Romeo sits in his chair, drumming his fingers on the desk thoughtfully as he watches the spinning orb hovering at eye-level, glowing with letters.

He hasn't contacted the other lords for a month now.

It's not that he doesn't want to keep in contact with them. Keeping Cosmos in a state of... relative order depends on the five (four, four, there's only four of them now, isn't there, and who's fault is that?) four of them keeping in contact and staying in relative agreement about matters.

But the thing is, it is very, very easy to slip out of contact once you stop seeing one another in person.

It used to be that the meetings were held in Beacontown. The lords would meet in Jupin once a month to discuss changes, quirks, strange events happening around Cosmos, in order to keep Cosmos stable.

And then Fred died.

And things got a bit more difficult.

For one, he and Xara developed an unspoken agreement to not be in the same room as one another.

(Or even really talk to each other for too long.)

So this obviously made meeting in person near-impossible.

The communication orbs were initially intended to only be used in the case of emergency, but, well, when two of the people who have them are no longer able to stay in the same room, they end up becoming a necessity.

Eventually, everyone stopped meeting in Jupin.

(He suspects that Isa, Mevia, and Harper all agree with Ivor that it's not a good idea to take a break from their cities unless all of the lords are able to do so, as it's a bit of a waste of time to trek there otherwise.)

The monthly meetings are now held using the communication orbs. What used to be calm hours of almost casual talk about issues or problems turned into five-minute terse comments about problems, possible solutions, promising to try them, and then hanging up on the other people on the line.

(At least in his and Xara's case.)

He hasn't contacted any of the other lords beyond the monthly meetings for at least a year or two now.

But now here he is, waiting for someone to pick up at a stupid time of night because Lukas, Maya, Aiden, and Gill come back with Jesse to report about Xara holding a party in Yurin, and how it might be connected to that, and that's something he has to discuss, but he's been so busy all day with paperwork while the four of them debate whether or not they're going to stay here again (eventually they decide to do so because it's past seven and too dangerous to leave when they hear a fight going on outside).

Romeo's snapped back into his thoughts as the orb chimes, an illusion snaking out from the top and forming a screen above the orb.

His stomach gives a small, small, tight twist at who it is that picks up.

"What the hell is it, Romeo?" Xara sounds highly irritated as she crosses her arms, glaring at him through the illusion. He can still feel the iciness of her gaze through a magical connection that literally spans hundreds of miles.

He tries not to let her see that he feels it.

"Rumors fly, Xara. The October Children overheard something about a party in Yurin," he replies, somehow managing to keep his voice steady and not shaking or wavering in the least.

She shoots him a glare so acidic it could probably burn through steel in half a second. "I'm not inviting you. Is that it?"

"No. Why are you holding a party? With the recent issue of-"

"I know full well about the issue, Romeo-"

He grits his teeth and returns the glare, perhaps not quite as scathing but definitely with just as much heat. "Well, you could've fooled me-"

"Oh, and of course you can talk, can't you," she spits back, almost as if her words are poison on her tongue, "I can tell you're pissed off. Don't go throwing a fucking temper tantrum. You're not half bad at those, are you, considering-"

"Shut up-!" He chokes on the words, anger and pain and a tiny, tiny knot of hatred forming in his throat, jamming his words and keeping them trapped in his throat.

"Behave, you two."

Xara and Romeo immediately fall quiet as a screen forms to the right of the orb, Ivor appearing on the screen. His red-and-dark-blue eyes are tired as he leans to one side, crossing his black-armor-clad arms. "If we're having a meeting outside of the typical monthly meetings, we are going to behave politely and in a civil manner towards one another."

"... fine."

"Okay."

Xara and Romeo mumble a half-apologetic statement to Ivor simultaneously, averting their eyes momentarily. The demon does have a habit of making them feel as if they're misbehaving children.

Ivor watches them for a moment longer, before letting out a low, soft sigh and crossing his arms. "Well. If we're here... are we discussing the latest issue?"

"Planning to, yes," Romeo mumbles. Xara doesn't say anything in agreement; she just kind of grunts a bit.

There is a long, rather awkward pause, before another flickering wisp comes out and flickers into existence on the left, Isa, Mevia, and Harper appearing on the screen. Harper gives a tiny smile. "Hello. Uh... long- long time no see."

Ivor automatically lifts his hand in a tiny wave, his lips quirking into what's almost a smile. "Hello, Harper."

(Romeo and Fred and Xara used to jokingly conspire to get Ivor and Harper together; they were pretty sure the two lords had a soft spot for one another. Mevia and Isa didn't encourage their matchmaking... but they didn't discourage it either.)

