Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

          Alright so basically, the two of us found the prompt while on the site that keeps giving me NSFW stuff to write (which I am not interested in, thank you very much, that can stay behind closed doors) and kept giving him all these sweet prompts. So we started chatting about this one and he kept talking about all this other stuff and I got the idea of Rook doing his daughter’s hair and my first thought after was “that would be an absolute disaster but also adorable”. So I was all “hey, I’m going to write this AU that okay?” and I got a yes so this is what happened.

          Rook’s daughter’s name is Raven, Gwing’s son is named Tylan. (Bubble and I were joking that Rook probably almost named Raven Bird and then was like “wait! Smart names!”; Tylan is from something that a childhood friend and I used to do with these horse figurines we have).

          Anyways, because I didn’t want to have to figure out how to do the others and stuff and because I love the idea, this is really more of a magical modern AU where the real world has magic and stuff. So the other characters might show up, they might not. Keep an eye out for them, I guess? Anyways, Gwing is still a half-elf and Rook is still a wizard. This also may/may not be connected to “High Hopes Lowfat Milk” (if any of you remember that fic from oh-so-long ago) so you may want to reread that, but in the context of modern day events, some things may be retconned or changed entirely (because even though it is a magical world and there are bound to be other rules, Rook and Gwing were both cops [mostly because I needed them to have a reason to be there and carry weapons when Paddy got shot in the story] and I don’t think I have enough perspective to respectfully deal with the implications of a police force in a magical world in light of what has happened in ours).

          All TWs should be listed at the start of each chapter. If I missed any, please let me know.

          Quick disclaimer: I do not own High Hopes Low Rolls, Dungeons & Dragons, or anything of the like. I do own my intellectual property, but since this is fandom it’s not something I’m making money off of. Trust me, if I were making money off of writing fanfic, I’d either be spending it on HHLR stuff because I have very little impulse control or making donations to where I see fit. I am not, but please don’t take credit for my ideas and stuff because that’s just rude.

          Anyways, this may have a sporadic update rate but it should be fairly consistent. It’s going to be one of my “break” projects when I get too overwhelmed with my own novel writing and need to fall back on something lighter and with less plot.

          With all that, I hope you enjoy and I will see y’all in the next chapter!

Chapter Text

Gwing~

          Mornings were always peaceful in the Veloce house.

          Of course, they had been for the past couple years. Normally, she’d wake up in the morning and make breakfast, make sure Tylan was up and alright, then eat with him before they went about getting ready themselves. Today was no different, other than the fact it was a Saturday in the summer and they didn’t really have any plans.

          After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, going through a checklist of what she needed to do for the day (feed the cat, check the paint inventory, mix some more of that green, check emails for more commissions), she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Alright, sweetheart, time to face the day. She mused, yawning and stretching. Glancing over at the photo by the bedside lamp, she smiled and said, “Right, sunshine?”

          The people in the photo smiled back at her like always.

          Rolling her shoulders, she got to her feet and walked into the bathroom with the clothes she’d set out the night before. A quick shower and she was pretty much done (Tylan would probably want to put on her eyeliner again, even though last time he stabbed her in the eye by accident).

          After feeding Nala, who purred rather happily and rubbed up against her legs, Gwing ducked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. They’d have to go shopping later, apparently Tylan had hit the point where he was going to eat pretty much everything and anything they had. Jade would be so proud, she mused with a half smile as she grabbed the almost-empty egg carton.

          As soon as their breakfast was partially done (they actually had time, normally she had to let Tylan get away with just some PopTarts even though Jade would have murdered her for something so unhealthy [as if she hadn’t spoiled Tylan every chance she got with unhealthy food]), she went over and knocked on Tylan’s door. When he didn’t respond, she opened the door slowly (in case he hadn’t heard her or whatever) and looked inside. He was sprawled across his bed, snoring so loudly she was shocked she hadn’t heard it at the door. Nala pattered in and jumped up beside him before settling on his stomach. “Oh, Nala. No. He needs to wake up.”

          The cat meowed irritably but allowed herself to be moved to the floor, and Gwing gently shook her son’s shoulder. After a second, he snorted awake, “Wha—”

          “Breakfast. Come on, we need to go shopping later and there’s only so many hours in the day.” He let out a dramatic moan and hid himself under the covers, which she pulled away. “Tylan.” He didn’t budge, and she sighed. “Alright, but if you’re not up in five minutes I’m eating the key lime yoghurt in the fridge.”

          He shot upright and stared at her, brown eyes wide. He looked almost exactly like her, although his skin was a bit darker (that was Jade’s genes). “You wouldn’t!” Without even registering the fact that she didn’t even like key lime yoghurt, he bolted from his bed to the dining room table. She could hear him smack against the hallway wall, letting out a sharp, “Ow!”

          Nala meowed, settling in Gwing’s lap, and she ran a hand over the cat’s black fur with a smile. “I don’t know where he gets it from.”

          Looking back up at her, Nala tilted her head and then meowed again.

+++

Rook~

          Photos were weird things.

          They held memories, moments in time. They were worth a thousand words that you could see and billions more you could not. In every photo, there were more details than the camera could catch. The way light bounced off someone’s smile and lit their eyes. The way people would lean into one another trustingly and look at the camera with ease. Sunlight dancing off creek water in the background or off morning dew on leaves.

          The photo Rook held in his hands was no different.

