Beast of a thing
“What can I get you?” asked a loud voice, and Harry rubbed his face till his eyes burned.
“Hmm?” was clearly not the right answer.
“Coffee? Seems like you might need one. And something to nibble on. Sweet or savoury?”
“I,” Harry said, which wasn’t that much better. The—person?—who kept pestering him was smiley and extremely bright-eyed. Leaned down to him over a dark-blue apron, half-conspiratorial, half amused.
“Sweet, I should think.”
How rude. Harry crawled in here to die peacefully, not be badgered about fucking coffee. But a few seconds—minutes?—later there was more bustling, and someone placed a cup right next to where he was holding his head. It smelled hot. It smelled good.
Before he could even make the decision, Harry’s hands grabbed it and—oops—spilled a little, never mind. Yeah, it burned. Yeah, whatever. Harry raised the cup with a shaky fist and sipped something horrible and scalding hot. He felt, absurdly, and for the first time in—he felt a little bit like a person again. How fucking embarrassing. How fucking inaccurate.
“There you go, darling,” this time armed with a scone. The smell of clotted cream made Harry’s eyes roll back, made him choke. The jam was even worse, so sweet he nearly gagged. “This should cheer you right up.”
He nearly, nearly laughed. Was too busy growling, rubbing his pointy teeth against his inner lip. Something in his expression must have finally registered with the perky waiter, since they hurried back, tray cluttering as they hit something. Harry could finally go back to his—
“What now?” to the movement from the corner of his eye, but—the smell hit him first, hit harder. Lemon zest and evergreen forest. Something so pleasant it made Harry whimper, made him close his eyes. The newcomer used this reprieve to sneak into the seat next to Harry, so close their knees were touching.
“What do you want?” Harry asked, or whined. It hurt behind his molars, it hurt in the pit of his stomach. The touch, the unbelievable pressure coming from deep, deep inside.
“Hello to you too, Potter. You’re not an easy man to find.”
“Not an easy man,” Harry managed.
“Not a man,” Malfoy countered.
“Not,” Harry, “interested. Go back to the Ministry and—”
“So you really haven’t heard? I quit.” When Harry chanced a look, Malfoy was busy examining his fingernails. He looked—he smelled—he—was an onslaught Harry couldn’t, wouldn’t withstand.
Instead of whimpering again, of being pathetic: “So what do you want? Why come all this way if it wasn’t some…”
“Scheme?” Malfoy uncrossed his legs, leaned back. Too fucking much; Harry’s mouth watered already. “Plot? Who said it wasn’t. Maybe I’m hunting you down all for myself now.”
“Why,” Harry growled.
“Maybe I didn’t like the way you left.” A rustle: Harry didn’t need to look to know what that sound was. “Dear Malfoy, I hope you’ll understand—”
“Enough.”
Malfoy’s gaze burned on his skin. Malfoy’s everything burned. “—there’s nothing else I can do—”
“Enough. Please.”
A bang, too loud; his fist on the table. The coffee cup trembled, didn’t spill. “Oh, is that too much? Hearing your own stupid words? You can take it, sweetheart. We’ve not even got to the good part yet.”
Harry tried to take cover behind his hand. “Please, it’s—”
“I think you might be my mate,” Malfoy quoted in the iciest tone Harry’s ever heard, “Which is exactly why I have to go—”
“I did!” hiding, hiding. “How could I stay, how could I do anything when I knew I’d be putting you at risk? The Ministry won’t stop. And even if—even if they did,” in this horrible, shaky voice. “What I’ve become—”
“A fucking idiot, you mean?”
Harry looked up.
Malfoy’s lips were so thin. “I don’t care what you are. I don’t care what they tried to make you into. You think I might be your mate and then you run? Sentence yourself to, what, a miserable, lonely existence just because you’re scared?”
The shudder took him so hard he nearly fell. “I can’t hurt you,” Harry said through gritted teeth. “I won’t.”
