Couldn't resist sharing this drabble with you all :) I've been dreaming up a Celaena x Rowan modern AU fic set in a magical/futuristic world. it's just bulletpoints right now, but here's something quick I dreamed up that may or may not be featured in the future story, or I may incorporate parts of the drabble. the characters are probably slightly OOC, i don't know, I wrote it for fun and to be more casual, so pls don't shit on me too hard~ ;)

Sorry if there are mistakes, as it's a somewhat-drabble. Feel free to leave feedback if you still liked it/want to read more like it :D

~katnip

It was nearly midnight on a Sunday, and she couldn't fall sleep. Celaena Sardothien growled as she leapt up from where she had been slouched on her lush satin bed, and she paced the floor restlessly. She was in her dormitory room at the prestigious Adarlan University of Magic and Research, and she had had a particularly rough day.

She hadn't woken up feeling like the day was going to be shit. Everything had started off fine; she had gotten crepes for breakfast with Elide, lounged around procrastinating for a bit, and then finally gathered her notebooks and books to study in the sprawling campus library.

There, she had run into Rowan-rutting-Whitethorn, a gods-damned know-it-all and an arrogant rutting prick. He was just a third-year student but he was a teaching assistant (TA) for one of her first-year magic courses, and he acted like he was above all the rest of them. At the library, he had caught her idly doodling on a library book and arrogantly reminded her that she was damaging school property. And she had basically told him to fuck off and not to talk to her until he had removed the stick up his arse.

Rowan Whitethorn was a TA for the beginner's magic course, Laws and Limiters of Magic. He was from the reputable Whitethorn household in the country of Wendlyn, so he had been trained in magic since he was old enough to read and write, even after his parents had been murdered. The Whitethorn house had served Queen Maeve faithfully for many years, and perhaps Rowan had appeared particularly gifted because she recruited him into her service when he turned 16, and he, of course, had accepted with honor.

Rowan had lived at his Uncle's estate with many of his other cousins and wanted to escape his often-insufferable family for a while, so he requested Maeve to give him a research mission in Adarlan while he enrolled at Adarlan University.

Queen Maeve didn't say anything at first as she considered his request. This might be a good way for her to keep an eye on the happenings across the ocean... She agreed to send him, as well as Lorcan and Fenrys, to enroll at Adarlan University. She also mentioned offhandedly that her niece Aelin Galathynius may also attend the university in the future.

Rowan recalled a conversation he had with Maeve. "When she arrives… Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble, will you?" Maeve's violet eyes flickered to Rowan's face, who was kneeling on one knee in the center of the room.

She drifted over to inspect one of the many poisonous and rare plants she was cultivating in the throne room. "She doesn't look anything like me. You'll know her when you see her. Those teal and… gold eyes. Ashryver eyes, like her mother's." Maeve waved her pale hand dismissively.

Bright turquoise irises and rings of gold around the pupils. Until recently, it hadn't clicked that Celaena Sardothien and Aelin Galathynius were the same person.

Perhaps he was annoyed that she was going by a different name, tricking people into believing she was someone she was not. In the hushed library, he had revealed to her how he worked for Queen Maeve, like it was supposed to scare her into submission or awe or something. And he acted like Celaena, even though she was a blood relative to Maeve, was beneath him because he had been recruited to work for the bitch-queen of Wendlyn and she hadn't.

Celaena's perfectly arched eyebrows raised higher and higher, and after he was done with his little tirade, she just snorted and drummed her fingers on the table. Her mother, Evalin Galathynius, had cut contact from Maeve before Celaena had been born. So she had never met Maeve, and she vaguely remembered her mother saying something about how Maeve used people to get what they want.

In fact, she went by Celaena Sardothien and not her real name anymore, because people often tried to get close to her, either to take advantage or curry favor with her, to try to gain access to Queen Maeve. But it turned out that even using a different name wasn't enough to avoid people like Rowan, who thought the gods-damned sun shone out of that woman's arse.

She stopped drumming her fingers and leaned forward to sneer at him. "I pity you for being bound to someone else's will and for being a brainless soldier playing an arrogant student. You don't know anything about me, Rowan Whitethorn, and you can't scare me by being a kiss-ass."

