Throne Of Glass Fanfiction - Tumblr Posts
I LOVE THIS!! I don’t normally read friendship fics but this was perfection <3
Do Not Touch That Oven
hey @writtenonreceipts, happy birthday!!! you are such a talented writer and a wonderful person, and I hope you have the best day <3 here's some Aelin-Elide friendship fluff and shenanigans :))
~1k words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ells!” Aelin squealed, opening her front door for her best friend.
“Calm down, Ace,” Elide laughed, giving her taller best friend a hug, “you literally saw me yesterday.”
“Oh, this isn’t me talking, it’s the caffeine.”
“Hellas,” Elide snorted, heading for the kitchen with her bag of ingredients, “someone needs to hide the coffee from you.”
“Someone isn’t here this weekend,” Aelin smirked. “He’s on the boys’ trip.”
Right. The “boys’ trip.” Gods only knew why Rowan, Lorcan, Fenrys, Connall, Vaughan, Aedion, and Dorian had decided to go camping that weekend, but Aelin and Elide were dead fucking certain that they’d all come back hungover and probably bearing a few bruises, if they made it back alive at all.
In the meantime, though, Elide was staying at Aelin’s overnight for their monthly girls’ night, and she’d brought the stuff to make cookies because Aelin had taken one look into her pantry and quickly decided to put her much wiser friend in charge of the shopping. The last time she’d been entrusted to go to the store, Aelin had hardly been able to find the few things on her list, returning with milk, eggs, and flour–which she’d been asked to buy–as well as twenty dollars’ worth of junk food. She just couldn’t help herself.
Aelin followed Elide into the kitchen, perching herself on one of the high stools at the island. “So what are we making?”
“Double chocolate cookies,” Elide replied, unloading a bunch of cooking ingredients onto the counter. Aelin had eyes for exactly one of those things.
“Chocolate!” she crowed, tearing into the bag of dark chocolate chunks.
Elida snatched it before she could grab more than a few pieces. “Uh uh, Ace, hands off!”
“Bitch,” Aelin grumbled halfheartedly, fake-pouting.
“If you eat them all now, there won’t be any for the cookies. And you like cookies with extra chocolate.”
“Damn straight I do!” Aelin cheered up. “Shit, Ells, you know me too well.”
“Fourteen years of friendship and that’s all you have to say?” Elide placed her hand over her chest. “I’m wounded.”
Aelin snorted. “Yeah, yeah, no you’re not.”
“No I’m not.” She pointed a wooden spoon at the taller girl. “Now get a bowl, this is your kitchen and you have to help somehow, even if you’re a disaster behind the stove.”
“Rude!” But she grabbed a mixing bowl from a cabinet and slid it over to Elide. Then she grabbed her phone, setting her speaker up on a shelf so it wouldn’t get knocked over, and put on their joint playlist.
The two of them made a bit of a flour and cocoa mess on the counter, what with singing into their spoons like they were pop stars and having a small bit of a flour fight, but the dough got made–with a minimum of Aelin swiping tastes–and scooped onto a baking sheet.
Aelin checked the recipe card for the oven temperature. “Ells!”
“What?”
“We’re supposed to bake these at 375, right?”
“Yes bitch, can you read?” Elide rolled her eyes, snickering.
“Bitch!” Aelin threw an oven mitt at her. “Well we have a ton of cookies to bake and it’s going to take forever,” she complained.
“So what are you suggesting…” Elide looked a little suspicious.
“If we bake them at a higher temperature, they’ll be ready a lot faster, right?” She grinned, so damn proud of herself.
Elide grabbed the baking sheet right out of her hands. “Do not touch the oven!” she commanded. “We don’t want the house burned down.”
Aelin gasped in mock affront. “I’m not going to burn the house down!” she protested.
“Mhmm,” Elide deadpanned, sliding the cookies into the oven and setting the timer. “You keep telling yourself that, Ace.”
Aelin grumbled something crude under her breath and went over to the sink to help clean up the dirty dishes. She couldn’t let Elide do everything, even though she knew that if she left the dishes unattended, the petite girl just couldn’t help herself.
The oven timer beeped ten minutes later and Aelin crowed with joy, hurrying over to take out the pan. Elide beat her there, swatting her hands away.
“No touching!” she said in her very best mom voice.
Aelin stuck out her tongue. “I’ll touch whatever I want to touch.”
“Not with me, you won’t.” Elide winked lewdly, waggling her brows.
Aelin, who’d just taken a gulp from her water bottle, spewed her water all over the kitchen floor. “ELLS!” she screeched, her face flaring red.
