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lolxdswag123 · 8 months ago

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The Engine Room Scene

Leo Valdez x reader

Warnings: MoA spoilers, mentions of foster care, loneliness, a steamy makeout session

Author’s note: I’m actually really proud of this one so let me know what you think

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I quietly rocked back and forth on my heels, trying not to make any noise. If I let the floor creak even a decibel too loud, Coach Hedge would be out here in an instant.

I had been standing here for at least three minutes now, working up the energy to knock on my best friend’s door at this ridiculous hour. I knew he’d been feeling really down lately- something had been off since we left Camp Jupiter- even after Piper had coaxed the Eidolon out of him. I had kept myself awake all night so far, trying to figure out how I could help him.

I had originally decided to talk to him tomorrow, but my mind wouldn’t let me rest for even a second- so here I was.

Part of me wanted to just enter the room, as I had so many times before. But the other part of me wanted to turn back to my room, go to bed, and pretend that I hadn’t been standing out here for several minutes now. I decided on a third option of knocking as quietly as I could, to avoid stirring any of my other sleeping friends.

After the first knock, I took a tiny step back- listening for any movement in the room. There was none. I waited half a minute before trying again, slightly louder this time.

Still nothing.

Anyone else would’ve given up there, but I knew my best friend too well. If he’s not in his room, he’s either on the deck, working on the ship- or he’s in the engine room.

I tip toed as quietly as I could, my slippers being a soft cushion to silence the impact of my feet on the boards. I headed toward the back of the ship, and down to the lower deck to the engine room.

Before I even opened the door I could feel the vibration of the engine. It’s hum was quiet and relaxing, which gave me a feeling I was in the right place.

I slowly pushed open the door, trying to avoid any creaking. Of course with Leo’s excellent craftsmanship, the doors weren’t going to squeak anyways.

I took a soft step inside, and immediately spotted my best friend peacefully sleeping on the floor with only a pillow and blanket. It looked extremely uncomfortable.

I quietly closed the door behind me, stopping it before it clicked to limit any more noise that Hedge might hear.

I tip toed over to him, sitting down next to his sleeping figure, and reached down to run my fingers through his hair.

It wasn't unusual for us to be physically affectionate with each other. We had been best friends for almost a year now. We first met when we both ended up at the Wilderness school with Piper. The three of us had become close, but Leo and I shared a special bond. We understood each other in a way that no one had ever been able to before.

Both of us had grown up in foster care- so we never really had a permanent home. Being with Leo every day for the past year has felt more like home than I ever thought I could feel.

Things only started feeling off the past few days. With the Eidolon in Leo's head, he had fired on Camp Jupiter without knowing. He also had quite a few outbursts that left our friendship in an uncomfortable place. I knew it was just the Eidolon, but his words still stung.

Leo had never been anything but gentle and kind to me- aside from his targeted jokes every now and then- but that was how our friendship worked. When the Eidolon was possessing him he said some things about how my parents didn't care about me and that's why I ended up in foster care. He also had said something about how of course we are the only two single members of the quest because nobody cared about us.

I let the words pass over me in the moment, but part of me couldn't get the memory out of my head. And yet, I was more worried about him than I was about my own emotional wellness.

I brushed his hair out of his face, watching a sleepy smile settle onto his face at the feeling. I subconsciously started tapping Morse code on his head- the way to communicate he made me learn at the Wilderness School to talk during classes. It took a while, but I got the basics down. We hadn’t used it much since he’d gotten so busy with building the Argo ii, and we hadn’t used it at all since he’d been possessed by the Eidolon.

He stirred, and I immediately stopped tapping. I didn’t even realize until I’d stopped that I was tapping miss you.

I pulled my hand back, letting him blink his eyes open. I watched as he reached his arms up to stretch, a smirk crossing his face as he looked up at me.

“Well well well,” he said, looking up at me, “if I’d have known I’d be getting a late-night visit, I would’ve put on my good pajamas.”

I snorted at his attempt at a joke, rolling my eyes and smacking his arm gently with my hand.

His smirk widens as he rests his hands behind his head, “what can I do for ya, querida?”

I blushed lightly, breaking eye contact for a moment before saying, “I just wanted to see how you were doing…”

His smirk dropped slightly, looking uncomfortable, but his grin quickly returned as he said, “If you mean after having an evil spirit leave my body… I’d say I’m doing great, even better now that you’re here, estrella.”

