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She was lost.
More than lost, really. She had no damn clue where she was.
And it was more than a little embarrassing since she had been living in Velaris for over a year now, and it wasn’t like it was her first time out of the townhouse. Elain prided herself on how much of Velaris she had explored — she started with the flower district, then she visited the rainbow a few times, and she even followed Nesta to a few of her bars to give herself a little peace of mind…which backfired. The grimey, dingy bars that she had imagined in her mind weren't nearly as bad as the real thing, but still Elain silently stayed with Nesta on multiple occasions, just in case her sister needed her.
Which made this all the more humiliating.
For all her exploration. For all her attempts to get to know her new home. Elain was wandering mindlessly through the damp streets of a city that wasn’t as familiar as she thought.
Elain tugged her wool cloak closer to her body.
Her eyes constantly moved to take in her surroundings, which wasn’t the easiest task considering the mist that was fogging the city. The faelights that lined the roads were all lit and looked like hazy little stars guiding her along.
She was happy that she wore her comfortable shoes that kept the water away, and that she secured her satchel under her cloak. Just in case. However, in hindsight, it probably would have been better to take her hooded cape. And a map. But Elain pushed those thoughts out of her mind and trudged along, desperately looking for something familiar. A marking of some sort that would point her in the direction home. To the Townhouse.
The Townhouse…she needed to get away…
Elain had gotten accustomed to having it to herself, which wasn’t fair, and she knew that, but still. Rhys, Feyre, and Nyx were living peacefully at the River House. Nesta and Cassian were living not so peacefully at the House of Wind — Nuala had taken her and Feyre to visit them once to drop off a house warming present, and Nesta’s screams of pleasure were so loud that it made sense for them to be living so high above everyone else. And it was only ten in the morning. The sisters simply left their gifts on the table with a note and left.
But, they had all been spending more and more time at the Townhouse. For her. They thought that they were being tactful, but Elain could see through them.
They all thought that she was lonely.
And she was, but she tried not to let it bother her. She truly appreciated her family's efforts, but they just didn’t get it.
She didn’t want a mate — She wanted a friend. A companion.
A longing filled her chest and left her feeling a little hollow as an image appeared in her mind: a male with dark hair and bright hazel eyes and gentle hands.
Elain thought that she had found a friend, a friend who might have become a lover.
But she was wrong.
Azriel had pushed her away and she didn’t know why. Now he hardly came to family dinners, and when he did he barely acknowledged her unless he had to. And sometimes it physically pained her because she was so confused, and she told herself not to dwell on it. That maybe she made it all up in her head, or maybe there was some reason that he distanced himself from her, but every time they were in the same room together they were on edge.
The others tried not to notice it, and maybe they didn’t.
Cassian, Mother bless him, had absolutely no clue at all. And he had cracked some joke at the last dinner about how all the mates should get cozy by the fire, and since Lucien wasn’t there Azriel should take his place. It was bad enough that somehow Elain and Azriel had ended up sitting next to each other at dinner, but Cassian had a little too much whiskey that night and didn’t realize how tense the room became after his comments.
Elain shot to her feet and quietly dismissed herself, grabbing some of the empty dishes to bring to the kitchen where she shed a few tears as she helped the twins clean up.
That was the reason Elain had decided to take a walk before family dinner.
She just needed some time. And space. And air.
And now she was late, absurdly late because the sun had already set and all of the business had shut down for the night and the houses locked with drawn shutters.
Her family was probably worried about her since she didn’t show up to dinner and she didn’t tell anyone that she was leaving. Not even Nuala and Cerridwen.
So, she pushed her legs forward, and told herself that she was going in the right direction because she was going uphill and that the townhouse sat atop a quaint little hill, so she was at least heading in the right elevation.
Elain followed the curve in the road and stopped when she saw something black move from underneath a lamppost. For a second, she thought it was one of Azriel’s shadows, but the little mewling and large, green eyes gave the kitten away.
It looked…pathetic.
Tiny and wet and in desperate need of a brushing.
It looked like…Well, it looked like a little black puff.
Elain bent down and gently held out a hand, not caring that her cloak had opened and her knees and dress were getting wet from the cobblestones.
“Are you lost too, little one?” Elain asked gently, nudging her hand forward as the little kitten looked at her with hesitation. “We could be lost together, if you wish. I promise I don’t have fleas, or Fae Bugs — I hear those are ghastly. And if you join me, I will give you a nice, juicy fish for dinner and then some cream for dessert,” A low purr came from the tiny kitten as it took a small step towards her. “Yes, that’s the way to tempt you, isn’t it? You can have as many fish as you would like. I have some very impressive family connections, you know. Varian, an… associate of Amren, is the Prince of Adriata, and we get along quite well. He’ll be more than happy to import all kinds of fish for you, more than what they have swimming along in the Sidra.”
