Callum couldn't explain why, but it felt more unnatural seeing Sir Sparklepuff wearing a shirt than otherwise.

Everyone at the breakfast table stared as Sir Sparklepuff carefully grasped a spoon, making a show of eating cereal with it rather than just drinking from the bowl. "Is he… feeling well?" asked Viren, clueless, a typical expression from him concerning his children.

Sir Sparklepuff's wings flapped aggressively, perhaps even with frustration, frowning.

"He's doing great!" chimed in Terry. "Maybe he's getting a growth spurt."

Aaravos smiled and ruffled Sir Sparklepuff's hair as he walked by with a cup of tea. "He just wants to be included." Sir Sparklepuff smiled under the touch, but Aaravos was already gone, not noticing the effect.

Claudia tapped her chin, eyeing Sir Sparklepuff. "We could get him pants too. Are you trying to be like us?"

Sir Sparklepuff managed to nod, struggling to keep the spoon level in his hand.

Callum set his own mug of tea down and jokingly gestured to Sir Sparklepuff. "Well, we all know now that Startouch Elves and humans should not mix."

Sir Sparklepuff's wings drooped and something deep inside of Viren snapped. Hands slamming down on the table, Viren shot up out of his chair. His tone was low and only barely controlled, syllables hissing out from his clenched jaw as he loomed over Callum. "He understands you perfectly. Watch yourself."

"Okay, okay!" Callum's chair scraped the floor as he hastened away from Viren. "Can you blame me for wondering where the like, bug parts came from?"

The entire table looked at Aaravos.

Aaravos raised his eyebrows. "Not me."

The entire table looked at Viren.

"Huh?" asked Viren. "Wait, Aaravos, you're clearly more… Sparklepuff than me."

"There's nothing about me to explain the butterfly wings," stated Aaravos. "That's from you."

Sir Sparklepuff seemed to try and shrink further down in his seat. No, it didn't matter where anything about the child came from. Viren lifted him up and held him, the way someone would carry a toddler. "He's a child- my child. Not some pet!"

Terry raised his hand. "I know that!"

"Yes, Terry, you're perfect, but the rest of you?" Viren narrowed his eyes at Aaravos. " Especially you, who knew all along? Abhorrent."

Claudia gestured to Callum. "Why are you yelling at all of us when you could just yell at him? I've taken pretty good care of Sir Sparklepuff!"

"As evidenced by naming a person that?" pressed Viren. He turned to Callum as Claudia frowned. "She's right. Perhaps you've gotten too comfortable with your less stained hands to admit you can be cruel." Viren stormed away, still holding Sir Sparklepuff in his arms.

Callum was the new center of attention at the table. He threw his hands in the air. "Alright, I was out of line! I'm sorry that the purple butterfly creature named Sir Sparklepuff who was made in a Dark Magic basement doesn't register to me the way Soren does." He sighed, guilt settling in his stomach the same way it would back when he and Ezran used to bicker over small things. "I'll go apologize."

"Myself as well." Aaravos made no move to get up, digging into a dish of fresh berries and cream. "Poor Viren's feelings have been so sensitive lately."

Terry glanced in the direction Viren had gone. "Shouldn't you be off then?"

Aaravos waved his spoon nonchalantly. "A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

Callum rolled his eyes. "Finally, a lie."

"It would be a lie only if you'd said it," teased Aaravos, basking in Callum's irritation.

"Hmm." Kpp'ar drizzled syrup over a plate of Claudia's pancakes. He gave Callum a shrewd look. Callum fought the urge to react and could see why Viren was still intimidated by Kpp'ar. "You really should get to be more accepting of half elves considering your future plans, right?"

Claudia tapped her nose, eyes bright. "Yeah, you could have moon moth kids!"

Being a visual person, Callum could see the result in his mind's eye immediately. He squinted at nothing. But if it was Rayla and his kid… "It wouldn't matter, even if it was a kind of weird experience. Really weird, even. People don't have to look a certain way to be cared about. Ugh, I guess it's the old elf and human issues all over again. I won't pretend I was perfect when I met Rayla either. I mean, I thought she drank blood! How embarrassing."

