Work Text:
"Graysen, you promised."
It was 4:45 on a Friday just before the start of the Christmas holiday, and Elain should have already slipped out of the office like the other 90% of her coworkers. Even at a top architectural firm like Vanserra and Associates, where late night work sessions to meet looming deadlines were more common than not, no one, absolutely no one, stuck around the office this close to their Christmas break.
"Sorry El," came the voice of her recent ex-boyfriend over the phone. "I'm just swamped with work tonight." That had always been his go-to excuse whenever he just hadn't wanted to do something. She shouldn't have been surprised, even if he had sworn up and down after their mutual break-up last week that he would still come through for this one thing.
But, like a fool, she'd fallen for his promises again.
Three months ago, when they'd still been holding on like a slowly fraying thread, Feyre had asked them to help out with the Christmas event she was putting on to support her non-profit that provided free art lessons to underprivileged children in the community. It was a small operation that her sister had spent years working on, keeping the program afloat through an aggressive fundraising campaign, driven by their older sister Nesta's skill as a grant writer and the fundraisers Feyre put together every year.
This year, Elain and Graysen had agreed to take on roles as "Santa's Helpers," which basically consisted of running the little photo station where several of the children who attended the programs could have their pictures taken with Santa - played this year by Nesta's burly boyfriend Cassian. The event was attended not only by the families who benefited from the nonprofit's work, but also by several of the wealthier benefactors who helped fund the work they did. It was a nice way for the donors to get to meet the families and better understand how their donations helped. It was a clever move that Nesta had come up with, and one that had helped their coffers increase yearly. But, it was still a grassroots operation that relied heavily on volunteers and the event was tonight.
"Fine, I'll talk to you later," she said coldly, hanging up her phone just as he was trying to say something else. She set the phone down on her desk with a sigh, quickly switching the buzzer to silent after texts from Graysen popped up mere moments later. He was probably pissed off that she'd hung up on him. A week ago, she would have cared, but this latest disappointment had drained her of any guilt she might have once felt.
"Fuck," she said, burying her face in her hands. Maybe she could still pull off the photo station with just her running the camera, but Feyre had been so insistent that they needed as many volunteers as possible, particularly when it came to wrangling the children, so it didn't become a free-for-all mobbing Santa. They were short on volunteers as it was, and she knew how stressed her sister already was over this event.
"Bad time?" She dropped her hands, peering over at the door to her office where Eris Vanserra, her coworker, stood. Eris was one of the most senior architects for the firm, a position which could potentially be chalked up to nepotism, given that his father owned the company. But he was also an incredibly talented and hardworking architect, with multiple awards on his side. Elain, who had been hired on as a landscape designer five years ago, did not work for him directly, though they'd collaborated on several teams over the past few years.
Most people within the firm would have called him an arrogant prick. They were not entirely wrong. He certainly had the ego to match his reputation. He could be cutting with his criticism, sparse with his praise, and considered obscenely long hours to be just part of the job. More than once she'd opened an email from him in the morning only to see that he'd sent it past midnight, long after she'd gone to bed. More than a few people had stormed out of his office over the years, and while he perhaps could have been a bit softer in his delivery, Elain had never found his criticism to be unfair or unwarranted, no matter how much it could sting.
He was also one of the few people in the firm - or even in the field, really - who had treated her expertise with respect from day one. As a woman, and particularly as a feminine one, Elain was long used to being overlooked at best and undermined at worst, but more than once Eris had shut down others when they'd been dismissive to her suggestions about projects. He made a regular practice of acknowledging her when others tried to talk over her, which usually allowed her to make her point without interruption, given that no one else in the room wanted to be the one to cross Eris Vanserra.
She wouldn't have called him her favorite coworker - spots that firmly belonged to Nuala and Cerridwen over in Interior Design - but she trusted and respected him and valued his professional opinion over anyone else's.
Still, while they were on good terms that had bordered on the personal (he was very much a dog person, she'd learned recently), they weren't exactly on complaining-about-the-exes terms. "It's fine, I was just wrapping up. Did you want to go over something?"
He seemed to hesitate, an action so unlike Eris, who was better known for simply striding in and cutting immediately into business, bad time or no, before speaking. "We're working on a request for qualifications on a potential new project and I wanted to talk to you about being on the team, if we get the contract."
"Oh." Cool amber eyes watched her closely as she plastered a smile on her face. "Sure, I have a few minutes before I need to leave."
