anything and everything

Egill

(MissAvarice this would have taken like 500 messages on snap and I'm lazy)

"Eggy!" Xeyani cheered happily as soon as Egill walked in the door. She was 16 but still referred to him by the childish nickname. She ran over and hugged her brother. Egill chuckled and patted her back. "good to see you too Xey."

He let go of her only to be caught in a hug by his mother. His father had died when he was younger. His father had also been a knight. Egill was 22 and had been a knight since he turned 16 and was therefore old enough to start training. Xeyani always said she was going to join him in that when she turned old enough to train.

"Hey mom. I missed you." Egill said, enjoying the warmth of familiar arms around him.

"Come, I've made your favorite tonight. Your friend, Mathew, has started a wonderful bakery but he still goes out to hunt every weekend and sells the meat. He caught a juicy buck and gave me the best of the meat for you." His mother said, guiding both children to the table before taking the food off the stove.

The meal was filled with casual chatter between the three about how life had been without Egill and how his time on the front had fared. Egill talked a lot about his comrades, especially a female knight by the name of Jen. She was as quick witted as her strikes. However she was happily engaged to another man.

"You should be sure to stop by Mathews shop.  Thank him for the gift." Egills mother said as she started to clean up from dinner.

"I will." Egill agreed. "I'll do that now. I'll be back before long."

Egill walked out of the house but paused to take in the familiar sight of his home town.

"Eggy." Xeyani walked over to her brother and took his arm. "I joined the knight academy. I start training in a week."

Egill looked down at his sister in shock. "You've always copied me, Xey. Choose your own path." He said firmly.

"This is the path I choose. I want to fight. I want to protect families like our own." Xeyani argued. "I'm not doing this for you."

"Xeyani, Don't. It's dangerous-"

"All the more reason that you need more backup on the field. You're stronger than me but I've always been faster than you. Because of that, I'm able to beat you." Xeyani cut him off.

"You aren't always able to beat me. One strike and I win. You loose at least half the time."

"That's not the point, Egill! Dad always said why thank those who protect us when we can join them. Dad believed in doing what was right. In giving the gifts that we hold to other families." Xeyani lectured Egill on words they had both heard many times.

"Dad is dead, Xeyani. He joined the knights believing that and he died on the battle field. I don't want you going on there. Mom needs you here, I need you alive."

"We need you too, Egill!" Xeyani took a few deep breaths in the quiet that followed her outburst. "We need you too. The best way to keep you alive is to help you. Either you quit, or I'm joining."

"I will never quit. I don't surrender."

"Then Im joining. I'll be your backup. We'll both come home to mom." Xeyani had made up her mind and no one could sway it. That's how she'd always been, it was how she always would be. "Mathew is expecting you. You should go."

Xeyani patted her brother on the shoulder before walking back into her house.  Egill watched her before he sighed. His sister fighting. It felt like a joke. Yes she was fast but she was also hot headed. Her anger or frustration would get the best of her... She would never graduation from the training academy. There was nothing to worry about. That's what he convinced himself, anyways, on the walk to Mathews house.

He firmly knocked on the door as he saw lights on inside the windows. Mathew soon opened the door and smiled upon seeing Egill. "Your mom said you'd be back. Come in! It's great to see you!"

"You too, Matt. What's new?" Egill asked, entering the house when Mathew stepped aside to let him in. He glanced at the table when he noticed another presence. Actually, another man. "Oh, do you have family over?"

Mathew gave a slightly awkward laugh. "You never were good at picking up on clues, Eagle. This is my husband, Alex."

"Oh..." Egill was taken by surprise. He'd never known his best friend throughout childhood was gay. "I wasn't aware you were married, congratulations." He put on a sweet smile. So much had changed in the years he was gone.

"You're still wearing the necklace?" Mathew asked, gesturing to the small wooden charm on the string around Egills neck.

"Hmm? Yes, the one you gave to me by the creek. You had tried to enchant it but you have no magic." Egill nodded. The memory of that day was a fond one. 

"You never understood what I meant when I gave you that." Mathew shook his head with a laugh. "How will you ever get a girls attention?"

"What do you mean?" Egill asked.

+++++
"What do you have there?" Egill asked as he sat down beside Mathew at the creek. The two were 15. Despite preparing for their futures, they still found time to spend together.

Mathew hid his hand behind his back, setting his widling knife down on the ground. "Nothing!"

"Come on, let me see." Egill laughed, trying to pry Mathews hands out.

Mathew eventually have in and showed Egill what appeared to be a seashell carving. "It's a charm. I read about how you could enchant carvings and charms that go on jewelry. This was supposed to be given to a true love to bring them luck."

"Well what's wrong with it? It looks nice. I think any lady would love to have it, even if it doesn't have magic."

"I can't enchant anything. I don't have that ability. I can't give my true love any luck but... I still want you to have it, Eagle." Mathew offered the charm to Egill after slipping it into a black band.

Egill accepted the gift and tied it on. "Yeah. I'll hold onto this and someday when you find a way to make your own magic, I'll give it to you so you can enchant it for your lover. That's what friends are for, after all."
++++

"I was confessing my crush on you, Eagle. The necklace was meant to be given to my lover. At the time, you were my love. I had a huge crush on you for like two years. No matter what I did you couldn't see that." Mathew said though he didn't sound upset in the slightest. "I'm glad you didn't realize it though. Alex here is the perfect man for me."

Egill just seemed stunned. "Oh, wow. I really didn't notice. I'm sorry if anything I said was harsh."

"It's not a worry, Eagle. We're still friends. Always have been, always will be." Mathew held out his hand to Egill.

Egill grinned and shook his hand firmly. "Yes. Friends forever."