Talyn sighed and rubbed Leekath's shoulders. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," she assureed him.

Thiies came up to the pair of them. "Hello, Leekath," he said brightly.

"Hi, Aaihhhi," Leekath replied, perking up slightly. "How was work?"

"Oh, the usual," he replied. "And school?"

"It's going well," she said. "I'll probably take the tier tests at the end of this term."

"Good, good."

He walked off to exchange similarly perfunctory remarks with the other members of his family before retreating upstairs again.

"Is there anything you'd like to do?" Talyn inquired of his girlfriend.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "We could go to a restaurant or something."

"Yes, actually. But I wasn't going to say anything about it."

She shook her head. "It's fine. Fhheeil," she called in Kheeeahh's direction, "we're going to get Talyn something to eat."

Kheeeahh sighed. "Very well," he said. "Come back immediately afterwards."

Talyn nodded politely, not saying anything.

Leekath practically dragged Talyn out of the house, visibly relaxing when they'd left.

"You used to live there?" Talyn asked incredulously, once they were far enough away.

Leekath nodded. "I still do two months of every year on vacations," she said. "I don't know any restaurants. Let's just walk around until you see something you like, okay?"

"All right," he said agreeably. "Would you like to spend part of your vacation on Barashi?"

"Vacations are the only time I get to see my brother," she said, sounding uncertain.

"You can't visit him at his school?"

Leekath shook her head. "It's not allowed there. It's a very strict school."

"Oh. I won't take you away from him, if you don't want to. Does he treat you better than everyone else?"

"He's nicer to me," she said.

"Nicer? But not really nice?"

"Well, he has to practice a lot. Like Aaihhhi has to work a lot," she said.

"Oh. So he's just not around a lot?"

She nodded.

"How'd you manage to put up with it all your life?"

"I'm used to it. It's normal."

"Just because it's always the same doesn't make it normal."

"Well, what else would it be like?" she asked, confused.

"Like actually being kind and loving and respectful. Have you ever seen Korulen's family together?"

"No," she said, sounding confused.

"Watch them sometime. In fact - Rhysel usually has them over to dinner once a week. I could invite you to visit with everyone even though you don't eat food if you'd like. Or I could have you meet my family."

"Okay," she said. "I don't know. I never had any friends until I met Rhysel and you. I never saw anybody else's family. Mine really isn't normal?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it that. My experience with Elcenian families is limited to yours and Korulen's though. Oh, and Rhysel's groundskeepers. So it could be," he conceded. "It's not for what I'm used to. The families on my world operate a lot like Master Casten and his apprentices' relationships."

"Oh." She considered this.

He walked along with her. "To me, that's what's normal. But maybe it's different for most Elcenians, or maybe even just vampires. I don't know. But it's not what I'd call normal."

She nodded.

"The worst you'd get from my family is probably a lot of squeamish people if you wanted to bite them."

"Oh."

"But they'd like you."

"It's so weird having people who like me," she said after a moment.

"What's weird about it?"

"It's just very different."

"Do you like having people like you?"

She nodded.

He smiled.

"What do you want to eat?" she asked, glancing around. They'd walked several blocks, with three different restaurants now visible.

"I'm not too particular. That one looks good." He pointed to one of the three.

"Okay." They went into the generic little cafˇ and were seated by a solicitous waitress.

He ordered soup and a sandwich, stretching out the process as long as he felt he could get away with. "I had an interesting talk with your Aaihhhi," he said, while starting on the soup.

"What did you talk about?"

"Why some of the laws are the way they are in regards to certain crimes. I brought up how we don't kill people on my world, just rewrite their personalities to remove the criminal tendencies. He suggested I teach you how to do it, so you could write up a description of it for him to read - he might be willing to propose it as a different option instead of killing people."

She nodded.

"Would you be willing? I won't show you how to do it if you don't want to learn it."

"It's okay with me."

"All right. I'll show you when we've got some time. It's not really hard, but it is fiddly. Rhysel still teaching you defensive kamai?"

"Yes."

"Are you liking that?"

"It's good to know," she said.

"For more reasons than just one."

She nodded.

He smiled at her. "Keeps us from hurting each other when we start messing with dangerous stuff."

She nodded again. "Is your food good?" she asked.

"Yes. Would you like to know what it tastes like?"

"Sure."

He sent the taste sensations into her mind. "What do you think?'

