meanwhile, mooncalf | aidan

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

EXHAUSTION WAS LIKE A WEIGHT PULLING AT both of Eli's eye lids. His shoulders slumped as he pulled bags of feed out of the storing hut, dragging their large, cumbersome bodies between the stables to fill up the trowels for the following morning. His mentor had told him this was 'for personal growth'. That wildlife didn't sleep and he should be prepared to work long nights. Especially on the full moon. "Growth..." Eli kept cursing, his face screwed, anger the only thing keeping him from collapsing in the next stable he entered. Hay had never looked so comfortable.

This was where he was when the first snuffle caught his attention. A bag of feed over one of his shoulders. Feet dragging noisily on the gravel pathways between habitats as he carried it towards the Diricawl stable. It was a low, keening moaning. Eli froze as it sounded again, a snuffle followed by what sounded like a mournful cry. Eli dropped the bag at once, his mind reeling back to his first task of the night. The mooncalves paddock. His mentor had been quite stern with him hours before.

"Do be mindful of the mooncalves on a full moon, Elijah." He'd bemoaned, looking at Eli over the top of his milk bottle glasses. "They were quite restless at this time of the month." Eli had barely been listening, having tossed and turned all night, he'd been operating on next to no sleep. Suddenly, it rang in his mind like a screeching alarm. He'd tended the mooncalves first, before the moon hit its hilt and they became impossible to wrangle. Unfortunately, Eli could not remember closing the paddocks gate and slipping the lock in to place.

Tripping over the abandoned feed bag in a hurry, Eli's arms pedalled as he sprinted back the way he had come. His face flushed as he turned the corner of a large row of stables, only to be confronted by the image of half a dozen mooncalves trundling out of their gate and chewing on dry patches of grass on the pathway, not at all part of their rehabilitation diet. One carefully digging a hole in the path, snuffling in the dirt. Another butting the head of its mate, battling in all their newfound space. "Oh... oh fuck..." Eli's hands went in to his hair. "I am so fired." 

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

Full Moon - December 2025

There was something special about walking in moonlight. Things looked different at night, and obviously not just because moonlight was different from sunlight. Everything was quiet, less well-lit – all the usual stuff, to be sure. But the nature reserve felt like a different world, as all the daytime creatures went to sleep and all the nocturnal ones woke up. Suddenly it was the realm of acromantulas and thestrals, and everything turned more quiet and contemplative. At least, Aidan assumed it was like that for most people. He wasn’t the type to sit down and just think for long stretches of time. But it was much easier to simply enjoy being in the middle of all these natural and wonderful things when one didn’t have to worry about being blinded by the sun or interrupted by a visitor.

Aidan didn’t often work the night shift, but he had already spent hours in the hippogriff paddock. The magical veterinarians had warned him that their schedules were always highly irregular. Sometimes he worked the same hours as most people and could be home at a reasonable hour. Sometimes there was an emergency, and he needed to be present in the earliest hours of daybreak or the latest hours of twilight. Either way, he didn’t mind. Aidan never felt closer to home than when he was surrounded by dozing hippogriffs, moonlight bathing their feathers in a soft glow and a gentle breeze circulating the comforting smells of hay and pine needles. One of the hippogriffs had given birth too early, so Aidan had been dutifully watching the baby (smaller than she should be) and feeding her periodically. Now that the sense of urgency had passed, it was almost peaceful.

Eventually, someone more experienced arrived to take over and examine both mother and baby. Aidan watched with eagle eyes as the veterinarian completed their examination and settled down to take Aidan’s place. Then, with a smile and a soft wave, Aidan slipped his hands into his pockets and began to walk towards the reserve’s main entrance. He walked in almost total darkness, since the moon had been temporarily covered by clouds, so he made a startled sound as he nearly walked straight into a mooncalf. The noise bounced off the trees around the otherwise silent space as Aidan stared at the mooncalf (who was ignoring him completely while it snuffled the ground). That…couldn’t be right, right? Had the mooncalf slipped out? Or…was someone taking it on a walk? At that thought, Aidan instinctively looked around and caught sight of some distant shapes. He began to walk towards them, and eventually caught sight of more mooncalves and a familiar figure. Aidan laughed softly as he turned in a wide circle. “Eli…mooncalves are out?” He pointed out helpfully, finally turning around to grin at his friend. What an odd but interesting situation to run into in the middle of the night.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

FEED BAG ABANDONED, ELI RAN TOWARD THE meandering animals with a panicked fraying composure. His arms held wide as he stopped a snuffling youngling from knocking over a bucket of seed and dirty water. "Hey, hey..." He hissed at it, shooing it away as he tried to edge it towards its mother and fellow calves. It was a mess, every time he looked up from herding one, another slipped by him curiously.

