#poor gwyn

[blurbfics]

There'd Better Be a Mirrorball | Azriel x OFC [part four]

Summary: Time skip. Cassian decides Eowyn could benefit from a little extra training. a.k.a., let the slow-burn begin

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: swearing, sexual implications, male/female sparring, shy!Azriel, use of the word "ginger" to refer to Eris

Minors, do not interact.

a/n: thank you so much for accompanying me in this journey! let's figure out where this story is headed together, shall we?

part three

Masterlist

"I just kept hoping, I just kept hoping

the way would become clear.

I spent all this time

tryna play nice and fight my way here.

See, I've been having me a real hard time

but it feels so nice to know I'm gonna be alright."

Alabama Shakes, This Feeling

CASSIAN POV

He knew, from the moment he woke up, that today would be a good day.

Knew it when he woke up with his mate’s lips wrapped around his cock, knelt with her ass up from between his legs as she looked up at him, her gray eyes lit with knowing mischief as she roused him in his second favorite way of waking up (second only to his gaining of consciousness from between her thighs, a game they liked to play– how long until Cassian realizes he’s being suffocated by his mate’s pussy?)

Knew it when he went down to breakfast, to find his usual porridge, the gruel made better when his mate added those tiny dashes of cinnamon and allspice she’d been obsessing over since Eowyn began to introduce a myriad of spices she assured didn’t carry empty calories and made everything taste better.

But getting punched in the face? That solidified his assessment for the day.

The sound of bones hitting flesh was not an uncommon sound in the training ring. After all, that was what they were there to do. But the sound of Eowyn’s small but fierce fist connecting with the side of his jaw echoed through the ring with such a thunderous smack that everyone stopped what they were doing and focused only on them.

When he saw Eowyn’s wide, almost fearful eyes, the only part of her face revealed from her coverings, the only thing he could do was grin in reply. “Think you can do that again?” He challenged, moving his jaw side to side to relieve the familiar ache.

Instantly, the fear disappeared as she remembered that this was what they were here for and she had done absolutely nothing wrong.

It had been a few months since the young priestess had joined their little group of Warrior Priestesses, as he liked to call them. Although he had to admit he was rather partial to his mate and her friends, Eowyn had been quick to sneak her way into his limited list of favorite people. The girl was strong, both in character and when it came to the constant drilling they did. She was determined and always hyper-focused, never hesitating to repeat a motion or new move again and again until she got it right— did so, with little to no complaint, as well.

She was funny in a strange way, sharing that dry wit that he always came to associate with his mate, one of the reasons he believed the girls got along so well. And she was incredibly smart. He had no need to see her septganiums to know that, she simply oozed a certain sense of knowing. One had only to take a look at her deep dark eyes (in the rare and far between occasions she didn’t cover her entire head, that is) to see that shrewdness in her eye, as if she was in on a joke with the world at everyone else’s expense.

But most of all, she was fast.

The first time he’d seen her and Azriel go at it during their hand-to-hand combat sessions (as she was the odd-fae out when the females paired off to spar), he hadn’t hesitated to insert himself, practically trembling with excitement as he proposed a trade with his brother. Azriel could train with the three Valkyries, as they were honing in their sword-fighting and everyone knew that swordplay was Az’s area of expertise, while Cassian gave Wynnie a whirl, he had said, winking at the priestess whose only reply was to jut out a hip and rest a hand on it in an endearingly sassy way.

He hadn’t missed the way his brother’s jaw clenched in annoyance despite his otherwise unmoved face, as he merely nodded once, stilted, and left them to spar. He also hadn’t missed the fact that he could often feel his brother’s penetrating gaze on them whenever Cass had to physically adjust Eowyn’s elbows or whenever he landed a slightly-too-hard blow upon the young priestess (who actually took the jabs with much more grace and sportsmanship than others he knew— I’m looking at you, Rhys— he called out into the open void of his head in case the High Lord was eavesdropping).

