A Court of Flight and Valor

@ sun spirit

Bridris closed her eyes as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, smiling a little as he spoke. "I like it when you take care of me too, you're nicer and more kissable than the other guards." She teased softly, opening her eyes to smile up at him. She nodded a bit as he explained everything about kings and queens and why they had their traditions, leaning her head into his hand with a little smile. "I'm glad that you're glad." She murmured between kisses, leaning further into his arms to return his kiss. Some voice in her head was telling kissing him like this was a bad idea, but another was very openly encouraging it, that voice reminding her a bit of Roe, although she was much too distracted by Ramyth's kisses to really dwell on it.

---

"Who knows. But I hope they would." Ailuin grinned, shaking his head. "I wouldn't let them reassign you, Aub, you know that." He assured her, chuckling a bit as she insisted that her wings were healed, shaking his head a bit. "Aub, two days ago you had a big hole in your wings. I'm not just going to let you fly around without seeing Hanvosi first. And it would only take five minutes anyway." He argued before she began to kiss him, returning her lingering kisses and groaning as she ran a finger over his wing, smirking a bit as he looked up at her. "Chester."

@ katahdin

Ramyth chuckled softly at her teasing, leaning in for a kiss. "I'm hoping you're guessing on that and aren't actually familiar with how kissable the other guards are," he teased back, though he knew better, having been with her almost constantly the past month. Talking started seeming less important as they kissed more though, as did continuing the tour of the house Bridris had requested or listening out for others approaching or calling them to lunch. In fact, he was distracted enough that he anyone else approaching until he heard Tadruos' voice stuttering and then saying something about Mir waiting. By the time he pulled back and looked up though, both his sister and her husband were in the doorway, Tad looking visibly uncomfortable and like he was still trying to pull his wife away while Mirella had a grin on her face.

---

"Of course you wouldn't," Aubrius agreed as Ailuin attempted to reassure her about the council trying to reassign her. "But they'd try anyway and probably believe that they could convince you. Or that they could do it in secret and I'd actually listen." But then Ailuin had to insist on arguing with her after that, seemingly immune to her attempt at persuasion. "You're supposed to be distracted and agreeable," she complained, kissing him again, then peppering kisses along his jaw and down his neck. "I could show you right now that I'm fine to fly in less than five minutes. It'd take ten times that long just to walk to the castle to see Hanvosi," she murmured again his skin.

@ sun spirit

Bridris giggled softly, shaking her head as he mentioned her kissing the other guards. "Ew, no. I only want to kiss you, Ram." She gladly returned his kisses, gripping his tunic lightly as his hands moved to her waist, glad to be able to have a moment like this with him, even if it was probably not the best place or timing for it. As Ramyth pulled back at the sound of Tadruos and Mirella in the hall, her cheeks turning bright red at the sight of Mirella's mischievous grin, very quickly hiding her face in Ramyth's tunic as he turned to his sister and brother-in-law.

Mirella was busy swatting at her husband's hands as she tried to get him to stop pulling her away, absolutely beaming. "Tad, don't you realize how great this is? Now Ma and Pa can't make fun of us anymore for sneaking away to do the same thing. Besides, they've taken our spot, and we've had a 250 year precedent for sneaking up here to kiss before lunch." She pointed out, managing to get free of her husband to head into the room, immediately moving over to her brother to ruffle his hair and nudge his arm. "Why would you sneak off the first time you brought her over! I at least had the decency to wait until the third time I brought Tad over." She teased, continuing to poke at her brother excitedly even as her husband came over to try to get her away from him.

---

"They'd never convince me, Aub. I'd always choose you over them." Ailuin insisted, pressing a loving kiss to her lips before chuckling as she complained about him insisting she see Hanvosi, happily returning her kisses. "I'm not sure you can convince me like that if I think you might get hurt." He pointed out as she peppered kisses along his jaw and neck, his grip on her hips tightening a bit as she threatened to prove that she could fly just fine right now. "No no no, you're staying down on the ground with me."

