what it had been originally, his stepdad's down to maybe a fourth. Claudia had been folding as much as he had, so her chip count had lessened, though admittedly not to the extent of her brother's. Rayla was holding her own - and by that he meant she had about the same number of chips as when they'd started.

Aanya's chip count had definitely gone up, but there was just no comparing it to the mountain in front of Ezran. His brother was forever unbeatable, it seemed.

What was far more interesting than the game itself, however, was the way Aanya's gaze kept flickering between her cards and Rayla. Callum wasn't the greatest at reading emotions, but there was… concern, possibly, in Aanya's eyes. Guilt, even. He definitely picked up a sense of urgency. Whatever mixture of emotions it was, it didn't seem overtly negative.

When it became doubly clear that Ezran was going to win by a landslide, aka when Ezran had tired himself of beating them all into the dirt, he stopped the game. Harrow went into the kitchen to begin putting candles on the cake while everyone else helped clear the floor of cards and poker chips.

Well, almost everyone.

Callum couldn't stop himself from watching and… ah, listening in - not eavesdropping - as Aanya stood up and politely asked to speak to Rayla in another room. Was it any of his business? Well… okay, probably not. Was he going to listen in anyway? So it seemed.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier," he heard Aanya say. "My reaction to learning you were Xadian was ill-mannered and callous, and moreover was completely unjustified and unfair to you. For that I am incredibly sorry."

Callum could picture Rayla's look of surprise, though he couldn't see it from his vantage point on the floor.

"Oh, you don't need to apologize," she said. "I'm kind of used to it by now. Consider it… what's the expression around here? 'Water under the bridge'?"

"But you shouldn't have to be used to it," Aanya insisted. "There was no reason and furthermore no excuse for me to project my… personal losses onto you, as you do not represent all of Xadia and you certainly should not be expected to. I hope you can forgive me."

Rayla smiled. Or, at least, Callum had a gut feeling she did. "Thank you, Aanya. I appreciate your sincerity. And trust me - I have already forgiven you. Really, I'd like to think we can now call each other… friends?"

"Of course!" The eagerness that broke through Aanya's 'polite and proper' demeanor again reminded Callum that like his little brother, she was still a kid - only a freshman in high school.

"Awesome. So what do you say we go snag some cake before the others snatch it all up?"

As his girlfriend spoke, Callum realized he needed to high-tail it to the kitchen before they caught him… okay, eavesdropping, thus he tried to leave the living room as casually but also as quickly as possible.

He wasn't sure if he was successful.

Harrow had just finished lighting the fifteenth candle on the cake - "One to grow on!" - when Rayla and Aanya entered the room. "Perfect!" he said with a grin, flicking the lighter off and putting it down on the counter behind him. "Everyone's here now. Can someone get the lights?"

Soren reached out to flip the switch, giving Harrow a thumbs up as he did so.

With the lights off, Harrow cleared his throat dramatically before tapping the table four times. "And a five-six-seven-eight!"

The version of 'Happy Birthday' that ensued was obnoxious, ear-splitting, and undeniably the best one to ever be sung. If it could be called 'singing', that was. Callum had coached Rayla on the words beforehand - though she denied him the privilege of getting to hear the Xadian version - and his girlfriend seemed to be having a thrilling time as she half-sang, half-screeched the song with the rest of them. In fact, the only smile wider than hers was Ezran's.

The cookie cake was delicious, which Callum had known it would be because his dad had - wisely - decided to order a cake instead of making one himself. Ezran actually gave the first piece to Bait - minus the chocolate, of course, though Callum had to wonder if the sugar from the cookie itself was at all good for the lizard. Still, it wasn't like the little guy hadn't eaten worse.

After cake was another round of games, this time Apples to Apples, Pictionary, and then Scattergories, though Harrow chose to sit the first couple out to clean up the kitchen. Ezran dominated at Apples to Apples, surprising no one. When the time for Pictionary came around, everyone attempted to get Callum on their team, which he found both flattering and also incredibly amusing. He of course chose to be with Ezran. It was his brother's birthday! How could he refuse?