One wedging its head in the fence of an open Hippogriff training ring. Another chewing heartily on the rope outside of a Chizpurfle habitat. He started there, wrapping his hand around the part closest to its gnawing mouth and tugging to no avail. "Please, please, Pell." He used her name her in a vain attempt to garner her attention. Its large, moony eyes rolling towards him, pausing for a moment, before it yanked back in defiance.

"It wasn't me!" Eli replied in a rush as he heard his name called. Lifting his head with one leg braced on the wooden side of the paddock for leverage. It, thankfully, wasn't his boss. Instead, fellow trainee Aidan stood in the spilling moonlight. His red hair reflecting like a brassy copper coin. Like a beacon to his fireable offence. "I mean... it might've been... me." He stuttered, gritting his teeth and pulling sharply. The rope breaking in his hand, the last shreds hanging out of Pell's chewing mouth. She scampered out of reach before he could reach it.

Palms stinging, Eli rubbed them on his dirty overalls. Skinned at the bottom with rope burn. He rushed Aidan all at once, grabbing the front of his apron with a wide, pale and panicked face. "You've got to help me, man!" He shook him once before letting go. "My mentor already thinks I'm an idiot..." He bent at the waist, breathless and wheezing. "I can't let him be right." Hands braced on his knees, he looked up at Aidan through a fringe of straggling dark hair. "I'll do anything..." And then he straightened, counting the escaped mooncalves to be sure none had wandered out of view.

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

Aidan had no clue why the mooncalves were wandering around the open area, but he liked the look of it. It reminded him of how things were in Hy-Brasil – sure, some of the creatures had to be kept to some parts of the island, but they were given a lot more freedom anyway. The Cloudbreaker griffin farm certainly didn’t corral all its griffins into a cramped space. It was best for the creatures to go where they wanted (spread their wings, one could say) and do what felt natural to them. Besides, mooncalf dances were one of the most amazing sights Aidan had ever seen, but it would definitely look a thousand times more amazing in the open clearing as opposed to their closed-off paddock. Aidan instinctively craned his head up to check on the status of the moon – full but behind clouds, he noted with disappointment.

It was probably for the best not to remind Eli about it anyway, since the dancing could cover a large spread-out area and his friend looked…not okay. He’d found the dark-haired mainlander aimlessly holding a dangling piece of rope - okay, definitely weird…but maybe restraining an invisible creature? Although he quickly dropped the shredded rope to tug at his hair and pull at his dirty overalls (another thing Aidan appreciated about his friend, because he didn’t seem to have the same obsession most mainlanders did with soap). Aidan felt like a brilliant detective as he deduced that Eli must be stressed…but about what? He blinked owlishly as Eli grabbed the front of his apron, which was still covered in hippogriff feathers that fluttered to the ground. He didn’t resist as Eli shook him, and after he let go padded over slowly to his now crouched-friend. Aidan leaned over and, at a slightly awkward angle, gave Eli a solid thump on the shoulder before straightening again. “You not idiot,” Aidan confirmed brightly. He knew Eli’s mentor, and the man had very little patience. He always seemed to assume that you would just know what he was thinking – which had led to a series of hilarious miscommunications with Aidan in the past. But really, how was he supposed to know that putting the cart before the horse was a saying and not a serious suggestion? Although Aidan had definitely been wondering how the thestral was supposed to pull from behind. Now he knew – it wasn’t supposed to!

Anyway, back to the situation at hand…Aidan laughed a little as he took in the sight of some mooncalves congregating around an interesting-looking patch of flowers. “I help you, Eli,” he reassured, using the same tone he would around a skittish animal. Because the look in Eli’s eyes definitely resembled that of a niffler who had gotten caught with someone else’s shiny things and didn’t know how to escape the situation. “But…” Aidan trailed off uncertainly before continuing, “but what help? Mooncalves look healthy.” Just to be sure, Aidan wandered a few steps away towards the nearest distracted mooncalf. He held out his hand and called out to it in Brasilic (he always reverted to his native language around creatures). When it approached (as if any creature would say no to a druid), he got down on one knee and let the mooncalf sniff his hand before it allowed him to run it over its head and down its long neck. After confirming that the mooncalf didn’t look disoriented and had no open cuts, Aidan patted it affectionately and stood up again, letting it wander away. “He look happy, yes?” he observed cheerily as he walked back over to Eli.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO COULD HAVE CAUGHT Eli with his professional pants down, he was relieved it was Aidan. The guy had always been Eli's kind of weird, but he was also pretty good at his job. More than once, despite the obvious language barrier, Aidan had come to Eli's rescue. Be it while balancing a cart full of hay, or providing a tentative alibi when he was being reamed out by his boss. Eli considered them friends.

