Thank you so much to everybody who created content for this week. Your contributions to Neris Week meant a lot. Another thank you for all of the likes and reblogs.
The autumn began to encroach on her morning runs. Darkness nibbled at them, taking more for itself each day, so soon she’d have to stop. Not that she was particularly sad about that fact.
Nesta was not a natural runner. She was not one of those absolute weirdos who saw running as therapy or enjoyable. She was simply stubborn enough to force herself into it when her gym hiked the prices to an obscene amount that she refused to pay.
Her usual trail was a quiet dirt path that skirted the edge of a forest with no other life to be found. If her friends knew that she took it in near darkness, they’d kill her. If they knew she jogged with headphones in, blocking out every single sound, they’d kill her twice.
When she reached her mark – a boulder with moss that resembled hair – she knew to turn around. Nesta took a rest on the usual log, inhaling deeply. People who found joy in running were unwell. There was nothing enjoyable about sweaty sports bras or shin splints.
Just as she aimed to rise, a pair of yellow eyes were looking back at her.
She staggered, tripped on the log then ended up arse over elbow. Her back screamed in protest but that was the least of her worries. A massive, black head pushed its muzzle against her face, hot tongue covering her neck while Nesta’s hands got lost in its mass of fur, trying to push it away.
‘Get the hell off of me!’
The dog reared back then sat patiently awaiting her next command. It was more wolf than dog, with thick, black and tan fur, and horrible eyes that never left her face.
There was a collar at least although Nesta couldn’t understand why anybody in their right mind would want a dog, much less this one. They were horrid things that left fur upon every surface and smelt. Nesta shuddered inwardly at the sound of her mother’s voice repeating in her head.
‘Find your owner. Shoo.’
The dog remained staring and panting. Gingerly, Nesta reached for its tag.
‘The goddess of chaos and strife is your owner?’ Nesta gave a sigh as she scanned the forest. ‘Is she dead in a ditch? Go and find her. Go Lassie.’
When he showed no signs of leaving, Nesta had a quick scan of the area – then he did follow her. Each time she stopped, so did the dog. Nesta called the owner four times and the cell remained switched off.
‘Maybe Eris didn’t want you. Shame,’ she said to the dog. ‘Your name isn’t Eris, is it? Eris Vanserra is a strange name for a dog, but my friend, Emerie, has a snake called Sweetcorn, so what is normal?’
At the car, the dog waited expectantly.
‘Oh, no. You’re an animal. Enjoy the wilderness. Run free, Eris.’
They were far out from anywhere except a farm. Against her better judgement, Nesta allowed him into the trunk. The damn beast leapt over the backseats and sat shotgun.
‘You don’t look like an Eris,’ she said, taking the driver’s seat.
Nesta fired off names. Boris, Lucky, Drainpipe, and Jacob Black had no effect whatsoever but Hellhound did make his ears prick.
‘Hellhound it is, my furry friend.’
The farmer reported no lost dogs and suggested a shelter, but he was a scary looking dog and they never fared well. Somebody loved him. Eris Vanserra loved him enough to put a metal tag shaped like a bone on his collar.
‘Who names their daughter Eris and why the hell won’t she answer the phone?’
It had started ringing once or twice as she drove them home, but Eris quickly refused the call.
‘Your owner is very rude, Hellhound.’ Nesta supposed she could keep the dog in her apartment for a few hours. She was working from home besides so she’d be able to keep an eye if he started chewing things. The dog drank deeply from a mixing bowl, clearly thirsty from his days spent roaming the forest. Nesta rushed down to the convenience store to grab a few tins of food, but once she set one down on a plate, Hellhound didn’t move.
‘You cannot be a fussy eater.’
The dog sat upright, but every now and then he gave a whine or shuffled on the spot.
‘Eat?’
Hellhound dived in, demolishing the tin in seconds.
When she sat at her desk to begin work, Hellhound curled up beside her feet and slipped into a heavy sleep. The snoring was irritating, but the warmth of his body next to hers was welcome.
Her phone buzzed.
‘I am in back-to-back meetings. Stop calling. I don’t want what you’re selling.’
Nesta read the text again, frowning at the words. Her fingers flew over the keys.
‘I have your dog,’ she wrote.
When no reply came, Nesta continued with her work. They took two trips outside for the bathroom – Hellhound, not her – then she decided to take him to visit her friends. Gwyn loved animals and Nesta was sure that Emerie wouldn’t mind having the dog until Eris Vanserra deigned her dog important enough to respond.
