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The lake is an ancient place, dark and deep. Apparently it's some sort of tourist destination now, and Jade can see little vacation homes dotting the edge of the lake, pale smudges against the darkening twilight.

What does Heine thinks of these trespasses to his territory, he wonders? Does he resent these humans and their entrepreneurship, their never-ending desire to expand and tame every bit of wilderness they lay eyes on? Or does he see it as an opportunity - a veritable feast for that black lake of his?

Whatever the case, Jade is of the opinion that Heine has more than enough mortals to amuse himself with. He walks slowly along the lakeside, breathing in the clean, sweet air as the evening deepens around him. Heine must know he's here, but he hasn't shown himself yet; he seems determined to continue making a nuisance out of himself.

It's not until dusk falls that Jade finally speaks out. "It's not polite to leave a guest waiting, you know."

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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."

Servitude, he thinks. He would be able to put Jonathan's mind to such good use. It'd be such a waste to give him up to Heine, to see all that intelligence and ambition vanishing under the bleak waters of Heine's lake like so much wreckage.

"It's simple, really. I'm interested in matters of power and control."

Heine's power lies in stillness, in the restful calm of his lake. Why not combat it with heat? Action? Jade isn't a particularly passionate creature - quite unlike his Unseelie kin - but he thinks he can pretend well enough. He has never really contemplated seduction as a method of holding sway over a mortal, but it seems to work well enough for some of the fae, so why not give it a try?

At the very least, it would make things interesting.

"Which do you prefer?" He asks, watching Jonathan intently. "Would you rather be the one in control, or the one submitting?"

Edited 2017-02-25 15:38 (UTC)

Of course, power and control are what all all sex is about, Jonathan thinks. He meets Jade's eyes with a slight tilt of his head.

"I'm used to being the one in control." He glances at Heine—and his collar, before speaking to Jade again. "So are you, I'd guess."

"Oh, either way is fine by me," he responds with his usual airy attitude. He smiles with eyes closed, the intensity of his stare vanishing in an instant.

"Now, let's discuss the terms." He smiles at Heine this time, dagger-sharp. "Heine, are you willing to give us joint ownership over you?"

A bold thing to ask for, but if Heine insists on making things so difficult for him, Jade sees no reason not to repay the favour.

Heine balances his hip against one of the kitchen counters, head tilted as he waits.

'Ownership'. Though he doesn't cross his arms, Heine's posture becomes markedly more guarded. "I'm not going to give you my lead."

"Would you give it to Jonathan?" He's watching Heine now. He's taunting him, mostly, but there's a part of Jade that is legitimately interested in Heine's answer.