Elide howled with laughter as she took the cookies out of the oven and put the next pans in. “You telling me I’m wrong?”
“Hell no,” Aelin returned, wiggling her own brows. “You better believe I touch whatever I want to touch when Rowan stays over.”
“Okay, okay, enough!” Elide groaned, covering her ears. “Fuck, I did not need to know that!”
“That’s what you get for oversharing about you and Lorcan,” Aelin teased.
“Oh, trust me Ace, I’m not the one who overshares.”
“Right,” Aelin nodded sagely, “that would be Dorian.”
Elide cackled as she transferred the cookies to wire cooling racks. “Damn straight.”
“Which he is not,” Aelin declared, giggling helplessly.
Elide laughed harder, almost dropping the cookies. “Makes for some interesting stories, it does, the kind of men he flirts with.”
Aelin agreed. She finished up the dishes and strolled over to the cookies, swiping a warm one off the rack before Elide could smack her hands away. “Fuck,” she groaned through her mouthful, “these are so yummy, Ells!”
“Save a few of them for the guys,” Elide reminded her as she stacked five more onto a small plate. “They’ll want their sweets too.”
“Their sweets are right here,” Aelin smirked, gesturing to herself and Elide. “And you better believe they’ll get these sweets when they come home.” She winked broadly.
And both of them collapsed into helpless laughter, wheezing at their own hilarity and their wicked wicked plans for surprising their boyfriends when they came back from their trip.
~~~
TAGS:
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Ok time to go cry now
Heya, absolutely love your writing!😍I was just wondering when you have the time and all, would you consider writing something about rowaelin where basically the same thing happens to Aelin as it did Lyria, but only modern au (Lyria never happened).
Thanks so much, it means a lot that you like my stuff! Thanks for the prompt. It kinda got away from me… I got in pretty deep with plot points and stuff, haha. Based on Characters from the Throne of Glass series.
Warning: don’t let the first half fool you, there’s gonna be tears and pain.
#
All My Love
It started at seven fifty-nine on a Friday night.
Rowan Whitethorn was hurrying through the City Park cursing at the crowds of people standing in his way. He should have remembered that the city tradition of open mike night at the gazebo by the waterfront would have made the park nearly impassible. But did people have to stand so close together?
He’d gotten of late from his at the police station and was a short walk away from his small apartment. Or what would have been short had the park not been infested with tourists and and locals alike.
The sun barely began its descent leaving the sky graced with gold and hues of pink. Heat from the record high day lingered, despite being so near the lake. Normally Rowan might enjoy the view, but there were too many people invading his space. At least he could be happy that he wasn’t assigned the shift to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.
He moved down the stone path that cut behind the gazebo and took a shortcut back to his apartment. As he dodged a running child, however, something caught his attention.
Actually, it was someone.
She stood in the center of the gazebo; her long and willowy limbs were leaning against a white piano while she laughed at something her companion said. Her long, golden hair swept down her back in soft waves. Even a distance he could tell she was beautiful. The woman patted her friend on the shoulder and moved to sit at the piano. And then she started to play.
The notes were slow, soft, gentle. A tune tumbling forth with careful measure. The song wasn’t one Rowan recognized, granted he knew next to nothing about music. Yet the longer Rowan listened the more entranced he became by the song. Slowly, he picked his way around the gazebo so he had a better angle on the woman as she played.
The sight was indescribable. In all honesty, it looked like the woman had become one with the music. She moved with each caress of the ivory keys as though she herself were dancing to the song. Her eyes shut softly and an easy smile moved across her sinful mouth.
It was glorious.
When the end of the song regretfully came, the park erupted into cheers and applause. A man came forward and began speaking into a microphone setup.
“The ever wonderful, Aelin Galathynius,” the man called out, his words were eaten by another round of applause.
Aelin. Aelin. Aelin.
She offered the crowd a dazzling smile as she politely declined to play another song. A small band replaced her, three guys and a rustic looking guitar.
Rowan watched as she descended the small steps to the gazebo. She greeted a few people with a wave or a pat on the shoulder. All too soon, in Rowan’s opinion at least, she was forgotten to the new beats of a guitar and low gravely notes of the singer on stage.
There was something about her that called to him. Rowan didn’t know what it was exactly, but his eyes easily tracked her as she moved up the path that led away from the gazebo and up a boardwalk that wrapped around the lake. Before he could think twice about what he was doing, Rowan followed her.
He caught up easily to her and his steps on the wooden planks caused her to turn around and meet his gaze. Her wide blue and gold eyes snagged him immediately and Rowan wouldn’t have minded drowning in them.
A slow smile slid on her lips as she eyed him. “Hello.”
