.
Souls of the Night – Vol 3
19.
"Hi mom. Hi Dad. Thank you for the lovely invitation." Alex walked at a suitably slow pace through the suitably enormous dining room, which always had a fire burning in its suitably massive fireplace - for atmosphere, of course. Soft music played from hidden loudspeakers. Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals, if Alex wasn't mistaken.
Of course, Alexander was in no hurry. Hurrying would be a sign that something was wrong or even of weakness on his part. His parents had brought him up differently and would interpret verbal or physical fidgeting as insecurity. But he had never been more sure of himself in his life. After giving his mother a kiss and sharing a warm smile with his father, he waved his two companions into the light. The glow of the fire made Ares' skin look almost reddish, cast wonderful light effects in Flora's flowing hair (the same hairstyle as at the gargoyles' breakfast, complete with roses) and in the silver embroidery on their clothes, as if Tachi had planned for this illusion (which might have been the case).
"May I now officially introduce you: Flora of Avalon's Nymph Ranks." Flora curtsied. "- and Ares, best archer of Oberon's Gargoyle Honor Guard." Ares performed one of those elegant bows using his wing. Both showed no shyness and gave polite smiles as Flora shook hands with Fox first and had David kiss her hand. Ares did the same but in reverse as he kissed Fox's hand and shook David's hand. Everyone thanked them for the kind invitation or the fact that it could be arranged.
Alexander, Flora and Ares had practiced this evening and this situation. Alex had tried to brief them on both table etiquette and how to behave in front of these two particularly challenging individuals, but he knew he couldn't prepare his loved ones and himself for every eventuality. He had explained to them that they would simply have to navigate around the black holes that would open up during the evening as gracefully and calmly as possible without losing sight of the overall plan. He simply kept telling himself that the evening when he would introduce the persons (beings/cryptids?) with whom he intended to share his life would be a more than unusual experience for his parents as well. Alexander went to the end of the long table where three chairs stood. His own was the one at the head of the table - that didn't change. But he stepped quietly behind the chair on the right-hand side of him. Moved it away from the table and smiled at Flora. Who also allowed herself to be seated with a smile. Then Alex stepped hurriedly to the chair on the left and pulled it away from the table, where Ares sat down.
His gargoylelover had expressed concerns about confronting his parents so harshly regarding their relationship, but Alex felt it was a waste of resources to keep up a game that both of them had surely already figured out. He sat down himself while his two mates unfolded their napkins. He didn't miss the scrutinizing looks his parents were giving him. The charm made them look older, but they were still both wolves. Wolves who would jump at the scent of blood. Well, he was a very powerful quarter fey, but they would always be his parents. It was their right to be critical or even challenging towards his mates. Alex would intervene if it became too much for his taste or the nerves of his loved ones.
Owen joined them in his butler's outfit, poured water for the guests, asked about the wine selection and recommended a suitable red wine for dinner. As was the manner of Puck's human shell, the servant disappeared again almost silently.
The music switched to Vivaldi's Winter - still quiet but striking enough.
Alex returned his father's smile with the calm that only winners can have.
"Have you recovered well?" asked David Xanatos over the swelling violins.
The acoustics of the room made it possible for him to speak at low volume and for his voice to reach Alexander just as loudly as if they were sitting only two yards apart and not ten.
"Yes, thank you for your concern. I'm feeling much better. I'm happy to be back. How was Bali? Besides the witches."
A few minutes of largely irrelevant conversation passed back and forth. Owen arrived with the tempered wine and both Ares and Flora took their glasses and sipped. They had both been attentive students, even if Alex had had to squeeze quite a lot of etiquette into one lesson and Alex's clawed hands had a little trouble with the stemware and he had to use both hands to keep from tipping it over. It was his first time with such delicate tableware - no one would blame him for that. Alex gave the gargoyle a smile and he relaxed his stiff shoulders a little.
"Ares. Flora," his father announced, leaning back in his chair, swirling his wine glass, looking like a high-class movie villain. Alexander had only realized from watching television that not every father looked like that and not every father had world-spanning - sometimes even centuries-spanning - plots in his clever head that involved looking like that because it was part of the game to unsettle the other person.
Both Fey and Gargoyle looked up.
"Fox and I are so pleased to have you in our humble home. It's not the enchanted realm you're accustomed to, but we like to think it has a quaint, homey charm to it. You'll learn to love the simple comforts of the 21st century and New York in particular," he said, sounding as if he were explaining the world to yokels whose huts only had earthen floors.