@ katahdin

The last month had been eventful. Ramyth had gotten plenty of time with Bridris with Ailuin and Aubrius taking time to be together following their mating, but his family had wanted to see her plenty as well. In addition, it had been a month of meeting gods, all of whom were brought by Roedanya. It was a position he’d never thought he’d be in a position of meeting even a single god, much less the numerous gods and goddesses that had showed up to meet Bridris and judge whether she was worthy of the gift of being made fae. With so many visiting, he’d worried that someone would tell her what was going on or that she’d figure it out herself, but thankfully, that was never the case, and she only ever seemed happy to meet a new god, albeit embarrassed by the attention occasionally. On top of that, they’d helped Aubrius and Ailuin get settled in their new house and had been able to move into Aubrius’ house a couple of weeks ago, and though the space was small, they seemed to agree it was nice having somewhere for just the two of them. Thankfully, the council had been too upset about Ailuin leaving the castle with his mate to pay much notice to Ramyth and Bridris.

It just so happened that Bridris was out with his mom and sisters when Roedanya appeared to tell him that the gods had discussed the matter and unanimously decided to transform her into a fae. She’d come to tell him first, rather than letting Bridris know what had been happening herself, so that he could share the news with her. Ramyth hardly knew how to react, because though he’d been in on the plan for the last month, he hadn’t dared let himself believe that it would actually happen, and when she’d told him, he’d actually done something unlike him and pulled the goddess in for a hug as he thanked her profusely. He was usually more respectful, not nearly as comfortable or casual as Bridris, but he didn’t feel like he could help himself. After telling him that the gods could gather for the transformation pretty much any time he and Bri wanted, she’d encouraged him to go tell her. And he’d started to, prepared to run right into town where he knew she and his mom and sisters would be shopping, but then he stopped, thinking about Aubrius and that she might like to be there as well, and instead turned to make his way to the castle, where he found that no one seemed to know her location—much less care.

After a few failed attempts, Ramyth made his way to Ailuin’s study, guessing where he was, Aubrius probably wouldn’t be far—and if she was elsewhere, that he was the one person who’d know. He paused outside the door, exchanging a quick greeting with the guards outside, whom he knew rather well, then knocked. As much as the formalities between him and Ailuin had been laxed, especially recently, knocking and waiting to see if he could come in was a hundred year old habit that he didn’t imagine would disappear any time soon. Besides, he wouldn’t dare just walk into the study. Ailuin and Aubrius were bad enough in public—he’d be afraid to walk in on them in private, not to mention the chance that Ailuin was in the middle of a meeting.

@ sun spirit

The last month had been one of the best in Ailuin's life, sad as that fact was. He and Aubrius had designed and had built their home in the mountains overlooking the city, which allowed them to have considerably more privacy than in the castle, although there were still guards that patrolled the property, even though they weren't stationed at every door and window, which there were lots of. They'd also been able to go on a few adventures once Hanvosi had given Aubrius the all clear to fly, whose study Ailuin had had to practically drag his mate to to get her checked. But it had been nice, especially the two weeks where they'd just spent time with one another and had the occasional outing with Bridris and Ramyth, especially when the lovebirds had moved into Aubrius' old home, which Ailuin had insisted they at least help with the move a little bit, even if neither Bridris nor Ramyth had many things at the time, although Ailuin had also paid to have the place furnished and remodeled to Bridris' liking, not that she'd changed much other than the color of the paint on the walls here and there.

The past few weeks hadn't been as nice, though. Since he'd returned from his vacation with Aubrius the council has been on his ass about most things, especially catching up on whatever work he'd missed while he was out with Aubrius, as well as the expected attempts to interfere and convince him to break his mating bond with Aubrius, which he flat out refused every time. Luckily everyone had stopped insulting her to his face for the most part after an incident at a meeting where he split the table in two with his magic when they called her some rather rude names, the young king promising to do the same to any member of the council he heard say something similar in the future. Now though he was holed up in his office working through paperwork when Ramyth knocked at the door, inviting him in and smiling as he realized it wasn't a Council member.

"Good morning, Ramyth. You look to be in a good mood. If you're looking for Aubrius I'm afraid I don't know where she is. She'd never admit it, but with her Royal Guard's exam coming up later this week she's been a bundle of nerves, and she's been out from dawn until midnight most days trying to keep herself distracted while I'm at work, and won't let me help because she insists she's not nervous... You know her well, though, so I'm sure you understand." He chuckled a bit, setting his pen down and pushing his paperwork aside, glad to have a break. "If you're not looking for her though, is there anything I can do for you? Also I'm surprised to see Bridris isn't with you, is everything alright?"