She was confident. With that smile. With that word. With that stare. And Rowan found himself dumbfounded.
“You don’t usually play on open mike nights,” he said.
Aelin quirked an eyebrow. “You sound certain of that.”
“I would have remembered,” he replied.
She laughed and rolled her eyes as if his words didn’t mean anything. But Rowan noted the soft blush rising on her cheeks. She was flattered. Slightly uncomfortable, but that could have been from performing in front of a crown. Everything else about her welcomed his advances and Rowan took care to read each and every signal she sent him.
“Dorian forced me into it,” she said, “told me it would be good business for the shop.”
The way she casually referenced the mayor didn’t go unnoticed to Rowan, but he found himself more intrigued by the second part of her sentence.
“Shop?”
“Queen’s Place,” Aelin replied, “my bookshop. And where I teach piano lessons.”
Rowan found himself smiling at the image of her moving through a bookshop, of her sitting with children at a piano bench, at that smile brightening everyone’s day.
“I walk by it every day,” he said. He wasn’t lying, but to be honest he’d never given the shop a second glance. What a fool he’d been.
“Well, now you have a reason to actually come in.”
#
Waking up beside her was the one thing Rowan knew he would want to do for the rest of his life.
Curled on her side with her legs tangled in his sheets, Aelin slept soundly. Her hair was a mess and that was entirely his fault. As were the growing marks on her neck, her collar bone, lower, lower they descended.
Leaning up on an elbow, Rowan watched her sleep as the early gray light of morning filtered through his bedroom window. She didn’t stir. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, how her eyelids fluttered, and the slight pucker of her lips.
Those sinful lips.
Rowan reached a hand out and gently brushed her hair out of her face.
They hadn’t been together very long. Not when you considered how often Rowan worked and the fact that Aelin ran her own business. They were often like ships in the night. But each time they passed by Rowan was filled with inexplicable joy.
Aelin sighed softly and reached a hand out. Rowan captured her hand with his and brought her fingertips to his lips, kissing softly. A slow, lazy smile spread on Aelin’s mouth and she cracked an eye open.
“Are you watching me?” she asked.
“Naturally,” he said. He grinned as she scrunched her nose and grumbled. When she tried to regain her hand, he tightened his grip and pulled her closer to him.
Humming happily, Aelin tilted her head up to accept a kiss. A long, deep kiss to be sure.
“I love this,” she murmured against his lips.
“What?” he asked, his hands trailing down her bare sides.
“Waking up with you,” she said. She threaded her fingers in his hair as she pressed closer to him. “Mornings like this.”
It was the closest they’d ever come to admitting their feelings. Even though Rowan was certain he was in love with her. He had been from the moment he saw her in the gazebo playing the piano. He wanted to tell her of course. Wanted her to know. But he also knew what was keeping him from doing so.
His phone buzzed on the bedside table and Aelin cursed into his mouth. Rowan swallowed the word, absorbing the disappointment it held before pulling away to check the message.
“Work,” he said.
“I know.”
Rowan looked down at her with her eyes closed and hair a halo on the pillow. He wanted more than anything to make sure he’d always wake up beside her.
#
Maeve Valg was not the kind of person Rowan wanted to work for. It took him a long time before he figured out what it was about her that made him so uneasy. She was driven, dead strong, passionate--all good things. It took him entirely too long to see her cruelty, her pride, her bloodlust.
“All I’m saying Detective,” Maeve said as she leaned across his desk toward him, “is that your skills and specialties are remarkable. You’d make a difference to your country if you’d consider my offer.”
Rowan stared at the woman. She had to be in her mid to late thirties--and yet her long dark hair framed a youthful face, full red lips, and devilish eyes. This was the third time in as many months that Maeve had tried to recruit him for her independent security agency. Mostly because his former sergeant Gavriel--damn him--had recommended Rowan for the position.
“I’ll think about it,” Rowan lied.
In all honesty, right now was not a good time to even consider changing jobs. Not when there was a ring burning a hole in the side table of his dresser. Not when he’d spent the last four months convincing Aelin to move in with him. Not when he’d just left her side barely an hour ago and he was already craving her touch, her taste, everything about her.
It wasn’t until later that night when Rowan met Aelin at that fateful gazebo that he was finally able to push all thoughts of Maeve aside. When he was finally able to smile freely at the sight of her in a pale blue dress that clung to each and every one of her curves.
“Hey,” she said as he approached.
Whatever else she’d been about to say was cut off when he pulled her into a kiss. His mouth slanted almost urgently against hers and he couldn’t help the way his finger dug into her waist desperately.
“Hey,” he said when he finally pulled back.
