Battle Scars

The bonds of female friendships

Eve had made Az make it up to her through three small dates, a gift in the form of a customized sitar- he said they could both learn it together which she had agreed to, albeit a bit hesitant- and a whole lot of adoration and attention from him, for her. She felt almost guilty for exploiting him so much after he had promised to make up to her but, when he was holding her in his arms and laughing and smiling till his entire face brightened, she could not bring it in herself to feel guilty when he was the consequence. Anything that led her to him, she decided, was worth it. He was worth it.

Of course, there was the business with the mating bond. They still needed to set down some ground rules- or rather, in Eve's case, set of guidelines like not keeping important things a secret. Or he could sleep on the couch, or outside the house. The very house they had spent the last three days in. With him making up for the various amounts of secrets he had kept from her.

The entire Circle of her friends and his had been oddly quiet about the entire affair the first day. And that is how she had come to know- everyone save for Nesta, the future Valkyrie and Bri knew. Even Helion and Varian knew! She had made all of them give her apologies for the same too- except Amren; no one could make that female do anything.

Telling Nesta had been another situation. Once Eve had told her, Nesta had hugged her, apologized profusely on the behalf of her sister (whom Eve was yet to confront and did not wish to talk or think about), and had along with the House given her bountiful of chocolates. And after assuring herself of Eve's happiness and Azriel's not-fault, the Lady Death had forgiven the Shadowsinger.

It had been fun to see everyone who knew reaction to the fact that Eve too knew about her being mates with Azriel. Cassian- when she had casually mentioned on going with a date with her mate- had spewed his drink all upon the table and some on Azriel much to the spymaster's disgust, sputtering and coughing. Eve had only chuckled at the General's reaction- saying it served him right to choke on his drink when he had kept this secret from her.

Amren had merely shrugged in response, replying with a finally. Figured.

Mor had only opened and closed her mouth before starting a sentence with "About that-" It had lasted an entire hour with the female de-trailing from her explanation several times. Az had a headache by the end of it.

Feyre and Rhys were another story. Az and her- on the third day- spent the night at the townhouse with the couple. A thank you for helping them back together due to their meddling. The wine had flowed and card games had gotten so competitive that Az and Rhys had been sitting in their armchairs almost till midnight- trying to beat the other for the sake of their own male pride. Eve, tired, had only winked at Az before saying out loud, "good night, mate," in an Australian accent. Rhys (shocked and caught guilty) had lost that card round and Feyre had gaped like a fish.

But, best of all, was the fact that every time they went on a date, or she called him her mate, or expressed her love in any way or form, her Az would gain a small pink dust on his cheeks, his shadows would swirl around and adoration would pulse down the bond.

A bond she was still getting used to.

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Eve was lounging on the couch with Nesta sitting down, using the couch as backrest. Eve was proud of the priestess- it was the first time she was spending a night outside the library. Nesta had invited them to spend the night and they all had agreed. Eve suspected Nesta had become a bit lonely and restless with Cassian still away. Gwyn had gone to ask for permission from Clotho when Emerie smirked, sprawled across the armchair, legs dangling over an arm, her back against the other. "Cassian must be really good at sex, if you're so tied up in knots while he's gone." Eve covered up her surprise laugh. "He's ..." Nesta made a low noise in her throat.