His smile(?) is still there as his eyes flicker to Mevia and Isa. "It's good to see that you're all doing alright. No large issues in Hizelk?"

Isa rolls her eyes. "Well, Soren hasn't actually come to any of the district meetings for a while, and Cassie's stopped showing up in person to those meetings-"

"She's been doing that with you, too?" Xara interrupts, frowning. "I thought she was closer with you three."

Isa quickly speaks up. "We are."

"She is," Mevia agrees, although slightly hesitantly.

"She's still not coming in person to the meetings," the two of them chorus in unison, before they glance at each other awkwardly.

Harper gives a tiny chuckle. "You'd think we would've broken ourselves of the habit by now. Anyway, yes, Duomoon and the End no longer come in person to district meetings, but otherwise we don't have many issues, no."

Romeo grunts. "Stella shows up?"

"She's always early." Harper gives her head a fond, if somewhat exasperated, shake. "A bit overbearing sometimes, but... at least she's coming, unlike the other two."

Ivor gives a nod. "That's good, then."

Isa gives a hum herself, leaning her elbow on her desk and absentmindedly twisting one lock of hair around her finger. "What about you? Any luck finding a new lord?"

A quiet shake of his head. "The world just keeps saying 'not yet'."

"The hell does that mean?"

"Why do you think I know...?"

Even though Ivor sounds somewhat exasperated with Xara's question, he's really only half-grumbling, and all of the lords know it. (Trust me, they know. They've seen him pissed off. This is nowhere near that. Besides, they've known each other for so long that they've become roughly friends)

A moment later, Mevia clears her throat, making all sets of eyes travel to her. "As nice as it is to catch up... Romeo, you called?" Her eyes switch to Romeo, crossing her arms slightly.

"Oh. Right." Romeo clears his throat, making the mild mood disappear. "Well, the October Children overheard about Yurin having a party... with the issue that's been going around lately, why would any of us...?" He trails off slightly.

Xara probably would snap at him again if they're the only ones there. As it is, she gives a very annoyed sigh and begins, sounding exasperated. "Because, Romeo, if some of the lords come to a party, we have our keys. And it makes it all the attractive for whoever's stealing the keys to come and take it, as there is the possibility of getting two keys rather than one."

"... oh." Romeo pauses, before frowning. "But what if it backfires? What if whoever's coming to steal the keys manages to steal both-?"

"That's why I invited Ivor and not you," Xara snaps, her thinning patience snapping (but that's not quite the full reason is it), "because he's a lot less likely to be able to slip up and lose his own fucking key."

Romeo flinches at that, cheeks flushing red, because of course he's not good enough to keep that going, of course he would slip up, of course if someone were to attack him he wouldn't be able to keep the key, he's not good enough, is he, he wasn't good enough to keep his temper, he isn't good enough to do anything-

"Xara." Isa's voice is quiet, but firm, snapping Romeo out of his thoughts to see the black-haired woman leveling an even stare at the purple-haired demon.

Xara scowls but falls silent anyway.

There is a very long, very awkward pause as the lords all look at each other (with Romeo keeping his eyes fixed firmly on a small skull on his desk), before Harper gives her throat an awkward clearing, apparently deciding to change the subject. "Well, um... did anyone form any new contracts this time?"

Xara shakes her head almost instantly. "Of course not. It's been thirty years since a human has even showed up here. I'm starting to wonder if something's wrong with the portals."

"Well, you also live in a more northbound area, it makes sense that humans wouldn't go wandering around in snow and sleet and who-knows-what-else to find a 'wish-making-area'," Ivor murmurs.

"True... does that mean you've made any new contracts?" the purple-haired demon lord asks, tilting her head. Romeo recovers from his doubts enough to glance over at Ivor to see his answer.

Ivor's shaking his head before Xara even finishes. "I haven't seen a human in Enchantra for longer than any of you. Harper?"

Harper frowns and glances at Mevia, who glances at Isa, who shrugs and gives a shake of her head. "If either of you two have spotted any humans, I'm not aware of it."

"Definitely not." Mevia sighs, rumpling up her pale blue hair.

Harper gives an unhappy hum. "I don't think it helps that it's nearly impossible to get anybody who has a valid wish."

Another sigh from Mevia, who crosses her arms and then looks up at the screen again. "Well, how about you, Romeo? Any new contracts?"

A long pause as Romeo drums his fingers on the desk thoughtfully, trying to figure out how to phrase it.

Finally, he begins. "Well... yes and no."

