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Just once, Azriel would like a peaceful solstice morning. Of course he knew their traditions, but why did it have to be so early in the morning? Couldn’t he just sleep in for once? (Which was an odd thought for Az, he’d never been one to sleep in until the events of the most recent year).
Was that too much to ask?
Apparently it was, if Cassian’s insistent knocking was anything to go by. He’d first knocked nearly 10 minutes ago which was enough to wake Azriel up before running off to do the same to Rhys. Then he was back again 5 minutes later, this time threatening to come in if Az wasn’t out of bed by the time he came back.
At that point Azriel would usually just get up and accept his fate, but it was also at those times when he would usually be sleeping alone (if sleeping at all). However, times had changed. Now he had a mate who he was comfortably curled up with, and had planned to stay there much longer. However, that plan was disrupted with Cassian’s constant annoyance. Despite that, Azriel didn’t have the energy to remove himself from Eris’ arms to tell Cass to screw off.
He should have known that Cassian would follow through with his threat of busting in without any shame. He barged in, probably waking up the whole house in the process. Azriel felt Eris startle awake, before snuggling his face against Azriel’s hair, grumbling about Cassian’s loudness.
Azriel turned to glare at Cassian, who shrugged it off as to say I told you what was gonna happen. “I gave you a chance, Azzy, come on, it’s time to go. Rhys is already waiting for us.”
Azriel groaned. After Cassian’s win last year, he was very determined to renew his victory. Of course he wanted to get them out of the house as early as possible so he could win again.
“Couldn’t you have waited another hour Cassian? The sun hasn’t even come up yet.”
“Nope,” Cassian grinned. He grabbed onto Azriel’s arms tugging him up into a sitting position. “Come on. We gotta go, put some clothes on, unless you want me dragging your bare ass out into the mountains. Let’s go!”
“Just go with him. It’ll make him shut up,” Eris groaned, pulling the blankets back around himself, where they’d fallen down, thanks to Cassian’s actions.
Azriel sighed and resigned himself to his fate. He managed to shoo Cassian out of the room so he could get dressed. He threw on his usual leathers with ease and kissed Eris’ head before leaving to avoid Cassian coming back and annoying him again. (Which would most likely result in Eris nearly murdering him if he didn’t leave).
He found Cassian and Rhys already outside, Rhys looking as if he was on the verge of falling back asleep leaning against the door frame. Azriel grabbed onto his brother’s shoulders and pulled them through the shadows to the cabin in the mountains.
Almost immediately he was met with a face full of snow and Cassian’s laughter.
Oh he was going to pay for that.
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Eris attempted to go back to sleep after Cassian had barged in that morning, but alas, his attempts were futile. With Azriel gone, the bed was freezing and despite the fire that ran through his veins constantly, he was still cold. The Night Court was always cold. No matter what time of year Eris was there, he’d always be cold. (Though it gave him an excuse to cuddle into Azriel’s warmth, so really he couldn’t complain).
Eris would have preferred to stay in bed longer, but he figured Az wouldn’t be back for a few hours doing whatever it was Cassian had dragged him off to do, he decided not to waste the time. Instead, he quickly bathed, going as far as to let his hair dry naturally instead of using magic. These people- dare he call them family -had seen him in worse states of appearance, he didn’t care about them seeing his undone hair at this point.
Eris had first put on a thick knit long sleeved shirt, and found he was still freezing. He pulled out one of Azriel’s sweaters to put over top, knowing it would be warmer than anything he owned. He didn’t even care that the neckline kept slipping off his shoulders or that the sweater hung down nearly to his knees. He didn’t even mind having to constantly pull the sleeves up so that his hands were free. At least now he felt warmer than he had earlier. He added a pair of tight-fit knit pants and thick wool socks before making his way downstairs to see if anyone else was awake (silently thanking the Mother that he’d mated into a family where they also didn’t wear shoes through the house).
Upon reaching the living room he found Mor, Feyre, Nyx, and Nesta. Much like him they were all dressed casually, basically just wearing pajamas. Mor in her black and red checkered nightgown, her long hair thrown into a bun on the top of her head. Feyre in an oversized shirt with dried baby drool and splotches of paint covering it, curled up in an armchair that could easily fit two people. The culprit of one of those stains sat happily giggling in her lap at the tiny water animals his mother shaped to dance around his face. Nesta was busy braiding her damp hair up into its usual crown with practiced ease while fondly watching her nephew. As Nesta finished tying up hair, she noticed Eris’ entrance to the room.
“Cassian woke you up too, didn’t he?” She asked.
“I think he woke up the whole house,” Mor said, sipping from the mug of coffee in her hands.
“Is this a usual occurrence?” Eris asked, sitting beside Mor on the sofa. Immediately she kicked her feet up into his lap, something he’d learned she did with nearly everyone because her feet were always cold and everyone else here was a source of warmth. When he glared at her, she simply stuck her tongue out at him before her attention returned to the Archeron sisters.
