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Souls of the Night Vol 3
23.
"Mhmmm." I grumbled as the alarm on my cell phone went off, turned around and felt around for the little bugger on the bedside table. Then I switched it off. Two hours went by so quickly - being the catcher for the first time made me really tired. I grinned at the thought and the memory. What made my grin disappear again was the realization that my loved one hadn't done it voluntarily - that is, consciously - but had woken up from his state of shock and found himself in this situation against his will. He looked so terrified. So close to breaking again. Only that had made me react so calmly and exactly opposite to HIS first instinct. Well, I had also been in a post-coital state of bliss, but any reaction other than "happy" and "content" would only have multiplied Nathaniel's reactions. God - he would talk it over with Davis! And then I'd have to talk about it too! Just the idea of sharing my boyfriend's most intimate, fragile moments with the human woman revolted me. But okay ... she was a "professional" - if he had to work through this with someone other than me, then it would have to be with her. I rubbed my face against the blanket and pillows again. Everything smelled like Nate, just the way I liked it. He must have been completely exhausted too - he hadn't stirred despite the alarm.
"Nate, breakfast will be ready soon. I can bring you something if you don't feel like -," I patted around next to me as I spoke and fall silent when I realized he was not lying beside me. I blinked away the remnants of tiredness and looked to the side. And also found the periphery of the nest I had built and the large bed empty. I sat up and looked towards the bathroom, the light coming through the crack in the door. "Nate?" I asked aloud and received no answer.
My heart leaps as I realized he's not here. I swung my legs out of bed and almost toppled over as the dull ache of my new-to-me work-out ripples down my spine from my tender backside. But I managed to catch myself, ignoring the feeling that Nathaniel must have quite often (while making a mental note to myself to always carry lube with me from now on because really - I will never underestimate the importance of lubricants outside of the technical, mechanical framework again) and stalk to the open dresser. Nathaniel must have taken clothes out of here. Instantly, I whirled around and rush out and into my room where the TV and my (our) computer is. Where he isn't either!
I rub a hand agitatedly over my skull.
"Okay," I say. "Okay, he ... went ahead to breakfast. Cool. Coolcoolcool." Even as I babble to myself, I know Nate wouldn't go anywhere alone after a first half of the night like this if it didn't fulfill a deeper need than hunger. The thought pulls at my guts, making everything inside me ache - not from the rough penetration earlier this time. I yank open my closet, slip into my own pants and hurry through the castle. The distance to the kitchen, which is actually quite long, is covered quite quickly on all fours and in an almost panicked rush, which grows completely devoid of evidence and empiricism with every yard like a black hole. I almost break my back and run into Fu Dog as I slip through the open doorway where everyone is already gathered. Pulling myself up by the rear of the Watchbeast, which is indignantly grumbling over our near-collision, I skim over the whole clan minus Elisa AND Nate. Most of them look at me with open mouths. Broadway, holding a huge bowl of spaghetti, begins with.
"Wow, Lex, even though you're starving-,"
"Is Nate here? Have you seen Nate?" I ask in a shrill voice, but before anyone can answer in the negative, I smell that he hasn't been here today, swear and run off. Behind me, I hear the wooden legs of chairs and benches scraping and immediately afterwards the clickety-clack of numerous claws melting into each other on the floor as they dash after me and I know that my clan - in anticipation of a new Nathaniel drama - is sticking with me as reinforcement for whatever.
"Lex! What's wrong?" I heard Angela shout and the breathless questions and expressions of concern from the others are drowned out by my heart pounding loudly in my ears.
What should I answer?
Nothing at all!
Everything?
I didn't even know how I knew. Maybe after all these weeks I could already empathize with Nate so well that I just knew where to look. Not on the battlements, where he could have gone for a walk to clear his head. Not in the rookery to sit with our eggs in the dim light that is soothing for all gargoyles. Not in the library, not in the control room. I pushed open the door to the "human wing", already feeling the non-existent hair on my arms stand up. The others had to feel it too (at least I heard Tachi cursing far behind me)- after all these years, you just get a strange feeling when magic is cast near you - even without having magical powers yourself.
