Chapter Text
Swimming. That was one of Nesta Archeon's guilty pleasures. Well, kind of. There were conditions:
1. It had to be warm enough.
2. Cassian had to be there.
3. Her head stayed above the water.
By watching Nesta now, Mor could barely believe this was the same woman who refused to swim for three years. She was once absolutely terrified of the water, relating it the calderon; fearing it would never have a bottom.
But there came a day when Nesta sat by the waters edge as the rest of them swam and, albeit timidly, dangled her feet into it. One of the most beautiful smiles Mor had even seen graced Cassian's face when he saw her. He slowly paddled over to her, not deterred in the slightest by the glare she sent him and stopped in front of her to leave a kiss on the inside of her thigh. Nesta blushed, and Cassian rolled his eyes briefly before telling her that they've done much worse together.
At this point in the conversation Mor tuned out, but still kept an eye on the mates at the waters edge. After running his palms along her thighs for a bit, Cassian eventually pushed himself out of the water to sit with her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Nesta managed to resist his affections for all of two minutes before her head dropped on to his shoulder. They sat there for a while, simply watching their surroundings, Cassian smiling as Nesta tried to fight the heaviness of her eyes. She whispered something to him, and Cassian laughed a deep joyous sound, letting her fidget with his free hand.
Mor couldn't say how long they stayed at the rivers edge for, but the last time she saw them that day was when Nesta layed her head in Cassians lap, a tired, dreamy smile on her face as his fingers appeared to lose themselves in her hair, now unravled and completely down like her defences.
•••
The next day, the inner circle went down to the river again, but this time Nesta started to strip down too. Her face was a mix of uneasiness and determination, and Mor was sure as hell not about to get in her way.
After seeing everyone stare momentarily, Cassian surreptitiously gestured for them to get in the water and let Nesta take her time. Mor decided to stir up some chaos to take everyone's mind off of Nesta and dunked Rhys. Feyre started cackling and the look Rhys gave her was murderous. Instead of going after Mor, he started after his mate who shrieked before taking off as fast as she could, which was, unfortunately, not fast enough.
During their shenanigans, Nesta and Cassian had approached and backed off the waters edge multiple times. When Nesta managed to step into the water, she tried to jump back, but collided with Cassian who steadied her quickly. Before she could panic, Cassian folded his hand over her eyes, blocking out one of her most vital senses. Instead of being terrified, Nesta calmed with him in full control of her body. Something learned from experience, Mor assumed.
He began to speak to her in a hushed tone, gently running his other hand along her waist until each and every muscle released, her frame losing its rigidness. Everyone was swimming peacefully now, Azriel floating on the waters surface, Armen diving under for worrying periods of time, but Mor seemed to be the only one watching Nesta and Cassian.
Nesta turned in his arms, hiding her face in his chest for a moment before wrapping a leg around his thigh. Cassian immediately obeyed the silent request, picking her up and walking slowly into the water with Nesta clinging on to him. When Cassian was up to his knees in the river, he leaned down to scoop up some water into his palm and run it down Nesta's shin and calf. Mor saw her grip tighten, body curling up. But as his hand kept moving, stroaking her ever so patiently, she relaxed again and Cassian was able to move his hand up her thigh with no reaction.
Although he was just walking into a river, Mor saw the alertness of Cassian's face. Knew he was aware of Nesta's every breath, every twitch, waiting for any sign of panic. It was admirable how he took care of her, even when she fought tooth and nail to hide herself from the world.
Instead of walking further into the water, Cassian sat down with Nesta in his arms. Her gasp was audible, and everyone turned towards them.
"It's just like a bath, sweetheart." He said into her hair, letting her adjust for a while before taking her back to the house, whispering praises the whole time.
•••
It took time. Nesta could only be waist deep in the river for a few weeks, but Cassian never pushed. If he wanted to join the others he never made it known. Mor had overheard Nesta begging him to not feel burdened by her, to enjoy the water like a "normal person." Cassian quickly shut down that train of thought and continued to work with her.
Now, Nesta could enjoy the water. Could even swim away from Cassian for small periods of time, smile when being splashed at playfully.
It was currently one of the rarer moments where everyone was calm. For a long time the inner circle had gotten into the habit of having their fun while Nesta worked on feeling confident in the water, but now everyone was together. Nesta and Cassian were situated how they were that first day in the river, Mor sitting next to them.
It was in these strange moments that Mor couldn't help but reflect on life as it was in past. So distant, but still so fresh in her mind.
When Cassian looked over to her, the small smile curling his lips made her believe that he just might be thinking the same thing.