          He remembered the day it had been taken, when he and Raven walked down the steps together. At first, they’d both been awfully sad. It wasn’t a happy day for any means—he was supposed to be getting a divorce, after all. Phoebe was leaving them and she wasn’t going to be coming back.

          Not that he wanted her coming back, anyways.

          “Papa!” Raven was shouting, sprinting through the hall even though he’d told her a thousand times previously not to do that. “Papa! Dad! Pops! Pa!”

          She kept shouting names, appearing in the doorway and still running full-tilt. Glancing up, he smiled at her before he realised what was in her way. “Raven, look out!”

          Too late.

          The mug balanced precariously on the dresser tipped as she whipped by and fell towards the ground. Unfortunately, it hit one of the plastic boxes he had left out and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Raven yelped and Rook grabbed her, shifting her to his other side and out of the way of the glass. “I’m sorry, Papa. I shouldn’t have run.”

          “It’s okay, sweetheart, just a mug. Are you okay?” He looked her over and she nodded. Turning, he waved his hand, whispering a spell, and the ceramic shards floated over to the trash can. In the back of his mind, a voice whispered that was Phoebe’s favourite.

          Good riddance, he decided, turning back to Raven.

          She seemed so big now. In the picture, she had been eight and barely reached his ribs. At some point, however, she’d had another growth spurt, and she was now just a little taller than his shoulder. With bright green eyes and choppy hair that was only a few shades darker than his own, she looked like a perfect storm of him and Phoebe (something that she wasn’t always happy about, but they loved each other and that was enough).

          “Sorry, Papa. I didn’t mean to.”

          “It’s okay, but that’s why we don’t run at full speed.” Standing up, he reached out for the bed and had to slap around a little bit in order to find the actual bannister. Sure, maybe it wasn’t as bad as a few years ago, when it first happened, but his lack of sight was not helpful. “Now, what did you want to come tell me about?”

          “It’s Saturday. Can we watch a movie?” Smiling, he nodded, and she beamed so brightly it was like a miniature sunbeam.

          “Do you want me to make some popcorn?” They’d already eaten breakfast (they’d helped make it together, just like they had for the past couple of months), and there was a couple more hours until lunch. Since they usually ate late, it wouldn’t be too harmful to their diets.

          “Yeah! With the MnMs and Reese’s?” When he nodded, she squealed and dragged him into the kitchen.

          “Whoa! Raven, no running!” Bouncing his hip off the island (why did they even have that—oh, right, Phoebe had insisted on it), he grunted and doubled over, pressing a hand to the injured area. Raven whipped around, eyes wide, and he sent a smile her way. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, it’ll be a bruise.”

          “Sorry. I’ll try to be more careful.”

          “I forgive you. Now, why don’t I make that popcorn and you pick a movie?” Thinking for a moment, he asked, “Princess and the Frog, Tangled, or Coco?”

          “Uh, Tangled, duh.” She darted off to go grab the movie from their piles and piles of DVDs and he went about making the popcorn. It was pretty easy to find the popcorn—the MnMs, not so much.

          “Raven, did you eat all the MnMs again?”

          “Oops?”

          Sighing and laughing to himself, he shook his head and crouched down. Thankfully, he managed not to smack his head on the pantry shelf, although he did overbalance just a little. Digging around behind some old cereal boxes (he couldn’t wait until they finally managed to move), he grabbed out of his hidden stash and grinned when he pulled out a bag of mini MnMs.

          When he walked into the living room and slumped down on the couch, he took a deep breath and pulled Raven close. She still hadn’t changed out of her pyjamas (to be fair, neither had he; she was lounging around in a grey shirt with a cartoon panda on it that reached her knees and flannel bottoms, whereas he was much more dignified in an old black t-shirt and grey sweats). Shoving some popcorn and candy in her mouth as the movie started with those famous words of “This is the story of how I died”, she turned to him and said something that came out as little more than gibberish.

          Frowning, he tilted his head to the side, smiled, and asked, “I’m sorry, what?”

          She swallowed without chewing (a skill she had recently learned from him) and then asked, “Can we go to the park today?” When he nodded, he didn’t know that he had sealed his fate.

          And it all started when Raven punched another kid in the face.

Chapter Text

Gwing~

          Everything was going fine until they came to the park.

          They had just gone shopping (they didn’t need anything perishable or frozen, so that was all just sitting in the car like the inanimate objects they were), and didn’t have much else planned for the day. As a result, Tylan had asked if they could go and hang out there for a little while. (She would have said yes anyways, seeing as he barely went outside of the house and rarely asked to do that sort of thing anymore already, but he had decided he needed an argument and pointed out that she could get some more inspiration from it).

          Looking back, it had actually been a good thing.

          Mostly because that meant they were around to help protect a young girl around Tylan’s age and her clearly stressed dad from none other than the Karen-iest Karen to ever Karen.

          At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Gwing had been sketching in one of her drawing pads, occasionally glancing up at the trees above to try and spot any details she may have missed or skipped over the first couple of times. Sitting to her left, a man in his early or mid thirties was bouncing his knee as he watched the kids playing. At first glance, he hardly looked out of the ordinary in any sense of the word—he was a human, his hair was choppy and a sort of reddish-brown, and it covered his eyes. When he glanced over in her direction, however, she realised that one of his eyes was blue but the other was not. It was a silvery grey colour, and there was a jagged scar that darted over it and down almost to his jawline. Wherever it was from, it certainly didn’t fit the nervous energy he gave off nor the style of his outfit—a black windbreaker, a green shirt beneath, and dark jeans with Converse that matched the shirt.