Aelin grinned wickedly and he knew she was thinking about breaking into the nearest boathouse to continue that kiss. But all too suddenly her expression turned serious.
“What?” Rowan asked, heart stilling.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
Rowan froze, terrified that she knew about the ring. “I don’t--”
“Lorcan told me about Maeve,” Aelin continued. She rested a hand on his cheek. “Rowan...that job sounds amazing.”
Blinking, Rowan fought against the rising panic in his gut. He really wanted to find Lorcan and beat his ass, but he was also concerned by what Aelin thought about it.
“I’m not taking it,” he said flatly.
Aelin scowled. “Yes you are. It’s higher pay for one. Better control over your work. Most of it sounds like a security detail.”
“I’m not taking it,” he repeated.
“Babe,” Aelin insisted, “it sounds like a great opportunity. Why not?”
Rowan shook his head and pulled away from her. This wasn’t how he wanted to do this. Not really. But with the sharpness to her eyes, the determined tilt of her chin--he had to do it.
“Because of you,” he whispered.
“Don’t,” Aelin said, “don’t put this on me.”
Rowan reached out automatically and grabbed her hands tightly in his. “It’s always been because of you.”
And then he was down on one knee while fumbling in his pocket for the ring.
Aelin gasped and whispered his name.
Rowan looked up at her, the ring in his fingers and tears brimming in his eyes. “I first saw you here. And I knew then and there that I was going to love you for the rest of my life. If you let me. Aelin Galathynius, will you marry me?”
She let out a small strangled noise that was a cross between a sob and something else that Rowan couldn’t decipher but the frantic bob of her head was enough for him to understand what the answer was.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she whispered.
Rowan slid the ring on her finger and his lips on her mouth.
#
When Rowan took the job he still wasn’t sure about it. But most of his friends were on the crew along with two kids who had just come back from Pakistan. They were given weeks on end together to learn how they could become a team.
Aelin liked to joke that Rowan had gained five work wives now. Rowan tried to tell her she was wrong but his words held no meaning. Not when five out of seven days a week any of the boys in the crew ended up sleeping on the Whitethorn-Galathynius couch. Usually Fenrys.
Unfortunately those nights grew few and far between as the year went on.
“How does Aelin feel about you spending your honeymoon with us?” Connall asked through an earpiece as they stood stationed around Senator Erawan’s reelection fundraiser.
Rowan could hear the grin in his voice.
“Yeah,” Fenrys added, “didn’t even have time to--”
“Stop talking.” It was Gavriel who spoke this time. Rowan could see him across the hall walking behind the Senator and his wife. “Especially about my niece.”
The twins cackled.
Rowan shook his head and contained a smile. As much as he’d been unsure about this job--it had given him some of the best friends he knew.
A gunshot rang out through the hall.
Immediately Rowan had his gun unholstered and turned to the source of the shot. Out of his peripheral vision he saw Gavriel and Vaughn cover the senator and his wife. Lorcan cursed over the comms.
“Lost him!”
“Got it,” Rowan replied. Up on the second floor, a glass balcony overlooked the rest of the hall and a shape darted out of eyesight. Running to the nearest stairwell, Rowan instructed his team on what he saw.
“Wait for backup,” Gavriel ordered, but Rowan was already gone.
#
He arrived home three days later to a royally pissed off Aelin.
Rowan knew it was bad when he walked into the kitchen to find three perfectly frosted chocolate cakes sitting out of the counter. One had strawberries lining the top, another almonds, and the third a chocolate cookie crumble. He was utterly screwed.
“Fireheart?” he called out hesitantly.
He heard the bathroom door shut down the hall and Aelin stalked toward him. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and bright red splotches colored her cheeks. Tears rimmed her eyes.
“Baby,” Rowan said as he stepped toward her.
She shook her head and walked around him to the cakes. There was already a piece missing from the one with strawberries and she cut another piece off and flopped it on a plate.
“I am so mad at you,” she said as she stuffed a large bite in her mouth.
“I know,” Rowan replied.
“Fenrys told me what you did. Gavriel told you to wait and you went charging after the man.”
“I know.”
“You could have died.”
“I know.”
Aelin nearly broke the plate when she threw it down on the counter. Rowan stared into her brilliant eyes and waited for his next reprimand. “Stop saying that.”
“Alright, I’m sorry,” Rowan said quietly. He set his bag on the floor and crossed into the kitchen until he stood across from his wife. “We both knew what the job entailed. And I had to catch the man.
“I was terrified Ro,” Aelin whispered. She ran her fingers beneath her eyes and sniffed loudly. “We can’t lose you.”
“I know,” he said, moving so he stood just before her. He was going to say something else when Aelin’s words caught up to him. “We?”
