Chapter 3

"Wow Dave! This is spectacular!" Livia exclaimed, as she looked around.
"How the world did you arrange this so quickly?"
What had Livia so stunned was the profusion of flowers on every free surface. She and Dave had only parted at about 10 o'clock last night and that was only because she wanted to get home go to bed, not because she didn't enjoy Dave's company. She did in fact enjoy Dave's company very much.
That was kind of a given, though, considering they were mates.
"We only parted late last night if only because I wanted to come home get a shower and go to bed. It's only been a few hours so how in the world did you manage this so quickly?" Livia wanted to know, as she looked around at the perfusion of flowers that were on every surface.
"It wasn't too hard," Dave chuckled at Livia's delight. He was glad he had pleased her so much as anything that made Livia happy made him happy. He was glad that she was enjoying his surprise so much. "I have many servants or at least people who respond to money. There is also a garden out back and a greenhouse where we grow things like fruits, vegetables and also some of the more exotic flowers that won't grow in this part of the world without a greenhouse, because the weather isn't suitable here for them. That's where all these flowers come from, so I didn't have to pay a cent for them since I do have garden and a greenhouse with many beautiful flowers I thought I might as well utilize that resource not that price matters to me."
"So you need servants in order to maintain the garden and the greenhouse," Livia said.
"And the house, as there is no way I could clean or maintain this whole big pile all by myself," Dave said.
"I haven't noticed any servants though," Livia said.
"That's because they keep to the part I don't use much cleaned and maintained when I am home, but not present in that section of the house. As for the parts I use they clean those when I'm on one of my trips or at least out doing whatever, running errands and such," Dave explained. "It's a very equitable arrangement. This way I'm not bothered by constant interruptions and everything you see runs smoothly and efficiently."
"You have some set up," Livia said admiringly. "I've never heard or seen anything like it or even read about it."
"Think of me like a medieval lord," Dave suggested. "Medieval lords, had a ton of servants who never actually bothered the lord of the house, but went to the lady or the wife if there was a problem."
"And if that lord didn't have a wife? I mean you certainly don't or at least didn't," Livia said.
"True, but that will change now that I have met you, my mate," Dave said simply. "As for those lords that weren't married there was the seneschal, who was basically the leader of the servants and he fulfilled any task and assigned the appropriate servant to whatever the lord wanted done. Think of it as similar to the military where there is a chain of command and a lord's house basically operates that way with each servant assigned to specific duties within the home."
"I've never had servants or been in the military, so while I've heard of the chain of command I don't have much knowledge of it," Livia said.
"A lot of people don't though, because they don't have servants or at least not enough of them to have a chain of command. They might have a gardener and a housekeeper but that's it," Dave said. "You'll pick up a lot of things quickly that you've heard about, but never encountered before."
"Or a nanny," Livia murmured and Dave nodded in agreement.
"Anybody that works for someone else can be considered a kind of servant, even say, a business manager. Anyone who is being paid to perform a service would technically be a servant, even if not in the traditional sense. Here why don't you sit down? I'll get the treats I have prepared."
"That would be great, as I only had a pastry for breakfast," Livia said.
"I bet it was one of those ones you bought prepackaged," Dave said and his tone of disapproval was clear.
"You are so spoiled Dave," Livia chastised causing Dave to chuckle. "Most people wouldn't make such a comment and think that a prepackaged box of pastries from the local grocery store was just fine and dandy for breakfast."
"I suppose so," Dave conceded smiling. "I sometimes forget that not everyone can afford fresh baked goods. Believe me, you'll notice the difference immediately between the prepackaged stuff you get off a grocery store shelf to fresh baked that didn't have to be produced through an automated machine. I suppose I'm kind of spoiled at least when it comes to things like good food. That's not to say, I won't eat stuff that isn't gourmet just that I'm particular about stuff like baked goods. The ones that are produced by machine just aren't as good as either homemade or from a bakery where they use fresh, high quality ingredients in the baking process."
"You're such a snob, Dave," Livia said shaking her head laughing at Dave's snobbery when it came to food.
