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]

"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.

[temporal_affairs]

"Ah, all those other mated vampires are fascinated by their mates, whereas I have the superior taste to be fascinated by mine instead."

[manofmyword]

"See any more trees?"

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan looks around at the dense tree-lining along the highway. "Gosh," he says, "not a one, we must have wandered into a desert when I was distracted by your loveliness?"

[manofmyword]

He beams. Not innocently. Not innocently at all.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan picks him up and hustles him behind the nearest, sturdiest tree.

[manofmyword]

The Joker is going to remember this tree with great fondness.

[temporal_affairs]

They don't really make a lot of northward progress over the next four days, and then Nathan says, "Timer says now, for going to meet Henry, do you want to just teleport us to Jaipur?"

[manofmyword]

"Sure," he says, laughing, and spends a pentagon. They appear in an unoccupied room in the appropriate capital.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan knows the way to where Rosalie and Emmett live; he leads the Joker there and knocks.

"Come in!" calls a cheerful woman's voice.

Nathan opens the door.

Rosalie is, subsequent Heidi's demise, the most beautiful vampire in the world by any objective standard that doesn't account for personal types - and given the baseline vampire beauty, this makes her the most beautiful person in the world. She is smiling with the radiance of a sun. The baby in her arms doesn't look four days old.

"Nathan, hi!" she beams. "And this must be your new mate."