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one
Fabian picks her up at dawn. He sits astride the Hangman a few doors down from Mordred Manor. There is dew on the grass and mist in the air and the sun just peeks out.
Aelwyn slings herself over the back of the bike and holds on tight. They’re off, slowly as not to wake the sleepy Saturday morning of the neighborhood, then faster when they hit the highway. Her hair whips out behind her, Fabian is warm in front of her, and the Hangman thrums as they race down the pavement. It feels like flying, feels like freedom, and she smiles into the back of Fabian’s shoulder.
The beach is an hour away, and they spend the ride in a silence that neither asks nor demands to be broken. The sun makes it ascent as they travel, turning the sky pink and gold and then glorious cloudless blue. Adaine was right about the weather, as always.
They leave the Hangman in the parking lot to chase seagulls, peel off their shoes, and make their way onto the sand. No one is there, not at seven in the morning, and the sand and surf stretch out to eternity. Fabian spreads his battle-sheet on the ground and Aelwyn Mage Hands the umbrella up.
They don’t speak, don’t need to, really. This is a day for vibes. For the two of them to bake on the sand without any monsters or mysteries. Aelwyn strips down to her swimsuit, uses prestidigitation to apply sunscreen, and lies face down on the sheet, the early morning sun soft on her back but promising to warm her to the bones as the day stretches on.
Fabian runs into the water because he is a dumbass boy, and then runs out squawking when it’s too cold. She doesn’t even look up, just snorts, smiles, and lets herself doze. He wakes her when he comes back, having conquered the icy depths, and drops onto the sheet beside her, splattering water and sand on her.
“Asshole,” she says, no bite to it, flips over, and puts sunglasses on.
“You know it,” he says, and pulls out a book. He doesn’t read much around the others, but the tenuous friendship between them means that she’ll turn a blind eye to the sappy historical fiction he has a fondness for.
The sun rises and sinks into Aelwyn. Her muscles give out and her bones sigh. Her mother’s voice is disgusted in her head at the tan she knows is already developing, and in a private moment of rebellion she hopes that she’ll burn, just a little. She reapplies anyways because it’s the responsible thing to do, and gets Fabian too, with extra on the tips of their ears where fragile elven skin is extra likely to burn.
The beach fills with people and the weather holds on this glorious June day. They walk up the beach to a small shack where they eat fries and ice cream (not as good as Basrar’s) for lunch, and then wade through the now-warmed water on their way back to their spot. Fabian tries to dunk her, but she gets a lucky dodge and takes off running up the beach. They’re both laughing as he chases her, Fabian loudly making threats about the sea being his dominion as Bill Seacaster’s Darling Boy.
They settle back in the blanket and the afternoon wanes on. Fabian joins a game of beach volleyball. Aelwyn collects shells for Adaine. The sun is just starting to dip low when they decide to call it a day, pack their towels and the sheet back into the carriage of the Hanged Man, spray their feet off in the showers, and get back on the road to Elmville. Aelwyn is windswept and warm, and the storm of chaos on the horizon when their friends find out where they’ve gone is a million miles away.
two
They sprawl on the couch in the basement of Seacaster Manor, controllers in hand and profanity on their lips. Battle Dwarfs II: Age of Redemption is the kind of party-based fantasy game that works better with two players. Usually. Fabian is definitely doing a lot to pick up the slack as Aelwyn (who hadn’t played a video game until a few months ago) struggles with the mechanics. They’re at the point where they had to pause the game to draw a little diagram of what the different controller buttons do for Aelwyn to reference.
“Motherfucker!” Aelwyn yells as her character goes down (again).
“Don’t call Gilear that,” Fabian says. He clearly immediately regrets the joke, and Aelwyn also makes a face because gross.
“I still can’t believe that’s...happening,” she says. “Your mom is so hot. And rich. And kickass. She could literally have anyone .”
Fabian’s eyes glaze into the middle distance, as if remembering something he wishes he didn't know. He shudders and snap backs to the present as Aelwyn's character dies on screen for the hundredth time that night.“I don’t pretend to understand it, but he...makes Mama happy.”
