This stupid non-canon ship will be the death of me dammit.

________

Azriel didn’t mind working at the cafe. They were flexible with his class schedule and his meager salary was just enough to pay for rent, a few groceries, and drinks with Rhys and Cassian every month.

The cafe was split into two parts: the actual restaurant and the coffee bar. The restaurant side served basic deli sandwiches and some soup options, and the coffee bar had all sorts of fancy drink options that were a real hit with the college students.

One of those college students was Feyre’s sister, Elain. He had met her while at Feyre’s birthday party last month held at his shared apartment with Rhys and Cassian.

He’d never seen Elain before in any of his classes, so she certainly didn’t run with any of the engineering majors. When Cassian mentioned something about Azriel’s job at the cafe, it hadn’t escaped him that she had started listening pretty intently.

So he wasn’t too shocked when she showed up the next week.

She was a pretty girl with a unique style. Her skirts and sweaters were always bright colors and soft material. Some days she would wear flower crowns and they somehow suited her even in the middle of winter. She was a bright contrast to his dark style and jet black hair.

When she had first started coming in she would always sit in his section on the restaurant side.

Azriel was uncomfortable with all the customers, but none more so than Elain. At least at first.

His hands would fidget on his notepad, shaking when he wrote down her order - the same thing every time: a BLT with extra pickles and a lemonade. As soon as she said it she would smile at him brightly and he would mumble something about the food being out soon before vanishing to the back room.

She stayed forty-five minutes every day. She would eat, read, glance at Azriel every two minutes, and then leave as soon as he caught her eye long enough to give him a goodbye wave.

It was routine. Azriel could handle routine. And he didn’t dislike Elain, not by any means. She just… intimidated him. She was so bright and smiley and sunshiney and nothing that he understood at all.

But… he liked her. He liked her visits. After a few weeks he found himself anticipating her arrival every day, making sure to keep her table open and the pickles stocked.

And then he got moved to the coffee bar.

It was the most popular part of the cafe, and they had more than enough waitresses on the restaurant side. And according to the manager, Azriel’s “mysterious aesthetic” matched the coffee shop culture they were trying to advertise… whatever that meant.

So when Elain stumbled into the coffee shop side on his first day as a barista with wide eyes at the crowd full of beanie wearing, script writing hipsters, Azriel finally forced himself to recognize that she came to the cafe every day for HIM.

She had smiled brightly at him the same way she always did, cutting her eyes over to him every few seconds while waiting in line. When she finally reached the register and he went to take her order, she froze.

“Ummm… what do you suggest?” She had asked innocently. Azriel had to bite back a laugh.

“Well I drink an Americano almost every day.”

“I’ll have that then,” she had said brightly, standing up on her tiptoes excitedly.

After he had made her drink, he kept his eyes on her while serving the other customers. A guy ordering a mocha frappuccino had looked at him like he was insane when he laughed suddenly after seeing the hilarious face Elain made at the first sip of her drink.

It was clear she hated the coffee, but she stayed the whole forty-five minutes like she always did. He wasn’t able to look over at her or talk to her hardly at all since the coffee bar was constantly busy, but he knew she was there.

He did make a point though to catch her goodbye wave through the crowd.

This continued for a week. Every day he suggested her a new drink and she agreed immediately. And every day she could barely swallow it down and threw it away without another sip.

Then on Friday, there was a horrible thunderstorm that closed down half the bridges in the city. So on Saturday morning when Azriel was working, the coffee bar was - for once - blissfully quiet.

And there she was. In her bright blue raincoat and a yellow umbrella stumbling through the door with a huff as she pushed her wet hair out of her face. Azriel leaned against the counter and laughed.

“Nice umbrella,” Azriel called out. Elain jumped, the umbrella in question slipping from her hand and clattering to the floor.

“Oh shoot,” she murmured, making Azriel laugh as she bent down to pick up the umbrella. She whipped her head up at the sound of his laughter, whacking herself in the face with her wet hair. “For goodness sake,” she huffed as she finally pulled herself together.

Azriel was still chuckling as she hung up her coat and umbrella and walked over to the counter.

“It’s quiet in here,” she said, a blush blooming on her cheeks. “I’ve never seen it not packed before.”

“That’s because most people aren’t crazy enough to come to a coffee shop when half the city is shut down.”

