Chapter 46
Previously:
Radu says it gently from the door, and John still finds himself snorting, because seriously, the old vampire being this petty is kind of hilarious.
Is he glad he’s back to that mental state. He much prefers being laid back to boiling.
“Dude, your jealousy is showing. Keep at it and he’ll have a vested interest in his own happiness, the old attention hog.”
John catches himself and just about keeps from punching Radu’s shoulder as he walks past him, and halfway crashes into a chair next to Quincy.
“Who’s dealing?”
Then he spots Radu still standing and laughs again.
“You are impossible, both of you! Fine, I’ll move. Dad, scoot over. Clearly, I need to let Radu sit next to the obvious centre of attention.”
~
Mariam isn’t sure what to make of this. Is he ignoring her to show his disapproval? Has he erased her out of his life this completely already?
She isn’t the only one noticing, apparently, but in contrast to her, Lord Godalming can ask:
“Son, are you avoiding the obvious?”
“What’s the obvious?”
How John, wait, Mister Silver, can look this unfazed, Mariam cannot fathom. Although, that pales to what he pulls next on her once he’s rounded the table and actually stops next to her:
“Can I bum one of your cigarettes off you?”
~
Arthur eyes John’s and Radu’s interaction- and really, what is it with Radu and making people comfortable with him? That wasn’t quite what Arthur imagined when he heard ‘social mastermind’, but… Well, it is very socially masterful, isn’t it?
…Now he’s feeling almost jealous about Radu being able to make friends with people when he himself apparently failed…
But, no. He’ll apologize for overstepping, and Mariam said he didn’t really know anything about her, and that’s kind of true, so he’ll just have to get to know her better! So there!
And meanwhile… he can watch how this John-and-Mariam thing falls out.
~
Quincy would enjoy grinning smugly for a little while longer, Radu did well by John and he knew he would. But he also wants to see what happens with Mariam, so while he watches her splutter an “Excuse me?”, he takes Radu’s hand and enjoys the drama.
~
“Dad only has cigars on him normally, and I don’t want to stick my hands into my pockets before I scare you that way.” John tries to make his smile at her as gentle as he can. “I’m trying really hard to show that I’m not that kind of guy.”
There is so much more he’d like to say, but not with that many people around.
At the same time, he can understand that Mariam likely doesn’t want to be alone with him. She has no reason to believe him that he has his temper under control. That he understands her discomfort, so he forces himself to add:
“We’re okay. And no kids, of course.” Looking at Art, he sighs. “Sorry for being a shit noble and the lack of heirs.”
Then he walks on to get to the chair in the corner while Mariam is still staring at him, slack-jawed by now.
~
Arthur relaxes a little- not that the second, cautious drag of the opium cigarette doesn’t also help- but yes, clearly, John isn’t doing engagement-breaking.
“I mean… you could still adopt some?” he asks John on the children-topic.
Okay, Darcy and John were pretty against that when they negotiated this engagement contract, for a reason he still doesn’t understand. Somehow, it’s not the same? But that was when they thought they had another option, so…
~
Leave it to a molly to suggest that option. Art still chuckles at it and ruffles John’s hair.
“We’ll call it a family tradition! I mean, we have to get Darcy and Quincy married first, show that they can make heirs, so we’ll need one adopted baby no matter what. And, well, that means that you’re second in line all of a sudden. No pressure on having kids with your political wife.”
As Quincy descends into a shrieking fit, John and Mariam both stare at him, but he kind of anticipated that, so Art just shrugs.
“What? Did you two really think I wasn’t discussing this problem with Lucy and Jack while you two were off sulking? I can play cards and talk at the same time, you know.”
~
Clearing his throat gently and speaking mentally to be heard over the shrieking, Radu adds:
“If I may, so that dear John does not have to express it himself: He means no offense to you, Miss Powlett, but he really would much rather have Darcy as the mother of his children, his own or the ones they raise together. He lacks the noble upbringing that has ingrained an understanding of bloodline as sacred in us.”
~
Arthur leans away a little from Quincy and presses a hand to the ear next to him for that ear-splitting noise.
“Well, that sounds much better all around,” is his opinion. “So we’re adopting one and faking that it’s really Darcy’s?” he asks Art.
Arthur catches Radu’s nod to Art out of the corner of his eyes. Agreement for Art to go ahead with the topic despite how it upsets Quincy and Radu is probably mentally calming him down, since the shrieking abates to low huffing?
~
“There’s more than enough poor Irish women that can’t take care of their babes and would be willing to see it to a good home for us to find a red-haired one. With those two as the supposed parents that’s a must. And it will get rid of some of the gossip that I’m sure we’ll face after Darcy’s widowhood, even if we can keep demon rumours to a minimum.”
