Work Text:
The rain is warm. Scott’s never been fond of the rain. It’s always cold, or frozen into ice or snow. But the rain is warm today. When it falls through his feathers, it leaves trails of warmth.
Despite the unprecedented warm rain, he still would prefer to be inside. His parents were here with him in the humid swamps, executing some sort of trade. He himself isn’t all that worried about it. Rivendell always has enough to trade. Besides, his nanny Eve told him they’ve almost finished the peace treaties with the ocean people.
It’s great because that means they won’t have to keep coming out to the muddy swamps where the rain is warm and the sun is too hot, and his wings are heavier with humidity. Eve made him wear thinner layers and it did help, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. He finds it more uncomfortable than anything.
Eve is meeting with his brother right now. His brother is ten years older than him, and Scott’s pretty sure their parents weren’t planning on him being born anyways, but his brother doesn’t seem to mind. He’s always been kind to him. He plays with Scott even when he as work to do. Maybe that’s why mother and father felt the need to give him work to do too.
Eve helps him understand the work. It’s a lot of numbers, and they like to swim on the page. Sometimes he looses the numbers he was using and has to start over again because he can’t see where they’re supposed to be. She tells him to just start the numbers over again. She taught him how to write them in lines so he can follow the numbers.
Right now, he’d rather be doing numbers than walking in the rain. Warm or no, it’s still sticky and getting all over his hair and feathers. He stamps a foot in the mud and regrets it when the brown murky water splashes all over his white clothes.
“Hello!” a loud voice calls from a nearby pond.
“Ah!” Scott jumps, wings snapping out and floundering as they’re hit with more rain. “Wh—Where are you?!”
“Right here!” the voice says from behind him.
Scott squeals, spinning around and falling back into a puddle. He squirms at the feeling of mud on his hands and in his wings. A tall kid about his age cocks his head at him, confused.
“What’s wrong?”
“I fell in the mud!” he shouts, throwing a fistful of the stuff at him. “You scared me! Who even are you?!”
“Oh! My name’s—wait.” The kid squints at him. “You’re an elf. Dad said I shouldn’t give my name to elfs.”
“…okay that’s just mean. What can I call you then? I can’t just—” he tosses more mud at him, “—call you mud boy, can I?”
“I mean… oh! Call me Laspi. It’s the word for ‘mud’ in my language.” The blond kid offers a hand to help him up.
“Then you can call me… Nix.” Scott smiles, it goes with the theme.
“Nice to meet you, Nix. Sorry about… the mud.”
Scott looks down at his soiled clothes and winces. “It… it’s fine. You… it’s fine.”
“I still feel bad.”
Scott shakes his wings out, wiping his hands on his trousers to hopefully clear off some of the grime. “Want to make it up to me?”
Laspi nods, big brown eyes so eager, and it almost makes Scott feel bad for what he’s about to do. Almost.
Shoving Laspi into the mud does virtually nothing. He laughs when he lands, as if wearing mud all over himself is natural. Maybe it is, Scott assumes he lives here, so it wouldn’t surprise him if he got dirty often. What does surprise him, is the kid pulling him into the mud after him.
“Wah!”
“Scott Smajor, what are you doing?!”
…uh oh. Scott bolts upright, eyes panning to Eve, standing on Laspi’s other side. The blonde sits up too, looking between him and his nanny.
“What did she say?” he asks.
“My real name.”
“Elfs thing?”
Scott nods. Eve rubs her eyes. “Scott you’re a mess. Wh… we need to get you cleaned up before your father sees. Come on.”
Scott stands, waving to Laspi. “Bye… see you again sometime?”
“Maybe! You’ll never see me coming!”
Scott giggles and Eve takes him by the shoulder, turning him away. “Quickly! Before your parents get done with their meeting.”
And off they run.