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offtorivendell · 3 years

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At the Bottom of the Garden

For @gentlehearted-kingslayer, Elain’s undisputed number one fan. Keep being you, lovely. 🌸🦇

Thank you, @nikethestatue, for both giving this a once over, and me the confidence to post it. Everyone, do yourselves a favour and check out her own amazing writing.🌹

Word count: 2,588

TW: none.

Disclaimer: this is an Elriel oneshot, with a side of domestic Nessian. It's also the first fic I've written since 13 year old me attempted to send herself to Hogwarts with Harry, Ron and Hermione... and that was longer ago than I'd like to admit.

As @queenringer would say, please be kind. I can only hope you laugh when you're meant to, and nowhere else. There are notes at the end, if you're interested. Thank you for reading!

General Cassian, commander of the Night Court’s Illyrian Legion, not to mention mate and husband to Nesta Archeron, was miserable. Although it was nearing the middle of June, and spring was officially behind them, a thick wave of pollen had hit him as he landed in the back garden of Feyre and Rhys' - no, he reminded himself, Elain’s - townhouse. Struggling to see through his suddenly streaming eyes, he sneezed loudly, three times in succession, before settling his wings and turning to head down to the bottom of the garden.

Elain had moved into the townhouse a little over a month ago, Cassian assumed to give some space to her younger sister’s newly grown family - though in reality, she was back at the River House so frequently, helping out with meals, her new nephew and the estate gardens, that it was like she'd never really left - so he had flown here on his way back from Windhaven to collect a house plant that Elain had grown for their home in the House of Wind. He was running close to an hour early, but Elain had told him she'd planned to spend her day in the garden, so he was sure she wouldn't mind.

Walking down the crushed gravel path, footsteps crunching as he went, Cassian took some time to appreciate the changes that Elain had wrought to the space since she'd moved to Velaris a couple of years ago.

Well, he thought to himself, 'moved' was putting it lightly.

The older two Archeron sisters had been brought to the City of Starlight after their traumatic kidnapping, then eventual transformation in the Cauldron. After a rough start, Elain had rekindled her love of gardening, using it - Cassian assumed - to channel the emotions and energy she had felt at the time, turning what used to be an essentially barren plot with the odd shrubbery into an ever-changing riot of blooms that drew in your eye, much like his High Lady's paintings did.

Much like watching Nesta dancing, he thought with a smile. Or, he chuckled to himself, when he could tell she was reading a particularly filthy scene in one of her favourite romance novels, but she didn't want him to know about it.

He could always smell it, though, or feel it down their bond. His heightened fae senses aside, he knew her so well that he could see it on her face. His gorgeous mate, clever though she may be, was still not quite caught up with all of the new cultural norms that were part and parcel of being a faerie. That was okay, though; it hadn't been much more than two years since she and Elain were turned, and they now had an eternity to live and learn. For better or worse.

Lost in his thoughts, or "Off with the faeries," as Nesta would have said, and arriving at the well-shaded potting shed before he realised he'd got there, Cassian pulled up short and called out for Elain, having not seen her on his way down. A thud, followed by low, hissed whispers and a deep laugh floated from inside, so he hesitated before opening the door of the dimly lit shed, only to find his brother with his back towards him, helping Elain up from the floor. Azriel's shadows swirled about his shoulders, his wings as outspread as the tight quarters would allow, while Elain blushed so furiously it reached past her neck, clashing with the green, now-rumpled homespun gardening frock that she typically wore when at work outside.

Cassian sneezed again.

Sniffling in the heady, unseasonably pollen-rich air, Cassian couldn't fathom why Azriel was in the poky little potting shed with Elain. All of her seedlings were well and truly sprouted, and had been moved outside to encourage their tender shoots to harden back in early May - he knew, because she'd told him so at the time, with a smile so bright that it lit up her face. Why, then, had they been in here, on the ground? He guessed Elain must have taken a quick tumble, as Az was surely too controlled to fall himself; it would explain her flushed face, as well.

Yes, Cassian thought, that must be it.

"Cassian," Elain breathed, clearly a little frazzled. "You're early."

"Yes, sorry." Cassian grimaced, not entirely due to his burgeoning, allergy related sinus headache. "I got done with Devlon and the other lords earlier than expected, so I chanced coming by. And here you both are!" He gave her one of his usual broad grins before adding, "Two for one."

A little calmer now, though still quite red, for some reason, Elain offered him a tight smile and smoothed her skirts.

"Yes, well," she muttered, "Azriel just came by to‐-to pick up a book about horticulture," she finished in a rush.

Cassian’s gaze slid to Azriel, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Really? Since when do you enjoy gardening?" He asked.

