Nathan couldn't have been in his dorm more than fifteen minutes the next day when there was a knock on the door, making him jump slightly. Thomas was just coming out of the bathroom at the time, frowning. "Who's that? No one ever knocks. They just come in," he said. Nathan looked at him and shrugged a little, walking over to the door and slowly opening it.

"Surprise!"

Nathan was knocked back by the force of Justin's body colliding with his, sending both of them back into Thomas, who only stumbled a little at the contact, but didn't look too thrilled. "Justin? What the hell?" Nathan mumbled.

"Well, you see," Justin started, wrapping his arms and legs around Nathan much like he had at Varian's, "I figured here I could see you and tackle you and Varian can't yell at me for it, because let's face it, your boyfriend is scary, and you didn't come see me like you were supposed to, so it was a win-win situation for me," he smiled. Nathan rolled his eyes, sighing heavily.

"That's great. Justin, this is my roommate Thomas. Thomas, this is my idiot, Justin." Nathan introduced. If Justin was annoyed at that at all, he didn't have time to show it, because immediately after Thomas was looking him up and down with a small smirk.

"Well hello there. Single?"

Justin frowned. "…No."

"Aw. Girlfriend?"

"No."

Thomas' smirk turned slightly hopeful. "Boyfriend?"

Justin paused, looking up at Nathan. "...Uh...I don't...Nathan, what do I have?"

"You have an Evan. Now get the fuck off me."

Rolling his eyes, Justin released Nathan and sat on his bed instead, sighing loudly. Thomas however, was frowning. "Evan?" he asked Nathan curiously. Nathan shrugged a little.

"His...attachment, shall we say," he explained. Thomas nodded, and Justin shrugged a little before smiling widely.

"I told you I'd hunt you down at college," he said. Nathan glared back, about to retort when their door opened again.

"Jesus, what is this? I don't want to see any of you right now."

"Well, that's too bad," Skyler sighed, walking into the dorm with Vince in tow, surprisingly. "I wanted to drop by and see how my two favorite people were. You know, since I've been MIA and no one has seemed to notice," she said with a raised eyebrow, falling into Nathan's desk chair. Nathan sighed, turning to Vince.

"Okay, so what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop by." Vince smiled, noticing Justin and raising an eyebrow. "Who's this?"

"Justin." Justin replied simply. Vince rose his eyebrows.

"Oh, you're my secret brother?"

Justin frowned, looking at Nathan. "What?"

"Uh," Nathan frowned, crossing his arms over his chest, "I called Varian the other day because Vince wanted to talk to him, and Varian might have mentioned you."

This was way too many people in his room. Nathan did not like this at all.

"Oh, I see..." Justin mumbled. Vince nodded, taking a seat next to him as Thomas spoke up.

"So guys, apparently Justin here is gay," he said with a smile. Justin huffed.

"I am not gay!"

"Jesus, is no one straight anymore?" Vince asked, shaking his head a little, "Thomas is gay, Nathan's gay, Justin's gay, Skyler's...I don't even know what you are." Vince directed at her. She only shrugged back.

"I like who I like," she said simply.

"Besides, being straight is boring. And it's bisexual, thank you." Thomas added. Vince waved him off, looking to Nathan expectantly.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "...What? I love a guy. Sue me and fuck off."

"Oh, defensive." Vince mumbled, turning to Justin. "What's your excuse?"

Justin thought for a second, then gave a response that Nathan both didn't expect and didn't need to hear. "India and really good sex."

"Oh Jesus, really? TMI." Nathan complained, frowning. Justin raised an eyebrow.

"Don't get pissy just because I get sex and you don't."

"You don't know about my sex life."

"I know that if it even existed you'd be a lot less bitchy. Remember that one girl you dated that you fucked like, all the time? I remember you being pretty approachable that year. Tired most of the time, but approachable."

"I can't even call that a relationship," Nathan snorted, "more like a fuck-buddy. She cheated on me anyway."

"Because you have a lower sex drive than the average young-adult male." Justin said with a nod.

"Are we really talking about this?"

"Yeah, Nathan, as cool as you are, I don't need to know about your sex drive." Skyler said, wrinkling up her nose and shaking her head. "Nope. Not at all."

"Changing the subject nonchalantly," Vince said loudly, "Nathan, finish your paper?"

"Yeah."

"And the extra page?"

"Yes."

"Good boy." Vince commended, making Nathan glare at him as he leaned back on the bed and sighed. "I enjoy college. Fun stuff. Not gonna miss it when I graduate though."

"What are you gonna be?" Skyler asked interestedly. Vince glanced over to her with a smile.

"I wanna be a journalist. I think that'd be cool. Interview people and shit. What about you?"

Skyler shrugged a little. "Pediatrician. I love kids."

Vince nodded, looking at Nathan. "And what are you here for?"

"Biomedicine."

"Oh, fancy. Guess We'll be calling you 'Dr. Vogel' at some point."

"Hopefully." Nathan sighed. Vince smiled, and continued his conversation with Thomas and Skyler. Justin stood up from his spot, walking over to stand next to Nathan and lightly bump his shoulder.

"What's up with you? You're all anti-social."

"Just thinking." Nathan mumbled. "About everything with Varian, and Jecklynn, and school."

Justin nodded. "Oh, Andrea still wants to know what all's going on with Jecklynn, by the way. So I suggest you call her. Soon."

"Yeah, yeah," Nathan rolled his eyes, "I'll do it tomorrow."

"Alright." Justin murmured, standing quietly for a second before looking back over at Nathan. "You know, I don't think I've ever told you this, but I'm glad you're with Varian."

"My God, you two do like each other. The world is ending." Nathan muttered. Justin rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious, asshole. It's nice that you found someone like him. I might not know everything about the guy, but I know he's gone through some shit, so." Justin shrugged. Nathan raised an eyebrow, glancing over.

"Holy shit. Are we having a sentimental moment here?" he asked. Justin smiled a little.

"Yes. Don't ruin it." Justin whispered.

"But it's weird."

"I said don't ruin it."

"But-" Nathan tried, but Justin kept cutting him off.

"You're ruining it."

"Weird."

"And it's ruined." Justin said loudly, falling back onto Nathan's bed. "I'm hungry. Who's hungry?"

"I'm starving!" Vince added. Soon enough they were all talking about going to a restaurant or something to get food. Nathan smiled a little, listening to them, but not jumping into the conversation. He'd had enough of talking for one night.

However, if they went to get food, he fully planned to go with them. Silence be damned.

Thursday April 5th, 1945

While at the store today with Cercea, I almost quite literally ran into Helen. In fact, I didn't recognize her, my childhood friend. I was used to her honey blonde hair and blue eyes. What I got instead were eyes so dark they were black, and matching black hair. I wasn't expecting her to be in Arkansas, in my little town of Mena.

She looked happy though, a young Changed vampire with mouse colored hair in her company. She introduced him to me as Ronald, and then proceeded to show Cercea and I that she was expecting. I wondered briefly if this would upset her, and while her heart rate picked up, she didn't look perturbed.

For Helen to have met Ronald and been pregnant as she was with her wedding before hand, she would have conceived on her wedding night. I found it odd, and it still bugs me. Cercea and I have been together for two years now, and still no sign of a child. Yet Helen, six months into her marriage, already well into her second trimester.

To call me jealous, I believe, is not an understatement.

Victor Franz

Varian slammed the book shut and bolted off his bed, running out of his room and down the hall to outside. He didn't stop until he was down the road and pounding on Helen's door.

"Helen!" he yelled, beating his fist to the wooden door. "Helen, open up and let me in! I have something I need to say to you!"

There wasn't any movement on the other side of the door, and Varian hit it harder and faster, his breathing heavy, anger boiling in his veins.

"God damn it, somebody let me in!" he snarled, glaring at the chipped wood, smears of blood left by his palms each time he hit the door.

Moments later the door swung open and a very white-faced Jecklynn appeared, her eyes wide.

Varian paused, staring at her a moment, feeling his heart rate increase and his stomach coiling before he shook it off and met her gaze.

"Jecklynn. I need to see Helen. I know she's home," he growled.

Her eyes darted to his hands, and now that Varian was actually calm enough to listen, he heard soft little splatters on wood.

"Varian, your hands…" Jecklynn breathed. "You're bleeding."

He glanced down, only to see beads of blood welling up and dripping onto the porch. Blinking, he looked back up. "I'll be fine. Please, I need to talk to Helen."

It wasn't a moment later that Helen appeared behind her niece, tying a bathrobe around her.

"I'll come outside with you. Jecklynn, grab a hand towel," she instructed, stepping past her as Jecklynn ran off to get what was asked of her. Her black eyes looked Varian over as she stepped over the threshold and past him, onto the porch and took a seat on the wicker chair Jecklynn had used a while ago.

Her short black hair was wet. She'd obviously just gotten out of the shower.

"Sit," she said, pointing at the stool he had a habit of using when he was there. Reluctantly he sat, eying her. "Talk."

"How long have you known the Jolls?" Varian asked, his heart still hammering in his chest, his blood still rushing in his ears.

"A long time," she answered. Jecklynn ghosted out from the house, handing Varian the hand towel she held tightly in her grip. It was dark blue and Varian received it from her reluctantly, wiping the fresh blood from his hands before pressing them into it.

"How long?" Varian pushed.

"Since your great-great-grandfather Vice was given the last name 'Joll' and passed it onto his son Varro, and Varro to Vox."

He was shaking. He could feel it.

"You're a Nether vampire."

Her expression looked a little shocked, but she nodded. "Yes. How'd you know?"

"My fucking boyfriend told me!" Varian snapped, glaring at Helen. "Nathan is the one that told me. He learned about you guys from his professor. Eight years, Helen. Eight, almost nine and you couldn't have told me yourself?"

She sighed. "I'm not at liberty to tell you that information. Not unless you were directly involved."

Varian's throat felt tight and he tried swallowing past a lump that had somehow gotten there.

"Your niece is one of my mates! If that's not directly involved, I don't know what is!"

Helen sat up in her seat, holding up her hands. "Varian," she soothed. "That's my niece, not me. I don't have any control over her mate any more than you do."

"I don't care!" Varian yelled, his voice cracking. "I trusted you. I had to grow up and you were the only thing I had. You're more of a mother to me than my own mother was."

Something warm and wet plopped onto his arm and Varian looked down, his vision blurring before more touched him. He was crying.

"Varian…" Helen's expression was pained and she got up from her seat towards him, but Varian beat her to it, getting up and tossing the towel on the stool.

"No. Just…no," he whispered, shaking his head and turning to go, hopping off the porch and making a break for his house.

He'd gone to Helen's angry, and now he left crying. He didn't know why he'd gotten so worked up over that last passage, but he didn't stop running until he was home and he fell onto the couch and buried his face in his hands.

It'd been a while since Nathan actually went out somewhere with his friends. His senior year of high school he'd been busy working, and then with Varian, and now in college he was too far away except for the weekends, where he usually ended up back at Varian's. The five of them had decided to go to a restaurant near the University, and Nathan had to admit that it was nice.

"So, where's Andrea?" he asked Justin. Justin paused, thinking for a second before shrugging.

"Probably with her boyfriend. She got a job, by the way. She's a waitress. Probably so she has something to do." Justin said, then stopped as his eyes widened a little, like he said something he wasn't supposed to. Nathan raised an eyebrow and was about to ask more questions, but Vince's loud voice cut him off.

"So I'm starving. Who's picking up the check?" he asked. Everyone was silent. Nathan certainly wouldn't be, that's for sure.

"Well I have no money on me, and Nathan has to save his, and Justin is a guest, so he shouldn't have to pay." Skyler explained with a smile. "So I guess it's on you and Thomas."

"Aw, come on, really? I can't pay for the amount I eat!" Vince complained. Skyler snorted.

"Eat less."

"Don't worry, I got it." Thomas assured the group, shaking his head a little with a sigh. "You guys are useless."

Vince gave him a smile, saying 'thank you' before going back to a conversation with Skyler. Thomas rolled his eyes a little, watching the two. Nathan took the opportunity to harass Justin.

"So. She needs something to do, huh?" he asked quietly. Justin stiffened a little, squirming in his seat. It was one of the few times Nathan hadn't seen him willing to talk, and it was a little unnerving.

"It's not a big deal. It was stupid anyway." Justin murmured. Nathan frowned.

"...What was?"

Justin was silent for a long moment, seeming to visibly debate something before sighing quietly. "Dad called."

Nathan paused, his eyebrows raising in surprise. Sure, he was aware that Justin's parents didn't have the best relationship, but he hadn't seen that coming. "When?" he asked.

"A few days ago. Remember when me and 'Drea came to Varian's because Mom was rearranging everything?"

"Yeah."

"The day before that. He called the house, and was talking to Mom for a little while. Said something about wanting to see me and 'Drea. Of course, that started an argument."

Nathan frowned. "Damn. Sorry," he mumbled. Justin shrugged again, shaking his head.

