#they all got their positions via blackmail obviously

[flamingfalcon3]

The Sibuna gang all come back to work at Amun after college to fulfill their role as the next generation of school faculty in a weird cult

[shedoessoshedoes]

Casual

my hand slipped. inspired by this post i made :)

read on ao3

wc:2k

It was past midnight by the time Cassian slipped away to stumble up the stairs to the karaoke stage. No one had sung yet tonight–everyone who usually did was very drunk and it usually took until about then for some brave soul to pour their heart out via an ABBA track to the entire bar. He didn’t mind. He would break the ice. Soon, everyone would want to sing along, too. 

He swipes through the tracks, heading immediately past his typical go-tos. Tonight was not a night for “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” Tonight was a night for–a-ha. He hiccuped as he queued the song and got into position, and wiped angrily at a tear he could feel beginning to form. She would come back, he told himself. She was just scared. And besides, a situationship did not deserve this kind of emotion. Even if it had been with the most beautiful, intelligent, perfect woman he had ever met. Even if he thought that Nesta Archeron loved–he cut himself off.

“No!” he said out loud into the microphone, but before anyone could react, his song was starting, and there was nothing left to do but sing. 

At a table in the back corner, Feyre, Elain, Rhys, and Azriel were just realizing that they were missing someone. Rhys kept insisting Cassian probably just went to get more drinks. Feyre didn’t agree.

“You know how he is when he’s drunk, Rhys! What does he do? He doesn’t drink more, I’ll tell you that much. What does he do?” 

“He talks about Nesta,” Rhys replied, mumbling into his drink. 

“Exactly!” she shot back, hands flying up in the air. “And why are Elain and I here instead of with Nesta and Gwyn and Emerie right now?” 

“Because Nesta knew that he would be sad and that you would keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t cry himself to death.” 

“And what will she do if she finds out we lost him because we were making out?” Feyre asked. 

Rhys sighed. “She’ll chop my dick off and then kill me. But why weren’t you two watching him?” he turns to Elain and Azriel. 

Elain squeaked as Azriel’s hand disappeared underneath the table. “We were in the bathroom,” he replied smoothly. “Cassian told us he’d wait right here.” 

“Well obviously that was a lie!” Feyre squawked. “Nesta just started trusting me again, and if we lose him–everyone split up! We can all check the bar and if he’s not here then–” 

“Feyre,” Elain cut in. “I think I found him.” She nodded up to the stage and Rhys’s mouth dropped open. Cassian appeared to be fighting back tears, and a melancholy introduction began to echo through the bar. 

“Oh my God, he’s singing a breakup song,” he yelped and jumped up, pulling Azriel with him. “Come on, Azzy! Someone needs to record this blackmail.” 

Azriel turned pleading eyes on the girls, but was dragged away before they could do anything to help. 

Elain leaned over so Feyre could hear her over the noise of the surrounding tables. “Do you think it’s odd that Nesta is so worried about Cassian’s feelings that she sent us to take care of him instead of having us stay with her? Or that she needs a girl’s night after a situationship break-up with someone that she claims she has never had any sort of feelings for?” 

Feyre shrugged. “I think she still doesn’t trust that I won’t repeat everything she says back to Rhys,” she said, an edge cutting into her voice. 

Elain hummed in response, and leaned back in her seat before jerking up abruptly. “Is he–is this Casual?” 

“No way.”

“I really think it is.”

“Call Nesta. Now we know for sure he’s in love with her.” 

“Is she in love with him?” 

“Feyre. Call. Her.” 

Sure enough, on stage, Cassian was launching into his first verse. “And you said, sweetheart, no attachment,” he sings, more than a little off-key and with the wrong words. He hiccups. “But we’re knee-deep in the passenger seat, and you’re eating me out, so is it casual now? Huh? Is it? Two weeks and your mom invites me–” 

Azriel climbed up on stage and whispered into his ear. “Fuck, Az, no, I’m not going home! I’m singing! If it’s casual, it’s casual now.” 

Fully crying, Cassian continued. Rhys’s flash was on now, and he was sure this was the best video he’d ever taken of his brother. 

“...maybe we’d have an apartment and you’d show me off to your friends at the pier. I know, baby, no attachment,” Cassian sobbed, and the bar sang along. “But we’re knee deep in the passenger seat…” 

At the table, Feyre and Elain had managed to get ahold of Nesta via Emerie and Gwyn. “Listen!” Feyre exclaimed to the three of them. “He is crying on the karaoke stage! Would any man do that for someone he didn’t love?” They can hear murmuring in the background, Nesta talking to her friends, and then a door click shut. 

Gwyn comes back towards the speaker of the phone. “I think she’s scared,” she said quietly. “I know she said she didn’t feel anything towards him, but she’s been crying all night. I think he was getting so important to her that she wanted to protect herself.” Emerie voiced her agreement. 

“She’s never had anyone to take care of her,” Elain replied. “Everyone who was supposed to didn’t. Just…tell her we love her and that we don’t think Cassian will ever hurt her like our parents did–like Feyre and I have.” 

Emerie spoke next. “For what it’s worth, I think she loves him too. We’ll talk to her.” 

They said their goodbyes, and turned back towards the stage of the bar, where Azriel was now trying to physically remove Cassian from the stage and Rhys had turned on his phone light to wave back and forth. A few other tables had followed suit. 