Rowan's checked anger had slipped at that, and a small gust of wind picked up. Students nearby began shifting uneasily. Nevertheless, Celaena had thrown her own defenses up. She never turned down an excuse to brawl.

Both of their magical energies elevated enough that they were scolded and thrown out of the library soon after. Celaena had been docile, cordial, and had blamed Rowan for instigating the fight. Rowan had acted ever the gentleman, bowing his head and promising it wouldn't happen again. The library woman on duty agreed to let them go as it was their first offense and as long as it didn't happen again.

Celaena simpered sweetly at Rowan when she heard that, and they parted ways outside the library without further incident. She loved books, and a quickie brawl with Rowan certainly wasn't worth getting banned from the library. But she didn't get any studying down after their run-in. Instead, she went for a run outside and trained at the gym until she worked off some of her pent-up energy.

And then wasted time up until now. She had to get up early for morning classes, too.

Dammit. Damn it all. Celaena was still pacing in her dorm room, which was quickly becoming too small to contain her rising fury as she continued to think about what had happened earlier. She needed to do something, or she was going to break everything –

A glass of water exploded on her nightstand, and Celaena nearly screamed in frustration, but she worked on calming herself down. She didn't bother with the glass shards strewn all over the nightstand and ground. Instead, she focused on her breathing and cast her mind to find a goal for her to focus on, to keep her mind occupied. To keep her vast magic from slipping the leashes and going out of control, and setting fire to the gods-damned drapes again.

Celaena pulled on a black zip-up hoodie over her turquoise V-neck and combat boots over her distressed jeans. Maybe a walk would help clear her mind. She looped her blonde hair into a loose bun atop her head.

Her fingers brushed against something in her hoodie's pocket, and she fished her handheld device out and stared at it for a second before casually tossing it onto the bed and walking out. She didn't want to talk to anyone, and she didn't want anyone to find her. She silently slipped out of her room and down a back stairwell to exit the building.

As soon as Celaena felt the cool, fall breeze sweep over her face, she sighed in relief. The leaves were starting to turn autumnal hues, and the weather had started to turn chilly. She began walking with no destination in mind but ended up in front of the ancient music building. The wind hummed and leaves rustled as she stared up at the intricate columns.

Well, she might as well go in. It was unlikely anyone would be here past midnight on a Sunday. She reached into her pocket to grab her –

Dammit. She had left her handheld, which doubled as her ID, in her room. Not that it mattered too much. She shoved her hand into her back pocket and pulled out a flat device, shaped like a card. She pressed a button and the screen flickered to life, scanning her face to unlock the facial recognition screen. As soon as the device recognized her as the owner, it unlocked and revealed a menu with several settings.

Squinting, Celaena peered at the bright screen and modified a couple options before holding the device up to the electronic scanner on the front doors. The scanner beeped in recognition and flashed green, allowing her to haul the doors open and slip in.

She wandered down the lonely halls, the sound of her boots reverberating off the walls. On impulse, she peered into a dark room at the end of a hallway, slipped inside, and flicked on the light.

It was a small practice room, with a piano, a piano bench, and a music stand. There was a stool tucked in one corner and scattered sheet music was stacked haphazardly on a narrow bookshelf. Celaena sighed and dropped her hoodie on the floor.

She briefly adjusted her seating on the piano bench and then began warming up on the keys with scales. Celaena noted that the keys were mostly in tune, and she took a few minutes to learn the piano, to learn the shape and sound of its keys before she really began to play. The music and her anguish twined together, flooding the room with sound and pure emotion.

She played the lullaby her mother used to sing her. Then a few of the bittersweet songs of the people. And then the ballad she had composed when she was 15, in honor of her friend Nehemia who had died long ago in a freak accident. Celaena had never understood why the gods hadn't taken her as well, back then.

She played continuously for twenty minutes before finally pausing to take a break. Sweat dripped down her face from the effort, and the tears that had streamed down her face earlier had already dried. She moved her hand to brush stray strands of hair from her face –

Somebody coughed intentionally behind her.

Celaena jumped, slamming her hands down. The keys rang out in discord, and the wind of her movement sent some of the pages stacked on top of the piano fluttering down. She hastily wiped the mascara tracks from her cheeks and whirled around.

