milliways_bar | (no subject)

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It's been a while since Nathaniel's been in the bar. If he's in Milliways, he tends to keep to the pard or Asher, and back home, well, there was plenty to keep him busy there.

Today, though, he's taken over the sofa, dressed comfortably in sweat pants and one of Asher's shirts. He's studying quite hard, leafing through the latter half of his Year One French primer. He's still rusty on most of it, but he's doing well with general vocabulary. Asher's been helpful with that.

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There is a tall, dark, hooded shadow nearby, watching people.

"Bonjour," he says, when he notices what it is the young man on the couch is reading. Hair longer than Urquhart's own.

That isn't very common.

He's taken to always wearing his hair down now, except when on stage, since Asher likes it best that way. Nathaniel looks up through the auburn curtain of his hair and smiles at the hooded figure.

"Bonjour," he replies. "And that's about all I can do at the moment."

"It's a civilised language," Urquhart says. "Good for love songs and learned argument and conspiracies."

Nathaniel chuckles, glancing down at the book.

"I just want to understand my Masters when they say things in French. It's sometimes annoying to be talked about or to in a language you don't understand."

It's more than Anita had bothered to do. Instead, she'd rather bitch about the French instead of learning it.

Urquhart takes off his hood, and comes closer.

His hair is very long, but the longest parts don't reach further than his hips.

"If you've got French masters, it's a good thing to learn their language," Urquhart says. "I did as well, and later went to study in Paris."

Masters -- that might be owners, teachers, or craftsmen he's apprenticed to. In any case, the young man obviously respects them.

Nathaniel chuckles.

"I can't go to Paris. The Parisian vampires would... do bad things. Jean-Claude and Asher would never consent to my going there, and I wouldn't want to because I'd never be safe. But, I can learn French here. Moon has promised to take me to a different Paris with Asher where vampires don't exist."

"So you're from another world with vampires," Urquhart says. "Sometimes, I suspect there's more people here who are more than human than mere humans like me."

A slight nod.

"Vampires and zombies and shifters and witches... all sorts of things that usually go bump in the night."

Edited 2010-01-24 20:40 (UTC)

"I can go bump in the night as well when I want to," Urquhart says, grinning. "But the real point is not going bump. If you do, they hear you coming."

Not very professional.

Nathaniel eyes the man.

"Well. Yes. I suppose."

"What kind of shifters are there in your world?" Urquhart asks.

"Wolves, leopards, lions, tigers, bears, swans... All manner of shifters," Nathaniel says slowly.

"Who would want to turn into a swan? He'd get eaten," Urquhart says. That sounds like the worst curse to him.

"I met a leopard the other day, but I don't know if it was the same world."

"They're people. Not 'it's," Nathaniel growls softly.

"If his world," Urquhart says, with a soft, polite voice, "was the same world as yours."

Beat.

"Better?"

"Yes. I don't much like being thought of as in 'it', thank you," Nathaniel says coolly.

"I didn't," Urquhart says. "I meant the world. You're a he; no doubt about it."

Nathaniel nods, looking down at his primer.

"He was probably from my world, since I don't know any other leopards in the bar... only Micah and me. Liz is a leopard, but she isn't a he, so you couldn't have meant her. The others are wolves."

"Short, dark hair, quite pretty?" Urquhart says.

Of course, compared to him, almost everybody is short.

"That could describe a lot of people. Were his eyes cat-like and bright green?"

"Oh, yes," Urquhart says. "Noticeably so!"

"Micah," Nathaniel nods. "My Nimir-Raj."

"I'd like to meet a wolf from your world," Urquhart says, casually.

"I'm sure you'll run into Jason or Richard at some point," Nathaniel murmurs.

"I hope so," Urquhart says.

"I think they're the only wolves from our world here, though."

"There's other wolves, from other worlds, too," Urquhart says, half-stating, half-asking.

Nathaniel nods.

"We run with them sometimes on the full moon."

"It must be wonderful to have that kind of freedom," Urquhart says, wistfully.

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's not. I'm lucky my lover isn't human." Nathaniel has almost never had a human lover. It just isn't safe. "It's dangerous if you lose control."

"It's dangerous if I lose control, too," Urquhart says. "Even though I'm a mere human."

Its been too long since Demeter's seen Nathaniel so she smiles and hugs him,

"How are you doing?"

Nathaniel smiles brightly at her.

"Hello, Demeter."

He knows her scent, knows that instinctive sense of comfort he feels around the goddess.

"I'm well. Very well. Adjusting still. And you?"

"Quite good. I just got back from a lovely holiday with Teja."

The book of French makes her smile,

"Is Asher helping you learn?"

Nathaniel chuckles, glancing at the book.

"His system of rewards for correct answers means I learn maybe half a lesson when he 'helps'."

Demeter laughs, "I can see how that could be a problem, but an enjoyable one."

"Quite enjoyable, if not educational."

He tilts his head.

"Well, in French, anyway."

"Is anyone else helping you learn and practice?"

Nathaniel shakes his head.

"Well, Moon will sometimes, when she isn't off being Moon, but usually I do it on my own. There's a computer program I bought that helps with the learning."

"If you'd ever like to come to my France to practice talking with people, I'd love to have you and Asher or anyone else you wanted to bring."

There is a large smile on Nathaniel's face.

"I want to see France with Asher badly. We can't go to the France in our world, which is sad for him, I think, but... I know Moon's supposed to take us to an older type of France without vampires, either."

The idea of going to France with Asher, no matter when or who takes them, makes Nathaniel's whole face light up.

"There's no reason that you can't do both and we don't have any vampires in my world. We have other sorts of creatures, but they tend to keep their distance from me."