Leekath made a horrible face. "Euuuuuuuuuuuugh," she gasped.

He blinked. "Don't like it?"

"If I could throw up I would," she declared.

He dropped the connection. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, wincing and shaking her head.

"I can't imagine blood tasting all that good, so I guess it makes sense that food doesn't taste good to you."

"No, it's really awesome," said Leekath. "Blood, I mean."

"Is it?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'll have to listen in when you next eat, then."

"I could eat after you're done with lunch," she suggested.

"It is about that time, isn't it."

She nodded, and Talyn, finishing his meal, left coins on the table and got up to offer her his arm. "Shall we go?"

"Sure."

Once they were outside, he asked, "Where do you want to eat?"

"Anywhere's fine. There's a bench over there," she said, pointing.

"All right," he said, smiling, leading her over to the bench where she'd pointed. When they had settled comfortably, she bit him in the neck.

Curious, he tapped into her taste sensation.

The flavor was indescribably more exquisite than anything he has previously experienced or even had occasion to imagine.

<Blood does not taste like that to me. That's amazing.> He seemed quite awed by it.

<Isn't it yummy?

<Yes. Very.>

Presently she finished her lunch and grinned at him fangily.

"I still love that smile," he said with a grin of his own.

She giggled. Then her face fell. "We have to go back to my house," she sighed.

"At least we're not staying overnight."

"Yeah. There wouldn't be anywhere for you to sleep, anyway."

He gave her a comforting hug.

She scooted close, hugging him back.

"There's always the floor," he quipped.

"Would you be comfortable on the floor?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"For a night or two. I could always float too if it came to that."

"Oh."

"I haven't learned how to turn into a bat, although I expect I'd have a hard time of trying to sleep like that."

"Why? If you were a bat, wouldn't you be comfortable upside down?"

"I don't know. I've never done it. So I don't know what it's like. Or if it would be different for me since I'm not really built for it normally."

She nodded.

"Shapeshifting is a really rare ability. Rarer than proxic workings."

"But you want to learn all the kamai there is to know," she pointed out.

"Yes. I plan on learning that one."

She smiled.

"I thought you might like that," he chuckled.

After a moment, she sighed again. "We really need to go home. Fheeil will start to wonder where we are."

"All right." He got up and started following her back, keeping an arm wrapped around her.

She leaned her head on his shoulder for the walk back to her house.

"Are you happy, Leekath?" he asked, as they walked.

"I don't really want to go home," she said.

He held her a little more closely. "Well, since we have to fly back, we don't have to stay too much longer. I can say Rhysel wants me home by nine or something if that'd help."

"Yeah," she said.

"Would you like me to, then?"

She nodded.

They reached her house and she opened the door. Talyn sent her comforting emotions across their mental connection.

"Why have you taken so long?" Kheeeahh asked from where he hung upside-down.

"That was my fault," Talyn said. "I had skipped breakfast this morning and was really hungry. I ate a lot. I apologize for the delay."

Kheeeahh frowned but said nothing more.

Talyn ducked his head apologetically as he moved a little further into the room, still with his arm around Leekath.

She steered him into the room with the table and chairs so they could sit down, and stiffly folded herself onto a seat.

"Leekath, check my math problems," said another small cousin, plopping a notebook on the table in front of Leekath. Leekath sighed.

<Would you like me to do it?>

<He asked me,> she said. <I have to.> She leaned over the notebook and looked over the arithmetic, circling a few of the sums and handing the notebook back to the little vampire.

<He didn't ask. He demanded.>

<I know. Can you say we have to go now, please?>

<Who should I tell?>

<Fheeil.>

<All right.>

He got up and returned to the other room, nodding respectfully to Leekath's father. "Excuse me, I'm afraid Leekath and I need to return to Paraasilan. Master Camlenn, whom I live with, wanted me home before nine, and I promised Ar Inular that I'd make sure Leekath made it back to the school all right before I went home. Thank you for allowing me to visit."

Kheeeahh considered this. "Goodbye," he said finally.

Talyn cheated a little, to see what, if anything, Kheeeahh would expect as a proper reply. Finding that a simple echo would suffice, he said, "Goodbye," and took Leekath outside, giving her opportunity to say goodbye to anyone she wanted to first.

She glanced up the stairs, where her aaihhhi was presumably still doing work, but then followed Talyn outside.

