Hello hello! I finally got around to rereading ACOTAR during this quarantine, and I figured it was about time I wrote a fic about it.
Enjoy Azriel, Rhys, and Cassian navigating the human world. Pretty big AU.
"Of all the gin joints in all the world, eh?" The man at the bar smirked as though he'd just said the funniest joke in the whole world. His suit and slicked back hair identified him as a gentleman, but his words certainly betrayed him.
"Funny," Aria said, looking distinctly unamused as she wiped her hands on her black apron. "What can I get you?"
"Just a beer. Guinness," he replied, stretching one large arm out over the back of the bar stool next to him. "And it's from Casablanca, you know. Ever seen it?"
"You got it," Aria replied, turning away from the patronizing patron to grab his beer and wondering who gave this man advice on hitting on bartenders. "And yeah. I've seen it."
"So you like old movies," he said smoothly as she slid the beer across the counter to him. "What else do you like?"
"Working my job without getting interrupted," Aria said in reply, smiling tightly and turning away from him. She made a point to walk to the other end of the bar to aimlessly stack napkins.
"You good?" Charlotte asked, sidling up next to her and flicking her blonde hair over one shoulder. "I saw that James Dean wannabe in the monkey suit hit on you."
"Yeah," Aria said. "Harmless, I'm sure. Just…overconfident."
Charlotte snorted. "Aren't they all?" She reached for the towel draped over Aria's right shoulder and took it, using it to wipe up a small spill by the register. "When are you off, by the way?"
"Ten minutes," Aria sighed at the clock on the wall, leaning against the counter and letting her eyes flit over to the man in the suit. He seemed properly cowed and was drinking his beer in silence. "Shawn said I could leave earlier if I wanted, but I told him I'd finish out my usual shift."
"You're a trooper, you know," Charlotte said, her eyes holding Aria's gaze seriously. "This can't be easy for you, but I'm proud of you. If you ever need me to cover a shift—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, give you a call."
Charlotte nodded emphatically. "I'm serious, Ari."
Aria cracked a small smile. "I know, and it means a lot. Thank you."
Charlotte seemed to pause for a minute before saying, "You know what? Get out of here. I got everything covered and you should call your mom."
Aria was already reaching behind her back for the knot in her apron, not one to deny help when it was offered. Especially not today, when she was exhausted and couldn't even get to the hospital and had plenty of chores to do at home.
"You sure?" Aria asked, double-checking as she folded her apron and placed it under the bar. "You think you can handle James Dean without me?"
In reply, Charlotte merely rat-tailed her with the towel, giggling as Aria quietly shrieked at the small sting.
"Bitch," Aria laughed, giving Charlotte a brief hug before grabbing her bag and coat from the hooks in the back.
"Love you, too. Have a good weekend," Charlotte replied, giving Aria a brief wave as she hustled out the door to the bar, letting it close softly behind her.
"Hey Mom, are you awake?" Aria said, balancing her purse on one lifted knee as she searched for her apartment keys. She wobbled and forced her cheek to clench the phone tighter between her face and her shoulder. "I was just calling to check in on you because I didn't get a chance to come over today…shit, I thought I had it…oh no, sorry, I'm not talking to you, I'm just looking for—dammit where are they? Hold on one second, Mom." Aria reached up and removed the phone from the crook of her shoulder and used her other hand to search the depths of her bag.
When she finally surfaced triumphantly with her keys, she fitted the right one into the lock and raised the phone back up to her ear as she let herself into her apartment.
"Sorry about that," Aria said into the speaker, listening for sounds of her two roommates as she dropped her bag by the door. "How are you?"
Aria's roommates weren't usually home until late because they partied at all hours. Nesta and Elain were sisters, and they'd all met at university their last year during an art history class. Aria didn't hear them this particular night, though, and for that she was glad. She hadn't exactly been open about her mom's diagnosis with them and didn't really want to get into any difficult conversations.
According to Mrs. Archambault tonight, she was feeling slightly better. The doctors were saying that it was only a small fall and thank God it hadn't been worse than it was, but Aria could hear in her mom's voice that she was weaker. That was probably the cancer, sapping the strength from her muscles with every passing day.
After chatting for an hour and deflecting questions about her day in favor of talking about Aria's mom's condition, she reluctantly said goodbye with the promise of visiting the hospital tomorrow.
"Goodnight Mom, I love you so much," she said, feeling tears pool in her eyes against her will. She heard her mom chirp a weary goodbye into the phone, and then she hung up, sitting in contemplative silence for several minutes.
The doctors hadn't given them a specific date even when Aria begged, but they did say that with treatment perhaps Mrs. Archambault could extend her life somewhat. Aria, however, with her limited knowledge of medicine, knew that metastasis wasn't something you could come back from. Not with breast cancer. It had been two months of coming to terms with the fact that her mom might not be in her life much longer.