"Some elves do," commented Aaravos. He licked a spot of raspberry off of his mouth.

Terry looked nauseous.

Nope.

Callum decided to not press that. He really didn't want to know why Aaravos, or anyone, might drink blood.

"Anywayyyy," Terry stood up and waved to them all. "I was going to go and spend some time with the mages. We might get a breakthrough any day now, right?"

Aaravos stretched out his arms and yawned, so catlike that Callum was surprised he didn't knock something off of the table for fun. "Let's go our separate ways."

-BREAK-

Viren hadn't thought about where he was taking Sir Sparklepuff. All he wanted to do was go somewhere quiet as his mind struggled to process everything, the full implications of Aaravos and his ritual sinking in. His feet carried him to the room he was sharing with Aaravos. He closed the door and sat down on the bed, setting Sir Sparklepuff down next to him.

Sir Sparklepuff looked at him with round eyes, curious, a little tentative.

"I'm sorry." Viren rubbed his face and sighed. "This may not make a lot of sense to you, but I have to try. I have to assume you can understand." Sir Sparklepuff sat cross legged, full attention on Viren. "It sounds odd, but I didn't know I was your father at first. One of them, anyway. It's taken this long for me to truly realize what you are. You've noticed that you're different. You've noticed others see it too." The child lowered his head, confirming it.

Viren felt the fabric of Sir Sparklepuff's tunic, the attempt to fit in. Sir Sparklepuff somewhat mimicked the motion, laying a hand on Viren's sleeve as he continued. "You'll always be different, but I don't want you to be upset. You don't have to earn my love.

"No child should."

Shame welled inside of him. Even when faced with just his youngest, Viren's mind was on Soren and Claudia.

Viren smoothed down Sir Sparklepuff's hair, eyes on his wings. "I didn't see it at first. I suppose with how much of my magic was butterfly related before, it makes sense. The most extraordinary, beautiful part of you came from me of all places, and I don't care if no one else understands. I'm proud to see life and bright colors come from some aspect of me rather than darkness and grey."

He hugged Sir Sparklepuff close again. Enough of his words, or at least his feelings, seemed to have gotten through by how Sir Sparklepuff chittered into his shoulder, nuzzling against him.

They were still like that when Aaravos walked in. Viren was still not fully used to being around Aaravos. He moved with deliberate grace, smoothly sliding onto the bed and putting an arm around Viren and their child, intense eyes locked onto Viren's. "It seems we're due for another talk," he murmured.

Sir Sparklepuff raised his head, apparently understanding what Aaravos meant. He scampered away but seemed energetic and happier compared to before.

Viren folded his arms. "That's your son."

"Yes."

Viren huffed, eyes narrowed with frustration. "And? He's largely unsupervised, he only just started wearing clothes so he might've been cold all this time, we haven't been helping him speak, he's clearly going through some things which you alone would know about, and all of this and you let it go?"

"To be fair, the mages here are quite fond of him and watch over him carefully."

"That isn't how you're supposed to parent all the time!" Viren stood up and paced, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "He isn't like the average child, but he hasn't been safe! We're supposed to care for him! I didn't understand it until recently, but now that I see myself in him- how have you not cared?"

Aaravos took a deep breath. He stood up and laid his hands on Viren's shoulders. "Your indignation is understandable, and there's little to say that doesn't sound like an excuse. I'm not used to having connections anymore. As much as I need them, it's become a new balancing act. Our little one has been of the least priority to us all. That's fact."

It was a fact, which made Viren feel worse. "I know."

"No harm has come to him. He's been provided for. Clearly, our relationship to him could be stronger. It isn't how you understand things should be."

Viren stepped back. "How I understand things? Aren't some things, like how parents should treat children, something beyond myself? Perhaps Startouch Elves are different and don't care for their own kind, but we do!"

Aaravos was still. Silence was heavier than shouting. He traced a few of the stars on his wrist with his fingertip. "No, I don't believe they care. Not as much."

Guilt seized Viren so rapidly it was like he'd plunged into a pool of ice.

"No- I'm sorry."

"It's true." Aaravos's tone was still even and calm, but Viren still rushed forward.