This makes Ivor straighten up, a tiny frown crossing his face. "What do you mean, 'yes and no'? Forming a contract is straightforward- you either make it or you don't."

"Well, a human did come. I just didn't make a new contract," Romeo hastily amends the statement.

Harper gives him a faintly sympathetic smile, almost as if he's still a new lord. (Except he isn't, is he, it's been too long for him to really still even be considered a new lord.) "Their wish was no good?"

"Not... exactly..." He bites his lip, still drumming his fingers on his desk, "it-"

"Um... Romeo?"

He jumps and nearly falls out of his chair at the soft voice that isn't issuing from the orb and somewhere in his actual office; as it is he barely manages to catch himself and his shoulder feels as though he just twisted it as he slides halfway out of the chair.

"Romeo? Who was that?" Xara looks a bit confused now, quirking her eyebrow at the fact that he nearly just fell out of the chair entirely.

Red-and-gold irises roam the room as he grimaces and clambers back into the chair, until he realizes there's someone behind the orb in the doorway.

A gentle nudge to the side reveals Jesse standing next to Kaster and Bedivire, who are (once again) nuzzling Jesse happily.

He notices they're dressed in the footie pajamas again.

"O-oh, Jesse." He glances at the screen and makes a one second gesture before looking at the tiny teenager in front of him. "Did you need something?"

They shuffle their feet awkwardly. "Um, I can wait if you're busy... sorry, Kaster and Bedivire let me in again."

Of course they did. Traitors.

Romeo gives a small shake of the head, a weak smile coming over his face. "Ah, no, it's alright, I was just talking to a few people. What did you need?"

Jesse opens their mouth, then shuts it again. Another tiny shuffle, their face heating up as their green eyes go to the floor.

"Um... where's the not-booby-trapped bathroom?"

He looks at them for a minute.

And then he rubs his forehead, feeling his cheeks flush. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot I- er, it should be the one that's next to my office. There IS one immediately going in with the guillotine-"

"The what?" Annnnnd Jesse is about twenty shades of pale right now.

He hastens to reassure them. "It's not going to hurt you, just open the door and run in or just... open the door and stick your hand out underneath and then duck back. It should just go and hit the floor."

Jesse is still twenty shades of pale.

"Er... if you need to you can go ask one of the others for help going in. Maybe Gill or Aiden," he offers. "They're both certainly reckless enough to trip the booby trap without getting injured."

Jesse seems to go a little paler at that, for some reason.

"Romeo."

Both Romeo and Jesse jump at the voice this time, Jesse almost jumping right into Kaster, which probably would result in a nasty bruise on their back since... well, Kaster's made of metal.

Romeo's eyes snap back to the screen, Ivor frowning at him curiously. "Who is that?"

Romeo holds his hand up in the one minute gesture again and glances back at Jesse, who's barely remaining from flopping on the floor since Kaster is using his tail to keep them partially upright. "Er... is it an emergency, or can you hold it for a minute?"

Jesse manages to struggle upright on their own, cheeks flushing faintly pink. "Um... I can- I can hold it for a minute."

They pause, shifting slightly and twisting their fingers. "I mean- I think I can."

"Okay. Give me a second to wrap this up and I can take you to the restroom."

The little human nods and pads outside to wait for him. Romeo's eyes go back to the screens, immediately noting that all five of the other lords are now staring at him.

"... who was that?" Mevia asks slowly. Her voice is calm, even, and yet deceptively tense.

"Long story short, we did have a human come. But," Romeo pauses, pursing his lips together momentarily, "but they didn't actually make a wish."

Harper frowns, fingers pressing to her lips. "Humans can't come to Cosmos without making a wish, though. Or at least having a desire."

"Which is true. But apparently, when they were being asked by the October Children, they just said that it wasn't anything important and dismissed it. They decided to send them back, but... the portal shut before they could go through." Romeo presses his lips together again. "So they're here."

"So why haven't you eaten their heart?" That's Xara, her scowl back on her face. "Goodness knows you'd do something like that. And it's not like you don't have it."

Romeo lifts his fingers, Jesse's heart fading into existence above his palm. The rosy flower petals gleam in the darkness of his office.

Mevia straightens up a little at the sight of it, eyes widening slightly. "That's their heart?"

"Yep." Romeo glances at it, resisting the urge to put it to his mouth and crunch down on it like an apple.

Well... now he wants to do that. Fantastic.

"So why haven't you sent them back? Or eaten it?" Mevia's staring almost hungrily at the heart, which would make Romeo nervous if Sky City wasn't as far away from the Underneath as it is.