Aelin let out a strangled laughing as fresh tears washed down her cheeks. She looked up into Rowan’s eyes, one hand going to her belly.
“We.”
#
Despite the chaos of his job and despite the chaos of his pregnant wife--Rowan Whitethorn knew that everything was going to work out in the end.
With Aelin being nearly eight months along, they’d decided together that it would be best to start over. For Rowan to leave his risky job behind and find something closer to home. They’d both spent weeks thinking about it, talking to each other, and they’d come to the same conclusion. They needed their family to stay together.
Of course, Maeve didn’t understand why Rowan would want to leave. Not that he could make her understand. Not that any of them could. Even the rest of the team had understood the decision. Rowan needed his family.
“Fine,” Maeve relented one day. She sat behind her desk looking absolutely bored one day. Running her hands over her desk she sighed. “I’ll let you go, Rowan. But I just need you for one more job.”
Rowan stiffened at the sheer pleasure in her eyes of what was to come. She tossed a folder at him. He opened it and frowned.
Archer Flynn.
A high end hooker for hire. Known especially for sleeping with Senator Erawan.
“I need him arrested,” Maeve said. She sounded as though she were requesting he buy lettuce from the store.
Rowan continued staring at the picture of the man. “I thought we were keeping an eye on Cairn.”
“Don’t worry about Cairn,” Maeve said. “Mr. Flynn is far more troublesome. Besides, Cairn is going to be taken care of.”
Rowan didn’t like the dismissive way that Maeve addressed him. Nor did he like the smile that rested on her lips.
“And just like that,” he said, “ you’ll let me end my contract?”
“Absolutely,” Maeve promised.
For some reason, Rowan believed her.
He left with Lorcan the following day, assuring Aelin everything would be alright. It was only an arrest after all.
When he and Lorcan found the apartment that was serving as Flynn’s hideout, Rowan should have known something was wrong.
The door was broken in, wood splintered across the floor. A pool of blood was rapidly growing beneath a form tied to a chair. Rowan and Lorcan rushed to room to the young Archer Flynn. His blonde hair was plastered over his brow with a mix of sweat and blood. The stab wounds in his legs and side were less than ideal. Looking at all the man’s injuries, Rowan knew there was nothing that could be done for him.
“I’ll call an ambulance,” Lorcan muttered while Rowan continued tending to Flynn’s wounds.
This wasn’t right. This couldn’t have been right.
When Flynn began to speak, Rowan almost thought it was the man’s dying breath.
“S’lied to me,” Flynn rasped, his words to muffled to understand, “to all of us.”
Rowan lifted the man's chin. “What are you talking about?”
“Cairn was always the problem child,” Flynn whispered. And then with a final breath--Flynn died.
Rowan let Flynn’s head fall. What the hell was going on?
His phone rang in his pocket but he ignored it.
“Lorcan, he’s dead,” Rowan called out. His phone continued ringing.
Lorcan reentered the room, phone pressed against his ear. The man’s dark eyes were wide and a frown deepened his already deep scowl.
“Lorcan?” Rowan asked.
Clearing his throat, Lorcan shook his head. “We gotta get back home.”
#
Rowan had never liked hospitals.
They were death traps in his opinion. Everyone he loved would always go in and never come back out. So for the first time in a very long time, he found himself praying. Praying that for once, he would be wrong. That for once, something good would come of the hospital. That for once, he wouldn’t be left alone.
“She was stabbed multiple times in the chest,” a doctor said, “they’re working on her now. But you need to prepare yourself.”
They baby. What about the baby?
The words never left his lips. He couldn’t bring them too. Or maybe he did say them and the doctor ignored him. Either way, Rowan’s mind was churning too much. Something had gone wrong.
“It was Cairn,” Gavriel said from beside him.
Rowan had no idea when the man showed up but he didn’t really care. He stared at a wall advertising things for sale and brochures for various recovery programs.
“He got to her somehow.”
Maeve was supposed to take care of the man. She’d said so. Rowan didn’t say the words aloud. They wouldn’t do much good. Because as much as a bitch Maeve was, there was no way she could have predicted this. No way she could have known that Aelin would be dying.
And where had Rowan been? Off doing a damn job that didn’t even need him.
It wasn’t until three o’clock in the morning that Rowan learned that his wife was dead. The baby too.
It wasn’t until three o’clock in the morning that Rowan allowed himself to cry. Silent tears.
It wasn’t until three o’clock in the morning that Rowan heard the snip-snip of heels across linoleum. Echoing through the halls.
“Oh, Rowan,” she crooned. “I am so, so sorry. You have to know I never imagined this to happen.”
