Nearly a month later

"This is really spectacular," Alex complimented her date.
The two were sitting across from each other in Dave's home. Alex hadn't known what to expect, as this was the first time she had visited, but apparently, Dave had a first-class chef. She shouldn't have been so surprised, as her family certainly had a chef, since neither of her parents cooked, but for some reason it did. She had just figured that Dave ordered whatever he wanted and had it delivered and perhaps he still did on occasion. She could also see him eating out a great deal.
Dave had an excellent view out over the city and the table for two was set up so that they could enjoy it while they were eating dinner.
"The view is wonderful," Alex added admiring the lights of Los Angeles from high up.
"It's one of the reasons I bought the building," Dave said. "The top two floors are mine and the rest I rent out."
To other supernaturals of course, mostly because of human finding out that some of the residents in the building weren't human were just too high, Dave added in his thoughts.
"The view was one of the main selling points," Dave added. "Of course that's not the only reason I bought the building just one of the main ones. I, then, had it remodeled to suit my tastes and took the top two floors for myself.
What Dave didn't say was that he had kenned most of it instead of buying it, though there were plenty of things he had bought as well. Kenning was easier though and cheaper, not that money really mattered. In other words he had created a lot of the objects d'art himself, things he had seen over the years with his own magic. If he had seen something once he could create it down to the last detail, so long as he had seen it first. Of course, anything edible didn't count.
"It's one of the tallest buildings in the city with over 30 floors," Dave said.
"Well, you certainly have a good taste," Alex said looking around at the paintings she could see on the wall across from where they were sitting.
"Thank you," Dave said appreciating the compliment, smiling a little as he gazed at his gorgeous date.
The two of them enjoyed their dinner talking quietly as they ate.
"My parents want to meet you," Alex told Dave over dessert.
"We've been dating for a nearly a month now and they think that I should've introduced you long since."
"Considering they threatened you with not getting your inheritance if you didn't marry I don't think they deserve any consideration whatsoever. They also threatened to force you into an arranged marriage, which is just antiquated," Dave said. "I would say the same thing, even if it was between two people I only knew casually in passing."
"I know," Alex said. "I'm not saying what they did is right, but I believe they would just trying to encourage me to find someone for myself. I know they want grandchildren, but I could always have adopted, just like they did with me."
"I'm sure the thought of you adopting never entered their heads," Dave scowled.
"Probably not, but I finally realized they come from a different generation. They're both in their 70s. Things were different back when they were born and a lot of old people have trouble changing their thinking to be more modern. A lot of people didn't consider adoption so far back if they couldn't have children for some reason. If they hadn't found me I know they would have remained childless."
"You are way too forgiving," Dave said smiling to show he wasn't really upset.
"I try to understand people's point of view," Alex said. "In my parents case, they were born in the earlier part of the century. It was before women had as much freedom as they do now. The 1960s changed a lot of things including women's roles in society."
That was a good point, Dave admitted. He had been around in the 60s in fact he been around for several centuries by that time. He had been at Woodstock, had seen so many things happening, particularly in the 20th Century.
"So your parents have stopped talking about you marrying to get your inheritance then?" Dave asked casually.
"For now," Alex said. "I have no doubt that they'll stick to their guns if relationship doesn't work out. They told me they're willing to wait a year. If you haven't proposed by then, then I won't get my inheritance, but I've decided the hell with it. I have a job, I have a life, I get a stipend, which they can't cut. While the money would be very nice, I will not be pressured into a marriage that would ultimately make me unhappy."
"Good for you. Money isn't the end of the world and at least that gives you time," Dave said taking a sip of his wine. "Sure, it's nice to have, I won't deny it. It would give you financial security at least if you quit or lost your job for some reason. You don't have to be marry to live your life, as it isn't like centuries ago, where women had very few options and often very little choice in their fates."
"Yes, it gives us time to get to know each other better. The other caveat they told me was that I was to have a child right away, preferably getting pregnant on the honeymoon. Of course, that's only possible if our relationship works out," Alex grimaced.
"So where do you want things to go from here?" Dave asked genuinely curious.
"Well, we now have time to truly get to know each other without any pressure. While I hope things work out, I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket as the saying goes. I've already decided that if things don't work out between us then I'm leaving Los Angeles. I'm sure I can get a job just about anywhere that has a linguistics department. You were right about me not being forced into marrying some man just to get what should already be mine. A marriage that I would be unhappy in."
"I can see why you hope our relationship works out," Dave said. "Sometimes parents don't realize that forcing their children into marrying is not the best thing to do. In your case, you want the money that should be yours, but in order to get it, you have to marry. I can tell that your father at least it is very old-fashioned. Women don't have to be married nowadays to succeed. Sure, a lot of women do marry and those marriages are happy, but I doubt very much they forced were into choosing a man.
"Most women don't have a large inheritance, that should already be their's. I was supposed to get it as soon as I married according to my father, but since I never did it was withheld. I think that's why they threw all those men at me. I endured more dinners then I can count with men while handsome were not my type. Telling my parents to stop does no good they were determined to marry me off. They nearly threw me off marrying entirely."
"I can't blame you there," Dave grimaced. "Having your parents try to pick their daughter a man almost never works, except by sheer chance."
"So where do you want this relationship to go?" Alex asked the same question Dave had just minutes ago.
"I'm already more than halfway in love with you, Alex," Dave admitted candidly.