I sighed, knowing his typical way of deflecting his feelings into humor. It would be hard to get around.

“Leo, I’m serious.” I prodded, “I know something’s been up lately.” I leaned back, allowing my arms to prop me up.

He scanned my face, his face becoming slightly more serious, but he didn’t let go quite yet.

“I think you’re just making up excuses to hangout with your charming best friend in the middle of the night,” he said, turning on his side to face me, resting his head on his hand and raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah, that’s it. I just was dying for some alone time with you.” I said with thick sarcasm in my voice, playing along to his game. The words were true, but that isn’t what I was here to talk about. That was a conversation for after I figured out what was going on with him.

“See, I knew it, mi amor,” he grinned, looking up at me, “come here.” He said, laying back and opening his arms.

I rolled my eyes, but obliged, moving forward until I was laying on the floor as well- our arms around each other and my head in his neck. Unfortunately the floor as uncomfortable as I anticipated. Although I hardly noticed that as I breathed in Leo’s scent. He always had a soft smell of camp fire, and I adored it. Nothing ever could make me feel so at home.

There had been many nights at the Wilderness School that Leo and I had spent comfortably laying on each other. There were even a few times we’d accidentally fallen asleep in each others dorms. It had always been purely platonic, although Piper had questioned us about it hundreds of times.

After we got to camp, we obviously weren’t allowed to sleep in the same cabin- or even lay together. And now with Coach Hedge on the look out… let’s just say I missed the times we got to spend together like this.

I took a deep breath, pushing the memories aside and bringing myself back to the present moment. I could feel Leo’s hands fiddling with the hair on the back of my neck.

“Leo?” I asked, exhaling.

“Hm?” He hummed quietly.

“Can you be honest with me?” I whispered, as I begun subconsciously tapping again on his side where my hand rested.

He was silent for a moment, still fiddling with my hair, before saying, “Of course, querida.”

I nodded, feeling the warmth of his neck against my cheek. “What’s been going on with you? I know the whole evil spirit thing was a lot… but something else has just seemed… off? You know?”

He took a deep sigh, hands moving to fiddle with something from the floor now instead of my hair. “The ‘whole evil spirit thing’ was definitely a lot…” he whispered, mocking the way I said it.

“But, I don’t really know.” He said, shifting slightly below me.

I lifted my head, looking up at him, and lightly tapping a word that I had learned very well on his side. Liar.

He shook his head, rolling his eyes at my gesture. “You just know me so well, huh?” He teased.

“Of course I do.” I nodded, now fully propping myself up to look at him. “And I know when something is off with you.”

He breaks eye contact, suddenly finding the wooden wall a lot more interesting than this conversation. “This just isn’t really what I expected… I don’t know.” He trails off.

He’s always had a hard time talking about his feelings. He didn’t open up to me about his mom until nine months into our friendship. I understood completely, but all I wanted was to help him.

The night that he finally opened up to me about her, I had helped him relax and then the words started flowing much more easily. I decided that I should do the same now.

I slowly reached my hands up to his head, bringing them to his hair and massaging gently. He leaned into my touch and closed his eyes.

“You don’t know?” I asked, not stopping my movements.

He hummed, clearly only half-paying attention now.

“It’s not what you expected?” I asked, repeating what he had just told me.

He opened his eyes slightly, gazing up at my face, but closed them again and leaned his head fully into his pillow. He gave a slight shrug, “I just feel…” he paused for a minute before continuing, “kind of like an outsider?”

I was taken aback by his words, but I didn’t show it. An outsider? And he’s saying this to the one person who gets him more than anyone?

I continued massaging his head, nodding at his words even though he couldn’t see me. “An outsider? Why?” I asked gently.

He shrugged again, and softly mumbled, “Everybody here just seems so useful to eachother. Percy and Jason have all their awesome powers. Piper literally saved me with her charm speak, Annabeth has her super smarts, you are just like all around perfect…” he trailed off, opening one eye to look at me.

I blushed, tucking my head into his neck again, but didn’t stop massaging his head.

He continued, “Hazel and Frank… actually I haven’t gotten to know them very well yet, but I bet they can do some awesome stuff too.” He finished.

The tone of his voice could’ve shattered my heart. When he finished talking, I pulled my hands away from his hair, propping myself up to get a better look at him.