"I thought I'd try to liven up my balcony." Az gave him a shrug, wings rustling, as he looked to Elain and said softly, "I can come back for it later, if you'd prefer?"

Having not seen much of his brother recently, as Azriel had resumed spying in the field now that Briallyn was gone, and the Crown, Mask and Harp safely warded only Rhys and Mor knew where, Cassian quickly cut off Elain’s imminent response.

"If you collect it now, you could come back with me to the House of Wind. It feels like it's been ages since we beat the shit out of each other."

Azriel looked back and forth between Cassian and Elain a couple of times, and if he didn't know better, Cassian would have thought him unsure of himself.

"Unfortunately, brother, you'll have to let Nesta feed you dirt tonight," Az eventually responded. "I have to head to the River House, to check in with Nuala and Cerridwen, so I won't have time." He gave a pointed look to Elain, who blushed again, lightly, before he clapped Cassian on the shoulder. "Soon, though. You can count on it."

Walking to the door, Azriel turned back to Elain and said, his deep voice unwavering, "I'll be back for the book later on."

Elain only swallowed.

Turning again, he left the small shed, wings tucked in tight as he walked through the door, before vanishing into the slowly lengthening shadows.

Glancing back to Elain, who had begun to tidy up the scattered seed that had been spilt on the otherwise clean bench, Cassian smiled again, and Elain gave him an unreadable expression before quickly finishing her task.

"The plant I have for you and Nesta is just outside," she said, sounding more confident than she had earlier. "It's a sword fern," she grinned.

Cassian couldn't help smirking back. "That sounds… appropriate."

Elain laughed outright. "Well, yes, there's that, but they're also relatively low maintenance, and tough to kill."

Snorting, he responded, "Again, appropriate… well, two out of three."

Elain gave him a light shove as she passed, before leaving the shed. "Shhh, you."

Cassian chuckled as he followed his sister - for that's what she now was - outside, and over to a glazed, off-white pot, which held a still-small fern that was thick with bladed fronds. As he'd just joked, very apt for an Illyrian warrior and his fierce, Valkyrie mate.

Attempting a deep breath of the slightly fresher air, Cassian sniffled once more as he simultaneously internally cursed each and every form of pollen in existence. Flowers, fruit and vegetables be damned; he just wanted to breathe unencumbered, to not be itching like the time Rhys put prickle powder inside his training leathers.

Elain appeared to be struggling to pull a small envelope out of her skirt's deep, dark pocket, but she eventually got it loose and handed it to him.

"These are the care instructions," she nodded to the envelope as he took it from her hand. "Don't stress, there isn't much to do, and I'm here if you need anything, but I doubt you will. It'll eventually need repotting, but not for a while yet."

Cassian took the note and pocketed it, just as Elain’s breathing hitched, ever so slightly. Not much, but enough for his keen fae hearing to pick up. He looked up, to find her patting down the front of her dress, roughly. As if something was inside it.

"You alright there?" He asked.

A little red once more, Elain briefly, tightly, inclined her head. "There must have been a bur, or something, caught in there from earlier. Some of these plants have bits that can get in anywhere." Strangely, her voice raised a little at that last bit, but Cassian pushed the thought aside as he moved to pick up the fern. He couldn't wait to get back home to Nesta. To air that didn’t make him itch and sneeze and cry.

"Shoo!" He heard Elain breath, and he quickly pivoted to see her swatting something away from her backside.

"A bug of some sort," she responded to his questioning look, and he nodded his understanding. Bugs were almost as bad as pollen, in his book, especially flies at the height of summer, when they'd land on him and walk all over his torso as he trained. The itching and tickling was abominable, and that seemed to be what Elain was dealing with now.

"Thanks again for the fern," he remarked, giving her the side-long hug that his left-armed grip on the pot permitted. "Nesta is looking forward to having a piece of you with us, up at the House."

Still a little stiff, Elain gave a small smile, her right hand tightly clutching her skirt as she leaned into his side. "Hopefully I'll be able to make it up there a bit more often in the future."

"I'd like that," Cassian smiled. And he would. So would Nesta, now that the sisters were well on their way to repairing their relationships with each other. It made his heart sing, to see his love becoming truly content, after everything she'd been through.

Sighing, he released the smallest Archeron sister and stepped away. "I'd best be off then," he said, stretching his wings to prepare for flight. Oh, to have Azriel’s shadows at his beck and call, to be able to winnow when his wings had grown tired after a long hours of use. He knew his brother had a complex relationship with those shadows - whatever they truly were - but they did have their benefits.

Elain nodded, glancing over to the large, shade-giving shrub that grew to the side of the shed - a rhododendron, if he remembered correctly - as the setting sun tinted it gold, before looking back at him.

"Thanks for stopping by!" She said brightly, moving towards the rhododendron, to give his wings more room. "Say hi to Nesta for me, and pass on a hug?"

