roneal | (no subject)

People watching isn't ideal, but mortals are so unable to believe in a dog's intelligence that he figures he can get away with it. In the bathroom stall he transforms with a sound of water splashing against a shore, just long enough to put the collar on, clip the lead on, and reply, "Deal with it."

He exits the stall, needing hands to unlock the latch, and returns to four legs a moment later. With his paw he pushes the slack lead towards Jade.

My my. What an unhelpful attitude. Jade stoops down to take the lead, leaving plenty of slack so he isn't jerking Heine around unnecessarily. A few people coo at the pretty dog with it's pretty collar as they leave, but thankfully no one seems to have noticed the oddity of a dog stepping out of the bathroom.

Back to the apartment they go. Truthfully, Jade doesn't really want Heine in his domain, but if the alternative is Heine wandering the city freely...

This is a fine mess. He sighs again as they near the building. The security guard nods at them as they enter, and Jade pulls Heine into the lift.

"I live on the top floor," he explains, wondering if Heine had even been in a lift before. The disconnect between modern society and the fae never ceases to amaze him.

Jade really doesn't sound happy about this. Heine looks at him out of the corner of his eye. Causing trouble to Jade is more amusing than anything, and he's only more amused when he thinks of seeing the mortal again.

Heine hesitates before entering the small lift. He snuffles at the door for a moment before entering beside Jade, looking around in surprise as they start to travel upwards. Feeling the ground rise beneath his feet is very strange, and he lifts his paws off the ground, prancing nervously for a moment.

If there's one good thing about all of this, it's that he's decisively moving Heine away from his domain. The closest real lake - not one of those manmade structures - is miles away, and now he's bringing Heine high up, away from the earth and mud.

The lift rises quickly, and it's only a few seconds later that the doors ding open and Jade steps out, still loosely holding onto Heine's leash. There are multiple flats on the floor, and Jade's flat doesn't stand out much: he keeps it warded, of course, but he's also careful to be subtle about his powers. Mortals are surprisingly perceptive.

The wards shiver as they approach. Well, at Heine's approach, to be precise. Jade sighs again (he had been doing that quite often today).

"Well, I suppose you can enter."

Which is close enough to permission for the wards to groan and unwillingly give way. They sense his reluctance to let Heine enter. But they obey all the same, and Heine can enter unimpeded once Jade unlocks the door for him.

It's a small apartment, sparsely furnished. There's all the usual trappings of an apartment: couch and television, dining table, the kitchen and assorted appliances, a single bedroom and a study. There aren't many personal touches; Jade has never had much in the way of personal belongings.

Walking through the hallway results in no opposition, but he can sense Jade's wards long before he reaches his door. The flat smells as if it's blanketed in clean snow. Being allowed passage still causes him to shudder harshly as he passes through the doorway and then promptly yanks his lead out of Jade's grip.

Screens seem to have only gotten larger since he last saw one. Heine trots into the living room area, brings his nose to the television to sniff thoughtfully. The whole place looks designed for a mortal to live in. Heine can see no greenery, no plants, and the lack of fresh air is already making his energy lower. With a grunt he climbs onto the couch and returns to human form at the same time, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest.

"Where's the mortal?" He curls his toes against the edge of the couch cushion, shifting his weight around to get more comfortable. Though he can feel the collar still around his neck and the leash dangling from it, all he does is impatiently unclip the lead and toss it to the ground. "I can smell him on you."

He thinks about making some comment about Heine's nudity coupled with his collar, but thinks better of it. Instead, he sits down on the couch and turns on the television, letting the hum of it fill the apartment with background noise. There's some crime drama going on, he thinks: or at least, there's quite a lot of blood and screaming. Or perhaps it's a horror film? Some things about mortals remain a mystery to him.

He turns his attention back to Heine.

"My my. You don't think Jonathan lives with me, do you? That would be rather improper."

"You're already living in this human building." Heine shifts his position again, ending up sitting with his legs crossed, gripping his ankles with an expression of grim distaste. "What's improper about living with a human?"

Oh. He doesn't even know that much. Jade smiles, managing an expression that's placid and condescending all at once. "Ha ha. Let's not worry about that. Now, how do you like my apartment? I hope you won't mind sleeping on the couch, but I suppose I could always get another bed for you..."

"I don't need a bed," Heine mutters. As much as he enjoys making things inconvenient for Jade, he doesn't want to sleep in a bed either. He settles himself more firmly onto the couch and looks at the TV screen.

How strange. He frowns, head tilted slightly to the side as he watches.

Jade watches as well. It's quite a macabre show, isn't it? He'll never understand why mortals enjoy that sort of thing.

He changes the channel. A cooking show? Well, why not.

"Are you going to sit here all day? Jonathan won't be coming here, you know."

"Aren't you going to... work in the morning?" Whatever work is. Mortals do it to earn currency to buy things, but he really doesn't know why Jade bothers with it. "Bring him here after."

"Now, why would I do that?" For one thing, he has his doubts that Jonathan will want to set foot in a faerie's home - he has harboured suspicions that Jonathan had realized his true nature some time ago. For another, why would he want to bring Jonathan into contact with Heine?

Besides the fact that it'll be fun, obviously.

"So I can see him." And see him without venturing out into a city of metal and concrete, more importantly. Heine doesn't like this place. The streets smell of smoke, and clean water is so hard to sense that he feels uncomfortable.

But... "I'll go looking for him if you don't bring him here." And does Jade really want Heine butting into his workplace?