“Leo?” I asked gently. He moved both of his hands behind his head again to look up at me.

“Yeah?”

“Who built this ship?” I ask.

“My cabin.” He answered.

“No Leo. Who is responsible for building this ship?” I asked again.

His eyebrows furrowed, before responding, “Me, but-“

“No.” I cut him off, “Stop that. None of us would even be here without you. You’re the most important one here. Seriously.” I said, confidently.

He let the corner of his mouth twitch into a slight smile, “Thanks, querida.”

I looked at him for a few moments, still not feeling like the air had been cleared. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

“Leo.” I said softly.

“Yeah?” He asked, still not meeting my eyes.

“That’s not everything, is it?” I asked, laying back down next to him and trying to catch his eyes.

He glanced over at me, before staring at the ceiling and giving his head a small shake.

“What’s going on?” I asked, reaching out a hand to rest on his arm and draw soothing shapes on it.

He pursed his lips, momentarily glancing at me again. He shook his head before speaking, “That’s not the only reason I feel like an outsider.”

I continued tracing shapes on his arm, “Then what is it?” I asked.

He gave a small chuckle, “You’re not going to let me joke my way through this one are you?”

“Never, Valdez,” I smiled through my words, shaking my head and scooting closer to him.

He finally turned his head toward me, looking into my eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

When he finally spoke, his voice was even softer than before. “Do you ever feel like… everyone’s got somebody and you’re just alone?”

I nod, recognizing this conversation as one we’d had before- particularly about when we were in foster care.

“You know I do.” I said gently.

“Well…” he said, rolling his head back toward the ceiling and throwing his arm over his face. “I just thought I was done feeling like that when we got to camp- and when I met you, Jason, and Piper- of course. But now that we’ve started this quest I’ve been feeling that way more than ever…” he trailed off, still covering his face with his arm.

I paused for a moment, considering his words. Could this be because of the Eidolon? Or maybe because we’re so far from all of his newfound brothers and sisters?

“Why do you think that is, Leo?” I asked, allowing my hand to rest now on his arm.

He removed his arm from his face, eyes directed toward the ceiling in silence for what felt like ages, before speaking, “…I don’t know how to explain it…” he paused again for several moments, “Like… Jason and Piper have eachother, Annabeth and Percy have eachother, Frank and Hazel don’t know it yet but they obviously are going to be together… and I just feel like… I don’t know…”

I processed his words, feeling the truth of them sink in. Almost everyone on our ship was paired off. But then again- so were we. The friendship that we shared did that for us. We had a connection between the two of us that we didn’t have with anyone else. We did all the same things as any of the other couples… we just weren’t a couple.

I start tracing my fingers along his arm again, softly saying, “Well, we have eachother.”

His eyes flickered to mine briefly, and then he fully turned on his side to finally face me, looking me directly in the eye.

I dropped my hand, feeling my heart rate pick up a little bit. I wasn’t sure why I was nervous, but it didn’t feel like a bad type of nervous.

“We have eachother.” He repeated, nodding.

“Of course.” I confirmed, nodding as well.

I watched as his eyes scanned over my face once, then again.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a q-tip and a plastic bottle cap and began fidgeting with them.

“That’s different though,” he said, now watching his hands work with the items.

“Is it really, though?” I asked, watching him fidget as well. “I mean, you’re my best friend. We tell eachother everything, and we do things like-“ I paused, gesturing between us, “this.” I finished.

He nodded slowly, not meeting my eyes.

“I mean how different is that really from what they have?” I asked, shifting onto my back so I could stare at the ceiling.

He paused his fidgeting, returning the items to his pocket. He took a deep breath in, exhaling slowly. I was familiar with this look on his face. It meant he was deep in thought. It was the same look that he had when he’d be working in bunker 9.

I studied his face, reaching a hand out to gently rest on his cheek. He leaned into my hand, pressing a quick kiss to it before meeting my eyes again.

“You really are something special, you know that?” He whispered, glancing behind me at the cracked door.

I blushed, shaking my head slightly, “You are, Leo.” I said, scooting closer to him.

I could feel his breath on my face, and he glanced again to the cracked door.

I turned my head to see what he was looking at. “Everything okay?” I asked, “Did you hear something?”