Still, he stood in the doorway, unnervingly still. Perhaps catching her little outburst had dropped her in his estimation, or maybe he was simply unimpressed at the sight of her purse and coat sitting on her desk, sure signs that she too was planning to cut out of work early. He likely wouldn't approve of that, not with his own propensity towards working late, but surely given the holiday…
"No." She blinked at his cool tone as he sauntered into the room, dropping into a chair. "It's almost Christmas, this can wait until later." He tipped his head, observing her. "And you're clearly upset and I'd like to know why."
"It's not about work."
"I'm aware," he said dismissively. "You usually manage to keep a cooler head about business matters." She wasn't sure if he was trying to compliment her or criticize her for her outburst, and his even tone gave her no clarification. "Spit it out."
She hesitated. "It's personal."
One corner of his mouth tipped up, lending a cruel sort of beauty to his face. "Again, I'm aware. Now quit wasting both of our time, Archeron, and tell me who upset you."
Anyone else she would have insisted it was nothing until they just stopped asking, but Eris was not the sort to let anything go, so she simply sighed. "I'm volunteering at a charity event tonight for my sister's nonprofit. It's a big deal for her, and she's counting on me. Graysen-"
"Your ex."
"Yes, him." She almost winced. She was surprised he even knew that much, given she'd limited her complaining about the break-up to a couple short conversations in the staff room with Nuala and Cerridwen. She didn't like the thought that he thought less of her for bringing her personal life into work. "He was supposed to volunteer as well." His face was impassive and silent, so she quickly added "I know, we broke up, I shouldn't expect-"
"He made a commitment to you and the event," Eris cut in, "He failed at both. You don't need to explain. What do you need from me?"
"Nothing," she said, surprised. His look was withering, the kind she'd seen him give many a junior architect before when they suggested a particularly inane idea. "This is my problem to deal with and you've got better things to do."
"Shockingly, I do not." His tone was dry and amused and at her look of surprise, he smirked. "You've worked with me long enough to know that my weekend and holiday plans consist of burying myself in work until I am forced to show my face at my father's house for Christmas, at which point I will consume exactly enough whiskey that I can put up with my large and absurd family, while remaining sober enough to not be yet another headache for my mother."
She laughed and this time his smile seemed kinder somehow. "Aside from that," he continued, "I have three decades of experience with charity events, most of which I also went to against my will, so in the history of things that have inconvenienced me, this is truly small." He spread his hands. "My evening is free. Consider this your Christmas present. What do you need me to do?"
This time, she really did wince. "We'll need to stop by my apartment first," she said slowly.
-----
"No."
She'd been surprised, perhaps unfairly, when Eris had not sneered at her tiny, architecturally unimpressive apartment. It was a small, reasonably priced space, and while she could afford something a bit better on the salary she was given, she'd kept to a tight budget these last few years in the interest of saving up for a small home of her own. Her current place, while big enough for her, still somehow managed to be cozy with its pillows and blankets scattered on every soft surface, house plants set on shelves and stands, some even suspended from ceilings. She even had enough space for a tiny spot to propagate some cuttings from her other plants.
Her space was nothing compared to the things he'd designed and likely lived in, but his looks around her apartment had been contemplative, not condescending. Now, though, that Vanserra scowl was in full effect as the red haired man, dressed in a green velvet elf suit, crossed his arms over his chest.
She hefted the shoes, an apologetic smile already fixed in place. "They go with the costume." He glared. "And if you think about it, pointed shoes can be quite fashionable on a man."
"Not when they have bells on them, Archeron."
The shoes gave a merry little jingle as she shook them. His scowl deepened. "It's for a good cause?"
"Fine." She expected him to snatch the shoes from her, but he took them gently, sitting down on her loveseat as he traded his expensive leather shoes for bright green slippers with a curling pointed toe, bells jingling wildly with every movement. She bit her lip, trying desperately not to laugh at the image of Eris Vanserra, a man as known for his impeccable designer taste as for his skill as an architect, in a cheap elf costume she had bought at a discount several months ago.
Hers was, admittedly, equally as tacky, though the red of it looked rather nice against her skin and the trimmed skirt twirled nicely when she spun around in it. To his credit, he hadn't laughed when she'd emerged in hers, though that arrogant mouth of his had twitched slightly.
Eris glanced down at the shoes, lifting each one reluctantly. The shoes gave a pathetic little jingle. "You look great," Elain choked out, losing all sense of composure at the sight of Eris Vanserra, of all people, miserable in a cheap elf costume. "Very festive for the Christmas season."
"I am in jingle hell," he said flatly.