“Do you know where he is?” Rowan asked.
Maeve’s brows shot in the air. “What?”
“Cairn,” Rowan repeated, “do you know where he is?”
A smile spread over Maeve’s cherry red lips. “I promise, I will help you find him. No matter what it takes.”
It wasn’t until three o’clock in the morning that Rowan said good-bye to his wife and made one final vow to her.
He would never forget.
#
as always, thanks for reading my dears!
tags: @tottenhamboys20 @morganofthewildfire @aelinchocolatelover @more-espresso-less-depresso-xx
I love this!!
ROWAELIN MONTH: DAY 18
~ Aelin and Hawk Rowan ~
Just something silly and sweet for our beloved otp
~~~~~
The world passed by in a blur, Kasida’s stride eating up distance over the grassy plain. Each hoof beat resounded through Aelin’s body, the fast paced rhythm creating a symphony that only added to the thrill of the ride. Aelin trusted her steed completely, knowing she had the care for both their safety and avoiding unsteady ground. And they were not alone.
Rowan swooped, his wing brushing her cheek. As much as she loved the gesture, it was distracting, and Aelin almost missed the turn onto the forest path. Bastard, he was trying to distract her. Kasida slowed just a little, her sure footing not faltering as the path was swarmed with vegetation. Aelin assumed Rowan flew above the trees to avoid entanglement in the branches. Their little race was almost over and she hoped she could rely on the thick, overlapping boughs to help her win.
An obligation free morning had presented itself and tired of courtly nonsense stealing her away from him, Rowan had insisted they flee the palace. And he always complained about her affinity for dramatics when at times he was equally so. He had told her to dress for riding and meet him at the stables while he would sort out the rest.
Aelin had taken the time to brush and saddle Kasida herself, basking in the simple and ordinary task. Sometimes it was nice to pretend that she didn’t have the weight of an entire kingdom on her shoulders. It had barely been a year since the war had ended, her country was still rebuilding and there was so much to do. Still, she needed to take time for herself or she might go insane. Aelin had Kasida fully tacked when Rowan appeared, a pack on his shoulder and a wide grin on his face. Then he’d told her to meet him by the stream and shifted.
To get out of the city Aelin had used a small gate built into the outer wall, only for secret royal usage. Rowan had circled above her while she warmed up her steed, the mare impatient to run. When she was ready, Aelin turned Kasida to follow the edge of the Oakwald. And then they were off, Rowan’s screech of approval echoing. He understood her intention, this would be a race.
He gave another such call now, letting Aelin know he was still wth her. She was almost at the stream. With the thick foliage overhead she might just win. It would be hard for him to find a way through without risk to himself. Her fae senses picked up the sound of the stream, the scent of the damp soil. A few more moments and she’d be there. The trees parted, the stream was in view, and then there was a bright flash of light that had the over excited horse shying in surprise. Rowan stood there, leaning against a tree like he hadn’t a care in the world.
“I win,” he had the gall to say.
Aelin was nearly panting as she dismounted. Flames simmered at her fingers, the thrill of the ride and the indignation over what her mate had said only adding to the fire.
“I was here first,” she protested.
Rowan just smirked at her. “I would say otherwise.”
“Of course you would.”
“Because I won,” Rowan reiterated.
Aelin groaned in frustration, quickly tending to Kasida so she could graze but not wonder off. Then she was storming over to her husband, embers flying in her wake.
“You cheated,” she accused. “You tried to distract me.”
Rowan dropped the pack to the grassy floor, standing a little straighter, no longer using the tree to take his ease. “I did no such thing.”
This time Aelin growled at him, baring her pointed canines. Rowan just continued to smirk at her. The insufferable, cheating bastard.
“Fireheart, it was only a little race.” All his words did was antagonise her further.
“It’s never just a little race.”
Rowan chuckled softly. “My apologies, milady. I must have forgotten how competitive you are.”
Aelin was right in front of him now, nearly chest to chest. “Memory problems tend to persist in old age.”
Before Aelin could even think of a new argument, Rowan had reached for her shoulders, and spun them so that her back was against the tree. His body crowded around hers, but Aelin was not ready to give in. She just kept looking up at him, defiance all over her face.
Her mate ignored every ounce of malice she was sending his way, and lent in closer. “Are you going to waste our alone time talking?”
There was a hand on her waist, and Aelin couldn’t help but arch into the touch. As it rose higher her breathing quickened at it had nothing to do with the exertion from the ride. Rowan moved closer, his nose brushing against Aelin’s in a teasing gesture. She was about to demand he do something more when he finally kissed her. She surrendered to it, loving the privilege of having Rowan so close. They saw each other every day, but finding time to truly be with each other was hard to find some days.
