A Tall and Small Collection | S2

True Colors Revealed pt. 2

He had done it. It took hours of work, but it was done. After finding it beneath the floorboards and prying it free, Soren gazed at his masterpiece in admiration. It was absolutely stunning and, best part, he knew it would fit.

Soren readjusted his hip lamp which he hanged above him to look down at the ring in his lap.

It was a beautiful silver band with several large jewels imbedded in the metal. It took a bit of polishing and work to get the stones to shine, and even longer to make sure they couldn't wiggle free. Still, it was all worth it.

The ring had probably fallen between the floorboards or swept into the air vent years ago based on the amount of grime and dust that was in it. It was sad that it was forgotten, but it made for a good borrowing – especially for what Soren intended to do.

Soren stared at the ring and spun it around in his hands a few times. Maybe it was silly, but he hoped he was doing this right. He wanted to do all of this right at least – for Ashlynn.

Though nothing could be official in the laws of the humans, it was the gesture that mattered to him. He had chosen how he wanted to live his life, and that meant staying with Ashlynn.

A Borrower union was probably very different than a human wedding ceremony. Still, this ring was a symbol of how much Ashlynn meant to him. She would say that she didn't need grand gestures or trinkets and so forth. Ashlynn would probably say that she just needed him and the found family they had created together.

A little bling wouldn't hurt though.

Soren had it planned out in his head.

The boys would need to be somewhere else during dinner. Soren thought of a few places he could put it where Ashlynn would actually see it. He'd seen proposals in the movies they watched, but he wanted this experience to be special – unique.

Well... more unique than their situation already was.

With a light chuckle and feeling over the moon nervous and excited, Soren carefully put the ring into his bag and hid it under the flap with a few other borrowings. Perhaps he would do it tomorrow. He needed a little bit of time to prepare.

He hoisted his pack over his shoulders and made the trek back to his home. While his mind sparked with possibilities, he balanced across the nails and beams, ducking under wires and cables. Soren was so focused on the task before him that he almost didn't hear his youngest brother, Rey, call out his name.

"Soren! Wait up!" called Rey. Soren heard Rey's footsteps thumping quickly up to him. Soren paused and turned just in time for Rey to be by his side.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you. Are you heading home?" asked Soren as he looked into his brother's face.

"Yeah, Hero and I finished up early, and he needed to help out with dinner. It was a natural breaking point," said Rey. Soren nodded in acknowledgement and started to lead the way once again to their home. The two of them walked in silent tandem for a few minutes before Rey piped up.

"Hey, Soren? Do you mind if I ask you something?" asked Rey. Soren had heard this phrase before, and he was never sure where the conversation was going to go when Rey asked this. Still, he nodded and focused on his youngest brother.

"Sure," he said as he braced himself for Rey's question.

"When we moved, not when Ashlynn came to get us but the first time with dad, did we... well... did we get thin and twitchy?" asked Rey. Soren was taken completely off-guard by the question. He hadn't thought about that move in years.

He remembered it was cold and that they didn't grab enough blankets to keep them warm since it would add too much extra weight. They needed to be quick, and heavy packs were a hinderance. Soren recalled the feeling of numbness as he surrendered his blankets and jackets to his younger brothers, waving away their concern by telling them he wasn't cold when Soren knew very well he was on the verge of freezing to death.