"Thanks..." Eli gave a heaving sigh of relief, shoulders slumping as he patted Aidan's cheek and gave a short laugh. He was definitely an idiot, but he appreciated Aidan's blatant effort in English. "You're the man." He said as an afterthought, dropping the rope and beginning to edge towards a scampering calf as it attempted to split from the greater majority. Hopping skipping with arms wide lest it attempt to duck out of the way. Half crouched, he crab crawled as Aidan bent at once and beckoned a mooncalf to his hand. He didn't understand the assignment, but he had the skills, Eli thought.

"What kind'a Voodoo is that?!" He exclaimed begrudgingly, feeling utterly inadequate as the calf he was herding reared back on his legs and huffed in frustration. "Yeah... they're healthy..." Eli agreed, scrunching his nose as he tried to figure out the easiest way to explain his predicament. "Calves... have home?" He squinted his eyes, chewing his cheek. "Escaped their home... I need your help." He pointed to himself and then Aidan, "To get them back- back!" He motioned with both hands, sweeping them towards the paddock they had wandered out of. "If not..." Eli ran his thumb across his throat, poking his tongue out and dropping his head to one side, as if he were dead. "Boss man will kill me." He laughed nervously, hands splayed helplessly. 

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

Aidan had been learning mainlander habits from Eli since they’d started together – although even with Aidan’s best imitations of how Eli talked and acted, he’d never quite got the reaction he was hoping for. The longer they worked together, the more Aidan had slowly begun to piece together that Eli wasn’t your typical Brit. In fact, after reaching that conclusion, he’d been startled to learn that Eli wasn’t British at all, and that not all mainlanders came from the same group. They spoke different and dressed different and each had their own flavor of being mind-bogglingly off-base about what life was about. Even with all these facts though, Eli was a good egg! Aidan liked seeing him whenever their tasks overlapped, and he liked hearing the absolutely hilarious things Eli had to say.

Like now! Aidan blinked owlishly at Eli’s observation – you’re the man. He spent some seconds mulling this obvious fact over, because he definitely was a man and didn’t understand Eli’s need to point it out. But then his face broke into a grin as he thought he had it all figured out – it was some kind of mainlander game, right? Aidan didn’t understand the rules, but he thought he could give it a shot. So he nodded sagely and responded with some observations of his own, “Yes. I am man. And druid. And red hair!” He shook out the offending bright hair in demonstration, laughing a pleased little laugh at having figured out Eli’s code. The smile on his face didn’t go away as Eli began to make some odd motions, waving his arms over his head as he hopped over to a mooncalf. But Aidan cocked his head to the side and watched his friend, completely mystified.

Was he trying to show the mooncalf he was one of them? Was he afraid the mooncalf would sprout wings and fly off? Aidan didn’t understand his question – what was voodoo? – but he watched wide-eyed as Eli explained what he was trying to do. Healthy calves, home, escaped home. Need to get them back. “But…” Aidan started, chewing his lip as he rubbed a hand over his chin. “Dead wood not home for mooncalves. Dead wood…fence,” Aidan finally said as he found the word in English, making a dismissive motion with his hand toward the mooncalf paddock, where the main gate was still wide open. “Fence not home. This their home!” Out in the woods, with plenty of free space to roam and graze (and dance!). Aidan didn’t like the idea of simply corralling them back into their closed paddock, since it seemed clear to him that the mooncalves were plenty happy where they were now. But…he had agreed to help Eli, and this was clearly giving the poor boy a kidney stone. Aidan allowed himself to sink into the warring instincts to help his friend or give the mooncalves some freedom, indecision written across his face. Then he sighed and begged, “Five more minutes?”

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

AIDAN WAS THE BEST APPRENTICE AT THE reservation. Eli had long since made that deduction, including himself in the scoring for fairness. Aidan had a way with animals that not even Eli understood, though he suspected it had something to do with where he was from. Eli had a very basic understanding of the druid island, beyond his voracious desire to experience nature in such an unabashed manner - his father would never agree to it, though. But, Aidan was also funny.

"Right-!" Eli's brow was frowning, but his mouth was split in a shoulder shaking laugh. "But, you're also The man." He shook Aidan's shoulder in camaraderie. "It means you're my favourite person right now." There was an obvious language barrier, but Eli had never minded the obstacle, he always felt like Aidan got the true intention of what he was trying to say - most of the time. On the odd occasion he didn't, Eli never minded just showing him.

