Disclaimer: I haven't written from Elide's POV before, or for TOG, so please forgive me if this interpretation of her character is off.
TW: Mentions of canon childhood trauma and injury.
Elide Lochan knew one thing with certainty: if she had children, they would be loved. Her husband—tall, dark haired and ruggedly handsome—would be strong and capable and dependable, as her father had once been; he would teach them how to defend themselves, so they were never treated as she was... not that this would ever happen if she had anything to say about it, either. She would make sure their education was top notch, too, and not left to fester under the oppressive neglect of an abusive uncle.
She would take them on picnics under the summer sunshine, where they would enjoy freshly picked strawberries, and scones with jam and clotted cream; in Autumn they would walk through the rain, their arms full of the colourful leaves that had dressed the trees not long before. Winter would involve sledding down the surrounding hills, through the thick snow that blanketed Terrasen year after year, wrapped up tightly against the cold... and in spring? Spring would involve flower crowns and muddy romps, probably at the same time; her father had not called it "mud season" without cause. She would even sew pretty clothes for them, reclaiming the skill her mother had wielded, first as a laundress, and then the Lady of Perranth.
She would do anything for these hypothetical future children, and she knew her husband would, too.
The problem was, Elide struggled to see it ever happening. It just wasn't in her stars. Finnula had told her this evening that she was to be moved, with her uncle, to someplace new in the morning, though of course she hadn't been told the where or why or how. She looked down at her ruined ankle and sighed heavily. If only she was able to run. Run towards the future she wanted, to get away from her fate—or, perhaps, to find it?
She could hear Finnula's voice, floating up from the depths of her mind: "Don't be angry, be smart."
Can i request an Elorcan “I cant believe you came here with me”? Thank you 🙏
Anytime, nonnie.
I honestly haven’t been writing any short fanfictions because I’m working on two longish projects for Tumblr and then I’m also working on two other original short stories so writing anything else hasn’t really entered my mind.
But thank you so much for sending me this prompt! It gave me an opportunity to get a short break from all my projects and focus on something else.
I didn’t quite follow the prompt word for word, but I hope I meet your expectations.
Word Count: 1.2k
Elide gave Manon, Asterin and Sorrel Blackbeak a polite thank you for giving her a chance at the job and left the office with a shuddering sigh. She stepped outside and looked at the bustling workers, shoving away thoughts of doubt as she straightened her pencil skirt and tugged at her plain white blouse. She stepped into the elevator, staring at her own reflection, sighing once more.
She had come here because the company was looking for a secretary for the CEOs of the Blackbeak company and she had applied. After a couple of interviews with people from Resources, the Blackbeak clan leaders had asked for an interview themselves. She had screamed with delight showing the email excitedly to Aelin and had received a proud grin in return.
The elevator dinged as it stopped at the bottom floor and she stepped outside, feeling her heartbeat pound as she looked around for Lorcan. He had offered to be her ride to the building and had offered to drive her back too. They’d been friends for almost a year now, meeting through Aelin and Rowan at a Christmas party. Aelin had tried to set her up with Lorcan but Elide had settled for friendship with him. But she’d be lying if she didn’t want him to be something much more. She’d even caught him staring at her multiple times and now it was just a matter of someone making the first move.
“ Elide!” Lorcan’s voice yelled. She turned around to see him in a black car that hadn’t been there when she had first come outside.
She walked over to his open window and said, “ Where did you go?”
“ Some asshole said I couldn’t wait outside of the building so I’ve been circling around the block,” he said casually.
Elide then walked around the car and slipped into the passenger seat. “ That’s terrible. How long have you been circling?”
“ Only around half an hour. Don’t worry about it,” he said casually as they rejoined the streets. “ So, how was the interview?”
“ It wasn’t too bad. The Blackbeak sisters are a little…cold,” she said hesitantly.
“ Bitchy?” he asked with a chuckle.
“…Yeah,” she admitted with a small smile. “ But they weren’t horrible. They were still nice and polite. I liked Asterin.”