"I don't really care. We're legally adults, they can't do anything anyway." Justin's voice got quiet, before he cleared his throat and forced a smile. "But, hey, I'm here to spend time with my best friend and his...weird other friends, so stop being depressing!"

Nathan hesitated, then shook his head and sighed, a small smile making it's way onto his face. "You're ridiculous." he said.

Justin snorted. "So? You know you love me. And so does Varian, apparently."

"I wouldn't go as far as 'love'. I'd say 'tolerates with a minor attachment'."

"Eh, I'll take what I can get."

After eating, they all headed back to campus in Skyler's car, which was the one they'd taken. It was sort of a tight fit, with Skyler in the back between Vince and Justin, and Thomas upfront with Nathan driving, thanks to his odd car-sickness thing. He was really hoping that would go away over the years.

Now Nathan was walking Justin back to his car, talking about the previous event.

"-And Vince is hilarious, I can see why Varian would assume we were related."

"Yeah, he's like an intelligent version of you." Nathan commented. Justin glared, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, you're hilarious," he mumbled. Nathan smiled in return, making Justin sigh and roll his eyes dramatically. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Gee, I don't know." Nathan replied with a shrug. Justin snorted, stopping at his car and hesitating, turning back to Nathan.

"Look, if you call 'Drea later, just...don't say anything about it, okay? She's still a little- well, a lot, pissed off over it. Just call her and tell her what she wants to know." Justin said. Nathan nodded.

"Alright. I can do that, I guess."

"Good." Justin paused, then frowned. "Are you ever...mad or anything that you didn't get to meet your real dad?"

Mad? Over not meeting Daniel? No, Nathan wasn't mad. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, to be honest.

"No," he decided, "I'm not. I don't mind it. As far as that goes, Eric is my father, not Daniel."

Justin nodded, putting his hands into his pockets. "Right...well, I should head back. Before Mom calls and asks where the hell I am," he said with a smile. Nathan smiled back, and Justin got into his car, starting it up and pulling out of the parking lot before heading down the road. Nathan sighed quietly, heading back to his dorm.

It was easily an hour later when Varian thought he should get up from the couch. But he was tired and didn't want to mess with it.

Until his front door opened and a very familiar vampire sauntered his way in.

Grabbing a pillow from the couch, Varian covered his face with it. He didn't want to deal with Evan.

"Well, somebody's being anti-social." Evan commented, walking over to stand in front of the couch Varian was reclining on.

He was wearing boots of some kind. Varian would recognize the sound of a boot sole hitting wood and carpet. Something jangled on Evan too. Most likely jewelry.

"Evan, I'm really not in the mood for company right now." Varian whispered, his throat still feeling raw.

There was weight on the edge of the couch, making Varian move slightly as Evan sat and a hand touched his shoulder.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Well, Varian wasn't expecting that. Pulling the pillow away a little bit, Varian glanced up at Evan and momentarily started.

He sounded the same, he talked the same, but Evan didn't look like Evan. His hair wasn't black with red streaks. It was blond. With a reddish tint. What was that called? Strawberry blond?

Still styled the same, but it was a change Varian hadn't been expecting. Different colored streaks or highlights yes, but a completely different color?

Evan smiled down at him. "What the matter sweetie? Am I too pretty for you to speak?"

Scoffing, Varian tossed the pillow at Evan who blocked it and it fell to the side somewhere. "I've never once thought you were pretty. And stop calling me 'sweetie'."

"But seriously," Evan pressed. "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying."

Why did people feel the need to invade his privacy? But he couldn't lie to Evan.

"I have," he answered, sitting up and pulling some hair out of his face. "I keep meaning to ask you this Evan, but do you know anything about the Board?"

Evan's expression dimmed, his smile dropping. "Sure."

Fixing his stare on Evan, Varian waited expectantly but Evan didn't speak anymore.

"What do you know?"

Evan sighed. "Well, I know that your family headed the founding, and Kai was part of it."

"And?"

"Well, I don't know anything about it concerning you, but Kai knows your father." Evan stated, arching an eyebrow as if daring Varian to ask.

Varian wasn't going to take the bait. "It concerns you?"

Evan smiled and crossed a leg over the other, blowing some of his hair out of his face. Varian was having a hard time adjusting to the strawberry blond of it, and he wondered if that was how Nathan felt when he showed up to school with his hair cut.

"Absolutely. Kai helped found it."

"Evan, you're not helping very much here." Varian protested.

"Well, I actually came here to ask you a favor."

Now it was Varian's turn to arch an eyebrow. "Uh-huh, and what is that exactly?"

"Well, the 'rents want me watching my brothers, and I haven't completely got a handle on them yet. I was wondering if you had any tips for me."

Well that was unexpected.

"What do you need help with?" Varian asked. Babies he could handle. In fact, they sounded like a nice distraction right now.

"Why don't you come with me to my place and we'll figure it out there?"

Varian narrowed his eyes at Evan. "That sounds an awful lot like a proposition."

A mischievous glint appeared in Evan's eyes and his smile became crooked. "Of course. I have no intentions of acting on it though."

Sighing, Varian got up from the couch. "I'm not leaving Venerra here."

Evan's expression lit up. "She can come with."

Somehow Varian had been convinced to go with Evan, and found himself in a car again, this one red. Venerra was all too happy to go somewhere and Varian briefly wondered if he should have stayed home.

He didn't have that much time to think about it before Evan pulled into the driveway of a small yellow townhouse, not very far from Nathan's, now that he thought about it, and hopped out of the car, motioning for him and Venerra to follow.

Following Evan, Varian and Venerra were lead into the house through the white outer door and Evan directed them towards the kitchen area on the left.

"Mom, Kai! I'm home!" he called. "I brought a boy!"

Varian rolled his eyes and Venerra busied herself by glancing around.

"I'm in the kitchen," came a female voice and Evan grabbed Varian's hand and pulled him in, Venerra giggling as she followed.

A woman with short strawberry blond hair the same color as Evan's stood at the stove, pulling something out of the oven. She had a white apron on, and a sea foam green dress, but he couldn't see her face because her back was to him.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait too long, because she put a tray on the stove and turned around, her expression happy.

She was Changed, and her hair was cut in a short bob, her lips painted a dark pink. "Oh, you did bring a boy."

"I know, isn't he adorable?" Evan asked, pulling Varian closer by his hand.

Varian glared at Evan and yanked his hand out of Evan's who shrugged.

"His name's Varian. Varian, Mom, Mom, farm boy," he introduced.

Evan's mother smiled at Varian. "Hello Varian. Who's that?" she asked, pointing past Varian at Venerra who looked at Evan's mother in awe.

"My name's Venerra," she said running over and looking up at Evan's mom. "You're really pretty. Like Evan."

"Why thank you sweetie, you're very pretty yourself," she said, then looked towards the hallway. "Kai's coming."

Both Varian and Evan turned to see another person walk into the kitchen.

"Evan bringing a boy home, I gotta see this-" they said, then stopped as they entered the room.

It was a woman. She had straight red hair that fell to her shoulders, and she wore a plain white cotton dress with a blue sash across the stomach and tied in a big bow behind her.

"Oh," she said, a hand flying up to rest over her heart. "You're Varian, aren't you?"

Varian froze. This was Kai? Evan talked about Kai a couple times, but now he understood why he always referred to Kai as Kai. He'd always assumed Kai was his father, and that could very well be true, but Kai looked and sounded feminine, though her voice was deeper than expected.

"Yes…" Varian answered.

She smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry Evan dragged you into babysitting."

"I'm not." Varian replied, smiling just a little bit too. Definitely not sorry.

Nathan was a little surprised to see Thomas sitting on his bed with his back against the wall and another coffee in hand, absently sipping at it every now and then as he read one of his textbooks. Raising an eyebrow, Nathan gestured to the coffee. "I thought that stuff didn't effect you guys?"

Thomas glanced up, then looked back at the drink. "It doesn't. Old habits die hard. I check the time with my phone too. Just small stuff you get used to while being Mortal, I guess." Thomas sighed. Nathan frowned.

"How long have you been Changed?"

"Since I started college."

That made sense, Nathan supposed. He imagined it took time, getting used to being Changed. He reached under his bed for Daniel's book before sitting down, tapping his fingers on the cover. He hadn't looked at it in a while- roughly a year, now that he thought about it. And wow, it was really dusty...

"What is that?" Thomas asked curiously. Nathan glanced up, shrugging a little.

"My father's V.C. Book." he answered quietly. Thomas hummed quietly, looking at it for a second before going back to his textbook. A question popped up in Nathan's mind though that he couldn't help but ask. "Thomas?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you know Ace?" Nathan was fairly curious, since Thomas had suggested that Nathan call him for Varian's problem. But Nathan hadn't considered how Thomas would know him, especially since Thomas wasn't in his class.

"Oh, I had his class sophomore year. One of my favorite classes. Great professor." Thomas answered. Nathan nodded a little, thinking that over. "I'm an upperclassman. A senior, and this is my last year here, which means you'll get a new roommate next year."

Nathan hadn't thought about how long Thomas had been there. He definitely hadn't thought about needing a new roommate.

Thomas laughed. "Don't look so freaked out, it's not that bad. I had two roommates before you, and I'm still alive." he said. Nathan raised an eyebrow at that.

"Probably scared them off with your constant hugging," he commented dryly. Thomas snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, I never even saw the first guy. I can't even remember his name. The second guy...okay, I may have scared him off." Thomas admitted.

Nathan laughed quietly, shaking his head. A new roommate would be interesting, but a very, very small part of him would miss Thomas. At least he'd still have Skyler and Vince.

"Alright, moving away from your previous roommates because I honestly don't care, what element do you have?" Nathan asked. Thomas shrugged slightly.

"Earth. I get to play with dirt," he said with a smile.

"Interesting. Varian has that too."

Thomas nodded, then paused and his smile widened slightly. "Varian's Changed, right?"

Nathan frowned. "Yes?"

"And he bites you?"

"Sometimes."

"So I take it he's seen your other scar?"

Nathan's hand flew up to his neck, where Thomas had bitten him before as he glared. "Yes. He has," he answered quietly. Thomas snorted quietly, shaking his head a little as he looked at Nathan seriously for a minute.

"I am sorry about that. I was really hungry."

"I don't care. If you ever do that again, I will rip your fangs out. And if you get Changed again, I will continue to rip them out." Nathan threatened. Thomas winced a little, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth before sighing.

"I guess I deserve that."

"Damn right you do."

"It's a good thing you didn't struggle too much though." Thomas commented. Nathan snorted, raising an eyebrow.

"I was pinned to a bed. How the fuck was I supposed to struggle?"

"That was the point," Thomas answered, "makes things more difficult than if you hold still. Also pisses the person biting you off."

Nathan rolled his eyes, absently rubbing the side of his neck before dropping his hand again. "Yeah, well, next time you get hungry, bite Vince or something."

"Tempting." Thomas said quietly. Shaking his head, Nathan chose not to comment on that, looking down at Daniel's book in his lap and opening it, flipping toward the back. There were still a ton of entries he hadn't read, not to mention the letters up front. Thinking about Varian finding his father's journal, however, had made Nathan remember that he'd had Daniel's book. He flipped back to the front, shifting some of the letters around to get to the picture under them.

Picking it up, he glanced it over. It was slightly discolored, but not so much that it was a distraction. It was of Elle and Daniel when they'd gotten married. Nathan frowned at that. Did Daniel have a human upbringing, since only one parent was a vampire? Or was he raised like a vampire? He'd have to ask Millie at some point.

Elle looked happy, in the picture, as far as Nathan could tell. Daniel looked more nervous. Nathan was a little annoyed that he couldn't tell who any of the other people in the picture were though. They were either blurry, or he could only see the back of their head.

"Who's that?"

He jumped, noticing Thomas standing over him and looking at the picture. Nathan hadn't even heard him move. Clearing his throat, he answered. "Uh, my parents."

"Cool. You look a lot like your mom." Thomas commented. Nathan nodded as Thomas kept looking, narrowing his eyes a little. "When did your dad die?"

"Before I was even born."

"Well. Better before you were alive, I guess." Thomas mumbled. "Did you ever want to meet him?"

"Not really. Never bothered me, to be honest. My mom remarried when I was little. That was when we moved to Mandan. We lived in Colorado before that."

Thomas nodded. "Interesting. Very interesting."

Evan's parents left, and Evan wasted no time in introducing Varian to Tor and Bartley.

They laid in a playpen together on their backs and as soon as Evan walked over and appeared in their line of sight, Varian heard both of their coos of excitement.

"Varian, get your ass over here and meet my brothers." Evan commanded pointing at Varian and then at the spot next to him.

Smiling, Varian walked over and peered at the twins. They were identical, from the parts in their hair to the dimples on their cheeks. But they were different at the same time.

"Tor's on the left, with the white eyes, Bartley's on the right, with the blue eyes."

Varian nodded and waved Venerra over who peered over the pen excitedly.

"Babies!" she whisper-talked, looking up at Varian.

He nodded. "You were that small at one point too."

She kept staring at the babies until Evan bent and picked up Tor, cradling him in his arms.

