alleluia

[jovahs_heiress]

Alleluia and Caleb tell their children about magic, one by one. Isabella meets with each one to clarify a few matters. She gives Ezra a job, at the Eyrie - it is convenient to have more people around who know her secrets. And the youngest, an angel girl named Naamah, just nineteen (a last minute surprise to her parents), wants someone to talk to who is more familiar with magic than her but isn't up to their neck in it like Isabella or Micaiah - or even her own parents, who have been to all those Bell parties.

Isabella thinks about this.

[Nathaniel?]

Comments

[pythbox]

Nathaniel glances at the Joker and dares to observe, "You know something."

[manofmyword]

"I do!" he agrees.

[alicornucopia]

Renata has met the Joker before and apparently knows everything she wants to about what he knows. She has a question for Nathaniel. "Do you have all those magic wards on you?"

[pythbox]

"...um, what?" he says nervously.

[alicornucopia]

"There's a curl on your forehead and I want to put it with your other hair, but I don't want to accidentally hurt you," she explains.

[pythbox]

He gives the Joker a pleading look.

[manofmyword]

The Joker snaps his fingers theatrically.

"All magicked up," he says.

[alicornucopia]

Renata moves her hand almost comically slowly, nonetheless, like she's trying to adjust for human tracking speed but doesn't know how much. She sweeps the curl from Nathaniel's forehead in among his other hair. She smiles again.

[pythbox]

Nathaniel... doesn't get out of the way.

When she's done, he looks at the Joker again.

[manofmyword]

"She's sweet on you," he explains.

[pythbox]

He blinks.

"...Oh."

[alicornucopia]

Renata thinks about this.

Then she says, "Is that okay?"

[pythbox]

"I don't know," says Nathaniel, defaulting to Vaguely Worried again.

[alicornucopia]

"Oh." Now Renata looks Vaguely Worried too!

[pythbox]

Aww.

"Maybe it is," he says hopefully.

(The stray curl floops back into place.)

[alicornucopia]

(Renata fixes it again.)

[pythbox]

Despite himself, Nathaniel smiles.

"It always does that," he says. "Sometimes there's another one that comes out to keep it company."

[alicornucopia]

"That is cute," asserts Renata.

[pythbox]

He grins and ducks his head.

Floop floop.

[alicornucopia]

Renata appears to think that when there are two curls out they don't need fixing.

But that means she does not have an excuse to touch him! What a troubling dilemma.

[manofmyword]

As adorable as this is, somebody around here should start thinking about the future.

The Joker brainphones Jane.

[Could you do me a favour and tell Angela there's a vampire who's sweet on Nathaniel?]

[mind_game]

[Sure thing.]

[Angela wants to know more about the vampire and how Nathaniel's reacting to same.]

[manofmyword]

[Her name's Renata and she's mostly boring. She's got a witch power that means nobody can attack her. I think Nathaniel's a little sweet on her right back. They're giving each other dopey looks as we speak.]

[mind_game]

[Oh, her.]

Pause, pause.

[If it comes up in conversation and he wants to, Nathaniel can take her home with him, she'll just have to be invisible to most people and stay out of the way.]

[manofmyword]

[Thanks,] he says cheerfully.