"When it comes to food absolutely," Dave agreed without an ounce of shame or embarrassment. "Call me a food snob all you want, it won't bother me a bit. If I'm going to put food in my mouth its going to be good food, not a box of stale pastries that's probably been sitting on the grocery store shelf for days or weeks."
"Food snob! Food snob! Food snob!" Livia chanted with a grin.
Dave winked at her and Livia burst out laughing.

~~~Dave and Livia~~

The next day

"This is great Dave!" Livia exclaimed, as she took her first bite of a cherry danish, from the box of pastries that Dave had bought just that day right before he had picked up Livia at her motorhome.
"Now compare this that I just got today to a box of pastries from a grocery store. Even if you got them from the grocery store bakery they probably would've been at least a day old if not two or three days, before you bought them, which is hardly fresh, even if they aren't as old as prepackaged stuff you buy off of shelf at the grocery."
"Alright, point made," Livia admitted, as she took another big bite of the delicious cherry danish. "There is no comparison."
"You get what you pay for," Dave said, as he took a satisfying bite of his own pastry. "Also, the quality of the ingredients also helps them stay fresh longer."
"I could easily become addicted," Livia said, as she took a second pastry out-of-the-box. This one was a blueberry pastry. The box of pastries from the bakery were depleting rapidly and there were only a few left.
"We'll get them once every few weeks as we really don't need them anymore than that," Dave said. "Besides, you can get tired of them if you eat them too often, but that's true of anything not just sweets. I only bought a dozen on purpose."
"Too bad," Livia said not sure if she believed Dave about getting tired of fresh baked goods.
Dave simply smiled at the way Livia eyed the box like a hungry tiger but said nothing. Her gaze was certainly predatory enough. She looked like she wanted to steal the box and gobble down the rest of the pastries and not share anymore of the few remaining, but had to many manners.
She looked like she had just eaten a nectar of the Gods.
It was apparent that Livia had never had fresh baked goods before, if the predatory look at the bakery box was any indication.
"It's clear to me that we are going to have to get a box of pastries quite often. I'm surprised you never bought fresh pastries for yourself, once you were earning your own money that is," Dave mentioned.
"You know how expensive some things are and I needed to save money in case the motorhome broke down and had to go in to be fixed," Livia said. "I know such repairs can be quite expensive depending on what's broken of course. Also, my motorhome is from 1965, so it's possible I wouldn't of been able to get parts for it if something broke or at least they would've been out of my price range."
"Your motorhome is not likely to break down, since the previous owner kept it in such good shape," Dave said. "They made stuff to last back decades ago and and it is 1965. Still, I can see how you would have to save just in case, it did happen or some other unforeseen emergency comes up. The good thing about an RV is there are no property taxes, so that's one expense you didn't have to worry about before we met."
"And it allowed me to see new places. I've been all over the state and also over the border into the US," Livia added.
"We'll do a lot of traveling together," Dave said. "I'll take you to exotic places like Spain, Italy, Scotland and England."
"It sounds wonderful Dave," Livia said giving him a very passionate kiss in thanks.
The two of them might not have known each other very long, but they knew they were made for each other, so they felt free to say what they were thinking because they knew that there would be no recriminations just love and acceptance of each other.
"It will be," Dave promised softly, even as he nuzzled her neck tenderly.
"Oh, that feels really good," Livia practically purred in contentment.
"I'll be happy to keep doing that for the rest of our very long lives," Dave told Livia.
"You're welcome to, but you had better stop before it leads to other things," Livia instructed obviously not really meaning it if the way she kept purring at Dave's ministrations was any indication.
"If you are ready take that step I'm willing," Dave said trying not to sound too eager. "If you're not just let me know and we'll slow down until you are."
"I know we only met the other day, but you've been staring in my visions ever since my powers begin to emerge. I feel like I do know you," Livia said.
"We still have a lot to learn about each other that's true, but that doesn't preclude us having sex," Dave said.
"No it doesn't so long as you use a condom, as I'm not ready to have children," Livia said. "It only takes once and from what I heard some women catch quickly."
"I would love to have children with you, but your right, we're not ready for them yet," Dave agreed. "In a few years we will be, but not right now, as we're still getting to know each other. First though, why don't you show me your sketches and then, if you really want to I'll eagerly comply to making love to you. That will form the bond between us though so fair warning."
