#(listen Rowan the prompt said art show)

[shieldretired]

development tea room 12 days of murder mysteries @symbiiotic gets a little surprise for day 11

                           TURNS OUT THAT WHEN YOU'RE A MEMBER OF THE MET, you'll not only get to skip the queue at the ticket counter with your fancy little membership card but you're also invited to special events such as the opening of the brand new art exhibit of Sören Gorenson, an eccentric Swedish artist who likes to get attention, no matter how. Because going alone is boring and his invitation includes a plus one, Steve sweet-talks Eddie into joining him with the promise of an open bar, free food, and the prospect of sexual shenanigans after seeing Eddie dressed up in a suit for three hours and consequently getting riled up by it. 

                        And damn, does he clean up nicely, Steve thinks as he strolls over with two whiskey glasses in hand. "What is a guy like you doing here all alone?" he asks with a grin as he very obviously eyes Eddie in his sexy black suit. He even adds a little flirtatious wink as he casually leans against the bar table littered with the remnants of their appetizers. Then he hands over the alcohol. "Maybe I can invite you for a drink, and we–"

                         The light goes out suddenly, plunging the hall into darkness, and Steve's stupid brain makes him step close to Eddie, hand on his arm because his mind screeches danger and protect, but before his eyes can adjust to the dim light coming from the emergency exit signs, the lamps click back on. A loud, collective gasp from most of the museum visitors makes Steve look over to where they placed Gorensson's centerpiece, a rather ugly-looking sculpture of a whale littered with gemstones. Only it's missing now, the glass showcase empty. "Well," Steve says as all hell breaks loose. "I guess this proves that visiting the museum is not that boring."

[tallbluelady]

12. humming a melody together

After working with the rambunctious group that included Nero tol Scaeva, Rowan found herself needing quieter company. Within a few days they would ascend to the top of the Crystal Tower and Rowan found that she fared much better in battle if she had a rested mind as well as body.

Unable to find a restful environment in the Rising Stones, Rowan sought the quieter company of the Waking Sands. She stopped by the common room to see who was still out and about.

"Rowan, what brings you here to the Sands?" Arenvald asked.

"It's too noisy at the Stones lately," Rowan said. "I can't hear myself think half the time."

Arenvald chuckled. "Well, if you don't mind me chattering away then I think you'll have a better time here."

Rowan sat and listened to the various gossip of Vesper Bay through Arenvald's eyes. It was nice to just listen to and comprehend a singular conversation rather than seven or so. The young man had just gotten into the more esoteric chores Urianger was having him do when the man himself entered the room.

"Arenvald, dost thou know if there is yet any stew remaining?" he asked, then he almost jumped when he saw Rowan. "Mistress Rowan, I did not expect thy company tonight. Is aught the matter at the Rising Stones?"

"There's naught but the voices of just a few too many people." Rowan smiled. "Alphinaud's recruitment strategy seems to work despite my shyness." 

Urianger nodded and spoke praise of the young Scion as Arenvald got the three of them bowls of stew that was still on the hearth. The three of them shared the meal in happy conversation and stories.

Arenvald yawned and stretched after a few bells had passed. "Well, I think it's time for me to hit the hay. You two - well, you two are going to stay up as late as you want, but don't stay up later than usual."

Rowan chuckled and waved the other Scion good night.

Urianger tapped on the table for a few seconds to a familiar rhythm after Arenvald left. Then his face lit up. "I just recalled the book I wanted to show thee. Shall we adjourn to the library?"

The tapped rhythm wouldn't leave Rowan's head as they walked to the cramped space that served as the Sands' library. She hummed at a volume she thought was low enough to not be heard. She had been reprimanded enough as a child to learn how to keep her volume in check.

So she chuckled when she heard Urianger start humming along with her as he traced the book covers finding his book.

"Wherefore art thou laughing?" he asked, handing her the book.

"We ended up humming the same song," Rowan said. "The funny thing is that I don't even remember what it's called."

Urianger gave a nervous chuckle. "Ha, so we did... ah, I believe the title to be The Red Rocks, which this tome also taketh as its own. Arenvald sangest the tune as he was cooking tonight. And as thou hadst asked about a book on Ala Mhigo but recently so did fate deigneth to remind me of it."

"Thank you," Rowan said warmly, "I'll read it tonight." Both smiled at the other awkwardly, unable to think of what else to say. Rowan turned quickly to remove the sudden temptation to give Urianger a peck on the cheek. Where did that come from? Mayhap I've been with A'quexta and Thorsthal too long. "Good night, milady," he called as she reached the door. "Ah, good night, Urianger."

Thanks for the prompt!

[imaginedhaven]

Reluctantly Rooming Bonus: Part 4.5 (Rowan POV)

Link to Masterpost

As promised for my celebration of reaching 100+ followers, here is the bonus from Reluctantly Rooming! This takes place during Part Four, and uses two entirely new prompts. Enjoy!

Prompts:

“What do you mean you don’t read my texts if they’re over four lines…”

and

"You're very endearing when you're half asleep"

~*~*~

The moment Aelin hung up, Rowan rushed into action. Thankfully, he always made it a point to keep his things organized in such a way that leaving the apartment never took longer than a couple of minutes. The only other thing he had to do was call his work, and he did so as soon as he got in the car, fingers drumming against the steering wheel as the dial tone rang for what felt like entirely too long.

