Chapter Text
Elain
“No, you did not?” Elain laughs
“Sure did” Azriel says as he pulls out her plate from the microwave. They head over to the canteen table
“How did they respond?” she asks
“Angry” he says with a faint smile – he seems pretty pleased with himself
“If I received over a thousand pages of tables in PDF, upside down, I’d be pretty angry too” she chuckles
“What was I supposed to do? Send them a functioning excel?” Azriel says in fake seriousness
“Yes, obviously”
“Then they would’ve been able to see how poor the company was doing” he says in between his bites
“Pretty sure that’s the point of due diligence” she says with light-hearted disapproval
He shakes his head “No, my job was to make their lives miserable. Drown them in data my boss told me. So I did”
She laughs, what a ridiculous industry. She knew investment banks were pretty rough, but to work until three in the morning ensuring a document was as impractical, yet technically complete, as possible seems absurd. It’s one of his many war stories from the dark ages as he calls it. His two-year stint at a prestigious bank which he had described as living as a cave man fuelled by coffee and cortisol.
“Tell me about your rough nights” he asks
She sighs. Her first firm had been a terror. Gruelling hours, because they would never tell a client no. No matter how ridiculous the request was. “A client decided they wanted to make a complete share purchase agreement in one weekend. We started Saturday at ten in the morning. I didn’t sleep until Monday morning”
“Jeez, Elain. Did the deal at least go through?” he says while carefully creating a perfectly balanced yet monstruous bite of pasta on his fork
It’s funny how he eats. Obviously, a lot and remarkably fast. Even though he often ate double of what she did, he always finished first. He seemed very particular, though, about in which order he eats his food. It’s either keeping the best for last, or have perfectly even bites.
“Nope. We found out on Monday that they weren’t even invited to the next round of bidding. They wanted to make a knock-out bid with complete documentation ready. An offer the seller couldn’t refuse” she grimaces at the memory of that useless work
Azriel chuckles. “That’s horrible. Shouldn’t you need some sleep to write that? At least my late-night work was mind-numbing anyways”
“I definitely needed my brain, but stress can keep you going.” It’s disturbing how energetic one can feel under such stress. His last comment makes her curious “Like what mind-numbing things?
“Once, I had to copy a CEO’s handwritten answers from a paper into the Q&A. He’d work on it after dinner, so I received his answers, by photo – yes, not even scanned, just a photo with his phone of his scraggly notes in handwriting worse than mine – and I had to copy them into the Q&A tool until two, three or four in the morning”
“That’s degrading”
“Which is not my thing” Azriel says with a grin before wiping the smile of his face and muttering “anyways, uhm, yeah it was ridiculous”
His stories are amusing. She thought lawyers had it bad but he keeps proving her horrible bosses and clients were much more prevalent than only in law.
“My boyfriend hated it of course. He always complained I worked too much” she says
“Ex-boyfriend, right?” he asks neutrally “Or current one?”
“No, ex-boyfriend, obviously. I’m not seeing anyone” she says with a blush, feeling dumb for how even after a few years she still forgot to use the appropriate prefix for Graysen.
“What do you mean obviously?” he says with a frown as he keeps picking at the scraps on his plate. How did he already finish everything? He had more than double her food and his plate is scraped clean.
“You were there after we broke up and I moved here” she says softly. Cringing at the memory. She’d started to forget that Azriel, her client, had seen her cry her eyes out after her break-up. That’s a rather mortifying element to their current pleasant and professional relationship.
He nods. Then he looks at her “What happened?” he asks carefully
“He didn’t like that I wanted to go to Velaris for my career. Didn’t want to do long-distance”
“That’s dumb” Azriel says plainly “Why didn’t he come with?”
Elain snickers “Come with? Yeah, no, he would never”
What an absurd notion. The idea that Graysen would’ve joined her somewhere is truly unthinkable. He worked at his family’s business and was being prepped to take over one day. That was his future and she had always known that meant her long-term place would be back home, with him. It never crossed her mind that he could’ve come with her to Velaris for a few years.
“His loss” Azriel says flatly with a shrug. He gets up to take away their plates and looks back “Dessert?”
