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Soren’s doing his rounds when he’s suddenly grabbed. He makes an aborted sound of protest before his mouth is roughly covered and he’s pulled somewhere.
When he opens his eyes, nothing looks familiar. He’s not even sure they’re in the castle anymore. They’re in a room, with a roaring fireplace and comfy armchairs, and sitting in front of him is someone he doesn’t know.
“…Callum?” he ventures a guess, because even though Callum’s definitely not as old as the person in front of him, there’s only one other person he can be.
The man’s eyebrows raise, and he looks amused. “How did you know?”
“The bandana,” he says, because really, Callum doesn’t look that different even aged. “Only you would think that’s a good fashion choice even years into the future.”
He would be more fazed, but well, his dad and sister both do wacky stuff all the time, time travel isn’t too out of the question. Although Callum isn’t a mage, so maybe Claudia sent him back to tell him something.
Callum looks like he’s offended and about to argue, so Soren cuts him off, sitting down onto the couch with his hands on his knees. “Is this about the moonshadow elves?”
The Callum in front of him pauses, and an odd expression crosses his face. “I thought I would’ve come back earlier.”
“Nope,” he says, as cheerfully as he can in the face of Callum’s disappointment, and Callum shoots him a look as if to say he knows exactly what he’s doing. “I was just about to set off to find them when you so rudely grabbed me.”
Now, Callum’s expression looks more exasperated than sad, which is exactly what Soren wanted. “I had to,” he explains, “You’re really the only one I can trust.”
“Not Claudia?” he wonders. “You’re what – twenty now? Are you King? Is my sister finally your wife?”
Callum stares at him after his words, and then a flush sets in across his cheeks, making him look oddly younger.
“Uh,” he says, and Soren laughs, interrupting him.
“I knew Claudia liked you! She never admitted it to me, you know, even after all my attempts to matchmake the two of you.”
“No,” says Callum, and he looks oddly embarrassed. “I didn’t marry Claudia.”
“Aw,” he says, and he means it. He quite liked the idea of being the Queen’s brother, and now he finds himself jealous of the nameless woman this future-Callum married. He had come to terms with his futile crush long ago and having the idea that Claudia would be Callum’s future wife had really helped him cope.
“Anyway,” says Callum, the flush still on his cheeks and not meeting Soren’s eyes, “I’m coming with you on the patrol.”
He wants to ask why, but Callum won’t meet his eyes, and well, he rather likes the idea of having Callum help him find the moonshadow elves rather than the moth his father gave him, so he shrugs and goes along with it.
When they reach the clearing the moth is at, Callum whispers a word he’s never heard before.
Immediately, the trees in front of him shimmer and in its place, the moonshadow elves stand. He’s sure he’s gaping, and the elves aren’t much better.
When Callum steps forth, his hood is up, shrouding his facial features in darkness. He whispers words that Soren thinks are vaguely familiar, reminiscent of the childhood he spent with his family. He still doesn’t understand it though, and neither does he want to understand it, so he stays silent and watches as one by one the elves disappear, leaving only the youngest elf behind. She’s snarling, but it’s obviously for show since she’s probably more frightened by her companions disappearing, and it’s not long before the guards have her tied up.
Soren’s guards want to ask him about Callum, but he gives them a single look, and they’re riding on ahead with the elf as prisoner.
Callum takes off his hood when it’s just them, and he looks tired.
“Are you okay?” he asks, and Callum smiles at him before reaching into his pack. It has to be enhanced with magic, because he pulls out something far larger than its dimensions. He’s never seen it before, but he knows immediately what it is, because what else could it be? It’s a giant, sparkly egg, there’s no way it isn’t the missing dragon egg his father had apparently destroyed. Callum puts the egg back into the bag and hands it to him.
“The moonshadow elves are no longer a threat,” he says, “but there are other threats I’ll have to take care of. Tonight, I need you to take Claudia and this egg and meet my younger self and Ezran behind the painting in the tower.”
He reaches out and presses two fingers to Soren’s head, and the knowledge of which area he’s talking about fills his mind.
“Oh,” he says, quietly, and knows that he’ll listen to Callum. Even if in the future, Callum will be his King, and an order is an order.
But Callum doesn’t remove his hand. Instead, he trails his hand down, making Soren shiver until his hand is cupping his cheek. He stares at Soren with an inscrutable expression, until Soren starts to feel uncomfortable enough that he wants to take a step back.
“You’re my husband,” he says, suddenly, “Not Claudia.”
The shock is enough to make him still, and Callum smiles. “You already told me about your crush, so…”
“In the future?” he asks when he finally is able to speak again.
Callum hums, his eyes sparkling in mirth, “It was only fair, considering I told you I’ve had a giant, fat crush on you since you started teaching me.”
“But Claudia,” he protests, and Callum shrugs.
“Couldn’t let you find out,” he explains. “And well, the me back then never could’ve imagined you felt the same way.”
Callum’s words make sense, and Soren lets out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. “Who confessed first then?”
“Obviously me,” says Callum, but there’s a playful smirk on his face that stops Soren from getting mad. “You were planning to take it to your grave.”
“Makes sense,” he says, still trying to wrap his mind around it all, and is shocked still when Callum leans forward and presses a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Stay safe,” says Callum, “And I’ll see you in the future, my love.” With that, and another squeeze of his hands, Callum disappears.
It takes a while for Soren to start moving again, but when he does, it’s with the knowledge that Callum loves him.
He thinks that’s going to be the last time he sees Callum. But he shows up again, with his hood obscuring absolutely everything, with the moonshadow elf next to him and a staff he’s never seen before. His voice is loud and booming and ominous, and when he orders them to take the elf and the dragon egg back to where they belong, they all listen.
He wants to stay back and say good-bye, but his Callum, this time’s Callum, tugs his hand and when he looks back, the other Callum is gone.
Soren knows they’re mutually pining for each other. But it’s one thing to know, and it’s another thing to do something about it. They’re so busy with all the obstacles fate decides to throw at them, and it’s hard to want to start anything when they’re camping outside and trying to climb dangerous mountains with scary monsters lurking at the base of them.
He lets a day go by without confessing, and then another, and suddenly, the task seems more daunting than ever before, and by the end of the week, he’s resigned himself to never confessing. It seems smarter this way, since it can change the group dynamic entirely, and it’s already tenuous enough with Rayla and Callum constantly griping at each other.
So he’s entirely blindsided when Callum comes into his tent one night. He doesn’t greet him, not like he usually does, and he looks determined as he stares up at Soren.
“We’re going to be there tomorrow,” starts Callum, and this is when his nervousness starts to become apparent because he’s fidgeting now. “And uh, I think it’s a good time to tell you that I …” he bites his lip, and then after not meeting Soren’s eyes since he came in, he looks straight up at him, “It’s not Claudia I like, it’s you.”
Soren knows he should say something, but all he can really think about is what happened a few months ago. When Callum had told him he confessed first, he had been so determined to not have the same thing happen again, and here he is.
“Oh,” he says, because it’s the first thing he can muster up the ability to say, and watches as Callum all but deflates in front of him. This time, he works past the fear keeping him still, and grips Callum’s shoulders. Callum looks up at him, vulnerability easy to see even with the determined tilt of his chin, and instead of saying anything really, Soren leans down to kiss him.
“Really,” says Callum, sounding unimpressed years later, and Soren shrugs helplessly. “I told you about my crush on you, and you still let me confess first?”
He has his hands on his hips, crown askew, and he looks so cute while righteously angry, that Soren dissolves into laughter. When he’s finally caught his breath, Callum is still glaring at him, so he walks over to make it up to his King.