But today of all days, Eowyn’s training had paid off. Months of hard training and half-taunting her had culminated into the perfect moment where she had landed a concise and heavy blow to his jaw, in a manner much too fast and skilled for him to catch immediately.

He had never been more proud of her.

Surprise gone, she smirked at him from under her covering, eyes glinting with mirth, “I’m about to drop you like a sack of potatoes.”

Grinning back, he got in position, wings ruffling slightly and beckoned her to try.

—

Although no one had the remotest intention of allowing any of the Valkyries near the upcoming Blood Rite, Cassian and Azriel had decided that the obstacle course from the previous year had been an invigorating and perfect team-building success.

The Valkyries, both the new and the slightly more experienced, continued their tradition at the end of each training session to attempt to cut the ribbon, not so much as the true Valkyrie rite of passage, but out of respect and tradition for their predecessors. The obstacle course had been something that was itching at Cassian’s brain again and he was looking forward to seeing what this batch of Warrior Priestesses could do.

Thus, he had dragged Azriel over to the kitchen table that same night to begin to brainstorm possible courses for the girls that didn’t overlap with what they had done before. Thankfully his brother was an endless pit of ideas, some more fatal that others, but all so concise that Cassian knew Azriel had been planning this for much longer than he thought.

Yawning behind his mug, Cassian inspected his brother before taking a sip from his lavender and chamomile tea, yet another addition to his routine influenced by Eowyn. The reminder of the young female brought a sudden idea to his mind.

“What do you think of Eowyn?” He asked his brother casually, trying to remember if he’d ever seen the pair interact beyond the basics of training.

Azriel, to his credit, didn’t choke on his own tea, exactly, but Cassian— not the most observant by nature but also not an idiot— noticed the way his brother seemed to tense, his breathing halting before painstakingly exhaling out the smallest hint of a shudder, his eyes suddenly fixed on the fruit at the center of the table.

“What… do you mean?” Azriel asked slowly.

Cassian chuckled lightly, a little confused as he looked at his brother in a way to say what do you think I mean? Just exactly what I asked.

“She punched me in the face today,” Cassian stated obviously, as if that hadn’t been the talk echoing through the mountain all day long. His brother looked up at him and blinked, face blank. 

Cassian took that as encouragement to continue, although he found himself slightly concerned at the fact that he had to spell it out for him. “She’s skilled. And she works hard, wants to work hard,” he emphasized. “I mean she hasn’t said anything to me, but I think some extra training would do her good.”

“You want her to train more?” His brother seemed to gather his composure, and although his strange behavior sparked a little tendril of interest in Cassian, he let it go for the moment.

“I want you to train her more,” Cassian corrected, placing his clasped hands on the table in a manner he’d seen Rhys do one too many times.

“Why don’t you do it?” Azriel bristled.

“Because I have courier duties with what’s-his-ginger-face.”

“And you assume I have nothing better to do with my time? Weren’t you assigned that job specifically because I was too swamped with work?”

“But all that shit with Briallyn is over and done with, and we haven’t heard a peep or anything related to Koschei in months,” he took another sip of his tea, making a mental note to send Eowyn some flowers or something. He’d quickly gotten addicted to his night tea, almost as much as the fancy roasted beans she liked to grind together and brew for him and the other girls whenever Nesta had them over for lunch. “That is, unless you want to take back your place and deal with that pompous asshole?”

Cassian thought about it. “Actually, that does sound better.”

“No,” Azriel spoke with such finality that Cassian could only stare at him. Azriel cleared his throat, “you know I can’t stand that prick.” He looked away and sighed, “alright, I’ll train her.”

“If she even wants to,” Cassian chuckled. “I know you don’t stay here as much as you used to, but you should consider coming back here if she agrees. And don’t start with that ‘I don’t want to intrude’ bullshit. Wynnie hangs around here all the time and we barely even see her.”

“That’s because she’s always in the greenhouse.”