Once they started their walk, Nesta soon realised that Hellhound lived up to his moniker. She had said the word no more times than she could count, but – to his credit – the dog did listen to her. He stopped his barking and pulling, only letting out the occasional low growl which she quelled quickly. People kept a wide berth from them – which she found that she liked a lot. However, at the sight of Em and Gwyn, Hellhound went berserk again.
‘What’s wrong with that dog?’
Emerie refused to leave the step and Nesta didn’t blame her.
‘I don’t know. He was fine with me. He just hates everybody else.’
‘Has he got rabies?’
Nesta looked for froth around his mouth. ‘He better not,’ she replied. ‘Hellhound, enough.’ He stopped. ‘Sit.’ He sat.
Oh, she liked this.
Her phone vibrated in her back pocket.
‘Excuse me?’
Nesta snapped a photo of Hellhound staring at Emerie with murder in his eyes.
Another text, ‘Is this a ransom?’
This Eris was not the sharpest tool. She gave a light tug on Hellhound’s lead. ‘I’ll take him home. Maybe he’s missing his owner.’
‘I don’t think you should let him in your house,’ called Gwyn from the upstairs window. ‘He’s not safe.’
To show them wrong, Nesta went nose to nose with the dog. He wagged his tail and tried to lick her, but that was all. She shrugged. The dog hadn’t been a problem for her. He just seemed to hate everybody else and looked like he wanted to eat them – but Nesta could cope with that. Mostly, he was at her heels like a lost sheep.
Hellhound was a good boy. He didn’t chew the furniture, didn’t cause chaos, just simply jumped onto the couch beside her then lay across her lap. Perhaps he was slightly too big to be a lap dog, but Nesta found that she didn’t mind.
When her phone rang as they were getting ready for bed, Nesta exclaimed, ‘It’s your mama! Finally.’
But it was not a woman’s voice. The voice was deep and smooth as he said a greeting.
‘What I’d like to understand is how my dog is in your possession,’ he said.
A thank you would have been nice, she thought.
‘He was in the woods past Sunny Skies farm. The one with the sign that has a cow with three legs. Anyway. He seemed thirsty and followed me-’
This Eris interrupted her. ‘My useless brother was meant to feed and walk him while I’m away. Three days ago, he got out. What I meant is, how do you have him in your house?’
Nesta rubbed the dog’s belly which received a grateful wag of his tail. ‘Well, I have a magic device called a car. A few thousand years ago, the wheel was invented and-’
‘He doesn’t go to anybody.’
If this man interrupted her one more time…
‘My brother was terrified of Erebus-’
‘Erebus? You named your dog after darkness? And you are named after chaos?’
She imagined a stiff-lipped man wincing at her tone.
‘How do you know that?’
History that was thousands of years old wasn’t a secret, she thought, but Nesta replied, ‘I work in a library.’
Eris was silent for a long while, so Nesta pinned the phone to her ear with her shoulder and started drawing the curtains while Hellhound made himself comfy. She joined him in the bed.
‘Erebus has been fine with you?’ He asked. ‘He isn’t particularly friendly. He doesn’t like anybody except for me.’
‘Well, he’s currently laying beside me in my bed with his head resting onto my stomach.’
‘That’s odd.’
‘It’s your dog.’
He sucked in a long breath. ‘Look, I’m at this conference for another few days. Can you keep him until then?’
‘Why shouldn’t I just take him to the pound?’
‘As soon as he growls, they’ll have him killed. Please. I can pay you for any expenses – and extra. I’ve had him since he was a puppy. Please. You’ll be paid handsomely.’
The money didn’t matter. This big, ball of fluff that was worming his way into her bed, and her heart, did though. She knew he wouldn’t last long in a shelter.
‘Fine. Three days only.’
‘You are an angel. Thank you.’
In the days that followed, Hellhound was not an issue.
The dog accompanied Nesta on her morning runs and she’d bought a tennis ball to throw so he’d race ahead and return. He dropped the tennis ball into her outstretched hand without a fuss; he never held onto the ball, never growled, just wagged his tail waiting for the next throw. In the days, he’d be beside her while she worked. They went to the library so she could scan in new letters to archive at home and he did his best not to growl once she’d warned him off of it. They took walks in the evening when it was quiet and Hellhound padded along beside her. People kept their distance and Nesta had never felt safer walking through the city. At night, Hellhound had stolen the empty space in her bed – but it wasn’t as if anybody else was occupying it.
No, Hellhound was not a problem. He was an angel.
Eris Vanserra was the problem.
