A World Away

13. An evening out

The next evening Eve made her way to the hall after winning ... ok, leaving a mid-argument with Mike. He insisted it was a date. She insisted it wasn't.. this was just a friend taking out his friend for the evening. At this, Mike had countered that it would be alright if he came then to which Eve gave him a glare and walked out. His shout of "I am right, you will see," echoed down the hallway. Thankfully, no one else was present to hear it.

Cassian and Amren were gone somewhere. Mor had given her wiggling brows throughout dinner (when her headache had finally sobered up after last night) and made sure to tease her with Azriel. Eve had debated throwing a breadstick at Mor' head but instead showed great endurance, and simply ignored her remarks. Az was just a friend, (even if she liked him a bit). It was ridiculous really! She was a human from another world who ended up being an acquaintance to the Inner Circle. And Az was this powerful, amazing, gorgeous, sassy, hazel-eyed Illyrian Fae who could have almost anyone he wanted.

Sighing, she reached the hall and waited for Az and their non-date. She was a few minutes early.

Az made his way to the hall, his shadows a bit jittery- amusing him, well would have amused him if he himself wasn't excited borderline nervous. He never was someone to take out someone, alone, to celebrate their birthday. Why did he have to propose taking Eve alone, he could have told Mor who would have arranged a whopping party. But no, he had wanted to spend some time with Eve, away from all the curious eyes of his family and friends and so, on impulse had asked her out... as friends.

He saw Eve waiting and quickly made his way towards her. Though, two of his shadows beat him to it and curled around her bracelet. She wore her usual black pants with a fancy white top. Gosh, she looked good.

"Hey," Eve instantly smiled upon seeing his approaching figure. Also, his shadows were now buzzing around her pearl bracelet due to which she had a strange urge to giggle.

"Hey. You ready?" he asked, smiling nervously. She nodded, "where too?"

"I was thinking, we could go flying, then roam and have some dinner. And then, if you aren't tired, I wanted to show you my favorite place in Velaris.. after showing you your gift of course," he said, silently cringing.

"Showing?" Az just nodded, not revealing anything.

"Lead the way then, captain," Eve said, gesturing to the open sky. Az rose his brows, captain? "Do not know where that came from," Eve muttered, a bit embarrassed and went to stand on the balcony. Chuckling, Az followed.

They flew over Velaris for a while. "Does it snow or rain here, like ever?" Eve asked. It had been a year now without them and Eve missed it. She dearly missed the smell of the grass aftermath rains and building snow forts in the mornings. "Not here in Velaris," he answered.

Eve sighed and leant in his chest, making Az' breath hitch a bit. "I miss a lot of thing you know. But mostly I miss the various festivals I used to celebrate and the seasons, specially winter. I also miss social media but that I guess one can live without," she huffed.

"The weather here is controlled all year long. You can experience snow and rains but outside Velaris which we can't go due to obvious reasons," Az laughed although bitterly. Eve frowned; she hadn't meant to bring down his mood.

"Right," she replied while thinking of something to say so that his mood became better. Unknowingly, one of her fingers brushed against his wings. Az stiffened and on reflex let go of Eve and then dived right after her, cursing himself.

One second Eve was flying with Az, the next he dropped her and she was freefalling (again), though this time, towards the Sidra. She cursed profanities in the air that would have made any parent cover their child's ears.

Her yells could be heard by everyone but since they had been flying over the river, the people could just stare in horror as she went into water, the Shadowsinger closely following.

Splash! She went into the water and Az swore. Without thinking, he went in too, a lousy decision since it was difficult to swim with wings. Not a moment later... without his help, Eve gasped and came up. Meanwhile, Az had to do everything to try and swim. He was failing and flaying around.

Eve took a moment to orient herself. After blinking a few times, she found Az beside her, trying his best to stay up float. She couldn't stop the bubbling laughter inside her. Az looked at her incredulously.

Eve just shook her head, trying to contain her smile and helped Az to the shore who had seemingly forgotten that he had wings and could have flown back up.

"You are one lucky guy. If I hadn't known how to swim, you would've drowned given the fact that you were flaying around like a kid who doesn't know how to swim and because you forgot that you have literal wings," she said after she coughed up some water.

Az just lay before her and gave her a sheepish smile. Adorable, she thought and blushed a bit. "Sorry."

He was embarrassed to say the least. Also, angry at himself for letting go of Eve, he promised himself he would never do it again. In his panic, he also forgot that he was a Shadowsinger and an Illyrian warrior. He was also in awe at how laid-back Eve was about all of this... well until she smacked him on his head. "Ow!"

"Why did you suddenly let me free fall though? And if you say for fun, I will gut you," Eve said and started sneezing.

"NO! No, Cauldron no, it was just that- you um accidentally touched my wing," Eve raised a brow at this. Sighing, Az continued, "and our wings are kind of um sensitive." Her mouth parted in an 'oh' and Az blushed a bit, looking anywhere but at her. She sneezed again. "Sorry," Eve said as Az told his shadows to get some change of clothes. "For touching your wing without permission and threatening to gut you." Az chuckled, "water under the bridge."

"Here," he gave her one of his shirts from his shadows who had returned. She raised her brows. "I didn't want to invade the privacy of your room so the next best option was one of my shirts I outgrew," Az hoped he wasn't blushing. Eve looked at him for a moment, then shrugging took the shirt.

After that, they walked through the streets till they reached the artist' corner. Az shifted on his feet as they stopped at a small studio. "Your present," he said. "A studio?" she asked incredulously. "Well, you and Mike are always in the House alone trying to come up with music so I thought being here would help with the inspirations and keep you from getting bored." Eve just looked at him in shock before laughing incredulously- he had to be joking. Az gave her a ''I am not kidding' look which shut her up quickly. 

The studio was a bit small but cozy... in other words.. perfect for the duo and their instruments.

"This is fucking amazing. But- I can't accept this, it's-" "Already paid for," Az interrupted. "Besides, I have it for a few centuries now, either you take it or let it fall to ruins." Eve gulped- at the gesture and at the fact that Az was ancient. "Thank you," she finally uttered, and though her words were less, her eyes showed all the gratitude and happiness. Satisfied, Az showed her the place and then took her to dinner.

By the time they were done, Eve was too tired to go anywhere. She was also cold... Az felt guilty about that.

"Maybe next time," he said as they landed on the House's balcony when Eve apologized for her 'physiological body that gets tired quickly'.

"Thank you for tonight, I could almost hug you," she chuckled before parting. He knew the only reason she hadn't hugged him was because she being ever observant and knowing his story knew some aspects of him that he rarely showed to others. Az simply nodded before taking to the skies again. Thinking... he wouldn't have minded Eve hugging him. 

Happy reading. 

XOXO,

the amazing author