“And how would you know that?” Cassian couldn’t help but prod, disregarding his earlier decision to leave things alone. Azriel only motioned to his shadows, eyebrow raised. Cassian continued, although with no small amount of doubt at his brother’s nonchalance. “You know, it’s actually been pretty nice having her around. Granted, she’s always talking to herself, but she’s got good taste,” he brought the tea cup up in mock salute.

“You don’t have to convince me, I already agreed to train her” Azriel rolled his eyes.

But there was more there. Cassian knew his brother, knew him better than anyone other than Rhys, who could quite literally enter his mind, and he knew there was something there, something simmering under the surface.

He only hoped no one got burned in the process.

“Alright, alright,” he raised his hands in surrender, “we’ll ask her tomorrow then.”

—

As he settled down for bed after taking a long and quite enlightening bubbly bath with his mate, he listened as she shared the details of her day with him. Nesta’s back was to him as she sat on the bed, hands expertly plaiting her hair into a long loose braid as she recounted her day, asking him about his own as they had come to do as part of their nightly routine since they solidified their mating bond.

He shrugged as he told his wife about his day, tactfully avoiding his plan to reconstruct the obstacle courses that she and the priestesses hated so much, but recounted everything else, including his idea to have Azriel train Wynnie.

He noticed, as he noticed every fluttering eyelash and breath his mate so much as took, the way she tensed up slightly, back still to him before she swung her finished braid over her shoulder and settled into her side of the bed, eyebrow raised questioningly at him.

“What?” He asked immediately, “you don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“I think it’s going to complicate things, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean?” He frowned, “has she complained to you? Am I being too hard on her?” He asked, suddenly thinking back to his interactions with Eowyn and trying to decipher if she ever expressed any discomfort or displeasure by the training. But damn, it was so hard to tell without being able to see her face properly.

“No, it’s not that,” his mate assured, immediately, knowing her mate well enough to know he’d spiral into a hole and start overthinking his friendship with all the priestesses while he was at it. “It’s just that..” she trailed off slightly, gray eyes turning up to think about her words, “you know… Gwyn hasn’t spoken a word to Azriel since you let it slip that he hated the dagger she gave him-“

“I apologized for that!”

“-yes, but she hasn’t spoken to him for two months. And Azriel has barely even noticed,” she huffed. “But do you know who Az can’t seem to take his eyes off?”

He knew this. Of course, he knew this. He had felt Az’s eyes on them on more than one occasion, and he knew well that his brother seemed to have a thing for unattainable and uninterested females.

He only frowned, not needing to answer.

“And Gwyn has noticed. Of course she’s noticed, she watches him like a hawk.”

Cassian settled into bed, pulling his mate into his chest. “You think there’s something going on between Az and Wynnie?” he mumbled to her.

“No,” Nesta said immediately, settling further into the spot between his shoulder and neck that she’d claimed as her own. “Wynnie wouldn’t do that to Gwyn.”

Cassian hummed, mind turning before coming to a decision. “But we can’t meddle in their business, Nes. I think Eowyn would really benefit from more training and I can’t do it myself, otherwise I would.”

“I know,” his mate sighed sleepily, “I’m just saying it’s going to be a proper mess.”

—

After training, a session no less grueling than the rest, but not quite as backbreaking as the obstacle courses they were going to face in the next few months, he called Wynnie over after her daily attempt at cutting the ribbon.

The practice had become a staple in their daily training, and every day the priestesses would stand before the ribbon, swords raised in their preferred manner of combat and would slice the swords down with precision, if not quite the necessary finesse required to cut the ribbon clean off.

“I know, I know, ‘it’s all in the wrist,’” she huffed when she approached them. 

Despite his own suspicions that his brother held a special interest in the young priestess that went beyond a trainer/trainee status, he hadn’t truly considered why until his conversation with his mate the previous night. After his mating bond with Nesta— no, after meeting Nesta, even while she was still human— he hadn’t bothered to look at females in any other way that wasn’t purely platonic or inconsequential. 

