Rating: K
Setting: After chapter 12 of The Halfling and the Vampire, Semi sequel to Boredom
Characters: Talia Xanatos, Fox, David Xanatos, Minor appearance of Owen Burnett and Puck
Relationships: None
Warnings: None
Other Tags: Slice of life, Humor, Fox is trying, Minor spoilers for story
Chapter 7
Book choices
Talia was sitting on a window ledge and reading a thick book. The afternoon sun streamed through the window. Fox walked in.
"What are you reading, Tai?" Fox asked.
"Salem's Lot." She answered.
"By Stephen King? Talia, you're too young to read that." She scolded.
"Owen lets me." Talia said.
"Oh, really? Then I'll ask Poppa what he thinks about this." She left.
Talia went back to the book. She could get halfway if she went fast. Fox came back and grabbed it. Talia pouted. She found her soon to be husband in his office. He was on the computer. He looked at her.
"Oh, hi, Fox." He smiled.
"Talia was reading this." She placed the copy of Salem's Lot on his desk.
"I told her she could read anything she wanted." He said.
"David, you don't even like King's novels, why do you have this?" She asked.
"It's a first edition. They become valuable over time." David shrugged.
"We're getting off track. I don't think this is good for her. It's scary for adults. You know her magic reacts to her emotions." Fox sighed.
"I'll talk to Talia about it." He hummed.
His phone rang. He picked it up. They spoke quickly. David sighed and hung up. He motioned Fox to follow him. They went back to the library. Puck was digging Talia out from a fallen over bookshelf. David went over and pulled Talia the rest of the way out. He set her down on a table.
"What do you think you were doing, Talia? You could have gotten hurt." He told her.
"I wanted to see what was on the top shelves. This one has modern stuff in it." She said.
"Did you climb on the bookshelf?!" Fox asked incredulously.
"No, I used my magic to grab some books, but I must've got too many." Talia shrugged.
"Talia…" David frowned.
Puck looked at her. "Don't take so many next time."
"Ok, Daddy." She said.
David kissed the top of her head. "You had me worried, Sweetheart. Don't do that again."
"I didn't mean to, Poppa." Talia nuzzled him and kissed his cheek.
David picked the teen up and shifted her to his hip, nuzzling her back. Talia smiled. Fox shook her head, sighing. She could tell Talia was a daddy's girl. Wanting the men's affection and attention was not unusual given her circumstances. David carried their daughter to an armchair.
"Why don't we have some family reading time?" He asked her.
Puck brought an adventure book for him and Fox found herself scooped up in a chair. The library was cleaned up with a snap. He turned back into Owen. David opened the book and began reading to them. Talia leaned on David's chest, settling down. He gently stroked her hair. Fox smiled. She couldn't deny they were cute. The next time she went in the library, she saw a bookshelf just for Talia and an easy to use ladder.
