Sternenstaub und Abendfeuer

7. An Inkling

Spring clad the Crystal Sphere in a kaleidoscope of colours. It came rushing in with a fluttering cape of pinks, yellows, and lush greens. Soon, Seonghwa's gardens donned their most adorable gowns and competed on who might wear the flower crown.

With the weather, his husbands also became perkier. Yeosang fitted the merrymaking outside. He sprouted matching wildflowers and his greens were lively and soft as silk. Seonghwa loved running his fingers over him at this time of the year.

Though Jongho didn't change his physical appearance, he seemed to groan less. The cold didn't seep into his limbs anymore and froze him from the inside out. He attracted the stable cats now that he spent hours outside heating in the sun.

San and Wooyoung barely stayed inside. They visited their people, Mulberry, went to do their daily activities out in the sun every day. Both glowed under it and Seonghwa was ever so awed to watch the rays of gold dance on their wings as the two shot through the blue skies dotted with lovely white clouds.

As the Spire of Magic settled into its new routine, Hongjoong found time to sneak away more often. He left things to his arch-mages and returned home to his crown prince to hug him close and worship him after the long nights of missing each other.

Though Mingi wasn't as interested in the sun since its light hurt the blindness of his eyes, he liked the warm breeze greeting them in the hallways. Sometimes, he sat on the balconies with Buddy, both with their eyes closed as they relished the wind in their hair. Sometimes, Jongho joined them.

It was sunny, but not yet unbearable for the delicate moon elf. As he relished in the first spring by his husbands' sides, he got swept away by their enthusiasm. They used every free second to play in the gardens and go on trips to the forests and nearby towns. Seonghwa showed them the lovely lake in the forest overhung by apple trees, and he accompanied Yunho on a dreamy ride through the Kingdom of Man where spring festivals shooed away the harsh winter.

With the seasons, the general mood of the folk also lightened. Seonghwa invited his husbands to visit their local festivities. Contrary to the humans, elves didn't celebrate the leaving of winter, but the arrival of yet another season blessed with its specific advantages. Fresh sprouts blossomed along the fields and the flower fairies rejoiced as they blessed everyone with woven accessories.

Seonghwa enjoyed watching the shift, though everything stayed the same. His tower of the night shrouded him in mysteries, luring his husbands back time and time again to sit at his feet and marvel at his serene beauty. Spring didn't touch upon Seonghwa, for his season was winter, but he livened up and dressed in the pastel hues of the flowers as often as he could.

San was obsessed with seeing him in sweet pink.

All the snow melted away to make way for a beautiful green landscape. Seonghwa liked to marvel at it while he wandered the corridors of quartz. Birds matched their song now and lulled Seonghwa with the loveliest melodies.

Upon Seonghwa's request, the servants adjusted the inner appearance of the Moon Castle. Where it usually stayed serene and elevated, he wanted it to appeal to his husbands the same way nature's lure did. Soon, Seungyoun arranged a grand bouquet of never-dying flowers on the table in Seonghwa's conversation pit. Flowers raked over the rounded passageways and adorned the corners. The balcony doors stayed open all the time for his husbands and their various purposes to transgress.

Seonghwa walked the corridors on yet another day with a placid smile. He watched San circling the skies outside, snowy wings brilliant under the expanse of blue. He was chased by a bunch of giggling fairies, shy little things who had taken a liking to his appearance during his sparring. Seonghwa spotted Yeosang on the ground, crown big and gorgeous as it rivalled the other trees in its beauty. Amused by the sight above, the dryad watched over Jongho and his pet rock.