— acotar characters being in love with you.
Azriel
• azriel only enters rooms after you; he waits, and always lets you take the initiative. after you sit down and get comfortable, he moves closer and stays nearby until the end.
• he watches you like someone remembering a dream, as if every glance were a small prayer.
• when you touch him — something simple like a light hand on his arm, or the brush of fingers — his shadows tense around him as if trying not to return the touch.
• he often has thoughts about you, as if he already had you. he thinks about how you’d look bathed in candlelight beside his bed. but then he hates himself for wanting you that way when he hasn’t even won your heart yet.
• he notices absolutely everything about you: the way you tuck your hands into your sleeves when you’re cold, the way you hum quietly when you’re lost in thought, how you look when you’re worried, happy, anxious. everything is noticed by his admiring gaze.
• his greatest fear is that you’ll choose someone else, and he won’t even have the right to be hurt.
• sometimes, he stands outside your door at night, not close enough to be seen, only close enough to know you’re safe.
• during meetings, when someone interrupts you or dismisses your opinion, he becomes still; his power barely contained. but his gaze is piercing, his shadows angry toward that voice he wishes he could silence just so he can delight in the sound of yours again.
• he dreams of you holding his hand without hesitation. saying that you see the worst parts of him, but choose him anyway.
Cassian
• cassian makes you laugh constantly, but inside, it hurts not being able to tell if it’s only friendship. if that’s all you see.
• he flirts as if it’s harmless, but his eyes always watch your reaction as if it matters more than anything.
• when you’re not around, he talks about you as if you’re already the center of his life. “she said something brilliant about that the other day, gods, she’s so intelligent...” and he ends up lost in affectionate daydreams about you and everything he loves and admires about you.
• he started wearing nicer shirts, slightly cleaner armor, neater hair just as a precaution, in case you notice (and you do.)
• he teaches you things — how to fight, how to fly, how to swear in three languages — not because you need it, but because it means spending time close to you.
• sometimes, he lets himself imagine; you in his bed, laughing beneath the morning sun. you sitting on the kitchen counter while he makes breakfast. he could spend the entire day lost in these imaginary moments with you.
• he tries not to feel jealous, after all, you’re only friends, but he fails constantly. the instant he catches azriel looking at you? or mor reaching her hand toward you? his stomach twists.
• if you’re tired, he notices first and will do the possible and impossible to help you with whatever you need. if you’re sad, he sits beside you and doesn’t leave.
• he looks at you as if saying, “i’m yours, completely, if you want me” and can hardly wait to say it out loud to you, without fear.
Mor
• mor watches you with silent amazement, as if she still can’t believe someone like you exists. she desperately wants to touch you — your hand, your cheek, the small of your back — but she never does. unless she knows you want it.
• when you’re laughing with someone else ( especially a man) mor turns away. she smiles and pretends it doesn’t shatter her while trying to avoid looking at you.
• she gives you small gifts: a warm cloak, a ring woven with silent protection, a piece of sunstone that she claims is “simply beautiful.” she never explains what they mean, but if you look a little closer, you’ll see that her heart comes with those gifts.
• she starts dressing differently when you’re together; softer fabrics, gold jewelry, a touch of vulnerability in her appearance. she wants to be seen, admired, but only by you.
• when she drinks too much wine, she almost confesses: “if you knew how beautiful you are when...” but she stops. always stops. and simply stares at you with eyes shining with love and longing.
• she writes your name in the margins of a journal. only once, but she keeps that page with her.
• every time you talk about the future, mor longs to ask: “can i be part of it?”
• she dreams of kissing you beneath the moonlight, but wakes before it happens.
• when she hears others talking about you — admiring you, wanting you — mor laughs politely. but inside, her heart breaks a little more.
Rhysand
• rhysand doesn’t flirt with you, not the way he does with others. he respects you too much to treat you like a game, and he wants you to know that he wants eternity with you, not just a moment.
• he becomes gentler around you; still intelligent, still powerful and perceptive, but with less sharpness, less mask, and more sensitivity.
• he watches how you move through a room; where you choose to sit, who you listen to, which subjects make your eyes light up. he notices everything.
• when you speak, he falls silent. even when others interrupt you, he never does.
• he starts writing again; poems, letters, fragments, and never sends them. you live in all of them.
• he doesn’t feel jealous, but he becomes quietly possessive. not controlling, but more attentive. when you talk to someone for too long, his jaw tightens and he analyzes every second of the interaction and how he can insert himself into it and have your attention again.
• when he talks to you in private, it’s never about power or politics, but about life. about your dreams, your past, what makes you feel alive. he wants to listen to you and know you like no one else does.
• he buys books, accessories, clothes, and anything he thinks you’ll like. he leaves them in your room without a note, but you know it was him.
• the idea of you choosing someone else doesn’t make him angry, it leaves him deeply empty.
• the first time you accidentally call him by a more affectionate nickname without title, without distance, he leaves the room, just for a moment, just to breathe.
• he hasn’t told you he’s in love with you, but his entire soul already has.
Lucien
• lucien falls in love quietly at first; not because he wants to, but because he learned that wanting something often means losing it.
• he memorizes you before anyone else does; the way you laugh at something you genuinely find funny (and how he catches himself smiling while watching you). the way you observe people when you think nobody is looking. he memorizes every detail and small things make him think of you; a beautiful song, an old but lovely book.
• his teasing becomes softer around you, less about getting a reaction and more about seeing you smile.
• he remembers every story you tell him, even months later, he casually asks: “how did that book end?” and you realize he had been listening the whole time.
• he gives you pieces of himself without realizing it; a favorite book, a special poem, a childhood memory. truths he never said out loud, but that he trusts you blindly to hold; he tells you stories late into the night. stories he normally keeps locked away.
• when you’re upset, he never pressures you. he simply sits beside you and waits until you’re ready. his presence is comforting.
• he starts looking for you unconsciously; in crowded rooms, at parties, even in places where he knows you won’t be. he’s always the first to turn his head whenever he hears your voice.
• his gaze lingers on you constantly, not possessively, almost melancholically.
• his greatest concern is that you deserve someone better than him. so he tries to improve, tries to change, tries to become someone worthy of your love.
• he would cross every court in prythian for you without hesitation.
Eris
• when he realizes he’s developing feelings for you, he actively avoids you for weeks. not because he wants to, but because eris knows exactly how dangerous love can be, and he doesn’t know if he wants to risk it — and risk you.
• around everyone else, he remains perfectly composed. around you, small cracks begin to form.
• he notices when you’re cold before you even realize it. a warm cloak appears around your shoulders. he pretends it wasn’t him.
• he memorizes your preferences with unsettling precision; your favorite wine, the books you reread, which flowers you admire during walks.
• nobody notices how often he watches you, but you do. and suddenly he doesn’t know what to do about it.
• his affection manifests in actions, never words; an obstacle removed before you ever encounter it, a problem solved before you know it exists.
• he becomes protective in almost imperceptible ways. if someone insults you, they often find themselves dealing with consequences they cannot explain.
• he respects your intelligence more than your beauty; your beauty unsettles him, but your mind captivates him.
• eris isn’t naturally gentle, but with you, something strange happens; his voice becomes lower, his temper calms, his hands become careful.
• he never assumes you need to be saved. he simply makes sure you always have a choice.
• he offers you honesty before he offers you affection. which, for eris, is the greatest gift.
