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Clearly, it wasn't the first time she’d had to tolerate being around him but being both dragged to babysit Nyx while Feyre and Rhysand were gone was starting to get annoying. Elain and Lucien can barely even look at eachother and now they have to keep all eyes on the little trouble maker.
Elain shook the thought away as the two were now trying to make him eat some pudding but Nyx either threw away the spoon with his dark tendrils or aimed the food to hit her or Lucien. “Seriously, what's with his aim?” He said as he dodged another food attack.
“Clearly from his mother’s side, I can tell.” Elain mumbled before barely dodging a flying spoon. “And that’s from his father’s side..”
“I swear to the Mother, if he winnows again-” Lucien grumbled before getting hit in the face with the pudding. “Cauldron!” Straight in the eye as Elain tried not to laugh before the pudding hit her on the shoulder. She took the spoon and tried again with a soft voice.
“C’mon Nyx, just a little bit.” She said and managed to make Nyx eat at least four spoonfuls of pudding before starting a second wave. Elain grumbled.
“How did your sister and her mate get through him?” Lucien asked as he managed to feed another four spoonfuls of pudding to Nyx.
“I am still questioning how even Azriel could babysit him without any trouble.” Elain asked as she recalled how he said that he had help from his mate a few weeks ago. A splat of pudding hitting her cheek snapped her out of her thoughts. “He’s gonna need a bath after this..”
“If he even gets to eat before he starts an eight wave.” Lucien grumbled as he dodged the flying spoon that Nyx threw at him and used a plate as a shield. Clearly, not his idea to be asked by his High Lady to take care of someone. That someone being Nyx while the other untold info was to babysit him along with his mate, who still despises him. “Now I get why the High Lord and High Lady needed a break.”
“In that we can both agree.” Elain said to his surprise but decided not to delve about it any further. “How many spoonfuls?” The two glared at Nyx who was now playing with the pudding.
“Four in every wave and he just finished wave five which is about…” Lucien made a mental calculation. “Twenty.”
“Good enough.” Elain nodded and took away what's left of the pudding. While she went to the sink, Lucien placed a hand towel over his shoulder and picked up Nyx. He patted his back once, twice, thrice, four times before the little babe burped. Lucien chuckled a little.
“Yep, you do need a bath little one.” Lucien said before whispering. “Ladies would swoon over you if you're radiant.”
“Don't encourage him. He’s both too young and clearly would be as arrogant as Rhys.” Elain walked up to him with a glare. Lucien nodded but grinned a little.
“I was just encouraging him to stay clean.” He said innocently but Elain rolled her eyes, trying not to smile at his joke. Usually, she would just ignore it but now it was getting quite difficult to not laugh at his jokes and remarks. When she turned to look at Nyx, he was gone from his arms.. Again . “For the love of-”
“Not again.” Elain felt panic, It was the third time he’d winnowed today and the more Nyx disappeared, the more complicated it was getting to find him. Apparently, Hide and Go Seek was one of his favorite games.
“Come out, come out wherever you are.” Lucian said in a sing a song tone as he searched through the shelfs. He recalled him hiding there the last time.
“He won't hide there a second time, I already tried.” Elain said to him as she checked the living room, peeking over and under the couch’s pillows. “Nyx.. Come on out.”
“Can I just call him Little Rascal when playing this hide and- Ow!” Lucien tried to say but Elain shut him up by throwing a pillow at his face.
“I dare you to call him that and I'll throw another pillow.” Elain said with a little hiss as she checked the study. Lucien followed her for a moment, snickering at her little hiss, before heading straight upstairs.
“The Little Rascal must be somewhere!” He called as he trotted up the stairs and Elain tried not to run after him and slap him. This had been going on recently as well, his opposing attitude whenever she tells him to not even do it.
Just as she was about to give up on emptying the trash bin full of rolled up papers, she felt a tug of the bond. Weird, he never really did that whenever they were in the townhouse. She felt the tug again and she hurried up to follow it, leading her to one of the bathrooms. “You in there?”
“Yes, and I found him.” Lucien said and Elain rushed inside to see him holding a very eager Nyx. “He was in the tub.. seems that he really wants to get radiant for the ladies.” He smirked and Elain couldn't help but to snort a laugh, much to Lucien’s surprise.
“I told you not to encourage him.” She swatted his shoulders before kneeling next to him. “But yeah, let's try and get him cleaned up before he drags us into the tub.”
It took half an hour to get Nyx fully clean while trying to prevent him from eating the bar of soap, dodging his proyectiles of water balls and get him distracted long enough so he wouldn't form another tantrum.
Once done and dressed, Lucien headed back to the kitchen to clean up the chaotic mess Nyx left behind earlier, replaying the memory of Elain’s little laugh at his comment. When he was nearly done cleaning the remaining stains of the island, he heard a loud cry from upstairs. He immediately dropped what he was doing and ran back upstairs to Elain’s room, barging in without thinking and saw her trying to calm him down. She peered at him with a distressed expression. “He just started crying.” She said while bouncing the babe on her hip.