Trying to herd the mooncalf's solo, Eli was all arms and legs. When he caught Aidan's expression from the corner of his eye, it made him flush with embarrassment. He must've looked a right idiot. "Dead wood..." Eli muttered under his breath, rubbing at his dirt smudged jaw as he tried to decipher what Aidan was trying to tell him, but he didn't need to. Aidan explained himself with more eloquence than Eli had all night. "Oh, right!" Eli slapped his thigh as he snickered at the simplicity of it, how much much complicated he had made it.

Watching Aidan carefully, he nodded as he tried to figure out what he was trying to say. It came to him like a lightbulb and he gasped. "I mean, you're right- obviously you're right." He reasoned, palming the back of his neck as he cringed at the reality of what he was asking Aidan. He was essentially asking Aidan to help him trap the animals. It obviously went against his nature, but Eli didn't want to get fired and the mooncalf's were being kept because their natural habitat had been destroyed, displacing them.

"They're not ready yet and this..." Eli gestured to the winding reservation's grounds, the paddocks and stables all stacked together with tasty looking ropes and hooks to catch them on accidentally. "This isn't where they should be- they're gonna eat something or- or hurt themselves..." Sighing, Eli dropped his chin and felt guilty all of a sudden. "I just don't wanna get fired, man." He admitted sheepishly.

Aidan was as kind as he was odd, Eli thought, as he relented good-naturedly. Eli's shoulders slumped and he nodded eagerly, feeling light with relief that Aidan would help him with his eerie affinity for animals. "Five minutes..." He said in agreement, coming to stand beside Aidan as the clouds above them cleared and fresh, silvery moonlight bathed the escapees in earnest. And that's when it happened, that's when they began to dance. 

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

Aidan listened attentively to Eli’s explanation, eyes fixed on the other boy’s face in the same way he might follow a bird while in his dog form. His face broke out into a giant grin as Eli explained what this odd mainlander phrase meant, calling someone a man. No, the man. Aidan filed the information away so he could pounce on his family at a later date and show off all the English he was learning. In the meantime, he returned Eli’s pat with a hearty one of his own on the boy’s shoulder and confirmed brightly, “You’re the man!” The words came out awkward, ‘you’re’ sounded more like ‘yer’ as Aidan struggled with the r’s. He wouldn’t call Eli his favorite man of all time, because Aidan dearly loved his family and they were probably the man first. But besides that, Eli had become one of his best buds at the reserve and Aidan liked being on the receiving ends of his little pearls of wisdom.

The druid was a little worried Eli might hurt himself as he did a very good imitation of a mooncalf dance while trying to herd the mooncalves in a certain direction. Still, Aidan figured the best path to take here was to let Eli do his thing, because he probably just knew something Aidan didn’t about the most effective way to get their attention. And he certainly had captured the attention of the most nearby mooncalves, who stopped grazing and bouncing around to peer curiously at Eli and cock their heads in interest. Still, as the other boy stopped moving, they turned back to their own activities. Aidan watched with wide eyes to see what he could learn from this, but also mostly because it was really funny. Eventually he failed to keep his expression neutral and roared with laughter as one of the mooncalves copied Eli’s flailing motions before bouncing away.

But he listened seriously as Eli began to explain why it was important to bring the mooncalves back. Aidan rarely took things seriously, preferring to approach most things in life with a lighthearted and carefree attitude. But ever since the creatures had escaped Hy-Brasil in October, he had begun to worry himself sick with how they were getting by until the druids could go out and recapture them again. They were practically defenseless, having grown up in an idyllic island paradise. They weren’t ready for the real world, and it sounded too close to what Eli was saying now. Aidan’s expression was grave as he considered the possibility that an animal didn’t always know what was right for it. That its instincts could sometimes be wrong. It could even be the same for humans. He wouldn’t know. “You are right,” he said with a serious nod, fiddling absentmindedly with a few stray hippogriff feathers that had gotten stuck in his t-shirt. “Yes, okay, we put them back where it safe.”