          Glancing over at him and taking a break from her sketch, Gwing smiled and asked, “Everything alright?”

          Blinking, he seemed to snap out of some sort of daze. “Oh, are you—are you talking to me?” When she nodded, he ran a hand up into his hair and brushed it out of his face a little bit. “I-uh, I’m fine. Just fine, thanks.” After a slightly awkward pause, he seemed to realise he should talk more and said, “How are you?”

          “I’m good, thank you.” She glanced towards where Tylan was, sitting on the roof of the playground equipment itself rather than something it had on it. “Be careful, Tylan!” He responded by sending her a look that said Challenge accepted, hooked his legs on one of the closest bars, and swung around so he was hanging upside down from them. Sighing, she glanced over at her bench companion. “Sometimes I’m surprised he’s made it this long.”

          “Kids are like jello. They bounce back from everything.” He mused with wide eyes, and she laughed so hard she actually snorted. When she did, he glanced over at her with a mix of amusement and something else in his eyes, although she wasn’t sure what.

          “So, which one is—” A sudden commotion caught her eye. She turned to see some little blond human boy standing over another kid. The other kid was a purple tiefling, who had very obviously just been shoved to the ground by the blond. Just as Gwing was about to get up and stop it herself (because really, who taught their kid that bullying was okay?), a little girl about Tylan’s age with choppy dark red-brown hair and green eyes marched over. She looked the exact opposite of threatening—she was wearing jeans and a pink hoodie with matching Converse. When she was within two feet of the pair, she said something that got the blond’s attention.

          And then she decked him across the jaw.

          “Oh, no. That one’s mine.” The man beside her said, already getting up. His daughter helped the tiefling boy to his feet and then started yelling at the blond, who started wailing like he hadn’t been about to punch the lights out of the tiefling kid (because no one stood over someone else like that unless they were going to beat them up). Of course, the wailing attracted the boy’s mother.

          A Karen.

          “What is wrong with you?!” She practically cawed, marching over. She had to be one of the Karen-esit Karens to ever Karen, with the classic dyed-blonde haircut and fake smile. She had the kind of outfit that made you think “are you trying to cosplay or do you just think that outfit looks good on you?” (she looked a bit like Effie Trinket, if Effie Trinket had worn fashions from the modern world and not Panem). It was all sorts of pinks and blues that would have gone nicely together if she didn’t happen to look like someone had power-hosed them onto her dress.

          Now, Gwing knew several lovely people named Karen. There was the girl who sometimes babysat Tylan, who would tell him about how what her high school was doing and who would invite them to all her plays and musicals whenever she was over (and who always complimented Gwing’s art afterwards and had, on the rare occasion, actually bought a few pieces as a gift for family). There was the cashier at the grocery store that they went to who had been there when Jade…passed away. Then there was her friend Hashaan’s niece-in-law Karen who was probably the nicest tiefling that Gwing had ever met. So she knew some nice Karens.

          However, Gwing had grown up in the era of memes, and one of the ones that had never died was the Karen meme.

          And this one fit it to a T.

          The man who had been sitting beside her glanced nervously between the blond kid and his mother, holding his daughter behind him. “I—I’m sorry?”

          “You should be! How dare you let your daughter grow up like that! Thinking it’s okay to hit people!” He stammered something and the Karen let out an angry noise like some sort of Furby. “Nope! No, I don’t want to hear it. You make her apologise to my sweetie right now!”

          “He was going to beat up someone else! I don’t have to apologise.” The girl replied, and Gwing immediately decided that she liked this girl. Meanwhile, her dad looked on the verge of tears as the Karen kept whaling into him with one insult after another.

          Alright, let’s stop this right now before someone ends up in the hospital.

          Tucking her sketchpad into her purse, Gwing swung it over her shoulder and sent a look to Tylan where he was checking on the tiefling boy. Nodding, he ducked over and Gwing stopped a few feet away from the girl and her dad. Glancing at the Karen, she asked a rather simple question.

          “Ma’am, is there a problem?”

+++

Rook~

          He didn’t know who this half-elf woman was, but she probably saved his life.

          Earlier, when she’d sat down next to him, he hadn’t really thought anything about it. That kind of thing happened and people talked sometimes while watching their kids and trying to make sure they didn’t fall and die somewhere. He hadn’t even asked for her name and she hadn’t asked for his, but already she was nice enough to step in and make sure that the Karen didn’t absolutely destroy him. Because she could. She probably would. She’d probably call the city council and tell them that he was a problem and then he would get evicted and then Raven would probably get taken away and—

          “Ma’am, is there a problem?”

          Five words. Five words and this nice woman had just saved him from losing his daughter for good (because everyone knew he wouldn’t get her back if he lost her). Earlier, he had seen her, but he hadn’t seen her. Of course, her looking like some fantasy heroine probably had something to do with the fact that she was saving what family he had left, but the blue hair definitely helped.

          The Karen looked at her. “Of course there is! That girl hit my baby!”

          “Well, I’ve been watching these two for the past couple of minutes, and it looked like your ‘baby’ was about to beat up someone else.” The woman replied, crossing her arms. “So the way I see it, you need to take a look at how you raise your kid, not how—” She glanced at Rook and frowned slightly, “—sorry, what was your name?”