She couldn’t help herself though, that fire of mischief still burned. Aelin broke the kiss, taking joy in the annoyance that entered Rowan’s green eyes. “And another thing—“
It seemed Rowan had had enough of her antics because he tugged her against him for another kiss, smothering her laughter. They stayed like that until they were both breathless and the only reason they broke apart was to catch it. Rowan’s hands weren’t idle though, they worked on untucking her shirt from her pants, touching the bare skin on her waist. That let Rowan recover and his breathing evened out, but with each insistent sweep across Aelin’s body her breath was hitching. Especially when those hands moved higher.
“Once upon a time I promised the first time I would take you wouldn’t be against a tree,” Rowan murmured onto the skin of her neck. Then he pulled back, watching Aelin’s face as he pressed into her firmer, so she could feel every hard line of his body. “It’s not the first time, is it?”
Aelin shook her head furiously, anticipation getting the better of her. They kept eye contact as she looped her arms around her neck and Rowan's hands slid down to her thighs. Cheating or not, Rowan had a point. She could argue this again later when they had more time.
Aelin arched into him, inviting him to take more. “I’m waiting, buzzard.”
Rowan laughed and kissed her again, and this time they didn’t stop until they had both unraveled completely.
~~~~~
Hope you enjoyed this little bit of canon silliness
@rowaelinscourt
Do you plan to continue twin wounds?
Hello! I think this is the first message I’ve ever answered, and it’s so cool! Thank you for asking!
Unfortunately, I have hit a bit of a creative rut in terms of Throne of Glass fanfic, and I do not plan to write more of this series :( that answer could change, of course, and I still adore that story! If you ever have a prompt, I could try to type up a fluffy lil one shot! 😊❤️
Hope this helped :)
(And thanks for reading!!)
Well....🤭🤭
Twin Wounds Chapter 9 is here!!
Guess you inspired me! I can't say I'll be able to finish the series, but I have another chapter already written after this. I read through my huge Google Doc with all of Twin Wounds and got pretty inspired :) thanks to whoever asked this <333
if you need a refresher on what was happening in this story(as I did lol) my masterlist is below! :D
Word Count: 1.2k
Tag List <33: @backtobl4ck, @aelinchocolatelover, @renxzs, @blue-bird17, @autumnbabylon, and @throneofshadows
Warnings: Language & Triggering Topics
Enjoy!
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Rowan was surprised but not stunned that he was about to have a conversation about his patient’s - and crush’s - progress to her cousin. Weirder things have happened, he thought to himself.
Now, he was awkwardly shuffling through Aelin’s file, now updated with her progress over the weeks. He cleared his throat. “So, what do you want to know?”
“Just, like…,” Aedion trailed off, looking out the small window. “How is she doing? Sorry, that’s probably stupid.”
“No, it’s alright. Aelin is doing very well, and I can already see her progress, physically and mentally.” Aedion loosed a breath of relief, grinning.
“Oh, thank the Gods. I don’t know what I’d do if this didn’t work…rehab was kind of a last resort.”
“I understand. That’s how it is with a lot of our clients - but I assure you, there are hundreds of options for people struggling. People respond to different things differently. I’m happy to say that Aelin is doing well. She isn’t thriving, but she’s definitely shown improvement.”
“I can tell,” Aedion interrupted. “She was just this…shell before. Now I can see hints of who she was before Sam. That anger, for example…you know, it’s encouraging to see her feeling emotions again.”
“I definitely agree. I think what Aelin needed was a change of scenery. Some fresh faces, things like that,” Rowan replied. “She’s been attending group therapy and one-on-one sessions with me. She’s been doing well, but she still won’t open up.”
Aedion’s jaw clenched. “Yep, that sounds about right. She would never talk to me. It made things so hard, and it had an effect on our closeness.”
“Ah, so you two were always close?”
“Oh, yeah. We’ve been inseparable since we were born. We’ve been at each other’s sides through so many things. When my mom died, she was there for me…and then later, when hers passed, I was there.”
“When did her parents die?”
“She was twenty-two. It was really hard on her - she was close to both.” Aedion’s voice was ragged, and he took a deep breath. “It was rough on all of us. Evalin was kind of my mother as well, since she took me in after my mom went.” He wiped away a tear running down his cheek.
Rowan nodded, his respect for the man in front of him growing. “I appreciate you sharing this with me. I know you may not feel…the best about giving me all of Aelin’s personal details. But I promise, all this just helps me, help her.”
__
I promise, I’ll come visit soon. Call me tomorrow, okay? Love you, Ae.