Alex scratched his temple with indulgence.
His mother smiled, making it look affectionate even though it wasn't quite meant to be.
"We also see that Tachi has already taken care of you, you both look lovely," she praised and both Gargoyle and Fey thanked her kindly but not too shyly. Alex wanted to kiss them but held back.
"It's quite a benefit to have talented people on call," David murmured, running his eyes over the two obvious non-humans at the other end of the table as if they were naked specifically because of their clothes, "-even if she is sometimes a little too obvious with her preference for partner looks," he added and his mother coughed and reached for her glass of water with a slightly scrunched up expression. Alex knew that if anyone was going to react like a normal person, it was her and that was why she was his main target in this game, which had just been interrupted by the soup.
The silence during the first course wasn't really unconstrained - but it wasn't lead-laden either, like back when Alexander had used magic to forge his report card and manipulate the memories of teachers and principals (an idea from Puck, who thought human school systems were totally barmy anyway). From an early age, Alexander practiced to see the good in everything. The good thing about this situation was that his parents had both recognized that Ares and Flora were not servants but rather Alexander's "partners". Now all they had to do was explain to his parents that they would remain so for ever and ever.
Ares dabbed his mouth adorably neatly with the serving dish, which probably made him a target for his mother because she thought Ares was the weakest link at the table, as gargoyles tended to fly off the handle when they felt overwhelmed.
"Ares, I must say-," she purred amiably. "I've never seen a gargoyle with such good table manners." Ales smiled without showing his teeth, lifting his head with the cool but not arrogant pride that Alexander loved him for.
"Thank you for the compliment. I must admit on Avalon, gargoyles are rarely guests at court dinners. We eat at other times in the clan. But we have plenty of opportunity to watch the higher-ranking children and observe etiquette."
"Or rather the lack of it," Flora argued. Both billionaires laughed quietly and Alex leaned back, highly satisfied with his socially competent mates.
As neither of his parents liked it when there was too much time between courses, Owen reappeared with the trolley. The main course was saddle of venison with celeriac mousseline, pointed cabbage and cranberry. As Flora was a vegetarian (although jokes about cannibalism among "plants" were too easy for anyone at the table to make) she was served roasted avocado with pea couscous, spiced kefir and lemon.
After the main course, Flora and Fox actually struck up a casual chat as Fox was this year's patron of the New York Botanical Garden. His father engaged Alexander in a conversation about his involvement in the business side of Xanatos Enterprises and during the last course, which consisted of a simple chocolate cream with tiny sugar flowers, one could have assumed that it would not come to the topics for which Alexander had mentally prepared himself - which of course was only an illusion.
Nevertheless, he thoroughly enjoyed it when Ares vividly recounted Alexander's battle, first with Ananzi, then with the Banshee and finally with him and other gargoyles. Something his father had asked about, who as a generous host tried to include every "guest". Everyone laughed when Ares came to the part where Flora had captured him with one of her roots and Alex had probably only won because of that. Alexander knew he was blushing because his mate's eyes lit up at the tale (not agitated but happily excited) and his tone wavered between indignation at Alexander's antics in battle and his barely concealed admiration.
But as the table was cleared and tea or coffee was served as a nightcap, the story came to an end. The music changed to Schubert's "The Trout" with German lyrics - a seemingly trivial whisper in the background that Alexander had to hold back from laughing out loud. His mother sipped her coffee introspectively. She hadn't always looked quite so happy during the narration because, although she knew her child was very powerful, fights with giant spiders and death worms were no joke to her as they were to her husband, who laughed.
"This story reminded me that you and I need to fight together more often again, my dear. These exercises are an asset in any relationship."
"I agree," Alexander said, deliberately pushing the conversation in the direction he had intended.
His mother was not normally someone who could be manipulated so easily. But she was a mother, and sometimes plot-behaving qualities took a back seat. She cleared her throat and smiled at Ares.
"I'm glad that such a talented fighter doesn't have my son on his literal hit list anymore ... But I'm afraid this time and this city are not very convenient for archers. To be torn from your clan and your role in the honor guard so suddenly must be peculiar. Clan and purpose are everything to gargoyles, we know that."
Ares tilted his head humbly. "It is sudden. But by no means thoughtless. Both Flora and I wanted to accompany Alexander and Oberon's request suited us both. We will find new purposes." His warm gaze went to Alexander before he looked at David and Fox again. "We thank you once again for being guests in your house."