Eris Vanserra was a pain in the backside. She needed paying for dealing with him. Apparently, Hellhound needed a very specific blend of food which was specially made for him. Eris had debated giving Nesta the location of his spare key then decided she couldn’t be trusted as his guard dog was seemingly enamoured by her. In the end, he sent Nesta scarpering across the city to ensure the dog ate a specific – and ridiculously expensive – brand. It would have been cheaper to feed the dog steak. There was only one type of brush that was good enough for his fur. He was not allowed tennis balls or rope toys and definitely no squeaky toys.
As Eris laid out his rules to her, Nesta looked down at Hellhound who was surrounded by carcasses of plush toys that he’d ripped open to get the squeaker out.
‘We won’t tell dad,’ she whispered.
Apparently, he was meant to be a guard dog and they weren’t allowed to play. She’d disregard most of his mile long list of rules and regulations.
‘It is two nights,’ Nesta lamented to Eris on the phone during one of his frequent phone calls. They came often – as soon as he had a break in meetings and schmoozing. Texts were more frequent. She felt like Hellhound’s personal assistant.
‘Yes, well you are being paid and your expenses will be covered, as I have already told you.’
‘Tell you what, don’t pay me then I can do what I want with Hellhound.’
That earned a chuckle, ‘Erebus.’
Nesta knew what sort of man she was dealing with. He probably had an ex-wife and a handful of kids so this was his midlife crisis now he was experiencing single life once more. Hellhound would make him look fearsome. He was likely used to ordering people around but Nesta dug her heels in.
‘While he’s at Hotel Archeron, Hellhound is allowed as many tennis balls as he likes. The food, fine. But I am not buying fancy shampoo from the other side of the city. He can cope without a bath for a few days.’ Before Eris could cut in with his line about expenses, Nesta continued, ‘Don’t like it? Your brother collects him or he goes to a shelter.’
They both knew it wasn’t an option. Hellhound reacted to everybody else the way he did with Gwyn and Emerie.
‘You sound like a woman who knows what she wants.’
‘Yes, for strange men to stop micromanaging me.’
‘Micromanaging?’ he said on a laugh.
‘You asked for proof of the number on the scale because you didn’t believe I can accurately weigh his food.’
He countered, ‘I care a lot.’
‘Hellhound ate cat shit this morning. Should I have weighed that too, Eris?’
Another deep laugh then, ‘It’s getting late here. I’m delivering the speech in the morning.’
‘Is it about the preferred brand of conditioner for German Shepherds?’
‘He’s a Czechoslovakian Shepherd.’
Nesta gasped theatrically. ‘You’ve only told me that eighteen times.’
‘And still you forget.’
It was enjoyable in a way to annoy him. He made a little intake of breath then a sigh each time as if he wasn’t accustomed to such a thing.
‘I’ll come straight from the airport tomorrow – if that’s okay?’
‘No problem.’
‘Are you in bed too? Can you send me a photo?’
Before Nesta could tell Eris where to go, he amended, ‘Erebus. A photo of Erebus. Not you.’
Those final two words were barked out a little roughly.
When Nesta hung up the phone, she snapped a picture of Hellhound tucked up beside her with the blankets around his jaw. She had never invited a man to her home and it had been a long time since she’d shared a bed with a man although Nesta never stayed the night with them. With Hellhound here, it had been nice to talk to somebody. There was comfort in cosying up together. His tail would wag at her at the first signs of movement before attempting to smother her face with kisses. She would miss her furry friend.
The only respite from the stream of messages was when Eris was flying. It also meant that the time to say goodbye to Hellhound was drawing close – oddly, Nesta was aggrieved about that. The company had been welcomed despite her initial misgivings about allowing a dog into the house. The fur was manageable even if he shed like mad.
‘Shall we run away?’
Hellhound gave a long sigh in response.
‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ she said, flopping down beside him on the rug.
Their noses touched and she could see her reflection in his eyes.
‘Don’t you dare lick me.’
When the knock at the door came, Hellhound leapt up. His barks echoed through the empty apartment until Nesta told him to stop and sit. He obeyed her command although he jiggled on the spot like he wanted to continue throwing himself at the front door.
As she opened it, Hellhound started to move.
Her command of, ‘Stay,’ was reinforced by another voice saying, ‘Wait.’
Nesta was not in the habit of inviting men into her home. The few workers that had come to install her washing machine or fix the leaky tap had been watched like a hawk and not offered coffee, due to wounds from the past, but at the sight of Eris Vanserra standing in the doorway, Nesta could feel her morals making a hasty exit.
‘You’re Nesta?’
From that tone, she didn’t know what Eris had been expecting. She certainly had not been expecting a very tall man with big, brown eyes who looked like he went running three times a day. A bunch of flowers – sunflowers – were in his hands and he held a bag with an airport’s name branded across it in his other. Her eyes tried not to stray to the light grey sweatpants he wore.