Alex blushed at the genuine compliment something that Dave immediately noticed.
Dave didn't mention the reason he was, didn't mention Dughill's visions. For one thing Alex had no reason to believe that such powers existed and they mostly didn't among humans. Now that he knew Alex better he could sense the shimmering power within her. It was very subtle. It was also contained and was unlikely to burst out of her even if she was spitting mad. Someone definitely wanted her to pass for human her mother or father for instance, though her mother was more likely. With the way her power was just a dim glow within her it would be unlikely that any of his race, dark or otherwise would detect it from Underhill, not even if they were looking for it specifically. Even if they were in this realm it would be unlikely they would detect it unless they were practically on top of her. Whoever had managed to contain her power had done an excellent job. She would pass for human to most anybody, even one of the sidhe. One of his kind would have to be familiar with the way humans smelled, their natural scent in order, to think that she wasn't completely human. They would have to have experience in this realm. The scent Alex gave of wasn't unpleasant just different from what it should be for a human or a sídh.
In this case, Alex's lack of knowledge about who she really was would only help hide her more efficiently.
That would change though, once he told her who he was and what he suspected. He only hoped she accepted the news better than most humans would. Yes, he knew how hard it was to believe that real magic existed. Humans just didn't believe in real magic. Sure there was such things as stage magicians, but that was all done with mirrors, trapdoors and other gimmicks. That was stage magic not real magic. There were plenty of fantasy books that had supposedly all kinds magic in them, but those books were just to entertain the masses and not really realistic.
Now that he wasn't under such a time constraint he could wait several more months to reveal himself to her, let Alex get to know him much better before he took such a major step. Patience was the key and he had plenty of that. He wouldn't have survived this long if he didn't.
"I would like our relationship to work out but we've only been dating a little bit over three weeks. Before we were rushing things along because we were under such an enormous time constraint. Less than three months is hardly enough time to get to know someone. Now we have a year, so I would say we take things at our own pace and not worry about anything else for right now."
"Sound advice," Alex said. "I agree with your strategy. I have to admit I believe I'm halfway in love with you to, but still, I'd like time to truly realize my feelings. Rushing into marriage often just causes tragedy. My parents don't seem to realize that I'm from a different generation then they are. Things have changed so much from when they were born, particularly standards when it comes to marriage. Decades ago, you didn't dare divorce, even if your spouse cheated on you, as it could get you ostracized. Back then, you just had to grin and bare it or both spouses had to agree to it a divorce."
Dave was nodding at this.
"So what about you meeting my parents?" Alex asked.
"I suppose it is the proper thing to do." Dave said. "I promise I'll be polite but make it clear about what I think of them throwing men at you. You can't force someone to fall in love and you are much too intelligent to marry just because you're lusting after a man, as that's a recipe for disaster. Lusting after someone is a totally different thing than being in love, something your parents should know. Both your parents apparently don't know their daughter very well at all if they think forcing you endure those dinners with men you can supposedly fall for is the way to go. You're too strong-willed to do something that will only make you miserable in the long run, especially when there's no easy out for you."
"Well, you certainly know me better after only a little bit over three weeks of acquaintance then my parents apparently do," Alex said smiling, relaxing now that the subject had been discussed and they had agreed to not rush their relationship because they now had more time. "I might lose my inheritance, which is considerable if I don't marry, but I am capable of working and earning my way. I've been doing so for years after all. I won't say I couldn't use the money, as it would provide a good living in bad times, but money isn't everything. Me loving the man I'm married to is more important than any amount of money."
"I agree with you, even though I am extremely wealthy, but I wasn't when I was a kid," Dave offered.
Alex didn't need to know, at least right now, that he hadn't been a youngling in longer then the Blake family line had likely existed. He would tell her at some point but when he wasn't sure, certainly after she found out that he wasn't human and neither was she, at least not completely.
"Almost no one is as a kid, unless your parents are also wealthy like mine are. Of course, a lot of times that this leads to children being spoiled rotten. The parents don't discipline them like they should for bad behavior and that makes them believe they can get away with murder," Alex said
"True," Dave agreed gravely.
"So why haven't you married ever Dave?" Alex asked.
"Like you have just never fallen in love," Dave said only partly truthfully. "Being wealthy like I am causes women to chase after you, which is why I should've thought about bringing my assistant to parties and events in order to stop most women from doing so much sooner. Those that have manners anyway, though some try to get your attention, even if you do bring a plus one, which is rude at the very least. Still, it cuts down considerably on that kind of thing, which I definitely appreciate.
"I understand," Alex said and it was clear in her dark eyes that she did. "So many people are greedy and women in particular just want to marry a man with wealth whether or not they love him, because they want his money. Of course, I realize that's what prenup agreements are for and if a wealthy man is smart they'll take one out before they marry."
"If I ever do go that route I'll probably do that," Dave said. "However, since I'm nowhere close to even thinking about getting married I don't think that's gonna be necessary at least not at the moment. It's not that I'm against marriage, it's just hard to find a woman that will love me for myself no matter how rich or poor I am. Those of more normal financial means have an easier time finding someone to love."
"True that," Alex agreed wholeheartedly. "I know a lot of people that are very happily married, mostly professors, doctors and other profession people."
The two chatted for sometime before Dave escorted Alex out of the building into her car.

~~~Dave and Alex~~~