"It's not what I wanted- I didn't want to hurt you."

Aaravos angled his head, expression curious. "You often think you know how I feel. Do you remember what I whispered to you all that time ago, before I saved your life?"

Viren swallowed hard. Of all the times to bring it up… "You told me you loved me. I said you didn't- I was out of line."

"But I said that I wanted to." Aaravos held Viren's waist, gentle despite the tension between them. "You needed proof and I have given it, have I not? My feelings may not mirror yours the way I wish they would. I still have them, of course, in painful intensity. After all these years, I cannot tell if what I feel is 'correct' anymore, but I do know my intentions.

"If I want to love someone, I do. If I want to care for someone, I will. They are choices more than emotions, but strong nonetheless."

There was no quantifying more or less love, only steady and wild. Viren laid a hand on Aaravos's shoulder, expression softer. "I think I understand."

Aaravos smiled, bringing Viren in closer, their chests almost touching. "You've been so cute lately." Viren's face grew hot. "Of course I noticed. Your heart is warmer than mine, more susceptible to rising and falling. I don't share your butterflies, but just as when I said I loved you then, I still do now. For selfish reasons, to keep my word, and because I want to: I love you, if you can accept it like this."

He may not have the same feelings, but Viren somehow felt even more reassured by the consistency of it. Viren's throat was tight. An impending emotional burst was growing, and he didn't have long before it hit him. "You're right. I've come to see you as my family." Viren's fingertips brushed against Aaravos's jaw. "Nothing is more important to me than my family."

Aaravos went in for a kiss, holding Viren close. "I know."

-BREAK-

Callum wandered the pathways and bridges over the canals of water. He didn't know where he was going, only hoping to accidentally run into someone he knew. Ideally, he could smooth over the whole incident with Sir Sparklepuff.

Loneliness had a way of gripping him even in the middle of the day surrounded by other people. Would he ever be free of it? How had Rayla managed those two years? (She hadn't, not really, not well, and he knew some of how she'd felt firsthand now).

He sat down near the marketplace main hub, off to the side on his own secluded bench under a tree with warm lanterns above him. Pulling out his spellbook, he drew who he almost always did those days: Rayla.

Time passed. He felt better, one drawing following after the other.

Callum raised his head when he heard an odd humming sound. Seiki and Terry walked by, Seiki seemed to be trying to talk and hum at the same time. Terry responded with a buzzing noise and a shake of his hips which made Seiki burst into laughter. "Ahaha, good one!"

Rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly, Callum peered at them. "Uh. What?"

"Oh, you'll love this!" gushed Terry, pulling Seiki over to Callum. "So, one of the languages I know is Xadian Bee language."

Callum pondered that. "Do bees speak differently here than in Xadia?"

"Well, they've got a bit of an accent," admitted Terry. "But guess what Evenerans know!"

Seiki made the same humming noise again and bounced on his heels. "We can't speak directly to dragonflies— though I've tried— but our native language incorporates their humming! It took centuries of us mostly living in isolation to develop. Turns out, Dragonfly and Bee have some similarities! At least when people try to speak them."

Callum had nothing to bring to this conversation, and he sensed Terry and Seiki could talk for hours. "Oh, uh. Wow. I thought you were just a spider guy, but you're a general bug guy, huh?"

Seiki nodded. He looked down at a flask hanging off of his belt containing a Starweaver Spider. "I still prefer those little guys, but I do like all the critters around these parts. The other mages use bugs for curatives and anything else they need, but I've been holding out all this time, hoping that I could connect to something. No luck so far."

"It takes time," assured Callum, which so far was his most common phrase said to any of their students. "I'd tried to connect to the Moon Arcanum before Sky. It just wasn't the right time. I wasn't ready for that yet."

Ooooooh, he needed to go back and see Lujanne someday. He'd get her real good.

"There might be something to that." Seiki opened a pocket notebook of his, flipping through pages. "I've wanted to connect to the Star Arcanum all this time, but maybe that isn't the right one for me. It's hard to understand what the Stars are about enough to feel a connection." He held up a sketch of a spider web. Callum had no idea what he was supposed to be seeing in it.