"Guests have a way of leaving at some point," David commented glibly and with a mild smile, putting his fingertips together. All that was missing was a little gesture of tapping the same fingertips together and he would look like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.
"That would be too unfortunate. Do you have a departure date after all?" Fox asked to emphasize her husband's statement. Both were SO nice and snappy at the same time. It was a spectacle.
"If I have my way, Ares and Flora will stay forever," mused Alexander, swirling the liquid in his wine glass. Yes - he could also pull off a super-criminal act - he had practically sucked it up with his mother's milk. His mother raised an eyebrow above her fox tattoo and his father pulled up one corner of his mouth into a grin that would have been a fang baring had he been a gargoyle.
"Of course I'll leave that to you. I can also imagine living with them in the house in Tribeka that you gave me for my bachelor's degree. Or the estate in the Catskills."
"Ah, Alexander, please don't be theatrical," his mother said.
"Not theatrical, Mom. Just realistic. This is your building. And I won't be able to stay if they can't. It's respectful to tell you this now. I'm not going to deny my mates like dirty secrets."
So now it was out.
His mom's jaw dropped. His father just looked at him for a long time, assessing the situation. Alexander had grown up with gargoyles. Fox and David knew what the word meant and that they didn't use it lightly. mate! Not "partner". Where 25 years ago it had been okay to call the other a "partner", now it was something else. The word partner was wishy-washy and indecisive about the status of the other person and how much space you wanted to give him or her in your life - it wasn't enough. Now the child was called by its name.
"Did... the clan leader introduce you to each other?" David asked patiently, still assessing.
Alex cracked a smile.
A commitment ceremony was truly and fully official when the clan leader had said a few words.
"Gabriel did it with pleasure," Alexander said, raising his head proudly. And now came what he had anticipated, what he had planned for, what he had been preparing himself and his mates for since the night he had decided that he would never let them go. His mother was not a normal woman. But she was a mother and it was unthinkable that she would stay cool and on top of things when it came to this subject. Although he gave her credit for the fact that her voice didn't drift off into shrill, comical housewife screeching. She sounded more ... as if she had been punched in the stomach and wasn't able to hit back for a change.
"Is this really what you want? What you want for your life? You once said only among your family (among the gargoyles and humans here) could you be normal. Your own normal. And now you're choosing ... "Partners" that you can't even take on the street? One can't go out in the daylight and is a male. The other one ... I wouldn't even know as what to pass her off as," his mother said quietly, and the sorrow on her face looked worn because you probably saw it on the faces of hundreds of thousands of mothers around the world every day.
"You didn't raise me to make half-hearted decisions. I wouldn't be sitting here - with them - if I wasn't serious and hadn't considered all the consequences this would have for my future personal, social and professional life. And they're both worth it."
"You are the heir to one of the most powerful empires in the world. You will always be in the spotlight. The Gargoyles can rely on their Hocus Pocus bracelets and the people swallow that - but you don't have that luxury without partially or fully exposing yourself. How are you going to hide Ares and Flora and your connection to them?"
"Not at all. I'm not going to hide either of them. I'll take them to events, to dinners. Ares won't be able to wear the morph patches as often and for as long as he needs to - so we won't even start. If I feel like it and they feel like it, we'll hold hands or kiss. If they feel the slightest bit uncomfortable with PDAs, then we won't, but it will still be obvious to everyone that the three of us belong together wherever possible. Let the share prices fall a little - we'll get them back up again."
Alexander ignored the silence that then filled the large hall and sipped his coffee contemplatively. He gave Ares and Flora a quick glance and they were also focused on their drinks. They knew he was the one with the plan, they were just the staffage. They could live with that. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds. Seconds in which powerful business partners, people from the media and politics would have collapsed. But Alexander knew that coming to Fox and David with agitated arguments would only make this their game. But it was his and his alone.
His parents were both very smart. But they weren't completely unpredictable when you'd known them as long as he had. It was clear that his mother was running this conversation with her natural inner fire, where his father had hundreds of cogs turning in his head and was already planning every scenario of the conversation or whatever future was unfolding. His mother had taken a sip of her coffee and looked like she wished it was an Irish one when she spoke again.
"What about children? I mean-." She looked at Flora. "Can you, I mean - are you genetically compatible."
