#lovebrush chronicles ehlonna | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

romance-rambles · 1 day

Text

IN WHICH HE HAS (ALMOST) NOTHING TO HIDE (ANYMORE)

Years after you settle down near New Godheim, your sons take part in a scheme to distract their father before the big surprise party. Unfortunately, Alkaid is observant—and his sons take after him.

— pairing: [background] [godheim] alkaid mcgrath x little painter/you

— word count: 1.4k

— tags: post-canon, birthday surprises, really domestic stuff with slight angst, children of characters

— notes: this one doesn't even have mc in it i'm crying. don't really have that big of a reason to name the twins after stars, just thought it was cute. also showing my green name-ness by making his longer than ayn's

return to lbc masterlist | series: an eventful first meeting

ALKAID IS TENDING TO HIS garden when the door to the quaint house he shares with his wife and three children creaks open.

Hushed whispers descend upon his blossoming garden, but he remains deliberately immersed in cooing over the flowers. His gloved fingers hover over, but never touch, the stems of the purple flower he once brought to life for his wife—back in the snow-buried Godheim he once called home.

Whatever silence his sons can scrounge up lasts only until someone starts shoving—from the yelping, he can guess it's Leo, the older of the two. They sort out the argument between them quickly, then wordlessly set out further into his garden.

And this is, apparently, how some siblings act, particularly if they're close in age. You've vouched for the statement with anecdotes of your school life, but even almost thirteen years later, he finds it hard to wrap his head around it.

He and Ehlonna were never so rough with each other—or at all. But then again, they could only ever dream of the only kind of childhood his sons know.

This is only another difference in a terribly long list, one he hopes will only grow longer.

"Hmm?" Alkaid pauses in his act, pretending to have only just noticed his sons' arrival. "Who is it?"

Silence greets him in return. He waits. A second becomes many, but they do not keep him waiting for long. Instead, they join him by the flowers, almost solemn in the way they gaze at his hard work.

And the way their eyebrows pinch together reminds him of you.

"And what brings the two of you here?" Resting his hands on his knees, he cranes his neck to greet them, one by one. A hint of amusement trickles into his tone. "Will you not be helping your mother this year?"

The two attempt to glance at each other. He leans back a little, disguising his short laugh as a polite cough. The remnants of a smile, however, linger long after his gloved hand retreats. Pressing the back of his bent fingers against his lips, he allows it to return to its former glory.

Behind his back, they converse wordlessly. He pretends he can't hear the rustling of their clothes as they gesture at each other.

"No," Leo huffs out. Forest green eyes narrow at him, carefully gauging his reaction. "There's no point in trying this year."

"Yeah," Sirius grumbles.

Unlike his brother, he's nearly the splitting image of his mother. The title is out of reach only because of the occasional reminders that Alkaid is his father—in the color of his eyes. In the thickness of his hair. In his love for gardening, and in his quiet perceptiveness, one that would leave him wise beyond his ears if he had been born into any other life.

"You always know what we're up to for your birthday."

Indeed, Alkaid thinks privately, settling down onto the ground, with his hands back on his knees. Without delay, his sons mimic him. Today is no different. But he'll pretend it is, though it remains to be seen if his youngest son will buy it.

"Oh," he utters instead. "You didn't get me a present?"

"Not a physical one," the blond says quickly. His words take on a biting quality at the end—the message is clear, both to his brother and to Alkaid, though it's aimed at only one of them. Say something. "We're going to do whatever you want to do, Father."

Turning his head to Leo, Alkaid pretends to think, "Well, I did plan on spending more time on the garden."

"Urk." His next words slip out through gritted teeth, not quite an affirmative, but neither is it a denial. The blond leans forward, unamused gaze pinned on his snickering brother. "Ahem, it's your birthday, Father. You should relax for the day. Somewhere far, far away from here."

"Your mother once did something similar," Alkaid says wistfully, obliviously. "How nostalgic."

In unison, with an ease that suggests much practice, the twins gag at his words. They cap it off with a bland, but insistent, "We know," having perhaps grown tired of hearing the same things over and over again.

"Have I mentioned it before?" he inquires innocently. He hasn't, by the way. Nor has he mentioned the ending, where you did manage to surprise him. Such a trick can only work so many times. "I must've forgotten."

"It's possible," Sirius agrees amiably, having recovered in remarkable time. His fingers lightly caress the soft petals of Alkaid's flowers. "It only shows how much you care about Mother. You make her tea whenever she wants and you've been growing these flowers because they remind you of her."

Less amiably, Leo grumbles, "And you've told us so many stories that we could recite them in our sleep. You and Mother both."

Alkaid smiles faintly. If that is the worst of his sins, of their sins, then surely, they're doing something right. That he has to listen to his children complain is a small price to pay.

"So, when are you going to give them to her?"

"I'm not sure," he admits.

It is the sense that he's being watched that spurs him to glance back at the kitchen window, but the curtain remains drawn, void of any silhouettes that would give the game away. He thinks of his wife, of the awkwardness that's settled into their home—a genuine mistake they don't feel equipped to fix, one that isn't even their own, not entirely.

But they should've expected it. They should've realized that people would carelessly bring Ehlonna up in front of the twins. They should've known better than to try and hide her sacrifice, her—

In that moment, the dark-haired boy nudges him, pulling his attention back onto the flowers. Carefully, a smile slots back into his pleasant expression. Alkaid unclenches his hand—and when had he done that?—and resolves to focus on the current matter at hand.

"Then, do the two of you have any ideas?"

"You'd know better," the younger blond mumbles, his spirits having noticeably dampened at the direction the conversation is taking. "You've known her for a long, long time. Longer than us, since before—"

As expected, Leo was—is—the bigger problem. And Alkaid understands it. He does. But he's allowed to hope that, one day, Leo will realize he has nothing to compensate for, even if he is a bit more withdrawn than his siblings.