Finally, a soft click interrupted the ringing. “This is Salvaterre,” drawled a bored voice.

Thank whatever god was choosing to listen, he had picked up. “Lorcan, it’s Rowan. I’m going to need to work from home at least for today, if not longer.”

He heard the faint sounds of Lorcan sitting upright. “Why? And why are you telling me this over the phone and not in writing?”

“Because I’m not at my laptop right now, and if I texted you you’d send a novel. The last one included paragraph breaks, Lorcan. I don’t have time to read your shit on top of everything else, so if you send me a text that’s over four lines it doesn’t get read.”

“What do you mean, you don’t read my texts if they’re over four lines? You do understand that you report to me, right?”

Rowan rolled his eyes. “Yes, but if it can’t be said in two sentences or less it’s better off as an email. We’ve had this discussion before, and I’m not hashing it out again on my way to the hospital.”

“The hospital? Rowan, what the fuck is going on?”

His fingers started drumming against the steering wheel once more as he came to a red light. “My roommate broke her ankle,” he finally said. “She didn’t have anyone else to take her home, and you know as well as I do that I can do my work as easily from home as I can in the office. I don’t even have any meetings this week, so that makes it all the easier.”

A sigh crackled over the phone line. “You’ll be picking up Fen’s work next month in exchange. Your current project should be done by then, and he has a vacation in the works already.”

Rowan bit back a groan; the books Fenrys edited were far from his normal preference. It would have to do, though, and there was every chance Lorcan had planned on dumping it on him anyway. “Fine.”

As the light turned green once more, Lorcan hung up rather than say goodbye, but Rowan knew that was simply how he handled calls. He hadn’t been bothered by it in quite some time. Not to mention, it was a welcome relief to not have to keep splitting his already-fragmented attention.

When he arrived to Aelin’s room in the hospital she was almost entirely asleep, likely a combination of the painkillers they were sure to have given her and the late night she had worked. A gentle hand on her shoulder resulted in her blearily blinking up at him and then smiling. “Rowan.”

Rowan carefully ignored the fluttering sensation in his chest at her smile, instead helping her transfer herself into the wheelchair that sat beside the bed. A set of papers sat on the table beside her, and a brief glance showed them to be her discharge paperwork and care instructions. Knowing those would be important later, he grabbed them and then began to wheel her to his car.

She had fallen completely asleep by the time he’d managed to get her into the car seat, and he shook his head as he buckled her in. Frankly, he was amazed that she’d made it this long, knowing the long day she’d had. Therefore, he didn’t bother with attempting to wake her, but instead quietly drove them home.

It was somewhat awkward to lift her into his arms from the seat, but he managed. Opening the door was another feat, and he still wasn’t quite sure how he’d wrangled it, but then they were in the house and the door was closed behind them.

Even though Aelin was stirring now, carrying her up the narrow staircase was absolutely out of the question. She would have to get comfortable on the couch until he could rearrange things so she could sleep in his office space.

There were a few throw pillows around that had to have been Aelin’s addition to the house; he didn’t believe it likely that Aedion had thought enough about interior decorating to do so. When he had first moved in they had been an annoyance, all bright colors and bold patterns, but now he was thankful for their presence as they allowed him to help elevate Aelin’s ankle.

When he had finished with his task, Aelin opened her eyes. She was struggling to focus on him, however, and when she spoke the words were almost unintelligible. Rather than ask her to repeat herself, though, he reached for a throw blanket that was old enough to have possibly been Aedion’s. “You must be exhausted,” he said quietly. “Sleep now. We’ll talk later.”

She mumbled again in reply, but it was even less understandable than her first attempt at speech. As he spread the blanket over her, her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing evened out. Good. She would need all of the sleep she could get.

There were several things he needed to do in order to have the house ready for this new situation, and he could feel each task weighing on him. But as Aelin sighed and her head shifted, he allowed himself an extra moment at her side to carefully brush her long golden waves away from her face.

One of her hands shifted, then, and her fingers wrapped around her wrist. With a thrill of panic at being caught, he glanced at her face, only to see that she was still obviously asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief, but the relief was soon replaced by a different kind of thrill when his hand was moved and…

Gods. Was she… nuzzling his hand?

To save them both from guaranteed embarrassment later, he tried to remove his hand from her grip, but she only whined and tugged it closer. He sighed. “Aelin, you’re very endearing when you’re half asleep, but I have other things I need to do.”

Whether it was his words that swayed her or whether she had simply fallen into a deeper sleep, she mercifully loosened her grip on his wrist enough for him to free his hand. Still, though, he lingered for a moment longer, telling himself it was just to make sure she was truly asleep before he began his reorganization of the lower level of the house.

He carefully didn’t examine why it was so important to him that he not wake her while he did so. That would only lead to a conversation he wasn’t ready to have yet, not even with himself.

~*~*~

Tagging:

@ireallyshouldsleeprn @queen-of-glass @fangirlprincess09 @sassys-world @morganofthewildfire @superspiritfestival @perseusannabeth @sis-it-dont-add-up @jlinez @julemmaes @emilyoftheshadows @thegoddessofyou @mymultiversee @swankii-art-teacher @rowansfirebringer