She lost it, hands dropping to her knees to hold her up as her whole body shook with laughter, tears probably ruining the makeup she'd hastily applied. "I guess-" she choked between laughs. "I guess now is the wrong time to admit there's one more part to the costume." His look of abject horror was enough to send her into another fit of laughter, entire body heaving and shaking with mirth as she reached for the jaunty little hat sitting on the side table.
Eris glowered. "You owe me."
"Anything," she wheezed.
His cunning amber eyes suddenly brightened. "One favor, of my choosing, at a time to be determined later."
"Done." She waved her hand dismissively. She'd likely pay for it later in the form of a pain in the ass work project, but that was fine. She'd never had much of a problem working late when she needed to, and at least the teams Eris ran were generally functional and productive.
She was so caught up in her own mirth that she missed the flare of satisfaction that lit in his eyes. "It's a bargain."
-----
"HO HO HO." Elain was sure Cassian's voice would be entirely shot tomorrow, given the enthusiastic bellow he gave at each child's approach, beaming down at them from behind a ridiculous white beard that was tilted slightly askew on his face. "Merry Christmas, little man!"
As the child began rambling excitedly to Santa Cass about all the things he wanted this Christmas, Elain turned her attention from the camera viewfinder to where Eris was currently entertaining a line of unruly children with slight of hand tricks, a talent she hadn't known he possessed. She almost admired the way in which he'd insisted to each skeptical child, entirely straight-faced, that all elves had magic.
Feyre had not seemed entirely surprised when Elain had explained that Graysen wasn't able to make it, though she'd looked relieved all the same when Elain had introduced Eris as his substitute. Eris, despite the abject misery he'd displayed when he'd first put on the elf costume at her apartment, managed to look completely nonchalant about the entire matter when they'd arrived. She probably shouldn't have been surprised to find out that he even knew a large number of the donors, chatting politely with them as they'd approached throughout the night. She was, however, entirely impressed at how utterly unphased he looked when their eyes flicked down to his elf suit. From the collected, almost imperious way he handled himself, shoes jingling the whole time, she could almost believe that the cheap velvet suit was merely the latest Armani suit he'd picked up on a whim.
Still, the relief on his face was obvious the second they had left the event, elf hat coming off the second they were in his car. "You were really good with the kids," she said, as they drove back to her place.
"Oldest of seven," he reminded her. "You pick up a few things. Also-" his eyes flickered over to her before turning back to the road. "My brother Lucien and his wife Jesminda have kids. Twins. I fought hard for my position as the favorite uncle."
"Eris Vanserra willingly sharing personal information," she teased. "It's a Christmas miracle."
He barked a soft laugh. "Tell anyone else at work and I'll fill your entire office with coal, Archeron. Naughty thing."
She flushed, trying to ignore the soft purr in his voice at the last words. "Thank you," she said instead. "For helping tonight. I know Feyre appreciates it."
He shrugged as his car pulled into the parking lot of her apartment. "I did it for you," he said simply, turning off the ignition. She'd barely had time to unbuckle her seatbelt and grab her purse before he was on the other side of the car, opening her door. She met his gaze as she stepped out. There was something there, some unspoken thought written in his eyes, but before she could quite read it, he turned his attention towards the car door, shutting it with a snap.
They were silent on the walk up the stairs to her place and he slipped into her bathroom to change without saying anything. Exhaling slowly, she set her purse down, busying herself by pretending to check the health of her houseplants until he finally stepped back into her sitting room, once again dressed in his tailored suit.
"I should let you get some rest," he said before she had the chance to offer him a drink as thanks for helping tonight. "I'm sure you're exhausted." She simply nodded, following him to the front door.
"Thank you," she said, and he paused with his hand on the doorknob before turning back to face her. "You didn't have to offer to help and you could have backed out the second you saw the elf costume, but you didn't."
"I did manage to come out of this with a favor of my choosing," he pointed out wryly and she laughed. "I do everything for a reason, Archeron. You know me well enough to know that by now."
She simply nodded, choosing not to point out that the favor had been promised only after he'd first put on the suit. "All the same, I'm grateful. Thank you, Eris."
His smile was cheshire as he finally opened the door. "We'll see if you're singing the same tune when I call in my favor someday."
"I'm sure it will be a torturous experience," she quipped.
"Probably," he said. He paused, leaning towards her just slightly until his face filled her vision, wicked grin on full display. "You haven't even begun to see exactly how demanding I can be."
Her breath hitched, just slightly, and he pulled back smugly. "Good night." Stepping out into the hallway, he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Archeron. I hope Santa gives you everything you hoped for."
She laughed. "I was a good girl this year," she said.
"Of that, I have no doubt."