          “Rook.”

          “Nice to meet you, I’m Gwing. Anyways, ma’am, I don’t think you get to say how Rook raises his kid. She’s not even related to you.” Stepping closer, Gwing tilted her head, frowned slightly, and added, “Besides, if you have such a problem with other kids punching yours, maybe you should teach him not to be a jerk to others first. It’s kind of how the world works.”

          The Karen’s face flushed and she made a sound that reminded Rook of Zenya when the pseudodragon had eaten too many sweets (sometimes Raven would sneak her a few). “Well, I never—” Turning, she collected her child and waddled off, and Gwing turned back to Rook. Sharp brown eyes met his and she smiled reassuringly.

          “Sorry about that. Everything alright?” She asked, and he nodded once. Turning to Raven, she added, “You’re a pretty brave kid.”

          Raven just shrugged and said, “It’s what anyone should do. Besides, he was going to punch that kid for being a tiefling.” Walking over, Raven stuck out her hand and said, “I’m Raven Lunera.”

          Reaching out, Gwing shook it. “Gwing Veloce.” A boy around Raven’s age who looked just like his mom (same brown eyes and blue hair, although his was shorter) walked over and Gwing smiled at him. “This is my son Tylan.”

          Raven shook Tylan’s hand, too. The three of them all suddenly got very. Very blurry. “Papa, are you okay?” Blinking and sniffing, Rook realised the wetness on his cheeks was actually tears and hoo boy he was crying in front of the entire playground. Raven hugged him tightly, saying, “It’s okay, Papa, everything’s fine.”

          “Hey, why don’t we all go get ice cream? If Tylan punched someone like you did, that’s what I’d do.” Glancing over at Rook, blurry Gwing asked, “Is that alright with you?”

          “Yeah.”

          “Okay, I’ll drive. I don’t want you driving while you’re crying.” Someone took his keys, Raven took his hand, and Rook followed them all off the playground.

          Little did any of them know, everything was going to change over the next several years.

Chapter Text

Rook~

          Sometimes he forgot how disorienting losing his sight could be.

          Sometimes, that meant he had a hard time grabbing things. Or catching flying things out of the air. Or throwing stuff. Usually he found work arounds or Raven would help (because she was sweet like that, and always had been).

          And sometimes it meant that glass doors were difficult.

          He and Raven both walked into the same glass door (it had looked open, to be fair) while following Gwing and Tylan into the Shrieking Wizard ice cream shop. Of course, Tylan had nearly fallen over laughing at the sight and Gwing sent him a sharp look before helping Rook up. Raven was already on her feet by then, and she glared at Tylan (and he promptly returned said glare).

          Inside, there was a violin cover of one of Avicii’s songs playing over the speakers, which Rook found he much preferred to some of the modern pop music that Raven’s peers had taken to listening to. Most of it he’d heard when he’d picked her up from school from their speakers or on the radio. In his opinion, it hardly held a candle to the music from his day (but maybe that was just him being an old fart, he wasn’t sure).

          The Shrieking Wizard was a pretty nice place. Inside, it looked like something out of a 50’s movie diner, with pastel pinks and blues and whites making up the inside. Personally, he liked the look. It was sleek and clean, and it had managed to stick around for so long even with its original look that Rook had to give them a little credit. He didn’t remember a time when they hadn’t been in Bay Hollow City.

          Sitting behind the counter was a young man in his early twenties with blond-tipped brown hair. When Gwing and the others walked in, he smiled brightly and sat up. “Hey, Mrs Veloce! How’s your day been?”

          “Just fine, Matt. What about you?” Gwing replied, smiling calmly. “Tylan and I will have our usual, and I’ll pay for these two as well.”

          Matt grinned broadly as he grabbed some ice cream. Plastered on the glass was a little sign that said “please don’t tap on the glass, it scares the ice creams”. After a quick look, Raven ordered cookies and cream (Rook didn’t know where she got that from, strawberry was nice). “How are the others doing?” Tylan asked, leaning against the glass as he grabbed for a spoon.

          Matt handed one down to him. “Well, Alex and Amy are helping Jenny unload some more cartons for the back freezer,” as he spoke, two people—one with reddish spikes and the other with two-toned—walked in carrying some heavy boxes. Turning, Matt shouted, “Liam, Phil, make sure to help Alex and Amy! Also, Alex, why are you carrying those? You should be using the dolly.”

          “No chance!” Alex (presumably) yelled back.

          “Liam! PhIL!”

          “We’re helping, we’re helping!” Someone else called back.

          “Yeah, Matt, come on. If you’re manning the counter, then you can’t yell at us!” Another voice that Rook was pretty sure wasn’t Amy’s called out.

          A girl with curly blond hair, around Matt’s age, poked her head out of the kitchen. “Oh, Matt, you could have told Jazzy and I that you needed us!”

          “You were on break, Beth.”

          “Well, so were we and you didn’t mind yelling at us two seconds ago!” Someone jabbed from the kitchen, although the tone was light. Rook was pretty sure that it was the second voice from earlier.

          Someone in truck driver’s clothes wandered in the front door, and another worker—this one with short brown hair—poked their head out as well. “Ollie! How’s your music going?”

          The workers and truck driver (who Rook had a feeling delivered the ice cream that Matt had yelled at the others about) started chattering while Beth rang up Gwing’s tab. After a second, the half-elf indicated they should go outside to one of the tables, and Rook followed her and the kids without really thinking about it.