"So what'd you need help with?" Varian asked. Evan looked like he had it under control.

"You'll see." Evan answered, smiling at Tor.

Not even half an hour later and Varian did see. Both boys started up a fuss, wanting to be fed, and as there was only one Evan when babysitting, Varian understood, laughing quietly as Evan fumbled.

He looked up and glared at Varian. "Little help would be nice."

"Hand him over and you get the other." Varian replied, reaching for Tor.

Evan handed him over and quickly went to retrieve Bartley, who Venerra was fawning over.

The infant was small, but healthy, if his wailing was anything to go by, his short strawberry blond hair messed up all over his head and sticking up in various places. He had a green outfit on, Bartley in light blue.

"Bottle?" Varian asked Evan, looking around.

Evan disappeared and reappeared with two already warmed up and handed one to Varian. Making his way over to a nearby chair, Varian sat and held Tor to him, shifting him so he'd be able to get the bottle easier.

As soon as his eyes landed on the bottle, his wailing subdued to frustrated gurgling, Evan working on Bartley who made significantly less fuss than his brother to begin with.

"There, see, not so bad." Varian said softly to Tor. "I understand you're hungry, now settle down and I'll feed you."

Wasn't long before Tor sucked the bottle down and Evan and Varian teamed up to put them to bed.

"How do you do it?" Evan asked a little breathless, wiping at his brow.

"Do what?"

"That!" Evan said, gesturing to the sleeping babies. "You're like, the baby-whisperer."

Smiling, Varian shrugged and turned back to look at Venerra, gazing down in wonder at the babies. "Practice. Good as she is, she didn't come with an instruction manual."

Evan smiled before he reached into his pocket and dialed a number into his phone, then held it in his hand until the other line picked up.

"Hey sweetie, what's up?"

That voice from the person that'd called before spoke. "Oh, the sky, my blood pressure, all that good stuff."

"Too much salt is bad for you, ya know?" Evan replied, shifting his weight to one hip. "Hey, 'Manda, you're on speaker phone honey, just so you know."

"Oh goody. I'm not surprised you want to share my sass. And I would cut down on salt, but it's a vital part of my margaritas." Amanda said.

This had Varian smiling, but he stayed quiet.

"Ooh, sounds like fun. I'd ask to partake with you, but alcohol tends to make me horny." Evan laughed, flashing Varian a smile which had him rolling his eyes. "Hey, you feel like going somewhere with me baby?"

"I always feel like going places with you, hun. And you can still have my world famous margaritas! I'll make them virgin. Anything virgin is a foreign concept to you, I know, but I promise they're still good," Amanda teased.

This actually had Varian snickering, and Evan shrugged, looking at his phone. "Virgins aren't foreign concepts," Evan said, a wicked grin crossing his face. "They cross my threshold and are never seen in their natural state again."

Amanda laughed from her end of the conversation. "They're going to go extinct because of you, hun. Pretty soon Morgan Freeman is going to be narrating a documentary about the endangered virgin and how we all need to donate ten dollars a month to the United Save The Virgins Fund, and there will be a very sad song playing in the background that will make me cry and give them money. And it will be all your fault!"

"What's the probability Morgan Freeman is one these endangered species?"

That name was actually familiar, though Varian couldn't figure out where he'd heard it.

"I don't know and I'd rather not find out," Amanda laughed. "Now, before my charm and incredible wit sidetracked us, you said something before about going somewhere with you?"

Evan looked to just remember. "Oh, yes. Feel like going to Michigan with me? I hear the yoop's got some pretty awesome authentic venison jerky."

Amanda sounded surprised. "Huh. Sounds interesting. Stay on the phone, let me do some Googling..." she said, then paused. "I'm in. But if we're going all the way to Michigan already, we should stop at this place called Mackinac Island. Pictures look beautiful. And Google says they have amazing fudge. You know me and sweets."

Of all the things Evan wanted to try, venison jerky was one of them? Interesting.

"Alright, we'll take my Malibu, I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon, and then we'll get some fudge and venison jerky."

"Fantastic. Now I need to go shopping for road trip and/or Michigan visit outfits."

Varian arched an eyebrow. Just like that huh?

"'Kay, by sweetie, don't forget the margaritas and a drop-dead sexy outfit and I'll see you tomorrow." Evan replied, hanging up the phone.

Not long after Varian and Venerra were back home and Evan left with a kiss to Varian's cheek and a hug from Venerra.

Nathan was, in short, bored. He had nothing to do. Thomas was gone. Vince was gone as well. And he had a strange suspicion that wherever Thomas and Vince were, they were probably together. Hell, even Skyler was gone. They were all off doing something. Nathan could have been at work, but he wasn't scheduled. So there he was, laying on his bed in the dorm, staring at the ceiling.

He didn't feel like looking at Daniel's book. He really wasn't feeling social, so he didn't want to call either of the twins, or Elle. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Nathan looked at it, debating.

He could call Varian. Even if he wasn't in a 'social' mood, he always liked talking to him. Shrugging slightly, he flipped his phone open and searched for Varian's number, finding it and hitting the call button. Varian picked up on the second ring, as Nathan expected.

"Hello?"

"I'm bored." Nathan sighed. Not the best greeting, but he didn't care. He was really bored.

"Oh really?" Varian asked. "I'm not, and this time, I think I'm okay with it."

"Why, what are you doing that's so entertaining?"

"Did, past tense." Varian replied. "My day started off pretty crappy, but it had a decent ending."

"Oh? Do tell." Nathan answered, closing his eyes and relaxing onto the bed. He hadn't realized he was tired earlier. Maybe he'd take a nap after talking to Varian.

"Well, for starters, I found out Helen's been lying to me my whole life."

"Well damn. About what?"

Varian sighed. "About how old she really is, and how much she knows about my parents. Specifically my father."

Well then. That's interesting. "Huh. How'd you find out?"

"I read more of my father's journal." Varian answered. "Learned some things I never knew. Like that's very unheard of." he mumbled bitterly. Nathan wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just hummed, waiting for Varian to speak again. "My grandparents weren't mates. They were matched."

That got Nathan's attention as he opened his eyes again, frowning. "Matched? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means somebody decided they would be an ideal pair." Varian explained.

Ideal pair? Ideal for what? This was just confusing. Or maybe the fact that Nathan was tired was just making it confusing. Either way, it sounded weird. "... Uh-huh."

"Their children, Vesper and my father are the product of their union, Nathan." Varian went on. "He admitted in his journal that my family has been involved in genetic matching, and that he's a direct product of it."

"Genetic matching?" Nathan paused to think about that. He felt like there was just something he wasn't understanding about this. "That's weird." he mumbled.

"It is. I don't like it." Varian agreed. "And my father also mentioned in a passage seeing Helen when he lived in Arkansas. They met outside a store when Cercea was with him."

Nathan hummed again. "That's interesting." he commented, letting his eyes slide shut again.

"He said she was his childhood friend, and Helen later told me she's known my family since we were given the last name 'Joll'. That's give generations ago."

Holy fuck.

"Jesus she is old." Nathan mumbled. He figured Helen had to be older than she looked, but good God.

"And she is a Nether vampire."

"I assume she didn't find her mate then." Nathan said. Since if she had, she would have aged normally. Or, well, scratch that- if she had been with her mate, she would have aged normally. Judging by Helen's appearance, she'd definitely found him.

That's really got to suck. Stuck living for a ridiculous amount of time just because you couldn't be with someone. Well, sucked for Helen at least. She'd never done or said anything rude to Nathan, despite the obvious fact that they were uncomfortable with each other.

Jecklynn, on the other hand. Nathan couldn't care less if she lived forever. He hoped she was lonely as hell, too.

"I don't know." Varian sighed. "My father mentioned her marrying a Ronald, and I knew about him, I asked Helen a couple years ago when he died and she said a long time ago. They've had two children apparently."

"He couldn't have been her mate then. If he was, she would have aged. Has she always looked the same?"

"There are some days she appears older, but not that I can tell." Varian said. "And she has a twin sister, Anna. Who would have to be Jecklynn's mother."

"I'd assume so." Nathan mumbled irritably, then cleared his throat. "Couldn't have been her mate then, I don't think."

"You'd have to ask Ace." Varian replied. "But on other news, Evan decided to kidnap Venerra and I for a while."

Nathan laughed quietly. "Oh really? How'd that go?"

"I got to babysit." Varian laughed. "I haven't taken care of a baby since Venerra was born."

Nathan hummed quietly again, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "His brothers?"

"Yes, and they are very adorable. You might have competition."

"I'm not too worried. It's illegal until they're eighteen, so I've got at least that long."

Varian laughed. "Not my type. And I don't share, so that would be problematic."

Nathan laughed quietly. "Guess I don't have to worry then."

"No, you don't." Varian chuckled. "I learned a few other things today."

"Like what?"

"Evan is a natural blonde. Strawberry blonde, but it really shows his Celtic roots."

"Fascinating."

"I didn't recognize him at first, and I wondered if that's how you felt when I cut my hair." Varian said. "And I got to meet his parents."

"Yeah, the hair was a bit of a shock," Nathan admitted. "What are his parents like?"

"Friendly." Varian replied. "I met his mother first, Evan and his brothers get their hair color from her. She took an interest in Venerra right away."

"Who doesn't? She's adorable."

Varian laughed again. "And she actually didn't come with an instruction manual. But then I met Kai."

Kai. Nathan was interested in Kai. "How'd that go?"

"Well, I understand why Evan always refers to Kai as Kai now."

"Oh?"

"She's very nice." Varian said. "And she knew who I was when she first saw me. She looked shocked at first, more than anything."

Oh, so Kai did have a gender. That, or Varian just said 'she' because Kai looks like a 'she'. Then again, Nathan had never seen 'her', so he couldn't be sure.

"Huh. Why?"

"Probably because I look a lot like my father. She knew him."

Nathan was quiet for a second, trying to think of an appropriate response to that. He couldn't come up with one, so he settled for a quiet sigh. "Well then."

Varian didn't say anything at first, then spoke up. "You alright? I've been so caught up in telling you about my day I didn't ask about yours."

"I'm fine. A little tired, but that just sort of hit me a few minutes ago. Nothing's really going on around here. Thomas and Vince are off somewhere, and I don't even want to ask where Skyler is." Nathan replied. He really didn't. She had an odd way of disappearing that was eerily similar to Millie.

Varian snorted quietly. "A Changed vampire running off with a person of interest? Give you a good guess on what's happening there."

"I don't want to know what's happening there. I've had to hear about Justin and Evan, I don't want to hear about Thomas and Vince."

No. Definitely not. No thank you.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." Varian replied. "Off topic, but are you coming back this weekend?"

"I had planned on it, yeah. Why?"

"Well, as I've mentioned a couple times with you around, I grow corn and use what I can, and the rest I sell at the farmer's market. The market's going all the way through this coming weekend."

"Ah. Which means..?"

"I'll be gone from twelve on Friday through Sunday morning until about eight or so." Varian answered. "You're welcome to come, but you'd be surrounded by farmers and I'd have to take my truck, which you can't drive, and I don't want you getting sick."

"Uh-huh," Nathan mumbled, "so, go with you, get sick, and be surrounded by farmers, or stay here for the weekend, not see you, and listen to Thomas. This is a genuinely difficult choice."

Varian laughed quietly. "I still need someone to watch Venerra. And while I'd let Evan do that, I'd feel better if you did. And I'd be back Sunday."

"So third choice being watch Venerra. Yeah, I think I'll go with choice three here."

"Good, thank you."

"Yup." 'Yup' was a weird word, Nathan decided. Seriously, who decided 'yup' was an acceptable answer versus 'yeah' or 'yes'? He probably would have said more, but he didn't know what else to add. So 'yup' had come out first.

"Then I guess I'll see you Sunday. I've got about nine hours stuck in close confines with Millie tomorrow, so I should probably go."

Nathan snorted. While it was a job at the time, he was so glad he didn't work for his aunt anymore. Evil old woman. "Have fun with that."

"Yes, because I can imagine absolutely nothing else I'd rather be doing." Varian sighed. "Alright then, good night Nathan. I love you."

Nathan laughed quietly at the first part. "I love you too."

Varian hung up after that, and Nathan closed his phone and held it in his hand for a second before reaching over and putting it on his desk. It didn't surprise him too much when he fell asleep roughly five minutes later.

The farmer's market. The single most important event in the year that Varian had to prepare for. He spent all winter planning his next crop, the spring mapping out the fields and late in it he'd get the sweet corn seed that he'd saved from the previous year and get it ready to plant.

Come summer and those seeds were planted, and he tended them until the corn was tall, big, and healthy.

Then it was off to picking, which his boyfriend and his friends had helped in, Cana carting the load back to the house where Varian sorted and then shucked corn.

Now that it was all separated in piles, he had to crate those that he hadn't plastic wrapped for the store for the market. Which was where Andre came in handy, as he'd helped with planting and tending.

Or he would if he could, but he hadn't been around lately, which worried Varian. Perhaps school was difficult for him?