"No," I whispered. No, no. I cursed myself. Why had I dozed off? Why had I let him go off alone with Broadway when I knew they'd split up after the Jussuf stakeout and my favorite vitreous prince would be alone and vulnerable for twenty minutes? I mean, twenty minutes and a flight over the East River could have gone by WITHOUT anything happening to my tragedy-prone boyfriend! I had let him go alone just to organize things for my damn company, about which I cared SO little compared to Nathaniel. Why hadn't I reassured Nathaniel much more fervently that it was okay to remain a gargoyle? Why hadn't I told him that he'd been my mate for a long time and maybe made him think harder about his status as a gargoyle? I hadn't wanted to push him, manipulate him or control him the way I wished. It was HIS body! His decision! His life. But ... had I left him alone? Alone with a decision on which he might have needed more input to be able to make a well-considered judgment? I could have given him a dozen reasons how his life as a gargoyle in the clan could have been better. A longer life (with ME!). A body that was stable and durable and would heal over the day. A higher purpose that stabilized heart and soul in a way most humans could only dream of. Senses that made altitude, speed and darkness your lover and ally, not your foe. Gliding on your own wings!
Once again I skidded on the ancient stone tiles, falling to the ground, seeing my clan already turning the corner- by now all knowing where I thought Nathaniel was. I pushed open the door to Alexander's chambers.
"Nate!"
I burst into Alexander's room and saw ... him standing there.
I sucked in my breath, not knowing whether I was supposed to be relieved or highly alarmed.
He still had his gargoyle body! But his skin was ashen gray!
The big room smelled of fire and soot and Nathaniel's clothes, except for his fireproof underwear, were hanging down on him in tatters. Small steel gray flakes trickled strangely beautiful and tranquil from his wings and the rest of his skin where the slightly smoking scraps of cloth did not cover him. He turned around ... and smiled at me - apologetically. The green glow that betrayed Puck's withdrawal into his human alter ego was just fading around Owen, who put his glasses back on. Flora and Ares just slipped off the bed and went to Alexander, who was rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger as he often did when he had cast strong magic.
I didn't care that the spell obviously hadn't worked - for whatever reason - I didn't care that my whole clan had just appeared in the doorway and were talking in confusion. I rushed to him, wanted to fall into his arms and tell him everything I'd neglected to tell him in the last few weeks. That I loved him and he was my mate - forever and ever and we could both live very well as gargoyles and why he wanted to become human again and so much more.
But I fell through a wing that, like his tail, trickled away from him at my touch! He stumbled back a step and put his arms around me which, unlike his gargoyle limbs, were solid but just that one step backwards caused more to trickle away from him, causing dust and ash to swirl up and both of us to break into a bout of coughing under which Nathaniel writhed and squirmed, "shedding" everything that had once been gargoyle with it. I felt at least one of his horns (his HORNS dammit!) break off like a huge, warm, smoked-up cigarette butt and trickle onto my head. I recoiled under the unsettling sensation and frantically wiped the ash from my head, still huffing and blinking against the stinging of the flakes in my eyes. Then, as Nate caught his breath and straightened up, all I could see was a human standing in the middle of a circle of ash piled up to his naked ankles.
His face humanly hornless, his back without graceful wings, his rump without a lovely tail, his bare calves and feet soooo - not gargoyle.
"Nate," I repeated, looking at Alex, who had just allowed Ares and Flora to lead him to his bed and sat down on it, smiling. Somewhere in the back of my mind I had a deep urge to growl at my former foster child (totally unfair and selfish) but my friend's quiet, somehow bashful, hushed laugh dissuaded me.
I looked to the "old" human Nathaniel who was wiping his face with both hands (five slender fingers), smearing ash and revealing a light mocha-brown human color underneath. He palmed his forehead, flashed a baffled smile and looked at me.
"I'm back to normal," he said, his smile turning uncertain when I didn't move and just stood there with my mouth open.
And I probably wouldn't have moved for much longer if someone hadn't given me a push. I suspected Tachi, but turned my head to see Katana, a very unhappy looking Heather in her arms - looking sternly at me. Her head jerked towards Nate in a demanding manner. That made me walk the two yards back to him.
"I'm...back to normal," he mumbled softly and lowered his gaze, biting his lip with stubby human teeth, which was now shimmering pink because of his saliva under all the ash and not blue.
"It... it's okay, yeah? I had to do it. I had to, I couldn't -."
He took a deep breath, his voice higher and pressed as he was about to cry just because I couldn't open my stupid mouth in mute outrage at something he'd announced he would do all along. So why was I so disappointed and sad instead of encouraging him when he made a decision for himself? That was not okay. Friends, family, lovers should support each other instead of putting each other in invisible chains.
I grabbed his hand and he instantly lifted his head and looked at me.