          As they sat around a table, Raven asked, “Hey, why’s yours green? Doesn’t that mean it’s mouldy?”

          Gwing glanced down at the spoon in her hand. “Oh! No, it’s pistachio. I always forget it’s that colour. They also have bacon in there.”

          “How is bacon an ice cream flavour?”

          Tylan gasped and pointed aggressively at Raven with a spoon, “It is the best flavour to ever exist, excuse me.”

          “You’re excused.” Raven replied, and Tylan stared at her like she’d just bluescreened him for a second. The truck driver left Shrieking Wizard, holding the door for a group of four (two blue dragonborns and two purple tieflings, apparently two dads and their kids. Part of Rook wondered if it was the same purple tiefling child from earlier). He’d apparently bought some ice cream as well for his shift. “Besides, if bacon is such a great flavour, why didn’t you get it?”

          “Because chocolate is the second best flavour?” Gwing and Rook exchanged glances as their kids continued to argue over ice cream. With a slight smile, she shrugged as if to say ‘kids will be kids’ and then went back to eating.

+++

Gwing~

          In her opinion, Tylan and Raven seemed to hit it off pretty well.

          Once they had managed to agree that mint chocolate chip was one of the best flavours (“at least in the top ten!” “or top five!” “yeah!”), they got along well. They also decided that lemon custard, coffee, and strawberry were from the devil (Rook didn’t seem to happy about the last one being there), and that French vanilla was about as boring as possible unless sprinkled with MnMs and chocolate sauce, they looked like they could become good friends.

          “Wait, what about Neapolitan? It’s got vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.”

          “Well, the chocolate makes it great…” Tylan mused, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand (it was such a Jade thing to do).

          “…but strawberry is from the devil—”

          “—and vanilla is boring.” Pouting, he frowned, crossed his arms, and finally said, “I guess that the chocolate could redeem it, and it depends on what toppings you put. Maybe it’s redeemable?”

          They were walking through downtown back towards the parking garage where they had left the car. It was approaching evening, and the sun was just peeking over the tops of some of the taller buildings. Azure sky peered through thick, patchy silver clouds, and the breeze kicked up several dead leaves into a small dance. In the park they were passing by, some performers were fooling around. One of them, a tall and burly blue dragonborn, had lifted the other two—a purple tiefling woman and a wood elf—onto his shoulders. The moment she saw the wood elf, who was wearing a mask, her mind drifted to the Whitlaw Fire. She hadn’t meant to, but sometimes it happened (and it had been a pretty large event).

          The Fire itself had been a couple years before. Gwing had been working on a commission at the time and hadn’t thought anything of it when the fire department whipped down the street. It had been a common occurrence back then—some fires had been springing up in the weeks before. She had thought it had been something like those, maybe a small family business going up but nothing that couldn’t be repaired.

          Then the radio station she’d been listening to had suddenly broadcast the news that the Whitlaw building was on fire. The Whitlaws were about as close to royalty as someone could get in modern times. They were powerful and influential, some of the head political leaders in the area. Seamus Whitlaw had died a few years before that under unknown circumstances. The family had never made it clear to the public.

          After that, it was a few hours of pacing and praying and waiting for news before she went to pick Tylan up. There was nothing. Nothing then, and there certainly wouldn’t be now.

          “Gwing?” Blinking, she glanced over at Rook. He and the kids were watching her nervously, and Tylan reached over to take her hand. “Everything alright?”

          Smiling, Gwing met his gaze and looked at the performers. No one knew what happened to Paddy Whitlaw. Apparently, the rest of the family had been killed in the fire. If he was even still alive, she didn’t know where he was. Poor kid…

          She took a deep breath and glanced back at Rook again. “I’m fine. Let’s keep walking.”

Chapter Text

Gwing~

          “Are we going to meet up with them again?”

          Tylan’s question came while Gwing was busy mixing some more paint. Glancing over at him momentarily before turning back to him, she replied, “Do you want to? I mean, Raven did give me her dad’s number.” That had been a funny moment. Raven had grabbed a napkin, borrowed a pen from Gwing, written down Rook’s number and then handed it back to Gwing with the pen casually. She almost didn’t seem to care that her dad was staring at her in confusion and trying to figure out what had just happened. “So if you wanted to, I’m sure I could ask and see if they were interested.”

          “Please?” Yawning, he rubbed at his eyes and looked much younger. Immediately afterwards, he did the thing that reminded Gwing painfully of Jade where he scrunched his nose up and squinted. “I’m not tired.”

          Laughing, she shook her head. “Come on, Tylan, let’s get you to bed.”

          “Noooo, I don’t want to go to sleep.”

          “Tylan, if you don’t go to your room right now, I’m not going to contact Rook and Raven for another week.” He stared at her and pouted, and she felt bad for saying that (even though she and Rook had already been texting when she got back—mostly just them awkwardly playing 20 Questions back and forth for a good twenty minutes). “Come on, you can read or something. I just want you in bed and not running around.”

          He stumbled down the hall with some muttered protests and Gwing waited until he was in bed to close the door. “Night, mom.”

          “Good night, Tylan. Love you.” He mumbled a reply and she went back to her studio. Nala hopped up onto her seat and purred quietly, and Gwing turned back to her paintings. Smiling at one of her older ones, a commission, she glanced back at the picture on her desk. It was another one. “He’s turned out just fine, Jade, don’t you worry.”