He blinked as there was a shift in the clouds and suddenly the whole clearing was bathed in bright moonlight. Everything looked as if it had been painted silver, with the trees emitting a soft glow and the moonlight reflecting off the mooncalves and their shining, smooth fur coats. Aidan gasped in delight at the implications of the full moon, as the mooncalves began to congregate in small groups and dance. He grabbed Eli’s arm excitedly and shook it to make sure he was seeing what Aidan saw. “They look happy!” he said warmly, the adoration clear in his tone as his eyes sparkled with wonder at the sight of the bouncing mooncalves. He knew what they had to do. “Hurry!” he urged Eli, pulling at the boy’s arm as he stumbled towards a small group of mooncalves. If it had been anyone else, they might have scattered in fright. As it was, they didn’t see a druid as a threat and allowed the boys to approach. Aidan allowed himself to laugh again as he began to spin in careless circles.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

THERE WAS A DELIRIOUS BREATH OF A MOMENT, where the language barrier dissolved somewhere between Aidan's hand and Eli's shoulder. Eli almost forgot about his terrible faux pas and his poor job performance. He just belted a gut wrenching laugh, nodded a head of floppy brown hair and leaned in to that pat like a great big dog. "I am the man!" He chuckled, smiling so largely that it hurt his cheeks. But, of course, the joy was short lived. He had a walkway full of mooncalves to wrangle, after all.

Though it seemed almost fruitless, debating with Aidan's superior wilderness knowledge, Eli tried valiantly. Their moment of camaraderie swept to one side as he desperately tried to push the importance of the mooncalves stay at the reservation. There was a second, just a beat, where Eli was sure Aidan would not be convinced. And he'd be well within his rights, Eli thought. They were wild animals - rehabilitation aside - they deserved to be free. Then, looking terribly serious and wise, Aidan deigned to agree with Eli. He barely refrained from punching the air triumphantly. Five minutes was nothing, five minutes was worth it.

Looking up at the sky, Eli squinted as the moon was swept free of the clouds and the reservation was bathed in silver. And, just like magic, the calves began to congregate and shift - they began to dance. Eli laughed joyfully, his eyes wide, his head turning to look at Aidan - as if he couldn't quite believe it. "They do!" He agreed, a warmth so bright in his chest that he shivered with delight. And then, with a shared expression, he allowed himself to be pulled by Aidan as they broke out in simultaneous dance. Eli swung his arms widely, his gangly knees pulling up as he leaped  and spun until his head felt light. Cracking peals of laughter paired with the mooncalves gentle hoots of delight. Aidan was better, Aidan was graceful. It didn't matter, Eli jutted his elbows and shook his hair. Flinching out of distance when the occasional mooncalf gurgled their disapproval when he danced a little too close for comfort.

Eventually, the moon was shrouded once again in cloud cover and the rhythmic patter of hooved feet settled as the moment passed. Eli was breathing heavily jolted to a stop, watching the mooncalves as they slowed to a choreographed halt. Just like that, it was over. He'd never forget that moment, Eli realised, it was seared into his frontal lobe. He huffed a breath, spun at the waist and dropped to the ground in a slinky lump, a hand over his face as he shook with laughter. "I danced with mooncalves." He muttered in disbelief, thinking of all the days he'd felt like a failure. Of the magizoology internship he'd pissed up the wall. Of the crippling sense of inadequacy. It was all gone, even if only for a moment. And then, somewhere in the distance he heard a suspicious snuffle and the tell-tale sound of chewing.

"Back to work..." He sighed, sitting up suddenly and giving Aidan a long, grateful look. "Thanks," He mumbled bashfully, dipping his chin as he ambled on to his feet. He made to say more, but stopped, tilting his head towards the wandering herd instead. "Back inside the dead wood?" He suggested, turning to begin his pitiful herding, though they appeared far more relaxed after their flash dance. Subdued and sparkly-eyed, their mischievousness temporarily forgotten. "While they're on the come down." He added half to himself, arms wide as he crab-crawled and whistled aimlessly as he edged them back towards their paddock at a painfully slow pace. 

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

Aidan had never thought there could be anything beautiful on the mainland. No, that wasn’t quite right – he’d never really thought about the mainland at all. He had cousins that lived in a small druid community in the far north, but that had never really counted in his mind. They were still druids after all, even if they didn’t live in Hy-Brasil, so their way of life was peaceful and at a balance with nature. Putting as much in as they needed to take, and going out of their way to treat every living thing with respect. They didn't use phones, or any tainted Muggle technology, and they certainly lived with magic in every single part of their lives. But the rest of the mainland? It had barely registered in his mind, and certainly every good druid knew that all the most beautiful things were those that belonged to the druids. The halo of clouds that formed around the highest peak of the Dragon’s Tooth, the murtlaps sunbathing along the coast as they purred in the warm buttery sunlight, the wild and unrestrained growth of the ancient wand trees in the Wildwood that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world. Bouddica’s shield, what else did anybody need besides that?