Cathilda pops down a little while later with a tray of kippers and pizza bagels. She asks if Miss Abernant will be spending the night, and after a moment of weird three-way eye contact, Aelwyn says yes, if it’s not too much trouble. Cathilda just nods and smiles and goes off to make up one of the guest bedrooms for her. They spend a few more hours trying to destroy the gelatinous villains in the game before turning in to their respective rooms. Aelwyn hits the center of her double queen bed, sprawls out, and is asleep almost instantly.
three
It’s freezing cold out and Aelwyn’s every nerve is on high fucking alert. The stands of the Bloodrush field are teeming with students and parents for the homecoming game, all screaming and howling with an excitement she doesn’t quite understand. She sits at the very top of the stands, packed in with Adaine, Fig, and Kristen. Fig brought a flask of whiskey, and they’ve been covertly sipping when their parents (a few rows down in a little clump of disturbingly complex interpersonal relationships) aren’t looking.
Their boys absolutely destroy Mumple, and Fabian is the hero of the night with one absolutely beautiful touchdown pass that a sophomore catches on the final buzzer in the endzone (not that they needed the points, but the artistry of the moment is something that even Aelwyn can appreciate). Kristen is screaming about regionals and nationals and internationals. The stands are trying to rush the field but someone has cast a force field to hold them back as the teams line up for handshakes. That would’ve been Fabian’s idea, the honorable thing to do even after an 80-0 win. She can see him right behind Ragh at the front of the line, giving fist bumps and handshakes to the slumped forms of Mumple’s players.
It’s another hour before he, Riz, Ragh, and Gorgug meet them at the Hang Van in the student parking lot, all still wet from the showers and glowing with pride. The girls all mob them, and Aelwyn lets herself get swept into the massive group hug and softly hoot! growl!s along with the rest of them.
They tear off into the night, music blasting. Fig called dibs on riding with Fabian, and the two of them flank the Hang Van on the Hangman. Fig screams her head off and tries to hold hands with Kristen out the window. Adaine and Gorgug are in the front, singing along so so loudly to the radio. Adaine catches her eye in the rearview mirror and grins at her, no fear in her eyes. One of the Cig Fig’s songs comes on the radio and the volume suddenly doubles inside the car. Aelwyn is half sure that Ragh is about to go into a rage or try to throw Riz out the window to Fabian (or both) when they skid into the parking lot of Krom’s Diner.
The eight of them squeeze into a corner booth. Aelwyn is crushed between Kristen and Ragh, who are loudly talking over her about the game. Riz is basically in Adaine’s lap as they pour over a menu like they both aren’t going to order their usual milkshakes and crullers. She makes eye contact with Fabian across the table and they grin at each other, surrounded by the obnoxious warmth of their friends, young and free and kings of Elmville .
four
They stand back to back in an alleyway. Fabian’s battle sheet ripples in the wind and Aelwyn’s hands sting from the spell slots she’s burned through. The orcs that attacked them lie in heaps on the ground, dead or dying.
“We should go,” he says, and she nods. Sirens are wailing in the distance and she’s done enough community service to make up for her role in Kalvaxus’ rise. She doesn’t need any more. They sprint side by side up the alley, hop the fence, and Fabian has the Hangman rendezvous with them a few streets away.
They stop running in the parking lot of a grocery store and take stock of their wounds. Fabian has a nasty gash on his arm and Adaine might be concussed, so they go inside to buy healing potions and bandages. They sit facing each other on the back of the bike as they slug the green juice and she wraps his cut, just to be safe and avoid infection. Long minutes pass as they catch their breath, take stock of the ambush on a quiet street when they were walking to get Adaine from the library to go get dinner.
“Adaine-” Aelwyn says, a rush of guilt and horror in her stomach. She’s disappointed her sister enough, her sister with horrible abandonment anxiety to begin with. She scrabbles for her crystal.
“Ah, fuck,” Fabian heaves himself up to sit properly on the bike from where he was leaning back against the handlebars, clearly still winded and hurting.
Adaine has six messages that begin with i’m ready to go, let me know when you're here and end with i expected this from you but not from fabian.
“Shit,” she says, and calls Adaine. Adaine picks up right away, thank god. “Addy - we were attacked, it’s okay, we’re coming to get you now, I promise we didn’t forget.”
Adaine sobs, just a little, and Aelwyn was a bad sister before but she feels even worse now. “Are- are- you guys are okay?”
“Yes,” Aelwyn says, and smacks Fabian’s leg to get him moving. “Orcs, possibly possessed. We both took damage but we went and got healed up. We’ll be there in-” Fabian holds up fingers, “Three minutes. I promise you. Do you have Boggy? Do you want me to stay on the line?”
“Yes, and please,” Adaine says, voice small.
“Then I will,” Aelwyn says. Fabian peels out of the parking lot and Aelwyn keeps her voice level to ask Adaine about her studying, something neutral for her to focus on. They make it to the library in two minutes thirty, and take a second to regard each other before heading in to find Adaine.
