A World Away

15. Kiss and run

Eve smiled smugly as she entered the room that evening. Az raised his brows. She shrugged. "Eve you didn't!" Mike came into the room. She simply nodded and sat down, serving herself some lasagna.

"Did what?" Az asked. "She mailed Serena 2.0 cookies.. except they are made out of chilies with a coat of chocolate. She is allergic to chilly." 

"She had it coming," Eve defended herself. 

"I am not denying that but she is going to be barking mad, you know that right?" 

"Hmm," if Eve's eyes said anything- she was looking forward to her next move.

"Why would you do that?" Az asked her even though he was slightly amused. Serena 2.0 had been after the duo for a few weeks now so Az had little to no sympathy for her. "She called Mike stuff I do not care to repeat."

And that was that.

Later that evening, Az came up to Eve's room. It had become a routine of sorts to spend evenings together before Eve went to bed and Az went to do his daily spy-work paperwork.

"Ready?" He asked as she opened the door. Posters covered almost every inch of the walls and clothes were dumped on a chair. Her room was chaotic, but at the same time kind of organized and clean. Only Eve, he thought.

"Where to tonight?" she asked him, putting on a jacket.

"We could just eat and watch the stars? Last few dates-" Az abruptly stopped. Last few- outings. He never before had made any slip up and here he was, spilling that he liked to think of the outings as dates, indirectly telling her that he liked her. Oh Cauldron.

"That sounds nice," Eve commented, with a faint blush on her cheeks. Date. Shaking, she closed her bedroom door and took Az's arm who was shifting on his feet.

*****

"That one looks like a fist," she pointed to a constellation. Az shook his head. "I thought you loved star gazing."

"I do, but that doesn't mean I know which is which constellation. The only one I know is the Sagittarius. What about you?"

"Not all, just a few." Az replied, shifting his gaze from the stars to Eve whose gaze was still fixed towards the stars. "That's a few more than I know," Eve replied, making Az chuckle.

They stayed like that for a long time. Just looking at the stars and sneaking glances at one another. At some point, their hands had found each other's. Az' grip tightened. With Eve he didn't feel that his scars needed to be hidden, he could be anything and he had an inkling that Eve would still accept him. His shadows surrounded them, making Eve sigh.

"Are they sentient?" she asked abruptly. "They are, well kind of. They relay messages to me, very helpful for the Spymaster." 

"Cool," she said, touching one of the wisps. It quickly coiled against her finger in and made a ring of sorts. "Are they saying anything now?" 

"They are quite content right now actually. Why the sudden curiosity?" 

"I like to be aware," Eve shrugged. Being aware meant information, information meant power, which also meant never being defenseless.

She finally turned at properly looked at him only to find his gaze already locked on her. Eve cleared her throat as she thought this was the perfect moment to kiss him. Az' eyes darkened, "Eve..." he warned her. 

"Yes?" her voice came out hoarse, as if just as desperate to kiss him... at least once.

Az came closer, almost leaning over her. "Stop," he groaned. "Stop what?" she asked, her eyes flickering towards his lips. "Fuck it," and he kissed her. Attacked her with his lips. She let out a moan.

When they finally broke apart, Eve touched her lips, still not believing she had kissed him. Az was dumbstruck- kissing Eve was- it was the best feeling in the world.

"I should- go back. Mike and I have an early morning tomorrow," Eve finally managed to get out. "Oh, alright," Mike's name was a damper on his thoughts. Mike- Eve's best friend, Mike- who knew Eve longer and better.

"Right, see you later?" Eve needed to get out. Yes, they had kissed and damn if she didn't want to again. Yes, she liked him but did he or was it just a one-time thing? She needed to get away before she told him and embarrassed herself. He was Fae and she was a human from another world hoping to return, for as magical and amazing Velaris seemed to be, there is no place like home.

Az nodded. "Later." He didn't know if she liked him or it was a spur of the moment. He needed to go and talk it with Cassian before telling Eve... or not telling her. Cauldron, why did he have to catch feelings.

"Goodnight," Eve said. and with a sudden burst of impulse, kissed him on his cheeks and left hurriedly. Az was left there staring at her retreating figure with a faint blush on his cheeks.

*****

"YOU KISSED! OH MY GOD! I KNEW IT! HA! I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON BETWEEN YOU TWO!" Mike screamed, his pitch getting higher by the minute. "OH MY GOD STOP SCREAMING! WE LIVE WITH FAE! THEY CAN HEAR YOU SO GOD HELP ME, SHUT UP OR ELSE-" Eve screamed.

"Ok, ok, no need to get violent. But- oh my god, I am so happy for you."

"Me too. I mean we kissed but then I left cuz- ow!" Mike had hit her with a book on her head. "You left!?" Mike sighed loudly, "what will I ever do with you? Don't answer that, it was rhetorical." Eve closed her mouth.

"Let's continue this later, I want to eat my pancakes," and with that Eve left before Mike could make another comment.

"Gooo," Mike insisted after breakfast. "And say what exactly?" Eve scoffed. "That you like him?" Eve shook her head, "uh no thanks. I would like to keep my self-esteem intact." Mike sighed; Eve could be so stubborn at times.

"Go or else I will hit you with this breadstick," he said. "Fine!" she gave in after Mike's consistent nagging and left, albeit as slow as a snail, to find Azriel.

******

"So, you kissed her and then she left?" Cassian confirmed for the third time. "Yes," Az sighed, running a hand through his hair which was a mess. "And you like her?" Az nodded. "You like Eve? Not Mor," Cassian asked, blinking. "Yes! I like Eve!" "Huh, well see you later, I gotta go." "Wait what?! Cassian you-" "Sorry, Mor's waiting for me, unless you want to come or talk with her about this," Cass said and Az sighed. And with that Cassian left leaving behind a frustrated Azriel to deal with his feelings after giving him a sympathetic smile and saying, "just tell her, I'm sure she likes you too."

Happy reading.... a character we all love is about to enter soon :)

XOXO,

the amazing author