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

[temporal_affairs]

"You going to conjure me the Princess's golden bubbly as needed or should I fill up from the slaughterhouse before we go?"

[manofmyword]

"The gold stuff's tastier, right?" he says. "I'll magic it up for ya."

[temporal_affairs]

"Dramatically tastier, yeah, thanks babe. Better than human average, not better than singer," says Nathan.

[manofmyword]

"Wonder if I could magic something better than that," he muses.

And then grins.

"Wonder if I could magic me better than that. Would that be fun, sweetie?"

[temporal_affairs]

"Babe," says Nathan, "I found a singer two times in my life, and if you get even that tasty, let alone better, you will never be able to pry my teeth out of you even by asking nicely, even if I keep my air filter, without magic. That kind of thing competes on a level with mate bonds. The Empress is alive because the the Emperor was already thoroughly into self-denial when he ran into her and anyone else would've eaten his mate."

[manofmyword]

He laughs.

"So I won't be that tasty all the time," he says. "Still, would it be fun?"

[temporal_affairs]

"Well, it'd be delicious and bitey," says Nathan.

[manofmyword]

"I think that sounds fun," the Joker decides. "Let's keep it in mind for when we get wherever we're going."

And he squares himself some clothes, and kisses Nathan, and finally gets out of bed.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan puts on his jeans from yesterday's brief meeting with the Empress (basically intact) and a new polo shirt (the flannel is hopeless) and cheerfully follows his mate's lead.

[manofmyword]

And a-wandering they go.

[temporal_affairs]

"If we're going to leave Safesun and walk to Jacksonville or wherever," says Nathan as they approach its edges, "I need daywalking clothes at a minimum - big stupid hat, sleeves past my fingertips - magic disguise barring that. This little problem being why Safesun is called that."

[manofmyword]

"I can magic you unsparkly," shrugs the Joker. "And make it so you can turn it on and off at will. Would that be nice?"

[temporal_affairs]

"That would be very nice," agrees Nathan.

[manofmyword]

He kisses Nathan's cheek and wiggles his fingers, and Nathan is unsparkly.

"You're pretty this way, too," he muses.

[temporal_affairs]

"Vampire thing. We get renovated a little when we turn. Her Majesty's prettier than that alt of hers," Nathan points out. "I don't remember much about being a human but I remember being surprised when I saw my reflection for the first time after I changed. Said, 'Wait, I've always been the ugliest cuss this side of the Abyss.'"

[manofmyword]

The Joker laughs and kisses him.

"There's pretty and there's pretty," he says. "This face doesn't get many takers, lemme tell ya."

[temporal_affairs]

"How'd it come to be cut up like that, anyway? I mean, I don't mind, but I'm magically besotted, I wouldn't be a bit less inclined to jump you if you didn't have a face."

[manofmyword]

Laughing, he spends a square to put on the old makeup.

"Did it myself," he explains. "There was a whole getup. That suit you tore off me yesterday was part of the same deal. The Joker."

[temporal_affairs]

"Bit far to go for a persona," observes Nathan.

[manofmyword]

"Not for me," he says, with his wide, crooked grin.

[temporal_affairs]

"I suppose you must like them or you'd've wished them away by now."

[manofmyword]

"I do," he says happily. "I love all my scars. Some of 'em would really make you sad, though, if I told you how I got 'em."

[temporal_affairs]

"My scars all have the same story. 'Fought with a vampire, he got his teeth into me'. Occasionally a 'she'. I wasn't so good with my timer in the early days, and now I don't get into fights. D'you want me to know your stories?"

[manofmyword]

He shrugs. "Do you want to hear 'em?"

[temporal_affairs]

"Well, on the one hand, they're about you, on the other hand they will apparently make me sad. I don't know. I don't think there's any good way for me to eat the people responsible, is there? Her Majesty would object, my eyes wouldn't match my hair color anymore, and also I imagine they're all in that other world."