middaeg | [open | catch-all] just an unexpected accounting of debts

[ Reynir isn't very sneaky, but at least he knows he isn't very sneaky. When he had decided he was going to keep it a secret from Onni that he is learning to play the recorder (at least, until he's good enough that they can play together), he knew it would take some doing. He's sure that if he tried to practice in their cottage, Onni would come home unexpectedly or one of their neighbors would mention it or something else to ruin the surprise.

So he has made the decision to only practice outside the home. The only difficulty being... finding good public places, where no one will mind a complete novice fumbling through scales and very basic children's songs.

For now, he's been going to a little spot down by the docks; Onni hates fishing, and Reynir is hoping that he would have no other reasons to come down this way. He settles himself on a crate in a place where no one seems to be working at the moment, and starts practicing away.

It's not... pleasant to listen to, but he puts his heart into it, diligently stumbling his way through the basics that Elliot had taught him. At least, until he catches sight of someone walking his way, and lowers the recorder. ]

Oh - sorry, am I... in your way here? Do you want me to go somewhere else?

[ Reynir might be living in a city now, but that doesn't really change the way he thinks about things. You can take the boy out of the tiny farming village, but you can't take the tiny farming village out of the boy. So, when he is working on the garden at the back of his cottage, and comes across a huge rock buried in the soil that will need shifting but is much too heavy for just him, he does what seems logical.

He wanders out of his yard and stops the next friendly-looking stranger passing by. The guy is just a kid, really, and not that big, but Reynir knows better than to underestimate someone's strength based on their build. ]

Hey - hi, excuse me, I'm really sorry, but do you have a minute? I need a little help moving something heavy and my friend, my roommate I mean, he's not home right now. Do you... think you could...?

[Reynir has been acting strange...or rather, stranger than usual. Onni has caught him a few times in front of a mirror, digging around in his hair. At first, he'd thought that was just vanity, tending to his hair, something that Reynir does decently often. But after seeing it a couple of times, Onni realizes that the way Reynir looks when he's taking care of his ridiculously long hair is different from what he's doing in those moments. But he doesn't say anything about it, because they've just been moments he's caught, usually while Reynir didn't realize he was looking.

He's also caught Reynir scratching at the sides of his head with weird items - a pencil, a fork, the handle of his hairbrush. Onni has his suspicions, of course, about what might be going on, that it's some kind of change to do with Reynir being a monster, but without knowing what sort of monster he is or anything about what's changing, he doesn't really feel like he has a place asking about it.

But when Reynir emerges from his room one morning and calls out brightly that he's going to pick up some things from the shop, and Onni pokes his head out his door only to see that Reynir is wearing some preposterous knitted hat pulled over his hair despite how hot it is outside, Onni has had enough. Stepping out, he deftly catches up to Reynir and reaches out to tug the hat off his head in a smooth movement.]

Enough with this. What's going on?

[ It is useful, in the days leading up to the full moon, for Reynir to have something to plan and look forward to. Any time he catches himself starting to feel nervous and dwelling on his lack of control over his own life, he redirects his thoughts to Bailey's offer to spend the full moon with him. They are going to be his first visitor to the cottage, and so Reynir uses up much of his nervous energy cleaning and decorating and getting it looking as nice as he can.

He had had plans to introduce Bailey and Onni to one another (assuming, for some reason, that they would certainly not have met any other way...), but that evening, before Bailey is even set to arrive, Reynir sees that Onni has passed out in his room, sleeping like a log. It doesn't surprise him all that much, given what he's heard about the full moon - how it can make witches weaker, not just magically but physically, too. Onni has been running himself ragged for... well, a VERY long time. So, quietly, Reynir shuts the door to his room and lets him keep sleeping. Bailey can always meet him another day.

He is particularly glad, then, knowing that company is going to be coming; Bailey hadn't been kidding about that uptick in restless energy, and by the time there's a knock at the door, Reynir his fidgeting, barely able to stay still for more than a few seconds.

Opening the door, he greets: ]

Hey, hi, come in!

[It's been nearly a month since the last full moon, and with everything in the city being so focused on love and marriages and new bonds, it's been sitting in the back of his mind that he and Reynir need to look into bonding soon. He'd originally intended to wait until something went wrong, or felt in danger of going wrong, wanting to put it off as long as possible, but he's been feeling that itchy building up of energy and heat and magic in himself, without an outlet, and it's been in his mind. Maybe it's a better idea to do it before something has a chance to go wrong rather than reactively.

So when he'd seen an opening for a bonding ceremony available at the Coven the night before, when he'd been leaving, he'd just signed up the two of them for it. Reynir seemed fond enough of the idea of bonding with him that he didn't think he would need any particular permission to do so, and when he'd come home Reynir had been asleep, so he hadn't had a chance to mention it.

It's over breakfast that he thinks to bring it up, putting his spoon down in his half-empty bowl of porridge and yogurt, pinning a look on Reynir across the table.]

Oh. I forgot to mention that I got a time for us to bond, this evening. A spot opened up last night and I thought I might grab it before someone else had a chance to. It seems to be a popular time to do them.

[And with that said, he reaches out for a slice of toast, almost nonchalant. After all, this is a purely practical thing that they're doing.]

Edited 2020-08-22 22:31 (UTC)

for jaskier

for gon

❄ it begins

for bailey

❄ bonding ❄