“You have, arsehole,” with exasperation that seemed oddly fond. “Come on, Potter. You didn’t even do me the courtesy of asking.”
“Asking?”
“Veelas have mates too. You’d know if you bothered to stick around.”
“They have—” something whirled in his belly, in his chest. Something sickening and bright. “Wait. Are you saying—what are you saying?”
“You can’t hurt me.” Malfoy bent closer. “Not in the way you imagine. Not if you stay and work it out like an adult. I won’t let the Ministry use you as a weapon. I won’t let anything—I’m saying you’re an idiot, and I’m an even bigger one, and that if you’d run from me again, you’ll regret it.”
A smile burst, baffled and hot between his cheeks. “You… are you serious?”
“You think I came all this way for a joke? I only commit to things that are worth my while.” His grey eyes, burning. “Are you worth my while?”
Helpless, he grabbed Malfoy’s hand. The scent of him in Harry’s nose, heavenly and far too strong: everything he could hope for, that he tried to escape. “Please,” Harry croaked.
Malfoy hummed, leaned back. Used his free hand to steal Harry’s scone. “I’m staying across the road. When you’re quite done—”
On his feet. “Done.” The edges of Malfoy’s lips twitched.
“Very well.” He got up, cast a look from under his endless lashes. “Potter. If you leave again—”
“I won’t,” Harry promised, and meant it. Won’t be able to, now that he had Malfoy back in his arms, smelling and looking and being like that. Now that Harry felt alive, and like a person, and also not. Better than any treat, sweet or savoury. Bitter and sour, lemon zest and evergreens: his Malfoy. His mate.
For my dear @generalpizzaengineer and their prompt 💖
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🫖HUSH🫖
my little Gwynriel fic because I am listening to a House of Wind library ambience and it has teleported me to another realm. Just fluff because it's quick but my Valkyries are here and they make me soft.
Anyway, enjoy!
Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn were in the library. That had been as much as Azriel's shadows had reported to him before frantically going in the direction of the library.
With a sight, with Rhys and Cassian behind him, he made his way to the library, fully aware of the quietness that was inside the place. Once he reached the closed doors, he knocked softly and opened the door, ready to go in, but the scene he found froze him in his spot, and a part of him noticed how his brothers stopped and took the scene in.
For starters, the library had cushions everywhere of every colour with piles and piles of books filling the floor, teapots whistling softly on a small stove, and the three most feared Valkyries spread throughout the place.
Nesta had found her place on the window, sitting on a cushion so big that it appeared as if it could swallow her. Her feet were tugged in under her, and a frown had been set on her brow as she read the book she was holding between her hands and supporting with her legs, the name of which was impossible for him to see.
Emerie, on the other hand, was near the bookshelf. Her wings were relaxed, and the smell of floral oils seemed to emanate from her. She had a thick blanket covering her legs, but her feet peeked under it as a soft smile was plastered on her lips.
When Azriel found Gwyn, he had the urge to laugh out loud. She was on the floor, lying on her back, as an invisible hand kept the book right on top of her. Her feet were moving happily, her hair like a valley of flowers under her hair and pooling on the floor, a soft blush on her cheeks as her lips moved quietly following her reading.
With astonishment, he noticed how his shadows were moving around her, caressing her skin in subtle ways. Her fingers moved against them as if she could feel them between her hands.
She looked peaceful. She looked beautiful. She looked safe.
With his heart on his throat at the sensation of having witnessed something beautiful, he turned to his brothers, motioning for them to keep quiet with a finger on his lips. Both Cassian and Rhys nodded, their eyes soft as they stared at the females, who seemed at peace in their own space, undisturbed and happy in their quietness.
Reluctantly, they moved out of the room and closed the door quietly behind them to not bother them.
Azriel took a deep breath, taking in once again the petrichor smell that surrounded Gwyn, and stepped away, knowing she was safe.
His shadows, however, stayed with her. Making sure she was safe, holding her in the way he secretly wished he could.
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