“I’m not crazy,” Elain bit back. Azriel’s brow lifted in surprise. “I just like… coffee,” she said carefully.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Elain,” Azriel deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at her. “Come on. Do you really like coffee?”

“Did you really just ask me that? Of course I do!” Elain shot back incredulously.

“Okay.” Azriel stood to his full height. “If you love coffee so much…”

He reached out and grabbed a small cup, filling it halfway with their traditional house blend. He sat it down in front of her smoothly.

“Drink that.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Elain’s eyes were huge.

“You like coffee, right? Then plain coffee shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Right,” Elain said slowly, nodding her head. “Coffee. Plain coffee, of course I like plain coffee. I drink plain coffee all the time, it’s like my lifeline you know? Can’t study without coffee, am I right?”

Her nervous fake laughter was the most adorable thing Azriel had ever heard in his entire life.

“Oh for sure.” He nodded back to her, biting his lip to keep back his smile.

“Okay. I’m just gonna… drink this now.”

“Go ahead.”

“I will.”

“Great.”

Azriel propped his chin in his hand and watched as she lifted the cup to her lips. She winced when the smell hit her and his shoulder started to shake with restrained laughter.

Closing her eyes tightly, Elain threw back a decent amount before setting the cup down in front of her.

“Good job,” Azriel said. “You still haven’t swallowed it yet though.”

Elain nodded, her face red in pain. She squinted her eyes back shut as she forced herself to swallow the drink in full.

She took in a deep breath, licking her lips.

“Mmmm. Coffee.”

Azriel kept it together for about two seconds before he burst into laughter. Elain groaned, pushing the coffee away from her and putting her head on the counter.

“Is it really that obvious?” She moaned.

“Oh painfully so,” Azriel said. In a rare moment of confidence, he put his index finger under Elain’s chin and lifted her face to his. “You know you could’ve just ordered water.”

Elain blushed profusely, dipping her eyes away from his gaze.

“I know, but… I thought that would make it even more obvious why I come here every day.”

“And why do you really come?”

“You know why.”

“Yeah. But maybe I want to hear you say it.”

Elain took a deep breath, biting her lip.

“I like being around you,” she whispered. “You look at me like… like I matter. You don’t make fun of the bright colors in the middle of winter, or the flower crowns. You just seem to see… me.”

Azriel stared at her, his mouth parting at her words. Instead of saying anything though, he leaned across the counter and pressed his lips to hers.

He felt her sigh into his mouth, her lips so soft under his own. She tasted like peppermint chapstick and…

“You taste like coffee,” he said with a laugh.

Elain huffed.

“So do you. If we’re going to do this more often you need to start carrying around a toothbrush.”

Oh yes I enjoyed this one.

________

While they were fighting the King of Hybern, he had forced himself not to think about her any more than necessary.

She was still figuring out her feelings about her mate, dealing with being Made, reeling over her former fiancée, and trying to take care of her sisters as much as she was able.

And the more Azriel thought about her, about her quiet strength hidden behind that sweet smile and polite manners and charm, she sank into his heart just a little bit more.

So he kept her at a distance. She tended to hover near him, drawn to his silence and calm demeanor in comparison to all of the others. He never pushed her away, but never moved any closer despite how much he wanted to.

But then the War ended. Nesta killed the King of Hybern herself and the courts were working towards peace with each other and the humans.

So he allowed himself to think about her a little bit more each day.

About how she had been so strong in her choice to find love on her own terms and not jump into the mating bond with Lucien. They had both agreed that… perhaps they just weren’t right for each other - equals or not.

He thought about how she had been the glue that brought her sisters back together across old grudges and feuds because she loved them so much.

He thought about how she said very quietly to him one afternoon that a man with as much hatred in his heart as her former fiancée had had was not a man worth loving.

He thought about how she may have struggled in her new body but she persevered and never lost her smile.

And so when she continued to be drawn to his silence and his calm after the War, he let her. He let himself be drawn to her as well. And they became… friends.

It was a sort of relationship that he had never had before. Rhys and Cassian were his friends of course, but they were his brothers too. His loyalty ran deep and fierce and it was ingrained in his soul.

Mor and Feyre and Amren held something similar in his heart. For a long time he had confused his devotion to Mor and his need to protect as love, but they had learned together just who they were to one another during the fight with Hybern. And it wasn’t lovers.