Aelin stared up at her popcorn ceiling, replaying her final moments with her cousin over and over. She lay curled up, wrapped in…His…old hoodie. There was still a lingering scent on it, and she let her tears drip onto the fabric as she inhaled deeply.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She sat up and wiped away her tears, standing and walking over. One of the nurses she was less familiar with stood there, a friendly smile on his face. “Ready for dinner, Aelin?”
“Yeah,” she sighed, and followed him down the hallway.
“Don’t look so glum! Tonight is special,” he said cheerfully. “As well as an ice cream sundae for dessert, there will be a movie playing in the cafeteria for everyone to enjoy!”
Aelin raised her eyebrows, interest sparking. Ice cream and a movie? That used to be her definition of a perfect night. Walking into the cafeteria, she quickly picked up a bowl of rice and beans, cheese melted on top of it. She found her seat at the usual table, sipping some of her lemonade as she sat. It was refreshing. She liked it.
“Excited for the movie?” Elide asked, a smile on the female’s face.
Aelin nodded. “Do you know what it’ll be?” Tiela asked.
“Pretty sure it’s an old Disney!” Lucas grinned excitedly, rubbing his palms together. The table quickly dissolved into an animated conversation, the patients discussing their favorite of Walt’s classics. Lysandra turned to Aelin and leaned in, green eyes sparking.
“Did Aedion leave?” she asked quietly.
Aelin raised her eyebrows. “I don’t even want to know why you are asking that question.”
Lysandra winked, and Aelin sighed. “Yep, he left. He’ll be back soon, though.”
“Thanks!” She turned back around and leapt into the conversation.
Aelin blew out a breath and allowed herself a small, brief smile. Oddly enough, she could picture her cousin and her therapy friend together. If Aedion was brave enough to ask, she knew he’d get a yes.
After their plates had been cleared and the patients were happily eating their chocolate-sauce drizzled sundaes, the nurses wheeled in a projector. Bambi came onto the screen, and the cafeteria settled peacefully. There was something innately comforting in the old cartoon style, even as some wiped away tears at Bambi’s tragedy. Aelin felt a sense of peace for the first time in…a while.
She felt somebody’s eyes on her, and she turned to find Rowan looking at her. At her gaze, he started and whipped away. Aelin kept her eyes on him, though, and so she caught him when he - almost immediately - peeked back. He sheepishly smiled, and when Aelin’s lips tilted up to mirror it, the smile stretched into a breathtaking..beam. He looked absolutely devastating.
Aelin let herself admire him for a couple seconds before turning back to the screen. Still, for the rest of the film she felt butterflies in her stomach, a flush in her cheeks.
__
After the film wrapped up, everybody began heading back to their dorms. With a satisfied appetite, a mouth filled with the sweet taste of ice cream, and an almost…happy feeling from a boy’s smile, Aelin felt like she was in middle school again, drawing hearts on her math worksheets whenever her first boyfriend, Dorian, looked her way. She walked with Lysandra and Elide, listening to their pleasant chatter.
“Oh, I love that movie,” Elide sniffled. “Always makes me cry, though.”
“I think we should watch Sleeping Beauty next,” Lysandra said, playing with a strand of her hair. “That was always my favorite.”
“That does not surprise me in the slightest,” Aelin said. With her cat-like eyes and prowling gait, Lysandra looked like Maleficent herself.
The women turned to her, smiles on their faces. No matter how much Aelin had softened toward them since she’d arrived, it was still rare that she actually added to the conversation. “What was your favorite Disney movie growing up, Aelin?” Elide asked her, dark eyes soft and sweet.
For the first time in a long time, Aelin thought back to the happiness of her childhood, before darkness had overtaken it. She avoided the memory of her parents, and instead brought to her mind images of her younger self coming home from school to pop a DVD into their TV.
“Probably The Lion King,” she replied, and Lysandra and Elide nodded instantly, grinning.
“Ugh, so good,” Lysandra said.
“I loved the Just Can’t Wait to Be King scene,” Aelin said, smiling slightly. She ignored the happy shock on the women’s faces as they saw her expression. She was smiling so much today. “I’d always wondered what it would be like to be royalty.”
Do you plan to continue twin wounds?
Hello! I think this is the first message I’ve ever answered, and it’s so cool! Thank you for asking!
Unfortunately, I have hit a bit of a creative rut in terms of Throne of Glass fanfic, and I do not plan to write more of this series :( that answer could change, of course, and I still adore that story! If you ever have a prompt, I could try to type up a fluffy lil one shot! 😊❤️
Hope this helped :)
(And thanks for reading!!)