Turning to Mariam with a smile but stern look, (or as close as Art ever manages to get,) he adds: “I’m counting on you to help me keep the worst of that away from Darcy. She doesn’t have the training we do. And, well, I suppose you’ll have to deal with your own gossip of being a disappointment of a wife to John for not being able to give him an heir… ever. Is that okay?”
~
Mariam doesn’t know what to say. Is this for real? This can’t be real.
Her heart clearly doesn’t care as she breaks into tears, tries to rub them away but only manages to nod enthusiastically at Art, yes, Art, not Lord Godalming, he really is on her side. He understands it.
~
Arthur, of course, looks alarmed at Mariam crying- that seems very unlike her.
“Can we agree to skip the wedding? Just do the official stuff. Don’t want your… uh, future wife to be jealous of me.” John says, meanwhile, chuckles, then points at Quincy. “Can you help Molly? I think you two are the ones who share an attitude about children the way he’s still fidgeting.”
Radu interjects: “Could you please take his concerns seriously? He is not incorrect in that a child requires copious amounts of attention, after all.”
Despite his words, Arthur’s pretty sure there’s a tiny smirk to his lips.
“…Well, I’d also rather pay attention to you than to a baby,” Arthur admits to Quincy. “So, uh… does that help?”
The almost pleading look Quincy gives him, and the way his arm around Arthur’s shoulders grows very tight is probably a positive answer, but now it’s Art who laughs.
“Okay, can I just count this through here, Quincy? Unless my old ears are playing tricks on me, Radu here called himself your fiancé. Which means you have a wife, a future husband, and a boyfriend. Three people to give you attention. Plus John is clearly excited about being a dad. I think you don’t have to be this terrified of losing against the baby.”
Mariam quips: “I’ll just try my hardest to be happy so that we get lucky and the kid is a quiet one, okay?”
That seems much more like her, and Arthur dares give her a shy smile.
“Um, well, if we find you that princess that ought to help, right?”
~
“So you did listen after all, sugar!”
There are still the remnants of tears at the edges of her eyes, but Mariam laughs.
She has a future. A future that doesn’t even have to include selling her body to a man! This is the best day of her life yet!
“For my own gratification, am I allowed to see what my brother’s progeny has done over the centuries in hopes of finding one more barb to hold against him, should Miss Powlett manage to seduce any princesses?” Radu asks, and while she is rather a bit uncomfortable with the amount of fang she can see in the smile, politically, yes, she can see the appeal of that maneuver, but far be it from her to make any comments yet.
Also, it appears as if Tiny has his own opinions on that with the way he tugs Radu’s hand close against himself and pouts, yes, that’s what she’s going to call it, for her own amusement.
“What did I say about you being allowed to waste any effort on him? Shoo, you have a promise to me and Arthur to keep, a very short term one.”
~
“Uh huh… He might already have put some effort into that.” The grin John gives Quincy is all he’s going to get in further information, but, oh yes, John’ll have fun exploring the parts of Rome he now has in his dreamscape. It was obvious to him that Radu saw right through him on the matter of needing to do something with his hands while they talked, but it’s still absolutely adorable of that puppy of a vampire to not be able to contain his excitement about taking his fiance on a mini-vacation even while he is bonding with another guy.
Yeah, puppy, John really can see it now, and he’s happy for his bro. Not going to lie, he could use a vacation himself. But sure as fuck not with those three!
Maybe… maybe he can try to have one with Mariam over the weekend? He kind of needs to get to know her all over again, as a person, just a person, not a woman he’ll marry. The way he should have done from the very start, really.
But he’s not the only one who might have gone running along on wrong premises there, given the way Arthur is apologizing:
“I didn’t really get what you meant with the princess comment until earlier… And, um, I’m sorry if I overstepped with saying we’re friends. But the offer of help still stands!”
~
Excuse her? Oh dear, she rattled the runt, didn’t she? It was a bit forcefully stated, she will admit to that. She can fix this.
“Oh, no. We just have known each other for less than a month. I do not make friends that easily, especially not when so much depends… depended on me not making rash decisions. Although the misstep ended up a blessing.” She lifts a hand to her face with dawning realisation. “Which would mean I must have been happy. Oh.”
~
Wanting to further the overall relations in this group and, yes, even to show his own appreciation, Radu speaks up: “As the newest addition to the household, yes, there are wonderful people here who remind even us cynics of the beauty of life. Furthermore, if everybody would excuse me; I have been reprimanded and it is night, so I shall return to the Court for some private preparations for the weekend.”
There is something more he should say, but he can feel the lingering hesitation, the territorial growl of his drac, and the way his hand on Quincy’s grows tight.
Uncivilised. This is beneath him, so he steps over his shadow. “I trust my fiancé shall be safe and content with you, Arthur.”
