By the Stars (Runaan x Ethari Oneshots)

Untitled part

It was a bright May morning when Runaan woke to feel the bed shaking. It was Rayla, who was excitedly jumping on the bed, narrowly missing his legs through the sheets.

 "Rayla?" Runaan said sleepily as he sat up, shielding his eyes from the light spilling out of the window. "It's early, what are you doing up?" 

 Rayla stopped hopping, "You're awake! Have you forgotten? It's your birthday!" She said it with such excitement, it sounded like she would burst with energy at any minute. "You didn't forget.   .    . did you?"

 Runaan had to admit; he hadn't thought about his birthday. He didn't like to make a big deal out of it, and thought that reading a book by a shady tree was more than adequate. 

 "No, I didn't forget, little moon." He said with a soft smile. 

 Rayla grinned happily. "Good. I have a full day planned for you! Now come on! Ethari's waiting for you downstairs!" With a soft thump, she hopped off the bed and ran out the opened door from which wafted the smell of moonberry pancakes. 

 Runaan longed for at least three more minutes of rest, but he didn't want to keep his husband waiting. Or Rayla, for that matter. 

 With a feline like stretch, he slid out of bed, and took out the hair tie that fastened his long fishtail braid.

 As he glided down the silvery stairs, Runaan spotted Ethari chasing Rayla around with her favourite purple brush. "Rayla!" He laughed, taking a pause from his pursuit. "Just let me brush it!" Rayla giggled, "Never!"

 When Ethari had bended over in another fit of laughter, Runaan snuck behind him, wrapping his husband in a gentle embrace. Ethari turned his head in surprise. 

 "Oh! Good morning, my shadow," he beamed. "You've finally woken up, hm? I've gotten breakfast all prepared for you at the table." Runaan buried his face in Ethari's shoulder, "Haven't you forgotten something?" When his husband looked at him in momentary confusion, Runaan kissed his cheek as the answer. Ethari kissed him back, then teasingly pushed him towards the dining table. "Go eat up. Rayla has a whole day of activities set up for you! You need to get your strength up."

 Ethari's cooking was unmatched. His recipe for moonberry pancakes was impossibly light and fluffy, but also perfectly chewy. 

  As soon as they had finished their meal, Rayla took her foster fathers' hands, and ushered them to follow her out the door. "Come on, come on, come on!" She said eagerly. Runaan and Ethari looked at each other fondly, and accompanied her. 

 "Before we go to the for--, I mean nowhere, nowhere! Can we say hi to Melgeth?" Rayla said hopefully. Melgeth was an expecting Moonstrider, and happened to be Rayla's favourite creature in all of the Silvergrove.  

 "Of course." Ethari said affectionately. "Just don't get too far ahead!" Runaan added. The young elf nodded, and skipped down the moonstone pavement, heading towards the stables. 

 "I haven't been able to spend time with my favourite assassin in such a long time." Ethari sighed contently, taking Runaan's hand and brushing it with his thumb. "I remember all those years ago, on the first birthday that we all celebrated together. It was your birthday. I made you a mouse! And that was just the beginning of my joking schemes. The next day, I filled your closet with tiny wind-up mice with the help of Tiadrin and Lain! We got a good laugh out of it. Now that I think of it, where did you put them?" He studied Runaan's face with a smoldering intensity. His expression didn't last long, though. Ethari burst into another fit of giggles. "Only you can make an expression like that, and still keep a straight face." He rested his head on Runaan's shoulder as they looked over to the stable. A few moments passed when Runaan finally answered, "I wish I could spend more time with you, my tinker, but you have me all of today. And of those gifts, I might've put them in storage when I moved to your place."