@ katahdin

As he was invited in, Ramyth entered Ailuin’s study, closing the door behind him and smiling as the king immediately guessed at what he’d come by for, though he was surprised that Ailuin didn’t even know where Aubrius was—and didn’t seem concerned. After what had happened at Roedanya, Ramyth would’ve expected him to be at least a little uneasy. “No, everything’s fine! Great, actually,” he assured Ailuin immediately. “I’m actually here because Roedanya just came to tell me that the gods have decided to make Bridris a fae. It’s been a months of meetings, and I was starting to think we wouldn’t get this far and Bridris would find out only to be disappointed, but it’s—it’s actually happening. And I almost ran to Bridris to tell her, she’s with my mom and sisters, but she and Aub are so close I thought Aub might want to be there too. I guessed she’d be here, with the two of you talking about her taking on small things as queen for now, or that if she wasn’t, then you’d know where she was. If you don’t have any idea though, it might take too long to hunt her down. It was hard enough to find her before she could fly. And you’re welcome to come too if you want, of course. You just aren’t as close to Bridris so I wasn’t sure if you’d even like that, and it looks like you’re busy anyway.” Ramyth realized he was rambling, but he really was overwhelmed by the news still. He wasn’t sure he’d really be able to completely come to terms with it until the transformation actually happened. He made himself pause and take a breath though, realizing he was saying a lot relatively fast. “Sorry, I’m just… I’m a lot of emotions right now.”

@ sun spirit

Ailuin's smile only brightened as Ramyth announced why he was there, standing up and moving around his desk to pat Ramyth on the back. "That's wonderful news! I know you and Bridris have been very busy with meeting the various gods over the last month, but I had no idea that they'd make a decision this fast. I'm very happy for you, Ramyth. Bridris too, but I know that this must mean a lot to you especially." He smiled, considering giving the guard a hug, but he wasn't sure if Ramyth was really the kind of person who would want to be hugged, so he squeezed his arm reassuringly. "I'm sure Aubrius would want to be there when you tell her, and I'm sure we can find her. I've heard that she's been flying around the city lately, so there's a chance that if we go out onto a balcony or something we might spot her and be able to go catch her. She also might be home, or at the cliffs to train more, since she is a creature of habit." He explained, offering the guard another smile and a squeeze of the arm as he apologized for rambling. "You have nothing to apologize for, Ramyth. You just found out you get to spend the rest of your life with Bridris, not just the rest of hers, and that's wonderful news. It's a miracle, and I'd be overwhelmed if I were in your shoes."

@ katahdin

Ramyth was sure he had a silly smile as Ailuin congratulated him, shaking his head. “They must’ve all approved of her. I mean, they all seemed to like her on some level or another, but some were a little more reserved than others, and then Ielsuung seemed way more interested in talking to Aub than Bri and we could barely get them to separate long enough for her and Bri to talk a little, but… gods, I’m so happy and relieved, Ailuin. I feel like I need to go visit the temples and profusely thank them all for a week straight.” He laughed a little, then nodded as Ailuin suggested places they might likely find Aubrius without too much trouble. “Okay, let’s see if we can find her. And you might need to come up with some quest for me to do because I’m definitely declaring to her as soon as she knows about this. Since she doesn’t have any family here, I guess you or the council would be in charge of that.” His mom and sisters would probably tease him for bursting in on their girl’s outing and making a scene, but he didn’t want to wait a moment more to tell Bridris any of this than he had to.

@ sun spirit

Ailuin wasn't sure he'd ever seen Ramyth so happy, and was very glad for his friend. He truly deserved it, and was glad that everything was working out for him. "I'm surprised I managed to get Ielsuung out of the house that night, since Aub invited her over to our house for dinner. I was convinced Aubrius was going to invite her to stay the night." He chuckled, although he outright laughed as Ramyth requested that he give him a quest to complete. "Your quest is to find Aubrius. It wouldn't be fair to give you something hard to do after you got all of the gods to agree to turn her into a fae, since that was a quest in of itself." He grinned, patting his friend on the arm before he gestured toward the balcony that was outside of his office, squinting a bit as he looked for any sign of Aubrius flying over the city.