~
Now it’s Arthur’s turn to startle at Radu’s words. “I’ll… do my best?” he promises, aware that that was a big acknowledgement from Radu.
~
Will you look at that! Quincy grins and gets up after one quick kiss to Arthur’s cheek, because obviously, now he has to shower his jealous drac of a fiancé with rewards and affection for working on himself like that. Clearly he’s already improving the man, yes, Quincy feels good about his power here.
Both of them, that was nearly a confident statement for Arthur, so first he reaffirms that with a: “Of course you will, honey,” then turns to Radu. “My drac will walk yours to the door. You deserve such a big reward right now!”
And obviously, he can’t just say that, he has to also hand the reward over, so right back into Radu’s mind is where he sends his drac. This is beginning to feel downright familiar.
~
Ah yes, there is that blush he had avoided for a while again, but he does not mind. Instead, Radu bows to the assembled party and happily lets himself be walked out. Feeling his beloved’s drac so close to his, feeling not concerned about the touch of their hands, or even their arms brushing against each other, makes him so happy that he could cry yet again at the shelter from all his trauma and pain.
~
The way that just went gives Art a terrible suspicion, as weird and improbable as it seems, but with these kids, who ever knows? He better ask Arthur about this:
“Not to pry, but you three aren’t planning the shotgun wedding of the century, are you? I need a bit of time to figure out what on earth makes for a wedding gift for those two, okay?”
~
At that, Arthur both blushes and snickers. “No,” he assures Art. “I mean… not that I’d entirely put it past those two…”
Wait, they started a blood bond, does that qualify as the shotgun wedding of the century? …He’ll have to ask Quincy…
“Um, Radu promised to take us on a mini-weekend holiday? To Rome?” he offers.
~
“Just like that?!” Mariam’s eyes go huge, but all that tells Art is that, yes, she’s not been around vampires. The way John just chuckles tells him that he has, well, around one headstrong dhampir, uh, two actually, at least. He better explain this to Mariam though.
“Yeah, just like that. That’s vampires for you. Not that Lucy hasn’t kidnapped me or Jack or both of us to Paris even while we were hunting after Draculya and Radu all over the continent. When they want to go somewhere, what’s there to stop them?”
Weird, seems despite having been around them, too, Arthur still hasn’t gotten how that works, since he nods in obvious agreement with Mariam.
“I, uh… well, I don’t think he’s lying, but I’ll only really believe it when I’m there, too, I think…”
“You didn’t hear this from me, but he started planning a little bit in my dreamscape already.”
Ah, that’s the extra intel John had, and Art is glad for it, even though now he’s right back to teasing Arthur: “So, does that count as you going on a double date with the dracs?”
That has Arthur blush, of course, and that’s definitely an alarmed squeak. “No? …Do you think it does?”
Art better step in here, reprimanding John, although it’s really very hard not to grin.
“How many times today do I have to tell you to behave?”
~
Well, Art still hasn’t told her to behave, and she’s feeling rather very giddy with these people now, so Mariam dares not hiding her laugh or her very questionable comment:
“And what’s so alarming about that? I’m the one who gets freaked out by him. You are sharing his younger version with him, so really, if they were both women… well, just saying.” She waggles her eyebrows at him, but ends up chuckling again because, ah yes, now John is complaining that she isn’t behaving, either. This is by far the preferable kind of tension with him.
She still can’t believe her luck, but she’ll bask in it.
Unsurprisingly, even she knows him that well already, Arthur’s blush stays right where it is.
“Just because he doesn’t actively freak me out anymore doesn’t mean I, uh… really trust him? Like, mostly I trust that Quincy can handle him…”
~
“Yeah, Molly got him on a leash. But he’s also alright,” is John’s assessment as he picks the cards up, looks like it’s the four of them, after all, unless Quincy wants to join whenever he is done walking his puppy.
“…Guess you had a good talk?” Arthur asks John.
All John does is nod. What he and Radu had there, what they showed each other in his dreamscape, the horrors of memory and worst vision of the future they compared and supported each other through, that’s all private. Both his own past and the way Radu helped him look at some things very differently.
That’s not for him to just tell anybody, though, maybe… probably Darcy, because, well, isn’t she Radu’s girl, too? Quincy said it, she loves Radu, and really… he can see the similarities between Radu and Quincy, and it stings, it hurts, it makes him hate himself in some ways, but if that’s the kind of man Darcy wants then, yeah, she’s Radu’s girl.
~
Looking at John, Art suspects there’s a thousand things going on behind that look and the way John is focusing down on shuffling the cards, but he knows that he won’t get anywhere there, so instead, he looks back over at Arthur.
“So, weekend trip to Rome. What are you going to do with Quincy so that Radu doesn’t have you completely outdone on romance?”