Elain laid her hand flat against the ground and watched as the kitten raised a delicate paw and gently tapped against her palm, as if testing her. The kitten did it two more times before placing her two front paws in the outstretched hand. Elain brought her freehand up to delicately brush along the soft curve of the kitten's head, and she watched as a small ear twitched, but the kitten leaned into her touch.
Gingerly, Elain laid her palm along the length of the kitten’s back and slowly grasped her. She lifted the kitten and pressed the fur-puff into her chest, beneath her wool cloak to give the little darling some shelter.
“Now,” Elain said, as she started walking again. “Let’s find our way home.”
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The rain had picked up, and so had the wind.
Elain clutched the kitten to her chest and tried to ignore how the small bones were shivering in her hands, she kept pushing her legs forward because the scenery had started to look familiar. Or at least as familiar as it could look in the dead of night — but Elain had managed to find the Sidra and started walking in a direction she hoped was correct… and eventually she came across a brick building with a green door that was recognizable as Cassian’s favorite bakery…and from there she crossed the bridge (one that she didn’t even remember crossing in the first place) and found herself at the house of an older fae whose garden she tended.
A sense of relief spread throughout her entire being.
Home. She was almost home.
If she wasn’t quite so tired, then she would have run the rest of the way home.
But her cloak was heavy from the rain, her hair clung to her face in a way that made Elain certain she resembled a drowned rat, and it was only a few more blocks until she was home again.
She made a mental note to get on her knees and thank Feyre for her shoes because somehow they were still dry even though she’d been in the rain for the Mother only knows how long.
As she finally approached the townhouse, Elain could see it was lit up on the inside. All of the windows were glowing, and she could hear the voices of her family before she even walked through the iron gate.
“Are you ready?” Elain whispered to the kitten, who was looking up at her with large green eyes. “To meet the rest of your family? And finally get that fish that I promised?” The kitten merely meowed in response, and Elain placed her hand against the door knob and pushed it open.
The warm air that greeted her made her knees buckle.
She could still smell the dinner that was prepared — if her nose was right then there was a steak and ale pie waiting for her — and as soon as she crossed the threshold Elain slipped out of her shoes and quietly walked across the wooden floor to where she could hear the raised voices of her family.
They were all gathered in the living room, and they were all arguing with each other. Elain was too tired to make out the actual words, but she could tell that they were talking about her.
No one even noticed that she had walked in the door — well, only one of them noticed.
He was leaning against the mantle of the fireplace, arms crossed against his chest and wings rigidly tucked into his back, and his shadows — which had been darkening the entire room — lifted the second that he laid eyes on her.
Azriel took one step towards her, but before he could get very far everyone else had seemed to sense a shift in the room. They all turned their attention towards where she stood and charged at her a moment later, all of their voices battling with each other and turning into a jumble of syllables and phrases that Elain couldn’t make out.
Elain simply raised a hand and said, “I’m not alone.”
Everyone looked at her in surprise, and the room darkened again and maybe it was her exhaustion but Elain thought that she had heard thunder in the distance.
Instead of explaining herself, Elain moved the dripping wet fabric of her cloak out of the way and a little black head jutted out and started taking in its new surroundings.
Her entire family looked perplexed as they took in the animal.
“Is that a rat?” Cassian asked, bending down to look at the furball, but Elain gasped and jerked back in offense.
“Absolutely not,” Elain said and glared at the general. “She’s a kitten and she was wandering outside in the rain, so I brought her home. She was shivering from the cold, completely abandoned and alone, the poor thing, with no one was even looking for her.”
Everyone had turned their attention away from the kitten and towards Elain. It was obvious that they all had thoughts and questions, but had no clue how to phrase them or even broach the subject. So, Elain pivoted away from them without saying a word and headed towards the kitchen.
A trail of water followed her.
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Elain pulled out a large pan and filled it with warm water.
At first the kitten put up a little bit of a fight, but the warm steam helped coax her into submission. Elain gently ran the warm water through her fur, washing away the grime that she had collected on the street and warming her up. Eventually, the kitten even purred as Elain massaged the warm water into her.
There was a not so small part of Elain that was very pleased when she confirmed that the kitten didn’t have any bugs on her. Not that Elain would have loved her any less, but she was grateful to dodge the headache.