@ katahdin

Ramyth chuckled. "I feel the same way about Syldning sometimes. He and Bridris exchange letters, and he shows up for breakfast sometimes and helps her with her writing. Roedanya's been over a lot to bring the other gods, but it's a little different. We both might have to get used to sharing our partners with gods." He gave Ailuin a sheepish smile as he claimed his quest would be to find Aubrius though. "I don't know if I'm supposed to complete a quest before I make the declaration. You might have to give me something else later. And I had nothing to do with the gods agreeing to make Bridris a fae. That was all her doing, whether or not she realizes it." Still, he followed Ailuin out to the balcony to look for any signs of Aubrius. "Don't you need to let the guards outside know if you're leaving?" he asked as they both searched the skies, realizing that Ailuin disappearing wouldn't go over well. Before the young king could respond though, Ramyth squinted at a figure flying. "I think that's her," he said, pointing. "Gods, what is she carrying? It looks as big as she is." It was a long distance, so he wasn't entirely sure that he was even looking at Aubrius, but few caelus had her dark wings.

@ sun spirit

"As far as I'm concerned, you've already declared your love to her, so it's perfectly fine if you do this quest now. And I'm not going to tell anyone about the specifics, either. As far as anyone has to know, you've already declared your love to her, and you're going on the quest I've given you." He grinned, nudging him a bit as he led him outside, scanning the skies for his mate. He shrugged a bit at the mention of the guards, shaking his head. "Mating with Aubrius means that I disappear more. Besides, they saw you come in, and know that if they come in and we're both gone then that means I'm with you, which means I'm with a guard." He pointed out, squinting a little when he too spotted what looked like Aubrius, nodding a little in agreement. "Yes, I think that's her.. But I have no idea what she's carrying. Gods, I hope it's not a body." He murmured, stretching out his wings a bit before taking off, figuring it would be best to catch up to her before they lost sight of her.

@ katahdin

Ramyth started to argue--because what if Bridris still said no after all this and there really was more to her not wanting to marry than the fact that she was human--but if she said no, he'd be concerned with more than "cheating" because he was technically doing things in the wrong order. "Okay, but I'm still asking her properly," he said, chuckling a bit as Ailuin gave his reasoning for not telling anyone where he was going. "Watch out. You've spent so much time together that you're starting to sound like Aub," he teased. He nodded a bit as Ailuin agreed that the person they saw looked like Aubrius, though he gave his king a surprised look as he continued to mention her carrying a body. It wasn't a ridiculous concern though, he realized. "I don't think she'd carry around a body in broad daylight," he settled on, and as Ailuin took off, he followed. Unfortunately, as they got closer, able to fly faster since neither of them was carrying anything, Ramyth realized that not only was the person they'd picked out Aubrius, but she was actually carrying a faun who didn't appear to be conscious and was very much visibly injured.

Aubrius had been feeling more restless than usual in the last few days. She blamed it on the fact that she and Ailuin had finally returned to their usual lives after three weeks of spending almost all their time together, and despite her expectation that things would've settled at least a little with the bond by then, in some ways, it was even worse than it had been initially. With Bridris and Ramyth spending so much time together and with various gods, she'd started to keep herself busier than usual to resist the urge to bother Ailuin when she was the reason he had so much to do now, though the past couple of days had been to an extreme she hadn't exhibited the past couple weeks. She told herself it was to give him extra time though. So she did everything she could to keep busy and make sure she wasn't idle. She was used to doing various things around the city as her means of taking care of herself while she worked towards becoming a royal guard, never having quite apprenticed the way most others had and learning all she knew from both Ramyth and the numberless fights she'd been in, but in the past couple of days, she'd stopped trying to bargain for compensation like usual. Half the time, she ended up with some form of compensation for what she did anyway, but she was also volunteering to do pretty much anything she noticed someone needed help with just to keep busy.