Without realizing it, Aria let out several heaving sobs and felt her eyes grow hot before fat tears dripped onto her cheeks and her legs, which were curled up under her on the couch. She let her chest contract painfully for several minutes, and then when she felt properly miserable, she wiped her face and moved to stand from the couch. What she needed now was a good night's rest.
You can't take care of your mom if you can't take care of yourself, she told herself, and then moved up the stairs for bed, grateful that she was alone.
She dreamed of three men, all tall and intimidating. One of them had blonde hair, but she couldn't make out any of their faces. Somehow, she knew they were all inhumanly handsome.
There was smoke around the corners of her vision, but as she batted it away, she soon realized that they weren't tendrils of smoke, but…shadows, somehow. They were cool to the touch and wound around her arms before lifting away and hovering near her. If they weren't only shadows, Aria might have called the movement playful.
Different, Aria heard. She couldn't turn her head away from the shadows, but she knew it came from one of the three men. Can't you tell?
Aria reached out a hand and caressed one of the shadows, feeling it curl up at her touch like a cat might.
Then she was in the hospital with her mother, and the shadows were gone. Aria clutched her mother's hand and felt herself beg for her mom to wake up. Doctors rushed in and out of the room, and when Aria looked at her mother's heart monitor, she saw a flat line.
No, she whispered, looking back down at her mother. No!
A doctor shoved her out of the way, but he didn't try to resuscitate Mrs. Archambault. Instead, he picked up a surgical knife and held it up to her throat.
What are you doing!? Aria cried, but the doctor ignored her as he made the first cut into her mother's neck.
Aria woke in a cold sweat, feeling herself shiver in the night air. Her stomach was in her throat and she was breathing hard as the dream caught up with her. She only remembered bits and pieces, but she did remember feeling terror.
"They'll call you if she gets worse," she murmured to herself. "You know that. She's okay."
Aria shivered violently, and only then realized that her bedroom window was open.
Odd, she thought. She didn't remember opening it. Gently lowering herself to the ground, she padded over and shut it, hearing the quiet outside noises become muffled.
This hadn't been the first time she'd dreamt of her mother's death. Aria thought she'd have moved past it by now, but it still gripped her with horror every time. She swore she had hypertension now because of it, but she couldn't bring herself to go see a therapist. Not that she had the money for it, anyway.
She barely afforded rent with her job, but she was grateful that amidst all the partying, her roommates still were able to keep their jobs. They were both servers and she was a bartender, so their apartment wasn't exactly 5-star, but it didn't have any mold—or so their landlord said—and had functioning appliances.
Aria placed her head against the now-closed window and took a deep breath. She'd put everything out of her mind, like always, and get by. For now, she'd get to sleep. Tomorrow, she'd deal with rent and her roommates and her mother's condition. Tonight, she'd focus on sleep.
Thank God for her two best friends, Melatonin and Benadryl.
The next day was Saturday and it was Aria's off weekend, so she woke up around ten and puttered around, letting herself get a cup of coffee and some cereal before settling on the couch, watching the cars drive by outside the living room window. When she finished, she did all the dishes, threw Nesta and Elain's various belongings into their respective rooms, and vacuumed the whole apartment. She scrubbed the bathroom, did the laundry, and finally sat down at the dining table to look at the rent due that month.
Aria was the self-proclaimed director of their apartment. Nesta was content to stay at her boyfriend's a lot of the time, meaning that Aria rarely saw her except to collect her rent and when Nesta needed a new overnight bag.
"Isaac never does laundry," she would always complain, and then Aria would offer to do Nesta's laundry for her, like usual, because Lord knows Nesta wouldn't recognize laundry detergent if Aria poured it on her.
Elain served in a diner and worked hard, but she also partied hard. Aria thought that after a year of living together, she'd be a lot closer with the two of them than she was, but all in all they weren't terrible roommates.
Maybe it was Aria's penchant for biting off more than she could chew, but she had taken over the cooking, cleaning, and maintenance in the house. She learned to fix the pipes herself instead of hiring a plumber—although the Sewage Disaster of April '18 almost made her rethink that decision—and washed all the dishes by hand when the dishwasher finally let out a final death rattle and ceased to work.
Rent, though, was another matter. Aria hated bills, but she preferred to be the one in charge, especially because she didn't trust either of her roommates to be responsible enough with their money.
She had just opened up her computer at the dining table when both Nesta and Elain came through the front door, laughing.
"Come on, E, I told you Isaac couldn't make breakfast to save his life—"
"Yeah, but he looked so sad, I had to try some—"
"Even after I specifically warned you?"
More laughter.
Nesta finally spotted Aria as she put her bag down near the living room couch. "Hey Ari."
Aria had learned long ago not to question her roommates on their whereabouts, but it was rare that they came home at the same time, and she was curious.
"Where were you guys?" she asked, reclining in her chair.
Nesta and Elain exchanged a look.
"Just at Isaac's," Nesta said, crossing her arms uncomfortably over her chest.
