LITERALLY I sent Sage three excerpts from chapter two of Rancor and Risotto and asked for naked cuddles.

I think my exact words were something like: “is it okay if I send you sections of my fic that kinda gives the vibes I want and then you can interpret that how you see it?”

And they were like “yup that totally works for me!”

AND I Asdfghjkl the emotions y’all THE EMOTIONS

@mossytrashcan is a god, that is all.

Happy @azrisweek Everyone!

Nesta doesn't balk at Eris’s crass words, instead falling behind Eris, undoing his bag and digging for his notebook. The sneer was on Eris’s lips, a bite he desperately wanted to unleash.

“It’s not here.”

The bite wason the tip of his tongue, stopping at her words. No, she must have missed it. He was sure he had grabbed it from his locker before leaving. Eris stopped, pulling the bag from his back. He unzipped it fully before setting it on the grass, digging through the neatly organized folders and notebooks to find everything he needed for the day. Everything except for a green notebook that was in his bag instead of the blue one he needed. He rubbed his temple in frustration, annoyance simmering beneath his skin.

“That idiot was grating on my last nerve - I grabbed the wrong notebook.” 

Nesta didn’t need Eris to clarify which member of their school’s hockey team he was referring to. They all had nicknames that he and Nesta once spent a drunken night determining - sun-kissed prick, annoying prick, dumb brute. Eris had insisted that Azriel was an idiot, that no one that pretty could be nice or have any functioning brain cells.

“You know-“

“Shut up, Nesta. Just because your dumb boyfriend is a hockey player doesn’t mean you like his teammates.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“You’ve never slept with a guy more than twice and your little car romp makes for a fourth time. I’ll consider you engaged soon enough.”

Eris put his bag over his shoulder, turning as he spoke to Nesta over his shoulder. “Get me a coffee - I’ll meet you in class.”

Eris marched back across campus, not bothering to wait for Nesta’s response. The trip back to the rink allowed Eris ample time to stew in his annoyance, his teeth grinding as he moved.

Fucking Azriel.

Oak University’s dominating right winger. The counterpart to Nesta’s boy toy Cassian, Eris had caught glimpses of him during team practices or during his and Nesta’s practices when the hockey team would be filing in, waiting for their time slot.

Fucking prick.

Eris didn’t like most people - they were tiresome and tedious. Most people he could brush off, the thought of them not lingering long enough in his brain for him to think too much about them. Something about Azriel dug beneath his skin, that prick nestling in just so he could always feel that shoot of annoyance at any mention of him.

By the time Eris had made it back to the rink, he was practically marching through the sports complex. A man on a mission. If he was quick, he could grab his notebook and make it to their geography lecture with about ten minutes to spare. 

He pushed through the women’s hockey team as they left through the lobby, their time on the ice ending not so long ago. 

One of them muttered ‘pretty boy’ beneath her breath, receiving no response as he continued to push past them. It was hard for any of the names to truly bother him - he had heard it all before from his own father and then some. His father was a cruel man who saw figure skating as a sport for ‘pansies and homosexuals’, but he still funded Eris’s adolescent career because of his mother’s pleading and the fact that Eris was undeniably skilled on the ice. He had even appeared in the last Winter Olympics a year and a half prior. His previous partner and him weren’t up to Olympic standards, but he moved forward to the world’s stage in the singles category. 

He had placed a hare’s breath away from a medal. When he came to Oak University, his previous partner, Julia, went to a different school so he worked to convince his coach to pair him and Nesta up.

Renovations were being done to several parts of the rink before the season kicked up, including the small locker room for the figure skaters at the school. Nesta had been furious at the news they’d have to utilize the hockey team’s locker room, but not an ounce of insecurity came from her after every practice. Nesta made a statement - each time she’d get through the door, she’d immediately strip off and walk naked to the showers, her eyes daring anyone to stare for too long.

Eris had a much smaller act of defiance. He had considered jacking off in the showers every time he used them, hoping he could clog the drains and ruin the team’s cushy locker room. But that plan quickly fell through due to the realization that if their drains were messed up, they would simply come to their freshly renovated locker room and ruin it.

So, he chose pissing in the shower instead. It satisfied that desire in him to be petty just enough to prevent him from doing actual damage.

A handful of lockers weren’t in use, the team always having a few spare lockers, so Eris and Nesta had claimed the two in the corner. He pushed open the doors to the locker room, knowing that the men’s hockey team were watching tape today, their practice having ended half an hour ago. Nobody should be in here - hopefully his blood pressure won’t get too high just by being in the locker room. The door swung shut behind him, his mouth puckering in annoyance at the tan skin before him.

The idiot.

Nesta once called Azriel a “pretty boy with sad eyes that have women declaring they can fix him”. 

Eris could handle walking the twenty feet toward his locker, not even acknowledging the man, and heading back for his lecture. Surely he could do that and not pop a blood vessel.