“Um,” Arthur says, and blinks. “I, uh… I was just kind of planning to have a holiday while I suppose those two do the romantic thing…?” He blushes again, that really seems to be going around when being with Quincy, at least that much Art can tell, but the kid is still explaining, or trying to.
“The boyfriend thing is… it’s more that he takes care of me, which makes him feel better about Darcy being gone, and so I get, um, help with social things and emotional support and he gets emotions and to feel better…”
“As the local expert on being the third wheel: Bit of effort is still appreciated,” John offers, but Art can outdo him there easily enough:
“Hey, I had that title before you! But I agree. So hm, if it’s about the emotions, then I guess Arthur just has to be extra emotional with Quincy during the vacation?”
~
“Don’t look at me. How would I know what men like?”
Mariam grins. Honestly, she feels a bit overwhelmed and giddy that she can make jokes like that.
“…I’ll try being emotional and, uh… paying attention to him? Is there… any way to show your attention?”
That he has to ask like that makes Mariam really tempted to have a stern talk with Tiny, because she can easily see him run right over the runt’s emotions, the difference in experience is a bit astounding. But oh hoh, now that goes right into her speculation pile, that’s a very interesting expression on John’s face there, and doesn’t he just know what Quincy wants…
“Talk about something you love. Let him see the excitement. Let him drag you along on his moods and drama. Allow him to ask you questions that you didn’t think you’d ever answer.” With a chuckle, he adds the most interesting tidbit yet: “Or groom him, it’s a weakness.”
He must have noticed the way she’s smirking, because oh, is he ever suddenly defensive!
“Oi! I’ve seen him around Darcy. Fuck off with that smirk.”
~
“Well, Radu promised me a tour of Rome, I’m sure I’ll have lots of excitement to talk with him about…” Arthur says, then snickers at John’s and Mariam’s interaction- that’s such an improvement from dinner!
“He promised you a tour?” Art raises an eyebrow, then chuckles. “What was that earlier, John? His jealousy is showing? Yeah, somebody is trying to get himself private time.”
Arthur considers that, then shrugs.
“Fine by me. I get a tour of Rome, he gets private time, sounds fair.”
~
“What are the sleeping arrangements?” Mariam inquires, because okay, this is shaping up to be a very fun Monday for her when she hears all the gossip. And she will make sure she hears all the gossip!
“Uh… I have no idea?” Arthur admits.
~
“Who needs sleep? I intend to party through those nights!” is Quincy’s declaration from where he’s leaning against the door frame. He wasn’t sure if he had caught Mariam’s question correctly as he walked up, but even if he’s a bit off, worth it.
“Well, if that sounds relaxing to you…” Arthur says. “I guess then you can party with Radu when I’m asleep and I can tell you about everything I’ve seen when Radu’s asleep.”
“Now that sounds like the perfect vacation to me!”
Grinning brightly, Quincy sashays over and sits himself down on Arthur’s lap and looks at the table.
“So, five players, or are we calling it a night so I can build up some sleep reserves for the weekend?”
“Attention hog! As if the household shuts down the moment you aren’t around.”
John snorts, and Quincy takes that as the term of endearment it is, leans slightly into the punch to his shoulder, although he wonders if he’ll eventually have calluses from how often John does it.
“Now, now, son, don’t destroy his self-aggrandising illusions.”
Art chuckles while Mariam tuts: “Very rude. I’m not marrying somebody this rude.”
Now that’s the kind of banter he wants to hear!
“I want to play one round with everyone,” Arthur says shyly (some days Quincy wonders if that isn’t just standard setting.) “…And then probably I need some sleep.”
“Of course, honey.”
Quincy focuses on the important person here, the one that lets him hold him at night.
With Radu here, especially after that lovely date they had at the beach, Quincy feels a lot calmer, but he still misses Darcy. And if he’s completely honest, between Arthur’s issues and Radu’s trauma plus rules, he is more than a bit worried about his future nights.
But he’ll try to push that problem away for a little bit longer as he puts a kiss on Arthur’s cheek and asks John to deal.
John makes a point of serving Mariam first while asking how he possibly could be rude when he simply puts being nice to the only lady above being nice to the queen. (Uh huh, now his darling suddenly gets comfortably flirty? Now that he knows he has no chance? Quincy will never get straight people.)
~
Playing with Quincy on his lap is… interesting, since Arthur has to keep him from peeking at his cards, but it also means he can lean into him, which he likes. He’s glad things between John and Mariam are resolved for the better, that they’re comfortable as a… future family.
They do all head off to sleep after their round of cards (which Mariam wins), and Arthur does enjoy cuddling up with Quincy again- which he tells him, and then Quincy asks whether he’d like to cuddle with his drac, too.
Arthur tilts his head to that.
“How do you mean?”
~
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