Elain though, she was his friend. A confidant, an ear to whisper into, someone to go on walks with, and read alongside, and make sly jokes about Nesta and Cassian’s stifling sexual tension with.

The friendship continued to grow and soon it blossomed into something more. He wouldn’t quite call it love - not yet. But something that would turn into love.

And he wasn’t afraid of it. Not the way he had been afraid of what he thought he felt for Mor. And that’s how he knew it was real.

It was at the first Starfall after the War ended that he decided he would let himself tell her. Tell her that being her friend, being her… person… it was one of the best parts of his life.

She found him waiting for Starfall to begin on the roof of the townhouse. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled - still such a rare sight for him, but less rare around Elain. She bounded up beside him with a grin of her own and looked up at the sky.

“I’m excited to see this,” she said brightly. “Feyre says it’s just wonderful.”

“It is,” Azriel said quietly in his midnight voice.

She shot him another smile before looking back up at the sky. He watched her, loving the way she was so at ease around him and his shadows. He hadn’t even realized she was looking back at him until she spoke.

“What are you looking at?” She asked with a giggle.

“You,” he said simply.

Elain blushed profusely as she looked down at her feet and Azriel felt his own cheeks heat.

Normally this would be where he disappeared into the shadows or made an excuse for having to leave. But… not with her.

“Elain,” he said almost inaudibly, his voice strained. She snapped her eyes back up to his immediately.

“Yes?”

“May I… I was wondering if…”

“Kiss me,” Elain cut in breathlessly.

Azriel thought his heart may have stopped beating.

“What?”

“Kiss me,” Elain repeated. “No wait… I’ll kiss you.”

“Elain–”

Azriel was cut off as Elain surged forward and pressed her lips to his. He stumbled back in surprise and Elain yelped as she moved with him, but then he steadied her with his hands on her hips and she froze for a split second before melting into his touch.

Her lips were warm and soft beneath his and he couldn’t help but groan and grip her hips tighter when she slid her hands into his hair.

“Elain,” he murmured into her mouth as he pulled her flush against him. She gasped and he took the opportunity to dip his tongue into her mouth.

“Oh!” She said suddenly, pulling back just a fraction of an inch.

Azriel was breathing heavily, his hazel eyes dark as he stared at her lips.

“Was that too much?”

“No, no,” she said quickly. “I just… No ones ever kissed me that way before.”

Azriel smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear from where it had fallen out of her braid.

“Well then let me show you,” he whispered as his lips descended on hers again.

They didn’t watch any of the stars that night.

“Dammit.”

“What’s wrong?” Elain asked immediately, looking up from her book. Azriel chuckled at the way her hair fell in front of her left eye and she made no move to push it out of the way.

“Nothing,” he said offhandedly, waving her off.

“Well it can’t be nothing,” she murmured in response, putting her bookmark in and carefully laying the book on her reading stand before walking over to him.

“I promise love, it’s fine,” he said softly.

Of course she ignored him, coming to stand in between his legs where he sat on the edge of their bed. He tried to put his hand behind his back from where he had been fiddling with it but she only grabbed it gently and held it up close to her face. He had to restrain a chuckle when her eyes started to cross.

“You have a splinter.”

He couldn’t hold back his laughter that time at how matter-of-fact she sounded.

“Yes Elain, I have a splinter. Your observation skills are improving every day.”

She huffed and shot him a glare that he only smirked at before plopping down in his lap and pulling his hand back up to her face. His free hand immediately laid against her lower back gently.

“Big bad Illyrian warrior can’t even get out his own splinter,” she mused to herself. Azriel only smiled, watching her as she stared at the splinter in his index finger as if it were the greatest mystery in the world.

“Maybe I just wanted you to kiss it and make it better,” he said softly.

Elain huffed. “Well that won’t help anything. You need some oil or tweezers. Or magic, of course.”

Azriel laughed low in his chest and Elain shot him a glare when she shook as a result. He gave her an apologetic look and gestured for her to continue.

Lifting her hand, Elain danced her fingertips over Azriel’s scarred fingertips. He kept his eyes on her though rather than the small splinter as it came out.

“There,” Elain said proudly as she held up the splinter. She met his gaze with a grin from ear to ear. “Got it.”

“Thank you, flower,” he said softly before pressing his lips to hers. She smiled into the chaste but sweet kiss.

“Got any more splinters?”

“I’m sure I could find a few.”