Eris truly had no idea what it was about the man that infuriated him so much. The two had hardly spoken - but whenever Azriel looked at him, he didn’t see the sad eyes Nesta saw. He saw something all-consuming, like a burning fire of hatred.

As a queer man with feminine interests, Eris knew what that look meant. I can see you. I know what you are. Different.

Eris didn’t glance at Azriel as he moved to his locker, the only one in this room with a lock on it. Nesta didn’t care - “if any of those pricks look through my shit, I’ll know.” Eris couldn’t leave it to chance. Not after having a father who insisted on prying apart every ounce of privacy Eris had.

No, he had to make sure no one would touch his stuff. 

He found the notebook quite easily, a sigh escaping him at the mistake, catching himself before he slammed his forehead into it at his incompetence.

“Forget something?”

Eris turned his head to find Azriel standing less than a foot away from him, his tattoos peeking out from the fitted black tee he wore. Azriel’s jaw moved as he chewed his gum, a minty smell hitting Eris’s nose, his eyes following the sharpline with each movement.

“No, I wanted to come back and remember exactly what had been in my locker.” The man smirked, his eyes looking up and down at Eris as he chewed.

I’m going to die in a locker room. It was the only thought Eris had, his jaw ticking at the cliche: a queer man being killed by a man who dominates in a violent sport. How lovely - he’d become a statistic.

“I saw you practicing today.”

Eris hummed, no idea where Azriel was heading with his sentence, his eyes preoccupied with putting the notebook away and shitting his locker.

“I never got figure skating until I watched you on the ice.”

Eris’s head snapped up, shocked that Azriel was still speaking to him, much less complimenting him. A compliment? A compliment?

“You didn’t understand figure skating until today?”

Azriel’s cheeks reddened, his eyes looking down before meeting Eris’s. “I actually caught your performance in the Winter Olympics. I knew nothing about the sport, but I thought you were robbed.”

He had whispered the last part conspiratorially, as if he were on the judging panel. Eris’s stomach was flipping through his torso at how low Azriel’s voice got.

“Why’d you watch figure skating?”

He scratched his jaw, the lightest hint of a five o’clock shadow coating his sharp jawline. “My cousin’s really into it- she loves the outfits, the storytelling.” His voice deepened, “the way figure skaters look.”

Eris’s heart was pounding in his chest, nearly jumping from within his ribcage. Was he flirting? Was this a joke? If it was, he wouldn’t let Azriel win.

“I’m shocked something without violence could keep a hockey player’s attention.”

He laughed. It was big and joyous, a sound just for Eris in this big empty room. The corner of his mouth twitched before he quickly corrected it back into a scowl.

“I was too. I watched lots of other skaters, but I only really followed your career and when I saw you here for the first time, I couldn’t believe it.”

Eris’s mouth dropped in the revelation. Azriel had been following his career? 

“To be honest, I was pretty nervous to speak to you, especially when they said we’d be sharing a locker room.”

Nervous? He had always been glaring at Eris anytime he saw him. Eris had always glared back. 

Eris raised a brow, a questioning look that caused Azriel to keep speaking.

“You always look so devoted when practicing. It’s cute.”

Eris was sure he must have fallen on his way to the rink, his head bleeding out on some sidewalk as an ambulance wailed in the distance. He kept silent, for the first time in his life no words came to him.

“I never see you without Nesta.”

Was there a touch of sadness to Azriel’s tone? Or was Eris imagining it?

“She’s a friend.”

Something about his words changed the look Azriel had. His hazel eyes twinkled at Eris causing a heat to creep up his neck. He couldn’t process what was happening before Azriel surged forward, his hand wrapping around the back of Eris’s neck, pulling him forward to meet his lips. His tongue swiped across Eris’s lips, Eris holding the collar of Azriel’s black tee tight to hold himself up. His knees threatened to buckle beneath him, Azriel’s chest pushing him into the lockers all that was keeping him up.

He tasted of mint, the shock pulling all of the air from Eris’s lungs. Eris moved his hands up his collar, his hands grasping Azriel’s jaw instead as he kissed back just as fervently. It felt like Azriel was trying to force life into him with a kiss and by gods was it working.

The locker clanged behind them as Azriel’s knees hit them, caging Eris in even further. Hands moved through Eris’s hair, fingers tangling in the red locks. Eris could hardly breathe, his mouth only leaving Azriel’s long enough to get a quick breath before their lips met again.

A banging on the door interrupted them and as quickly as he was on him, Azriel had pulled back, moving away from the redhead. Eris was still grabbing the air, his hands where Azriel had just been.

“See you later, Eris.”

Eris’s eyes were blown wide as Azriel turned and walked out of the locker room, the echo of Cassian’s voice greeting Azriel the only sound in the room. He clutched his chest, desperate to get his racing heart to slow down. He felt around in his mouth, his tongue meeting the gum Azriel had been chewing, unsure when it had gotten there.

What the fuck?

Divider by @tsunami-of-tears

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