When he didn’t answer, I turned my face to look back at him. He was now inches from me, looking intently into my eyes, and I swear I could see his eyes flicker to my lips for just a millisecond. He shook his head, looking back into my eyes.

A swarm of butterflies filled my stomach, and I could feel my face getting hot, but I stared back at him.

“Want me to close it?” I whispered, watching his chest rise and fall with every breath he took.

He nodded.

I sat up, pushing the door closed as quietly as I could with my foot. It shut with a quiet click, and I paused for a moment, listening to ensure that no one else had stirred from the sound.

When I was sure that no one had woken up, I turned back around, laying next to him again. His gaze was heavy on my face, and this time I was sure I caught his eyes flicker to my lips for a second.

Neither of us moved, just scanning eachothers faces- and I knew mine was bright red.

After a moment I whispered, “you okay?”

He opened his mouth again, but the words didn’t find him. He shifted, reaching out his hand to rest on my cheek gently, his hand warm and comforting. Our eye contact grew even heavier, and I felt a stirring deep in my stomach.

He leaned closer, hesitantly, as if he wasn’t sure what I would do. I immediately leaned in as well, closing the gap between us. We found eachothers lips in a hot, passionate kiss.

His mouth desperately moved over mine with a pent-up intensity. His hands tangled into my hair, ruffling gently to angle my face to move in sync with his. I gasped into the kiss, feeling his body against mine. The hand that wasn’t in my hair slid around my waist, his fingers pressing gently into my back as the kiss deepened, and I heard a low groan escape his throat. The sound made me feel like we were both on fire.

Each brush against each other sent shivers through my spine. I allowed my hands to move, finding his shoulders. The lean muscle was a familiar feeling beneath my fingers, but I gripped on him, bringing him even closer. I ran my hands down his back, silently encouraging him to press against me until I could feel every inch of him. His lips left mine, tracing down my jaw and grazing along my neck. I could feel waves of heat pulsing through my body. I gasped, tipping my head back as his mouth found a spot just below my ear, his lips burning against my skin.

He shifted, kicking my legs apart until his body was pressing me gently back against the wooden floor, and he was hovering over me. Both of us were breathing heavily, gazes intent on eachother as I felt his entire body against mine. He leaned down again, with more confidence this time, capturing my lips desperately. I could feel his hand shakily slipping beneath the hem of my shirt, hot fingers brushing the bare skin on my stomach.

My own hands followed his lead and roamed under his shirt, tracing the muscles along his back with my finger tips. I let out a quiet moan as he shifted his weight, pressing into me. His head dropped and his mouth returned to my neck, trailing a line of hot kisses and gentle bites that made me feel light headed. My fingers moved from his back to tangle in his hair, tugging gently, and he groaned against my skin. His hand continued moving up my side, leaving a trail of heat everywhere he touched.

As his hand traveled up, my shirt bunched up with it. His fingertips grazed my skin, and he lifted his head to look at me. “You’re so beautiful, mi amor.” He whispered, breathlessly.

He leaned in again, his lips trailing down my collarbone, pressing heated kisses against my skin as I tangled my hands in his hair again. He pressed his forehead to my collarbone, kissing all over. His hand resting on my side, and I felt the soft tapping of his fingers against my skin. He was using Morse code. He was tapping- love you. The realization sent a flood of warmth through my stomach, and I gripped his shoulders, pulling him even closer, feeling my eyes sting with pure love and happiness.

Then he shifted his weight again, his hips pressing into mine in a slow, intentional motion that left me breathless. I let out a soft gasp as I held onto his shoulders, feeling his heartbeat pounding against my own. His hands traced down my sides, his touch careful, as he pressed into me again, each movement full of longing.

We moved together, every touch and soft gasp saying what words couldn’t. His lips found mine once again, kissing more deeply, more fervent. I could almost feel his lips quirk into a smile against my lips as he took continued shifting his hips against mine. It was just us, our connection, tangled together, as everything else seemed to fade away.

The intensity slowly softened, and he cradled me in his arms, our foreheads pressed together as the room grew still. We were both panting, looking deeply into eachothers eyes and neither of us could fight the smiles overtaking our faces.

His fingers traced soothing patterns along my skin, and I reached my hand to his side. Gently tapping out the same code that he had earlier- love you.

Looking into his eyes, I could see them start to water a little bit too, as mine had before. It was just us. The two who never had a home, never had anyone who truly loved them- and now we were finding it all in each other.