Flora smiled wider. "I'm pure nature. I'll find a way."
"And even if not, you wanted to adopt Graziella Dracon back then - no one here is completely averse to adoption," alex pointed out.
"A child to show off in the daylight would have been nice," his mother grumbled, rubbing her temple.
Alex cleared his throat, his eyes gleaming with familial fey glow as he looked up. Not furious with anger - but frosty his voice. The temperature in the room had probably actually dropped a few degrees. "Any child I accept as mine will be your grandchild. And no matter what he or she or them will look like, with wings or roots I will love him or her or they as I love Flora and Ares."
Fox sighed almost helplessly, probably already resentful of herself for what followed...then she genuinely sounded like a real mother as she almost sputtered out in offense.
"And that it might have been nice for your mother to host a wedding or even just see an ad in the Times about an engagement and wedding - for her only child, you didn't think of that? But no, you come back from a trip that only lasted three days for you and now you have mates? Despite everything, me and your father at least had the presence of mind to invite some of our parents."
The wounded child in Alexander wanted to spit back that even if he had invited them, his mother would never have set foot to Avalon but instead Alexander opened his mouth and laughed out loud. And whether it was in his facial comical expression or whether his laughter was simply infectious, his mother suddenly looked sheepish and began to laugh where her husband had joined in moments before. You couldn't say that David Xanatos or Fox were people who often laughed from the heart in public. But that was the case here, and Ares and Flora exchanged quick quizzical glances at what strange family, aside from the billionaire Fey thing, they were marrying into.
When all three were over their fits of laughter and painstakingly collected themselves, Alex continued with a grin.
"Well, our ceremony was pretty reduced, over in two minutes and hardly worth the trip. But should we reconfirm our connection in another millennium, you'll be at the top of the list. And weddings are rarely organized for mothers and when they are, there's something wrong with the relationship from the start. Mom. What should this wedding have looked like? Should Ares have stood on the sidelines with the rest of the clan? Or should Flora have stood on the sidelines while me and Ares exchanged rings - Ares preferably in human form because it would already be a scandal if I didn't marry a woman? I refuse to take part in such a farce that doesn't do justice to any of the three of us. You didn't bring me up like this. I will not bend under a legal dictate that tells me and my loved ones that we can't be together."
His father made a delightfully dismissive gesture, his smirk unbroken. "Polygamy is illegal and criminalized in America anyway ... not that the criminalization repels us per se, but ... It's very impractical in everyday life."
"A Xanatos doesn't run around hurdles. He blows them out of the way or he ignores them and follows his course," Alexander repeated coolly.
His mother leaned forward, now her smile was genuine as if her ridiculous outburst into the world of miffed mothers had grounded her. Alex returned the smile, wishing he was sitting closer to her so he could take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. He understood her concern. But he knew he could handle it. He and his lovers.
"We love you, Alexander. And we know you're strong enough for anything you set your mind to. We want you to always pursue your goals and make decisions that you can live with. But ... it's not just about you. Just because we as Xanatos` don't care about the reactions of others doesn't mean that others aren't hurt by it. This world is cruel. You're pulling two other individuals into something they may not be able to oversee. Living a life between worlds is an additional challenge."
Ares raised his eyes for the first time, looking intently at Fox.
"My lady. May I ask ... if I'm not too invasive. Why did you choose to wed your spouse then? And sir, why did you marry your wife back then?"
David, intrigued by the involvement of the Gargoyle who had captured his son's heart, answered first, his interlocking fingers in front of his mouth.
"We are genetically compatible, highly intelligent and had and have the same goals. It made perfect sense to get married."
"And you were capable of love to the extent that people of your status are capable of feeling it," Alexander finished his cult sentence. He knew the story like he knew most of the stories from back then. It hadn't really been suitable bedtime stories for children - but then he had never been a normal child. Ares seemed undeterred by the facts as he flashed one of his beautiful smiles, as warm as his eyes, but his voice was so confident and aloof that he already sounded like a Xanatos without realizing it.
"I chose Alexander because, despite his power and intelligence, he never makes me feel like I'm inferior. On the contrary. Precisely because we are so different and think so differently, I feel that I can be a support in his life wherever it takes him."
Ares looked at Flora, who added her two cents.
"And I accepted Alexander's offer because, although we are so different, we have things in common that matter when we are together. I don't love his power - financial or magical. I can deal with the insensitive caustic comments and the coldly flashing artificial eyes of the humans as long as I have my mates. I love Alex for his warm tone when he talks to people who feel threatened by him without really knowing him."
