1. Tis the season! Specifically, the season of Hanukkah, which began December 10th and ended yesterday, December 18th. The royal family in The Dragon Prince is actually Jewish-coded (or at least very popularly headcanonned as Jewish, I think?), and since I ended up going a strictly secular route with my fic, I thought it was only right I still talked to you guys about Judaism. And, since Hanukkah was so recent, let's quickly break down the history of this holiday. Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime "festival of lights," celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers, and fried foods. The holiday originates from the second century BCE, when the Seleucids ruled Jerusalem and tried to make the people of Israel conform to their beliefs instead of letting the Jews worship freely. Judah the Maccabee led a small band of Jews and defeated the army of the Seleucids in an "against all odds" battle. They reclaimed their temple in Jerusalem, but when they went to light the temple's menorah, all they found was a small container of tainted olive oil. Miraculously, they were still able to light the menorah, and the oil lasted for eight days. Thus, Hanukkah commemorates this act of bravery and the religious miracle. For more information on how Hanukkah is celebrated, you can check out Chabad dot org!
Bonjour vous-autres! I am back, and I am very pleased to announce that I passed all my classes with the grades I desired. I missed you guys so much these past few weeks, but on the bright side, that should (emphasis on "should" lmao) be the last break I'll need to take for this fic. We're really in the home stretch now, aren't we? Enjoy the chapter!
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Sonya: bad news
Sonya: i'm sick. so i can't go shopping with you today
Callum: wait are you okay?
Sonya: yeah lol it's just a cold. my cousin Samirah is looking after me so i'll be doubly fine
Callum: oh okay. that's good. i hope you feel better soon!
Sonya: trust me. i'm trying
Sonya: also :) i told Claudia :) to meet you :) at the arts' market instead :)
Sonya: she was very, very upset :( that you didn't ask her first :(
Callum grimaced. Now he had Claudia's wrath to look forward to on top of the stress from shopping. Fantastic.
Callum: you're evil. but thanks, i guess; at least now i won't be alone lmao
Sonya: why do YOU use semicolons in your texts when RAYLA is the english major
Callum: wish i knew
Callum: alright gtg. don't want to give Claudia even more reason to get mad at me by showing up late
Sonya: good luck
Sonya: and feel free to text me pics of stuff you're considering for Rayla while you're out. i'd be happy to provide my humble opinion from afar.
Sonya: trying to give myself SOMETHING to look forward to while i'm ill
Callum sent her a thumbs up emoji, then unplugged his phone from his charger and the charger from the wall. He promptly tucked his phone into his pocket before heading out of his bedroom and into the living room. "I'm leaving!" he called to his dad and brother, though he wasn't completely sure either of them were within earshot. "I should be back in an hour or two!" He figured two hours worth of energy would be the max he could set aside for one shopping trip. The longer he was out of his house, the more exhausted he always ended up.
Yeah, he wasn't great with most forms of social interaction.
Ezran popped out of his bedroom, Bait sticking to his chest. "Where are you going?"
"I'm meeting Claudia to go gift-shopping," Callum replied, pulling on his signature blue jacket at the front door and adjusting his scarf so it wasn't trapped underneath.
Ezran's eyes lit up. "Can I come? I haven't been able to talk to Claudia about how great she was in her show yet!" He paused. "In person, I mean. Obviously I've texted her."
Callum hesitated with his scarf still in his hands. It wouldn't be a half-bad idea to have Ezran with him, because then Claudia would have to restrain her frustration and outrage at him to a minimum. A buffer, for lack of a better word. "Sure," he said, shrugging. He smoothed down his scarf before he raised his voice to call out to their dad. "Ez is coming with me! We're going to the arts' market downtown!"
There was a beat, then Harrow responded. "Alright! Let me know when you get there and when you're on your way back!"
"Got it!" Callum grabbed his keys out his pocket and gestured towards the door. "After you."
