Regulus Black is the guy with a blank face, a hard person to get to know, who communicates with dry sarcasm. His brother Sirius is the complete opposite—not the looks, of course; both boys look as if they were created by the saints themselves; he’s a charming and completely unserious type of person; he’s literally loved by everyone. I mean, not those who are completely bigoted and can’t see past the difference in color. It’s not even as if Regulus and Sirius grew up in Shu Han; they were orphaned at about 11 and 12 and grew up right here in Keramzin, plus, as far as they can tell, they were only half Shu.
Their parents were monsters, constantly wanting them to be perfect. And when one of them cracked, they would punish them. It hurt to even think about it because he did love his parents, even after everything. Maybe that was wrong because they hurt the one person he will always love more than anyone, but he couldn't help but feel some sort of loyalty to them. That’s normal, right? They almost broke Sirius and Regulus completely, but the day they took things too far, Regulus sucked up his fear and stood up to his parents as they were hurting Sirius, and things blurred for him after that. He knew his mom raised her hand and then yelled at Regulus. He remembers the sting of the strike, but after that, he was unconscious. The next thing he knew, he and his brother were on their way to the orphanage, just like that. No one cared to explain to him why. He asked Sirius, but he just said he didn't know and didn’t care to elaborate on anything. That was that, apparently. No more parents. No more home. The not knowing made him sick, and still does.
This free time he has found himself in doesn’t stop his thoughts from racing since all he could do. So speaking of discrimination, Sirius and Regulus are currently locked in their room and have had their food privileges taken away for two days due to Sirius not being able to contain his anger. Elliot, another boy who lived in the orphanage, decided to have a few words with Sirius and call him a “nasty mudblood," to which Sirius naturally responded by punching him, and though hitting is not the biggest deal here, filling one's room with various bugs is! which is what Sirius did exactly a day later.
“Did you really have to take it a step farther?” Regulus said flatly, “Punching him wasn’t enough?” he added.
"No, actually, I’m sorry, but I had to defend my honor." Sirius said as he turned his head dramatically to the side and put a hand on his chest. "Plus, it was funny; did you see the look on his face? I bet he won’t say such vile things to me again.”
Regulus can’t believe his brother. It was quite funny; don’t get it twisted, but he refuses to give his brother satisfaction, knowing he rather enjoyed it. But look at where it got both of them. To make things worse, the evaluation to test if you are grisha is tomorrow, and knowing Filch, the man who helps run the place, will certainly not let them test. Which is against the rules in Ravka; all children have to test, but he’s a bitter old man who simply could care less and basically lives for tormenting kids.
Regulus doubted him, or Sirius could actually be Grisha. They’ve been told no one from the orphanage in years has been one, so they probably aren’t the exception. It’d be nice to know for sure, but if one of them was and the other wasn't, what happens then? Do they get separated? Will they ever see each other again? Regulus may wish for Sirius to go away sometimes, but he never actually means it.
“Next time you decide you need to “defend your honor," can you at least be smart enough to not get caught?”
“Are you calling me dumb, Reg? I probably wouldn't have been caught if it weren't for that bloody cat. I swear she has some personal vendetta held against me.
It was probably true. That cat always got Sirius caught. Filch probably trained her to track Sirius’ scent specifically. But still.
"Well, you’re certainly not smart enough to outsmart a cat,” Regulus said with a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“At least I’m turning of age next month; no more dealing with this place.” Sirius huffed and went to lay down on his bed, clearly pouting. It stung a bit because Regulus had to stick it out a few more months, and then it was off to join the first army. where there were no guarantees that Sirius and Regulus would see each other much. A noise that can only be described as annoying started coming from his brother's mouth, pulling him out of his self-pitying train of thought. Sirius started singing to pass the time. It was going to be a long two days.
And so it was. The days in Regulus’ mind were torture; his brother never knew when to be quiet, and he knew how to press every button. After arguing and quite literally contemplating strangling his brother, they were finally allowed to leave the room. Because he did not have anyone he wanted to talk to at the moment, Regulus used his new-found freedom to go outside and read. It was a book about all the stories of the saints who once lived and those stories about saints who one day might live to restore order. Regulus was never a believer; it seemed like a bunch of lies made up to give people something to pray to and something to keep them in check. Though he never believed, he still read every story; it took his mind away from this place for a while.
As Regulus was reading, someone came up behind him and nearly caused him to jump back when they sat down without warning next to him.
“Did you miss me while stuck in the room with your daft brother?” Regulus’ best friend asked with a smile that could honestly make your whole day better.