“Yes, that’d be nice” she answers
When he comes back with two scrumptious-looking pieces of almond cake with a thick layer of chocolate ganache, he asks about how she ended up at Day Legal. She explains the highly demanding interview process, for which she travelled to Velaris multiple times, pretending to be sick at her previous firm. He in turn explains the equally demanding interview process at the investment bank her worked at and others he interviewed for.
As usual, their conversation stretches and meanders to various tangents. They talk long after they’ve finished their cakes. Their dinners have started to just be a full hour lately. Ever since the bid, she’s worked virtually every evening and so has he. She’s stopped trying to keep it shorter. It’s probably healthy to take longer breaks and he seems to need it too.
He’s always so focused. Whenever she walks by his office, he’s either in meetings or intently staring at his screen. Most of the time he has his headphones on, though his door is open as a semi-open invite for anyone who wishes to speak with him.
It’s time to get back to work. They’ve done their hour and she has a lot to do. Helion asked for an update and she wants to showcase her work well. It’s a delicate balance between stating the value of her work, without showing off too brashly. She gets up, but accidently spills her water over her plate. In catching the cup, her sleeve dips into the chocolate ganache remnants on her plate. She pulls her sleeve away, only to catch it on her fork, ripping a hole through the lace of her sleeve.
“Oh shit” she mutters. How is it possible to have a chain of clumsiness where each step was worse than the previous one?
Azriel grabs her wrist and is dabbing it and her sleeve dry and clean with his napkin. He was so fast, she didn’t even have time to do it herself.
“Thanks” she says – looking at the impeccably dressed and neat man trying to clean her loose lacey sleeve with the napkins. His hands are surprisingly gentle and warm.
“I’ve been looking at your sleeves hovering above the food this whole meal, I was wondering if it’d go wrong” he says with a neutral face, though his eyes gleam with humour
“I should know by now that I’m just not made for this type of clothing” she pouts – this is not the first time she’s spilled food on herself in front of him. Probably won’t be the last time either. It is the first time she’s had her clothing rip in front of him. Hopefully, that will be the last time.
“Just like my cat” he says quietly
She looks at him with amused confusion. She’s not often compared to people’s pets.
“Unintentionally wrecking nice things” he says with a smirk
She gasps in feigned displeasure “How dare you?”
“It’s okay, I don’t blame my cat either” he says as his eyes twinkle “Can’t help how your nature”
She waves her hand an inch in front of his stone-cold impassive face. His face is almost always set in this slightly cold, aloof setting, he was incredibly hard to read unless he actively chose to display some emotion on his face.
“Fuck” he mutters as he jerks back. He glances to the side to notice her.
She chuckles “Sorry, you were just so focused, I couldn’t resist”
He takes off his headphones and there is a screeching noise coming out of them.
“What’s that?” she asks
“Hmmm?” He looks at her mildly confused as he turns to face her. It’s kind of funny when he stays seated while she stands. Their height difference is probably the same or even less compared to when he stands.
“That” she points at his headphones
“My music?” he asks in surprise
She smirks “If that’s what you call it”
He gives her a faint smile and looks back at his screen “Are you here to insult me, Elain, or can I be of service in some less humiliating way?”
“I’m sorry, Azriel” she says “I just honestly can’t believe you listen to that”
“Helps me focus”
She cocks her head in thought. He had been remarkably focused when she entered. “Let me try”
“Try what?” he looks up at her with his eyebrows furrowed
“Send it to me. What you’re listening to” she asks “Maybe I’ll understand when I try it for myself”
“You want me to send you something to listen to?” he asks slowly
“This. Send me exactly what you’re listening to now. I’m curious” she clarifies
He looks a little hesitant, but shrugs and goes to his spotify to share what he was listening with her.
“Remember, you asked” he says tightly
Should she not have asked? He seems a little more apprehensive than she had expected. Perhaps it’s more personal than she assumed.
