AN:/ unrequited crush!

Aunt Tailtiu brought the Velthomer noble — Azelle — almost everywhere with her. He was not her husband, only her good friend, but every time Ishtar invited her over for tea, he followed after. "He's been with me since I was a kid," Aunt Tailtiu answered when pressed. "Felt kinda weird not having him here all these years, you know?"

Ishtar knew.

A dear friend of her aunt's, she could not turn him away, but when she wrangled House Friege under one roof, his shock of red stood out. (Julius was preoccupied with whatever mischief he could cause in the constraint of his Askr contract, and held no fondness for his uncle.)

And if he was not her aunt's friend, he was the Emperor's younger brother — he called His Majesty brother and the rare times she saw him, the Emperor called Azelle brother in kind. The resemblance was undeniable, as it was in Lord Julius, yet he carried himself so differently than His Majesty and His Highness that Ishtar could not look away.

For better or worse.

Her cousins took no umbrage with the Velthomer lord's attendance to Friege family affairs, either. Content to listen and watch (unlike her fiance, who rarely managed ten silent minutes even in sleep), he took his seat beside Aunt Tailtiu, sipping whatever beverage she served. Today, it was a Nohrian blend she'd not steeped long enough, but he politely drank it while Tailtiu held her cup on her lap.

Ishtar did her best to keep Aunt Tailtiu — and Azelle — in whatever conversation they had, but it was harder some days than others. They knew more than her and her cousins while knowing less; the two of them were a handful of years older than her, yet lively and innocent in a way she did not think was possible anymore.

And when Tailtiu excused herself from a conversation, leaning back into the couch, Azelle went with her. They whispered between themselves, but neither of them were particularly good at it. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Aunt Tailtiu nodded. "Oh, yeah. Just…you know," she gestured vaguely. Azelle nodded.

Ishtar looked back to her cousins. Tine was getting along fine in Askr, though she wished to see Princess Julia more, but at times she was not the easiest girl to find. "I have to leave soon," Azelle said. "I can come back for you, if you like."

"You're going to…?"

"Askr's library."

"Again?"

"Yes, again. The library here puts Belhalla's archives to shame." It did. She was not as bookish as her fiance (once was), but he liked to occasionally go and it was easy to think of home.

They were silent for a moment. Aunt sighed. "Oh, alright. I'll go with you. We're having dinner with Lex anyway."

"Try to contain your enthusiasm." Aunt Tailtiu laughed, and he laughed with her.

She peeked — Aunt laid her head on his shoulder, staring at her tepid drink, cozy for being unwedded. Azelle, rigid as a comfortable board, caught her, smiling cordially as he so often and easily did. Lord Julius sneered, His Majesty's eyes did not move, but Azelle smiled with everything: his lips, his cheeks, his eyes, his brows, even his nose.

She turned back to her much safer cousins, eyes and ears only for Tine; Arthur was much the same (Cousin Arthur, she suspected, humored her at Tine's behest; she had no good feel on him).

A smile for her. A smile for anyone.

In the corner of her eye, she saw him start to stand. She and both of her cousins turned to look, man stalling in a half-sat/half-risen pose. "I am getting her coat," he said quickly. "We must leave early and she's prone to forgetting it. She was going to tell you while I was gone."

"You're leaving, Mother?" Tine left her side to be at Tailtiu's. Azelle quickly got out of the way, apologetically bowing his head to her (and Arthur) as he stepped out. A man who fetched coats. She considered Lord Julius exceptionally loving if he went to bed without his shoes on.

(It wasn't all his fault — some days his head hurt so bad he needed excused from the Order's activities; some days he kept no food down; some days he could not look at the sun; some days he told her all the ways he loved her and how he always would; some days he tossed pebbles at bobbing goslings and cackled.)

Tailtiu hugged Tine, then gestured Arthur in for one. He went.

Ishtar watched the doorway. Her own mother was in Askr, but she did not invite her over, preferring to meet with her in public, with Julius. Most days, she and Julius ran together, and if not him, she summoned Reinhardt, who had his own duties. Aunt Tailtiu had the Velthomer nobleman and the thought of her husband.

Azelle was not gone long, her aunt's long, black coat with large buttons clutched in a mage-worn hand. He claimed to be talentless, not blessed to wield the might of a Crusader like her — they fought together: he was better than he thought.

He patiently waited, quietly waited, flashing her an apologetic smile as Tailtiu went on. "Thank you for having us, Princess Ishtar," he said. Lord Julius only waited so well if she held his hand. "And I apologize for taking her early."

"It is all right," she said too quickly. "Do not worry."

"I tend to." His voice was measured, steady. "Where did you get the tea? I quite liked it."

Ishtar perked up. "You can have the rest, if you like."

"Oh, no, I could not."

"It is fine! Julius and I do not like it much." His brow creased. "Really. It is fine."

"...well, if you say so."

Princess Ishtar, Goddess of Thunder, scrambled off the couch and to the kitchenette. Teas in Askr, even if from other worlds, came in wooden boxes with printed tops. She grabbed the dark-grain Nohrian blend. Julius would not notice — Julius took his tea with so much milk and honey she was surprised he knew it was tea.

Aunt Tailtiu was in her coat, right hand curled around Azelle's elbow, when she came back. "Thank you again," Azelle said. Aunt Tailtiu beamed at her, perfect teeth and sparking warmth. When did she ever do that?

Ishtar handed the box to her aunt; before she did her hand shot out and gave hers a squeeze. "I know he keeps saying it, but thanks for having us, Ishtar. It's a treat to see ya."

"Of course, Aunt. The…treat is all mine."

AN:/ a bit different then why i normally post over here, but i don't hate it, lol. azelle is but catnip for the friege family