#he stayed

stationary orbit.

you stayed for eleven minutes. you know because you checked.

the days find a shape. the nights are different to the days.

(the folder does not have unlimited storage.)

(hey. come on. i need you to come back.)

(HEY. COME ON. I NEED YOU TO COME BACK.)

Emotional support group in the comments would be appreciated for my own sanity please

[ chapter 15 | part 1 if you’re new ]

Gwynriel Song Inspo & HC

Stay, Rihanna

All along it was a fever A cold sweat, hot headed believer I threw my hands in the air, said, “Show me something” She said, “If you dare, come a little closer”

Not really sure how to feel about it Something in the way you move Makes me feel like I can’t live without you It takes me all the way I want you to stay

Oh, the reason I hold on Oh, ‘cause I need this hole gone Well, funny you’re the broken one But I’m the only one who needed saving ‘Cause when you never see the light It’s hard to know which one of us is caving

This song popped up on one of my playlists today (the Rihanna duet) and it reminded me of these two. Mikky Ekko’s solo version of the song is great. So, I went back and read Az’s bonus chapter, because this was the exact scene the song triggered:

It was too late to bank without appearing like he was running. Azriel landed in the ring a few feet from where Gwyn practiced in the chill night, her sword glimmering like ice in the moonlight.

She stopped mid-slice, whirling to face him. “I’m sorry. I knew you all were going to the river house, so I didn’t think anyone would mind if I came up here, and-”

“It’s fine. I came to retrieve something I forgot.” The lie was smooth and cool, as he knew his face was. His shadows peered over his wings at her.

The young priestess smiled - and Azriel thought it might have been directed at his curious shadows. But she just hooked her coppery-brown hair behind an arched ear. “I was trying to cut the ribbon.” She pointed with her sword at the white ribbon, which seemed to glow silver.

“Aren’t you cold?” His breath clouded in front of him. 

Gwyn shrugged. “Once you get moving, you stop noticing it.”

He nodded, silence falling. For a heartbeat, their gazes met. He blocked out the bloody memory that flashed, so at odds with the Gwyn he saw before him now. 

Her head ducked, as if remembering it too. That he’d been the one who’d found her that day at Sangravah. “Happy Solstice,” she said, as much a dismissal as it was a holiday blessing.

He snorted. “Are you kicking me out?”

Gwyn’s teal eyes flashed with alarm. “No! I mean, I don’t mind sharing the ring. I just... I know you like to be alone.” Her mouth quirked to the side, crinkling the freckles on her nose. “Is that why you came up here?”

Sort of. “I forgot something,” he reminded her.

“At two in the morning?”

Pure amusement glittered in her stare. Better than the pain and grief he’d spied a moment before. So he offered her a crooked smile. “I can’t sleep without my favorite dagger.”

“A comfort to every growing child.”

Azriel’s lips twitched. He refrained from mentioning that he did indeed sleep with a dagger.

It still blows my mind that parts of the fandom refuse to catch on in regard to these two. She can totally tell he’s lying and then she teases him about collecting his comfort dagger like it’s a stuffed animal. Gwyn motherfucking Berdara just called the shadowsinger a child. And he almost smiled. But! That’s not the best part.. the best part is this, “He refrained from mentioning that he did indeed sleep with a dagger.”

Why? Because it meant he was very close to admitting something intimate about himself to her (at this point in the story) a stranger. And eventually does when he admits to her that he sings. Now, seeing as this is the first time it’s ever been mentioned outside of his title, that’s a big fucking deal. It has always been a HC of mine that Azriel sings when he’s drunk. 

“It's getting late... I should go now…”

“Yeah... you probably should…”

“I …”

You stayed.

But you’re mine.

That’s why you stayed?