“Alright?” Fabian asks her.
“Yes. You?”
“Yeah,” He says, and then kicks open the front doors of the library because his friendship with Adaine stretches out long before Aelwyn was ever part of the equation and he would literally raise hell to protect her.
five
Aelwyn is crushed against the front barricade in the Black Pit. Fig is inches away on the stage, belting into her face, both of their faces split wide in smiles. Fabian is at her side, yelling the lyrics right back up at Fig. He glows with sweat, hair slicked back and shirt unbuttoned to the navel.
Aelwyn never listened to heavy metal before her life changed, but Fig and the Cig Figs are growing on her. The crowd is hot and pressing around them. Gorgug offered to let them in early to hold spots at the front, but Fig insisted that they should get the full concert experience of fighting to the front. Aelwyn had started stocking her spell slots until Fabian explained that it was a metaphor.
It hadn’t been a metaphor. Fabian had deeply underestimated the fervor of metal fans, because they had nearly been trampled in a rush for the stage, and had only secured their spots at the front due to an unlucky dwarf tripping and a cleanly placed elbow to the ribs of an elf by Aelwyn.
Aelwyn has never felt this alive. Her whole body thrums with the music, so loud she can barely hear herself think. The crowd surges, one heartbeat, thousands of voices, all screaming the same words. It’s electric and exhilarating and too much and not enough all at once. It’s like casting a sixth level spell, a whoosh in her stomach that doesn’t stop.
They stumble backstage after the show - “I am Fabian Aramais Seacaster , I don’t need a VIP pass”. His arm is draped around her shoulder and her arm around his waist. They’re both breathless and soaring on the high of a good show, a triple encore that left the crowd begging for more.
“That was crazy, ” Fabian says by way of greeting when they finally get to Gorgug, giving him a solid bro hug.
“Thanks, man,” Gorgug says, still methodically packing his drum kit up. They’ve got another show tomorrow and are leaving tonight, so there’s no time for them all to go to dinner tonight.
Fig nearly tackles Aelwyn, pulling her away from the boys’ conversation. “Aelwyn! I literally didn’t think you would actually come, seven hells!”
“Yeah,” Aelwyn says. “Me neither. I did have fun though!”
Fig beams. “Ugh, I’m so glad. It’s so good to see you acting like a real teenager and even better to see Fabian’s trash dance moves.”
Aelwyn snorts. Fabian’s elven battle dance....didn’t quite fit the Cig Fig’s whole deal. “I really thought he was going to smack me in the face during My Van is a Boat and My Boat is a Van .”
Fig squeals with glee at the roast and Fabian feigns hurt from across the room. “Are you talking shit, Abernant?”
“Adaine would never ,” Aelwyn says, perfectly poised. Fabian’s eyes narrow at her and she flips him off easily, no hesitation that he might misinterpret friendly joking as genuine hostility. A few months ago a middle finger would have begun a bloodbath. Now he just rolls his eyes and makes a show of flexing.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Fig giggles, and then wraps Aelwyn in a final hug as their manager hustles her and Gorgug towards the bus. “I’ll see you guys soon!”
“Bye Fig, Gorgug!” Aelwyn calls after them. She and Fabian stand in the back doorway, waving their friends off as the bus pulls out of the dock and trundles away.
“Basrar’s?” She asks, and he grins, the low hum of the Hangman already approaching.
+ one
Fabian and Aelwyn are friends of circumstance - his long-dimmed crush on her coupled with how the other Bad Kids (besides Adaine) could not bring themselves to find something redeemable in her so quickly.
“I see something of myself in you,” he says, when she asks him about it one day. “Being born rich and then having to deal with all the shit that comes with it is...unpleasant. I get that. Hard to believe, but I too was once a total dickhead-”
“You didn’t raise Kalvaxus,” Aelwyn points out.
“No, but I was a self important dick who only cared about looking cool and playing sports. If I could grow and change, so could you. The others-” he waves his hand, “they also had to change, but in a different way. They had to find themselves. We had to un-find our parents.” He leers and leans in in an exaggerated way. “Plus you’re just so fucking hot I couldn’t resist getting close to you so we could Make Out-”
Aelwyn smacks him on the arm, maybe a little too hard (four points of damage), but they’re both laughing. This friendship they’ve built, the person that this friendship has allowed Aelwyn to become is sacred . She loves Fabian as she loves Adaine, as she has come to love the rest of the Bad Kids. Her found family at last.