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Chapter Text

Greylock was sat at his desk with his dog, Goldy, lay on the floor beside him while working away at the insufferable chores King Magnus had assigned. He sighed in exhaustion, "Gold, I don't know when things will ever get interesting." Greylock stroked the companions fluffy coat. "It's as though things will never change in this castle.." He said to the dog. *"Speaking to my dog. Ha! Must be the boredom getting to me"*. He chuckled to himself and after a few minutes he drifted into a light slumber.

A knock was heard at the door. Greylock perked up and walked to investigate who it could be. He opened the door, still quite fatigued. His hair was a complete mess, his robe was far from neat and his room was disorganized to say the least. Standing in front was one of the king's servants, Arthur.

"Greylock, The royal family of Enchancia is on their way to visit. The king wants you at the entrance as soon as possible." he said

"Ah right!" *"Finally something interesting"* he thought. "I'll be right there, Arthur." Greylock tried to remember as many servant's names as he could. He found it was dehumanising to refer to them as just servants when they had lives of their own.

Greylock closed the door and rushed to get ready. Of course the King informs him minutes before they arrive. After he finished getting ready, he made his way to the entrance just in time.

"I see you finally made it, Greylock" said King Magnus with a toothy grin

"Yes sire, I do apologize for the wait." said Greylock with a forced smile. He hates how smug the king was behind that big grin of his but he would not say a word about it.

They, along with an exaggerated amount of royal staff, stood while the Enchancian horses landed. King Roland came out the carriage to see King Magnus unfortunately marching towards him. Most likely for a lengthy chat about his grand and sizeable castle. Next was the children along with Queen Miranda. Greylock was delighted to see them as he had heard some stories of Princess Sofia from townsfolk already. Greylock stood with a straight back, looking around for people to socialize with until a tall, quite skinny figure approached. He couldn't believe it..

"Kendrick..?" He muttered. "Is it really you?!"

"Cedric." He corrected in a cold tone. "You know my name Greylock."

He couldn't believe his eyes! After all these lonely years.. He hugged Cedric tight.

"AH- Uh?? Greylock? Are you sure you're Greylock.?" Cedric said with his arms stuck by his sides, visibly quite uncomfortable.

Greylock quickly let go when the king looked to see what the commission was about. "I apologize cardtrick. I guess I missed you!" He admitted

"Hah. Likely story." Cedric said, frowning with a very queer hand on his hip

"No really I did!!" Greylock felt upset at the man's coldness and thought of ways he could show he was friendly.. The palm zapper! What a brilliant way to show his affection! "Here, Redbrick, Let's shake hands and forget any of this happened?”

Hesitantly, Cedric placed his gloved palm in the other man's hand. Instead of warming reassurance he was met with a large pain of electricity flowing up and through his body. "AHH!" Cedric winced. "What was that for?!"

"Old times sake my friend!" Greylock smirked

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The King had now led the Enchancians to the main area of the castle. Paintings, sculptures and trophies covered the walls and surprisingly to nobody, all of them were for King Magnus.

"Yes, King Roland! All these paintings are prized possessions of mine. Mainly because they have the privilege of having my face in them! Isn't it amazing?" King Magnus boasted, almost shaking the room from the unnecessary volume of his voice.

"Yes.." Roland nervously chuckled, "It's most certainly quite the collection!" Miranda tried to hold her smile as King Magnus glared with pride.

Greylock, however, was stood by the stairs admiring a certain Sorcerer. His perfectly soft hair, His deep voice, His adorable nose, It was everything he could ever want in a man. The unfortunate reality was that he was extremely out of his league and would never date a guy like Greylock after the chaos he caused in the past. Just thinking about it made him feel uneasy. Cedric looked at Greylock and noticed him staring before the older man could even react. He looked away, trying to act like he was admiring a painting. *"Great! You've gone and done it now Greylock! He caught you staring. Should I talk to him? No.. well it couldn't hurt right??"*

Greylock hesitantly glanced back and to his relief, he saw Cedric looking away from him.
With a spring in his step, He confidently walked to Cedric.

"Hattrick!!" Greylock felt a boost of his confidence when he gave Cedric another nickname. The younger sorcerer turned to face him but seemed to be.. frowning. He knew he did something wrong. "I-i was just wondering if.. maybe.. you would like to go on a tour through the castle?" Greylock stammered

"A tour? With you? Please. I can think of many reasons not to." He proclaimed.

Greylock nervously chuckled. Soon after, he saw another slightly tall figure coming towards them

"Ah hello! You must be Cedric.." said the figure. Slickwell. He should have known that slimy steward was going to stop Greylock from doing anything he wanted.

