TWO MONTHS AFTER THE RETURN OF KELLER
Jez was happy to get out of Galen's mansion for the first time in two months. Sure, his shape shifter servants were very kind and hospitable, the witches were too caring, but she was sick of it. She knew it was for her own good – or at least that they thought it was for her own good – but she had longed for two months for her and Morgead to get better so they could ride into the sunset on their bikes. Now they were going to do just that, Jez loving touched the Harley that Galen had bought for her when she had screamed bloody murder about the only vehicles he had were cars. He hadn't done it out of compassion, she suspected, more because she was disturbing Keller with the noise she was making. He had also bought Morgead one, and now they had their babies, they were going to ride them.
Some things never change.
But some things did. Now, instead of them riding away to beat the shit out of some of the enemy, they were going to the beach, just revelling in their freedom. Jez suspected Morgead was going to ask her something, she also – knowing what he was like – suspected that it wasn't marriage like Maggie and Delos. And it couldn't possibly be that he wanted her to be a vampire, like Quinn and Rashel, because she already was one, now that she was having blood meals.
Jesus…he better not ask me to have his kids, like Eric and Thea…she thought with a grin. But no, this was Morgead; the thought of kids never entered his head.
Thank God.
He stopped on the beach, and she followed, watching him walk, he turned and grabbed her shoulders, kissing her deeply. She shut her eyes in ecstasy, what they'd been through only brought them closer, now – nothing could keep them apart.
They sat on the beach for a while, watched the water crash against a cliff. It was strange, how water was the most powerful element while being so gentle and calming…it could drown people, erode buildings and cliffs but it filled you with tranquillity.
There was a short laugh from Morgead, more like a snort, "you're going to think I'm so stupid bringing you down here to ask you this, Jez…"
"You brought me down to ask me something?" she asked in mock-incredulity.
He gave her a look that said 'you know I did' and she quietened, "but…god Jez…we have to figure out our future. Everyone around here is having kids and getting married and getting engaged and…" he paused, glanced at her face, "I don't want any of those things yet, unless you do… I mean…"
Ahah! Her suspicion had proved correct!
"I don't," she assured him, "not yet, maybe not ever, I enjoy my freedom."
"Oh," his head ducked then, "freedom to do what?"
"Freedom not to get tied down with a squawking baby?" she guessed.
"But what about the marriage thing? You could still have the same amount of freedom… and…"
She realised that he was feeling insecure; he thought that she meant she wanted to freedom to see other guys. That struck her as funny, Morgead; insecure? But she knew he did have his stages, he just hid them very well since his mother walked out on him and left him alone. He probably thought Jez was something like her…
"Yeah, the marriage thing, yeah. Not yet though, we'd just look like we were copying everyone else," she grinned as though she hadn't figured out his deep, dark secret of being insecure. Shock horror.
"Right, so…" he paused, then the words rushed out, "I want to stop my aging…"
Okay, so that was strange. It wasn't at all what Jez had expected him to come out with. Of course, stopping your aging was a big decision, because you couldn't live with it for a few centuries and then realised you wanted to age to thirty, you'd just go POP into a skeleton-like old vampire.
"But…?" she encouraged.
"If you don't want to, yet, I wont…I mean, you can't be thirty or forty and have an eighteen year old boyfriend, people would look at us funny."
Jez laughed, "and you care?"
"Yes, I want it to be perfect, Jez, I don't want anyone to doubt our relationship, call you a cradle-robber or… if you want to age to like thirty, I'll do that too, but I thought we should discuss it."
She hadn't really thought about it, but now she did, she did very carefully. He was right, really, they couldn't be at completely different ages when they stopped their aging, and why not now? The time when they were youngest, most able-bodied and beautiful?
"Sure, now it is," she told him, then kissed him, forcing him down into the sand. They had been in different rooms when recuperating, hadn't even been able to see each other until last week. Now, she put in all her pent-up passion into the kiss.
She swore to at least try and stay alive for him.