The rest of the night was filled with soft whispered words, and several more gentle kisses. We were so completely wrapped up in our own little world that we didn’t even realize when we started to drift off together.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of the door opening. I was immediately confused about where I was, until I felt his arms still wrapped around me, and smelled his soft scent of campfire. I looked up and he had a line of drool running down his chin. Adorable.

I heard someone clear their throat from behind me, and I instantly sat up, spinning around to see who it was.

My frantic movement had made Leo sit up as well, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Annabeth stood at the door, arms crossed, looking down at us with an amused look on her face.

“It’s not what it looks like-“ I began.

Annabeth cut me off, “It’s definitely what it looks like.”

I could feel my face get hot, as I turned to Leo for help- but he was just staring at her wide-eyed like a deer in headlights.

I exhaled, shaking my head, “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay after-“

She cut me off again, “The Eidolon? I won’t tell Hedge, don’t worry. Just get back to your cabin before anyone else finds you two down here.” She said, gesturing up the stairs to my cabin.

I nodded, standing up and straightening out my appearance. I glanced back down at Leo, who looked extremely relieved.

As I went to exit, Annabeth held out a hand to stop me. She glanced down at my neck, then back at my face and let out a loud laugh.

“What?” I asked.

“On second thought, go see Piper before you go back to your cabin. She has some makeup.” Annabeth said, clearly amused.

“Makeup?” I asked, confused.

“You’ll see when you get there.” She said, shaking her head and looking back down at Leo.

As I headed away to the stairs, I could hear Annabeth talking to Leo. She said something like, “I like the idea. How comfortable would you say the stables are?”

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cressidagrey · 1 year ago

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Lightning in a Bottle - Chapter 6

Summary:

Eira Archeron was neither a Valkyrie, nor a Seer, nor the High Lady of the Night Court. She was actually pretty much useless. The only thing she wanted was to be somebody's first choice for once in her life.

Also known as: Azriel's shadows decide that if he doesn't treat his mate right... they'll just do it for him.

Warnings:

ANGST, Elain bashing, Visions of the future, also probably no update tomorrow

(super pretty dividers by @tsunami-of-tears)

“It will be fine,” Cassian told him.

Again. Cassian had already told him that multiple times.

He had washed his mate’s blood from his hands…from underneath his fingernails. Eira’s blood. All over his hands. Literally and figuratively.

“Azriel,” Cassian said quietly, once again, trying to get him to give him something. “She’ll be fine. Madja is the best at what she does. She managed to save my wings. That poisoned knife was probably nothing more than a nuisance for Madja.”

A nuisance? The shadows hissed sharply. Our mate took a poisoned knife between her ribs nearly to her heart! And he says it’s just a nuisance?!

“I should have taken that knife,” Azriel whispered.

He should have taken that knife. Him.

Not her. Not Eira. Not…

“Azriel,” Cassian said quietly.

“I should be the one,“ he insisted. “It’s my fault.” If he had just told her the day before. If he had just been there…if they had pushed that meeting at the Court of Nightmares…maybe if…

“How is this possibly your fault?” Cassian asked with a sigh. “Rhys asked you to wait, did he not? Wouldn’t that make it his fault?”

It wasn’t Rhys’ fault. It was on Azriel. Azriel’s mate was lying there, fighting for her life and he could do absolutely nothing to make this easier for her. At least Rhys could try and take her pain away…but Azriel?

“Quite frankly, the fault is with Keir,” Cassian said quietly. “He was the one who wanted to kill Nyx. Eira was just collateral damage.”

What?

“She’s not just collateral damage,” Azriel growled, his hand twitching to Truthteller's hilt without even thinking about it.

Eira wasn’t just a thing, wasn’t just a number, wasn’t just a…

Cassian seemed to realise how badly worded that was, but Azriel was already so fucking angry.

“Az,” Cassian said quietly, holding up his hands. “That’s not how I meant that. I only meant that she was that for Keir.”

“She’s my mate!” Azriel spat out. His mate.

Even when he didn’t deserve her. Didn’t deserve to even look at her after what had happened.

“I know,” Cassian said quietly. “I know, Az.”