“Oh yes, two whole days without you, Crouch, was complete torture. I don’t know how I even survived,” Regulus answered with a straight face and a derisive tone. Barty just laughed, and it made something in Regulus’ chest flutter just a bit.
"Well, while you were gone, I got to spend a little quality time with Evan.” Ah, Evan.
Evan is a good person and is one of Regulus’ closest friends, but a part of Regulus resented him because he was obviously the person who caught Barty’s eyes. It’s not his fault, but it still hurts.
“Oh. Well, at least you had someone with a brain to talk to." Regulus changed the subject quickly.
“Sirius would not let me have one moment of silence. I thought I was in hell. I think I would rather walk through the fold than be stuck in a room with him again."
“Well, for what it’s worth, the test was a complete bitch." Oh, right, Regulus almost forgot about the test.
“They literally cut our arms to see if something would happen. It hurt. I was tempted to punch the tester in the face for doing it without warning, but I kept calm and couldn't very well risk getting thrown in my room before seeing you out yours,” he winked at Regulus.
Regulus just scoffed before saying, “Thank you for resisting your urge for me” while rolling his eyes. “I’m assuming since you’re currently still here you don't have any fancy magic?”
“You assumed correctly. I’m glad for it, though I get to stay here with my best friend." Barty shoved Regulus’ arm with his elbow, and Regulus happily shoved him back.
“Did anyone have grisha power?”
“Nope, I guess there’s nothing special about us orphaned kids.”
“What about me and Sirius? We could be grisha." They both laughed at this. It was highly unlikely either of us could’ve possessed powers.
“I think I would know if either of you possessed crush power. Both of you are hot heads and probably would’ve exposed yourselves by now.
Regulus thinks back on that conversation and finds it funny how wrong he was. Not that he’d blame Barty for thinking this because he himself didn’t even know until it was too late.
A year and a half later
Regulus ended up aging out two months ago. He was happy to be rid of the place and hopefully be able to see his brother and friends who had aged out before him. He was placed with the cartographers, unfortunately. At least Evan was there with him, but Barty and Sirius were soldiers in the first army, meaning they were placed in different places than Regulus was.
Regulus’ team has just been assigned to provide maps for west Ravka, where some unlucky people in the first army are chosen to go across the fold to help provide assistance to collect food for east Ravka.
Out of the corner of Regulus’ eye, he spotted that brown, unkempt hair he could always recognize. Regulus walked rather fast and almost went into a sprint, trying to catch up with the guy. As he got close, he second-guessed himself: What was he supposed to do? Hug him? That seemed too soppy and not his thing. He was about to turn around and hope he’d see his friend later, but just as he was walking off, Barty spotted him and yelled his name.
“Regulus? Is that you?” His face lit up; he looked exactly like he did five months ago, though Regulus couldn’t help but notice the boy's chest was broader and his arms were just a bit bigger. Why did he have to notice these things? It made him speechless for a bit, but then he remembered he had to answer before this got awkward.
“I couldn’t keep two best friends apart for too long, I guess." Barty clapped his hands on Regulus’ shoulders, looking as if he’s trying to figure out if it was real.
Regulus stepped back and said, “You look like shit. Does the first army take baths?”
Barty, of course, scoffed at Regulus’ comment and then messed up his hair.
“Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine? Five months apart, and that’s what you have to say?”
Regulus just shrugged. “I think five months wasn’t long enough, to be honest." Regulus could’ve sworn. Barty looked a bit hurt for a second, but it was probably nothing after all; it was just a joke.
"Aw, well, I know you missed me." Barty put an arm around Regulus and started leading him to a tent set up for the first army. It looked like people were gambling.
“What are we doing here?” Regulus asked because, as far as he knew, neither of them had money to gamble.
“Your precious brother has been causing quite a bit of trouble,” Barty said while pointing to a table. Regulus could see his brother sitting there with a smug look as a man was yelling at him. Leave it up to Sirius to look happy while being yelled at.
“Oi, Sirius!” Barty yelled, and Sirius immediately turned to look at who called him. He immediately got up from his seat and ran over when he saw Regulus standing there.
“Oh Reg I’ve missed you. You look taller. Stop growing on me,” Sirius said as he was pretending to fret over him like a mother.
“Maybe you’ve just shrunk in your old age.“
“Hey! I’m only a year older than you! I’m trying to be sentimental here, and you’re calling me old.”
Regulus had to smile, but quickly got rid of it. He couldn't help it. He did miss his brother. It's been a year since they’ve seen each other in person. They’ve written letters, but it’s not the same.