“Thanks. I promise to give it an honest try” she says “Not why I came though. I’ve gotten the first official notice from the APC to object through the short-track. We could try, but our chances of winning this in short-track are low”
“What’s the downside of trying?” he asks as he cracks his neck, looking at her intently
“Time, energy, effort, and money” she adds the last word with a bit of a blush
“Because it takes you time, energy and effort, it’ll cost us money?” he asks neutrally – just clarifying her words
“Exactly. It’ll also be time-consuming for you. A bit for Rhysand and Cassian too”
“That’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We should try everything we can”
“Okay. Do I need to check with Rhysand too?” she asks carefully – it’s still not entirely clear to her when she needs to check what with whom. Azriel is clearly in the lead for this project, but Rhysand is the CEO and major shareholder.
“No. I can sign off on this” he says calmly “Let’s not bother Rhysand. He’ll be on board”
She nods and walks away
“Send me what you listen to” he calls after her, right when she turns into the hallway
She looks back into his office. She feels a blush creep over her cheeks. She’s been listening to some very girly pop songs.
“It’s only fair” he says with a glint in his eyes “And no cheating. Send me your last song”
She pulls out her phone and shares the last song she’s listened to.
“Remember, you asked” she repeats his words
Azriel
“Come on Az, you can do better. Last stretch” Thesan tells him
Azriel grits his teeth and powers through the last exercises. Thesan hosts a small-group HIIT before work hours on Wednesdays, which Azriel attends virtually every week. He’s in the gym around four times a week, or well he was before the HIS bid made him prioritize work even more.
Thesan woops his ass like nobody else, probably because they’re friends. They met during college, when Azriel worked security at the same club as where Thesan worked as a bartender. Thesan is a good-looking gay man who received a lot of attention, wanted and unwanted. Their boss Amren had asked Azriel to keep an extra eye on him and it had quickly pushed them to become close. Friends eventually.
Thesan opened his own gym a few years ago. Azriel helped him out with some of the finance stuff when he got started. Azriel visited loyally ever since. It’s been a great way to maintain their friendship.
When Thesan finally releases them from his torture, Azriel gulps down his water and plops down on a nearby machine.
“What’s up, Az? Haven’t seen you much?” Thesan says “You’re here max twice a week lately”
True. He now only consistently makes it Wednesdays and Saturdays. His Monday and Friday slots have become rarer and rarer ever since the bid.
“Work. I told you about the bid thing, right?” Azriel says as he wipes the sweat from his forehead with a towel
“Yeah, we also haven’t seen you at the club and you’ve not joined me and Per for a night out either in a while” Thesan says with a light-hearted pout
“I know. I just... don’t have much time and honestly when I have the weekend free, I try to take it a bit easy”
He’s barely gone out in the last two months since Hybern launched the hostile bid. He works too much and even during the weekends he tends to read up on work-related things, such as articles about other hostile take-overs. The little free time he has left, he doesn’t want to spend hung-over. He should create more balance in his life, but that’s never been his strength. He tended to focus on only a few things in life, work was the main one at the moment.
“You want a shake? I’ll make you one. We can have a chat?” Thesan offers
They often chat a bit after the class, but even that he’s been skipping on these last few weeks. Azriel checks to see if he has an urgent meeting or can stay for a change. His first meeting is with Elain and he still needs to check out what she sent him yesterday. It should be fine, but just in case he sends her a message
Azriel: I might be a bit late for our meeting today
“Thanks, San. I’d like that”
He follows Thesan to the bar area, where he makes him a protein shake. Azriel doesn’t like nor hate them, but he knows it’s better to help his muscles recover. Thesan hands him the drink and sits down with him
“How’s Per?” Azriel asks as he slurps down the drink, keen to get his friend to start talking
“Oh, good, stressed with the house. He’s such a perfectionist. Every inch has to be curated”
“I’m sure it’ll turn out great” Thesan’s fiancé works in fashion and surely their place will look as flamboyant and immaculate as he does
“You’ll see it when it’s done”
“In five years?” Azriel teases – Planning wasn’t exactly Peregryn’s strength. Azriel has many memories of Thesan’s partner showing up one or even two hours late, or not at all. There’s a reason the two have been engaged for over two years and there’s still no a date set for their wedding. Peregryn won’t settle for anything less than perfection.
“Probably. Don’t tell him” Thesan smiles affectionately. Azriel was happy for his friend. Thesan was a great person and ever since he met Peregryn he’s been very happy.