He shifts. "Their reaction was wrong."

Upon seeing the confused expression that flits across Harper and Ivor's face, he hastily continues. "I- they knew I had their heart, and I was basically threatening to eat it."

"Of course."

He shoots Xara a glare. "But... they didn't... respond the way most humans would. They- they just... dismissed it. Or- or not dismissed it, but they didn't try to ask for it back or even fight me for it. They- they even said that it wasn't their place to decide what happened to it."

His brow furrows. "I think I could've bitten it right in front of them and they wouldn't have said anything."

Ivor is silent for a moment, before his voice comes back on. "So... you're keeping them here because..."

"Because it's weird. I don't know whether or not I want to eat their heart or not."

Romeo pauses, before correcting himself. "Well, I know I want to eat it, but I don't know whether or not they might serve to be helpful or if there's just no point in it. I'd rather know what's going on first."

The lords are silent for a moment, before Ivor steeples his fingers and lets his brow furrow. "What if..."

Harper's eyes flicker to Ivor. He's silent for a moment longer, before he slowly resumes speaking. "What if we let them try to solve our issue?"

Xara gives a scoff. "A human? Solving this whole issue? We're more likely to melt all the snow in Yurin than to have one human fixing an entire realm's problem."

"But what if we put the October Children on it? They're the best at what they do," Ivor continues, speaking slowly, carefully, crafting words and placing them carefully as he turns the idea around in his head. "But everyone knows about the October Children. The issue isn't going to get solved if everyone's guard is up- including the one stealing the keys."

Ivor pauses and lets everyone reluctantly agree with that- the October Children are famous (or infamous, depending on your definition).

"But, let's say we put a human in the mix. A weak, powerless, defenseless human."

Romeo decides not to argue that he's not sure they're exactly defenseless.

"Now let's send out the October Children. What happens?"

"They get attacked a lot more," Mevia shoots out.

"Why?"

There is a longer pause here, before Romeo slowly speaks up. "Because... because it's a human. Humans are essentially delicacies here."

There's no skirting around the issue. That is basically what humans are in this world.

"Yes. Now, let's say the October Children repeatedly protect the human. Why? Orders, perhaps. Or maybe we can spread the rumor that it's a soft spot for the human."

Ivor raises one eyebrow. "What does that say about the October Children?"

"... they're busy." Understanding is dawning on Isa's face. "Even if the October Children are traveling with a human, they're working primarily on protecting the human. Meaning they're not paying full attention to what's happening around them."

Xara's brow furrows. "But they are. They will. They know what they're doing. A human wouldn't do much to hinder that-"

"Yes, we know that." Ivor tilts his head. "The question is, does the rest of Cosmos know that?"

A long, long pause as realization permeates the air.

And then Ivor breaks it.

"It is up to you, of course. You are the one that formed contracts with them." He inclines his head at Romeo. "But it is an idea that might help solve the issue."

Another long pause.

"I'll think about it." Romeo drums his fingers on the desk, vanishing Jesse's heart with a lazy flick of his fingers. "But, er, not right now."

Harper blinks at him, tilting her head at the slightly-younger lord and blinking red-and-gray eyes in surprise. "Why's that?"

"Well," and Romeo pushes his chair back and stands up, reaching up to turn the orb off and hang up, "I've got to take Jesse to the bathroom first."


A/N: Best place to end. xD

So... unlike what I usually do... last night I planned out the entire plot of this story. And this plot point was "Skype call with other lords."

I name plot points well xD

This chapter ended up being longer (and this conversation as well), but some hints for future plot comes up, so that's nice.

Responses to reviews xD

Toni42: Yeee x3 / Ivor being a lord is fun. He's actually the oldest Lord (because magic is freaking cool). / Hehe, yeah xD / This is very fun xD

Savannah-the-Caracal: I'm glad you like it! / The lore is fun but the map was not fun to make xD / That leadership is actually for a reason, but I'm not gonna say why until later xD / Hehe, yeah, he does like his garden xD / Well, the world's not going to be pleased about a human leading a demon city...

TheAmberShadow: Ah, no, Lukas isn't using visual magic to see. He's basically just really good at illusions and stuff. Aiden's not particularly skilled at audio magic; he's just using it, and no, he doesn't have hearing problems. Magic's explained later on. / He's also, like, super old xD / Ah, yeah. I think I fixed it now but xD

ChibotleKentucky: Heh, I don't know how I got any views or reviews in the first place so I cannot help you xP

x.X. A.L. X.x