Ezran quickly returned Bait to his cage and pulled on a pair of tennis shoes before they both left the house, Callum catching the door and locking it behind them. "You said we're going to the arts' market?" he asked as he climbed into Callum's car and buckled in. "Who are you buying a gift for? Do you already know what you're getting?"
"I have no idea what I'm getting," Callum admitted as pulled out of the driveway. "I'm kind of hoping I'll know it when I see it." Which was not necessarily the ideal strategy. "And it's for…" He trailed off, briefly debating whether or not to tell Ezran who he was trying to find a gift for. Callum ultimately decided on whatever. There was nothing embarrassing about shopping for his amazing girlfriend. "It's for Rayla. I want to buy her a four-month anniversary gift."
"Oh, nice!" Ezran said. "I can help you pick something, then."
Callum was tempted to protest, but who was he kidding? He needed all the help he could get. "Perfect. We'll be a dream team."
Ezran pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening up his notes app. "Do you have a price range?" he asked as he began typing away. "And do you at least have a general idea of what you're looking for?"
"Uh…" His brother was already thinking farther ahead than Callum had at all. "I don't really have a price range, I guess. Just keep in mind that I'm a college freshman and therefore in general have a pretty limited budget."
Ezran snickered. "Right. You're super poor."
Callum lightly pushed his brother's head when he stopped at a red light, earning louder laughter from Ezran. "You're not exactly rich yourself."
"Okay, okay. We're both poor."
Callum snorted. "Yep, that sounds about right." He drove through the intersection as the light turned green. "Anyways. You asked if I have something in mind." He sighed, shrugging. "Not really. I've thought about getting her some earrings, since she does have her ears pierced, but she doesn't wear earrings often. For good reason, of course." He absentmindedly tapped the steering wheel before turning left onto a series of one-way side streets that would get them downtown faster. "I've also thought about getting her a ring, but again, I don't know if she'd wear it. Also the proposal jokes would get very annoying, very quickly."
Ezran laughed. "Maybe they'd get annoying for you. I think I'd enjoy them for quite a while."
"Well, yeah, you probably would." Callum shook his head in amusement. "But I don't intend to subject myself to that kind of long-term torture." He paused at a stop sign before turning left onto the street that would take them straight into the heart of downtown.
Ezran swiped down on his screen, presumably to read some notification, before returning back to his notes app. "You seem to have a jewelry theme going on," he commented. "Is that intentional?"
Callum was getting the vibes of some… weird therapy session from their conversation. "Uh… I mean, I wasn't actively thinking 'I must buy her jewelry,' if that's what you're asking." He frowned. Was it a bad sign if his two immediate ideas had been forms of jewelry? Internalized misogyny? Callum wasn't sure.
"Jewelry is definitely a valid option," Ezran said reassuringly. "I like the earrings idea, because you know she likes earrings and that she wears them every now and then. But we'll have plenty of time to look around for other things, too."
Callum couldn't help but wonder when Ezran had taken full control of his shopping plans. He paused at another stop sign, unlocking his phone and handing it to his brother when the car behind them honked angrily. "Can you text Claudia and tell her we're almost there?" he asked as he continued down the road.
"Yep," Ezran said, opening the text thread with Claudia and doing as instructed. After a pause he said, "Claudia says she's about to get here, too."
"Thank you," was all Callum said in reply, attention fully focused on the road. He hated parallel parking on this street, but it was free parking, and therefore preferred parking.
Thankfully, the jerk who'd honked at him had turned in a different direction at the stop sign, so there was no one behind him that was too impatient for him to get a move on while he took an entire decade trying to park.
"Hey, I think that's Claudia's car," Ezran said, leaning forward to peer out the front window. "If it's not, that's weird, because it has the same scratch on the bumper that Soren caused when he hit their mailbox ages ago and neither of them bothered to get it painted over."