He reached out hesitantly, clasping Azriel’s shoulder…jostling him with his wing…Trying and failing to ground him in the here and now, when all Azriel could think about was the feeling of Eira’s limp hand against his lips, the scent of her blood, the grey pallor of her skin…

“Amren is back,” Cassian said nearly thoughtfully, but Azriel ignored that, going back to staring at his hands, at the gnarled scars that covered them…the absolutely ruined scar tissue that covered them and made them look like they belonged to a monster.

How…How in the world had the Mother thought it to be prudent to mate him to Eira? To Eira with her milk-pale, freckled, perfect skin…the epitome of a lady?

How…

Rhys’ mental voice snapped through his mind at that: *Dining Room. Now.*

He didn’t sound…Rhys sounded angry.

Something had happened.

It took less than a minute for them all to find their place in the dining room, Nyx upstairs with the wraiths, probably the only non-members of the Inner Circles that Feyre and Rhys would be willing to let near Nyx for the foreseeable future.

“Do you want to tell us what exactly your problem is?” Amren asked, crossing her arms and Rhys stared at her, violet eyes sharp.

“My problem?” he repeated, his voice velvet soft, betraying the anger that lay beneath it. “Amren, your reaction to Eira laying in her bed a few hours after being stabbed is that she’s finally turning out to be interesting!”

What?

The shadows swirled tighter around him, a hissing running through them. They had never trusted Amren in the first place and right now that…that was just strengthening their stand.

“She is finally turning out to be interesting. I have never heard of anybody controlling lightning,” Amren defended herself with a roll of her eyes.

What?

“Eira controlled lightning?” Cassian repeated, the question he also had. “Eira?”

She did, Master, the shadows agreed. She was sublime.

Lightning. She had controlled it? Like Nesta controlled the Silver Flames of Death?

“Eira killed these males?” Feyre asked, sounding shocked.

“She completely magically exhausted herself in the process,” Rhys agreed with a sigh.

“I didn’t think she would ever…be able to do anything,” Mor admitted quietly and his hands turned into fists. Anything? Eira did a lot of things that neither Mor nor any other member of their family could do.

“We’ll need to train her,” Amren said. “She has…untapped potential.”

“No,” Nesta snapped, quicker than he even could open his mouth. “You are not doing this to my sister. Eira does not want to be a soldier.”

No. Eira…Eira liked things soft and gentle and not…she didn’t want to fight. And nobody would make her do that as long as Azriel was alive.

“We’ll talk to her, she’ll be…reasonable,” Amren said with a shrug.

“No, you won’t. I won’t have it,” Nesta hissed.

“Nesta…” Feyre said quietly, thoughtfully, but Nesta cut her off.

“The first time you killed a deer and she prepared it for dinner, she spent three hours crying hysterically in our back garden afterwards,” Nesta snapped. “I am not letting you take this from her.”

He hadn’t known that. There were so many things that he didn’t know about Eira…so many questions he had never gotten to ask her, so many questions that just…

“She already killed three males,” Feyre said quietly.

She had. Though Azriel thought that killing in pure self-defense was something different than going into a fight and knowing that you would kill. Two very different mindsets.

“Which just proves my point, she’s dangerous,” Amren agreed.

And he was done.

“So am I,” Azriel snapped. “You are not turning Eira into anything she doesn’t want.”

“She would agree,” Amren said with a roll of her eyes.

Of course, Eira would agree to that particular request.

“Of course, she would agree. She always just tried to make everybody’s life easier!” Nesta snapped, slapping her hands flat onto the table, as Cassian reached out to soothe his mate and she ignored the hand he carefully placed on her arm.

“This is not up for discussion, Amren,” Rhys finally said evenly. “Eira is terrified of you. You are not going to request anything from her, because it wouldn’t be a request.” He sighed. “And that’s not what I wanted to talk about either.”

“You don’t want to talk about Feyre’s sister suddenly being able to summon lightning and having killed three elite soldiers in the process?” Mor asked with a snort.

“Would you stop it?” Nesta asked, her voice sharp. “She’s not just Feyre’s sister or Azriel’s mate. Eira is her own fucking person!”

It was biting and razor sharp and Azriel swallowed.

She was right. Nesta was right. Of course, she was.

“Nesta is right,” Rhys agreed, something that made everybody at the table sit up straight because these words were exceedingly rare. If not nearly unheard. Rhys and Nesta agree…it must be dire. “I would like to talk about the fact that Eira has spent the last 3 years so fucking miserable that that being pulled into her mind made me throw up…because it’s a neverending repeat of her feeling worthless and useless and like she’s not allowed to take up any room.”

