delicious bubbly

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth is glad that Milliways likes her, because she likes it. Jacob at her side and a glass of this nice golden stuff in her hand (she's tried the other synthetics; they're nice for an occasional change, but only humans care about dietary variety that much and this one is her favorite) and hubbub from a hundred worlds around her: lovely. A lovely break from work that keeps no one waiting, that doesn't even throw off her sleep cycle because her sleep cycle cares about the sun. (It throws off Jake's, a little, but his is more flexible than hers.)

Comments

[luminous_regnant]

"Well, see if you can't cook up something tasty when you turn," Addy says.

"He doesn't want to," says Nathan quietly.

"Well," says Addy, "then when he leaves you all alone see if you can go Marcus's route instead of Jasper's or just offing yourself, all right, and then you can sit in a room in the basement and I can visit you on Tuesdays with cups of blood and we can still use the timer?"

"I'll see what I can do," says Nathan cheerlessly.

[manofmyword]

"Aww, sweetie," says the Joker, ignoring Addy and cuddling Nathan.

[luminous_regnant]

Nathan avoids squeezing - he hasn't handled humans much; it'd be dangerous - but he is obviously appreciative. He starts down the hall again. "R&D doesn't give tours without notice. They deal with all sorts of chemicals, anyway; you could get hurt. Down this way is the liason offices for human governments so we can get up to shenanigans and not have to deal with Interpol or anyone trying to involve themselves."

[manofmyword]

He giggles softly.

[luminous_regnant]

"We could look around in there but it's just offices and people on the phone with the prime minister of this and the president of that," says Nathan. "And except for the wolf village, which I'd rather skip because wolves do not smell so great, that's the Capitol." They're currently standing in a covered corridor, between R&D's building and the liason offices, looking out through glass at a beach. "D'you want to go outside? It's allowed, here, they keep humans well away from this beach so no one sees the dead giveaway of vampire-in-the-sun."

[manofmyword]

"Ooh, let's," he says, grinning.

[luminous_regnant]

There's a door out in the wall of the corridor. Nathan shoulders it open without putting the Joker down; he doesn't seem to have any intention of doing that anytime soon.

When he steps into the sun, it looks like he's dusted with diamond powder.

[manofmyword]

"Look at you," he says delightedly, and kisses Nathan's cheek.

[luminous_regnant]

Nathan grins brilliantly. "Occupational hazard. This capitol's called Safesun because we can go out without getting a dozen cell pictures taken and posted on the internet."

[manofmyword]

"You're all sparkly," he says. "Now I wanna make you pretty clothes."

[luminous_regnant]

"You sew?" prompts Nathan, intrigued. "I've never thought much about my outfits. My closets in all the capitals are stocked with stuff like this."

[manofmyword]

"I sew!" the Joker agrees. "I made this shirt."

It's a pretty nice shirt.

[luminous_regnant]

One of Nathan's hands is already on the shirt, on the Joker's upper arm. He slides a finger across the fabric (carefully, carefully). "Nice," he says. "And colorful."

[manofmyword]

"Mmhm," he says proudly.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Nathan starts strolling idly down the beach when both he and the Joker get a message from Elspeth:

Found it. And I sent Jake in first and he spotted Stella. It's in the conference room in the liason offices.

"Ready to go negotiate your release with Her Stellar Majesty, babe?" murmurs Nathan.

[manofmyword]

"Sure!" he chirps. "Gonna carry me there? I like you carrying me. It's cuddly."

Mm. Cuddly.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Can do," says Nathan. "My arms aren't gonna get tired of the weight and I'm not gonna get tired of you."

They go back inside, and meet Elspeth and Golden (and Golden's retinue, though they're going to stay in Aurum) at the door, and they go through.

Nathan's arms tighten - just a little, careful bit - around his mate.

[self_composed]

"What's all this then?" Stella inquires, when she and Jacob have been joined by the group.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"My fault," says Elspeth. "I was here, I met the Joker, I could say all he can do is talk to Jake so I thought it'd be harmless to have him over for a bit, and then Nathan walked in and now he's mated."

[luminous_regnant]

"Nathan is magically important," says Golden, "as well as having been a friend of the family for going on two decades now, and he will be - at best - miserable for the rest of eternity if the Joker can't - at minimum - make routine visits." She glances at how cozy he and Nathan have gotten. "Which doesn't seem to be a problem of willingness on his end, at any rate."

[manofmyword]

"I like him," the Joker says contentedly, leaning his head on Nathan's shoulder. "He's a sweetie. I wanna move worlds."

[self_composed]

"Is Golden going to have a terrorism problem if you do?" Stella asks.

[luminous_regnant]

"If something like that does come up, he's just a human," says Golden. "He doesn't even want to turn. So I'll have a depressed-imperial-minister-of-temporal-affairs problem in fifty or sixty years, but." She shrugs.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Unless you do want to do the 'work-release' idea," says Elspeth. "In the manner traditional for Bells and Whistles."

[luminous_regnant]

"Elsie," says Golden, "the manner traditional for Bells and Whistles is very much not an option."