But he was wrong, because there was something beautiful to some parts of the mainlander way of life. He was entranced by the sight of snow as it fell gently during the harsh winter months, collecting on the roofs of the little Hogsmeade huts. Or, he thought to himself, the cold autumn sun shining off the brightly colored trees and illuminating them with a million brilliant colors, a sight that never failed to warm him even in the midst of the howling wind or the frosted grass. And this moment with Eli – a clearing bathed in soft moonlight, the stars faintly visible overhead in a cloudless sky as the mooncalfs gleefully danced in circles and made little chirps of delight…spirits, that was beautiful too. As Aidan shook Eli’s arm with delight and gasped at the rare sight of a mooncalf dance, he pulled the other boy towards the delightful creatures and danced the same way he might at home. Like it was a festival on Hy-Brasil, with the wild unicorn herd grazing peacefully nearby and roaring bonfires to light the sight of hundreds of druids gathered together to dance and celebrate their way of life.

It was over too soon, and Aidan joined Eli in breathless laughter as he sunk to the ground and sprawled on the hard-packed dirt floor. He tilted his head back so he could see Eli slumped and shaking with laughter as he observed in wonder that they’d just danced with mooncalves. “Yes,” Aidan said with satisfaction as he slowly felt his breath return to his body and even out slowly. It was one of the many reasons Aidan loved the nature reserve – where else could you find yourself in such close proximity to all of the earth’s wonderful creatures? Well… “I miss home,” he said longingly, thinking of the small mooncalf herd they had on the island. His ma was less than fond of them, because they tended to wander onto the farm and snack on their crops. But by all the spirits in the spirit world, this one fleeting moment had reminded him of a million more that had long since passed. And he wanted so badly to be a part of that chain of life again.

He pouted as Eli announced that it was time to go back to work. “Noooooo,” he complained, but Aidan rolled until he’d gotten back to his feet anyway because the tension had returned to Eli’s shoulders as the relaxed look melted off his face. Aidan didn’t want to go back to work! He wanted to trudge out of the reserve, hunt for the mirror that was somewhere in his room, and have a long talk with his pa. A little pick-me-up to get him through the realization that he wouldn’t be back home until February. But Eli reminded him that they had to put the mooncalfs back in their fenced-off enclosure, and Aidan sighed as he swiped a few dead leaves out of his hair. “What is come down?” he asked, puzzled at the strange words coming from Eli’s mouth. But then he brightened, and temporarily forgot the English language as he excitedly tried to explain his brilliant new idea to Eli. He made a few circular motions with his hands, before finally saying, “Crups! Crups put mooncalves back, yes? Dogs gather cows. Uh…hard. Hord. Herd!”

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

THERE WAS GRAVEL EMBEDDING ITSELF INTO  the exposed skin of Eli's neck and hands, but he didn't care. There was something so full about his chest in the moments following his dance with the mooncalves. He'd felt something similar a couple of times before - sneaking Cordie into the reservation came to mind. Eli simply thrived in the company of good friends. He was like a flower in sunlight, straining towards friendship like he needed it to survive. Aidan and the mooncalves company was revered in that beat between pure joy and blistering reality.

Turning his head slowly, Eli's attention was drawn by Aidan's soft, accented confession. The profound sadness slowing Eli's breaths as he frowned at Aidan's upturned face. He reached across the space between them without thinking, tangling his hand in the shoulder of Aidan's shirt and tugging a gentle shake into his upper body. He moved it up after a second, patting his friend's unruly red hair in some form of grounding comfort. "I get it," He said gruffly, a sad smile of his own on his face. "I miss mine too, sometimes."

As if to break the melancholy that had shrouded them suddenly, Eli sat up and stole himself with a sharp breath. It came with expected reluctance from Aidan, but Eli just laughed as he hopped to his feet. His friend followed soon after, because Aidan happened to be a man of his word, Eli had realised from experience. He clapped him on the shoulder for comfort, laughing at the frowning question. "Uh.." He squinted, shaking his head as if to loosen a competent explanation for his Hy-Brasil friend.

"It's like... you're up a mountain above the clouds, right?" Eli lifted his long arms above his head to show as well as tell. "But, you gotta come down eventually, because the airs too thin and you'll get altitude sickness if you're up high too long." It was a convoluted explanation, Eli's arms flopping down to his sides as if satisfied by the figure of speech. Eli thought himself a very wise man, but Aidan was the real ideas man. He could have jumped a foot in joy at the Druid's ingenious solution to all of their problems.

"You're a genius!" Eli palmed the air beside Aidan's face in excitement before he took off in a run towards the dog pens. They had crups for a reason, but Eli hadn't even considered using the canines to help herd the wily mooncalves. He reached the pen with shaking hands, his fingers fumbling with the latch as he cooed over the fence at the slumbering crups and their pups. "Hey, hey, puppies." He swung the door open and crouched by the opening. "Wanna come play with the mooncalves?" There wasn't a single coherent plan in Eli's head as he ushered the awakened dogs towards him and the free play of the open space. 

