The Deck of Destiny - A Caraval Oneshot Collection

Cards in The Moonlight

Setting: pre-Caraval, I think Scarlett would be thirteen around this time.
Inspiration: Felipe was mentioned maybe three times throughout the books, and I think his and Scarlett's friendship would've been cool to explore.

"The Best Friends' Failure"
1/5

Scarlett's whole body shivered as she sat against the wall outside of her house. She leaned her head against the cool, brick wall as she stared at the stars. If she stared hard enough, rubbed her arms together quickly, she could pretend she was somewhere warm.

"The dog get kicked out of the house?"

Scarlett removed her gaze from the starry sky to see her best friend with a smirk on his face, "Ha, ha. Very funny, Felipe."

"What did Tella do this time?" Felipe mused as he made his way toward Scarlett.

"Had her first kiss. Father wasn't too happy about it," she sighed.

"Well, good thing you're not on my bad side because I brought entertainment!" Felipe threw a blanket at her, and only then did Scarlett realize he had brought a backpack that seemed to be overflowing.

"You're a lifesaver." Scarlett wrapped the soft blanket around her body, instantly feeling the warmth of the fuzzy fabric.

"I also brought hot chocolate, because, you know, I'm awesome." Felipe pulled out a steel bottle from his backpack, along with two mugs as he sat across from Scarlett.

Scarlett greedily accepted her mug and took large gulps of the steaming beverage no matter how much it burned her tongue. The warmth of everything fled to her toes, and she was no longer blue with cold. She felt orange with warmth.

"Thank you," Scarlett smiled genuinely as Felipe shuffled a card deck, dealing eight cards to both of them.

"Do you remember how to play Crazy Eights?" he asked, flipping one card up to set the suit.

"I think so." Scarlett chewed on her cheek as she placed a card down.

"Good, because I don't know any other card games," Felipe chuckled as he placed one of his cards on top of Scarlett's.

🎩❤️🖤🌟🖤❤️🎩

"Hey, that's cheating!" Scarlett whined, squinting her tired eyes on the cards to focus better.

"No, Scar, it isn't. We never said you couldn't play doubles," Felipe shot back with a grin on his face.

"No one said you could." Scarlett collected the deck, shuffling it once again to play their eleventh game of the night. She stifled a yawn, dealing the cards tiredly.

"You only gave me six cards, Scar," Felipe laughed, taking the deck from her to give himself another two cards. "If you need sleep, just tell me."

"But I'm not tired," Scarlett retorted slowly, only proving Felipe's point.

Felipe's eyes flickered to his watch, reading the time, "God's teeth, it's already one in the morning!"

"One more round?" she pleaded, setting her head in her hands to keep herself upright.

"Fine, one more round. But after that, you need sleep or my father will kill me."

And so the duo played five more rounds of cards after a sleep-deprived Scarlett had begged for just one more round. Felipe had finally stopped giving in when Scarlett fell asleep on his shoulder. Her blanket fell around both of them and Felipe was hesitant to leave, not wanting to wake his best friend up. She had finally caved to sleep's calling, and he wanted her to be well-rested to deal with her father in a few hours' time.

When Felipe decided at last that he would return home, Scarlett stirred.

"Thanks for the game," she mumbled in a haze of fatigue before tiny snores were heard once again.

Felipe smiled a small smile that was reserved for Scarlett, removing the pillow from his bag and placing it under her head, "I really wish Donatella was more careful," Felipe muttered grimly, wrapping Scarlett tighter in the blanket to make sure she was as warm as possible.

And when his watch read 'three o'clock' Felipe finally trekked his way home, content with how happy he made Scarlett on what should have been a dreadful, cold night.

I know this one is short, and any other oneshots about Felipe and Scarlett's friendship will probably be short too. I just really like writing about their past, but only short scenes come to mind. I hope you enjoyed this!

If you want a Tella x Legend one shot, please give me a prompt as I have a hard time thinking of a scene with them, thank you!