"Luuuuudis! Rajaaaaak! Catch me!" There was a shriek from the sky and Rajak looked up only to see a familiar face crashing down. Astounded by the sight, he simply stood there, and also because it would be a while before the spirit actually reached the ground. He was really high up. "...Are you going to catch him?"

"I suppose I'll have to." Ludis answered, he couldn't let Lusar hurt himself. Still… he wondered about Lusar's sanity sometimes. This had been the second time he'd thrown himself from a height wanting to be caught.

"Can you? Is the force of the fall fine if you aren't in your true form?" He would just squeeze back into form even if splattered but the same didn't go for Ludis.

"Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine." Ludis' strength was limited in his human form but he wasn't any weaker than Karias.

He nodded, and retreated back into the shadow of the tree they had been talking under. The sunlight was a bit harsh right now, and he preferred going unseen. "Then go ahead." It seemed Lusar was going to reach the ground in a minute now.

Ludis flew up, to catch Lusar to the best of his ability, he made sure to brace himself, it'd be far too dangerous for both of them, if he wasn't prepared to deal with the force of the impact.

Lusar crashed into Ludis, giggling as the impact made them fall. Pulling his friend up slightly by floating so that he didn't hit the ground and maybe get hurt, Lusar hugged him tightly. "That was fun!"

"You really need to be more careful; one day you or someone else could get really hurt." He knew that Lusar would be fine, but he wasn't so sure about the ones having to catch him. Especially if they were caught off guard.

Pouting- "Don't scold me. I'll make sure nobody gets hurt."

"I know, but a little extra care on your part wouldn't go amiss." Ludis sighed, he couldn't stay mad at Lusar even slightly.

His pout deepened so he just kissed Ludis' cheek, letting go of him. "So what were you doing? With Rajak no less!"

"Don't make everything sound like I'm having an affair. We were just on our way to see an opera," he said, another sigh accompanying it and spying what seemed like the tiniest smile on Rajak's face. Though it looked like a mere trick of the eye he knew it to be true.

Lusar wrapped his arms around Ludis again, making him struggle to hold him as he squirmed- "And I'm just saying that operas are awfully romantic. Right Rajak?"

"This one isn't."

"Now what is it with this obsession with my having an affair?" Ludis asked, finally managing to carry Lusar comfortably and moving under the shade next to Rajak.

"Aw Rajak! You're supposed to support me here!" Lusar swatted at him with a hand but Rajak stepped back, a hand still cupped to his chest.

"Now why would he do that? Watching shows with your friends is perfectly normal."

"...Sure."

Ludis and Rajak looked at each other, neither understanding just what Lusar was trying to do. He was completely and utterly confusing. An unsolvable variable. Just being around him built a camaraderie between people, and it went doubly so for them.

"It doesn't matter," Lusar said, pouting and in a tone that obviously meant otherwise, "So what are you holding? Tickets? Isn't it kinda weird to hold them that way?"

Ludis glanced to Rajak who held out his hand, still gently cupping it. A tiny blob of black and yellow squirmed under their stares before curling up into an even tinier ball. There were several squeaks and Rajak cupped it to his chest again.

"My younger brother. Father is busy so I care for him instead."

Scrambling out of Ludis' arms - nearly hitting him in the face several times in the process - Lusar pressed up against Rajak to peer at the blob. The tiny being squeaked and high squeal escaped him in response making it quiver as two pinpricks of white appeared to stare at him. This was... way too- "Cute!"

Feeling the sturdy trunk of the tree behind him when he attempted to step back, Rajak watched Lusar impassively. His younger brother seemed more intrigued than fearful so he wouldn't create the distance he was partial to. Eyes flickering briefly to Ludis, he predicted the question that was obvious from the curious expression on his face-

"I bought a ticket for him too so there won't be any trouble."

Ludis held back the laughter that threatened to escape him. He was trained well-enough for that. Ah, Rajak could be a bit dense at times. Why would that be the first question he'd ask? There were more important things, and they were considered much more basic and obvious.

"Rajak," he said, smiling as he stepped closer to get a proper look at the child, "I just wanted to know his name. Surely Ser Rayga has given him one?"

Vaguely listening to the two talk, Lusar pressed up against Rajak again, unaware of his discomfort as he offered a finger to the little blob. Any other time he'd be busy ogling the elder Kertia but the shadow that cautiously approached him was much more interesting.

Rajak stiffened from both sources of embarrassment that were currently assaulting him, though he was much more hyperaware of the freezing cold that seeped into him with Lusar's body than the gentle warmth from Ludis' smile. He found it difficult to answer but did so anyway, glad that his people didn't blush.

"Rael."

That made Ludis look up at him, and away from the blob that inched ever closer to Lusar's finger warily, with surprise. Surely he hadn't misheard that. It was a common name sure, but among they angels and the seraphs. Not from the people of the shadow kingdom.

Looking up at his brother with his two little pinpricks of light practically highlighting his jaw, the blob squeaked upon hearing his name. It was as if he was confused on why he'd been called.

"Rael?" Lusar repeated, making the blob return his attention to the finger offered once more, "Another ra-name! Just like fire~"

Just as he said fire, Rael touched his finger and flinched back squeaking. That made Lusar giggle.