"On second thought I'd quite enjoy going on a tour with you, Greylock" said Cedric while forcing a smile. Greylock stared in awe. The smile was far from genuine but any smile from Cedric was one to be treasured. *"He's really smiling at me.."* he thought.

"Sure thing! Oh I truly am sorry, Slickwell. I didn't see you there. I'm sure someone else would enjoy your company?" Greylock said with a smirk on his face. The figure mumbled something and left.

"I hope you understand I'm not doing this for you, Greylock."

"I'm perfectly aware! I'm guessing you could also tell he was up to no good?"

Cedric simply just replied with a nod.

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Cedric and Greylock made their way to one of the many hallways in the castle. Again, The walls were littered with memorabilia of the King but Greylock found it was best to take no notice. As the two walked, Greylock spoke about his favourite areas of the castle while making quick jokes to keep the younger man interested. To his delight, it seemed to be working.

"Greylock I'd like to speak to you about something. Is it okay if we go somewhere a little more.. private?" Cedric asked

"Of course! We can go to my sorcery room!" replied Greylock in an excited tone

The two eventually made it up to the room and sat down somewhere comfortable. Cedric seemed to be more saddened when Greylock asked what he wanted to talk about. The fact was that Greylock knew what it was yet did not dare to say it first.

"Greylock.. why did you treat me so horribly in my years of study." Cedric said with hidden emotion behind his voice.

"I.. I did not intend to sound rude! I was creating a bit of banter.." the older man replied sheepishly. Cedric looked more angry as his fist balled up.

"Banter?!?" He cried "How could you be so ignorant! I shed tears from that foolish *banter*, Greylock."

The older man was stunned. *"Tears?"* He thought. *"My family has always treated eachother like this for years and not once have we cried.."*

For a moment the man stared at the floor in pure confusion. He looked up to see Cedric was starting to tear up. His heart dropped.

"Cedric I'm sorry."

Those few words rang through the whole room, leaving the upset sorcerer in a state of shock. Greylock guessed it was from the fact he used his name for once but also from the fact he'd never apologized. The sincere tone in his voice made Cedric all the more confused too. After a moment of silence, Greylock decided to get up. "I suppose we should go. The King will be hosting a dinner shortly. We wouldn't want to miss that, would we Cedric?" Greylock said with a soft smile and a wink. He walked up to the sorcerer and wiped the tears from his face and the man stood up, still with many emotions rushing through his head. Greylock then swiftly left.

Chapter Text

Some time had passed and the newly arrived guests were sat in the grand dining room. King Magnus was sat in his chair with two empty, unfortunate seats next to him. Greylock made his way over and hesitantly sat beside the loud and extremely obnoxious King. Cedric soon followed and saw the seat available was directly across from his arch nemesis. After everyone was seated, The castle steward, Slickwell, decided he would show off his skills at bossing around the poor servants. Eventually, everyone was given their food and the King got straight to his most unwanted commentary.

Cedric tried to hide his upset feelings from his conversation with Greylock but the older sorcerer could see straight through him. Greylock felt awful for what happened in his sorcery room and desperately thought of ways to make it up to him. Before he could think of an interesting topic of conversation, Slickwell turned to Cedric and asked how he was doing and if he was alright.

Greylock's blood was boiling. *"How dare he?! He must have some sort of idea of my feelings for Cedric! He's trying to make me jealous!"* He thought. Just seeing that slimy man speak to Cedric made him feel sick. As soon as Slickwell took a break in his conversation, Greylock took the opportunity.

"Cedric! I see we've both finished our meals. I don't suppose you'd like to talk about an offer I have?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Oh? What could this offer be, Greylock." Cedric said, almost hissing. Slickwell smiled at the sight.

"Well I wondered if you'd want to entertain the children with me of course! Maybe even a friendly competition if you will?"

The children perked up in their seats from hearing this. King Roland smiled and nodded to Greylock as a sign of consent.

"Competition you say?" Cedric could never turn down an opportunity like this. It was too perfect for him to humiliate Greylock. "I suppose that would be quite.. fun." "Great!!" Greylock and the children stood up. "Oh I can't wait to show you all the new things I've been working on!"

"We shall see about that." Cedric smirked. He knew he was going to win this competition. Without a doubt in his mind, he marched towards the castle's garden only to be stopped by an eager Sorcerer grabbing his hand. A shock of electricity shot through Cedric as he realised Greylock put on that horrid palm zapper.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!!!" said Greylock

"Oh how *mature..*" he growled

All the children eagerly crowded around the two sorcerer's. "Well I think it's only fitting that I let you go first, Cedric" Greylock said bashfully. Cedric straightened his back

"A wise choice! I am the greatest sorcerer out of the two of us after all." Cedric confidently replied. Greylock loved the way he got so excited to show his skills. He loved the shimmer and spark in his eyes as he spoke. He was so head over heels for this man!!