He pauses to think. Heine has a point; he doesn't really want him rampaging around the city and knocking over the life Jade had carefully built for himself like a toddler kicking over a pile of toy blocks - although he doubts Heine would understand that particular simile.

"I'll see if he'll agree to come," Jade finally says. "But I'm afraid there's not much I can do if he refuses. Unless you won't mind meeting him outside my home?"

"I could," Heine mutters. He doesn't really want to, but if he has no other choice, he'll go out and meet the mortal there.

"Fine," he confirms a second later. "I'll wait."

"Good." That's as good as he's going to get for now. Jade stands up, satisfied. "I'm going to go prepare dinner. Do you want anything?"

Heine is here as a guest, so the rules of hospitality forbid Jade from doing anything too untoward, such as, say, poisoning him. The rules of hospitality say nothing about influencing him, however, and everyone knows that faerie food is never the safest thing to ingest.

Heine eyes Jade for a moment before just shaking his head. If he wants food, he'll get it himself. Fairies are certainly not above playing tricks on each other.

As he settles in for the night, Heine returns to his dog form, flopping on his belly on the couch with his head resting on his paws. If Jade tries to approach he turns alertly in his direction, but he doesn't move otherwise for the night.

Heine remains on the couch even as Jade departs the next morning. While Jade is at work, he entertains himself by wandering around the apartment. Technology really has changed. He can't really figure out how many of the devices work, but he does remember refrigerators and televisions.

He spends some time (most of the time) watching a series of episodes from the same show, trying to figure out what on earth mortals are interested in now—and mostly fails. By the time Jade returns, Heine is still in human form, just as naked as before, and searching through the fridge for food that isn't enchanted or otherwise altered by mortal chemicals.

"You're back." He pulls back from the fridge, not shutting the door. "And you brought him."

The mortal. Heine's eyes fix on him, pulling at the energy in his soul that he can sense even from across the room. Yes. He wants this one.

It took a fair bit of talking for him to convince Jonathan to come. By this time, Jade is almost completely certain that Jonathan suspects his true nature; Jonathan had been subtle about it, but he has ensured that Jade is inviting him to come as a guest before agreeing to visit his home.

Of course, any suspicions Jonathan might have probably solidified completely once he sees Heine in his full glory. Jade bites back a sigh. He hadn't even told Jonathan about Heine; he thought Heine would have the good sense to stay in dog form — or, at the very least, put on some clothes.

"Well, this is awkward," he says, forestalling any questions. Jonathan is looking at Heine, the fridge, then back at Jade himself. He's smiling faintly, but there's a note of confusion on his face. Jade resists the urge to sigh and rub at his temples.

Ignoring the boundaries of human decency (which he wouldn't care much about, even if he knew them), Heine turns from the fridge and walks closer until there are only a few feet between them. His gaze is fixed on Jonathan even as he speaks to Jade.

"What are the terms?"

"Heine, your lack of tact is truly astounding." That's likely an ambiguous enough statement to make while conveying the true extent of his annoyance with Heine. His eyes narrow. "Why don't you put on some clothes before we talk?"

His mind is whirling. Eichel may suspect his true nature, but suspicion is quite different from actual confirmation. Right now, Jade isn't entirely sure what to do, so he resorts to what he does best: evading, stalling for time.

He doesn't have any clothes, though, and Jade should know that. Heine looks at him suspiciously, crossing his arms.

"He already saw." Heine looks Jonathan in the eye, bringing the temptations of the lake, cool water on a hot day, into his voice. "Come here."

The mortal takes a few steps forward, seemingly before he realizes what he's doing.

"Jade, this is... why did you ask me to come here again? And who is this?"

"An acquaintance of mine." He touches Jonathan's wrist lightly, anchoring him as he glances at Heine. Such an overt exertion of his power, and so soon? Heine has no understanding of subtlety, but that's hardly a revelation.

If this goes poorly, they might both lose Jonathan.

"I apologise for his behaviour," he continues smoothly. "I'm afraid he doesn't have the best sense of appropriateness."

He's still talking without saying much, continuing to stall for time. There's so many odd things about this situation - Heine's nudity, his collar, the talk of terms, not to mention Heine's commanding attitude... How does he present this in a way that wouldn't drive Jonathan off immediately?

Jonathan laughs, and it only sounds slightly forced. "This is a surprise, to be sure. But let me introduce myself. My name is Jonathan."

"Heine." He already knows the mortal, but giving him a part of his true name will allow him very little power. Especially if he doesn't offer any other information while letting the awkward silence drag on until Jade breaks it.

This really is quite awkward. No one seems willing to speak, and Jade senses it won't be long until Jonathan's caution gets the better of him and he decides that leaving would be the wisest choice.

(Which, to be fair, would be entirely correct. It's never a good idea to be caught between two fae.)

He has to stop him before that happens. An idea is slowly beginning to form, but it's rather outrageous, even by his standards. Oh well. He's never been one to be easily embarrassed.

"Heine and I have a proposition for you," he says, choosing his words carefully. "As you can see, Heine leads a rather...alternative lifestyle. We were wondering if you'd be interested in being part of that."

Most people will never realize just how "alternative" their lifestyles are, but he wonders if Jonathan is sharp enough to pick up on the double meaning in his words.

Jonathan keeps up the polite smile, and it strengthens the longer Jade speaks. He still isn't sure what, exactly, is going on, but Jade's explanation gives him an easy way to understand. With Heine looking at him, red eyes sharp, his mind follows the path of least resistance.

"What does 'being part of that' entail?" he asks. "I'm interested, but I'd like to know more first."