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

Aidan had experienced disappointment before. Oh, definitely. What else could he have called it when his ma stopped him from trying to grow his own horn because he wanted to run away and join the island’s unicorn herd? Or the time he’d tried to take home one of the Cloudbreaker griffins, only for Fae to catch him trying to shrink one and put him in his bag? He was used to feeling a temporary bout of sadness, feeling blue for a moment until his dad would pour him a cup of cider and give him a hearty clap on the back. That was normal, expected even, and Aidan had gone a long time thinking that was the worst he would ever feel about himself. But this homesickness, the kind that carved a spot for itself in his chest and never left him alone? He’d never felt that kind of deep melancholy before leaving the island, never thought there would be anything in his life that could bring him down.

But some days he felt like he’d sunk to the bottom of the Black Lake – and no matter how hard he twisted or pushed, he couldn’t move. The feeling felt wrong on him, like a suit that wasn’t made for him but he’d been forced into anyway. Aidan bit his lip as he felt the uncomfortable sensation sink into his chest now, and he ran his fingers through the hard-packed dirt and frozen pine needles that littered the forest floor to distract himself from it. He didn’t want to feel sad, but sometimes it snuck in without him noticing until he was in the middle of feeling sorry for himself. As he felt Eli’s hand roughly pat his hair, Aidan let a reluctant smile escape as he swatted at his friend and clasped his shoulder. He’d forgotten that Eli also didn’t come from here (which explained all the weird things his friend said as if they were completely normal) but he gave a jerky nod to acknowledge that he’d heard him.

Instead he focused completely on Eli’s explanation of what exactly ‘come down’ meant, jumping to his feet and staring intently at the other boy as he began to paint his word picture. “Okay,” Aidan said as Eli told him to picture a mountain above the clouds. He let his mind wander for a moment until he could see the Dragon’s Tooth in his head, a halo of clouds surrounding the summit and the distant sound of dragon roars coming from above. Then he remembered Eli was explaining something and blinked rapidly to refocus just in time to hear the end. But Aidan cocked his head curiously to the side as he thought about it. “Why not Bubble-Head Charm?” he asked simply. Magic came so second-nature to the druids in every aspect of their lives. He wouldn’t have thought twice to cast a spell like that, and it wouldn’t even require his staff. But mainlanders were weird, and they did so much by hand that Aidan didn’t understand.

Either way, he’d already forgotten what the point of the story was – because now he was captivated with the idea of releasing the crups to do a lot of the hard work and help return the mooncalves to the dead fence! Aidan let himself laugh wildly as the crups rushed out past Eli, and he followed eagerly as they filled the open space. He chased after one for a while, played tug-of-war with another over a branch, and then remembered suddenly, “Oh, right! Cruppies, go make circle! Bring mooncalves to dead wood!” He couldn’t possibly make his instructions any clearer than that. He approached a mooncalf and – even though it let him stroke its long neck gently and scratch behind its little ears…she didn’t seem to want to do anything else. “Come on,” Aidan coaxed, beginning to pull although the mooncalf just blinked at him and didn’t move.

TWEEEEET!

Aidan jumped at the sudden sound of the whistle, eyes big like a mooncalf’s as he whirled around. Even though he was already quite pale, he felt all the remaining color leave his face as one of the senior researchers bustled into the clearing, boots leaving heavy imprints on the layer of pine needles and huge frame seemingly blocking the light of the moon. “We, uh, herd,” Aidan stammered, although he seemed to have forgotten all his English at the researcher’s booming voice demanding to know exactly what they two upstarts were doing. He blew his whistle again and Aidan watched, completely dumbstruck, as the mooncalves began to skip straight back to their paddock. “Can I have one?” he asked in awe, eyes completely skipping past the man’s splotchy and angry red face to fixate on the shiny whistle in his hand.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

dec full moon, 2025

STANDING IN FRONT OF HIS NEW FRIEND AND brushing the gravel from his elbows, Eli felt the pleasure of good company. Even in the wake of absolute professional disaster, Aidan's steady companionship made Eli feel very nearly invincible. And definitely not fireable, which was great for his ego in the moment. As he explained, rather confusingly, what a 'come down' was, Eli nodded at his own genius. Only to laugh so hard he felt it pop in his chest, his entire metaphor destroyed by Aidan's undeniable logic.

"I... don't have a better answer than that." Eli admitted, still laughing as he shrugged loosely. Aidan, at the very least, had ceased looking so trodden down by the prospect of herding the mooncalves. Instead, he just looked a little befuddled by Eli, which was entirely normal for their typical interactions. And Eli had already been seized by the ingenuity of releasing the crups to help with herding. He didn't think of a single reason it wouldn't work, lifting the latch and watching them crash out into the main walkway. All, naturally, crowding around Aidan's feet.