Terry snapped his fingers. "Those spiders make pictures for you, yeah? Maybe the Star connection is an interest in fine arts!" He pointed next to Callum.

Sir Sparklepuff had joined them without Callum even realizing it. His spellbook was open on his lap to his latest Rayla drawing. Sir Sparklepuff was drawing with a stick in the dirt next to him, unmistakably making a simplistic but recognizable Rayla head. At Terry's gesture, he looked up and chirped.

Callum leaned forward, looking at Sir Sparklepuff's Rayla. She looked cute, a childlike smile on her face. Her horns were fully rounded rather than pointed which just added to her cute look. The creature had never even met Rayla, but since it was someone Callum liked… "That's really good!" Sparklepuff sat up taller, proud. "Hey," continued Callum. "I'm sorry about earlier, and even way before that. I can be a bit of a jerk sometimes."

Sir Sparklepuff rested his cheek on Callum's shoulder.

A few other mages walked by, all of them eager to see what Sir Sparklepuff had drawn. "Hmm," said one, a snake insignia on the back of their cloak. "Aaravos… but even cuter?"

"What?" Callum coughed. "No, no, that's not Aaravos. That's Rayla."

Another mage pored over Callum's sketch of Rayla. "Wow… so is that how you resist Aaravos's charms?"

Callum was never going to understand these people. "Uh… sure. He's fine, I guess. But yeah! Rayla and I are, um, something." Callum mimed Rayla slishing and slashing with her blades. "She's brave! She's daring! She's the coolest person I've ever met!" He flipped to another page of her, a group of six total people gathered around him. "She's a Moonshadow Elf."

"But she looks so nice!" protested another stranger.

"Because she is," insisted Callum. "Moonshadow Elves aren't what you all think! If you can like Aaravos, you can definitely like Rayla." He carefully tore out a page, passing it to the gaggle of people in front of him. "See? She's got these butterfly blade thingies, and a bow, and she has those purple markings under her eyes. Rayla's strong, fast, and really pretty," he gushed. "She's saved me so many times. She's so… Rayla."

Callum's face was getting warm, but everyone listening was so attentive that he didn't feel the need to stop talking.

"So, a couple years back, she tried to kill me…" he started, getting everyone around him hooked on their story while he kept drawing and speaking.

It felt good to talk about her the way he hadn't felt free to for awhile. He glossed over parts he thought the mages might consider unflattering, of course. Terry was particularly invested, holding Sir Sparklepuff on his lap as they listened with rapt attention.

By the end he'd handed out several Rayla sketches and wound up summoning a small crowd. His heart felt lighter, more cheerful than he'd been in quite awhile.

Terry and Sir Sparklepuff both applauded with the rest of the group as the gathering dispersed. "You know," said Terry. "I've also had a Rayla encounter, and I had a much different impression of her. Not bad- I mean, I just didn't want anyone hurt, but I never knew all of the rest of her story."

"I'm sorry about that," replied Callum. Considering what went down at Umber Tor, he wasn't surprised.

"But we've all had something like that happen, yeah?" Terry smiled. "Someone was our enemy just because they weren't our friend yet! Describes our little group, doesn't it?"

If only all relationships could be that way. Terry avoided Callum's eyes as they both recalled their conversation about Ibis.

Still, Callum had had his share. He'd rather not let his most bitter emotions get a hold of himself. "You're right. So far, things have worked out with Viren, Aaravos, and the rest of us. It was the whole reason I came along, to keep Aaravos from harming people."

He had unfinished business, though.

Callum turned to Sir Sparklepuff, expression serious. "I know I apologized, but it isn't enough to give you words without action. Therefore, I shall perform what I haven't had to do in years- my special Jerkface Dance."

He stepped back and took a deep breath.

Kicking his legs and moving his arms in time to an internal beat, Callum's expression was solemn as he moved through the whimsical yet remorseful stages of the Jerkface Dance. Terry grinned and clapped to the tempo Callum set, but Sir Sparklepuff went even further. He joined in behind Callum, following him and spiritedly mimicking his motions.

It wasn't normally an audience participation act, but Callum guessed that if the person he was apologizing to was having fun then that was all that mattered.

