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“Are you sure you don’t want to play soldiers instead?” Cassian asked. “Or we could go outside and build a snow fort….”
“No, that’s ok!” Nyx said brightly, continuing to pull various items from a large crate labeled CRAFTS.
Just the sight of that crate made Cassian break out in a sweat. He’d gladly face down an enemy army on his own rather than face that blasted arts & crafts crate . Not that he’d ever admit that to Rhys or Feyre, of course. They were so proud of what they considered to be their son’s “innate artistic talent” that anything other than wholehearted support for his artistic creations would simply not do.
To Cassian Nyx’s “crafts” looked exactly like what you would expect from a five year old, but of course he’d never admit that to the little artists’ parents either.
“You don’t want to do crafts later, when your mom and aunts are here to help you?” Cassian asked slightly desperately. He glanced at the growing pile of art supplies on the floor with pure dread. He’d jumped at the chance to babysit his nephew, as he always did, but he was now regretting every decision that had led him here.
“I want to make a friendship bracelet for Fleur! She’s my best friend.” Nyx said this very seriously, nodding his head solemnly.
Cassian could only chuckle at that. Nyx was so protective of Lucien and Elain’s daughter that you would have thought Fleur was his little sister and not his cousin.
“Alright then, little lord,” Cassian relented. “Craft away.”
He flopped onto the couch, thinking maybe he’d read a book, but Nyx stood up and scowled at him.
“Uncle Cassian! You have to make one too!” His nephew said this with a look that indicated how obvious this fact was, and how very, very stupid his uncle was for not realizing this.
“You know, I’m actually not very good at that art stuff…maybe you can make one for me, though!”
Nyx’s shoulders slumped a little, and he turned his face towards the ground. “You don’t want to play with me,” he said sadly. “That’s ok…”
Cassian’s gut lurched with anguish. Shit. Why was he being an ass? Nyx was just a kid, and now he was upset. He’d never hear the end of it if Nesta found out he’d made Nyx cry.
“Of course I’ll make one!” he said quickly, sliding off the couch to sit on the floor next to the pile of art supplies. “I was just kidding!”
Nyx smiled broadly, his violet eyes twinkling so brightly that Cassian instantly realized he had been played. He couldn’t even be mad. The little prince would make one hell of a High Lord someday.
“So how are we making these…friendship bracelets?” Cassian asked uncertainly.
The supplies in front of him looked more foreign and menacing than any weapon he’d ever had swung at his face. There were scraps of fabric and leather, piles of yarn and string in a range of colors, little beads and charms, and bottles of what looked suspiciously like liquid glitter. Cassian took the glitter and surreptitiously slipped it back into the crate. He had no idea why anyone could ever have the need for such a thing, but he didn’t want to find out. Or be responsible for cleaning the possible mess, for that matter.
“It’s very easy!” Nyx declared happily. “Auntie Gwyn showed me how. Watch me!”
Cassian forced himself to focus as Nyx demonstrated the “very easy” steps- picking the thread colors, looping them, knotting them at the top and cutting the little looped bit.
“Now you!” Nyx ordered, his tone suspiciously similar to the one Cassian used to command his troops.
“Right…”
Cassian looked at the pile of thread warily. It couldn’t be that hard if a five year old could do it, he reasoned. He picked out threads in ruby red, forest green, and gold, and then clumsily attempted to knot them together. His threads must have been a different kind than Nyx’s, because every time he thought he had it, the knot would slip and come undone again. Or maybe his fingers were simply too fat. By the fifth attempt Cassian was grumbling in frustration.
“Shi- I meant, shoot.”
Nyx giggled as if he knew exactly what Cassian had been about to say. Who had said shit in front of Nyx? Probably him, if he had to guess…
“Here, I'll do it for you. You were right, you’re really not very good at this…”
“Ouch. Don’t spare my feelings there, buddy.”
“Ok,” Nyx nodded solemnly again. “I won’t.”
His nephew looped and knotted and cut the threads expertly, showing Cassian how to press them down with a heavy book to keep them taunt.
“Next you just braid it, and you can loop in little charms too!”
“Right, right…”
Cassian mimicked Nyx’s movements as best he could, looping and knotting the threads inexpertly. His attempt was lumpy and ugly, a far cry from Nyx’s creation. Fleur’s bracelet was in shades of yellow and gold, with tiny little charms in the shapes of flowers and sunbursts. He could admit it was actually quite cute.
Nyx was side-eyeing his mess of threads critically, his expression so disapproving that Cassian doubled-down on his efforts. After a while he caught on to the rhythm and the disaster in front of him began to look somewhat like a bracelet. Cassian let his mind wander as his fingers moved back and forth, back and forth, over, under, left, over, under, right. There was something almost relaxing about the repetition.
When he reached the halfway point Nyx pushed a box of little charms towards him. There were flowers, stars, moons, animals of every kind, and beads of every color. Cassian chuckled as he picked out a little golden fox, a sunburst, and a maple leaf. Looping the charms in proved to be another challenge, but Nyx diligently helped, poking the tip of his tongue out the side of his mouth as he worked.
“See,” Nyx declared, once he was done. “You had nothing to be afraid of.”
Cassian strongly disagreed with that statement, considering his shirt was soaked through with sweat and he was somehow exhausted, but he didn’t bother correcting his nephew.
“What the fuck is that?” Lucien asked, recoiling as Cassian brandished the bracelet in front of his face.
Cassian cleared his throat and shrugged. He had never in his life felt like a bigger dumbass. “What does it look like? I made us friendship bracelets. Don’t be weird about it.”
Lucien blinked, his metal eye clicking as he looked at the bracelet.
“You made us friendship bracelets?” his brother-in-law repeated, staring at him incredulously.
Cassian could hear Nesta and her sisters snickering behind him.
“Yeah, I mean, Nyx was making one for Fleur, so…You don’t have to wear it, obviously, it was just a joke…” He shrugged nonchalantly again. More snickers behind him.
Lucien smiled broadly then, his russet eye twinkling with delight. “I love it!”
Cassian grinned back. “Thanks! It was actually quite difficult, all those little knots, and then I looped in the charms, see…”
“Mother above,” Nesta muttered. “They’re so dumb.” Cassian couldn’t see her face but he instinctively felt her eye roll.
“Put it on me?” Lucien pushed up his shirtsleeve and held out his arm.
Cassian clumsily tied the bracelet around Lucien’s wrist. He had to admit it actually looked quite nice contrasted with the straps of leather Lucien wore on his wrist.
“But where’s yours?” Lucien asked, peering at Cassian’s arms.
“Oh,” Cassian said gruffly, “well, they’re friendship bracelets, you know. You’re not supposed to make them for yourself…”
“Hey Nyx!” Lucien called out. “Where are your bracelet supplies?”
“This way, Uncle Lulu!”
Feyre snickered as Elain and Nesta both looked at their mates in horror. “Yup,” she declared with a smirk. “You guys married that.”