"You too, Elain?" Aria asked dubiously.
Elain shifted on her feet. "What?" she defended. "He's got a hot roommate!"
Aria let out a chuckle and shook her head, returning her attention to her computer. "Well, I'm glad you guys had fun."
Nesta and Elain made their way into the kitchen to look for some food, and it was silent for several minutes. Aria couldn't help but think their behavior was slightly off.
"Hey," she finally said, and Nesta looked up from the fridge as Elain closed their pantry. "Just a reminder, rent's due Monday. Can you guys get that to me as soon as possible?"
Elain met Nesta's eyes for a long second before turning toward Aria. "Um…is it okay if we talk to you about something, Ari?"
Aria blinked. "Uh, yeah, okay. What is it?"
"Well…" Nesta seemed to hesitate. "I think Isaac and I are going to take the next step. We kind of want to move in together."
"That's great," Aria said, genuinely happy for her roommate. "When?"
"Next week."
"Oh." Aria frowned. "So what are you saying?"
"She's saying," Elain cut in gently, "that she's moving out. And I think I might be going home."
"Home? To New York? What for?"
"I just think I need to get a new start," Elain said, rubbing her arm reluctantly. "I enrolled in a university for grad school near my house."
"We're sorry," Nesta blurted, but she looked more uncomfortable than apologetic. "We should've told you earlier, but we both just talked about it today."
Aria's head spun a little bit. "But you guys will still pay rent on Monday, right?"
More glances between the sisters.
"I told Isaac I'd give him a down payment tomorrow."
"I needed to buy my plane ticket home."
Aria felt cold. "So…you're not paying rent? How am I supposed to keep this place?"
Nesta shrugged. "I'm sorry, babe. Maybe we can help a little, but we decided it's finally time to move on."
Aria should have been furious. In fact, there was a little voice that shouted at her this isn't fair, they owe you that money and how dare they take advantage of you and leave you to fend for yourself, especially in a time like this, but she shoved it down.
"Okay," was what she finally said, numbly. Nesta and Elain both said some more platitudes about being sorry before they shuffled off to their rooms.
Aria sat there for a long time, contemplating how quickly the universe had decided to squash her like a bug.
Elain packed up and flew out the following morning, and Nesta basically avoided Aria until she left several days after her sister.
They'd left the common room furniture with her, saying she could have it, as if that made up for the betrayal and abandonment. Aria paid the rent by herself by selling the glass table in the living room and the TV and cancelling their cable, but she just barely made it and had to keep the air off to save money. This made the house freezing cold, and autumn wasn't exactly the best time to be left alone in an apartment.
She visited her mom every day that week, trying to be there for her and take her own mind off of everything that had happened. Every day that passed felt like another nail in the coffin of Aria's life. She had no one else outside of her mother, no one to turn to for help.
Aria picked up more shifts until she was working seven days a week from 4pm to 2am, and even flirted with more customers in the hopes of more tips, but it didn't seem to help that much. When October rent finally rolled around, she sold more furniture and just again barely made it.
She bought less food, so eventually she began to slim down, but not in the way she wanted. She became colder more easily, which didn't help when the heat was off. She became used to walking around the apartment in a sweatshirt and a heavy blanket.
Charlotte noticed something was off with her friend, but knew better than to pry, and so she only offered her support, and Aria thanked her every time.
It all changed one day.
Aria woke up and decided to go for a walk in the park near her apartment before work. Shivering from the cold air, she dressed warmly and walking down the trail, enjoying the warm reds, yellows, and browns on the trees. There were several couples she walked past, and a small smile crept onto her face as she watched a man and a woman walking their small dog. She lifted a hand to wave briefly, and then continued on her way.
It wasn't until she got to the water fountain and bent to take a drink that she felt the first wave of dizziness hit her.
"Woah," she said out loud, gripping the metal tightly to keep herself upright. The world spun, and she clenched her eyes tight, trying her best to breathe steadily.
"Excuse me," a man's voice said from behind her. "Are you alright?"
Aria didn't answer for several seconds, and it took him asking a second time before she weakly lifted her head. The man had moved into her field of vision, and the first thing that she noticed was that he was tall, dark, and handsome.
"Hey," she said, her voice sounding odd to her own ears, "you look like someone I had a dream about once."
The man's brow furrowed, and it was then that she noticed the shadows. They circled the man as if they were an extension of him, and only occasionally darted out to linger near her feet.
"I know you," she mumbled, feeling as if she was drunk. The world was still spinning, but somehow, she and the man remained upright. "I know you."
She heard another male voice, and a blonde man jogged up to meet the man with the shadows, and Aria felt her heart stutter. I've never met them before, but I know both of them.
She tried to say something, to turn and go back to her apartment, but suddenly her vision went black and she felt her body fall. The last thing she felt was someone catch her.
Enjoy quarantine, folks. Don't forget to favorite and review!
Kat