"I don't believe so, if you use a condom, not according to what Alifair has said when we talk," Livia said.
"True. The first time we have unprotected sex will form the bond. You might want to see about some birth control pills as we'll be having a lot of sex once we've reached that stage of our relationship."
"I hate doctors," Livia shuddered.
"I can't blame you considering how many doctors you've gone to in your life," Dave said, understanding his mate's revulsion for those in the medical profession.
"But it is a good idea to at least use over the counter birth control pills and that way, I don't actually have to go see a doctor," Livia added.
"You should ask your friend to recommend a doctor, as I'm sure the birth control the doctor prescribes are more efficient and you are probably less likely to get pregnant by taking them instead of over the counter ones. I'm sure she knows some good doctors on both sides of the divide, both human and paranormal," Dave said. "I know a few healers I can introduce you to see if you like one of them in particular."
"That would be good, but that's for later," Livia said smiling, as she reluctantly left Dave's arms. In Dave's arms, Livia felt as if she had come home, of belonging, acceptance, and love. She never wanted to leave his embrace.
"Not too much later, but later," Dave agreed smiling. "Now about those sketches I haven't seen."
Livia retrieved her satchel from where she had laid it on the couch that was part of the living area of Dave's home. She handed Dave one of the sketchbooks.
Dave opened the sketchbook and the first image jumped out at him. The image was of a woman with long curly hair. The picture was very detailed and done in pencil, so there was no color. You could actually see the determination in the woman's eyes. Nearly see the gleam of the metal of the sword she held in her hand. The details of her face were quite complete, from the frown on face, to the gleam in her eyes, to one tendril of her hair hanging down in front of her ear. Her outfit was also amazingly detailed.
"These are amazing and I can see why you get so much for those you sell. If the other sketchbooks you brought with you show me are as good as this one it's no wonder your images sell so well," Dave said once he had flipped through over half of the sketchbook. "You really are very talented Livia and with a little exposure you could make even more than you currently do if you wanted to go that route. There are a lot of very wealthy people and not just in the paranormal world that are willing to pay top dollar for this kind of art. Don't get me wrong, you've done really well for yourself. You figured out a way to make money off your gift and nobody will ever know that these images are real people, taking real actions."
"Thank you for the compliment," Livia blushed at Dave's sincerity.
"You're welcome, but I mean it, you've done an amazing job of surviving on your own," Dave said.
Dave finished flipping through the sketchpad he was holding and Livia handed him the next one without being asked.
"So why haven't you sold those sketches in the pads I flipped through. I mean you have several full sketchpads here that can make you thousands of dollars, so why haven't you posted them on your website?" Dave asked.
"All the sketchpads you have flipped through are newer ones and I just haven't had a chance to put them online. I told you I could fill several sketchpads just from one vision alone and that's what happened here. It's why I keep so many pads on hand, as I can go through quite a few in the course of a month or two." Livia explained. "Not long before I met you I had a vision and luckily, I wasn't in public when it happened, so I sat down and unconsciously drew those images filling the sketchpads you just looked through. I'll get them online in the next couple of days."
"Well, I am honored to be the first to see them then, other than you," Dave said, even as he leaned over and kiss Livia on the cheek from where she was now sitting beside him. "You're great artist and could have a great career, unless you can only draw while having a vision but are crap at it otherwise."
"Does that actually happen?" Livia asked. "I mean for a seer that does it the same way I do, to be unable to draw unless they're in the middle of a vision."
"It can," Dave agreed, even as he continued to flip through the current sketchbook. "I've met several seers with a similar talent to yours that drew their visions, but when they weren't in the middle of one they couldn't draw at all. They simply didn't have any talent for drawing without their magic fueling their dominant hand or at least their talent was very minimal without their magic guiding them. At best, their images weren't as detailed as those that were when they were in the midst of a vision. None of them took the route you did and earned money with their talent though, but they also didn't have your background."
"Meaning they weren't put into the system, because they had family guiding them in the use of their talent or at least a mentor, so the idea probably never occurred to them to make money from it. They probably already had plenty of it or at least enough to live on, so didn't need to come up with ideas to make money," Livia translated.