"Are you spying on me?" she accused, embarrassment creeping up her cheeks as she realized she had been so lost in her music that she hadn't noticed gods-damned Rowan had been standing there for gods know how long. She hurriedly began gathering the fallen pages up to keep her hands busy. Rowan bent down to pick up a page that had landed near him and she snatched it from him, smoothing it out and adding it neatly to the stack.

Rowan had silver hair that nearly reached his broad shoulders, and he was wearing a simple, black v-neck. A wicked tattoo curved up his neck and creeped up the side of his jaw. He shrugged nonchalantly, but his green eyes were unfathomable as he watched her. "No, I just happened to be walking by."

Celaena's turquoise and gold-rimmed eyes narrowed as she snorted, trying to keep the mortification from her face.

"You just happened to be walking by the music building? Oh yeah, I forgot about all of the music classes you take," she drawled and pursed her lips at him.

Rowan couldn't help but chuckle at her dripping sarcasm and how fast she had caught him in his lie. "Okay, you're right. I just wanted to… make sure everything was all right after earlier." His gaze pinned hers, as if he could read the answers directly from her face.

Celaena narrowed her eyes at him and schooled her face into a smooth, emotionless expression. She didn't know what magical powers he was keeping secret, so she double- and triple-checked her mind's barrier. She blinked at him.

"I'm fine. And even if I wasn't, it would be none of your business," she replied coolly.

"That's –" Rowan inhaled sharply through his nose and then exhaled. "I've been harsh on you. And I… said some things I didn't entirely mean."

"I don't expect any special treatment," she snapped. What was his problem? After what happened earlier in the library, now he was following her around like a lost puppy? Celaena could feel a headache coming on from the mental whiplash.

"But still… I should have been more understanding," he admitted. Celaena just stared at him as if she were weighing his words.

"As far as you know, I'm just another, first-year student that goes to Adarlan University. Young. Hopeful. Uninteresting." Her sharp, perceptive eyes bored into his as she enunciated every word with a clipped tone. "I don't care what you do outside of school or whose employment you've weaseled your way into, as long as you stay out of my business. And as far as Maeve goes, I've never known my Aunt Maeve, and I don't care to know her," she ground out, defiance burning in her eyes. She was honestly considering punching him right in the nose if he was stupid enough to challenge her.

Rowan held his hands up palms facing her, trying to pacify her aggression. "I'm not – I wasn't trying to convince you to or anything. I just wanted," he took a deep breath, "I just wanted to say that I'm here if you wanted to talk about it. I know what it's like to have… family troubles."

Celaena just blinked and raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief. She rolled her eyes up at the ceiling and sighed. "Thanks. That's nice of you, but I don't want to talk about it. Goodnight."

With that, she grabbed her hoodie from where she had dropped it on the floor earlier and tried to storm out. Unfortunately, Rowan was still in the doorway. He moved to fully block her exit and her anger nearly snapped then, but she inhaled through her nose and waited.

"Get out of my way," she hissed through her teeth.

"You don't want to talk about it with me, or with anyone?" Rowan asked seriously. His pine-green eyes were scanning her face, assessing her near-feral expression, and she idly noticed how long his dark eyelashes were. The question caught her off-guard, and the rage on her face smoothed out somewhat as she considered.

"You, maybe, or with – with anyone, I suppose." Celaena placed a hand on her hip and surveyed him. She did have Elide, but they hadn't talked about… this. About what Celaena suspected, with her aunt. "Are you going to move?"

Rowan turned to the side and Celaena breezed past him without another word. She didn't care about him. She didn't care about his stupid, piercing green eyes, or about that wicked tattoo winding its way up his neck. She had dropped her guard earlier, sinking into her music to escape, but her escapade tonight had only led her to feel more confused about everything that had happened.

Rowan could only think about that burning pain he had seen in her beautiful eyes, after she had whipped around to face him. Her eyes had flickered with hurt before she carefully smoothed out her expression. He watched her stalk away from him and didn't try to follow this time. He had a feeling she wouldn't let him go without a real fight next time.

She turned down several hallways and slipped down one of the stairwells to exit out of one of the building's backdoors. Celaena was annoyed that Rowan had followed her so easily in the first place, and she made sure he hadn't tailed her again.

She walked aimlessly for a while, before swiftly scaling a tree and tilting her face up at the moon. At least the moon was the same, no matter where she went or how lost she was.