Which was how she'd ended up carrying a faun halfway across the city for treatment. The fae she'd met had claimed the faun had fallen while trying to climb a cliff and looked worse for wear themselves, and since they were so slow and the situation seemed serious, she'd offered to carry their friend to a healer in the city for them. She was actually just preparing to land, having arrived at the healer's, when she noticed two familiar shapes approaching. She landed before acknowledging them though, handing the faun off to a couple of fae who hurried out to meet her, and as Ailuin and Ramyth also landed, turned to greet them, seemingly oblivious of the dirt and blood now staining her clothes. "Hi. Did you need something?" Realizing they were giving her concerned looks, she frowned. "What? If it's about the faun, she'll be fine. She's pretty scraped and bruised and her leg's definitely broken, but that's not too difficult to heal."

@ sun spirit

Ailuin couldn't help but chuckle as Ramyth said he'd started to sound like Aubrius, shaking his head a little. "I can only hope that some of my responsibility is rubbing off on her as well." He teased before taking off. He made sure to fly a bit slower so Ramyth could stick with him, knowing that with two sets of wings he could fly quite fast if he wanted. It was easy to catch up to Aubrius, and when he landed and saw her blood stained clothing he frowned worriedly at her before looking behind her at the faun as she was taken away by the healers. "Aubrius.. Did you do that?" He asked hesitantly, although upon seeing his mate's look held up his hands in his defense. "Hey, it's a reasonable assumption based onto the situation that we just flew into. Back me up, Ramyth." He said, looking to the guard for help, before shaking his head and turning back to his mate. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's not important right now. Ramyth just got word that the gods have agreed to turn Bridris into a fae, and he wanted you to be there when he told her, since he knows how much you care for her. I'd suggest we find you a change of clothes before we meet up with her, though, since I'm sure she'll worry seeing you all covered in blood.."

@ katahdin

As her mate asked her if she'd been the one to cause the faun's injuries, Aubrius gave him a flat look. "Ail, you know me better than that," she said, crossing her arms as he claimed it was a reasonable assumption. "I don't help people I get into fights with, even if win without getting a scratch. If you were stupid enough to pick a fight with me, you deserve whatever I did, and maybe you'll think twice about fighting with me again. If I start helping me after beating them, they might start getting funny ideas about me being nice."

While it was relieving to hear that Aubrius hadn't beat the shit out of some poor faun--he'd definitely thought, like Ailuin, that it had been her doing--Ramyth couldn't help but give his friend an odd look as she insisted that they should know better because then others might think she was nice, his gaze going back to the building the healers had taken the faun into. If she hadn't done anything to the faun, that meant she'd somehow met someone injured and decided to carry them to get treatment. He was sure plenty of people would've seen the same sight and offered to call for a healer or would have shrugged and said someone else would help but not many would take it upon themselves to do what she had. Frowning, he opened his mouth to point out the gap in logic to her, but Ailuin beat him to speaking, bringing them back to the matter at hand.

"Finally! It took them long enough! I don't know what they had to spend so much time contemplating." Aubrius grinned at her friend, clearly excited for him and Bridris and might've suggested they leave to find Bridris that moment if Ailuin hadn't mentioned her clothing. After spending the better part of her day running around all over the court, she was far from clean, and as she looked down, she realized Ailuin was right about blood being on her shirt. She didn't want to waste time with a bath or going back to the mountains for clothing though. "I'll just turn my shirt inside-out. Here, give me a moment." She turned, ducking into a nearby alley, and after glancing to make sure no one else was there with her, unbuttoned her shirt and started to pull it off and reverse it without giving Ailuin or Ramyth a moment to argue or stop her.

@ sun spirit

Ailuin let out a long sigh as she insisted that he and Ramyth should know better than to think she'd help someone she just beat up, and he had to agree with her, even though it wasn't the best thing to admit. "I... Yeah, I know you're right." He shook his head, considering leaning over to kiss her cheek, but given how dirty she was he wasn't very fond of the idea. His eyes widened as Aubrius insisted on just turning her shirt inside out before ducking into a nearby alley, hurrying after as he flared his wings to shield her from any onlookers.

"Aubrius," He scolded with a frown, attempting to get her to keep her shirt on. "I was just going to buy you a shirt at the shop across the street. Besides, the blood has seeped through, and it smells awful. Please just keep it on until we get a clean one." He attempted to convince her, although he knew she'd put up a fuss about him buying her things. During their vacation they'd gone on a few walks through the city, and every time he'd attempted to buy her something, even if she'd pointed out something that she liked, she'd outright refused and protested to no end, and he'd just have to settle for subtly buying whatever it was from the shopkeeper or coming back by himself.