+++

Rook~

          They’d been home for a grand total of two minutes when there was a sudden thud against their back door.

          “And that should be Zenya.” Rook mused, walking over and opening the door as Raven went about turning the lights on. Yawning, he pulled the curtain away and the chubby pseudodragon slumped in the door. “You okay there, girl?”

          She let out a sound somewhere between a snort and a growl. Then, she decided to crawl up his leg and settle around his neck like a scaly green scarf, puttering the whole way.

          “Yeah, you’re okay.” Yawning, he looked over at Raven. She seemed just as tired as he was. “Alright, we should probably head to bed.”

          Shaking her head, Raven straightened up like she could make herself seem more awake. “But it’s only nine thirty!”

          “Come on, just sit on your bed. I’ll do your hair.” She yawned again and darted off, and Zenya let out another puff sound. Rubbing her head, Rook went over to grab some water and the little Play Doh cans that he’d bought Raven when he was sure she was old enough not to eat any. He’d had a friend who did that a long time ago, but he couldn’t remember her name anymore.

          Walking into Raven’s room, he sat down next to her and she grabbed the brush. Most of the time, they didn’t really talk. They sort of just…existed in the same space. He didn’t do anything fancy most of the time—it was really just to keep her hair from getting all crazy and knotted in the morning. (He’d had to take some classes ever since Phoebe left).

          “Hey, look! It’s you.” She turned when he was almost finished and shoved the thing way too close to his face. Leaning back, he had to squint until it came into focus.

          It looked like him…if he had a Dorito for a body.

          “Oh, thanks. Am I…wearing a poncho?”

          “Yeah!” As he put the final tie in the second braid, she held up another one. It looked vaguely like Zenya. A very fat Zenya (actually, she probably wasn’t that far off with that one). “And this is Zenya. She’s really chonky.”

          “Chonky?”

          “You know…” She handed him the sculpture and then made a gesture. “Chonky.”

          Zenya leaned forward, sniffed the sculpture, and then took a bite of it. “Zenya, no!” Rook jumped out of bed as she ran off, tail flapping and wings folded at her sides. Raven followed after him.

          It was a good ten minutes before they managed to catch Zenya, and then Rook had to pin her down while extracting the Play Doh (which was not meant to be eaten).

+++

A Wild Bonus Part Has Appeared!

+++

Raven~

          The next time they met up was about a week later, and Tylan and Raven were playing with Zenya at one of the parks while their parents sat on a bench and…adulted.

          “You know, I think they might like each other.” Tylan mused, looking over his shoulder at the pair. Almost casually, he lobbed the ball to Raven. She was so busy following his gaze it bounced off her shoulder, leaving Zenya to grab it. “Sorry.”

          “No big deal, I can’t catch half the stuff people throw at me anyways.” She shrugged and added, “Well, I mean, sorry to tell you, but…” He looked at her and tilted his head, and she crossed her arms to think for a moment. Zenya sat down at her feet, ball in the tiny pseudodragon’s mouth. “I don’t know.”

          He paused for a moment. Something crossed his face, almost like he was thinking of something to do. And then a very peculiar look jolted across him like a bolt of lightning. Or inspiration. Turning to her, he grinned wickedly.

          “Ever seen Parent Trap?”

Chapter Text

          Hey, guys.

          For those of you who are reading this, thanks. To keep this in an upbeat, cheery tone (which probably isn’t going to stick around for long), those of you who are staying instead of going to the next chapter have now unlocked part one of the “tragic backstory” story path for our relationship, whatever this is.

          If everything goes fine, then this will probably be deleted in the next couple of days or by the time I get around to the next chapter or so. If not…well, then this story might have to go on a temporary hiatus.

          In simple terms, I might end up having to type downstairs. That’s not the problem in the slightest, and I don’t mind moving downstairs in the least. I could always just wear noise-cancelling earbuds or headphones to drown out any noise from the TV and the like. Unfortunately, it would mean that this story would go on a short hiatus. Nothing long, thankfully, just until I manage to finish the first draft of one of my short novels (the working title is Magic Paintbrush). The reality is that I’m very easily distractible and the TV in our main room is on basically all day, every day. That’s due to my brother, who has special needs and usually uses that as background noise when he’s doing other stuff.

          And that’s…sort of where the problem is. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t the problem. As some of you might know, I’m trans and somewhere on the ace and bi/pan spectrums (I think that’s the right word). Well, three of the four other human members of my family know that. I came out to my brother shortly after I figured out I was trans in eighth grade (sort of—I was on the fence for a little while and the poor guy had to deal with all of that…we’re cool, though). In spring of freshman year (I still remember the date)…I got forced out of the closet to my parents by my parents. There’s more to that…but you haven’t unlocked that path yet, so I’m not sharing that (and I am especially not sharing that here).

          My dad is a youth pastor, so you can guess how my family thought of gay people growing up. I do have some gay relatives, but we’re not close and my parents told us the whole “love the sinner, hate the sin” crap. My church is pretty similar, especially in the youth group, where I have had to hear lovely comments like “I love you, but I don’t agree with you” and “I’ll be praying for you” (both from someone I’ve known for 16 of my 17 years of life), “I would go to a gay wedding until I felt like I would throw up” (from someone I’ve known since 2^nd grade), and the all-too-lovely “I think the Nazis had the right idea” about putting people in concentration camps, specifically gay people, “and just didn’t read the Bible enough”. That same person also said in junior high that “if I had a trans friend, I would slap some sense into them”. And I know she meant it literally, considering this person and I used to be so close people called us sisters and we would say we’ve known each other since before we were born.