“It only happens on solstice morning,” Feyre answered, changing the shape of the animals that floated around her son’s head. “He wants to beat the others in their annual snowball fight, especially after his win last year. He’s convinced that last year meant he was guaranteed a win streak.”
Eris just about choked on air. Az, Rhysand and Cassian had an annual what now ? He’d never been informed of this. Looks like he’d have some fun material to tease Azriel about later.
Nesta laughed at his surprised expression. “Azriel didn’t tell you?”
“No,” he answered, “This isn’t a joke, right? You’re telling me that the three deadliest Illyrians in Prythian have a snowball fight, like children, every year.”
Feyre laughed, “Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are when I found out about it the first time.”
Eris was still trying to process the whole situation. “So, the reason Cassian barged into our room so early was to defend, what, his title?”
“Pretty much,” Mor answered. “You three-” she said pointing to Feyre and Nesta as well as him- “are mated to overgrown children. You all made the choice to accept the bond, now you have to deal with the consequences.”
Eris shook his head at Mor’s over dramaticness (even if he somewhat agreed with what Mor had said). Many things about Azriel had surprised him, the most prominent thing being just how playful he could be. For centuries he’d always seen Azriel as the guy who was serious all the time. But seeing him around his family- mainly his brothers -he saw a more free version of his mate. Saw the young competitiveness that came through with whatever stupid bet was made.
Despite the absurdity of the entire situation, Eris couldn’t stop the utter love and fondness he felt towards his mate. Nor the small smile that came to his lips just thinking about it.
Cauldron he’d become an absolute sap .
“I know that look,” Nesta mussed from her seat by the fire. “Apparently even the most cold hearted of us gets turned into losers the minute we mate one of these idiots.”
Well, Eris couldn’t find any fault in her argument there.
“Hey!” Feyre interjected, “I’m not a loser!”
“Who said I was talking about you?” Nesta shot back, teasing fire blazing in her eyes. “If anything you’ve just become more soft after marrying that asshole.”
Eris decided to let the sisters bicker and ducked into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. He took a few extra minutes boiling the water and stirring in his lemon, honey, and cinnamon for his tea, while watching the snow settle on the city outside the window. Eris truly did love visiting the Night Court. The Night Court felt to be just as much of a home as Autumn some days and with the world once again at peace, he finally felt as if he could truly appreciate the beauty of it.
He returned to the living room, steaming tea cup in hand, only to be met by Mor’s mischievous grin. He knew that grin couldn’t mean anything good.
“So,” she started, “did you have a good night?”
“Why ever do you ask Morrigan?” He said returning to his seat beside her.
Mor’s eyes flickered down his neck then back to his gaze. She tipped her mug back, taking another sip of her dark colored coffee, trying to hide the smirk that seemed to be growing across her lips.
Admittedly it took Eris longer to figure out what Mor thought to be so amusing than it should have. There were freckles covering his neck, after all he’d been spending more time out in the sun since Beron’s death so he’d been having more of his freckles showing out, but he didn’t know what would be funny about that. There could be a couple scars along his neck, but they all bore different scars so there wasn’t much unique there. The only thing that Eris could think of would be the dark marks that Azriel had left…
Dammit Az.
He knew he couldn’t complain too much. After all he had thoroughly enjoyed their… activities the previous night, however he was annoyed with the fact that now others had seen evidence of just what Azriel could do to him. Again, not that he’d complain about the obvious marks, it’s just that he’d rather the private parts of his life stay, well… private.
“Anyways, with the bat boys gone we can finally settle something we’ve been debating about for years ,” Mor said.
“Ooh, yes!” Feyre said excitedly, “Okay so apparently the boys have this thing where their wingspan equates to the size of other… parts.”
Eris had chosen the wrong moment to take a sip of his tea, because as Feyre reached the end of her sentence she motioned to the space between her legs. It took a moment for Eris’ brain to catch up with what she meant, but when it did, he choked.
“We’ve measured,” Nesta stated, “Azriel has the longest.”
And now they wanted him to confirm that in regards to… other things. What had his life come to?
He cleared his throat of any remaining tea (and maybe a bit out of nervousness). “Are you sure this is an appropriate conversation to be having with a child in the room, High Lady?” He hated how he felt his blood running to his cheeks. He knew any blush on his face would be obvious. (Sometimes he cursed himself for having such pale skin, it was hard to hide any sort of embarrassment from these people).
“You think a baby is going to know what we’re talking about?” Feyre asked. Nyx chose that moment to start chewing on his fist, happily staring off at the snow falling outside, his little wings fluttering in excitement as he watched through the window.
So maybe using a baby as an excuse was a bad idea.
“You’re diverting from the question,” Mor sang.
“Shut up.” Eris took a breath, having forgotten how to breathe for a moment. “Well, it- it’s certainly, umm” he stammered, actually stammered , giving up on finishing his sentence, ducking his face trying to hide just how much his face was burning.
