𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 | azriel

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

If Azriel had thought a week ago that he would be sitting outside a small cafe with flowers overflowing in hanging baskets waiting for Flavia to come out with drinks, he would think it was a completely made up scenario in his head. But it was his reality. The air was cold but it was nothing that he couldn't handle, but Flavia was wrapped up in her scarf, thick coat and gloves and shivering as she sat in her chair, placing a mug of coffee in front of him.

As he looked at her, he did feel bad. The only reason they needed to sit outside was because of him. There was nowhere inside the cafe where Azriel could sit comfortably with his wings. Azriel watched as Flavia pulled out a seat and sat down opposite him, cupping her mug between her two gloved hands. She raised her gaze and met Azriel's slightly concerned one.

"What's with the look?" Flavia asked, her voice slightly muffled by her scarf.

"You can sit inside," Azriel said. "I can stay out here."

Flavia frowned. "Absolutely not! We are completing that list together. It will not be together if I have my coffee indoors while you sit out here all on your own."

"But you are shivering," Azriel said.

Despite the many layers Flavia wore, there was still a small shake to her body that Azriel could tell she was trying to hide. "I will be fine," she answered. "Now, how do you want to tackle the tasks?"

Azriel took a sip of his coffee, the small chill in his body slowly warming. He was used to the cold temperature yet the warm drink still felt satisfying spreading through his body. "I don't know. I haven't even read the whole list."

Flavia held out one of her gloved hands. "Give me the list."

Without any questions, Azriel handed over the list and Flavia unfolded it and placed it on the table. She shuffled her chair closer to him, the metal scraping against the cobblestone street. While Flavia's eyes were on the list in front of her, Azriel's were on her. He still couldn't believe that someone was willing to do any of these tasks with him.

"We can cross a lot of these off in one go," Flavia said. "You can easily do number one and number thirty at the same time."

"What are those?" Azriel questioned.

"Read a book and relax," Flavia said. "In fact you can easily pair number twenty two with it as well. Have breakfast in bed."

Azriel rolled his eyes. "I don't see how I could have possibly done that by myself. I would need to go to the kitchen and make the food then go back to my room. It would be easier to just sit at the kitchen table."

Flavia giggled and Azriel turned his head toward her. "What's so funny?"

"That you assume that I will make you breakfast in bed."

Azriel's eyes widened. "That's not what I meant, I just..."

Flavia placed her gloved hand on his forearm. "Relax, I'm just teasing. But I will be expecting you to make me breakfast in bed too."

"There will be no doubt about that," Azriel replied, his gaze falling to the list once again. "So what shall we do about the theatre one? As far as I know the theatre in Velaris is currently under construction."

"Well, there is a theatre in the Summer Court, it's right on the beach. It's gorgeous! My father was originally from the Summer Court and he took me there when I was child. I try to go back on occasion. It's a way to remember him."

"I'm sorry," Azriel said, placing his hand on top of her gloved one.

Flavia smiled, yet it didn't reach her eyes. "It's okay. It didn't happen suddenly or anything, he caught an illness that was incurable, even the best healers couldn't help him. For a year I was expecting it but even when it happened, it was a surprise."