"- or for his grace in battle, even though he has the power to remove all doubts about his rank with one cruel blow," Ares added.
"- or if he proves again and again that he is not only the "son of" or the "grandson of" but a force to be reckoned with in his own right." Flora grinned at Ares, who showed her as many teeth as he could because he knew she liked it.
"- or for his sleepy grumpiness shortly after getting up."
"- his affectionate playful teasing."
"- his wit and his willingness to laugh at our jokes even though they're not funny."
"-or for his tousled hair when he scratches his head, lost in thought."
"-or for his-"
Alex literally jumped up from his chair and made both beings interrupt their affectionate remarks.
When he lifted his head, his smile was wild, the fire in his eyes manic with barely concealed ardor.
"Sorry to end the evening so abruptly. I think enough has been said. Let me know tomorrow how we will proceed with each other if you or Xanatos Enterprises cannot live with our decisions. Whatever you decide, I will accept it." He raised both his hands, grabbed those of his mates and walked out of the hall with his head held high. But at the door, he had to turn back, his grin that of a wolf too. He wasn't intentionally cruel - but the following simply had to be said.
"Your choice of music is in need of an overhaul, by the way. You've been more subtle in the past. The aquarium, the trout and winter. I think at one point came the Ride of the Valkyries. What would have come next? The Erlking?"
His father put a hand on his chest.
"Alex ... that you're insinuating something like that. We've already had Schubert."
Alexander laughed. "Precisely because you're my parents, I wouldn't put it past you. Alexa: Play The Love Dream by Franz Liszt." When the voice from the ether confirmed his selection and interrupted the playlist for the wish, Alexander nodded again to his parents then he and his spouses disappeared.
.
"That was impressive, are you sure it wasn't magic?" Flora hummed as she and Ares were drawn through the castle. No one had to hurry. Ares had long legs and with his digitigrade feet he was capable of longer strides anyway. Flora had lengthened her own legs a little to keep up.
Alexander chuckled. "No magic, my dear. Just plotting. A Xanatos trait. You don't have to be a genius to predict the course of such a conversation with the given facts. My mother is very smart. But she's my mother first and foremost."
"It went exactly as you predicted."
"Apart from your expressions of love for me," Alexander murmured, stopping lowering his eyes. "That caught me off guard," he admitted. But his embarrassment quickly evaporated as Flora lifted his head and kissed him slowly and tenderly. As soon as she released him, Ares took her place. "I'm proud of you for putting up with all that pestering," Alex said afterwards, a little hoarse with emotion.
Ares chortled with a gargoyle hum.
"I found it kind of endearing. Like ... wolves protecting their young by making threatening gestures... Are we still within the plan despite Flora's and my intervention?""
"Even more than ever, Prickly. I have made my point and snatched you both from them. I have NEVER left them standing and that I have done so now will shake them in their apparent omnipotence."
"Or enrage them?"
"No. They have realized that my heart is in this. On you. The ball is in their court. They will gradually show that they accept you as my life companions. As my mates. I would say ... all in all ... a successful evening."
.
After the last sounds of the love dream had faded away, sad and hopeful at the same time, the music stopped because the actual playlist had been interrupted. The crackling fire caressed the senses, but was as melancholy as the music. Fox and David- the most powerful people in America, cunning, sly, powerful looked at each other and after David placed his hand palm up on the table, Fox found their fingers linked with his.
"Let's look on the bright side. We'll just have to push our son-in-law off the battlements in daylight and shove a snifter of glyphosate down our daughter-in-law's throat," David quipped, his trademark smirk charming but prophesying if necessary.
"Did you see how Alex's eyes lit up when he talked about his future child?"
"With the emphasis on he, she or it? And the wings or rods? That's what happens when you leave parenting to a gargoyle clan complete with gay gargoyle uncle. Although even without that, it would have gutted me if my son had settled for a brittle upper east side snipe."
"His eyes, David. A declaration of war if necessary. To us." Fox's gaze became intense, a mixture of glee and disbelief.
"Yes. Like yours shone when you protected me from the most powerful being in this universe. Before you personally blew Oberon across the room like he was a leaf on the wind."
He stroked her hand, caressing the finger with his ring on it. Nothing magical, nothing special, just 50,000 dollars. Still ... His ring. Sometimes it was the gesture that counted and not the exclusivity of the gift.
