got good ears

[temporal_affairs]

The neighbors don't complain. Much. (They do occasionally ask that things be kept down, but they don't complain about there being noise at all. They understand about mates.)

The room isn't designed for long-term human occupation. There is no bathroom, no food, no bed, no climate control - though this is Florida, so climate control is not such a concern - no plumbing.

But there's lots of magic. It's such fun to make, after all.

(Nathan had been worried he'd have to ask one of the succubi, or Joham, for lessons on what might whimsically be called "safe sex". He likes not having to bother with this better.)

Comments

[manofmyword]

[Hi, Emmett!] he says brightly. [Awwwwww, congrats to all three of ya.]

[temporal_affairs]

[Hey, as long as I have you on the sort-of-a-phone, Nathan's New Mate, have you got an actual name? Bella just keeps calling you "the joker", like it's your title or something,] Emmett says.

[manofmyword]

[Nope,] he says serenely. [You can call me the Joker too if you want. Or you can call me something else.]

[temporal_affairs]

[Wait, so everyone just calls you that? Your mate calls you that?]

[He hasn't turned,] says Nathan, [so he's my mate, I'm not his. I mostly call him "babe", anyway.]

[I'm not gonna call him babe,] says Emmett.

[Good, me and your wife wouldn't like if it you did,] replies Nathan.

[manofmyword]

The Joker laughs.

"I like it when you call me 'babe'," he murmurs to Nathan.

[temporal_affairs]

"Good," Nathan murmurs back.

[Anyway, Henry exists, he's adorable, me and Rose are arguing between having another right away and having another in six months and whether the end number should look more like ten or more like a hundred, and if you meet up with the capital next time we move or whatever you should totally drop by and pick him up, Nate.]

[Next time we're in the right place at the right time,] Nathan agrees.

[manofmyword]

[We'll put it on the list,] he says, grinning.

[temporal_affairs]

The call ends.

"List?" Nathan asks.

[manofmyword]

"Of all the stuff we're gonna do sometime," he says. "Like ask to get into Ireland, and see Castletown and Jaipur. That list."

[temporal_affairs]

"I should be asking the timer about those, shouldn't I?"

[manofmyword]

"If you wanna," he says serenely. "No rush."

[temporal_affairs]

"Mm." (Nuzzle nuzzle.) "Even on a scale of years, though, turns out the best time to go meet little Henry for the first time is in four days."

[manofmyword]

"Then let's do that," he says, nuzzling back.

[temporal_affairs]

"All right. I wonder how they cooked him up. If they turned Rosalie into a human for the duration, or a half-vampire, or just left her as-is plus whatever tweaks. Probably not nice to ask."

[manofmyword]

"We could ask Goldie next time we see her," he suggests.

[temporal_affairs]

"Goldie?" Pause. "Oh, Her Majesty? I suppose. She might not have done it herself, she might have just given Rosalie and Emmett the wishes."

[manofmyword]

"True," he agrees, "but she'll have a good guess on whether it'd be rude to ask them directly."

[temporal_affairs]

"You're right," agrees Nathan.

[manofmyword]

Whimsically, "When's a good time to ask her?"

[temporal_affairs]

"In - two weeks, I'm going to guess that's when she comes by for more coins," says Nathan. "So, after we meet Henry."

[manofmyword]

He laughs. "Okay."

[temporal_affairs]

"Her Majesty doesn't like being interrupted, so perhaps she's about to have a busy two weeks - or an unbusy two weeks, so she takes a lot of spare hours and goes off with her mate and really doesn't want to take calls," speculates Nathan.

[manofmyword]

The Joker giggles.

[temporal_affairs]

"Ah, mated vampires and their insatiable fascination with their mates," says Nathan, as though he is not just such a vampire.

[manofmyword]

"Yeah, you're one to talk," he says fondly.