          So with that environment, you can guess what one of my brother’s reactions might be. In order to start using my “preferred” pronouns and name, though, I need to tell him. It’s not fair to him if he doesn’t know, and if he ends up being transphobic and homophobic…well, then, fine. He’s like that. (If things go awry, yes, I have backup plans and I can use them if need be, I have had them since eighth grade).

          You’re probably wondering how this miniature vent applies to being moved downstairs. In more obvious terms, being moved downstairs means that I will be directly in range for him to fire off anything he thinks about trans people. Whether it’s misgendering Caitlyn Jenner (heard that one in the last couple of weeks), implying that the reason the rate of trans murder is so high is because they aren’t telling “cis-attracted people” what’s in their pants (heard that…two days ago?), or just growling at a lgbtq+ couple kissing on-screen or a lgbtq+ character coming out (both of those happened already and hoo boy was my heart pounding then), I’m going to be right there for all of that. If that does happen, it’s going to skew with my writing. A lot.

          If it does, I’m sorry, I apologise in advance. Things should go well, and I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise. This could totally just be me overthinking things to the max. If things go badly…well, then they go bad. I’ll be fine, I promise.

          And with that, I should probably go. Thank you for reading! Y’all are awesome and amazing and wonderful and appreciated and loved and brilliant and I will keep coming up with adjectives until you believe it if you don’t. Y’all are abso-freaking-lutely great and thanks for being you! I hope you have a wonderful day, and I hope that any aches and pains you have (physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual) ease up.

          See you in the next fic/chapter!

Chapter Text

          What’s up, kings, queens, and monarchs?

          Oh, right, I’m back!

          Anyways, sorry for disappearing randomly for like…a month. That was an accident. Still working on what I talked about last chapter, but I did end up wrapping up two of my actual work books and I’m about a hundred pages away from finishing the editing on one. Thanks to everyone who’s been supporting and reading this story so far, and thanks for being patient (y’all are so nice).

          But, like I said, I am back. And I’m not leaving for a significant amount of time, because even if I did get in trouble for coming out to my brother, I can’t have my tablet taken away because of distance learning! I mean, the reason why we’re doing distance learning isn’t the best, but I’ll take what I can. Basically, the reason I suddenly went AWOL is because my previous school tablet finally crapped out.

          So, in short, there’s a few things you need to know. Two of the other fics for HHLR that I’ve published recently, “High Hopes Lots of Food” and “High Hopes Low Memory” have some information that’s going to come into play pretty soon. I’ll let you figure out what that means there. But yeah, this story should update pretty quickly, I want to try something before we reach…September 13^th. Some of you might understand that, others might not. And if you figure it out…cool, kudos to you.

          Anyways, before I bore you, I’m going to admit that I haven’t actually come out to my brother even though I planned on doing it. Something…came to light that I realised I needed to worry about when it came to church and stuff. Don’t worry, I’m fine and everything else is fine, but I just wanted to make that clear for y’all before people asked “hey, how did coming out to your brother go?” because it hasn’t happened yet.

          Now, let’s jump back into this fic, eh?

Chapter Text

Tylan~

          “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Gwing asked, signing at the door. Rook and Raven were glancing between each other, obviously confused, but Tylan didn’t think on it anymore than simply noticing it.

          “Yes, Mom, we’re going to be fine. Just go get some paints and dinner and stuff.” Her eyes narrowed just a little bit, and he grinned before shutting the door on her and Rook. Turning around, he met Malark’s gaze and asked, “What do you think? Smash bros?”

          “Absolutely.” Malark started booting up the game system, chucking his bag on the couch like he always did without any care. His notebook spilled out, falling open to one of the pages. There was a wood elf sketched there, holding a coffee cup and smiling off somewhere.

          Grinning to himself, Tylan ducked into the kitchen. Raven followed him. Once they were out of sight, she asked, “What’s up with him?” Glancing at her, he frowned with his hands still holding a bag of kettle corn. She made an attempt to sign, although he wasn’t sure what she was trying to say.

          “Oh! Malark’s deaf. Or…mostly deaf, I think. Sometimes he uses hearing aids, but here he usually doesn’t. It’s tiring.” Shrugging, he grabbed out some of the candies they’d had for a while. “Do you like kettle corn?”

          “It’s fine. What are you guys saying to each other?”

          “Well, I asked if he wanted to do Smash Bros. He said yes, so I’m grabbing the snacks while setting up. Sometimes we watch movies, sometimes we play with Nala but she’s wandering around the neighborhood like she sometimes does. If she comes back, she comes back.”

          “Nala?”

          “Our cat. Well, Mom’s…” Frowning, he made a gesture and snapped a few times before the word came to mind. “Companion.”

          “You have a cat?!” Raven asked, eyes wide, and he glanced at her and nodded before chucking the kettle corn bag in the microwave and grabbing some bowls. “Oh my gosh that’s so cool! We just have a really fat pseudodragon.”

          “Wait, pseudodragons can get fat?” Malark popped his head into the kitchen and grinned broadly at Tylan. Waving, Tylan dragged Raven out into the main room. “Ever played?”