‘No, I’m somebody else who has your dog,’ Nesta replied, trying not to gape. Not a middle-aged man having a crisis at all.
‘These are for you,’ he said, gesturing to the bouquet of flowers. ‘Sorry, there wasn’t a lot of choice. And,’ he held out the bag, ‘duty free chocolate.’
‘You know how to spoil a woman,’ she said, then grimaced inwardly. Why had she said that? Was a subconscious part of her trying to flirt?
Eris squatted down. ‘Here.’
Hellhound raced at him, tail thrashing from side to side, as he leapt. Eris hauled him up, bouncing him like a baby. Even Nesta found herself smiling at their reunion.
They entered her apartment to discuss payment and Nesta tried to hide her great satisfaction when Hellhound jumped up beside her and practically sat in her lap rather than going to Eris. He didn’t miss it either.
‘It’s because I don’t let him on the couch. You’ve spoilt Erebus.’
Nesta rolled her eyes.
‘I can’t believe you let him in your bed either,’ continued Eris.
‘Well, nobody else is joining me.’
The words shot out before she could trap them away. Eris smirked at her and added, ‘That’s good to hear.’
Was he flirting in return?
There was no ring on his finger but he was too handsome to be single, she decided. Eris leaned over to pass her a wad of money. Too much money.
‘This is ridiculous,’ she exclaimed.
‘Honestly, when Lucien called to say he’d got out, I thought he was gone. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but Erebus is a reactive dog.’
‘I’ve noticed.’
Eris nodded. ‘He’s an angel with me, but – I don’t know. He hates everybody. I had visions of him getting shot or attacking someone. I’m just grateful that he’s still alive. I’d give you every cent in my bank if I could.’ He watched them both, eyes softening. ‘Why does he like you?’
‘Because I’m a nice person,’ she said. ‘I hate dogs. Well, I did until a few days ago. I don’t know. This one is fine.’
‘A glowing review.’
‘It’s the owner who has driven me insane. You’re like a new mother leaving her baby alone for the first time.’
Eris did not deny it, just held up his hands to plead guilty.
‘Just give me enough to cover the food. Don’t worry about the rest,’ she said, pushing the money back across the coffee table. ‘It’s been nice to have Hellhound here.’
‘Erebus.’
‘Eris.’
Long fingers dragged through his short, auburn hair. ‘I’ll be needing to go on a few more work trips over the next couple of months. If it is not too painful for you, would you consider dogsitting?’
Nesta pretended to mull it over. ‘It would mean I’d need to continue talking to you. I’m not sure if any amount of money is worth that.’
Eris placed a hand over his heart, feigning a wound. ‘At least you can see how deeply I care.’
‘I can,’ she said, running her fingers down Hellhound’s coat. ‘It can be his holiday home where he gets to play with tennis balls and sleep on the bed.’
Eris’ gaze lit her aflame. It was too perceptive as it traced every curve of her face. ‘What if I wanted to see you without the dog?’
The butterflies in her stomach gave a little flutter.
‘He literally hasn’t let anybody near me in six years,’ Eris murmured. ‘I’d be a fool if I didn’t follow the path that fate laid out for me. Will you go on a date with me?’
Nesta saw the hope in his eyes, found that she wanted it to grow. ‘Yes.’
So, here is a small list of a few headcanons I have about them. it is kinda late, so it was done fast, and sorry for grammar mistakes as eng is not my first language:
Eris holds Nesta's hand over his heart all the time whatever it is possible, and she uses his chest as pillow.
Sometimes when Nesta wakes up earlier and can't go back to sleep, she makes a few small braids on Eris's hair, or tries to depending of its lenght.
Eris obviously always adjust Nesta's drinks temperature (a popular one yay) and he always makes sure her coats, gloves, blankets... are warm before handing it to her.
They both are touch starved and cuddle when they are reading together.
Eris uncounciously makes a soft voice when talking with Nesta.
They sometimes stells each other's entertaiment books.
@nerisweek is over for most of you but it's actually still Friday somewhere so I'm still posting this 😗
This was supposed to be for Day 5 but I'm late so here, damn.
Title: The Divorce Trap
Rating: E
Word Count: 6.4K
Summary:
If Rhys’ father wouldn’t have him killed for it, Eris would’ve strangled his client then and there. The truth was he was so busy with work that he hadn’t considered who Rhys was divorcing when he agreed to represent him. He also hadn’t considered that Feyre, on her elementary school art teacher salary, wouldn’t be able to afford as good of a lawyer as her future ex-husband and would have to ask her older sister for help.
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