"They said that scratches add character," Callum commented, amused, "but yeah, I think that's her car." They climbed out after Callum put his car into park and took the key out of the ignition. He made sure to lock the vehicle behind them.
"Claudia!" Ezran called, waving eagerly as their friend turned around and began walking towards them.
"Hey, guys!" she said cheerily, though Callum didn't miss the way she discreetly glared daggers at him. "Haven't seen you since senior night, Callum, and Ez, it's been practically forever!"
Senior night had been pretty fun, Callum would admit. A little overwhelming, but fun. And it had been great to see Soren so full of life amongst his teammates, especially with the other seniors, like Lucas. Hopefully he'd had a good enough time to forget about Viren not having gone to the game.
"I wanted to tell you that I saw the opening performance of Macbeth!" Ezran exclaimed. "I didn't get to say hi to you afterwards because I had to leave right away, but you were so good! It was amazing! You were definitely the most talented of the three witches."
Claudia beamed at his praise. "Aw, thank you, Ez! I'm very glad you enjoyed my performance. Many hours of rehearsal were put into that show, let me tell you."
Ezran laughed, and they all began walking down the sidewalk to the arts market. Ezran then handed Claudia his phone, the notes app open. "This is a summary of Callum's intentions for shopping today," he explained, "in case he was being all vague when he told you what he wanted to do."
Claudia laughed, nodding as she read what Ezran had typed. "Thank you. This is very informative."
Callum felt… well, 'awkward' was pretty much an understatement. He wasn't sure if Claudia was genuinely angry that he hadn't asked her for her help, or if it was more of a 'mildly-irritated-but-milking-it' sort of thing. As with most situations that required emotional involvement, Callum wasn't sure what to do. So he just focused on the weather instead - cold, yes, but at least the sun was directly above them in the sky. It helped negate some of the wind chill.
"So," Ezran said as they arrived at the street decorated with colorful stalls all the way down, "do we want to divide and conquer? Or should we stick together?"
Claudia raised an eyebrow at Callum. "You're in charge, boss. What would you prefer?"
"Uh…" Callum fiddled with the end of his scarf. "As long as we all stay in the same general area, I guess it's fine if we split up. We don't have to go to every shop together."
Ezran nodded, then promptly darted off to the first shop on the street. Callum was tempted to follow or head off in a completely different direction or really do anything to get away, but… He owed it to Claudia to talk to her, even if he was semi-terrified for his life to do so.
"You know, I'm picking up that you might be a little mad at me," he said, holding his thumb and forefinger so close together they might as well have been touching. "A tad."
Claudia laughed at his action, which made him relax. Only slightly, but better than not at all. "I'm not mad at you, per se. Just hurt." She placed one hand over her heart and the other on her hip, mock-pouting. "I'm your best friend, Callum! I mean, one of them. Why wouldn't you ask me to help you shop for Rayla? I literally live with her for most of the year! I probably have subconscious inside knowledge about things she might like!"
Callum grimaced. Her logic was pretty irrefutable. "I know, I know. I just thought you'd be busy or too stressed, since you only finished up Macbeth a week ago and there's the whole football craze going on right now because of the playoffs." Which he didn't completely understand, because the playoffs were still a month away. Give or take. Although it was pretty exciting that they'd been awarded the #1 seed in the CFP. He'd give them that. "I didn't want you to feel obligated to make time to help me, especially when there were other people who didn't have quite so much on their plate."
Claudia sighed, her gaze softening. "Callum, you are too caring for your own good." She lightly punched his arm as they started walking down the street towards a blue-tented stall. "I appreciate your concern. But trust me, I want to be here and help you! I can tell from Ezran's notes that you're really trying to make this special for Rayla, and if I'm able to provide a hand in that…" She shrugged. "Then there's not much more I could ask for, is there?"
Callum couldn't stop a grateful smile from breaking out onto his lips. "Thanks, Claudia. You're the best."
She smirked at him. "Don't I know it."