After the bath, Elain grabbed a clean towel and wrapped it around the kitten and swaddled her to chest. Elain had planned to just dry her off and then cut away some of the knots in her fur, but the little baby had dozed off and Elain just wanted to let her relax.
Elain quietly prepared a little dish of cream, and a small plate of canned fish that she had found in the pantry. Afterwards, she sat at the table and waited.
Waited for what, she didn’t know, but she waited.
Maybe she was waiting for the kitten to wake up, or maybe she was waiting for someone to check on her.
But she didn’t have to wait long. The second she had sat down, delighting in the feel of not being on her feet, she noticed a darkness in the doorway.
Azriel, bathed in his shadows.
He looked at her for a moment before silently walking through the kitchen. Grabbing a plate and heating the oven. He even poured her a glass of whatever wine they were drinking at dinner and placed it in front of her, and then it was quickly followed by a freshly reheated dinner.
“Thank you.” Elain said, accepting the spoon that he held out for her. She quickly dug into the crust of the pie and melted at the sight of steam puffing out of it, the smell of the food caused her mouth to water…and it also caused the kitten to stir, apparently ready for its own dinner.
Elain was ready to push her dinner off to the side to feed her new friend, but a heavy, scarred hand landed on her wrist.
“Let me.” Azriel said, and after Elain nodded Azriel took the kitten from her grasp and gently coddled the bundle to his chest.
She watched as he picked up the little plate of food and held it to the cat's tiny mouth.
For whatever reason, Elain felt a small pricking of tears.
“Thank you.” Elain said and turned her attention to the food in front of her.
She ate in silence — her hunger overpowering her need for polite small talk.
Once she calmed down and was eating at an appropriate pace, Azriel asked, “Does she have a name?”
“A name?” Elain repeated. The thought never occurred to her that the little soaked furball she found would need a name.
“Every pet needs a name.” Azriel stated as he placed the half eaten plate of food on the table, and Elain watched as one finger came up to scratch at the small ear.
Elain bit her lip as she thought for a second, and suddenly it became clear to her.
“What about Jasmine?” Elain asked, setting her spoon down before reaching out to brush through the downy fur on her forehead. The tip of her finger accidentally brushed Azriel’s and they both stilled. However, Elain pushed through the awkwardness. “Since she was wandering around at night? And because she’s found a new home, just like me.”
“Jasmine,” Azriel said, and Elain watched as the little kitten looked up and fell in love. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
Jasmine crawled out of her blanket and slowly started to paw at Azriel’s chest, and she let out little mewls as she tried to capture Azriel’s attention.
Azriel laid out a hand for her, and the kitten instantly accepted his offer and nestled into his outstretched palm. If Elain didn’t know any better, then she would have thought that it was a little ball of frizzy lint in his hand.
She was weak, so weak, because as she watched Azriel’s rough hands bring Jasmine close to his face and tenderly pet her little frame — Elain felt her heart flutter in her chest. She watched as Azriel slowly pet the kitten from head to tail, and she watched as the kitten gave more of her heart to him with every pet.
“She loves you,” Elain stated, placing her chin on her palm and leaning forward. “Which is slightly unfair, since I brought her home. But I suppose I can’t blame her, she’s hardly the first Archeron to give you her heart.”
The words slipped out of her mouth without a thought.
But for a second she was finally comfortable enough to speak without thinking.
Azriel tensed, and it was only when his shadows darkened that Elain realized they had gone away while he was sitting with them. He looked at her with wide eyes, but before he could say anything Elain had jumped to her feet.
“Excuse me,” Elain said over the chair that clattered to the ground — the entire room felt as if it were rushing around her, and her cheeks burned so brightly that she was certain her cheeks looked as vivid as they felt. Azriel quickly jumped to his feet as well, his chair staying firmly on the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, but Elain continued. “I need to change and bathe and would you mind watching Jasmine, please? She’s quite taken with you, so I’m sure she’ll be good,” Elain quickly stepped away from the table, and she was suddenly very aware that she looked more of a soggy rat than Jasmine at the moment. “Um, I’ll see you in a bit. Or if you have to go, then you could always give Jasmine to Nuala or Cerridwen. If you must leave. I know you’ve been busy lately, and I —”
“Elain,” Azriel cut her off, his gaze heavy as he looked at her. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
A small, astonished smile tugged at Elain’s lips. She gave him a little nod before walking away, and when she looked over her shoulder she saw that he had sat back down and was holding Jasmine close to his chest. Even though he was lovingly petting the head of the kitten, his hazel eyes were fixed on her, watching her leave.