+++

Gwing~

          “Do you think they’re okay?” Rook asked as soon as they got into the paint store. Walking down the aisles, Gwing glanced around at all the different names. It was for a new commission, and she didn’t need much, anyways.

          “They’ll be fine. Malark can handle himself.” She glanced back at him, noticing how uncomfortable he looked. He kept glancing over his shoulder. It was almost…almost like he was expecting someone to come after him. “Hey, do you want to go out to dinner after this? I’ll pay.”

          Obviously shocked, he looked over at her and blinked a few times. “Uh—I—okay.” She smiled at him, then turned back and grabbed some of the pain buckets, hefting them up over her shoulder like they weighed nothing. Then, she turned and started walking back towards the cash registers, hearing Rook run after her, stuttering that he could help.

          She, of course, kept walking.

(*insert High Hopes theme transition here*)

          They went to dinner at a fancy restaurant in downtown, at Rook’s suggestion.

          “When did you go to a place this fancy? You don’t seem like the kind of person to do a nice sit down kind of dinner, no offence.” He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck as they walked up the steps and into a restaurant known as the Cascades. It was a nice place, run mostly by water genasi and dragonborns and tieflings. There were a few humans and elves and dwarves, but they seemed to be more easily hired by the Cascades’ neighbour, the Leaky Biscuit.

          “Honestly? I’m not. Raven and I went here after Phoebe and I finalized our divorce.” Rook explained, holding the door open for Gwing. She smiled and met his gaze, and then saw an older building in the background. It was from one of the more recent fires, a mom and pop corner store that had gone up. Thankfully, no one had been hurt, and the people who had owned the store were now recovering and rebuilding. Scaffolding and tarps covered the bottom of the building, but the smell of smoke still hung faint in the air.

          Blinking, Gwing jumped when Rook’s hand settled on her shoulder. Concern lit his gaze. “I’m sorry, I think I spaced out for a moment. What?”

          “Are you okay?” He asked, glancing across the street at the mom and pop store. “Hey, do you not want to be here? We can go somewhere else.”

          “No, no, everything’s fine.” Smiling, she went inside and he followed her. Shaking off the feeling of smoke and fire, she took a breath of the damp air inside the Cascades building. It was nice and cool in the way of tropical forests, not quite humid (thankfully) but not dry, either. A genasi that she recognised came up, eyes brightening.

          “Gwing! Hey!” Walking over, she hugged her tightly, and Gwing hugged her back. “Oh my gosh, you look so nice!” When she saw Rook, she grinned slyly and asked, “Are you on a date?”

          Rook’s eyes widened and he started stammering. Rolling her eyes and sighing, Gwing replied, “No, Mina, this is not my date. This is Rook Lunera. He’s the dad of a friend of Tylan’s.”

          “Oh.” A soft smile crossed Mina’s face, and she took Gwing’s arm. “Well, both of you come on, I’ll seat you guys tonight. It’s a slow day, we don’t have much business.”

          “There are a lot of cars outside, though.” Rook mused, frowning. He wasn’t wrong. They had been forced to drive around for a good ten minutes just to find a good parking spot (which wasn’t anything more than a minor inconvenience, and she did ask if he just wanted fast food or something similar).

          “They’re all for the Leaky Biscuit.” Mina said, shrugging. She wrapped an arm over Rook’s shoulders, guiding him and Gwing deeper into the Cascades dining area. They eventually stopped at a small table and Mina seated them. “I’ll give you the family discount like I used to when you and Jade came by.”

          “Mina—”

          Mina shot her a scolding look, leaning back on one foot with a hand on one hip and her notepad in the other. “Excuse you, Mrs Veloce, but I haven’t seen you in years in person and all of a sudden you pop up and you think I’m not going to treat you like family? Shut up and be quiet.”

          With a sigh, Gwing glanced at Rook. He seemed rather entertained, and then looked over at her and smiled softly.

          Dimly, she wondered how Tylan and Raven were doing with Malark.

+++

Tylan~

          Things were going just fine until Nala bit Raven.

          Tears in her eyes, Raven sat on the kitchen counter as Malark looked through the medicine cabinets for the bandaids. It wasn’t a bad bite by any means, and they had already cleaned it out as much as they could so that it wouldn’t get infected or anything. Turning to Tylan, Malark quickly signed, “Does she prefer normal or Jurassic Park?”

          Tylan turned to Raven and repeated. “Jurassic Park, please.” Turning back, he relayed the message, and Malark came over with one of their Jurassic Park bandaids. Gently, he took Raven’s hand and gently put the bandaid over where Nala’s teeth had actually caused some bleeding.

          Glancing up, he signed back, “Okay?”

          Since she actually knew that sign, Raven smiled and nodded, and Malark straightened back up. “Do you think that she knows I’m not mad at her?” Raven asked. Meanwhile, Nala hopped up beside her on the counter and then rubbed against the girl’s arm, purring. “Maybe can we go for a walk outside?”

          Tylan related her question to Malark, who paused for a second and then thought. “I think it’d be okay. I’ll leave a note for your mom and tell mine where we’re going.”

          “Ooh, maybe we could ask Hashaan if she wanted to come with us.” Scoffing, Malark reached over and ruffled Tylan’s hair, then went about texting his foster mother, Tylan’s mom’s friend Hashaan. Turning back to Raven, Tylan grinned broadly. “We’re going to be outside pretty soon. Malark never says no to a walk.”

          She smiled softly, petting Nala’s head gently.