He knew Eowyn was a rather pretty fae, of course, even despite the scars she kept well hidden, but he’d never seen her as anything other than his mate’s friend. As his friend.

She was of average height, neither too tall nor too short. Her clothes were no different from the rest of the priestesses, if perhaps only darker tones, and she often wore what he thought were skirts but were only very loose pants that allowed for unrestricted, if only heavier, movements. She also lacked the circlet and stone placed upon the center of the forehead that most, if not all, priestesses wore, even over their face coverings.

He’d seen her face only a handful of times when he "accidentally" walked in on the females having their bi-weekly lunches, and although he couldn’t pinpoint every feature exactly, not wanting to be caught staring at her, he knew she was pretty and had possibly the darkest eyes he’d ever seen.

And perhaps it was that. Her eyes. So dark and expressive and full of knowing that had his brother in a trance, for when she approached Cassian and Azriel wearing only a mask-like covering over only the bottom half of her face— her eyes shining bright from the exercise and dark hair pulled away into two braids down her back, a few stray hairs rebelling against their captivity, his brother only stared and didn’t say. A single. Word.

“So, what do you usually do after practice?” Cassian asked casually, feeling the need to ease them into a conversation that truly shouldn’t be all that difficult to have.

She gave him a weird look, one eyebrow raising slightly, “Unless I’m needed at the library, I like to go to the greenhouse while the sun is still out and tend to the plants. Then I go back to the library and work,” she looked at him questioningly, “why?”

“How would you feel about a little extra training?”

She snorted, “you’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not,” he said seriously, glancing at his brother from the corner of his eye to see if he had anything to add, but his brother’s gaze only remained fixed on the young priestess, taking in the unfamiliar sight of her dark hair. “We think you could really benefit from a few extra hours of one-on-one training and-“

“Am I doing that badly?” she asked, eyebrows furrowing, “I thought this was all just to create a routine. To destress and gain strength and all that.”

“It is” he assured immediately, “and on the contrary, you’re doing great. We can see how hard you’re working and all the effort you put in, and we just wanted to offer you some—“

“You come back to the ring sometimes. At night, when everyone’s in bed,” Azriel spoke up, if perhaps a bit softer than was normal for him. “Do you have trouble sleeping?”

If she was surprised that he knew about her late night prowling, she didn’t show it. Her dark shrewd eyes scanned his face before meeting his eyes. “Sometimes,” she replied in the same tone.

“This could help you with that, if our group training isn’t enough,” Cassian added.

She considered their words for a few seconds and crossed her arms over her chest, finally nodding slowly. “How would it work? I just stay here and train with you both for another hour or..?”

“Well, it would just be Az, mostly. Maybe if I get a day off, I could stop by for a bit” Cassian clarified, “and we can work around whatever routine works best for you. If you’re needed at the library on any day, you can just let us know and we’ll figure something out.”

“To start, would you be willing to stay for another two hours, maybe three times a week?” Azriel asked.

She considered it for a second and then sighed, “alright. I can’t say I’m looking forward to getting my ass handed to me by the Lord of Shadows, but that should work out fine.”

Cassian snorted a laugh, glancing over at his brother to see his lip barely twitch in amusement and his ears turn red. Lord of Shadows, huh? Maybe not so unattainable and uninterested, after all.

“We start tomorrow,” Azriel said, a smile barely grazing his lips, hazel eyes shining bright.

part five

disclaimer: image is not mine. i found it on pinterest :D

taglist: @lilah-asteria @a-courtof-azriel @honk4emoboyz @feyretopia @mrsjna @buttermilktea11 @bravo-delta-eccho

[washmchineheart]

gwyn spends one night outside the library and ends up in the fucking hunger games

[ladydeatharcheron]

Some of y’all love to say the bonus chapter in acosf DiDn’T mEaN aNyThInG but if your ship is so threatened by said meaningless chapter, how come you feel the need to tear down the most unproblematic female character in acotar over it?