"Pretty much," Dave agreeing with a proud smile, that Livia had figured out what he had been trying to say without him having to explain farther making his mate blush.
It was clear his mate was intelligent and that was a good thing, as she probably wouldn't have survived so well if she wasn't.
Dave accepted the last sketchbook after having finished with the current one and began to go through it.
"I'll have to think about it, about taking my drawings to more than just an online store I mean," Livia remarked. "That's really generous of you to perhaps give me some contacts that are part of the art world."
"You're my mate and I want to help you achieve whatever ambitions and dreams you have," Dave explained simply. "If you want to stick to just selling your drawings online then that's fine with me, but you really could make way more if you just had some exposure to the right kinds of people. Of course, if you want to live off my money and just use your drawings, as a kind of the cash paying hobby that's okay too."
"I'll seriously think about it," Livia promised kissing his cheek.
"That's all I ask. There is no rush, as we have centuries to achieve whatever your ambitions are," Dave said before he went back to flipping through the sketchbook that Livia had handed him.
Now here were the pictures that weren't really full images, just parts of scenes done on different parts of the page. The biggest image appeared to have a river, that had stepping stones in the middle. Off to the side of that same image there were bits of rocks, grass and dirt, along with some patches of blood that seemed to be dripping off the rocks onto the grass. The image was so lifelike that Dave could easily imagine someone being gravely injured, or at least seriously wounded, just by the amount of blood spattered on the drawn grass.
The next picture on the same page was smaller and up in the remaining corner of the paper and was just rocks and grass splattered with blood, so no water in this picture. Dave did notice that there were no humans or animals on this particular page just images of scenery and he understood why Livia believed that this type of thing wouldn't sell, as no one was likely going to want images of just blood and rocks and water. The final image on the page in the bottom left corner was of a gleaming dagger with drips of blood running off it. There was no other scenery just the dagger and what looked like a gem at where the grip and blade met.
The next page was of some kind of large bird of prey up in the sky with clouds and the sun in one portion of the paper. The bird was fairly large and seemed to be making some sort of sound as it's beak was open. Down on what would be the ground was what appeared to be a lake and it was as if the bird was looking down on what was happening beneath him. The image actually gave you the impression that the bird was watching everything from above.
"I am seriously impressed, Livia you have some talent and I don't use those words lightly," Dave said, as he studied the last image. "I can't imagine how your talent will only get better the older you get and the more you draw, the more experience you gain."
"Thank you," Livia blushed at the compliment.
"Did you ever think of using colored pencils? Shade some of these images in," Dave suggested. "You might be able to sell them for even more if you added some color. Color the rocks and dirt brown for instance or the river blue."
"That's a interesting idea, as it never occurred to me to color at least some of the images I draw in," Livia said.
"If you should become famous then people who have some of your work will become more valuable and used as examples of your earlier work. Of course, at this point, that's only a possibility not a reality, but I'm just getting you to see what is possible if you get more exposure for your work," Dave added.
"Hmm," Livia said thoughtfully and she seemed be really thinking about Dave's suggestions. She even tapped her chin thoughtfully seeming really intrigued at the idea of getting more exposure, as she didn't see her visions going away anytime soon or ever so she might as well make money off her drawings. She had nothing against about adding money to her bank account despite Dave's wealth, as she liked to make her own way in the world, but considering she had grown up in the foster care system this was not surprising.
Her visions might give her a break for a few months at a time, but they always came back. If she did start to make more money off her drawings there wouldn't be any lean times like there had been before she met Dave and that was really good in her book. Of course, with Dave now in her life, there were unlikely to be anymore lean times, but still...
"There are also art fairs all over the world that you could sell some of your drawings at," Dave said after having giving Livia a few minutes to think and consider his words.
"Once I have exposure I won't need those art fairs, though that's certainly a step to getting my work more noticed, if that's what I want," Livia finally said.
"Exactly," Dave agreed smiling, even as he reached over and gave Livia's hand a loving squeeze.
The two were silent as they contemplated what the future would bring, one with plenty of children, traveling and adventure.

~~~Dave and Livia~~~