“May I try something?” Lucien asked as he gently took Nyx from her arms and hoisted him on his hand, his other hand held his chest while securing his arms so he would be looking slightly at the floor. Lucien began to rock him gently and, surprisingly, Nyx quieted down his whaling in just about five seconds.
Elain almost dropped her jaw. “How did you do that?” She asked as he kept rocking the babe.
“Read about this trick in a book once back in the human realm.” Lucien said and Elain glanced at him. “You won't believe the kinds of bets Jurian and Vassa do constantly.”
“That involves a book with baby tricks?” Elain jokes a bit and sees the corners of Lucien’s lips quirking upwards before becoming a smirk.
“That and maybe more tricks that you may find interesting.” He said, making her head go round in confusion before realizing what he meant.
“Oh. Oh. ” Elain felt her whole face flushing red. She covered her flushed cheeks as she glanced at Lucien, who was pressing his lips to try and hold in a laugh. Yet, with the trembling of his body, he was failing at it. “Oooh no. Do they really?”
“Let's just say my eyes and ears aren't very lucky.” He said and Elain could feel her own laughter going through her lips. Lucien hushed her, smile still on his lips, as she tried to calm down. “If we start laughing, Nyx will wake up again.”
“Sorry.” Elain said but snickered.
“C’mon ‘Lain.” Lucien whispered, snickering himself as he took Nyx to his crib. Somehow, her name on his lips felt somewhat right. “You’re making it difficult, stop it.” Lucien said again as he bit his bottom lip. They haven't laughed together like this since… well ever. She snickered again.
“I’m sorry.” Elain said with a smile as he followed him to Nyx’s crib. Lucien carefully settled him down as she covered the babe with his blanket. They took a moment to watch Nyx sleep soundlessly as Elain plopped herself on her bed, exhaustion getting the best of her. “Finally.”
Lucien huffed a breath and sat on the floor, laying down and the wood. “We got through this day alive, that’s good.” He said and Elain chuckled.
“You make it sound like you just went into a fight with a bear.” She said while peering at him from the mattress. Lucien chuckled a little before placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. A comfortable silence fell in the room, safe for the peaceful cooing from Nyx. “Lucien?” She broke and saw his body go stiff before calming down a little. He fluttered his eyes open to look at her. They locked eyes for almost five minutes before she looked away. She wanted to tell him how she’d enjoyed it today, that today was fun, that she was willing to do it again. “N-Nevermind..” She said instead, refraining her rush of emotions as she whirled so she wouldn't be looking at him as she felt her cheeks burning. To her relief, Lucien did not pressure her.
Silence fell again but it wasn't any sort of comfortable. Lucien then spoke. “Sorry about..” Elain could feel that he was referring to when he pulled onto the bond a little to guide her to the bathroom. She peered from the mattress once again to look at him. “I tried to call out to you but.. it seems you couldn't hear it.”
“It's alright.” Elain smiled a little before reaching for his hand. “You’re gonna hurt your back if you stay on the floor a bit longer.” She said and Lucien’s eye clicked a few times, processing what she was offering him.
“I don't want to intrude..” He tried to object but Elain pulled on his arm.
“I’ll turn down this offer in five… four..” She counted down, making Lucien quickly stand up with a groan.
“Alright, alright. I'm coming, I'm coming.” He said and Elain scooted a little so he could lay next to her, both facing each other in silence. She could scent the smell of crackling flames and cinnamon. She tried not to let it delve but the smell was tempting enough for her to just bury her face on the crook of his neck and inhale every drop of his scent. She shut the thought away and looked up at him, more specifically, his golden eye. She wondered if the scar hurted him sometimes, a rush of questions flooding her head. Elain realized she must've been staring at his eye too long because he closed his eyes and shifted. “It’s not polite to stare, Lady..” He said, his voice dropping an octave. She almost shivered.
“Sorry..” Elain grimaced a little but it turned into a small smile. “Sorry I got lost in your eyes.” It took her a second to realize she just flirted. Lucien grinned before poking her forehead.
“Then by all means, wander in my eyes as long as you wish.” He said. The smooth bastard knew what to say because her face flushed red again. Still, they both chuckled as they kept on talking for a long time.
By the time Rhysand and Feyre returned, the townhouse was awfully quiet. “Either they headed out or Nyx ended up killing them.” Feyre said as she took a look around.
Rhys walked into the study to see the mess of papers all over the floor and not in the trash bin. “I bet he put up some war.” He chuckled as he walked back to his mate. They then heard something from upstairs as they shared glances. They trotted up to find both Elain and Lucien spooning on her bed, deeply asleep while Nyx was cooing in Elain's arms. “Well.. I guess I was right.”
“Poor Elain and Lucien.” Feyre carefully picked up Nyx. “Maybe we should let them rest.” She said as the two left the room, closing the door behind them. Neither Lucien or Elain woke up, instead she turned around in his arms and unconsciously hugged him, both having no intention to pull away.