They paused their banter when they arrived at the stall, which was run by a tall, broad-shouldered man with brown hair. There were several knives laid out on the front table, most with highly stylized handles.
"Oh, are you two collectors?" the man said with a friendly smile. "I have knives, daggers, rapiers, sabers, and a few swords" - he gestured to a board behind him, where indeed several swords were displayed - "if you're interested. They're all hand-crafted by myself."
"Rayla does like blades," Claudia pointed out. "She was showing some of her techniques to Soren the other day. He almost cut his hand off when she told him to try."
Callum had no difficulty believing that incident's occurrence, which was… a tad concerning, if he thought too hard about it. "But does she need any more blades is probably a better point to consider," he said with a chuckle. He then turned his attention back to the man running the stall. "So, are these blades just for cosmetic purposes? Or are they actually functional?" He remembered Rayla talking about how important having balanced blades were, so he figured that functionality was surely the precursor to balance.
"These are all decorative," the man said, "but if you'd like, you can place an order for a customized blade that's made to be used. I can have it ready in three weeks."
Three weeks was too long - New Year's was only about a week and a half away.
"No, that doesn't work," Callum said apologetically. "But I appreciate the offer!" He made sure to take one of the man's business cards as they left, mostly because he felt bad that he couldn't buy anything.
"Callum! Claudia!" Ezran waved at them from across the street. "Come check this out!"
They joined him on the other side of the road, dodging a few people on the way.
"Whatcha got?" Claudia asked, adjusting her purple hat to better cover her ears.
"Ms. Rosa makes all kinds of jewelry," Ezran said brightly, gesturing to the tall, dark-haired woman sitting in the back of the stall. She nodded curtly at them. "If you show her a picture of Rayla, she can pick the best item to give her."
The woman nodded again. She seemed like the silent type.
"Alright," Callum said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He didn't take pictures often, but he did have several from the art showcase. He showed the woman one of himself and Rayla standing in front of his framed artwork.
The woman leaned forward and studied the photo, then stood, crossing over to the opposite side of the stall. After a moment, she returned, handing Callum a set of climber silver star and moon earrings, as well as a slender ring on a silver chain. "These."
Callum accepted the pieces, carefully examining them. Ezran had been right - the woman had chosen exactly the kind of things Rayla was most likely to wear. And yet… "I'll keep these in mind," he said, handing the jewelry back to the lady and giving her what he hoped was a friendly smile. "Thank you for your help."
The three returned to the street, thus continuing their quest for the perfect gift for Rayla. Numerous times they found items that Callum knew she would like, but something about them was just - just missing. Some kind of spark that he couldn't identify simply… wasn't there. He felt bad every time he left a stall without buying something, but most of the artists were understanding. A few winked at him and wished him luck, and one elderly woman even recommended another stall for him to try. No sale with either, but the gesture had been appreciated.
"Oh, Soren's calling me," Claudia said when they'd paused to buy snacks from a vendor. "One sec." She stepped aside to answer her phone.
As she did so, Callum noticed a stall behind her that he'd completely missed on their trek down the street. There was a… mystical quality to it - maybe it had been disguised by an illusion and that was why he'd walked right past the stall.
The reality, of course, was that he was easily distracted and had therefore just glanced over it. But it was fun to pretend.
"Hey, Ez," Callum said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and handing his brother a $20 bill. "I'm gonna check out the stall over there." He pointed across the street. "Can you order our food if I'm not back by the time we're at the front of the line?"
Ezran gave him a thumbs up, and Callum dropped his wallet back into his pocket before jogging across the street to the teal-tented stall.
A woman with shockingly white hair and piercing green eyes stood inside, a table lining each wall of the area. "Hello," she said with a brilliant smile, an oddly familiar yet subdued twang to her voice. "My name is Lujanne. Is there something in particular you're looking for?"
Callum frowned. White hair, a familiar if more subtle accent… Oh!