He turned a bit to look over at Ramyth with a frown, nodding toward the shop across the street. "Can you go buy her a shirt? I promise I'll pay you back with whatever they want."

@ katahdin

Aubrius gave Ailuin a dirty look as he scolded her, simultaneously trying to keep her shirt on and acting as if she were somehow being unreasonable. His argument didn’t even make any sense. “Ram, don’t you dare!” She couldn’t see past Ailuin to know what the guard was doing, but she had no doubt, given how long they’d known each other, that her tone would make him think twice about his decision, so she turned back to her mate. “It’s a dark shirt. You can’t see any of the dirt on the other side, you’ll barely be able to see the blood and no one will know what it is, and it isn’t my shirt that smells awful, it’s me. I’m filthy, sweaty, and not entirely sure what all I’m covered in. It’s on all my clothes and me, and there’s no sense getting a new shirt. Besides, I have plenty of shirts, and blood and bad smells come out when you wash clothes. So just let me turn this inside-out and put it back on.”

Ramyth had nodded his acknowledgement as Ailuin asked him to get a shirt for Aubrius, though he’d hardly made it two steps in the direction of the shop before he heard Aubrius growling at him not to do as directed. He admittedly paused, but ultimately headed in the shop as he heard Aubrius start to argue with her mate. Usually his instincts would insist Aubrius was too stubborn to let anyone else win an argument, but over the last month, Ailuin had proved her match in that regard from what little Ramyth was around them for, and it certainly seemed like Roedanya had known what she was doing when she made them mates. As far as Ramyth was concerned, there was a 50/50 chance of either of them winning, and if they weren't done by the time he came back, he'd just hand the shirt over and if they wanted to come along with him to tell Bridris about her becoming fae, they'd resolve things quickly.

@ sun spirit

"The smell is an easy fix, too. I can go into this infirmary here and ask for a washcloth or a sponge or something and help you get cleaned up before Ramyth comes back with your new clean shirt." Ailuin pointed out, giving her a look as she continued to argue. "Come on, Aub. It's for Bridris. You're going to want to hug her when she finds out, and do you really want to subjugate her to the smell and getting her dirty too?" He knew he was exaggerating a bit, but he hoped that his arguments would convince her to cooperate.

Once it looked like she wasn't trying to get her shirt off anymore he stepped back, giving her a little look. "You stay right here, and keep your shirt on, while I go get something to clean you up with. I'll only be a minute." He warned, before heading out of the alley and into the infirmary. He considered using his magic to keep her in place, but he thought that was excessive, and instead just hurried, asking the healers inside very politely for a wet rag or two and promising to come visit some other time before he headed back to the alley with Aub, holding the rags out to her. "Do you want to clean yourself up, or do you want me to help?" He asked, hoping that the offer would be a little enticing and make her more keen on it.

@ katahdin

“What are you going to sponge my pants and hair too? This is ridiculous, Ailuin. There’s nothing wrong with just turning the shirt inside-out,” Aubrius argued without any intention of being swayed. As he brought Bridris into his argument, she glared, then after a few moments, growled, having realized she would feel awful if she somehow got blood on Bridris because it had soaked through her shirt and didn’t want to scare her friend if she noticed the blood and mistakenly thought she was injured. “I hate it when you use Bridris,” she said by way of forfeiting, letting go of the shirt.

She didn’t bother arguing as he told her to stay put and keep her clothes on since he’d won anyway, leaning back against the building as he left. Ramyth, of course, was nowhere to be seen, which she assumed could only mean he’d gone to do as Ailuin wanted, and when her mate came back with the promised rags, she took one from him before he could even make the offer to help. “I’ll change but I’m keeping the shirt,” she said, scrubbing over her face and neck quickly—she didn’t dare touch her hair, which had come out of its tie hours ago—then cleaning whatever exposed parts of her chest and arms weren’t covered by the shirt only hanging on by her shoulders because she hadn’t bothered to rebutting it, and finally gave her a pants a quick scrub to wash out what dirt she could. It wasn’t thorough by a long-shot and she might’ve missed spots, but she didn’t want to try again or waste anymore time on it.