He sighed, plucking corn and yanking a crate over as he knelt and packed it. He had a few days to get it ready, bring what went to the store to the store, and then it was off to the market.

It's location shifted every once and a while, this year being in Minot, a good hundred and ten miles north of Mandan. Which was almost a two-hour drive.

A while later and sixteen crates packed and ready to go, Varian heard footsteps coming up his drive and glanced up from his work, pausing.

After their encounter at her house, he didn't think he'd be seeing her so soon.

"Hey," she said, raising her hand in greeting, then putting it in her pocket, where the other rested.

"Helen?" Varian asked, standing up straight from packing the corn, cracking his back as he did, which felt nice.

"Before you run me off your property, I'd like to speak to you," she replied, stopping once she reached him, ducking under the shade of the overhang from the shed.

Varian wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, he's like to run her off his property, but on the other, this was the woman that had been around since before he could remember.

"Alright," he relented after a moment of consideration, turning back to the corn. "But help me pack the corn while you do if you would?"

She nodded, grabbing a bucket to sit on while Varian chose to kneel and got to work picking up corn and packing them tightly and neatly into crates.

"I'm sorry I upset you so much," she started, glancing at him as she smoothing out a layer of corn and grabbed another four ears to pack.

Varian didn't have anything to say to that, so he chose silence.

"I keep forgetting you're not Victor, you're Varian," she tried again, quietly this time. "You don't know everything like him, and he grew up as my friend, but you Varian, you're the closest thing to a son I could have."

Varian bit his lip, forcing himself to remain silent. There were so many things he wanted to say, but something told him to just listen.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you everything you want to know, you have to keep reading."

Why did everyone feel the need to tell him that? He got that he needed to keep reading, but he had very little time to do so.

"Can you at least answer me one question?" Varian asked, looking up from his work at Helen who regarded him quietly, those black eyes on him, that youthful pixie cut the only haircut he'd ever seen on her.

"Yes," she said.

"Why are you still alive? You found your mate, didn't you?"

Helen looked a little surprised but smiled and nodded. "Yes, I met Ronald. We were married and had two daughters together."

Varian furrowed his brow. "But that was years ago."

She paused in her work, resting back on the bucket. "I'm still alive because I had a responsibility, and that was to provide my niece with a home after Anna died. And then I had you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. The boy that never eats."

So she stayed alive for Jecklynn and him, but happens then?

"She has a home, and I'm fine now," Varian began. "What happens to you?"

Helen heaved a tired sigh. "I'm old Varian. Before this month is done I'll leave this world and join my mate and our daughters."

Varian felt like somebody punched him in the gut, it was suddenly hard to breathe.

"Don't look so anguished," Helen spoke gently. "I wanted to tell you now, so you had a heads up. And I didn't want that fight to be that last thing we ever said to each other."

Abandoning the crate, Varian got up and hugged Helen. He didn't care that he was still a little miffed at her. She had taken care of him so many times over the years, it would be hard to let her go.

"Is this the last time we'll see each other?" Varian asked, his voice sounding small.

She hugged him back, then pulled away. "I'll pop by Sunday after you're back from the market. Then I'm leaving for Arkansas to be with the rest of my family."

Varian nodded. So soon. So quickly he was losing a support.

"Bye now." Helen said, heading back towards her house.

And then she was gone, and Varian was left alone to crate corn once again, but this time he was left with a heavy heart.

Nathan had to admit, he missed Ace's class. Well, he did before he realized everyone would be staring at him.

And it was really getting on his nerves.

Nathan noticed that Ace, instead of being at his desk, was at a new one, which seemed to randomly pop up in the open 'u'-shaped portion of the tables, flipping through a textbook and smiling occasionally. However, Nathan was glad to notice that Chelsea wasn't paying him any more attention than usual, since she sat right beside him.

Once everyone was in the class and seated, Ace clapped his hands to get their attention. "Hey, last time I checked he's not your professor, I am."

"Which one of you is in a textbook though? No offense." Vince responded with a smile. Nathan leaned over the table to glare down at him, even though it was pointless because Vince didn't seem to care.

Ace cleared his throat. "I'm in that textbook too, thank you. If you'd read the front cover, you'll see that I wrote it too."

Vince frowned slightly, reaching into his bag and pulling his book out of it to look the front cover over for a second. "I'll be damned. Carry on, sir."

Smirking, Ace leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, you all do the assignment?"

A few people nodded, and the rest said 'yeah', Nathan among them, except for Vince, who said 'obviously'. Nathan felt like Vince had an odd need to stand out and be noticed. "Did you?" Ace asked. "Well, if you'd all bring your assignment up to me and set them on the desk, I'll start asking you questions."

All of them slowly got up and made their way toward where Ace was sitting, putting their essays in a mostly-neat pile before going back to their seats, waiting to be questioned. "What was covered in the passage?"

"A Changed vampire bit themselves and nearly died, but was saved by this guy." Chelsea answered, almost sounding bored as she gestured to Nathan, making him roll his eyes.

"Why did the Changed vampire bite themselves?"

"Because they felt like they didn't have another option." Vince answered that time. Ace looked over at him and smiled a little.

"Five bucks goes to whoever can tell me who this Changed vampire was."

Nathan opened his mouth to answer, but was quickly cut off by Vince. "Varian Joll!" he yelled, looking down the table at Nathan. "Fuck you!"

Nathan snorted and smiled a little, shaking his head. Ace, however, apparently wasn't finished.

"I forgot to say 'besides Vince'." he added. Vince gaped at that, and Nathan took the opportunity to respond.

"Varian Joll. Fuck you." he said, turning to Vince with a smile for the last part. Ace smiled before getting up and walking over to Nathan, pulling out his wallet and passing a five to him before turning to address the rest of the class.

"I've got three hundred dollars to pass out today. If you answer my questions, you get cash. Sound good?"

Everyone responded with either 'yeah' or 'yes, except for Vince, who kept quiet and huffed to himself. Nathan refrained from smiling further as he took the five and put it in his own wallet. "Next question." Ace said, walking around the inside of the 'U' slowly with his arms crossed over his chest again. "How old is this Changed vampire?"

It was silent for a second, and Nathan thought he'd have to answer before Chelsea sighed. "You guys really don't know how to do research. He's nineteen."

"Congratulations, Chelsea." Ace said. "She's right, research is key. He'd be nineteen by now. Twenty for you."

Ace handed her a twenty, which Chelsea took and put into her pocket. "Thank you very much." she said.

"Who was the doctor? Ten for last name only, twenty for first, thirty if you give both."

"Grant Nhik." Xavier replied, almost immediately. Nathan was a little surprised. How would he know that? Unless he did a lot of research like Chelsea.

Ace nodded. "Yes, Dr. Grant Nhik. Fine doctor." he said, shelling out thirty to Xavier, who just nodded in response. "A hundred to whoever knows how many times his heart stopped."

"Three." Elise spoke up.

"Excellent!" Ace exclaimed, striding over to her and handing her two fifties. "Nice to hear you." he told her, smiling. Elise smiled back a little. "Fifty to whoever can tell me what his sister's name is."

"Venerra." Nathan answered. He figured no one else would know that one. Well, Xavier might, but he wasn't sure since he didn't speak up.

"Should I consider it cheating for you to answer?" Ace asked, going to Nathan and handing the money over.

"It's not 'cheating', it's using my resources." Nathan answered. It wasn't his fault he practically lived with the person they were talking about.

"True, resources are nice, even if they do come directly from a mate." Ace agreed. "Five to whoever can tell me where he bit himself."

"His wrist." Xavier said.

"Good, good." Ace commended, walking over and giving him a five. "And a hundred to whoever can tell me what his last name means."

"'Joll' means 'to walk or move clumsily'." Nathan answered after thinking for a second. He was a little surprised that no one else answered, but maybe they just figured they wouldn't have to know what the name meant. "Or 'one who stumbles through life'."

Ace turned to Nathan with an impressed expression. "Indeed." he said, going over and giving him two fifties before turning to the whole class, holding up his hands. "Alright, cash gone. Now, your questions. Shoot."

"How could he do that?" Zach spoke up with a frown. "Just bite himself like that? I get the fact that he thought he didn't have another way, but still. There had to be something."

"Because Changed vampires are creatures of instinct, right?" Ace asked. "That he shouldn't have been able to do it at all?"

"Well, basically, yeah."

Ace nodded before going over and perching on the edge of the desk. "Are you all familiar with the phrase 'a vampire is only as strong as his will'?"

Everyone nodded after a second. While Nathan wasn't particularly familiar with it, he didn't feel like being the odd-one-out and asking what it meant. He had a pretty good idea anyway.

"Well, we all know instinct is a powerful drive, without it, a whole lot more of us would be seriously injured or killed." Ace said. "Changed vampires shouldn't be able to fight it, let alone shove it aside. But if you have a vampire that has something to protect or prove, their will can change that."

"So, I guess this guy's really strong or something." Zach commented.

"To take something as entirely consuming as instinct and not only shove it aside but remain rational enough to make a choice like he did, yes." Ace stated. "This vampire, if he or somebody he cared about was threatened, I wouldn't want to get in his way. He's quite honestly incredible."

"Damn." Zach mumbled to himself. Ace smiled, then looked at Nathan.

"If you don't mind me asking, what drove him to do what he did? The book doesn't say."

"Well, pretty much, it was either bite himself or his sister. He loves her more than... probably anything, so he chose himself. He doesn't have the time to get blood regularly, so he wound up like that." Nathan explained.

"And how long did he go without blood for him to get that desperate? A day? Or a day and a half?" Ace asked. Nathan hesitated. It was definitely longer than that...

"Four days." he finally answered. The Changed vampires all looked at him, surprised- even Chelsea. Ace's eyebrows raised, and he even looked a little shocked.

"Four days?" he echoed, then paused. "A special vampire indeed."

Nathan nodded a little before Ace spoke again. "Well, thank you. I'll have to update my textbook." he said, then turned to the rest of the class. "Other questions?"

"Yeah, I have a question." Nathan said, holding up his hand for a second. "Do certain smells affect Changed vampires?"

Ace smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed to have a habit of doing that. "Yes, indeed they do. Sometimes a Changed vampire is created that has a certain affinity for a certain category of scent."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"Well, sometimes you get more sight oriented, or sound oriented Changed vampires, depending on the personality. But a scent oriented Changed vampire is different." he explained. "They're a lot more common than you think, but most of them never know of this unique feature they have, or their mates never discover the right scent."

"Uh-huh." Nathan said, making a small motion for Ace to continue.

"Like I mentioned earlier, a certain category of scent will attract them, whether it be sweet, or floral, or even sour. But a certain smell in that category will drive them nuts." Ace went on. "Anybody in here notice their mate or a previous lover who reacted differently to a smell?"

Only two or three people raised their hand, including Nathan, though he figured his vote was already counted, considering he was the one who asked the question.

"Well, these types of vampires are partial to one specific smell. At first they'll just notice that it's there or new, and then comment on how they like it." Ace said. "But the more you expose them to it, or let them inhale it, the more effect it has on them. It's actually an aphrodisiac."

"Oh," Nathan said, raising his eyebrows, "that explains a lot."

It really did. He knew Varian liked his shampoo. Now he knew why. That was very interesting.

Ace just chuckled, looking amused. "Like I said, the more you expose them to it, the more of an effect it has. And if you take it away, when they smell it again, it'll have the same strength on them it did when you stopped. So mind who knows what the special scent is."

Nathan went to nod, but a thought made him stop and frown slightly. He could only think of one person that might abuse what Varian's 'special scent' is. Well, technically two, because he could see Evan doing it, but not to abuse it. However, he could fully see Jecklynn doing it if she was persistent enough. Then thought made him a little uneasy, but he fully nodded after a minute.

"Any more questions?"

Everyone shook their heads before Ace spoke again.

"Alright, then let's talk parties." Ace stated. "And why it's an excellent idea if you have a Changed vampire around and you plan on getting laid."

Come Wednesday, Varian was trying to finish up crating, sitting on a bucket in front of a pile of corn on a tarp, stacks of empty crates waiting to be filled on his right. The shed was behind him to provide some shade from the heat that he'd rather be sleeping through.

He'd gotten quite a few crates filled and stacked on his left, and was happily going about his work when a car pulled into his driveway. Glancing up curiously, Varian was much less enthused to see Justin sitting in it for a second before getting out and going over to Varian with an innocent smile.

"Nathan's not here."

"I know." Justin replied.

Arching an eyebrow at him, Varian spoke. "Then may I ask why you're here and look a lot more suspicious than you should?"

Justin snorted. "Pfft. Suspicious. I don't know what you're talking about. I just felt the need to keep my best friend's boyfriend company while he's away at college. Is that such a bad thing?"

"You and Evan both. What is it with you two and wanting to keep me company?"

"I don't know Evan's reason. Mine is because I'm bored, to be perfectly honest." Justin said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm not against company, so grab a bucket and help me crate the corn."

If Justin was bored, he'd certainly think of something for him to do.