What?

Eira had felt like this? His mate had felt like this?!

When had she felt like this? How?

He watched Feyre’s blue eyes fill with tears…watched as she stared at her mate.

“She hasn’t said anything. Why wouldn’t she say anything?” Feyre asked, her voice shaking. “Rhys?”

“Because we gave her absolutely no reason why she should trust us, Feyre Darling. None of us,” Rhys answered with a sigh. “Her shields are nonexistent. I wasn’t careful and she dragged me into her memories. By the time I finally got to pull myself out, it already had been…”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Mor said, crossing her arms.

“So you didn’t say that as far as cauldron blessed went she’s useless? And you didn’t say that while at dinner, where we all heard it, or and we all laughed?” Rhys cut her off sharply. “Do not absolve yourself of the blame, Morrigan. This is on all of us.”

What? Had he been there? He couldn’t remember. he couldn’t….this had happened and he couldn’t…

It happened, Master, the shadows hissed. More happened too, Master. None of you have done anything to make her feel welcome or appreciated in…months, if not years. She has cried often.

“Show me,” Feyre demanded at that moment.

“She already lost enough of her privacy.” Nesta’s disagreed, her voice frosty. Azriel watched that particular match of minds carefully. Did he...

Yes. He wanted to know. He needed to know. What had he done? How badly had he fucked up?

“Show me,” Feyre repeated. “If she’s angry, It’s my fault. I’ll take her blame,” she told Rhys fiercely. “But show me, show us…when…”

Rhys sighed, but when he looked at Feyre, and Azriel watched the moment where he must have placed Eia’s memory in Feyre's mind as she clasped her hand in front of her mouth, her eyes welling over with tears.

He looked over to Mor, who just nodded…then Amren, then Nesta…then Cassian…Azriel watched his brother steel himself, and then the way his expression crumbled.

He felt Rhys’ mental touch against his shields…*Az…Are you sure you want this?* Rhys asked and he just…

*Yes.*

The memory was dropped into his mind.

Blue velvet box. Winter solstice.

Pearl Earrings. Beautiful. So beautiful.

But for her…for her useless. Her ears weren’t pierced.

He hadn’t even noticed that. It hurt worse than even his smiles at her sister.

He had brought her a gift…but it wasn’t a gift that she could use, no gift that…no gift that was special to her…no thought behind it…jsut an item on a list to be checked off.

Something for Eira. Beautiful and Impersonal and…

No attention paid to her.

She didn’t deserve his attention. Never.

But she wanted it. Just once…

Please, Please, Please, Please…

Azriel’s hands turned into fists.

He remembered these earrings. Of course, he did.

Each consisted out of one round diamond with a perfect oval pearl dropping from it.

He had bought them for Eira. Had picked them out in fact. Had thought that they were…modest but elegant…simple but beautiful…that they would suit her so well.

And he had only bought them after he had asked Elain what Eira would like for Solstice.

And Elain had told him…had told him that Eira wanted earrings. That she had been thinking about having her ears pierced. And of course, Azriel hadn’t thought closer about it then…Neither had his shadows. They had believed Elain.

Believed Elain’s pretty words.

“You lied to me,” he spat out, his words so sudden, so menacing that it made everybody stop in their tracks…the shadows reached out, lengthening and he tightened his hold on them as he fixed Elain…beautiful Elain with his hard green eyes.

Elain who always acted so soft…so sweet…

But she had done this on purpose.

“What?” she squeaked out.

“You lied to me, Elain,” he repeated, his voice hoarse with anger. “I bought Eira these earrings because you said she wanted them. I knew that she couldn’t wear them. I knew her ears weren’t pierced, but you told me she wanted to do that, so I bought them for her. And instead, she thinks that I never cared enough to notice that about her?”

“Cauldron,” Rhys breathed.

“Why?” Azriel bit out. Elain stared at him, brown eyes hard, lips pursed.

“Does it matter? It’s Eira.” She spat out the words.

And he had enough.

So had the shadows.

You stupid girl, they hissed, for once so loud that everybody could hear them, everybody flinching away from them. Of course, they did.

“They can talk?“ Feyre asked, her voice small and shaky.

“On very rare occasions,” Cassian answered quietly. “Circumstances must be…exceedingly dire.”