Claudia tried to grab Rayla for her team, but Rayla had already partnered with Aanya at the younger girl's eager request. "Ugh," she groaned. "I did not come to this party to have to work with my brother." She paused, then offered Soren a guilty smile. "I mean, no offense, Sor-Bear, but you have the artistic ability of a guy who's never touched a colored pencil in his life."

"Ouch. Hurtful." Soren then grinned at his sister. "So what I'm hearing is that I have to seize this opportunity and prove you wrong! Come on, Clauds - let's win this thing."

They did not win this thing.

Callum and Ezran won, to the surprise of absolutely no one. They were almost at the end of the board while the other two teams were barely reaching halfway. Callum was proud to see that his little brother wasn't half-bad at drawing - especially when the stakes were high, such as in a game of Pictionary.

The final game they played was Scattergories, the revelation of such causing Rayla to sit straight up and beam excitedly at the group. "Oh, I am going to crush all of you," she said gleefully, mischief glinting in her eyes. "Scattergories is a game you should never play with an English major."

Soren frowned. "I thought that was Scrabble?"

Rayla snorted, rolling her eyes and earning a snicker from Ezran. "Scrabble is for spellers. Yes, there is undoubtedly some overlap, but I can tell you that I myself am an English major who cannot spell to save her life."

"You should see her texts when autocorrect isn't quick enough to catch her spelling errors," Callum mused off-handedly, not really expecting to be heard. Rayla did not miss his comment, however, and she lightly flicked his nose in response.

"No comments allowed from the sad prince who mixed up prepositions and conjunctions."

His face reddened. He was so going to get her for that later.

Rayla, as promised, did dominate at Scattergories. The only person who came even remotely close to racking up as many points as her was - unsurprisingly - Ezran, though even he only had about three-quarters of Rayla's total. Really, his brother's ability to always place first or second in any game he played was as remarkable as it was slightly terrifying.

Sometimes Callum wished he had that kind of luck.

Ezran always ended his birthday party with the opening of presents. While it was tradition to not open his dad's and Callum's gifts until all the other people had left - whenever that was possible, at least - he made sure every time to open the other guests' gifts beforehand so he could properly thank them. Callum often wondered if that was his brother's way of getting out of having to write thank you notes. If that was the case… completely understandable.

Soren had given him a new camera with both a wrist and a neck strap attachment, reminding Ezran that he needed to actually use the straps if he didn't want to lose the camera to another lake. Ezran responded to that comment by taking a gloriously unattractive close-up of Soren's face.

Claudia had given him a set of tiny costumes originally intended for dolls that she had modified to fit Bait. 'Lizard-sized', as she'd described it. "And now you can use your new camera to take pictures of him while he's all dressed up!"

Callum had been concerned Ezran might explode with excitement. Somehow, his brother managed to contain himself and simply tackle Claudia in a tight hug.

Aanya was next. Ezran peeled the green paper off the carefully-wrapped present, revealing a cookbook specifically containing dessert recipes.

"I know you have a major sweet tooth," she explained, "and I figured you might eventually want a little more variety than just jelly tarts."

Ezran gasped in mock-offense. "How dare you assume that I will ever outgrow my addiction to jelly tarts." He then grinned at her. "Thank you, Aanya. But I feel like I should tell you that I'm pretty bad at baking, so my dad will have to supervise and make sure I don't burn the house down."

"Hey, you know I'm not much better." Harrow chuckled. "We don't have an extra fire extinguisher just for decoration."

"You are legally obligated to tell me that story later," Rayla whispered in amusement, taking Callum's hand in her own. Callum had to bite back a snicker at the thought and merely nodded in response.

"Well, if you're really that much of a fire hazard, I don't mind helping out," Aanya offered. "I love baking. My moms taught me when I was little." Something akin to a bittersweet sadness flickered in her eyes, but the expression disappeared within seconds before Callum could truly get a gauge on it. "I'll make sure your house doesn't go up in flames."

Ezran beamed at her. "Awesome. I can't wait!"

Rayla's gift was last, excluding Harrow and Callum. "I'm sorry it's not more," she said as she handed him two envelopes. "But I did use my best stationary."