"Aye aye, captain." Justin replied, grabbing a bucket and sitting on it for a second before helping. "So, what's this for?"

"Farmer's market starts this Friday and goes through the weekend." Varian explained. "I've got to crate all of this by Thursday, so I can run around that day for any last minute things before setting out early Friday morning."

Justin nodded from his work. "Guess Nathan won't be down this weekend then."

Varian glanced up at that. "He'll be here. I need somebody to watch my sister while I'm gone. I'll be back Sunday morning."

"Oh. That works too, I guess." Justin said.

Smiling and shaking his head, Varian finished packing his crate and set it aside, grabbing another and got back to work. "So why see me, why not Evan?"

"Work. Plus he's been away, so. Besides, you're like...my third favorite person, so of course, now that I know where you live, I have to come harass you from time to time." Justin stated with a smile.

"Work for you, or Evan? He doesn't get ready until six, and doesn't leave until ten, so that's not a very good excuse." Varian pointed out. "Though he is gone. He's currently driving around the upper peninsula of Michigan in search of venison jerky and fudge with his friend Amanda."

"Work for me, thank you. Weird fucking hours." Justin replied, mumbling the last part, then looked up at Varian. "Venison jerky and fudge? Odd combination, but whatever floats their boat I guess."

Varian held up his hands. "I don't ask Evan too many questions. His answers tend to scare me."

Justin snorted. "Understandable. On another topic, how's life?"

Varian shrugged, going back to packing crates. Was Justin avoiding the Evan topic?

"Irritating, like usual." Varian sighed. "Why are you avoiding the Evan topic?"

Justin paused for a second. "Why are you pushing the Evan topic?"

Smiling, Varian shrugged again. "Because you're avoiding it."

"I'm not avoiding anything. I just want to move to another topic."

Right, like that was any different. Smirking, Varian set the corn he was holding down and fixed his gaze on Justin. "Moving on is the same thing. So out with it."

"Is this how annoying I get when asking about your sex life with Nathan?" Justin asked, not looking at Varian.

Stretching, Varian sighed. "Yup. But I can get much worse. And unlike Evan, I have no problem biting humans. You're still avoiding the subject."

"I bite back. Fair warning." He replied, raising an eyebrow. "Fine, I'm avoiding the subject, but it's not important."

"It's not recommended to bite a vampire back. Especially a Changed one." Varian stated, picking up the corn he'd set down and went back to packing the crate. "You might ignite their sex drive, and while you'd have nothing to worry about from me, I wouldn't bite you anyway."

Justin held his hands up, mirroring Varian's earlier action. "Just letting you know. Granted its always been a human that bites me, but still. Got into a lot of fights like that, now that I think about it," he commented thoughtfully.

Snickering, Varian fixed his gaze on Justin again. "You're still avoiding the Evan topic. I'm not going to stop harassing you until you tell me."

"Guess you've got a lot of harassing ahead of you then." Justin responded with a smile.

"Oh really? Fine. How about we do this equally. I ask you something, and you can ask me something." Varian suggested. "Work with you?"

Justin groaned and paused for a minute. "Damn you. Fine."

Pretty sure he looked triumphant, Varian got to work asking, even as they continued crating. "So what's up, you don't like him anymore?"

Justin sighed. "I like him," he replied quietly.

Alright, so what did he have to avoid then?

"So why try so hard to avoid the question?"

"Because it's not something I like talking about."

Sighing, Varian glanced Justin over curiously. Interesting. "Well, he is my friend, as odd as that thought is, so I can talk to him the next time I see him if you want." Varian offered, wondering if Justin would take the bait. "But I need to know what to bring up."

"Well you've asked two questions. Which means you can't ask more until I ask two questions." Justin mumbled.

"Fire away. I'm not a hypocrite."

Justin thought for a second. "Exactly how far have you and Nathan gone? Sexually, I mean. You can't tell me that you really haven't done anything. Its been like...over a year."

Go right for the kill, why doesn't he?

"Frottage." Varian answered simply. "Next?"

Justin frowned slightly before shaking his head. "Okay then. Next, you really don't seem like the type of person to have sex with twelve guys. It was twelve, right, I remembered that correctly? Why so many guys? You're not even twenty yet."

Varian took a moment to think over his response. "I don't seem like the type to do a lot of the things I do, but I still do them," he began. "I'm a Changed vampire, I too, like Evan, though much less drastically, have needs. And I don't sleep with the same person for more than one session."

"I'd ask why but I guess you have the next question."

Smiling just a little bit, at least Varian had time to prepare his answer then. "What is it about Evan that makes you uncomfortable? Frankly, I've never seen him hang onto one person for so long."

Justin smiled slightly as well. "A few things. My main concern, I guess, is that I'm worried about this just being a phase or something. I mean, what do I do if I don't actually like guys? I've never been with a guy before, and honestly before senior year, I never even thought about it."

"If it's just a phase, then it's a phase and you're lucky that you picked the perfect vampire for it." Varian answered. "Though it's more like he picked you."

All Varian got was a quiet hum. "Your question."

"Why."

"Because I just do my own thing." Varian stated. "I don't care what other people think about it, but I don't sleep with the same person for more than one session because it'd be too hard on me. Random hook ups I can do, but only once. Having sex with somebody I care about? I just can't do that. Not yet."

This time he was treated to a nod.

"So what do you think about Evan? Is he too pushy? Not enough?"

"He's fine. I guess. I don't know, actually. I've never really had a relationship before. Hell, Evan isn't even a relationship, he's a guy I like and happen to have sex with." Justin said with a snort.

"Guess you can't complain then." Varian laughed. "One last question from you and we're done with this conversation."

Justin smiled a little. "Alright. What are you guys gonna do after Nathan graduates?"

Varian shrugged. "Whatever we'll be doing I guess."

"Oh, because that is so fucking specific." Justin snorted, looking at Varian. "Seriously? You guys have no plans? None?"

Arching an eyebrow at Justin, Varian pointed at the reduced corn pile. "I do believe we're done with this conversation. Corn. Crate."

"Oh, so you can harass me but I cant harass you. Hypocrisy," he mumbled, rolling his eyes before putting more corn in the crate.

Varian just smiled. Free labor. Who was going to argue with that?

"What the fuck are you following me for? It's like, ten. Go home. Go to bed. Go away."

Vince laughed, bumping his shoulder into Nathan's lightly as they walked. Nathan had been trying to get rid of him for the past ten minutes, but for some reason Vince had taken it upon himself to annoy the ever living hell out of him.

"Now what kind of friend would I be if I let you walk home in the dark?" Vince asked. Nathan snorted, glancing over at him.

"The kind of friend that doesn't annoy me. Shoo."

Vince chuckled, putting his hands into his pockets. "You're so easy to piss off." he commented, glancing around. "Besides, you know you enjoy spending time with me. Who doesn't enjoy it?"

"Chelsea."

"Because she's a bitch."

Rolling his eyes, Nathan sighed quietly. At least he wasn't walking with Thomas, he supposed. However, speaking of Thomas...

"Hey! Where were you a few days ago?" Nathan asked, looking over to Vince, who paused for a second before clearing his throat.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"A few days ago. You were gone. And so was Thomas."

"Oh, really? How coincidental."

"Too coincidental."

"You know," Vince said, scratching the back of his head, "I seem to be experiencing memory loss. Tragic, tragic memory loss."

Nathan glared slightly. "Fine. Don't tell me. I'll just ask Thomas." he said. Vince snorted.

"He won't tell you anything."

"Oh really? You sure about that?" Nathan asked. Vince looked a little doubtful for a second before it was covered up, and he nodded decisively.

"Yup. Because there's nothing to tell."

"Because absolutely nothing could have happened."

"Hey, maybe I altered his memory to make him think something happened." Vince suggested. Nathan rose an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't do that." he said. The two were quiet for a minute before Vince sighed loudly.

"Okay, fine, I wouldn't do that, but that's not the point, the point is- nothing happened." he insisted. Nathan snorted, shaking his head. Something definitely happened. And if Vince wouldn't tell him, he knew Thomas would. He was just a little worried over whether or not he'd want to know. "Oh, hey look it's your dorm and look at the time, I've got places to be, shit to do, food to eat, see ya!"

Nathan didn't even get a chance to comment as Vince patted his shoulder and walked off quickly, whistling some random tune. Rolling his eyes, Nathan sighed, heading up to the dorm.

He wasn't surprised to see Thomas in there, looking like he was getting ready to go to bed. He turned to the door when he heard Nathan come in, smiling a little. "Oh, you are alive. Took you longer than usual to get back, I was worried I'd have to start putting up missing person flyers."

"Yeah, sorry. I was being harassed by a really irritating tick named Vince." Nathan mumbled. Thomas laughed quietly, sitting on his bed.

"He can be sort of obnoxious." he agreed. Nathan snorted, dropping his bag off by his bed and kicking off his shoes. 'Obnoxious' was an understatement.

"Oh, by the way, what were you two up to a few days ago? And don't tell me 'nothing', you've been trying to fuck him through food for the past week or so."

Thomas paused for a second, thinking. "Well, that answer depends. Do you want the highly detailed version of the story, or the considerably less detailed version of the story? Keep in mind the 'highly detailed version' is pretty graphic."

Nathan shuddered slightly, looking over. "Spare me please. I want as little detail as possible."

"Let's just say that seduction by pancakes is entirely possible."

Nodding slightly, Nathan headed into the bathroom. "Beautiful image. I'm gonna take a shower now and try to wipe that thought from my mind."

Thomas laughed as Nathan closed the door and sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Well. At least he knew where they were. As much as he regretted it. Nathan turned the water in the shower on, removing his clothes and stepping under the spray, simply standing still for a while. He was tired, but he was also thinking back to the part about class concerning 'special scents'. Appropriate, he figured, since he was about to wash his hair and he'd need to use the horrible coconut-smelling shampoo. But hey, if Varian liked it, he supposed it wasn't too bad.

Which lead to Nathan debating on how to fix Varian's impotency. He honestly wasn't sure how to go about it. The biting part he could do, but what about something to his back? He could scratch him, he supposed, but looking down at his nails he noticed that they were more bitten-down than usual. Of course, he had plenty of time for them to reach a length he could work with, but not biting them would be difficult.

And he didn't know how Varian would react to it. Would he be mad? Or would he be relieved? He'd mentioned that he didn't want to have full-on sex with Nathan, for a bullshit reason, but still. And what if Nathan messed up? He wasn't sure if Varian would let him try again. Granted he didn't plan on telling Varian in the first place.

He wouldn't even get to see him during the weekend. Only on Sunday. He'd still get to see Venerra though, he supposed. He did like spending time with her. Plus he hadn't seen her too much lately since she'd been sleeping so much, and he was only there on the weekends. What time was Varian leaving Friday though? Most likely before Nathan got there, in which case he'd need someone to watch her until then, probably.

And then Nathan had to call Justin at some point, to make sure he was doing all right, considering everything with Evan, and now his parents. Nathan hoped Justin hadn't over-thought everything going on, as that was a tendency he had when things got too serious for him. Justin wasn't the 'serious' type. Whenever something important went on, he'd over-work himself and be a complete pain in the ass.

All the thinking was giving Nathan a headache, which annoyed him because he hadn't had to deal with one in a while. He was glad it was from thinking though, because that meant it wouldn't be there tomorrow. So he'd take some medication, and go to sleep.

Once Nathan was out of the shower and ready for bed, Thomas was already asleep. Nathan remembered that next year he'd have a new roommate, and that made him a little sad. Even though Thomas pissed him off, Nathan got used to him. Now he'd have to get used to another person. He wondered what the chances were of living with someone he knew.

Yawning quietly, Nathan got into bed after shutting his lamp off, ignoring all of his thoughts and falling asleep almost instantly.

Friday morning, and Varian was finishing packing up the last crate in the back of his truck, Andre walking up his drive to come with, looking pretty happy.

"You know, I think I like Farmer's market day the best." Andre said as he walked up to Varian, grabbing the nearest crate and assisting Varian with the last of the loading.

"Oh? Why is that?" Varian asked, smiling.

"I don't know, I guess I like to people watch."

Varian would rather just leave people alone. It was best when they left him alone, honestly, but everybody was different. He didn't blame Andre for wanting to do something like that.

It was just nice to see him.

They loaded up the last crate, and Varian shut the wooden tailgate to his truck, securing it before turning to Andre and wiping his palms on his pants. "Well, we got ourselves a little bit of a drive. I'll warn you, I like to engage in small talk."

Andre smiled a bit and nodded in agreement. "I'm alright with that," he said as he opened the passenger door to Varian's truck and hopped in.

Sliding into the driver's seat himself, Varian smiled again. Helen would be waiting with Venerra until Nathan showed up. He was just a little sad he'd be missing her visit.

Still, he didn't want that thought to ruin the market with Andre.

"Good. Nathan will be showing up to watch Venerra later, so I actually don't mind going somewhere other than Mandan and Bismark for a while," he said, closing the door, starting the ignition and backing up to pull into the drive and heading down his driveway.

