Adair maneuvered past the blades and wrapped his arms around Dray in a tight but careful hug. When Dray kissed his cheek, he knew he was forgiven.

- excerpt from "This For That (Re)Quest"

A few weeks ago I shared a moodboard about Blythe and Dray's argumentative, explosive sibling relationship where they tend to bring out the worst in each other because they're too similar. Dray develops the exact opposite of that relationship with Adair, probably helped by the fact that the two of them have almost nothing in common.

The closeness between Adair and Dray began after a series of mistakes and bad decisions on Dray's part. This created a rift between Dray and the others, but as soon as Adair saw how much Dray regretted these choices, he forgave them, recognizing that Dray had tried to do the right thing, just in all the wrong ways. This is a frequent problem for Dray who hasn't made a single good decision in their life. Adair's ready forgiveness endeared him to Dray, though, and got Dray to open up to him in a way they don't often do with anyone else. Blythe, Etri, and Sol are family, too, but the three of them aren't really ones for in-depth conversation like Dray and Adair, who have been been known to talk over cups of tea well into the night. Before too long the two knew each other's hopes and dreams, and Adair is probably the only person who will ever learn the true story about Dray's past. Dray trusts him and because Adair always thinks the best of Dray, Dray tries harder to do the right thing and will also do anything in their power to protect him. It has taken more than one person by surprise when it wasn't one of Adair's sentinels, but a tiny, fierce dancer who came to his defense. It's a joke between the group that Dray and Sol are Adair's secondary, platonic sentinels, but the joke is grounded in fact. Dray will never let anyone hurt their newly-acquired little brother, not if they can prevent it.

The one similarity that Adair and Dray share is a dislike of solitude. For Adair, this means being uncomfortable and nervous when left by himself. For Dray it's a fear of abandonment because so many people have walked out of their life in the past. The physical affection these two share reassures them both and gives Adair a way of showing Dray that he isn't going anywhere. There aren't many people that Dray allows to touch them, so it says a lot that Dray can frequently be found snuggling Adair and holding his hand.


I decided to make this moodboard colorful, both to show that the two share a happy, healthy relationship, and to represent the trans flag. Adair is a trans boy and Dray is agender, and their experiences are something they frequently talk about because they grew up in two very different cultures. And fun fact: Adair's cat loves stealing brushes. It doesn't matter if it's one of Adair's paintbrushes or Dray's makeup brushes, the cat's probably ran off with it and hid it in someone's shoe.