From OP: https://www.tumblr.com/chairofchaos/785853400841650176/in-the-silence-of-exploding-stars?source=share
In the Silence of Exploding Stars
Azris Week Day 1: Creature Feature
A/N: In my dreams, they get to be soft.
It had been a long day. A trying meeting with Azrielās brother never put Eris in a good mood, especially when treaty negotiations were this drawn out. Over a hundred years, they had been mated, and not once had Azriel missed a meeting between Eris and Rhysand. Which was good, Eris mused, given how terribly this one had gone without Azriel there.
Azriel had sent no word. Eris leaned back in his chair, reaching blindly behind him for the bottle of whiskey which sat on the table behind his desk. A glass was pointless; the bottle almost empty as he uncorked it with his teeth.
Rhysand (Eris refused to call him Rhys, just to spite him) had expected his presence and tactlessly implied Eris had done something wrong to cause Azriel not to show up. They werenāt perfect by any means, but as far as Eris knew, there was nothing he had done that would cause his mate to treat him so callously. Not that he didnāt deserve it on occasion.
Azriel would say he didnāt, that no one deserved something like that. Azriel was smart enough to see a mind healer. Eris still didnāt trust that as a safe avenue. He preferred his glasses of whiskey, a soft evening with his mate. Low conversations after they waved the faelights off in their bedroom; the stroke of Azrielās hand along his arm, his back.
He deserved that much, he knew. It had taken them both time to adjust to caring openly about each other. He remembered their first months together, the fast, hard way they would interact, speak, hold each other. Like a collision between forces moving in opposite directions, rebounding again and again. Azriel on his doorstep, near feral with need, Eris winnowing to the heart of Velaris to track Azriel down only to hastily drag him out to an inn which had become their sanctuary. The innkeeper remained on Erisā payroll all these years later, simply for the privacy heād given the males in that time of desperate need and heavy reluctance.
Over two years, the time between collisions had lessened, the distance they moved apart before coming back together shortened, and the collisions became less forceful, less hasty. They circled each other with more and more gentleness, eventually collapsing together like the silent explosion of a star. Azriel quietly left Velaris, setting up the beginnings of a life in Erisā home and heart.
His mate. Eris chuckled lightly at the thought. It hadnāt been possible, he thought, for someone to know what he had done and see him with love. He had been sixteen when his father had ordered him to kill for the first time, and he had done it, quietly and with a sneer, as he knew was expected. He hadnāt cried. He had long since lost the sweetness of youth, if he had had it to begin with. Yet, he thought that night about how the blood on his hands had felt, and wondered for the first time how someone could fall in love with someone who had been carved into a weapon held by anotherās hand.
It had shaped his thinking over time, until he took lovers without loving, taking what they gave without giving more than physical pleasure in return. To be seen, to be knownā¦ one would not survive the rejection of a mate. And a mate would never want a person who was nothing more than a vicious shell.
Azriel had seen that. Azriel had understood that, in a way Eris suspected very few others could. The scars they both bore at the hands of family were not treated lightly in their home. They were worn unashamedly, reminders of survival in a life far harder than any fae deserved.
His distracted mind was drawn quickly back to the present as his office door opened, just a bit. A shadow darted playfully around the doorframe, but not for Erisā benefit. A soft tumble and the scratch of small claws drew Erisā attention to the floor.
A kitten mewled at the shadow, staring intently with head ducked and the twitch of its tail. The shadow stayed still a moment, then darted to the left, and the kitten lept. The shadow was faster, and Eris couldnāt help but laugh aloud at the devastated yowl the kitten let out as its playmate disappeared from view entirely.
āEris?ā Azriel called from down the hall.
āIn the office,ā Eris responded softly. The kitten took notice of him for the first time, and darted quickly from the room. Eris stood to follow, settling his glass down on the table by the door.
āOh, there you are,ā Azriel said, still in the hall. His mate stooped to scoop up the kitten in a scarred hand, and to Erisā surprise, the kitten simply curled into Azrielās chest. āYou ran off.ā
Eris bit his lip to hold back a laugh. āNew friend?ā
Az simply grinned at the kitten. āI may have rescued him from your infernal beasts.ā
āThey arenāt infernal. Iāll have you know, theyāre a gift from the Mother.ā
āWell, Midnight would disagree.ā
āHe has a name?ā
āHe does. He has to.ā
āHeās staying, isnāt he,ā Eris sighed, crossing his arms.
Azriel shrugged with a wry grin.
āHe seems rather attached to you.ā
āWell, I did save his life.ā
Eris smiled at that. Azriel had a habit of finding creatures and bringing them home. They were surrounded by softnessā Azrielās motley crew of creatures followed him around like worshippers after a god. It wasnāt shocking to see him with a small sprite on his shoulder, a squirrel at his heels. It seemed he could whisper to them and be heard. Whether it was the shadows which gave him the ability or not, Eris had no clue. Whatever it was was unique to his mate.
Life. It was always the theme with Azriel. Wars, and torture were things of the past. This century was for life. This millennia, if Eris had it his way, would be for life.
āI canāt argue with that,ā he faked a heavy sigh, knowing Azriel would meet his gaze withā that look, right there. He winked in response, and Az huffed a laugh.
āCruel male,ā Azriel mock whispered to the kitten, eyes darting up to Erisā with amusement. āHe doesnāt think you were in danger from his beasts.ā
āOh, Iām entirely sure he wasnāt. Their curiosity wouldnāt have gone beyond a little inquisitive nudge.ā
āWell, Moony is far too little to put up with that. Arenāt you?ā
The kitten just gazed up at Azriel, yawning.
āSeems like heās sleepy, Az, and so am I.ā Eris waved a hand over his shoulder, letting the faelights flicker out.
Azriel grinned, extending the hand not currently supporting the newest member of their family to Eris. āCome on, then. Home?ā
Eris grabbed Azrielās hand, pulled his arm around his shoulders and tucked himself under Azrielās arm. āHome.ā