Andre smiled and shook his head. "So how do you guys do it? Especially with school going on for him? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Do it? As in get along with their relationship? "I don't mind. You've known me long enough to know answers." Varian laughed, turning left on the dirt road and heading towards town. Minot was north. Since his farm was south of Mandan, naturally he had to go through it. "The first year it was really hard on both of us. With the migraines from our separation and all, but now he's got a job and comes down weekends. We still suffer the separation, but it's easier to manage."

"I guess that makes sense. Having a job and taking care of Vanerra probably help eat up sometime too. Not to mention the farm."

Those did take up time, it was true.

"But you help me with the farm. Speaking of which, where've you been this last stretch? Got a lot of college work?"

"Yeah, they've been wanting us to get our internships completed this summer so we can get on to our senior classes this next year. That and I've been looking for a new job and place to stay so that I don't have to live on campus in the fall." Andre replied. "I know I said I commute from Bismarck, but my advisor suggested that I try to either live on campus or in one of the University owned apartments just off campus. Something about giving me more time to focus on Senior Projects without having to commute or spend too much money and time on gas and traveling back and forth."

Quite a bit for him to say all at once, and before Varian could say anything, Andre continued a little more.

"What with all the time that I'll be required to spend at the school."

That was curious. "Ah. So I'll be out a farmhand then?"

"Well hopefully not. Worst case scenario, it just won't be as often that I stop by. Honestly, if I could just live with Uncle Phil, I would totally do it," Andre said, giving a thoughtful pause. "Actually, that might not be a bad idea. I could end up paying little to no rent, and I could still come over and work with you. I kinda enjoy it, but don't tell my boss. Might give him a big head."

Smiling, Varian reached over and lightly smacked Andre's shoulder. "Text, I like you," he laughed. "You need to be over more."

Two hours later and they were at the market, having set up their crates and awaiting customers. Varian liked spending time with Andre. It was fun.

"So how often do you usually work the farmers market? Every season or...?" Andre piped up.

"Annually," Varian said, smiling at people as they walked by. "I get a lot of profit with me corn. Enough to last me a year if I do it right. And if not, everything else I do helps."

"Ah okay I see. So is corn the only thing you sell here?"

Varian nodded, as a woman in a nice blouse came up to them, looking at Varian's corn and smiling.

"Healthiest bunch I've seen yet. I'll take twenty."

"Sure," Varian told her, grabbing a bag and emptying half a crate into it. "You good with this?"

She nodded, taking it. "Thank you," she said, digging out her purse and handing over the cash.

There was a sign every year what the minimum rate was for certain bundles of his corn.

He pocketed most of it, but handed over the rest to Andre as the woman walked away. "Yes, I don't have time to grow or sell anything else."

"Okay that makes sense. That in there are so many things you can do with corn. Grind it into flour which can be used in hundreds of different foods, not to mention the different industrial uses for it."

"Exactly," Varian agreed. "I use it a lot. Very handy."

And after that, a whole group of people swarmed their stand, and both he and Andre got to work selling as much corn as they could.

"You're leaving me again?"

"Yes, I am. I've got a kid to watch this weekend." Nathan smiled at Thomas, who groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I liked it better when you were stuck with me. This makes weekends very boring, you know," he said. Nathan sighed, turning to him and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I think you'll live. Worst comes to worst, go find Vince."

Thomas smiled at that, leaning back in his desk chair as Nathan finished packing for the weekend. His class for Friday didn't end until 3:30, so he wasn't sure when he'd get to Mandan. He figured Helen would be watching Venerra though, since she was so close. "I'll see you Sunday," he said to Thomas. He only waved back miserably, making Nathan snort.

Now to drive half-way across the state.

Nathan was happy to see the farm come into view, pulling into the driveway before turning the car off and getting out. Helen was watching her, like he assumed, and both were outside. Venerra was in the yard by the porch, wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping, from the looks of it. Cana was laying right next to her. Walking over, Nathan stopped by the porch, where Helen was sitting. "Howdy," she said to him, waving.

Well, Nathan figured, might as well be sociable. "Hey," he replied, nodding slightly.

"She insisted on waiting for you, so I let her come out here, but as you can see," she said, gesturing to Venerra with a fond smile, "she got tired."

Nathan smiled as well. "I was wondering about that," he mentioned, gesturing to the blanket.

"Unlike her brother, she can get sick." Helen said. "Don't see why I bothered, that horse has got to be a significant source of heat all on his own."

"Something that size, I'd assume so." Nathan laughed quietly.

"Ah, but he's a gentle giant," she replied, smiling at Cana, who lifted his head and snorted softly. "Let himself out of his stall, tricky gelding."

"Can't say I'm surprised."

Helen laughed. "He loves that girl. As much as he loves Varian. Hard to believe his previous owner beat him half to death."

Nathan looked over to Cana at that, humming quietly.

"Well, I'll leave you to her." Helen said, getting up from her seat on the porch and wincing. "Tired old bones," she muttered.

"Uh, thank you." Nathan said, sounding a little awkward. "For watching her until I got here."

"No problem Nathan," she replied, smiling at him. "Bye now," she told him, giving a little wave before walking back down the driveway toward her house.

And no matter how much Nathan tried, she still bothered the absolute shit out of him. He'd have to ask Ace about that at some point. For now though, he had an eight-year old little girl to watch. Walking over, he sat down next to Venerra, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Venerra."

She inhaled deeply, then opened her eyes and stretched before noticing him. "Nathan!" she said happily, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Cana got up at that, walking toward the barn and pausing every few feet to nibble on the grass.

"Hey. Miss me?" Nathan asked, laughing and hugging her back.

"Is that a trick question?" she asked, pulling back to look at him curiously. Nathan noted that her eyes were their usual violet color.

"Hm. We'll go with yes," he answered with a nod.

"Then I won't answer," she laughed, then paused as her stomach growled. "Nathan, I'm hungry."

"Hungry? I'm kinda hungry too. What do you want?"

She thought for a second. "I want some toast. May I have toast please?"

Toast? What sort of kid asks for toast? "Just toast? Really?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose if you really want some toast, we can get you some toast."

"And an apple!" she announced, nodding. "You should have an apple Nathan, they're yummy!"

"Apples are pretty yummy. Okay then, toast and an apple it is."

"Can I help?" she asked, pulling away completely and bounding for the porch.

"I don't see why not. You can't be any worse at getting food than I am." Nathan replied, standing up and following her.

"Do you have to be good at getting food?" she asked, looking back at him.

"No, not exactly," he answered, opening the door for her to go in first.

"Then it's okay not to be perfect," she said, going right for the kitchen. Nathan followed, albeit at a slower pace. "Varian says as long as we love ourselves, then there's nothing wrong with us."

"That's a very good philosophy."

"Phi...losoffy?" Venerra asked, sounding the word out slowly. "What's a philosoffy?"

Nathan laughed. "Basically it's sort of like something you live by. Kind of. It's hard to explain."

"We live by a road. Is that a philosoffy?"

Nathan laughed more, shaking his head. "No, that's just a road. Think of it as something you live by morally. Something you try to follow in your thoughts and actions."

She paused, tilting her head to the side. "So, a philosoffy is like doing the right thing?"

"The right thing to you. Because what you think is right might be different than what someone else thinks is right."

"Oh," she said, then smiled at him. "I get it. It's something you believe in. Right? Like stupid people should let you get married."

Nathan smiled. "Yeah, that's it."

Talking about philosophy with an eight-year old. Probably one of the best conversations a person can have.

"Then I think you're right. Varian does have a good philosoffy."

"Yes he does. Now, about those apples and toast."

Nathan didn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen, with how often he was there. Cooking and making food wasn't his forte. So he still had a little trouble finding things.

"I wanna get the apples!" she said loudly, running into the kitchen to the fridge and pulling it open, using her whole body and stumbling a little as she giggled before opening the drawer on the bottom, rooting through it.

Well that fixed his problem.

"You do that, I'll make the toast. How many pieces do you want?" he asked, grabbing the bread.

"Two. I'm a big girl, and Varian says I have to eat," she said, pulling out a yellow apple. "Do you want a red apple, green apple, or yellow apple?" she asked.

"And he's right. Red please." Nathan answered, putting two slices of bread in the toaster.

"Okay!" she said, getting a red apple out and bringing both hers and his to the sink, trying to reach the knobs, but being just a little too short to reach as she sighed. "I'm short Nathan," she told him, setting the apples carefully on the counter before running over and grabbing her chair, pushing it over to the sink and climbing onto it as she smiled in satisfaction. Nathan smiled at that.

"You won't stay short though. You'll get taller."

"That's what Varian says," she replied, turning on the sink and putting the apples under the water, washing them. "I like yellow apples."

"I'm partial to red apples." Nathan replied, getting a plate as the toast popped up to put it on. "Want anything on your toast?"

"No," she told him, turning the sink off and looking at the paper towels. "Can I have a paper towel please? The apples are wet."

"So boring." Nathan smiled, getting a paper towel and handing it to her. Seriously, who just wanted plain toast?

"Thank you!" she said, taking the towel from him and wrapping the apples up in it, wiping them off. "Varian doesn't like red or yellow apples."

"How dare he." Nathan replied dramatically, bringing the plate of toast over to the table and setting it down. Venerra hopped off her chair and brought the apples to the table too, setting them down still wrapped before fetching her chair, pushing it back to where it was.

"He says they're too sweet. Varian doesn't like sweet things."

"How can someone not like sweet things?"

"I don't know." Venerra replied. "Sweet things are yummy, but he won't eat them. Not very often. Not unless it's ice cream."

"Well everyone loves ice cream." Nathan commented.

"He only eats the kind with caramel in it." she said, then looked at Nathan. "He's silly, isn't he?"

"Very."

Venerra giggled. "Can you cut my apple?"

"Yes, I believe I can do that." Nathan replied, taking both Venerra's plate and apple over to the counter, cutting it up for her and putting the pieces on the plate before putting it back on the table. "Ta da," he said before grabbing his own and taking a bite out of it.

She smiled, picking up a piece of toast and biting into it, chewing and swallowing before she spoke again. "It's yummy. Thank you Nathan."

"You're welcome Venerra," he replied, smiling a little.

As Varian wasn't too keen on driving back and forth, he and Andre had decided to split the cost of a hotel room. Varian wasn't too excited about it at first, having never been in close quarters with someone when sleeping besides Nathan and Venerra.

Turned out perfectly fine, he had his own bed all the way across from Andre on the other side of the room. Andre went right to sleep, Varian had a much harder time, but finally managed to sleep until about five.

Sighing, he got up and got around, changing his clothes and then making his bed. It was around this time when Andre woke up, and he too got around.

Half an hour later and they were back at the market, setting up his "stand" again, because he refused to leave his produce out overnight.

They were setting up when Andre had a question.

"So, can I ask a question? It's totally hypothetical and somewhat personal."

"Of course." Varian told him, hefting another crate onto a stack.

Judging by the pause that Andre gave, thinking over his question, Varian wondered just how weighted it would be.

"If things were different, like you could choose what you could do with your life-anything in the world- what would you do?"

He'd been asked that question before. But Nathan had been the one to ask it.

"I'd get my GED, get another job, better paying than birdhouses, and just be somewhat normal." Varian answered. "Nothing too special. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I don't know. I mean..." Andre began, giving a thoughtful pause. "I know you're content right now, just in general. I can tell you're not in love with your life, but you've grown accustomed. I just...I guess I'm not exactly sure I'm on the right path. College is alright. But I don't feel that you really need a degree to study nature. Know what I mean?"

Andre didn't want to finish college? Why work so hard to get there and give up?

"I know that sounds confusing. I just wanted to know how you...adapt," he went on.

Varian sighed quietly. "Do we ever really know what we want to do until we stumble across it? I might not love the way my life is, but I love the people in it. And if you're not on the right path, then keep going until you find a turn-off or a trail that has better prospects."

Thinking silently for a few moments, Andre smiled and responded. "Thanks. I guess it's just a case of college student-itis. We're supposed to be eternally confused. That way they get more money from us," he finished with a chuckle.

Varian shrugged. "Any time. I don't think anybody's asked me for advice before."

Andre mirrored his action, shrugging as well. "You just have an 'old soul' feel that makes it easy to talk to you."

Varian found himself laughing. "Ah. Well, I've had multiple opportunities for life happenings, so I guess I could perceived as such," he said, noticing a large group of people heading their way, people bustling in out of actual stands and carts with various produce. "Well, now that we're set up, let's sell some corn."

"Sounds good to me!" Andre said, straightening out his clothes and started engaging the crowd.

In the evening on Saturday, Nathan was on the couch in the living room while Venerra took a bath. It was a few minutes later when she came plodding from the hallway, making her way around the love seat in a purple pajama set to stand in front of Nathan with a brush in her hand, looking at him hopefully with golden eyes. Nathan smiled slightly. "Does this mean you want me to brush your hair?"

"Please?" she asked.