@ sun spirit

"I know. But I like to think that I don't abuse using Bridris in arguments." Ailuin smiled, leaning over to press a brief kiss to her lips before he hurried off into the infirmary. Once he was back he stood in front of her while she wiped herself down, using his wings to help shield her, occasionally reaching over to clean a spot that she missed, although he had to do it quickly so as not to risk the chance of her ripping his arm off. "Of course you can keep the shirt. I would never suggest you just get rid of it." He reassured her, stepping closer to gently clean some of the clearly dirty bits of hair before running his fingers through it to untangle it as gently as he could, apologizing softly whenever he tugged too hard or caught a knot.

Once Ramyth returned he took the clean shirt from him, thankful that he'd picked one that was dark and in a style that Aubrius would wear, before flaring his wings again to shield her as he helped her change, neatly folding up her dirty shirt while she put the clean one on. "Beautiful." He smiled teasingly, pressing a kiss to her cheek before tucking his wings back in and stepping away, turning back to Ramyth. "Lead the way to Bridris."

@ katahdin

Though she hadn't asked for his help, Ailuin seemed determined to give it, quickly getting in and out whenever he stepped in to do so, until he stepped close and started on her hair. "Well, you are making me take it off," she pointed out when he reassured her that he didn't want to throw the shirt away, quietly submitting to his ministrations as he tried to clean and untangle her hair with mixed success. She felt angry and tense in a way that seemed similar to how she'd felt when they slept together for the first time--minus the confusion regarding him and how either of them felt--and wasn't sure why or how to fix it. Usually when she was upset, being around him and having this sort of contact was enough to calm her down a little, but she didn't think it was happening this time, and given this was probably the longest conversation they'd had in a couple of days, she couldn't help but feel bad that she was in a bad mood. Still, it seemed better not to say anything than potentially say something she'd regret, so she remained silent as Ramyth returned with a shirt and she changed, passing her dirty shirt to Ailuin as she put the new one, giving her mate a look at his teasing. "I'll put the dirty shirt back on," she threatened, stealing it back from him to let him know she was serious as they rejoined Ramyth, who looked understandably impatient.

"She shouldn't be too far from here. My Ma was nice enough to tell me where they planned on taking her shopping," Ramyth explained, relieved that Aubrius and Ailuin had sorted their differences and he hadn't had to threaten to leave them behind. "Just follow me." He took to the air, making sure they were both with him, and led them to a row of buildings he knew well from his childhood. This part of the city was known for being the area where all clothing needs could be taken care of. Shops for seamstresses, fabrics, tailoring, shoes, dresses, and more. His mom's family's shop was on this street, and he remembered the name of the dress store his mom had said they planned on taking Bridris, which he landed in front of with Aubrius and Ailuin. He hadn't even put his hand on the door handle when he turned back to his friends though, the excitement having been replaced with a healthy dose of nervousness. "How do I even tell her? I've been hiding this from her for a month. And this might not change anything. Sidero probably ruined the idea of marriage for her, and she just doesn't want me to think she doesn't love me because she doesn't want to marry, so she tried to be nice by saying it's because she's human and I'm fae."

Aubrius had never seen her friend nervous like this, not even before his royal guard exam, and it was almost painful to see him question how to tell Bridris and whether to bring up marriage to her now, as if he didn't know how much she loved him and wanted to be with him and there was even a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to marry him. "It's okay, Ram," she said, stepping up to him in front of the door. Rather than offer any other sort of consoling words though, Aubrius opened the door and made her way into the shop, where she quickly searched for and found his family, plus Bridris, who was actually wearing a wedding dress when she found her. Aubrius blinked in surprise for a moment, then quickly said, before Ramyth or Ailuin could stop her, "Congratulations, Bri! You're going to be a fae! Apparently Roedanya wanted to make you happy and let you and Ram be together, so she got all the gods together and wanted them to agree to it, so you've been meeting them all for the past month so they could meet you and see whether they wanted you to be a fae or not, and they all decided, of course, that the answer is yes. So you get to be fae and be with Ram for as long as you want. Please, feel free to reassure him that you want it to be forever because for some reason, he's lost his mind and thinks you won't want to marry him, even if you're fae."