Eli skipped across the gravel towards Aidan, crups yapping happily as they circled and wagged their split tails with wild abandon. A few had already begun sniffing around the wandering mooncalves and their hopping hooves, creating a few hoots of disapproval. "Yeah," Eli nodded in excitement, his eyes shifting from Aidan to the crups. Their searching heads tilting as if considering his request with lolling, pink tongues. "Herd them," He swept his hands towards the calves, attempting a poor round up of canine and calves all at once. It all came crashing down with the keening Researcher's whistle, a sound that often featured in Eli's most unpleasant dreams.

"Oh f-" Eli's head dropped immediately at the sight emerging around the corner. A sweep of regal, fitted robes. The whistle was nothing but a wand to the throat, accompanied by the small parting of pursed lips. It filled the area and halted every single animal in the vicinity, including Eli and Aidan. 'I am so screwed', Eli thought miserably. Reality crashing down on him without mercy. He cast an eye at his surroundings, the frayed ropes, the trampled gravel and the excitable moon calves being harassed by sleepless crups. He'd made a right mess of everything, and he'd gotten Aidan caught as well. The second whistle set the calves into motion with a giddy hop, and Eli watched them canter back towards the paddock as if nothing was amiss. 

"Sir-" Eli marched towards the Researcher rapidly, a cold sweat breaking out along his back as he wrung his hands helplessly. Aidan's innocent request might have made Eli laugh under different circumstances. Only he would ask for something when their tails were on the line. "It's my fault, I didn't close the latch correctly and the mooncalves got out- it was stupid. It's not- I shouldn't have dragged Aidan into this." He said with a sad, downturned mouth. "Please don't fire me." He whispered under his breath, head dipping to his chest, as if awaiting a great lashing. 

Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Aidan Evander Ó Cuinn]

There would never be any words to describe the exact moment of chaos before the sound of the whistle – but Aidan certainly would do his best in the million times afterwards in trying to retell the story. The scene had a few fixed details that survived the retelling – two befuddled boys watched the crups happily bark and sniff around the mooncalves, although there sadly wasn’t much herding in the moment. But Aidan was so caught up in the scene and the sheer chaos happening around him that he really couldn’t say whether they ever had any chance of success or if it had been doomed from the start. In his mind, well, Eli was something close to a genius and that was that. In the many retellings of the story afterwards, sometimes the mooncalves would already be on their way back to the enclosure in an orderly line. In others, they were back to dancing.

But the whistle quickly put a stop to everything and Aidan watched in awe as the mooncalves bounced back to their enclosure. Boudicca’s horses, he wanted a whistle like that! Eli had started to say something when he saw the senior researcher, but he’d cut himself off and Aidan wondered why. Possibly because he’d forgotten the right word, so Aidan searched his brain for F words and helpfully offered up, “Full moon.” Because that definitely made sense in the moment – why the mooncalves had been dancing, why the two boys were there – not to mention Aidan’s vocabulary was too limited to think up many other alternatives. He stared curiously at Eli as the boy marched straight up to the researcher and stammered out that the whole thing was his fault. He must’ve been sweating through his shirt – if the way it clung to his back was any indication of that. After a few moments of standing still with his mouth open in gawking surprise, Aidan understood what Eli was doing. “No, my fault!” he cut in quickly, stepping up to stand beside Eli. He made wild motions with his hands as he tried to explain, “I bring crups, they supposed to go like this in circle and put mooncalves back!” He laughed sheepishly even as he felt very pleased at what had surely been an eloquent and thorough explanation.

The researcher groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, like for some reason he was getting a headache. “Merlin’s beard, this ain’t no Spartacus movie. Yer both in trouble.” He continued in a low growl to to explain their punishment – Aidan heard the occasional word about kneazles and roses – but his imagination was still trying to sort out what Spartacus was and why they weren’t in it. “Got that?” the researcher finished as he stroked his beard. Aidan, who most certainly hadn’t ‘got that’, nodded vigorously and pulled at Eli’s sleeve so they could flee the scene of the crime. As he pulled Eli out of the clearing and back towards the rest of the reserve, Aidan sighed happily at the memory of the evening. It’d started out somewhat slow with his hourly feeding of the baby hippogriff, but wow he really liked Eli and dancing with the mooncalves had been fun! So Aidan observed brightly as they made their way to the main gate, “I love it here.”

Elijah Theron Fleming
[End post Aidan!]