"Oh, I suppose." he replied, holding his hand out for the brush. She handed it to him before sitting on the couch so he could get to her hair easier, smiling. Turning toward her, Nathan began to carefully brush her hair out, starting from the bottom and working his way up.

"You come back from big people school a lot more now." Venerra commented.

Nathan laughed quietly. "Because I can afford to. Last year I never had the gas for it."

"Oh," she said. "I like it when you're home."

That made Nathan smile. "Yeah, so do I."

"Varian likes it too. He's happy when you're here."

"Well I should hope so. It would be a little odd if he didn't like his boyfriend being here."

Venerra giggled. "Varian might be silly, but he's not that silly."

"No, I guess he isn't." Nathan chuckled.

"He comes back tomorrow right?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow morning, or early afternoon I think." Nathan said. He figured that if Varian left in the morning, he'd be back by the early afternoon at the latest.

"I think morning." Venerra stated. "Varian doesn't like driving in the afternoon on Sundays."

"You're probably right then."

"Maybe," she agreed. Nathan stayed quiet, finishing up with her hair and giving it a few final brushes before holding the brush out to Venerra.

"All done."

She took the brush from him, smiling. "Thank you Nathan!" she said. He gave her a smile back.

"Yeah."

Venerra moved to hug him after that. "Good night," she said happily. Nathan hugged back, feeling his smile widen slightly.

"Good night."

She really was ridiculously adorable.

Pulling away, she went to her room, leaving Nathan on the couch. He sighed quietly, leaning back and closing his eyes. Stupid farmer's market. Why'd it have to be on a weekend? He could be with his boyfriend, but no. Instead he was on the couch. Alone. And sleeping. Alone. Fuck.

Well, he supposed, might as well go to bed. He didn't have anything better to do anyway.

Plus tomorrow morning would come a lot faster.

It was later Saturday evening after they'd packed everything left back up, that Varian and Andre were back in their room. It wasn't late enough to sleep yet, and Varian found himself pining after Nathan.

He was in Mandan, so much closer than Grand Forks, but after a week on not seeing him that headache was back with a vengeance. It wasn't migraine level, but Varian's body was missing that nearness, so it was protesting his lack of affection with his mate.

Which he thought was stupid. He'd never had a problem going a week without seeing Nathan, his headaches not this bad, but his idiot body had adjusted to the nearness schedule.

"How about we play a game? Ever heard of 'Never Have I Ever'?" Andre piped up, startling Varian and he jumped.

"Yes, actually." Varian said after a moment. "My friend Evan made Nathan and I play with him."

Andre chuckled, at Varian jumping or the mention of Evan, he wasn't sure. "We'll do a 'toned-down' version of what I'm used to. We won't go into the details of those games. We'll start with ten fingers, and go from there. Sound good?"

Varian assumed that if the ten fingers of either him or Andre went down first, they lost. This seemed a little more interesting. He'd never done anything like this before.

"Sure. I put down a finger if I've done it, right?" Varian asked for clarification. He wanted to make sure he had it down.

"Yup. So do you want to go first, or should I?"

Very rarely did Varian actually start something when it came to socializing. He felt like that shouldn't even be a question.

"You can."

"Okay, lets see...hmm..." Andre mused, his face scrunching up in concentration "Never have I ever...eaten asparagus."

"Really? Never?" Varian asked, quite honestly surprised as he put one of his fingers down.

"Nope. It smells weird," he replied, making a disgusted face as he recalled the scent.

Shaking his head, Varian thought of something he had never done. "Never have I ever moved."

Andre chuckled again and shook his head as well. "Twice. Once when my dad got a new job when I was four, and again now."

Putting down his finger, he started again. "Never have I ever built something."

Putting a finger down, Varian arched an eyebrow at Andre. "You know Text, as a farmhand, one would think you'd have built something." Varian told him. "I build things all the time, ranging from birdhouses to my barn and shed."

What was another thing he hadn't done before?

"Never have I ever owned a dog."

"Well, I've done maintenance; painting, replacing loose boards, etc. But never built something from the beginning." Andre explained, putting his finger down. "Never have I ever had a sibling," he said, a cocky grin spreading on his face.

"Well, we're even." Varian stated, purposely not reacting to Andre's grin as he put another finger down. "Never have I ever graduated High School."

"Dang. Never have I ever had my own horse," Andre said, putting a finger down.

Three to three.

Now four to three, because Varian hadn't asked yet, and he did indeed own a horse. Over twenty of them.

"Never have I ever lost at Never Have I Ever."

And Varian would get to keep saying that for a little while longer, because in the end he won. And then it was bed for both of them.

Yet somehow Varian couldn't sleep. Probably because he was too excited to go back home and see Nathan.

Even though he hadn't planned on getting up until six, he was up at five and woke Andre. There was no complaint on his part as they loaded up the empty crates, nothing left this year of the hundreds of ears he'd brought.

Talk was limited on the way back south to Mandan from Minot, and Varian dropped Andre off before heading home himself.

He pulled into the drive with a sigh and swiftly unloaded the crates as silently as he could, stacking them against the shed.

Forty crates, all capable of holding forty ears of corn. All empty. It'd been a good year.

That thought stayed in his mind as he entered the house, but swiftly left as he made his way to his room. Venerra was out, and most likely would be for a long time.

Nathan too was asleep when he entered his room, pulling off his boots and setting them aside quietly. Socks were off in the next instant as Varian made his way over to the bed.

Under the blanket and facing the side Varian slept on, Nathan slept with his arm under his pillow, the other along his side. The sight reminded him much of how a child slept, and while he didn't want to disturb Nathan, a large part of him wanted to touch him.

Sitting gently on the edge of the bed, Varian reached out and ran his fingers through Nathan's hair, stroking him softly. He wasn't going to be mean and poke him or shake him awake.

Nathan stirred slightly, reach up with the arm on his side, feeling around for Varian's hand. Varian didn't blame him, he was only partially awake.

Moving his hand down to Nathan's shoulder, Varian decided he'd shake him a little. "Hey. Nathan. Wake up."

He groaned quietly and opened his eyes a little, glancing around before finally noticing Varian. "Oh. You're back," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm back." Varian said quietly, smiling fondly at Nathan. "Nice to see you."

Varian was treated to a hum from Nathan before he paused for a second , sitting up and yawning quietly. "We missed you," he said, leaning forward to kiss Varian.

Closing his eyes, Varian felt that headache finally start to subside as he kissed back slowly. "Missed you guys too," he murmured after a moment.

Nathan smiled a little and moved closer, continuing by putting one hand on the back of Varian's head, which held him in place. Not that Varian minded. He was all too happy to be kissing his boyfriend.

Shifting further onto the bed, Varian pressed closer to Nathan, placing both palms on the mattress. It wasn't long after that Nathan brought his other hand up and Varian felt it lightly rub his back while he gently licked Varian's bottom lip.

Exhaling quietly, Varian leaned forward further, tilting his head and parted his lips, grabbing the blanket with his right hand and tugging it down the bed from Nathan. The pesky thing was in the way of him and his boyfriend, therefore it had to be moved.

But that thought didn't linger long as Nathan's tongue slid into Varian's mouth, pressing against his own lightly, running against it, while the hand on his back moved down to the hem of his shirt before slipping under and pressing against his skin.

Shivering, Varian smirked a little. So this was quickly leaving the "good morning" kisses and turning much more serious. Pulling the blanket down more, he got up from the mattress, leaning over to kiss Nathan deeper, pushing his tongue against Nathan's to slide against it as he flung the blanket towards the foot of his bed, climbing back onto the mattress and swinging a leg up and over to straddle his boyfriend.

The hand touching bare flesh slid up Varian's back, at the same time, Varian felt the other touch his hip. That kiss they shared continued for another minute though, before Nathan broke it off and slowly trailed kisses along Varian's jaw and down the left side of his neck.

Adjusting his hips a little, Varian craned his neck, letting his head fall back a little, enjoying Nathan's mouth on his skin. Said mouth sucked on his neck in a few places while Nathan's fingers curled and his nails very lightly scratched at his back where his hand lay before flattening it against his skin again.

Groaning softly, Varian shivered again, a little harder, his hands moving to grip Nathan's shoulders. It was still new to feel much of anything on his back, but it all felt good, so he let himself relax enough to enjoy the sensations.

Nathan was rather proud of himself for not stopping or hesitating as he tried to get ready for what he was planning for. Honestly, he hadn't intended to do anything at the time, but then they kissed, and, well, his train of thought went from one thing to another.

Now he was trying to psyche himself up to actually bite Varian. Which took more time than he actually expected. However, he was glad that Varian was relaxed and didn't seem to suspect anything.

Because Nathan was nervous as hell.

Continuing with light kisses down the left side of Varian's neck, Nathan tried to subtly look for where he'd been bitten. He assumed there'd still be a scar from it, but he wasn't entirely sure. As he got down to the juncture between Varian's neck and shoulder, he spotted it- two faint pin-pricks. Varian tensed a little when Nathan went over it, but didn't show any form of protest, which was good.

Now he just had to bite. And hope he did this right. This wasn't something he wanted to fuck up.

Nathan kissed the spot, like he had the rest of Varian's neck, and mentally yelled at himself for the slight hesitation before biting down. He didn't bite hard enough to break skin, but it definitely wasn't gentle. Varian's response to that was to tightly grab onto Nathan's shirt and bite his own lip, hard enough to make it bleed. Nathan didn't let that distract him though as he immediately raked his fingernails down Varian's back, rough enough so that he was pretty sure it would leave a mark, granted for a short time. Varian tensed and then gasped, a little loudly, before he sort of slumped against Nathan, breathing heavily. And thanks to Varian's earlier idea of straddling him, Nathan could easily feel that yes, Varian's problem had definitely been fixed.

That went better than expected. Much better. Nathan sat there quietly, thinking about the fact that it actually worked. Holy shit. He wasn't sure how Varian would react though...surely not too bad.

Varian stopped leaning on Nathan and sat up, but didn't move further than that. The first thing he did was lick his lip, healing it, then sat there looking a little confused. "What'd you just do?" he asked quietly. Nathan thought over a response for a second before deciding that he'd explain everything later.

"I executed my evil, mastermind plan."

Varian went to respond, but then stopped and shifted uncomfortably before his eyes widened. "Holy shit, Nathan. What the fuck did you just do?"

Nathan backed away slightly at that, glancing around as he hummed quietly. "I...may or may not have given you an erection. Obviously."

Varian was quiet for a moment. "There is no 'may not' about it. You did, and I don't know if I want to strangle you or jump you."

"Well, I can tell you which one I'd prefer." Nathan mumbled, reaching up with the hand that had been on Varian's hip to cover his own neck, grimacing at the thought. Getting strangled didn't sound nearly as nice as being jumped. By far.

"I'm sure." Varian replied.

Fully intending on getting Nathan's plan out of him later, Varian couldn't concentrate on much because of the highly uncomfortable feeling of his pants being way to tight where it mattered.

And how close Nathan was. And how warm. And how he was just sitting there, and Varian could feel him, and how good that felt. Suddenly he was throbbing between his legs, and Varian inhaled shakily, then looked at Nathan who was in a dark green shirt and jeans.

Bad idea. Because looking at him reminded him of the bite he'd delivered, and his back felt funny. He hadn't had blood in a couple days, so he was starting to register a smidgeon of pain. But it felt good.

And whatever it was that Nathan had done, it left him with a raging erection and time alone with his mate in his room.

Feeling his mouth cock into a grin, Varian shifted forward and pushed back on Nathan's shoulders. "You know," Varian said, letting his gaze wander over his boyfriend for a moment. "Jumping seems like a really good idea right now."

"Hell of a lot better than strangling." Nathan replied, moving his hand back to Varian's hip.

"Glad to know you approve." Varian stated softly, smiling at Nathan before running his hands down his torso and grabbing the bottom of his shirt, lifting it up part way, glancing at him to see his reaction.

Nathan smiled a little in return and hummed in an affirmative way. Pulling the dark green shirt up further, Varian was pleased to have Nathan work with him, lifting his arms so it came off easily and Varian dropped it over the side of the bed, going for his own shirt next, he quickly shucked it, tossing it over the bed as well and then grabbing Nathan and shoving him onto the mattress, using his weight to pin him as he swooped down and captured his mouth in a hard kiss, his eyes sliding shut.

Inhaling sharply, both of Nathan's hands found Varian's hips as he kissed back with a quiet moan. Varian wanted to touch Nathan, fingers meeting flesh as he ran them along his sides, kissing him harder, more needy, an ache settling where he'd previously been throbbing and he shifted, trying to alleviate some of the pressure, breaking the kiss and going for Nathan's neck, nipping at him.

"Jesus." Nathan gasped, tightening his grip on Varian's hips before he smiled, and Varian didn't have much time to think about why he'd do that before he lightly dug his nails into his hips.

Exhaling, Varian growled quietly, nipping harder at Nathan's neck, his hands moving down to the waistband of his pants before he slid the button out and grabbed the zipper tag.

"Well, this is going faster than usual." Nathan commented, lightly dragging his nails up Varian's sides.