Fox took a deep breath.
"I need to have a talk with Alex. I was disgusting to him. And to Flora and Ares. That was disgraceful."
"You know he planned to make us uncomfortable tonight after that?"
She smirked. "He's our son, what do you think?"
"I'm proud of him," David said, flashing a smile that was only for Fox because it was genuine and full of love. "I know this was a joint effort with the clan - but we've managed to raise a man who loves so much and so sincerely that he's not afraid to fight, even against us."
"Even if he orchestrated the whole thing from start to finish," Fox chortled.
"DNA doesn't lie, darling. Alexander has made his decision. Now we have to play with the cards that were dealt. We have a special life, a special son, a special household. I think maintaining the status quo with a special grandchild is only doing us justice."
Shortly after his words, David's face became pinched and displeased - a very rare expression.
"Damn," David muttered, resting his head against the upholstery of his chair.
"What?" asked Fox.
His horrified gaze met hers. "He's right! The Erlkönig would have been so much better than The trout."
Fox burst out laughing and patted his cheek.
"You can take out your frustration on the mats in the training hall with me tomorrow."
"Mhmmm tempting. Then we have a date," David sighed.
.
The threesome put their special or brand new clothes away in Alexander's room. Alexander untied his shoes as Flora and Ares whispered to each other.
"No plotting without me, my doves," he hummed.
"No plotting. We were just thinking about the magical invisible woman at dinner."
"Magical woman?"
"You called her Alexa," Ares said rapturously. "Her music is wonderful, I must compliment her."
Alexander grinned broadly and promised to introduce them. He had so much to share with his two loved ones. He would explore this world anew through their eyes and learn to appreciate it again. He would explain to them tomorrow that "Alexa", an artificial, worldwide voice assistant, had been developed by Lexington, distributed by Xanatos, and the proceeds went into his pockets as his 2014 high school graduation present. How else would they have come up with A-LE-XA?
A message popped up on his cell phone. He skimmed over the already expected text message from his father.
Alex made a barking noise that could have been a laugh but sounded really ironic.
"Bad?" asked Flora.
"We don't want to cause a rift between you and your parents," Ares said, finding Flora's hand.
"Don't worry about it. You don't know my parents. This-" he raised his cell phone. "My father is the sneakiest, most devious man in America - but he has one weakness - mom and me. This was already the peace offering - well - in his own special way."
"What does he write?"
Alexander drew out the suspense a little more, then said it quite candidly. "Whether he should add a greenhouse or a balustrade with fall protection to the future nursery."
His mates looked at him for a few moments. Then at each other.
"Can he do both?" asked Ares.
"I like the way you think," Flora hummed, leaning against him. "We want both."
Alexander smiled and wrote back exactly that.
HA! I've been nibbling on this chapter for a while. It's SO hard to find Fox's voice - much harder than that of her sassy husband. She should nearly react like a "normal" mom (you know, those normal situations where your kid marries a gargoyle and a plant thing and doesn't even invite you) but she should fall back into her cool kinda aloof self and not really break up in a fight because there's no bickering in this family like there is in normal families. I hope I captured the scene well - I had a hard time with all three of them (and Alexander didn't even have a voice in the show that I could have messed up). But the Xanatoses don't get much more screentime (only a little) and Flora, Ares and Alex are only mentioned in passing or will only push relationships directly or indirectly.
About the music selection - you can of course find all the music on utube or spotify. It is not intentional that all composers are German or from German-speaking countries. It just happened that way - really, THAT was not intentional - I love Debussy and Ravel too. But I wanted music that doesn't make my heart SO light or SO heavy that I cry like a baby when I listen to it.
Alexander's comment that the selection was not subtle was not really referring to the music per se but to the associations that go along with the titles (of course, Alexander has a knowledge of music titles that goes beyond ordinary education - he is upper class and was already very developed as a month-old baby, physically, mentally. So he knows how to link these connotations. It's really not subtle because I am not subtle: The Erlkönig (The Erlking, The Elfking- whatever) - that needs no explanation if you know the story. The trout: a fish on a hook. Winter: the season of cold and barrenness - hard to live with permanently, and the aquarium: a life behind glass, exposed to constant stares.
P.S: This chapter has gotten SO long, I couldn't squeeze Nathaniel's experiences in - it's also a very different mood so it's better this way.