I put the other one on his cheek, which looked so wrong without his jaw horns, and stroked his stubble.
"It's all good. Yeah-you're back to normal. You ... look good as a human. Much healthier than before."
"Yeah? Really?"
"Why yes, silly. That's your real shape. You don't need my confirmation. Whether you're a gargoyle or a human, you're my boyfriend. I was just surprised that you did it tonight. "
"Are we good?" he asked, sounding like a child.
"Yes, we're good," I said, basically wanting to cry.
I leaned over and gave him a kiss. He had also been a rather short gargoyle, but now he was only four or five inches taller than me. He kept his lips closed (probably because we had an audience) but when I broke away from him, he smiled with relief.
"It's not too... weird for you?"
"Is it for you?" I inquired.
He cracked a smile and nuzzled his cheek in my hand as he had often done as a gargoyle. But now it felt strange and I had to summon all my self-control and decency not to wipe my hand on my pants when I pulled away from him. But his eyes. His gray-blue eyes were still the same. I could hold on to that. I would get used to the rest. I had to get used to it. He looked just ... so different.
"I'm glad to have such a good-looking human boyfriend," I murmured to him (and to myself), stroking his bare arms, his true complexion showing underneath. He really wasn't ugly (for a human). He looked good, not too emaciated anymore, with healthy skin color (although it wasn't blue) and fuller lips that invited kissing (even though there were no fangs behind them anymore). Yes, I would get used to it. I wasn't so superficial as to not want him anymore just because he was human again like he had been from the beginning - I had been attracted to him then too. I just had to get used to it ... that would probably be my new inner mantra.
We both looked up as Goliath and Brooklyn joined us. Goliath placed a hand on Nate's dusty hair, ash trickling from it again, and Nate grinned at the warm gesture.
"Everything okay with you, bud?" Brooklyn asked, and his pat on the shoulder also made my friend dust.
"Yeah, I think so," he said, looking at Owen, now standing near Alexander, who was leaning back on his bed, showing the Xanatos trademark grin.
"It was a pleasure for me too, Nate," said the young billionaire. "Me and Puck assume you'll still feel small echoes for a few days or weeks, but otherwise everything should be the the same as before."
"Echoes?" I asked suspiciously and grabbed my friend's hand.
Alex waved his hand as if he needed to think, his voice cool and relaxed. "Yes. Little echoes of the old shape. Probably insomnia because you no longer petrify, maybe a muscle ache in your back as if you still had wings, maybe the odd hot or cold flush. Mental hangovers, a lingering - let's call it that."
"Okay," Nathaniel responded.
"Wonderful," Brooklyn said, "then I think you hop in the shower real quick and change into something new and then we'll eat. Hurry up, there's no waiting for a clan member."
The warm gratitude in my friend's eyes at our clan leader's seeming insouciance made me smile too.
.
Tachi was one of the last to stand in the room, looking from Owen to Alex, who offered his near peer clan sister a smug smile. After a frustrated huff, she wandered after the others.
"God, did you see the way Lexington glared at me? Like I stabbed him in the back," Alex muttered, dropping back onto the bed as soon as the door slammed behind Tachi with teenage grumpiness . His muscles were so weak - he'd barely been able to keep them from quivering while the others were there, but they were making up for it now.
Even rubbing both hands over his face and eyes as he listened to Owen typing away on his phone was an effort.
"I'm going to cancel your appointments for the next day - for now."
"Okay," Alex mumbled. He felt Flora's roots slide under him and pull him fully onto the bed where Ares lay beside him and wrapped his wings around him. Alex breathed deeply, nose in his lovers hair, smacking his lips and grimacing. "Why do I taste blood and ash?" he asked, "Is this really going to pass or does it have to be like this from now on?"
Owen looked up from his phone, his gaze stoic with a hint of reproach.
"We're dancing on thin ice that's never been trodden before. It was your idea to do it like this. Puck wasn't thrilled."
"Killing Nathaniel or making it look like a magic-induced accident was not and is not an option. Lexington has had to wait too long for his mate and I will not steal him from him," Alex said sternly, groaning softly at the acute stabbing pain in his brain. "Flora, will you make me one of your willow bark and honey juice teas- I'm so thirsty and- " he held a hand to his temple, trying to massage away the stinging ache. "Fuck it feels like it's hammering against my inner magical barriers - with a sledgehammer."