<You could say good-bye to him, this way, you know.>

<He wouldn't be expecting it and it would distract him.>

<Oh.> He reverted to speaking aloud as they got to the end of the house's front walk. "Did you want to fly as a bat, or using kamai?"

"A bat," she said, shifting.

"All right." He floated up next to her.

"I'm sorry," he said as they travel, "to put you through that today."

"It's okay," she said. "I'm used to it."

"That doesn't make it right - not to me, anyway." He spoke fiercely, clearly wanting to defend Leekath from the stress of her home life.

"I'm not there most of the time," she said. "It was just one day. It's fine."

He sighed. "I'd like you to meet my family. Would you be willing to come with me for a couple of days when I go home to visit?"

"If it's on a weekend or a break," she said.

"I can plan it around that."

"Then yes."

He smiles. "I'll let you know, then."

When the two of them arrived at the school, Talyn escorted Leekath up to her room, where he dropped her off with considerable romantic ado but eventually bade her goodbye. He then proceeded via lift down to the entrance hall, meaning to use the transfer point to get the rest of the way home.

When Talyn arrived in the entrance hall, he saw Korulen, Kaylo, Lutan, and a tall quarter-elf boy he's never previously met. They were all standing around chatting idly as though waiting for someone.

"Oh, hi, Korulen," Talyn said, smiling widely, approaching the waiting group. "Hope I'm not intruding."

"Hi, Talyn. We're just waiting for Lil," said Korulen. "These are Kaylo and Lutan and Retaar, by the way. And everybody, this is Talyn."

Talyn nodded, smiling to each of them, offering Kaylo his hand first, then the others. "Nice to meet you all."

"You too," said Lutan.

"You're Rhysel's apprentice, aren't you?" said Kaylo. "She mentioned you might have a useful perspective on some theory questions I had."

"Yeah, that's me. I've heard rather a lot about you too - she keeps trying to get ahead of you."

Kaylo chuckled.

Talyn grinned cheerfully. "I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'd be happy to do what I can to help with those questions. I don't expect now is the time, though," he added, smiling at the others.

"Yeah, we'd never be able to drag him off to the show," said Lutan. "It's bad enough Lil takes so long doing her hair. Not that it's not gorgeous after."

Talyn laughed. "I wouldn't want to make you late. What show are you going to see?"

"The Osaan Dance Company," said Retaar.

"Is it a good show?" Talyn asked.

"Oh, it's great," gushed Korulen. "I haven't seen this one but once I went to a different Osaan Company show and the dancing was really spectacular."

"I may have to go sometime then. Are they going to be around for a while?"

"All week," said Kaylo.

"I'll definitely have to make a point of it, then. I wonder if Rhysel knows about it," he mused. "She likes dancing."

Korulen shrugged.

Talyn shrugged as well. "Anyhow. How are you doing, Korulen?"

"I'm fine," she said.

"And you, Lutan?"

"I'm fine too," she said. "But I wish Lil would finish her hair."

"How long has she been at it?"

"Almost an hour," grumbled Retaar. "We always allow time for it and she always takes longer than the last time."

"Wow."

"I'm heeeere," said a teasing voice from the lift. Leaning on the doorframe was a curvy human girl with shiny black curls spilling elegantly over her shoulders and ending just above her knees.

"That," said Talyn softly, "is some long hair."

Lil minced over to Lutan and Retaar and kissed them both sweetly, finding it necessary to wrap her arms around Retaar's neck to force him to bend enough to let her do so. She then turned on her heel and looked Talyn up and down. "Do introduce yourself," she said with a grin.

"Talyn Casten," he said with a cheerful smile. "And you're Lil, I take it?"

"Nevaalil Imaath. Lil's a nickname reserved for my very favorite people," she said, chucking Lutan under the chin affectionately. "Now, you could always become one of my favorite people, but now's a bit soon, wouldn't you say?"

He bows slightly, "Apologies then. Nevaalil it is. Pleasure to meet you."

"Of course it's a pleasure, I'm just that fabulous," she said with a pealing laugh. "Anyway, I'm sure I've held up my darlings and our friends long enough. I'll see you around, Talyn," she said, taking the arms of each of her significant others and inclining her head towards Korulen and Kaylo.

Korulen waved to Talyn as the group left the building.

Talyn waved to the group. "Have a good time," he called out. He stepped onto the transfer point, after watching the group leave, and jumped back home.

---

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