Work Text:
Lupellan Sartori sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Sometimes his employer, Lord Brachamontes, really pissed him off. He was supposed to be off work over an hour ago. Instead, he was stuck at the castle going over paperwork that wasn’t even his job to look at. He was a castle mage for crying out loud, not a steward! At least he was almost done. Soon he could go home to his loving wife and son.
He smiled as he imagined it. Isabella would look up from her latest artwork as he came in and Floyd would come running up to him for a hug. He could even hear Isabella’s sweet voice welcoming him home, “Lupellan!” She would greet him enthusiastically. It sounded so real.
Too real. Lupellan’s eyes snapped open and his blood chilled as he took in the sight in front of him. Isabella and Floyd had come to see him. Normally seeing his family would be a sight for sore eyes. But the location… Lupellan didn’t like it when they came to the castle. Lord Brachamontes was not a nice person.
“Isabella!” Lupellan exclaimed, standing up to greet his wife. “I’ll be done in a few minutes.” He pulled out a chair for her and she sat down, placing Floyd on her lap.
The family all did their own things for a few minutes. Lupellan hurried to finish his work, anxious that Lord Brachamontes would check in on him and see Isabella. Isabella pulled out a sketchbook and started drawing. And last but not least, Floyd played idly with Isabella’s braided blond hair as he watched her draw. He was remarkably well behaved for a three-year-old.
Isabella showed her newest drawing to Lupellan after he finished working. It was a rough sketch of him focused on paperwork. He blushed as he saw it, not aware that his wife had been staring at him so intently while he was working. It was an amazing drawing. He said as much to her.
She smiled at him and packed away her notebook in the bag she was carrying, then stood. “Shall we go?” Isabella asked Lupellan, handing him their son to carry.
“We shall.” Lupellan answered, a small grin adorning his face as he adjusted Floyd to carry him with one arm. Floyd was getting a bit heavy to carry him like this, but Lupellan imagined it would be doable for another year. Lupellan was still young after, he was only 24. He had fond memories of his adoptive father Cannavaro carrying him like this and wanted to give Floyd some memories too.
Thankfully they did not run across Lord Brachamontes on the way out of the castle. They did, however, spot Young Lord Alejandro. If Lupellan remembered correctly, the boy was about twelve years of age. The two interacted only occasionally. Lupellan recalled the boy asking him for a display of magic a few years ago, to which he had refused.
Floyd tugged at Lupellan’s shirt. The mage glanced down at his son, wondering what he wanted. Floyd pointed at Young Lord Alejandro. Did Floyd want to go say hi to the other child? While the two had met before, it’s not like they were friends.
“Do you want to greet him?” Lupellan asked his child.
Floyd shook his head no, looking a little frustrated. He pointed at Young Lord Alejandro again and mimed eating. Upon closer inspection, Young Lord Alejandro was eating some kind of dessert. A cookie? They sold them in the marketplace.
“Ah, so you want a cookie.” Isabella chimed in, lightly striking her palm with a fist in realization.
Floyd nodded, an expectant look in his brown eyes.
The family of three stopped by the marketplace on their way home. Unfortunately, cookies were expensive. If they weren’t saving up to move because Lupellan hated his job, they could afford to have them once in awhile as a special treat. As it was, Lupellan and Isabella had to contend with their son’s disappointed pout.
The next day, Lupellan finished his work early. Before leaving the castle, he stopped by the kitchen to see the castle chef, scribbling on a piece of paper as they talked. Then, on his way home, he bought groceries at the market.
His family greeted him as he entered. Isabella rushed up to him to help him with the bags, while Floyd did his best to topple him over by running into him at full speed for a hug. Lupellan chuckled and ruffled the boy’s brown hair in greeting. His son was adorable.
Lupellan picked up Floyd and made his way over to the kitchen where Isabella was. As he came in, she raised an eyebrow at him in question and gestured at what he bought. Admittedly, he usually wasn’t the one buying groceries, and he didn’t stick to their usual list.
Lupellan raised a finger to his lips and smiled, then glanced down at Floyd briefly. He had apparently decided that this was the best time for a nap. He looked back at Isabella and handed her Floyd, implicitly indicating that he would like her to take care of him.
Isabella rolled her eyes at him but accepted the child and went to lay him down in the other room. She returned a couple minutes later and mouthed ‘so?’ at him, not wanting to wake up Floyd.
Lupellan dug through his pocket and handed her a scrap of paper. She read it, eyebrows raising as she got further along. Once she finished, she pointed at him, raised her eyebrows, then pointed at the recipe, and laughed silently. Translated, it was, You? Make this? Don’t make me laugh.
He smirked in return, then mimed stirring a cauldron and carefully pouring potions. Then he pointed at the recipe. Translated, it was, While I am terrible at cooking, I am good at alchemy. Baking is like alchemy. You had to know the context to get the first part.
Isabella gave him a doubtful look but pulled out her sketchbook and sat down to watch. She gestured for him to get on with it, ready for him to have to eat his words.
Before starting, Lupellan put the regular groceries in the cold box for storage. It would help keep them fresh. Then, the magic happened.
Literally. Lupellan was a mage after all, and he was not afraid to use his powers for trivial things. Flour floated through the air as an egg cracked itself open on the countertop. Ingredients mixed themselves together in midair, one by one. Truth be told, it was getting a little hard to keep holding everything up. He didn’t have a ton of magic left in him after working all day.
The dough mixture wobbled, then steadied as Lupellan focused on keeping it off the countertop. Meanwhile, Isabella sighed, set down her sketchbook, and went to fetch a bowl, placing it underneath the cookie dough. The dough plopped in the bowl and Lupellan sent her a grateful smile. She was already back to drawing.
Having learned from his mistakes, Lupellan fetched a tray out from the cupboard and then levitated small balls of dough onto it. A quick fire spell lit the oven to the appropriate temperature (Lupellan was very good at gauging temperature after all the potions he made). The soon to be cookies went into the oven.
Twelve minutes later, the sweet scent of cookies wafted through the kitchen as Lupellan magicked the tray out of the oven, and set it on the stone countertop to cool down. They looked good. Briefly, he wondered if it was worth burning his tongue to eat a cookie sooner. He did know some healing spells…
Lupellan reached for a cookie but was denied as Isabella swatted his hand down with a disappointed look. Isabella always had been the more reasonable of the two of them.
A few minutes later, the cookies were cool enough to eat. Finally. It felt like an eternity waiting. Lupellan poured both of them a cool glass of milk to go with the cookies, then they dug in, making sure to leave a portion for Floyd.
Going by the pleasantly surprised look on her face, Isabella enjoyed the cookies. She gave him a thumbs up and took a big bite. Then she showed him a drawing of him surrounded by swirling flour and pointed at the floor, laughing silently.
The floor was covered with footprints made of flour. Lupellan sighed and went to get a bucket of water and a mop. Even if he accidentally made a mess, baking the cookies was worth it. He would do anything for his family. He couldn’t wait to see Floyd try them.
Lupellan got his wish half an hour later, after Floyd woke up from his nap. The little boy gobbled down the cookies after hugging his father in thanks. Then, it was time for Floyd’s reading and writing lessons.
After that, it was time for bed. Lupellan and Isabella cuddled and talked quietly before falling asleep together. It was a good day.
Lupellan reminisced about the past as he went about his work. He was doing everything in his power to bring them back. If that included murdering others and practicing dark magic, so be it. One day, he would see them again. That thought numbed the guilt that plagued him. Grim determination carried him on. After all, he would do anything for his family.