A lot more withdrawn, actually.

Perhaps oblivious to the slight tension in the air, though that seems unlikely, Sirius interrupts him without a care. "Give them to her on her birthday!"

A sound option, but—

Alkaid glances at his oldest son. Lips jutting out into a pout, he glares at the unsuspecting flowers in front of him. Under the sun's warmth, his hair takes on a more golden hue, as if it was gold spun into delicate strands.

Brushing the boy's bangs out of his face, Alkaid asks, "And what about you?"

"Isn't it your birthday today?"

He holds his forehead and scowls. At his father's words? At his actions? The older blond remains uncertain. Scarlet blooms acroas the boy's cheeks, the color intensifying as his brother snickers.

Gently, Alkaid offers his younger son a rebuke.

"You're right. Why don't we change the subject then?" He chuckles, tapping his chin. A hint of amusement slips into his words; his next words come out almost song-like. "Now, what shall we talk about?"

"Anything else."

"From before you met Mother!"

As requested by his boys, the topic shifts. The garden soon forgotten, they talk about his childhood.

He talks about Zack, who he'd reunited with shortly after New Godheim had been established, who they knew as "Uncle Zack". He talks about Ehlonna, focusing on the happier memories—on stars, and how he thought she might appreciate the company.

He talks about the Archmage last, telling them close to everything but the period in between, where their relationship grew distant. Wording his sentences carefully, so that they won't look unkindly upon his mentor. Focusing on the happier bits, like the time he and Ehlonna threw him a surprise party, even though they—and the emperor, as well—knew nothing about the day of his birth.

And in the garden they remain, until the ringleader behind this surprise birthday operation comes to fetch them herself, when Alkaid utilizes his best acting skills to be nothing less than thoroughly caught off-guard.

They don't really believe him, but that's okay.

There's always next year.

#fics by aya #lovebrush chronicles #for all time #lovebrush chronicles x reader #for all time x reader #alkaid mcgrath #alkaid mcgrath x reader #lovebrush alkaid #lovebrush alkaid x reader #lbc alkaid #lbc alkaid x reader #rambles from here on ->#i worry about godheim alkaid sometimes. like. did you get to properly mourn your sister? did you?#not to the same extent of the other alkaids because uh. yeah.#this ended up being...not very fluffy...but it's domestic!!#i knew i wanted one twin to be emotionally constipated and one to be not—but leo got way more screen time rip sirius #the title is almost an artifact title because i didn't realize how much he really had to hide but like also #*looks at lars and clarence* relatively little to do with mc's circumstances (mostly common ending shenanigans)#ehlonna in hindsight sticks out as a sore spot like how do you cope with being told your aunt died for you to even be born?#and they say it so happily too like her dying was something noble!! death is death it's sad!! especially for family #sirius copes with it better because he compartmentalizes it; leo gets consumed by the thought

14 notes · View notes

romance-rambles · 3 days

Text

you know what. YOU KNOW WHAT.

i need to see ehlonna&alkaid&clarence content. i need clarence struggling with two kids on his own. feeling the same guilt that he feels with amelia, and it—it never quite goes away. how can it ever go away?

ehlonna is dead—she died with a smile. she died still trusting him. if alkaid betrays him? well, frankly, clarence can't blame him. he's the reason ehlonna is dead.

but he needs to go on. he has to, for godheim's sake. for his savior's sake. he can't care about someone's disapproval. he gave that right up long ago

and in alkaid's first bad ending? do you think he consoles himself by reminding himself that alkaid would die anyway?

he's a mage—he has no future. he's a mage—he betrayed clarence first. he's a mage—he should never have been trusted.

he's alkaid—one of the two mages clarence trusts. one of the two mages he saw grow up. in a better world, they could've had a happier childhood. he could've given them a happier childhood.

because no matter how many he loses people, he still cares so deeply about everyone he meets.

and the worst part is—even in the end, neither of them hated him. even in the bad ends, i doubt alkaid ever hated him—because while alkaid is very particular in regards to mc, i also think the amount of trust alkaid has in clarence would never translate to pure hatred. a part of him will always care for the man who took him in.

and on the flipside, i need godheim-adjacent aus. need clarence being made fun of for not knowing how to handle two kids—then immediately offered all the wisdom lars' parents can offer him.

need baby alkaid and ehlonna trying to surprise him for his birthday but they just, do not know when it is. so they guess and pick the date they met—then clarence tells them later when his birthday is.

need someone to unintentionally pick on the kids, only to earn clarence's ire. how dare you. those are his kids, you can't hurt—oh wait what was the first part?

need clarence leaving for some important business, leaving them in lars' family's care, but he's definitely checking in on them as often as he can. what if they get hurt. what if they feel uncomfortable. what if. what if what if what if—

essentially all the childcare manhwa tropes!! but with these three!!

#rambles by aya #lovebrush chronicles #clarence clayden #alkaid mcgrath #lbc ehlonna #lovebrush ehlonna #lovebrush clarence #lbc clarence #lbc alkaid #lovebrush alkaid #bonus -> mc as clarence's (also a mage) ex where magic is plentiful #imagine archmage clarence going to a parent-teacher meeting and running into three walls because. uh.#that's his ex. his first love. the only person he's ever loved. the woman he wanted to start a family with??#lars tattles on him and then his dad comes by to drink with clarence and also make fun of him and maybe offer some advice #“i'm married and you're not. i'm more than qualified” <- greatly enjoys watching the great clarence squirm #he misses her so much when he first takes the kids in. he's like she'd definitely know what to do

6 notes · View notes