"You've got it!" He grinned, and took off with a boom of his giant wings, shielding the precious fern with a bit of his magic.

As Cassian cleared the top of the townhouse and looked back down, his eyes finally clearing fully from whatever had set off his hay fever in the garden below, he could have sworn that he heard Elain laugh as the growing shadows of dusk appeared to consume her form.

Shrugging, he groaned a little at his now-stiff wings - the cumulative tally of all of my battles finally taking a toll, he supposed - before gaining more altitude, banking and heading home to his favourite person in the world.

Nesta was halfway through the newest book on battle tactics and strategy that the House of Wind had found for her - along with a pile of romance novels that reached to her knee, which made its opinion on military non-fiction quite clear - as Cassian walked into the family library and set the fern down on the table.

Smiling up at him, Nesta uncurled her strong legs, stretching them before getting up to give him a hug.

"You're home early. How was your day?"

"Oh, you know. The camp lords were the camp lords. Devlon was a little better than most, but still a pain in my arse." He smiled down at her as she settled comfortably into his embrace. "How about you?"

"Good!" Nesta's voice became muffled as wriggled a little closer. "Mor was great today, and she got along with everyone. We'll learn a lot from her."

She glanced at the potted fern. "How was Elain?"

"Fine," he replied. "Up to her ears in plants, as she likes to be, though she appeared to have had a bit of a mishap just before I arrived."

Nesta looked up sharply, concern lining her features, so Cassian elaborated. "Nothing major, I promise. I walked in to find her on the ground of her potting shed, but Azriel was already there, helping her up. She must have tripped - there was a bit of a mess, and her face was bright red." He grinned at the memory.

His mate's eyes widened at his story, so he continued. "It's pretty tight in there, though, especially when one of the occupants has wings, so I suppose it was understandable. If you want, I'll take you back down there to check on her..."

Cassian trailed off, as a snort from Nesta turned into full-on laughter.

"What?"

Nesta howled once more, and he felt her amusement through their bond.

"Nes, what?!" He was truly confused.

Wiping her eyes, Nesta chuckled. "I wondered when they'd finally crack."

Cassian shot her a bemused look. "Sorry?"

Nesta returned his gaze, wearing her 'Do I really have to explain this to you like you're five years old?' face.

"Let me get this straight," she said. "You walked into Elain and Azriel," she emphasised their names, "in a quiet, out of the way shed at the bottom of the townhouse garden, earlier than you were meant to meet her…" she trailed off, looking at him expectantly.

"Yes, so?" Cassian replied. Shit. Wait. "Oh. OH!"

Nesta huffed a laugh. "You with me now?"

"Yes, yes I am." Cassian rubbed his face, grinning broadly. "Well good on them, I suppose. Who'd have thought?"

Nes raised her eyebrows at him, disbelief writ large on her features. "Well, myself, for starters. They've been making eyes at each other since last year."

Cassian could only stare at her; he'd wondered why his brother had stopped pining after Mor, and it appeared he finally had his answer.

"Az never said a thing, the sneaky bastard. Though I don't suppose he would."

"No," Nesta agreed. "Given Elain has a mate, I'm not surprised that they're trying to keep it quiet. What is the protocol for all that, anyway? I've never been told."

Cassian hummed thoughtfully, feeling for Lucien, but he'd suspected for a while that the red headed male’s bond with Elain wouldn't work out. The two of them could hardly bear to be in a room together for two minutes.

"Bonds aren't enforceable in the Night Court, don't worry. And Lucien is a good male. When they're all ready, I'm sure he'll be understanding. Though let's just keep their secret for them until then."

Nesta only nodded, her eyes dancing.

Cassian furrowed his brows. “What now?”

"The brooding Spymaster and the beautiful Seer, carrying out an illicit romance," she laughed. "It could be straight out of a Sellyn Drake novel."

Cassian rolled his eyes and laughed again. "I knew he wasn't there for a gardening book!"

If you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging. 💜

Notes: This fic employed a Cassian who was both tired after a long day, and a bit too overcome with his severe hay fever to pay proper attention to what he was seeing. Cassian has also, canonically, struggled to realise that Azriel is likely well on his way to being over Mor, if not there already, while Nesta noted the charged energy that ran between Elain and Azriel at solstice (see ACOSF). Please don't be offended; it's just for fun, and in no way an attempt to say that Cassian is any sort of idiot. These are just extenuating circumstances.

#elriel #pro elriel #elriel fic #elriel headcanon #elain archeron #pro elain #azriel shadowsinger #pro azriel #nesta archeron #cassian #nessian #post acosf #acotar fic #death and his lovely fawn #my writing #acotar #acotar headcanon #at the bottom of the garden

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