Veelas and Mates(Slow Updates)

13. Bonds

George and Fred now sat with Killian in the chairs with mugs of chamomile tea. The elf had brought them all fluffy blankets from the chest and they sat in the plush seats wrapped in blankets and sipping away at their teas.

"Can you tell us more about elven culture and history?" Fred asked once the three were suitably comfortable.

"What do you want to know?" Killian asked.

"Preferably everything," George stated. Killian laughed.

"We'd be here all week with no sleep for that. But I guess I can start off with more in depth explaining of mates since it particularly pertains to you two and slowly work into everything from there."

"That works," Fred said.

"The mate bond has existed since before written word for our species. It honestly solved so many brewing wars between elves it's not even funny. Often in situations of war brewing between the different elves, an elf of one side would find a mate in the other side. Not many elves argue with pairings so elves of both sides would come to agreements. Almost like that stupid Romeo and Juliet story except it actually works in uniting feuding elves. The mate bond often compliments each other well and there is the occasional advantage, like I said in the case of feuding families.

"Elves have been known to have up to even ten mate bonds. The bond has a habit of going with your preferences, if you're worried about me having other mates, and I'm perfectly happy with my one romantic mate and my one platonic so there is no need for me to develop more than one mate bond. Having children among same sex couples have never been an issue as our genders are quite fluid and it isn't difficult for us to switch from our normally preferred gender for childbearing. I've done it a couple times purely for fun-"

"Wait, you can change genders?" Fred interjected.

"Mmhmm. Any elf can with the right training. Want a demonstration?"

The twins nodded vigorously. Killian put down his mug and they watched as his body glowed a pale lavender. His facial features grew a bit softer but not much had changed when the glow disappeared. That was, until, Killian unwrapped the blanket.

"I took the liberty of using my magic to change my clothes too as my normal clothes would not fit me as well."

Killian stood, sleek legs covered by tight leggings, a very obvious lack of male genitals showing. The sweater Killian had changed into, hugged their figure to make the changes a bit more obvious for their mates to inspect. The chest area was quite prominent and Killian's waist was a bit smaller but that was where the changes ended for the most part. Killian was already quite feminine, being an elf, so it wasn't all that of a shocking difference.

"Merlin," Fred breathed.

"That's cool," George continued.

Killian grinned and sat back down. They wrapped themself back in the blanket and the glow returned. Seconds later, Killian was back how he was before.

"As I said, childbearing in same sex relationships is not an issue for elves. So for example, if you wanted kids in the future, I'd change into a female for however long needed. It's how the Queens had biological children. Queen Helena changed into a male for their three kids."

Fred turned red at the prospect but Killian hadn't noticed. Instead, the elf had stood up again, turning away from the twins and fetching a book from the bookshelf. He flipped to whatever page he was looking for as he walked back. Plopping back in the chair, Killian crossed his legs and propped his book against the slightly elevated leg.

"Gender isn't really a thing of importance among elves. While humans tend to have some...stranger views on the matter, we don't really have any specific jobs for a gender as we can easily shift if the situation calls for it. It's a biological magic that comes quite easily for us. We learn it at the same time as human children would be in kindergarten alongside numerous basic level magic such as making a plant grow or forming tiny rain clouds in a jar for said plants. Elves are quite advanced in biological magic as a species, mostly as a way of surviving. Most elves aren't mated to other elves, in fact it is actually quite rare to find an elf without a human family member. When an elf is mated to a human, the human goes through a series of trials to become an elf themselves should they wish to. This option is now open for the two of you."

Killian placed the book down and turned it so the twins could get a better look. It was a page written in elvish but the pictures accompanying the writing showed the human transformation to an elf.

"It will mean you will have to learn magic slightly differently as elves are wandless. We fake it among you lot though. Luckily, it isn't much different once you get the basics so it should be a cinch for you."

"How come elves don't use wands?" George asked.

"Our magic rejects the usage of wands. Wands are used to control magic into doing what you please. Our magic is wild to the point that the ministry can't track it, that's why there is so little research on us. They can't find us. The wand tries to control what isn't meant to be controlled. Magic flows through elves freely and from a young age we are trained in how to manipulate the magic flowing in. It's why biological magic remains easy. Because of our special bond with magic, as long as certain needs are met, we are even able to bring back the dead."

"What are those needs?" Fred asked.

"That the soul hold on. For the most part. If a person dies of old age or commits suicide for example, they can't be brought back as their soul will have made peace and let go to the afterlife. But if they are murdered or die in an accident, the soul usually sticks around and we work our magic to fix the damage and get the biological systems up and running again."

"Is there a limit to how many times a person can be brought back?" asked George.

"Once. It was discovered during the war with wizards that caused our separation from the wizarding world. Of course, some elves like my family would come about undercover. But that's beside the point-"

"War?" Fred interjected, a look of confusion on his face that matched George's.

"Of course wizards would cover it up, it was their fault," Killian sighed exasperatedly. "A couple thousand years ago, a wizard tried to experiment on a couple of elves out of curiosity for how our magic worked. As expected, it did not go over well with the elves. War was then brought about by wizards because we didn't agree to our people being experimented on, and you can probably see where the rest goes. We won and disappeared in the eyes of the ministry. But, like I said before, most elves mate with humans, so elves like my dad would explore the wizarding world under cover to find their mates."

"Merlin..." The twins echoed, looking over at the exasperated elf. Both set down their mugs and moved to Killian's big plush chair. They hugged him tightly.

It felt right. Like discovering they were missing something they didn't know they were missing.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's this for?" Killian said, nuzzling them both in turn.

"You seemed like you needed it," Fred said.

George moved away after a while, going back to his own seat and pulling the open book onto his lap. He glanced briefly at his brother and Killian and noticed that Fred was contently cuddled into the elf. Killian had brought him into his lap to make him more comfortable and had brought a hand up to card through short red hair.

It was a new thing for them but George had a feeling late night talks would become a habit for them.