[elainsgirl]

This is azriel thinking that Gwyn is charming: "A warrior sizing up an opponent, all traces of that charming irreverence gone." Yet he only thinks of Elain sexually.

Hey anon, I rlly appreciate the fact you took the time to give me a canon quote disproving what I said,

however on that note, I wouldn’t exactly be jumping up & down with glee - Anon, irreverence means to show disrespect to someone/something that is regarded and treated with respect. In this content, Gwyn was charming with Az as she is with everyone but didn’t you get the vibe she didn’t exactly want him there? From her early dismissal to her mundane answer when Az asked about her solstice - she wasn’t exactly giving, “omg Az is here with me! Im so happy!” Vibes. The only thing about Az that held her interest was the shadows and his title *cough* even to the end, Gwyn was focused on cutting the ribbon, not once looking back at Azriel.

Its like when you run into your teacher after school. You put on this fake, “miss im so glad to have ran into you!” attitude, but deep down you want to run the other way from the awkwardness of unexpectedly running into her. Then you both stand around for a good 5 minutes making polite conversation whilst secretly wishing it was over, you talk about school, maybe ask your teacher how she’s doing or ask a vague, general question about something in her personal life she’s shared, “Miss, how’s your dog charlie? You mentioned she was poorly,” in which she responds, “oh, he’s better now darling”. You stare at each other and cue your exist to leave whilst making a mental note not to go to that shop anymore at the time you did to avoid such an awkward interaction from happening again.

Thats the vibe Gwyn gave Az in the bonus. To the last part of your comment, anon, the bonus was one present moment of Azriels life. Its not his entire thought process. It won’t show his full feelings and opinions, only the ones he’s feeling at the moment the bonus takes place. I don’t know how long you’ve been in the fandom for - but before acosf, so pre-2020, the biggest anti elriel arguement was Az doesn’t view elain romantically. He has no attraction towards her and sees her as a platonic sibling. Then the bonus comes along and completely annihilates this arguement. Sjm disproved it & established Elriels relationship as romantic with a side of attraction. These new ACOTAR books are NA therefore anon, the male Li will have explicit thoughts about his LI. Its not a bad thing.

Sjm didn’t need to spend her time convincing us Az cares abour elain, she’s done that multiple times over the course of 4 books. She didn’t need to spend her time telling us why Az likes elain - you can 1) deduce that from the books and bonus 2) this is saved for the main book where the mmc during his grovelling monologue will tell the fmc all the reasons he’s obssesed with her.

Sjm however did need to categorise elriels relationship into it being romantic or platonic and with the way the bonus went, she made it the former. Just like she did with Nessian in their bonus, she categorised their relationship immediately into romance, so when you read Nessian’s scenes, you read them with a romantic tone. The same can now be said for elriel, everything Az did for elain from acofas to acosf, can now officially be read under a romantic tone erasing the idea of elriel being platonic. Sjm successfully ended one of elriels biggest anti arguement.

Idk why Az having explicit thoughts about elain has you clutching your pearls, you do know if gwynriel is endgame, he will have the same thoughts about Gwyn? Ig Lucien most also only want elain superficially since he also had explicit thoughts during his monologue. Have you read wings & ember? Azriel’s bonus is a parallel to it

[wildbasil]

gwyn and edern (and blodeuwedd)  i wanted to design a gwyn ap nudd that isn't just herne the hunter 2.0. i like gwyn's association with the mist and dark, lonely places. i think blodeuwedd would be his friend i also like to imagine edern is an annoying little brother lol

[midyearflowers]

why did they name him that 😭😭😭

[bearlytolerant]

Unedited bloopers of adventures with @fangbangerghoul’s Eric and @lisa-and-shadow’s Ambro

[rosanna-writer]

YOUR TAGS TOOK ME OUT 💀💀💀 Imagine just trying to get through the work day and your overlord boss is just sulking in the corner bc he’s sad 💀💀 and he’s crying into the book you need to put away

Do I find Rhys's support of the priestesses really sweet, especially considering he's also a victim of sexual assault? Yes.