"You're a Moonshadow," he blurted. The shock written on the woman's - Lujanne's - face made him immediately regret his abrupt outburst. "I - I mean, you're from Xadia. The Moonshadow clan." A beat passed, and he hesitated. "Right?"
Lujanne stared at him for a moment longer before she managed to regain her composure. "Yes, I am," she said stiffly, clasping her hands together. "If that is a problem, I do kindly ask that you leave my shop. I am not in the mood for conflict today."
Callum's eyes widened. He hadn't even considered how many ways his words could be misconstrued, especially given how - well, unexpected they'd been for her. "Oh, no! Not at all!" he said as he frantically shook his head. "I'm so sorry if I came across as rude. It's - uh, well, my girlfriend is also part of the Moonshadow clan, but I didn't really know there were any other Xadians in Katolis." His cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment. "It was ignorant of me to make that assumption. Again, I'm so sorry."
Lujanne studied him for a moment, as if trying to ascertain how genuine he was. Then she relaxed and gave him a soft smile. "That's quite all right, young man. No harm done. Allow me to try again." She gestured to the various tables in her stall. "Is there something specific you're looking for?"
Callum could feel his face reddening further. He hadn't known it was possible to resemble a cherry as much as he did at that moment. "I'm trying to find an anniversary gift for my girlfriend, actually."
Lujanne tapped her chin. "She's a Moonshadow, you say?" When he nodded, she winked at him. "I believe I have just the thing." She turned around, grabbing a box from underneath the back table before beginning to sift through it.
As she did so, Callum absentmindedly began looking over the items on the other two tables. He practically lasered in on a pair of silver studs, the earring design a familiar circle with a point. He picked them up, surprised at how delicate they felt in his hands.
"You have a good eye." Callum jumped when he realized Lujanne was beside him, and she chuckled. "That symbol is representative of the Moonshadow clan. If your girlfriend has her ears pierced, then I believe those would be a great option."
Callum knew it was technically her job to sell things to him, and yet he was still immediately convinced. "I'll take them." Then he paused, face growing red once more. "Oh, wait. You said you had something else, right?" He didn't want to disregard whatever her suggestion was.
"I do," Lujanne said with a modest shrug. "But only if you are interested in seeing it."
He was, and gave her an affirming nod.
Lujanne pulled a silver flower with a light blue crystal in the middle from behind her back, the entire piece slightly larger than her hand. "These flowers are given to someone to symbolize how even when they are apart, their love blooms strong." She chuckled. "It might be a bit much for someone as young as yourself, but I have no doubt your girlfriend would be greatly flattered by the sentiment."
Callum hesitated, then asked, "It's not - It's not associated with proposing or anything, right?" The teasing would be merciless. Too much for him to take.
Lujanne laughed, shaking her head. "Heavens, no. While often exchanged between partners, it is also not uncommon for these flowers to represent platonic love, such as a gift from a parent to their child when that parent is passing away."
Callum nodded, studying the metal flower. It was… mesmerizing. The details on the petals were fine and intricate, and the crystal seemed to catch light from a dozen different angles. "Yes," he said finally, confidence surging through his veins. "I'd like to buy both, please." He smiled at her. "Thank you so much for your help. These are perfect."
Lujanne returned his smile before moving to tuck the flower and the earrings into a small gift bag. "You are very welcome, young man."
Callum didn't realize until he'd already returned to the food vendor that when she'd given him the total, Lujanne hadn't charged him for the flower - only the earrings. And when he revealed to Ezran and Claudia that he'd finally purchased a gift for Rayla, he… chose not to show them the flower, either. He kept that gift to himself. Close to his heart, as it were.
At least until New Year's.
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I'm like 99% sure New Year's is the next chapter. It's a fun one. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too, though! Happy holidays to all of you; specifically, I hope any Jewish readers I may have of this fic had a very happy Hanukkah :) Thank you all for reading! See you next week!