Azriel’s phone dings
Elain: That’s unusual. Now I’m curious
Azriel: Can’t tell you
Elain: Scared I’ll find out you actually have a life?
Azriel: That would be absurd
Elain: I know – hence my curiosity
“Who’s that?” Thesan asks
“Hmmm?” Azriel looks up from his phone “Just told work I might be a little late”
“Someone at work that makes my least smiley friend smile?” Thesan asks as he leans over the counter trying to look at Azriel’s phone screen.
“I smile sometimes” Azriel says disgruntled and chugs more of the shake while placing his phone screen down on the bar
“Least smiley, not never smiley. Don’t deflect, come on, tell me, who is she?”
“What makes you think it’s a she?” Azriel says defensively – he doesn’t like where this is going
“Your face” his friend says pointedly
“Just someone I work with on that bid thing” Azriel says clipped
“Right” Thesan says with an infuriating smirk
Azriel rolls his eyes. Thesan is always prying and poking into Azriel’s dating life. There was a time when that was a lot more exciting. Thesan used to have his own outrageous stories to share too, before he fell head over heels for his fiancé.
“Forget it. Stop trying to live vicariously through me. You should find a better target”
“Yselle and Mayra are boring too. Only Fae is doing their best to keep some juicy stories rolling”
“Half of which are fiction” Azriel huffs
“Do you really think so?” Thesan asks with a frown. Thesan is so kind it borders on gullible and naïve sometimes. Such a contrast to how tough Thesan can be if he makes an effort.
“Their stories have the most ridiculous plot twists” Azriel explains. It’s honestly a miracle anyone would believe them
“Anyways, tell me about her” Thesan waves away the other conversation and looks at him intently
“She’s a lawyer I’ve been working with for the last two months. It’s a busy project” Azriel says
“Az, give me something” Thesan pleads exasperated
“There’s nothing to give. Not every woman I meet has to be something. We’re just work friends, that’s all.”
Which is sort of true, they’ve become friendly over the last two months. They have a lot in common and they have a good work relationship. Friends might be a stretch, though, they’re connected through Feyre and Rhysand, so it’s actually quite likely they’ll maintain their contact after the work ends.
“Show me a picture” Thesan says with a demanding hand gesture
“I don’t have a picture” he says, though he probably has some group picture with the both of them in it somewhere in his group chats
“Then find one. I don’t believe you can’t find one” Thesan is impatiently tapping the counter
They don’t use it, but Azriel does share a bunch of whatsapp groups from birthdays and Christmases with her. He finds her and clicks on her profile picture. He never looked at it before. It’s her sitting in a summer dress outside in a park in East he recognizes. It’s not too far from his apartment. She’s smiling and the sun hits her hair making it look golden.
“She’s stunning” Thesan says as he steals Azriel’s phone out of his hands “I understand why she makes you smile”
“Give it back, San” Azriel rips the phone back “Like I said, we work together, that’s all”
Thesan gives him another annoying smirk “Yeah, but most of your co-workers don’t look like that”
That’s Azriel’s cue to finish his shake and get out. He’s not blind to the fact that she’s good-looking, but that doesn’t matter. Why is it so hard to believe Azriel can be friends with a woman? They have a good work relationship, just like he has with many women at the office. Cerridwen, Nuala, Miryam, all women really, except Ianthe of course. Maybe Elain is a little more than that. They had a personal connection too after all.
“I’m not interested” he tells his friend – hoping to cut this off before Thesan gets it in his head and Azriel will never hear the end of it
“You’ve been single for quite a long time, Az. What has it been? Five years? Thesan says with a sad smile
More he thinks, not wanting to admitting it’s closer to seven by now.
Azriel has only had one serious relationship and it had been unconventional. It worked for a few years, but then he just couldn’t be what was needed. Couldn’t give or commit to what was asked. He never really felt like trying again. The break-up had been rough on him. They were on good terms now though, friends even. He met Yselle at the same club he worked at as with Thesan.
“Az, what are you so scared of?”