But also I'm not above having a little giggle over all the new priestesses having to be given a heads up that they might unexpectedly come across the High Lord crying sometimes 😂

[fluffypichu876]

guess who beat dark souls 1 for the first time???? ehehehehehhehe

this game is soo very good! it's such an unique experience, and honestly, despite the (kinda mild?) difficulty, it's one game that i would recommend to everyone.

oh, and i'm doing ng+ btw >:)

[commandermeg]

Reading the second Prodigy book and realizing two things:

Drednok did most of Gwyn's parenting

And

He did so very, very poorly.

[not-poignant]

As soon as he gets a moment to himself, I would like to wrap Januz up in a blanket and give him an extra long vacation.

Honestly he needs it!!!

Janusz is definitely being traumatised by this whole experience, and I've got an anon ask to get to in the next few days which asks how Hillview deals with this stuff, and the answer with Janusz is - not well enough!

[gwandas]

it's insane when e/riels claim to like emerie when they only mention her when it's time to hate on nesta and gwyn. they're using that "a boy will be the son of france, but you'll be mine" sound on tiktok and put nesta and gwyn as the fandom favorites (lol) and emerie as "you'll be mine" and like?? and each time it's posted by an e/riel lmao

literally if gwyn had 0 connection to azriel, they would either "like" her or ignore her (just like they do with emerie) until it's time to shit on nesta

too much effort for a character they claim is irrelevant while simultaneously being the next villain whose sole purpose is keeping elain and azriel apart for ? reason

No bc let's talk about it

I don't believe for a single second that #those people gaf about Emerie. They literally only bring her up to chastise Nesta/Valkyrie stans for "sidelining her," call people racist for "ignoring her," etc.

If I'm being honest... yes. Emerie is sidelined by the fandom. Emerie and Gwyn have about the same amount of page time (Valkyrie stans look away for a second), but neither of them have that much character development. The only reason Gwyn gets more attention is because of Gwynr*el.

I like to call the Gwynr*el/Eluc*en vs. Elr*el ship war a thinly veiled proxy war since Elr*els normally hate Nesta and are rabid F*ys@nd stans while Gwynr*els/Eluc*ens... idk are generally more likely to like Nesta and aren't up F*ys@nd's ass. Not entirely an accurate analysis since I avoid the ship war but I say it to make my point that YEAH you are absolutely right about them only bringing Emerie up to shit on Nesta.

Like these people say they have to "save her" from Valkyrie stans (lmfao) and pretend to care about Em0rie as a ship despite them never having a conversation while calling Gwynr*el a crackship. I don't ever see them talk about Emerie outside these contexts.

What I have seen though? Whining about the Blood Rite/Valkyrie plot, calling the Valkyries cringy for the friendship bracelets, saying Nuala and Cerridwen are more interesting than Emerie and Gwyn (have they ever even had spoken lines like ??? be FOR REAL). Like NO y'all clearly do not care about Emerie if you're going to shit on literally everything she's involved in 💀

So they see Emerie getting sidelined (because I'm sorry she absolutely is sidelined by the fandom) but they don't actually care about that. It's just an opportunity for them to start posturing and claim moral superiority in a stupid ship war and also shit on Nesta stans at the same time.

[cadrenebula]

Heavensturn

[life-love-geekculture]

Don’t get me wrong, I would die for Nesta; but I would most certainly shank a bitch who looked at Gwyn the wrong way.

[simply-ellas-stuff]

THEY FUCKING KIDNAPPED LADY DEATH HERSELF TO PARTICIPATE IN A FUCKING BLOOD RITE?!

This is the most dumbass thing I've ever seen a dumbass do.

[bearlytolerant]