“ Cauldron above, ” Mor cackled, “I never thought I’d see the day where you of all people would blush talking about anything relating to sex.”
“It’s not something casually talked about in Autumn,” he argued, trying to come up with an excuse.
And it was the truth, in Autumn, especially when Eris had been growing up, sex was just something no one talked about. He knew that was very different in other courts, but it didn’t change how uncomfortable he felt discussing it with anyone that wasn’t his mate. (And even then he still had some hesitations even when it was just with Az, especially in the beginning of their relationship). In Autumn, couples generally went through a long, proper courtship before really doing anything physical in their relationship.
Now that wasn’t exactly what had happened with Eris and Azriel, but he didn’t need everyone else knowing that. In fact, the plan had been to take everything slowly, but that hadn’t accounted for a 500 year suppressed mating bond finally snapping into place after waiting so long for any dislike one had had towards the other to be finally set aside and looking towards a possible future. The Mother had seemed exceedingly pleased when they’d chosen to accept it and made it so they could barely keep their hands off each other for a month- a nearly impossible task with Eris being a High Lord and having to always be able to attend to his court.
But they’d made it work. They’d managed to sate the bond enough to go back to having functioning lives without constantly needing to have their hands on one another.
But that didn’t mean he was interested in casually discussing his sex life with others.
Thankfully Feyre took mercy on him and changed the topic. Eris took the opportunity to sink back into the sofa and just enjoy the peacefulness around him. Eventually Nyx crawled over to him and Eris picked up the small child who was very happy to be entertained by all the people in the room with him.
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Azriel was still shaking the snow from his hair when they winnowed back to the Riverside House. Usually when they’d all go up to the cabin, they’d use the birken after, however this year, they’d been the only ones to travel to the cabin for their snowball fight. And by that logic Rhys had suggested that they just return home. Azriel suspected that Rhys just wanted to go home and see Nyx. (Not that Az was complaining. He really didn’t need his brothers to see the markings that he knew still littered his skin because he knew for a fact they’d take every opportunity to tease him).
In the living room, Feyre, Nesta, Mor, and Eris were all sitting around together, his nephew playing with some wood blocks on the floor. Never did Azriel dare let himself imagine such a sight, seeing his mate surrounded by the rest of his family and enjoying the time.
Making his way into the room, he leaned over the back of the sofa to hug Eris. Though he hadn’t taken into account just how cold his hands still were from the snow until Eris jolted forward at the contact, hissing about the cold.
“Sorry,” he whispered against Eris’ ear, kissing his cheek quickly. “I’m gonna change then be back in a moment.”
Eris hummed, quickly kissing Azriel. “Okay, see you in a minute.”
Az used his shadows to pull himself up to their room, shedding out of his soggy, wet, leathers. Quickly turning on the hot water, Az did his best to warm his skin up and rid himself of any lingering snow. He did little to actually dry his hair, adding a couple products Eris had introduced him to to assist his curls in staying somewhat orderly. Seeing just how the rest of his family had been dressed, he opted for knit pants and a sweater as opposed to the leathers he normally would have worn.
He had returned down to the living room in what had to be a record time. And yet both of his brothers had beat him back. Cassian sat on the floor in front of Nesta with one of her legs draped over his shoulder while she braided his hair. Rhys had joined Feyre on their oversized armchair, cuddled up next to her, practically already asleep again.
Azriel took the space on Eris’ opposite side, maneuvering his mate to halfway sit in his lap, but positioned in a way that he could set his head down on Eris’ shoulder. Eris did nothing more than give a fake huff of annoyance as Azriel maneuvered him into a comfortable position.
Mor gave him a pout, “You stole my heater,” she complained, tucking her bare feet up under her body now that Eris was out of reach.
Barely lifting his face from Eris’ shoulder he replied, “Isn’t your girlfriend going to be here soon?”
Mor’s lovestruck grin was enough of an answer for him to turn his attention back to his mate whose hand had become entangled with his own, stroking over the scars he bore. He felt when Eris let his head come to rest against Azriel’s and when he turned it just enough to kiss the top of his head. Az couldn’t stop the grin from crossing his face as he returned the gesture by pressing a kiss to Eris’ shoulder.
It wasn’t until that moment, that Azriel truly took in what his mate was wearing. Had Eris…?
“Did you steal one of my sweaters again you little minx?”
“As if you don’t love seeing me dressed in your clothing,” Eris replied.
To that Azriel had no good answer because he truly did love seeing Eris in his clothing. Ever perfectly, put-together Eris for once in attire that wasn’t precisely tailor for him. Yet he was comfortable enough to step away from his armored wardrobe to just be Eris.
Maybe this had secretly been that peaceful solstice he’d been wishing for.
He got to spend time with his mate in a time where they for once didn’t have an entire court to constantly worry over. He got to spend time with his brothers which had become less and less since his move to the Autumn Court. And now he got to combine his two worlds into this perfect little bubble.
He couldn’t ask for anything better.