And they were.

This was about Eira.

“What exactly is your problem?” Azriel growled. What was this about? Where was this coming from? He had never noticed any kind of…tension between them. Not from Eira at least.

So why was…

“It’s Eira,” Elain said like that explained everything.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?” Nesta asked her voice, icy. “Do you think Eira doesn’t deserve Azriel?” Nesta asked, her silver eyes fixing on her sister…the sister she had doted on…protected so thoroughly…and now…now they were on opposite ends.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course, she doesn’t,” Elain said with a roll of her eyes.

It was so quiet in the room that one could have heard a pin dropping.

“How can you say that?” Nesta challenged her sister, her voice violently even. “This is Eira. Your twin sister. What has she ever done to you?!”

And then the anger in Elain’s eyes seemed to boil over.

“She doesn’t deserve him!” Elain snapped “What has she that I don’t? I am the pretty one!” It poured out of Elain and Azriel could just watch in horror. “I am the one that’s supposed to marry for Love and Beauty! She’s…she’s useless!”

“Useless?” Nesta interrupted her sharply. “Feyre and Eira kept us alive, Elain! Feyre hunted, yes. And Eira…Eira did the rest, Elain! She cooked and she cleaned and she did the laundry and her fucking potato patch was what made sure that we didn’t starve on more than one occasion!” she growled. “You liked to pretend that it wasn’t that bad but it was!“

“I can’t listen to this,” Rhys said quiet. “Your sister did everything so that you could survive. Your sister spent her whole life taking care of you… You were gifted with a sister that loved you so fiercely, that would do anything for you...and you treated her like this? Your sister spent the last few years suffering. Because of things we said, things we done. I am not absolving any of us of that blame…but you…you did this on purpose…” Rhys stared at Elain and Azriel saw the minute blink, the way Elain’s hands tightened on the table…”I just wonder why?”.

And he knew that Rhys had just gone into her mind… And then there was a thunderous expression on Rhys’ face. Without a word, he poured what he had gotten from Elain into Azriel’s mind…

A vision.

A vision from a cauldron-blessed Seer.

And he stared at it, his heart plummeting.

Elain had seen this and still…still tried to drive Azriel and Eira apart.

She had seen this vision of the future…of Eira…of Eira with a little girl in a garden, no older than maybe three…a pair of Illyrian wings sprouting proudly from her back…the girl's hair the exact shade of her mother’s hair…her eyes unmistakenly Azriel’s…freckles covering her face…Both of them kneeling in the mud, dresses sprinkled with it, and not a care in the world as they pulled carrots from the ground.

And then Azriel watched himself land in front of the two of them, a smile on his face and lean down to press a kiss to Eira’s lips.

She smiled at him…so incredibly happy as he picked up the little girl, settling her on her hip…and then the basket of vegetables…and then he helped her up and he watched as one of his scarred hands settled possessively on the slight swell of her belly.

It was like somebody doused him in icy water.

How dare you? the shadows hissed, flinging themselves at Elain, who screamed, as they wrapped themselves around her, nothing gentle about their touch. Do not ever…ever come near her again. Do not even look at her. You are not going to hurt her again. Ever again. And if you do…you will regret it. She cried over you. For hours. And you repay her like this?!

He didn’t know how he wrestled them back under his control…how he got them to not outright slaughter Elain right there…

He didn't know how. Because he wanted. Because he...

*Azriel, it's alright,* Rhys breathed into his mind. *It's alright.* But it wasn't. Because Elain...Elain had tried to stop this future from ever happening. Had tried to stop his children from being born. She had tried to take this from him. This perfect slice of happiness...of his very own paradise.

His daughter. His mate.

“I…I do not think that the Night Court is the right environment for you anymore,” Feyre said, her voice shaking and Azriel’s gaze snapped to his High Lady, the tears that tracked down her face.

“You are sending me away?” Elain asked, sounding utterly aghast.

“I’ll ask your mate to come fetch you, Lucien… you may remember him as your fiancé,” Feyre said pointedly.

“I am your sister!” Elain snapped.

“So is Eira,” Feyre gave back, crossing her arms. “And only one of you has tried to destroy the other.”

#lightning in a bottle #azriel fanfic #azriel fanfiction #azriel x reader #azriel x oc #azriel x archeron!reader #acotar fanfiction #my writing

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