"Well ... after its experience with magical prisons, that was to be expected. Especially when you separate things that belong together," Owen lectured so boringly that Alex rolled his eyes - and immediately squinted again. Puck had speculated that the effects were only so strong on the first night. The discomfort, the physical pain, the feeling of almost bursting with "fullness" inside you like an over-inflated balloon - that would wear off ... probably.
"I don't like you suffering like that," Ares muttered grimly and Alex smiled over the gargoyle rumble, which Alex could only hear because he had put his ear to his mate's chest. He patted his arm - the gargoyle's spines were taut with uncertainty and displeasure.
"Don't worry. Puck and my plan is viable. That's how we'll get things under control. It's like ... well, throwing a ball back and forth. Except this ball is a little explosive. The point is that none of the other children of Oberon will notice what we're doing. And I will learn to deal with it. As soon as it realizes that no matter how much rioting and kicking it does, it will lie down and sleep like it has been doing all this time." His gaze went to Owen, who sighed softly (more reaction than usual and all the best actor in the world allowed himself to do to get out of character).
Owen put his cell phone away. "I'm not convinced it's going to work out in the long run the way you've planned, young master. Even with a human shell, Mr. Sharif is a completely unpredictable quantity - but my other half wants to see how long we can keep the game going without -"
"- a war breaking out?" growled Ares.
"- mass destruction?" offered Flora - clearly inspired by the internet and, in Fey fashion, a little more light-hearted.
"Always have your phone with you. You'll be resting today. Flora and Ares always have the optional binding spell with them, we'll swap as soon as I get in touch - unfortunately, with Mr. Xanatos' schedule, it's always hard to tell when he'll let me go for the day," Owen explained in his inimitable way between unemotional instructions and facts.
Owen paused at the door, watching his pupil lying on the bed, inwardly fighting a battle that would have made supposedly much more powerful beings tremble. He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie.
"Puck wouldn't put it that way," he said slowly, "-but the troublemaker in him is proud of you for taking on forces that could destroy this world and all three races. Even if you are mostly lacking in trickster-ness, you have become so much better than he ever dared hope."
Alex blinked exhaustedly and smiled broadly "I love you both too, Owen."
The stiff majordomo nodded curtly, made a brisk movement towards the door so no one would see the flush on his otherwise pale cheeks and then was gone.
.
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The food was excellent as always, but I noticed the strangely oppressed atmosphere at the table even with my weaker human senses. In contrast to usual, there was very little talking, even though Katana, Brooklyn and Goliath often tried to start conversations. But Nash, Tachi, Heather AND Lex in particular were largely poking at their food and were monosyllabic. Lex could at least bring himself to look up from his plate every now and then and give me a warm but slightly heartbreaking smile.
GOD! I felt so bad! The distress and doubt about my decision gave me heartburn and nausea like before (or was that just normal for my human body?). I hadn't wanted to make anyone sad! Why were they so attached to my gargoyle self when I had always said I wouldn't stay that way? Surely it couldn't be a surprise to anyone that someone did NOT want to stay a gargoyle for various reasons (even if my abilities had been unique). A small part of me was annoyed that it bothered me so much, even though I knew the children had no real malicious intent. They just didn't know how to deal with my sudden humanness - maybe not even Nash, because as we'd found out, he liked me better than he let on and was a little clingy as a result.
I cleared my throat during dessert, which made everyone look up at me. If I'd still had my droopy gargoyle ears they would have sunk an inch lower under their worried stares but I managed to keep my voice light and firm.
"Next week we're going to the movies, okay? Tachi, Nash? Are you in? Anyone who wants to can come, of course," I said, looking at Heather, whose pouty expression immediately brightened. Xanatos of course had a private theater with 50 seats (some even with tail holes) but Heather got out so little outside the patrol frame and "human cinema" with its smells (stench?), its liveliness (stress?) was such a very rare experience for her that she almost squealed when she jumped into my arms.
"Ariel!" she shrieked and I almost keeled over under her kisses, trying not to groan as her claws dug into my flesh beneath my shirt. Ariel ... of course - it had to be Ariel after this night.
Angela stretched out her arms.
"Heather! Not so rough," she hissed softly. "He's more fragile than before! We've talked about this. Be gentle like you are with Elisa."
"It's okay, Angela," I said, squeezing the child like it was squeezing me - or almost crushing me, but I was holding my own, I thought.
"I'd be there with Ariel," Tachi mumbled, seemingly cool and disinterested, but I saw her beak curl a little at the corner of her mouth.