"Phoenix Volans!"

A fiery, beautiful phoenix soared above, spreading its majestic wings as wide as it could. The children stared in awe but amber seemed to be a little bored of the spell.

"Mr seadric this is truly beautiful!" Sofia said, watching as the flamming bird flew in loops.

At this point Cedric was far too pleased with his work to be interested in correcting Sofia's harsh pronunciation of his name.

"I don't think this is fun at all. If anything I find this quite boring." Amber added. Cedric felt this was extremely unnecessary and he felt annoyed she wouldn't appreciate his efforts.

"Well I think this was a marvelous spell, Mr seadric!" Said Greylock with a chuckle. Cedric didn't find that funny in the slightest but the children certainly did. Greylock realised how Cedric reacted so he came up with a plan B.

"But really, I think that spell was truly amazing. I've not seen anything like it!! Quite unique if I do say so myself."

*"What?"* Cedric thought. *"He didn't really just compliment me? Come to think of it, he called my spell "marvellous" before. Was this his way of apologizing..?"* The thought really baffled Cedric yet he did feel somewhat flattered at the praise.

"Thank you.. Greylock." Those words weren't words he expected to say at all today yet he felt they were right. Greylock's face was beaming with pride in his new clue. He had figured out that complimenting the man made him feel much more appreciated than teasing him! Who would have guessed?!! "Well I guess I should conjure up an entertaining thing for you children next!" Greylock said, smiling.

"Parrotis tropicus flycus!"

Everyone got their own functioning pair of bird wings! The children giggled with glee! Cedric thought this was just Greylock being a show off.

"Now now everyone, save your giggles for I haven't even begun! Fly with me to the coast children!" Said Greylock

They flew to the coast and landed safely. Cedric tried to fly over gracefully but ended up landing.. flat on his face. "Merlin's mushrooms" Cedric muffled into the ground.

"Phasellus venenatis apparent!" Shouted Greylock as he flicked his wand.

A boat magically appeared in the water. The children were even more excited now! Shouting and cheering. Cedric didn't even know what was happening and when he looked up to see a sizeable boat, His eyes widened with surprise.

"How- wha- what?!" Cedric stammered

Seeing him so surprised from Greylock's skills made Greylock feel so special. Cedric was admiring his work! Oh how he longed for this day..

"Show off." Cedric grumbled.

The children scrambled onto the boat and the younger sorcerer found this as an opportunity to make this competition a real one.

"Decorot Florion!!" Cedric shouted, flicking his wand

Beautiful flowers sprouted along the boat. Amber particularly enjoyed this one which made Cedric feel this was a victory of his own. Greylock, however, was a very competitive guy.

"Liftoffigus!" Greylock shouted. He smirked at Greylock, raising an eyebrow. Cedric looked quite defeated as he struggled to remember any other spells. The children were giggling as the magical, beautiful boat soared through the sky as if the wind was its waves.
Greylock realised he had only made things worse by getting so competitive with Cedric. "I'm sorry Cedric, I got carried away. You know how I am when it comes to competition" he said with a nervous chuckle. He fully expected Cedric to respond with a *"you went too far"* or a *"save it, Greylock."* So he waited to endure his harmful words.

Instead, Cedric laughed. A genuine, Heartfelt laugh. "Oh I haven't had that much fun in years!!" He chuckled. Greylock couldn't believe his eyes. Not only was the man laughing but he was the *reason* the man was laughing! He couldn't help but blush with starry eyes. Cedric noticed and started to blush himself.

"I-.. I um. I had fun, Greylock. Thank you" he said, smiling.

"Oh it's my pleasure, Cedric! I do apologize if I had upset you today. I really didn't mean t-" And just before he could finish his sentence, Cedric embraced him in a hug.

"I really missed you, Greylock. As much as I did hate your teasing back in my study years, I've realised it was your way of showing friendliness." Cedric said in a soft tone

Greylock was practically tearing up in content until he heard a scream. A child's scream.

They both perked up. "We should get them down!" Said Greylock.

"Let's do it together, old friend." Replied Cedric

"Haltimbanco!" "Objectus descendo!"

The boat came to a steady landing in the water once again.

"Oh we do apologize children." Cedric swiftly added, hoping he didn't have to deal with a cranky amber.

The children smiled and laughed with eachother. "Please can we do it again Mr Cedric and Mr Greylock!!"

The two men turned to eachother and smiled in unison.

"I don't see why not"