Ezran read the back of the envelopes, placing the one that had 'DO NOT READ (YET)' in block letters written across the lip on the floor. The other envelope he opened, and the room grew quiet as he pulled out a sheet of paper and began reading the note on it to himself.

Callum absentmindedly ran his thumb over Rayla's fingers, noticing for the first time how even her nails were. He needed to ask her how she managed that, because it felt like his nails were never the same length at the same time, which meant he often accidentally stabbed his palm if he held his pencil wrong in trying to draw.

Upon finishing the letter, Ezran didn't speak, instead folding the paper and placing it back inside the envelope. He then turned to face Rayla. Maybe Callum imagined it, but he could have sworn he saw tears glittering in his brother's eyes.

Then Ezran opened his arms for a hug, to which Rayla gladly obliged. "Thank you," he said, burying his face in her shoulder.

"No, thank you," Rayla said, squeezing him a little tighter. "I meant every word."

"I hope Callum knows that you're too good for him."

Everyone laughed, easing some of the weight that had fallen over the room, and Callum faked a frown. "Low blow, Ez. Low blow."

"It's only a low blow because I haven't hit my growth spurt yet," Ezran countered as he pulled out of Rayla's hug. "Just wait until I'm taller than you."

That was unfortunately true, and Callum absolutely loathed the day Ezran's growth spurt would inevitably come. He didn't think he was emotionally prepared to handle his little brother being taller than him anytime soon.

With Rayla's gift being the last, everyone began saying their goodbyes. Aanya's guardian arrived exactly on time to pick her up. Claudia walked the girl out, while Soren paused to confirm that he was still driving Rayla to football practice.

"Since I don't really feel like walking, yes," Rayla said. "I'll meet you at your car in a sec." When he left, she turned around to plant a quick kiss on Callum's lips. "Still on for the movie tonight?"

"Of course," he replied, smiling at her and hoping he didn't look too blissful from the fact that she'd kissed him. "You know that once I've scheduled something into my day it can't not happen. I'd probably die."

Rayla laughed, kissing him again before saying her goodbyes and giving Ezran a final hug. She then disappeared out the door.

"As per tradition, I receive yours and Dad's gifts separately," Ezran began, "and since you were… heh, distracted by Rayla, I used that time to open Dad's first. Let's just say that it's going to be a tough act for you to follow."

"Darn right!" Harrow shouted from the kitchen, where he'd returned presumably to finish cleaning the dishes.

Callum rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother's comment about Rayla and pretending that he was not at all blushing because of it. "Ez, it's not a competition. Dad and I love you equally."

"Maybe, but it's much more fun to treat it like one!" Ezran picked up Callum's gift from the table, shaking it carefully. "Hmm. Very light. No more than a pound." He studied the box. "Rectangular. Thin. May be stuffed with tissue paper to cushion -"

"Oh my God, Ez," Callum interrupted, laughing at his brother's detective-esque antics. "Just open the gift already."

Ezran snickered but did as instructed, tearing through the wrapping paper and pulling off the top of the box to reveal two hand-painted, watercolor portraits, one of Bait and the other of… "Mom," Ezran breathed, his hand gently tracing the golden border of the picture. "Wow. She was so pretty."

"Smart, too," Callum said, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice. "She would always get in the last word whenever she argued with someone."

"Sounds like a certain annoying brother of mine." Ezran then glanced up at Callum, giving him a soft smile. "You really look like her, you know."

Callum chuckled. "That's what everyone says, but I don't see it."

Ezran rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't." He then proceeded to pull Callum into a tight hug, though he was careful not to crush the paintings between them. "Thank you. I can't believe I have the best brother in the entire world."

Callum couldn't help but smile, easily returning the hug. "Mm, no, I'm pretty sure that's my line."

Not just a happy birthday for Ezran, it seemed, but a happy day for all. And maybe he was overstating things, but… Callum felt like their mom would have been proud.

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Okay, I know Ezran's birthday is canonly like in March, but I didn't know that when I started writing this, so for the sake of this story his birthday is in October. Next chapter is a shorter one, but we'll be entering a new arc of this fic and you're going to meet my favorite OC! She's a joy to write, and hopefully you'll love her as much as I do. Until next time! Thank you for reading!