“You’re still old; are those gray hairs I see?”
“WHAT?? No. Barty, do I have gray hair?” Sirius was panicking.
“Oh yeah, I definitely see them." Barty continued teasing, and he and Regulus laughed as Sirius immediately went to find something shiny to check.
“I see he hasn’t changed.”
“Nope. How did I get stuck with that Black brother?”
"Oh, I know my company would’ve been better than his." If Regulus was paying full attention, he probably would’ve noticed a soft blush reach Barty’s face.
“So besides having to be stuck with that...
"How have you been?”
“Mostly fine, things aren’t too bad. At least I’m going places. I didn’t realize how confined I was in the orphanage.”
"Yeah, it is nice to be out and not have to stay in one place.”
“Catch me up on everything. How is Evan doing?" Barty asked, not realizing this stung just a little bit.
Regulus rolled his eyes. "Well, Evan is good. At least I have him. Everyone else on my team is unbearable. They keep trying to talk to me. It’s annoying. Why can’t they take a hint and stop bothering me?”
“Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?” Barty laughed.
‘Evan is here with me. Do you want to go see him?”
"Oh, I thought we could walk together for a bit,” Barty said immediately.
“No need to pretend you aren’t dying to see him come on." Regulus started walking forward to find Evan because he knew that Barty would want to see him and was just trying to be nice.
“Wait Reg-” Barty grabbed his hand and looked at Regulus with a weird emotion on his face.
"Barty, we have time to catch up later. Come off it. We both know you’ve been in love with Evan for years. Let’s go. No need for niceties.”
Barty opened his mouth like he was about to say something but snapped it close and said, “Love is a little too far, but fine, let’s go.”
They walked silently to the tent, and Regulus stood behind them as Barty and Evan reunited. It did feel nice to see all of them back together again; their friendship was the only bearable thing in the orphanage. He hung back, watching the two catch up, and decided to slip out of the tent. There was a little pang in his chest, but that was fine. His two friends are happy; who is he to do something to ruin that moment for them?
Regulus spiraled ‘Does Barty know the effect he has on him?’‘Would Barty even care about his true feelings?’‘or would Barty just let him down and pretend his feelings were nothing at all’ There are so many questions, and none of them will ever be answered. Barty has Evan, and that’s fine. The idea day by day seems to be sinking in, and he’s making peace with it. There might be someone for him out there.
Regulus just walks around with no end goal in sight. He spots the grisha practicing their unique powers. He was impressed that someone could have those powers inside them. He continues walking, so no one notices him staring, and then he feels a rumble coming from his stomach. He knows he’s hungry but hasn’t bothered going to eat in the dining hall. It's the same thing at every station; they see him and send him to the back because serving him before the true-born Ravkans was unfathomable. Regulus will not allow himself to be ridiculed like that, so he simply waits till everyone is done, or he simply doesn’t eat.
Regulus keeps walking, and he spots a grisha tent, and in it he sees chocolate. They are shaped like frogs for some reason. It’s weird, but the chocolate looks like the best thing in the world right now. Regulus is not a thief, but when something catches his eye, it catches his eye. He could take a few, and the grisha would hardly notice they get whatever their heart desires, while everyone else has to fend for themselves.
Regulus looks around to make sure no one is near, and he simply steps into the tent and begins stuffing four into his pockets, one for everyone: Barty, Evan, Sirius, and himself. He does this quickly, so no one could catch him, but just his fucking luck, he heard shuffling and immediately turned around to see someone watching him.
Shit.
How long were they there for?
"Hi,” he lets out weakly, a little panicked that he might be spending his night in a cell, but still approaches the conversation first; he was already caught.
“Umm, Hi? What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. I was hungry, saw chocolate, and wanted some.”
This makes the stranger chuckle a bit.
“I see that. Why exactly did you think you could steal chocolate from a Girsha tent? You’re obviously the first army.”
"Well, funny thing, the first army treatment stinks. I’m sure no one would miss a few pieces of chocolate, especially privileged grisha.”
The stranger steps into the light, and... He’s quite cute.
“Seems reasonable enough for me, I guess.”
What? What does that mean? Is he free to go?
“So does that mean I can go now?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you stayed. The company here is boring; you seem interesting though.”
“And you're basing that assumption on what?”
“On the fact that you had the audacity to sneak into my tent and then, when caught, have an attitude knowing I could have had you put in a cell or I could have easily killed you.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I have somewhere I need to be." Regulus said as he was walking away rather fast before the guy changed his mind, “But I’ll be here for a few days, so maybe I’ll catch you again, stranger.” he added