-BREAK-

Callum passed by Claudia on his way to the library. She waved at him, books in her arms. "Looking for Aaravos?" she asked. "He's finishing a manuscript tonight, so he says. Not even my dad can get him to go to bed."

"I see. I'll go talk to him." Callum hesitated. "Thanks, Claudia."

She smiled. "It's nothing. Without Aaravos around, I can bother my dad unhindered."

Aaravos had a particular favored corner of the library to work in. He took up an entire table next to a stained glass window in the upper area of the library. Callum quietly made his way up to Aaravos, turning the corner around a bookshelf to watch him work.

As with anything, Aaravos was efficient. He wrote by hand as a normal person would, but several other quills hovered near him, writing in several places on the open spread of pages and embellishing his work with illuminations around the text. It only took him a couple of minutes to finish what a scribe could hope to do in a day.

Callum pulled up the chair next to Aaravos's right side, close enough to read what he was writing. "Draconic?"

"Yes." Aaravos didn't look up from his work, but his free right hand gestured for Callum to sit next to him. "Anything regarding Xadia or magic that is of use to humans which only I possess all of is going into this tome. Don't worry- I can duplicate it once its done."

"What? How many can you make?"

"Each copy will be slightly faded compared to the original, so I'll only make a few. I'll take one with us," he assured, sensing Callum's worry.

Callum wound up leaning against Aaravos to observe his work. Perhaps his storytelling and Jerkface Dancing had taken a lot out of him earlier. He rested his head against Aaravos's shoulder, yawning when Aaravos went so far as to drape his arm around Callum's shoulders, keeping him close and warm.

"How are you not sleepy?" murmured Callum. "It must be getting late." The letters and runes swam before Callum's eyes as he stared at them.

"I can go a day or two without sleep," explained Aaravos. "It's better for everyone if I sleep every night, but I wanted to get this done." He faced Callum and paused his work for a moment. "You may stay as long as you'd like. I never mind your company."

Their eyes met. Aaravos's expression was soft, welcoming Callum to collapse on him if he so wished.

Callum's eyelids were heavy. He dozed off like that, Aaravos's cloak over him and arm around him. There was a time when he'd never dream of such a thing, yet he'd grown to feel absolutely safe with Aaravos. Light scratches of quills and Aaravos's steady breathing sent Callum into a deep and restful sleep, held close for the rest of the night.

Morning came and Aaravos was still watching over him, the cloak still over Callum like a blanket. Callum's face was propped up on a couple of books and he pushed them aside. The book Aaravos had been writing was on its last couple of pages, yet he wasn't finishing it just yet. Callum groggily raised his head, stretching and sighing as he realized that he felt perfectly content. The light coming from the window above was early, but not bright enough to have woken him up on its own. "What's going on?" he murmured.

"We have a new guest," responded Aaravos.

That got Callum up. He scrambled to his feet, moving to the railing to look at the large doors, hoping to see who had arrived. Aaravos followed in a much more graceful manner. It was no one Callum knew. There was no Eveneran cloak, and he hadn't seen him around anywhere. However, one thing was clear.

He was a Dark Mage.

The young man stood in the entryway, expression locked on Callum and Aaravos. Oddly enough, in contrast to the Eveneran's reverence of Aaravos, he seemed… annoyed. His long brown hair had a few streaks of white in it. Wearing mostly black and gold in a way that reminded Callum of Claudia, he also sported silver bracers and a belt similar to what Seiki wore with a few canisters and bottles dangling off of it. The stranger folded his arms, sighing as if he was already done with the day despite the early hour.

"It had to be this," he grumbled.

Aaravos spread his arms, looking down at the mage. "And who do we owe the pleasure? There must be pleasure underneath that look somewhere."

"Too late for that with you here, complicating everything. I hate politics," replied the mage. Aaravos was unbothered by the attitude- perhaps even amused to be getting such a reaction with so little effort. Callum didn't like how the dynamic was shaping up within the first few moments.

The mage still looked as though Aaravos standing there personally offended him, even glaring at the Aaravos statue. His words were courteous enough, though Callum could sense that he didn't enjoy saying them.

"I'm Tressal, from Neolandia."