“I’m not” Azriel bites back “I’m fine on my own”
He was at peace with his current life. It was simple, yet good. He had a respectable and enjoyable job, a few good friends and he was in a better place mentally than he’d been in a long time. He rarely had nightmares, he’s gotten much better at managing his unwanted thoughts. His obsessions and compulsions had gone down significantly. He was in a good place. No need to disturb the fragile peace he found.
Elain
“Rhysand is very excited to host this year” Feyre says “He’s never hosted a Halloween party before, but we have the space now. The house is much bigger than our apartment and we can use the garden too”
“Let me guess you’ll have matching outfits?” Nesta says
Feyre sputters “Yes, from Red Rising. How did you know?”
“Feyre, you’re literally the textbook definition of couples who would do that” Nesta says, a little too mean for Elain’s taste
Not too keen on getting sucked into her sisters’ bickering, Elain checks her phone and clicks on the latest notification
Azriel: Have fun with your sisters
Elain: I’m trying
Azriel: Thought you liked hanging out with your sisters?
Elain: Usually yes. Nesta can be a harsh, like now to Feyre
Azriel: Cassian would be jealous
Elain: Tell him to come
Azriel: You know he would
Elain: I dare you
Azriel: Nesta would kill me
Elain: I’m sure you stand a chance
Azriel: Not sure if you’re overestimating me or underestimating her
Elain: Didn’t you do boxing?
“What are you doing?” Nesta says
“Nothing” Elain says quickly
She tries to put away her phone in her bag. Nesta snatches it out of her hands. Luckily, Elain has it on private mode and Nesta can only see the app pop up and not who is sending the message or the message itself.
“Elain, are you for real?” Nesta sighs
“What?” Feyre asks confused
“Elain is working” Nesta says with a deep air of disappointment
“I just checked a few messages. It’s nothing”
“Who is bothering you on a Sunday morning? I thought you said Helion wasn’t that bad?” Nesta asks sharply, that wrath always lingering just below the surface with her sister. As If Elain could say the word and Nesta would literally assassinate who ever dared bothering Elain.
“Nesta, leave it. I’ll put it away. I promise” she placates
“Elain. You’re working too much. Rhysand told me you work almost every night. You really don’t need to do that” Feyre says
“It’s a complicated case. There’s a lot to do” Elain says – plus if she does well, this could be a career-making case for her. Not that her sisters would understand or care about that.
“Is Azriel being too demanding?” Feyre asks with sympathy, placing a hand on Elain’s
“No” Elain nearly shouts “Azriel tells me I should work less too. It’s despite him, not because of him”
“If he’s not treating you well, just talk to Rhys. He’s mentioned Azriel can be a little intense with work”
“Azriel is perfect” Elain feels a blush overtake her cheeks as she corrects herself “…-ly …perfectly fine. He’s not asking anything unreasonable of me. It’s my own choice. I promise”
Feyre and Nesta let up, they know trying to get Elain to focus less on work is a useless battle anyways. Feyre instead decides to once again bring up Nesta’s mould-infested apartment. That she should move out and get a better place for herself. Nesta doesn’t care, she prefers her shitty apartment in the prime location she’s in, at the perfect intersection of west and centre. Feyre’s comments only seem to make Nesta dig her heels in further.
Elain heads to the bathroom to have some peace and quiet from her sisters’ intensity. In the stall she opens her phone again
Azriel: Your sister is a witch, Elain. I’m not taking any chances
Elain: You might be right
Elain: The moment you mentioned she’s a witch, she tried to steal my phone
Azriel: Why?
Elain: She complains I work too much
Azriel: She’s right
Elain: It’s all relative
Azriel: What did she want with your phone?
Elain: Be shocked to see I get Teams notifications on a Sunday morning
He doesn’t immediately reply. She can see he’s typing. And stopping. And typing. And stopping.
An uncomfortable feeling arises. Maybe it’s not that normal to be talking casually with your coworker – client really – on a Sunday, on Teams, while having brunch with your sisters. It isn’t very polite of her to keep him occupied on his free day either. This has been quite inappropriate of her and if there’s one quality she’s always felt she excelled in, it was her professionalism.
Elain: Anyways, see you tomorrow
Azriel: See you tomorrow