be discreet

[msmage]

It's not much later, in Isabella's room, that she asks:

"So... is Alex really a dom?"

Comments

[mrmage]

"...yeah I think that's about as much brainpower as I'm going to devote to this before knowing more about how Tobias will react."

[eclipsi]

"Okay, pet."

[mrmage]

"How about we move the conversation back to the part where I get to know my dom's mom and we pretend the thing didn't happen?"

[kindestgarden]

"Oh, of course," says Renée, and between bites of leftover pizza and the last of the tuna salad she talks about her current hobbies and her job and her friends and asks Sadde carefully-delinated similar questions about school and interests and his library job.

[mrmage]

And he answers those and asks a few other relevant or clarifying questions back and tries to be generally charming and friendly and it's really really obvious he really really likes Isabella and other than Tobias his life is turning out much okayer than he'd ever expected it to.

[kindestgarden]

He has no trouble at all charming Renée!

And she lets the kids decide among themselves who's taking the couch and who's taking the top bunk in the twins' room.

[mrmage]

Sadde's perfectly fine taking the couch, he's spent years in the wilderness, he's not picky.

[catalexis]

"'S all yours, then."

[eclipsi]

And Isabella kisses Sadde good night and goes up with her brother.

[mrmage]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[catalexis]

Alex is up early and makes pancakes and bacon as quietly as he can.

[mrmage]

Sadde wakes up very soon after that. "'Morning."

[catalexis]

"Morning. You want food?"

[mrmage]

He stretches and sits up. "Yeah, food sounds good." He sniffs. "Smells good."

[catalexis]

"Cool, whaddaya want on your pancakes?"

[mrmage]

"Uh, not really picky, surprise me."

[catalexis]

"'Kay."

Sadde gets banana pancakes and some bacon.

[mrmage]

And he eats those! "So, uh, how're you?"

[catalexis]

"I'm okay, you?"

[mrmage]

"Mostly okay, too. Psion took away the nightmares a while ago, sleep is now mostly a good thing."

[catalexis]

"Mostly?"

[mrmage]

"I didn't exactly sign up for losing a third of my life unconscious, I'd prefer not needing sleep. Being able to sleep on a strictly voluntary basis might be good, but being completely incapable of sleeping would be a strict improvement over being completely incapable of being alive without it."

[catalexis]

"Illegal science experiment," mutters Alex, flipping pancakes with chocolate chips in them.

[mrmage]

He giggles. "I heard that!"

[eclipsi]

"Heard what?" asks Isabella, coming down the stairs. She receives chocolate chip pancakes and Alex starts another batch.