"I'm the complete opposite, cutie. I'm just like ice!"

Rael continued to squeak indignantly and Ludis sighed, bemused. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Lusar was on the same wavelength as the Kertia men and that likely meant the names truly were picked for the ra of fire. Even if the meanings didn't fit. Sometimes he wondered if the rest of the Kertia family were like Ser Rayga and Rajak but perhaps it was better that he never found out.

Unaware of Ludis' unflattering thoughts, Rajak gazed at his brother with a faint smile, unnoticeable to most considering the shadows he was made up of blended in with the shade of the tree. "Calm yourself, Rael. The cold won't hurt you. You weathered through the harsh winter just fine."

Squeaks becoming softer, more yellow appeared on the blob's body as he returned again to Lusar's finger and brushed against it. Bolder, he wrapped around the appendage, lengthening into what seemed like a black and yellow bandage as he did.

"Oh! He changed shape!" Lusar said as he brought his hand closer to his face, examining it from one side then another with bright eyes and a wide smile.

"Yes, we shadows are flexible after all-" Rajak ran his free hand through his hair to smooth it back and as he did it flickered between being simply shadows and actual hair- "All our looks are created based on the surrounding world. Having a distinguished form is difficult for most of my people."

Ludis nodded- "Because you're all just shadows. Still, if Rael's already seen winter then he must have been born sometime last year." Though the comment about having weathered it made him weary.

"Yes, in late autumn. Father was ver-"

A loud yelp interrupted his words and they both flinched as Lusar tumbled back and almost fell flat on his back, saved only by his penchant for floating. Rael had grown dizzy from how he was being examined and had leapt onto the closest surface, Lusar's face, and was now covering most of it like some sort of sticky tarp as he chirped incessantly.

"Rael!" Rajak called out with muted horror, and attempted to pry his brother off of the death spirit's face.

It was a futile attempt as Rael screeched and stuck closer to Lusar, muffling his cries. The harder Rajak tried, the louder Rael got, and Lusar on his part flailed wildly in the air as he covered his ears. Before Lusar could get it in his head to drift away, up and out of reach, Rajak backed off. He looked to Ludis, eyes pleading for help.

With a worried sigh, Ludis appraised his floating friend. "Rajak, hold him in your arms and make sure he can't move. Don't make this difficult Lusar, please."

Shoulders slumping as he nodded, Lusar's dejectedness was obvious even with his hidden expression. Not that it lasted long. As his bare feet met the dirt, Rajak held him tight within his arms so that Ludis could access his face and he seemed to be alight once more.

It was a change that made Ludis want to both sigh and smile. Lusar was easy to read with how he kept his heart on his sleeve but the many years Ludis had spent from childhood had built up feelings in his own heart and it always pained him to see his friend always flitting from one person to another, lovestruck. Pushing the pain down, knowing it was irrelevant, he hummed softly as he attempted to soothe what he was sure was simply a frightened child.

Rajak watched with fascination as Rael quietened and let Ludis stroke him lightly. It took a while but his brother softened, rolling back into a tiny blob and plopping down into Ludis' hand.

"Sunlight!" Lusar exclaimed as his face met the air again, and floated out of the shade as Rajak quickly let go of him. Giggling as he looked up, he screamed to the skies, "I love you so so much!"

Rael squeaked, shocked again, and leapt from Ludis' hand to his brother's, curling up tight.

Tucking his quivering brother into a pocket over the approximation of a human heart, Rajak patted him constantly. It was both out of relief and to comfort him, as he remembered his father doing similarly when he was a child.

"Lusar, you're scaring Rael. Don't shout so much," Ludis said despite the soft look in his eyes as he gazed at him.

"Oh! Sorry!" Lusar clamped his hands over his mouth and nodded, but his attempt at silence didn't last long as his eyes widened with a revelation. "Ludis!" he called brightly as he practically threw himself at his friend, hugging him tightly, "You were so good at making the lil cutie quiet! And your song was so nice! How come you do that for Seira and the cutie but not for me?"

His grip on his friend had been weakening the longer he spoke but again his eyes went wide and it was like a vice again- "Not that I'm complaining! Thank you sooo much for getting Rael off. I love you as much as the sun! Maybe even as much as Mother Astra! You're the best Ludis!"

Struggling to breathe, Ludis attempted to keep his balance as Lusar rocked wildly while speaking. With great difficulty he managed to get a few words out, "You... never asked. Your sister's... a... toddler."

Smiling valiantly in what seemed like the face of death to Rajak who watched them, unsure of what he should do, Ludis signed to him to leave for the opera and that he would catch up. Rajak nodded and walked away but hearing Lusar's bright voice and what he was sure was the sound of Ludis collapsing with the death spirit on top of him, he wondered whether the angel would truly make it in time.

That and whether he'd even be alive, though he supposed death by suffocation from Lusar was a pretty decent way to go.

This chapter is only partially rped and most of it, as well as all future chapters, will be written entirely by me aka Marionette Ame. Ofc by that i mean i'll upload like three chapters every 2 years lmao. Maybe I'll even manage to finish this in a decade, who knows. I am going to keep the original rped style of writing though since I usually write more dialogue when I do and add more actions plus I wouldn't want to completely change to my usual style.