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."
Just as Ethari scoffed in mock surprise, Rayla came bounding out of the stables. "Guess what!" She exclaimed. "Melgeth's pups will be born any day now!" Her dads' too, were excited, for they were also fond of the moonstrider.
Rayla had blindfolded Runaan to make sure he didn't know where they were going, but he had a suspicion that they were going to the forests where they always went on his birthday. It took the three elves about thirty minutes to get to the middle of the adoraburr grove, where Rayla uncovered Runaan's blindfold. "You can look now! Are you surprised?" The older elf smiled, "I am, thank you, small shadow."
It was such a beautiful place; the sunlight which filtered in through the overgrown roots and branches was incredibly bright at the time of day, and the chirping of the adoraburrs sounded strangely relaxing. The countless memories that had been made in the meadow had all been good, no matter how far-fetched that sounded.
After a couple minutes of making grass angels, the small elfling propped up her head. "Do you have the picnic basket?" She asked Ethari, who held up a woven basket in his right hand. "Right here!" Was his reply.
They stayed at the grove for hours, and hours, merely relaxing and telling stories or poems. Unlike human cultures who mainly retold fables about wars, kings, and the seasons, the elves of Silvergrove wrote mostly about love and the illusions of life. It may seem like a dark subject, but Ethari always made them sound beautifully real and adventurous.
Rayla proudly recited a song made for the Moon Seers on a high rock, and before long, it was dark.
Runaan had fallen asleep on Ethari's chest, who was lying against a tall tree. It lifted up to the sky, as if his very existence ordered the light to shine on his papery leaves. "Ru," Ethari whispered quietly, ever so lightly shaking the slumbering assassin. Runaan awoke, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Almost immediately, he noticed something was wrong.
Rayla was missing.
He ran to the spot where he had seen her last, but only finding adoraburrs. But in the corner of his eye, he saw a glimpse of Rayla's horns. In a swift movement, he picked her up. She was sleeping, clutching three of the loveable, stackable creatures.
"We should go back home," He said quietly, making sure not to wake up the elf on his shoulder. Ethari nodded, and the three Moonshadows silently left the grove.
When they put Rayla to bed, the night shone with so many stars, it could've lit up the entire Silvergrove.
Runaan had taken out a bottle of moonberry moscato, which he and Ethari always brought out on his birthday.
As they finished their drinks, Ethari began to sub-consciously tap the table with his fingers; it turning out to be a rhythm Runaan knew very well. "That's the song they played during our first dance." He said softly, remembering every moment of that day as if it were yesterday.
Ethari chuckled, "You were so uptight at first, I thought you didn't like me. But when the dance ended, you came up to me, saying, 'I love you'. That was one of the most amazing days of my life, and still is to this day."
Runaan stood up abruptly and held out his hand. "Dance with me again?" He asked. Ethari took it, smiling, "Of course." Then the two of them danced like there was no tomorrow, weaving around each other like twisting willows. Their graceful movements flowed together like a calm river, limbs in constant motion to paint a picture no one could ever fully describe. They were the swirling mist after the rain, twirling, reaching, curling.
When they ended the dance, Runaan said, "I love you, Ethari, more than is comprehensible. I feel incomplete without you by my side. You taught me how to live, and how to love with trust. You healed me, and helped me rise. Even in my darkest days, you led me to the light. It made me find out who I really am. My cold heart melted in the presence of your glowing inferno, and I would die a thousand times for you without hesitance."
Both of them now had tears in their eyes. Ethari caressed Runaan's cheek, smiling so bright, that the very sun envied him. "I love you too, Runaan. So very, very much." Then he kissed him tenderly, and the two enjoyed the moment for a long while.
It was only broken when the craftsman realised he was leaving something behind. "
Oh! I nearly forgot. I made this for your birthday." He said. From the chair next to him, he held up a polished wood box. His husband gingerly took it, as if it were made of pure glass. When he opened it, a small replica of his heartbloom laid neatly in the box. However, this model behaved like an actual flower. The petals would move if jostled, and were quite delicate.
"This is beautiful," Runaan breathed. "How long have you been crafting this?"
Ethari shrugged his shoulders mysteriously. "I'd been planning this since I made your actual heartbloom, but started crafting it a little while ag--" He was cut off by another of Runaan's sweet kisses, which he gladly melted into. They were truly happy, and nothing would change that.
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Runaan had been freed from the wretched coin prison, but it came with a price. He was trapped in a deep sleep. His soul was like a frantic bird in a cage, struggling to be free, but his body betrayed him.
It was almost Runaan's birthday, but it was estimated he wouldn't be awake to celebrate it. For the time, he was staying at the Storm Spire's healing ward.
Ethari often visited, and since it was his husband's birthday, he was staying for a while.
This time, he brought a silver dragon; its flaming ruby eyes aglow.
He sat on his knees by Runaan's sleeping figure. So still. So gaunt. So pale.
"Runaan," He said, tears racing down his cheeks. These were tears of agony, and pain. Not of happiness. Not this time. "It's your birthday. The adoraburr grove is chirping. The trees are dancing in the wind. Everything's ready. Come back.
Please, come back home."