Nashville poked at his pudding and didn't look up. "I don't watch baby movies like that ... but at the movies they have sweet popcorn, which Owen thinks is a perversion and therefore won't allow here. I want sweet popcorn."
The others struggled to stifle their laughter at the cheap excuse.
Then my gaze went to the others, a little more uncertain though they were smiling. "I'm allowed to invite the kids, right? I mean, they're allowed - Heather's allowed to go to the movies with me two blocks away?" I asked quietly, afraid that I was goading the kid into something she wasn't allowed to do - after all, I was only a weak human and if we got into trouble (or if Heather got wild from overstimulation) I wouldn't be able to do anything.
Lex laughed softly. Goliath put your square chin in his hand with a grin. "You're Clan, Nathaniel. Of course you can spend time with the kids and us."
"We even insist," Katana commented.
"Take them to the movies and wherever you want as long as we know," Angela sighed, finally managing to pull Heather away from me. Alex or Puck or both had healed all my previous wounds with the restoration of my human body, but now I felt scratched underneath my clothes again. But this time it was a good pain.
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Lex POV
"Yeah, don't think we're letting you off the hook just because you can wander around during the day again. Always keep a few evening hours free for us."
Amidst my clansmen's demands for general and personal Nate time, I saw him relax more and more. So did the others. It loosened my shoulders, too. Yes - Nathaniel was human again. But not so much had to change. We would all need a little time to adjust to his new circumstances, but he was still Clan and the same person. But ... I had of course - without really admitting it out loud - been working for weeks to support Nate in my own way in the case of his becoming human. So after the others had dispersed for the last few minutes before sunrise and Nathaniel and I had cleared the table and cleaned the kitchen (because it was our turn, human or not), I took him by the hand feeling pretty good.
"Come with me Nate. Before I petrify, I want to show you something," I said and he let me pull him through the castle. He was wearing shoes his size and what appeared to be human clothes with the hidden tails and wing holes, but since those pieces of fabric were folded down and closed, it really looked like normal clothes.
In the elevator, Nate tried to pester me about what I wanted to show him but I enjoyed making him squirm a bit. On the hundredth floor, where Owen's and Elisa's apartments were, I pulled him into a door he had never stepped through before.
"Tada!" I shouted and whirled around in the middle of the living room.
"Isn't this huge!" I exclaimed with a grin, my voice echoing through the room, which was almost big enough to be a ballroom.
"Yes, huge," Nate replied, looking around open-mouthed.
I straightened up and raised my hands upwards, which made my flying skins stretch but did little to defuse the following. "Ceiling height four meters! I know it's still a bit cold and bare, I didn't want to clutter the room with furniture or things that would distract from the structure. Look at the exposed iron beams! Totally industrial style but with nice rugs and cushions and stuff like that you get more warmth in here and the echo out."
His smile dropped a little and he looked at me in confusion.
"The furniture is from staging," I assured him, waving my hand. "Anything you like, we can keep. Anything you have better ideas of your own we'll buy. It's going to be fantastic."
"This ... this loft ... is for me?" he asked. He looked from the huge TV with the curved screen and the surround sound system (installed by myself!) to the futuristic couch with the dark gray upholstery and the Prussian blue cushions (my idea!), the gray marble tiles on the floor to the white high-gloss kitchen with the spacious kitchen island. By now, Nathaniel's expression was that of a frightened little animal. But I wasn't finished yet.
"Yes, it's overwhelming, I understand," I crooned. "But look at this!"
I gently took his hands and led him like a blind man to the window front with the view, which was worth millions even to human eyes because the skyscrapers behind it were slightly below us and offered a great view of Central Park.
"Those windows - do you see them?"
"How could I miss them," he said tonelessly.
I giggled and felt like the best realtor in town with the best portfolio.
"You can see all the way to East Rutherford during the day, the interior decorators told me." I tapped on the window with my claws and looked at Nathaniel with a sultry sideways glance. "They're opaque from the outside. I could - we could do anything in any room. Here?" I jumped back to the couch with room for four Goliaths and leaned over the backrest. Then I leapt to the gigantic kitchen island, hopped onto it and ran a hand over the polished surface. "Or here-"
Then I danced back to the glass coffee table "- or here! Shatterproof glass," I whispered, leaning on it and giving him an insinuatingly seductive smile - just before I flung my arms up because the glass plate cracked.
"That SHOULD be shatterproof - I'll email the stage crew."