“It’s hard being casual when my favorite bra is in your dresser, and it’s hard being casual when I’m on the phone talking down your sister,” at this, Cassian knelt down on the stage and put the microphone down, burying his face in his hands. The rest of the bar continued singing for him. Feyre glanced over at Elain, most likely thinking of the time three months ago when Cassian had, in fact, talked Nesta’s sister down as Feyre had spiraled. 

The song began its outro and Cassian took a deep breath, gathered himself, and stood back up. “Fucked you in the bathroom when we went to dinner, your parents at the table, you wonder why I’m bitter.” He stopped to visibly gulp back more tears. “I hate that I let this drag on so long, and I hate myself.” Each word was punctuated with a sob. He finished the song and collapsed into Azriel’s arms, burying his face into Az’s neck. Rhys hopped up onstage and the two brothers half-carried Cassian back to the table and the girls. Cassian slumped back in his seat. 

“Do you want to go home, Cass?” Feyre asked gently. “Any one of us would be happy to take you.” 

He shook his head petulantly. “I’m not going home without Nes.” 

Rhys sighed. “Cassian, I don’t think she’s coming tonight.” 

“Well, she’s not the love of your life, now is she, Rhysie? I’m telling you, she’s coming to get me as we speak. My song will convince her that I love her and that I’m so sad.” Cassian’s words were slurring together, and with that, he dropped his head to rest on his arms on the table. 

The other three looked at each other. “Did you convince her to come?” Azriel whispered. The girls shook their heads. 

“We’ll just wait until he’s really asleep and then we’ll get him in an Uber before he can realize he’s going home,” Feyre decided. 

Another thirty minutes passed. Rhys got them more drinks. The time inched closer to two. They were about to call it good and drag Cassian home when someone spoke from behind them. 

“Please tell me he isn’t dead.” Nesta said, deadpan, as she walked to Cassian’s side, laying cool fingers on the side of his face, as the rest of the table gaped at her. 

“Nesta!” Elain greeted her. “I’m so glad you came.” 

Cassian was beginning to wake up, and shifted so one eye was open. When he saw Nesta, he got up so fast he fell back down. “Nes!” he said, far too loudly. “You’re here! See, everyone?” He turned to his friends. “She’s here!” He looked back at Nesta, and very seriously took her face in his hands. “Nes, I told them you were coming, even though you tried to break up with me and I was so sad, and no one believed me, but look! You’re here! That is some soulmate shit right there, sweetheart, how else would I have known you were coming? But I was so sad, so I had maybe a little too much to drink.” At this, he tried to show her how much he’d drunk, pinching his fingers together clumsily. “Which I shouldn’t have done because I should have trusted the power of our love. I’m so sorry Nesta, will you please, please forgive me?” 

A smile ghosted over Nesta’s face. “We can talk about it later. Do you want to come home?” 

“Yes!” he shouted, throwing an arm over her shoulder. “But really, I’m already home, because you’re my home, silly.” 

Nesta mouthed a goodbye over her shoulder and began to lead Cassian to the door. “Which is why I was so sad when you said we couldn’t date anymore–” 

“To be clear, Cassian, we weren’t dating,” Nesta said, but Cassian waved her off. 

“That’s what you thought, sweetheart. But I knew what was really going on!” 

“And what was that?” 

“You were falling in love with me. But then you got scared. That’s why I was so sad. I don’t want you to be scared about loving me.” 

“Do you know you sang a song about how sad you were?” 

He nodded solemnly. “I thought it would let you know how serious my love is.” 

Nesta laughed. “Well, it certainly did that.”

Cassian gasped then, as though realizing something. “You said we’re going home, Nes. Does that mean you’re asking me to live with you?” 

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” 

“Okay,” he responded dreamily.  “I’m so happy I don’t have to be mad at you anymore. It was so hard.” 

Nesta laughed again, and Cassian smiled so widely his face could have split in half. 

She drove them back to her apartment, and Cassian promptly walked over to the bed, flopped down, and fell asleep. Nesta went through her nightly routine quickly before wrestling a half-asleep Cassian into bed and climbing in next to him. He pulled her into his body and mumbled something that Nesta thought was supposed to be an ‘I love you.’ She pushed that familiar wave of fear down. 

She’d talked with Gwyn and Emerie for a long time that night, and she’d decided that she was going to take her therapist’s advice and trust that Cassian would be waiting for her when she’d admitted that she’d fallen. Their no-strings-attached arrangement had been all her idea, and she had been terrified earlier that afternoon when she’d tried to break up with him. He’d become so important, and that scared her, but Cassian, she thought, was better than letting the fear get the best of her. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, curled into him, and fell asleep. 

Cassian woke up to a pounding headache and flashes of the night before running through his mind. Nesta trying to break up with him, the trip to the bar, singing, Nesta coming to get him, him confessing his love–wait. He pushed up onto an elbow, and sure enough, there was Nesta, asleep beside him. A broken sound pushed itself out of his throat and she opened her eyes as it did. 

“Sweetheart,” he said, voice breaking. “You’re here.” He presses kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, down her neck, across her ears, everywhere he can reach. “I love you.” 

“I know,” she whispered, face buried into his neck. “You sang a song to the whole bar about how sad you were.” 

He groaned, rolling off of her. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?” 

She shook her head. “But it did convince me that you really were serious about this. That you weren’t telling me that you wanted to date me just to break up with me” 

“I’m more serious than a heart attack, sweetheart.” 

“Mmm, then you’ll be glad to hear that I love you, too.” 

Cassian smiled, crushing Nesta in a hug and pressing her into the mattress. He kissed her, and they whispered love yous into each other’s mouths, and it was everything either of them could have ever dreamed of.