“ You met Asterin?” he asked, looking over at her with wide eyes for a second before returning to the road.
“ Yeah, I met Asterin, Manon and Sorrel. Manon was the one to send me the email in the first place,” she said, looking over at him with a small frown. “ Why?”
“ Those are the top three women of the company, El!” he said with a small grin. “ You’re definitely going to get that job.”
“ You really think so?” she asked, a faint red blooming on her skin.
“ I can’t see why not,” he answered, smiling at her.
A few minutes passed in which she managed to get her heart under control as she said, “ You know, I can’t believe you came with me today.”
“ I don’t know,” she said quietly. “ You just seem so busy and all.”
“ Busy?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “ Busy with what?”
“ Well, I’m going to assume Maeve since she seems to be in every other sentence of yours, ” she muttered bitterly, glaring out the window. And it was true. Maeve was a childhood friend and had showed up at Lorcan’s tattoo shop with a large grin three weeks ago. Every time Elide had tried to meet up with Lorcan, he’d blown her off because he was so preoccupied with Maeve.
“ You do realise that Maeve and I haven’t seen each other for over a decade, right?” he asked, looking over at her with a slight glare.
“ That doesn’t mean that you can’t spend any time with me, does it?” she said, her voice growing louder.
“ She was my best friend, Elide!” he returned. “ How is it unfair of me to spend some time with someone I haven’t seen in fifteen fucking years?”
“ So the minute she shows up, you’re going to drop all your friends for her?” she asked, tears in her eyes.
“ I’m not dropping all my friends,” he answered, nearly growling at her. “ I’ve invited you over to have dinner with us three times but you always make up some ridiculous excuse.”
“ I don’t like her,” Elide replied. Maeve always looked and talked as if she was better than everyone around her. “ She’s not a good person, Lor.”
“ And what do you expect me to do? Just abandon her?”
“ You know that’s not what I’m asking you to do,” she said in a calmer voice. “ I just want to spend time with you like we always do.”
“ I came today, didn’t I?” he asked, voice softer.
“ Yeah, but that was only because I needed a ride. I want to hang out with you again.” Her voice had grown quieter as the anger left her.
Lorcan gave out a large sigh and once they stopped at a red signal, he looked over at her and said, “ I’m sorry, Elide. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
She gave him a little smile and said, “ I’ll forgive you once she leaves and you make it up to me.”
“ Well, she leaves in five days. And how about five dinners for the amount of times I cancelled on you?” he offered.
Elide nodded and smiled. “ It’s a date.”
There was a pause where she realised her exact words and she opened her mouth to apologise but nothing came out. Her face turned red and she looked pointedly ahead instead of Lorcan, afraid of his reaction.
“ I’d like to think that it’s several dates,” Lorcan said in quieter voice, amusement clear in his tone. Elide’s eyes widened and she looked over at him to find him already giving her a small shy smile. “ What do you say?”
I…yes,“ she said with a large smile while her blush stayed prominent. ” But what about Maeve?“ she then asked with a small frown.
” What about her?“ he asked as they turned into the street of her apartment building.
” You spent so much time with her I thought…“ she trailed off and looked away, wishing for the ground to swallow her whole.
” Were you jealous?“ Lorcan asked, the smile only growing on his face.
” No,“ she said indignantly.
” Well if you had been,“ he started, ” I would have told you that you mean a lot to me. More than Maeve.“ The car stopped as he pulled into an empty spot outside her building. The humming of the vehicle stopped as he looked over at her and Elide tried to formulate a response but no words were coming out. ” Elide?“ he asked with a smile.
She looked at him as she undid her seatbelt and reached over to him, holding his face in her hands. She pulled him in for a kiss and she could feel him smile against her lips as one of his hands found their way into her hair and the other rested at her waist. They pulled back and grinned at each other as their eyes met. ” You mean a lot to me too,“ she replied, biting one side of her lower lip. Lorcan only responded by pulling her into another kiss.
When Elide finally managed to get out of the car, she stood outside his window and said, ” I’ll see you later?“