Finally, finally, Nathaniel laughed even if his crooked smile looked completely overwhelmed.
"Lex. This - this is gigantic."
"I KNOW!" I said, coming back to him and hugging him.
"I said I'd take care of you."
He was biting his lower lip, probably about to say something, but then he dismissed it. Behind him, the sky slowly brightened. Then he shook his head. "Lex, this is too much. This is - this living room is bigger than my whole apartment in the Flatlands."
I shrugged my shoulders. "The living room is only 1050 square feet. The whole clan can visit you here without it getting cramped."
Nate took a deep breath. That, that's right-"
"Come over here."
I pulled him through the hallway with four doors leading off it and pushed open the first one. "Next to the entrance is a guest room with a small bathroom. This here would be just for you," I said, pulling him along before he had a chance to admire the pretty silver fish-scale tiles - he'd have plenty of time to look at everything, I wanted to finish the tour before I petrified.
"This is the office. Computers, latest generation - of course. It can also be our gaming room."
"What - what was wrong in the room where I lived as a gargoyle?" he asked quietly. I smiled sympathetically at him. Yes, it was all a bit much - of course he couldn't keep track of it all.
"We'll keep the room next to mine in the castle, of course. But ... this one is much more suitable for human needs."
"So - I really don't have such high standards. Not even as a human."
"Nate, your room in the castle was okay for a gargoyle and for three months. But humans have more things - more than fit in your little room or mine. And - and it's not noticeable at night, but the castle and many of the clan's rooms are dark and cold during the day. All people say that. Many rooms only have embrasure windows. The way to the kitchen alone takes forever. You are human, you need light and sun again to thrive and stay healthy."
"That ... That's true. But here ..." said Nate, he looked like he was trying to argue against it.
"We'll fill the rooms. You'll feel at home, it's a matter of time." I pushed open the last door. Another fantastically large window front with another view of New York.
"This is a king size bed - only a small difference to the queen size up in the castle," I extolled, sitting him down on the Prussian blue and olive green sheets. He stroked the fabric and I imagined he liked it. I looked out because I could already feel the sun tickling my consciousness.
"The panes here even have a gimmick," I said hurriedly, placing a finger on the window front very close to the wall, looking at him again with a broad grin to make sure I had his attention - then I slowly pulled my hand down. And the city lights and the approaching sunrise in front of the windows dimmed until the entire window front was pitch black.
Finally, my overwhelmed friend let out a "Wow!" that made me beam with pride.
"What do you think of this - dimmable windows! No curtains, no shutters, no blinds. Neat, isn't it?"
"Yes, very neat. It's fascinating."
"I knew you'd like it. LeXa ltd innovation. Patent under review - will go on sale next year," I said proud, moving my hand back up to the touchscreen built into the glass and the view reappeared. I came to him and closed his lips, which had just wanted to say something, with mine. His mouth was human - but still familiar. Yes - I would get used to it. It ... was also kind of sexy to have a lover who belonged to a different species.
"The sun's about to come up, we'll discuss everything else tomorrow night, okay?"
He looked at the window. "You won't make it up to the battlements," he said.
"That's on purpose," I said, reluctantly but still full of anticipation of another Wow, and wandered to a door next to the spacious built-in closet.
"Remember when I was petrified in your wardrobe in the Flatlands?" I asked with a raised index finger and he nodded with a smile.
"Well, even though there are maids on call here - I'll give you the phone list of Eyrie's own house staff, cook, cleaners, janitor - we have the last highlight here!"
I opened the sliding door, stepped into the closet and pulled a formerly hidden sliding glass door closed from there.
" THIS glass is now really shatterproof! No more sweeping up stone crumbs if I forget the time with you! You can close the door, of course, but if you don't you'll have a gargoyle on display like a cool piece of art or ... or an action figure in a display case. Is that a thing or is that a thing? There are even built-in vacuum cleaners in this closet!"
He rubbed his upper arm as if he was cold. But he smiled his beautiful, slightly insecure smile that made me want to kiss him again. But I could already feel the stone growing from the inside out.
"This is a wonderful highlight," he stated. "A great apartment and-"
"Anything for you, Nate. Get some rest. Enjoy your day. Enjoy the sun, you've had to do without it for far too long," I said hurriedly, even though I cut him off again. He looked at the window and back at me.
"Sleep well Lex," he said.
"You too," I said and stiffened behind safety glass with a smile, facing my beloved.
Thanks for reading, Q.T.