Usual? He meant the playing around without really getting anything done, usual. Smirking at that thought, Varian moved down as he kissed at Nathan's neck, pausing to suck at his collarbone and then treating the ridge of it to a sharp nip. "I have no intentions of slowing down," he whispered, tugging down on the zipper tag until Nathan's pants were unzipped. It seemed a lot easier for Nathan to react to Varian, as the partial erection he freed up showed.

"Good," Nathan moaned, letting his eyes fall shut, digging his nails into Varian's skin harder, rocking his hips a little.

Varian caught his breath as those nails sent little ribbons of pleasure to his groin, making him close his eyes at the highly uncomfortable aching pressure. He couldn't stand being confined any longer, especially as he became aware of a sticky sensation down there.

Flicking the spot he'd nipped with his tongue, Varian brought his hands down between himself and Nathan, quickly unfastening his own pants, breathing heavier and struggling to free himself, getting frustrated with how long it was taking and how desperate he was to not be confined to unyielding fabric, Varian pulled himself out.

Nathan moved his hands around to Varian's back and lightly scratched down it, the odd feeling from earlier returning, but it felt good and Varian moaned softly as Nathan then ran his hands back up, hips rocking a little bit more.

He was very close to fully erect now, and Varian hissed through his teeth as his own erection reminded him that he had yet to be satisfied, clearish fluid welling up and dripping down.

Grabbing Nathan's pants, Varian tugged on them, lifting his gaze to his boyfriend before getting off him, onto the mattress to his left, nearer to his side, keeping a grip on the pants as he sat back and pulled on Nathan, trying to get him on top of him, keeping his gaze on him.

Thankfully, Nathan understand and moved over on top of Varian, leaning down to kiss on the right side of his neck, which had Varian shivering, sticky fluid dripping faster onto his stomach, pooling there, which he ignored, and instead reached up ran his fingers through his hair, then down the back of his neck and finally his spine, circling the pads of his fingers as he traveled down.

The quiet contented sigh that escaped Nathan had Varian smiling as Nathan paused for a second before reaching down, pushing his jeans and boxers down and out of the way to free himself, getting out of them.

That left him open, which Varian took advantage of, sliding his left hand back up Nathan's spine to his shoulder blades, his right hand traveling around his hip to grab onto him firmly, pulling his hand towards the head and tugging gently on Nathan, his left hand pushing on his back to get him to move down towards him for a kiss.

Nathan leaned up to kiss Varian, moaning quietly, lightly nipping at his lip. Fleeting though the sensation was of teeth on his skin, Varian sighed, his left hand finding Nathan's hair once again and burying into it, holding it tightly as he kissed back, pressing his mouth to Nathan's harder, opening it for him, his right hand stroking Nathan faster.

Rocking into Varian's hand, Nathan pushed his tongue into his mouth, rubbing it against Varian's. Groaning at the feeling, Varian felt more stickiness dribble into his stomach, and he quickly let go of Nathan's hair and grabbed his own pants and boxers, pushing them down as he lifted his hips to make it easier, moving his legs and kicking them down further until he managed to get them off, his foot shoving it over across his side and off onto the floor.

Still he stroked Nathan, and kissed him faster, breathing heavier. Nathan moaned, his tongue moving until it touched one of Varian's fangs, making him gasp from the tingling, his groin suddenly feeling very tight, and he tensed, trying to ease the feeling. But that tongue pushed him past his limit as it rubbed against the delicate needle-like fang and he moaned squeezing his eyes closed and arching his back, letting go of Nathan as that pressure escalated too much, and he came, feeling that warm sticky substance strike his stomach, relaxing.

The next thing he knew, Nathan pulled back a little and looked down at Varian with a small smile. That smile was either satisfaction, or uncertainty, and if it was the former, than Varian didn't mind. If it was the latter, that had to be fixed.

"Sorry." Varian said, smiling back, then sat up a little and shoved Nathan over onto the mattress like he had earlier, leaning over him. "Wanna know something cool?" he whispered.

"By all means, tell me something cool." Nathan replied quietly.

Leaning in closer, Varian nuzzled Nathan's neck. "As a Changed vampire, I can come more than once without getting tired," he said, tapping Nathan's legs. "Your turn."

"That is rather cool." Nathan commented, spreading his legs like Varian was hoping he would.

Shifting his hips down, Varian moved between them, sliding his legs until they locked into place, stretching over Nathan and nipping his neck, rocking his hips to rub against Nathan's erection, the precum from earlier making it slick and easier to do so.

Nathan moaned at that attention, putting his hands on Varian's shoulders while pressing his hips up into his. Exhaling at the feeling it brought, Varian gripped Nathan's waist gently and trailed his mouth down past his collar bone, nibbling at he went, pushing his hips down into Nathan's a little harder.

"Shit." Nathan murmured, closing his eyes and rocking his hips into Varian's harder than he had earlier, digging his nails into his shoulders.

Breath hitching, Varian growled softly, grinding into Nathan whose hips ground right back, the slickness of them rubbing together having Varian feeling that pressure again, but Nathan sounded and felt much closer to coming.

Kissing along Nathan's neck, Varian kept grinding his hips into him, until he got to under his jaw where he sucked, nipping affectionately.

Moving one hand to Varian's back, Nathan's grinding back faltered for a second before getting slightly erratic. "Shit. Fuck," he said quietly, breathing slightly heavier.

Definitely close to coming. Varian expected it in the next few moments, feeling himself getting there, but he wouldn't soon enough.

Still though, he'd please his mate. Keeping his pace, he pressed more of himself to Nathan, breathing harder. Nathan moaned louder than earlier as his grinding paused for a second before continuing in the erratic pattern, and he bent to Varian's neck.

The next thing Varian knew, teeth once again bit down, Nathan coming as he did so, and he Varian moaned loudly, following suit, panting harshly.

After he finished, he held himself up, dipping his head to rest his forehead against Nathan's shoulder, slowing his breathing.

Nathan stayed quiet for a second before he smiled, and then he started laughing quietly.

Lifting his head to look at him, Varian found himself smiling too. "What's so funny?"

"This completely makes up for the fact that you were gone all weekend." Nathan replied.

Varian found that entertaining. "If this is the kind of greeting I'll get, I'll be gone every weekend."

"Or you could be here every weekend and get this anyway." Nathan suggested. "I think I like that idea better."

Smiling wider, Varian leaned up and planted a gentle kiss on Nathan's temple. "I love you too."

That had to be probably the best way that Nathan had ever woken up. He was just a little irritated that he'd have to leave later in the afternoon.

However, he had a while before then. And he figured he should probably tell Varian where he got his amazing idea from.

Turning to look at his boyfriend, Nathan rose his eyebrows. "So, you wanna know about my 'evil plan'?"

"Sure." Varian said, sitting up and moving away from Nathan to lay next to him with his arms behind his head as a cushion. "Tell me about this plan of yours."

"Well in all honesty the plan isn't mine. The execution was mine, obviously, but the idea came from two sources. Well. One source and an idiot." Nathan said, shrugging a little at the last part. He couldn't really call Thomas a 'source'. Especially when the guy's first example involved breaking bones.

"So you stole the blueprints and claimed it as yours." Varian commented thoughtfully. "I do believe that is plagiarism. Thief."

"Shut up." Nathan replied with a small smile. "Anyway, now that I've been accused of a crime, Ace helped out mostly. I asked Thomas a few questions, but, well, it's Thomas. He wasn't very helpful."

"If he's anything like you say he is, no, I would imagine not."

"Yeah, well, for some reason I thought he would be more helpful." Nathan mumbled. "Like I said, most of this came from talking to Ace. I asked him about it, and he told me what to do. And what would happen if I messed up. However I believe that worked out rather well," he paused, looking over at Varian for a second before nodding to himself. "Yeah. Very well."

Varian stayed quiet, mulling over what Nathan said before smiling and laughing quietly. "I can't believe you. You asked your professor how to cure your boyfriend?"

"What? It worked, didn't it?" Nathan thought it was a good idea. Ace was smart and knew all sorts of shit, so why not?

"As you put it: 'very well'." Varian answered. Nathan nodded to that and sighed contently, staying quiet. Everything went better than he expected, which he was glad for. However, he'd completely forgotten to ask how the farmer's market went. Oops.

"So how was your weekend?" he asked. Better late than never. Varian smiled, stretching a little before relaxing again.

"Spent time with Andre, actually talked to people, and sold corn. All of it."

"That's good. I had a fascinating conversation with an eight-year old about philosophy."

"Oh no, 'good' is not an excellent choice of vocabulary." Varian said. "I think 'fantastic' is more to my liking. Or 'superb'." he went on, then looked at Nathan. "How did said conversation go with the small person that shares aspects of my genetic sequencing?"

Whoa. No. It was too early for all that.

"Okay, okay, fuck, dumb down the vocabulary a little before you give me a headache." Nathan replied, bringing a hand up to the side of his head. "Good God. It's too early for all that. As for our conversation, it went well. She asked if a road was a philosophy, but she got it in the end."

Varian laughed. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm rather sated at the moment."

"My brain doesn't comprehend multiple large words in one sentence on the weekend."

That had Varian laughing again. "Alright, alright. You're going to be a doctor, you better fix that fast. I bet Ace would have a few pointers."

"Going to be. Future tense. I've got like...six more years to work on that." Nathan said, waving his hand around a little while talking.

"Six years is a long time to wait." Varian commented. "But I sold my harvest, so I feel rather accomplished."

"I'm sure." Nathan replied with a nod.

"I'm rather disturbed at your lack of enthusiasm." Varian said. "But then I remember you're not a farmer, and you wouldn't know the implications of 'selling a harvest'."

"Nope." Nathan replied again, shaking his head that time.

"Well," Varian began, shifting toward his side to look at Nathan more. "Selling a harvest means every item you grew and harvested was sold. I had forty crates, all of which could hold forty ears of corn. Mine market for about two dollars a piece, doubled on the high end of normal. That's $3,200 in my pocket. Not to mention the profit I get from the local market."

"Oh." Nathan commented, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah, that is really good."

"It's called the perks of being an organic farmer. I get to jack up the price without complaint from people." Varian replied. "I could probably charge people three dollars or more and they'd still buy my produce. And since I'm the only local organic subsistence farmer in Mandan, all the organic corn you see in the store is mine."

"Huh. I never thought of that." Nathan mumbled.

Varian smiled at him. "You might have been eating my corn for years and never known where it was coming from."

"I do remember eating a lot of corn when I was younger. Eric loves it, so mom would buy it all the time."

Which was true. Nathan felt like at least once a week, if not more, there was corn somewhere. It was one of the reasons he didn't mind not being home too often during his senior year. Corn. All the time.

"See? And now you know just how much work gets put into one meal."

Nathan nodded thoughtfully to that.

"So what else did you and Venerra talk about?"

Nathan hummed, thinking for a second. What had they talked about? All Nathan could seem to remember, aside from the philosophy conversation, was talking about Varian. Which made sense, he supposed. "You came up a lot. Yeah, actually, it was pretty much just you and philosophy. Which stemmed from talking about you in the first place." Nathan smiled.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or put her in a room with other small children and tell her they're part of her world too."

That made Nathan laugh. "Well what do you expect? You were missed by two people who love you. You're gonna pop up in conversation. Besides, she's only eight. I'm sure as she gets older she will realize that other people are important."

Varian sighed. "Would it be wrong for me to hope she turns out lesbian?"

Nathan snorted as he tried not to laugh again. "Uh, I don't know. You can hope, doesn't mean it'll happen though. Besides, like I said earlier, she's eight. You've got a while before she starts dating."

And who knows, maybe she'll meet a really nice guy...or on the other hand, a really nice girl. Either way.

"She's a Mortal born from two Changed vampires. She'll hit puberty within the next couple weeks or year." Varian said. "And once that happens, her body will mature quickly. The same thing happened to me."

Nathan rolled his eyes slightly. "Okay, so you may not have 'a while'."

"I don't want to have to deal with boys."

"Well when she comes home with one, shoot him in the foot. Then the rest will stay away. Far away. At least until she stops introducing them to you."

"Oh, you mean the old 'clean the shotgun at the kitchen table' routine?"

"Oh, I was sort of serious about the shooting part, but however you choose to interpret it, sure." Nathan laughed. Varian snorted quietly.

"I figured you were serious, I just felt like- I don't know. I just feel really good."

"I should hope so, you just had two orgasms and made over $3,000." Nathan replied. Varian sat up and glanced around the room before looking at Nathan.

"First one was a surprise. But the over $3,000 dollars part is pretty nice. Means I won't have to struggle over the next coming year."

"Mhmm." Nathan hummed.

"I'm hungry." Varian said after a moment. Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Go eat?"

"Yes, because I'm going to walk around my house naked with various bodily fluids all over me."

Nathan chuckled. "Okay, fine, go take a shower, get dressed, and then go eat."

"Or, I could do the first two things and you can be a good boyfriend and make me a sandwich." Varian suggested.

"I just cured you and now you're asking me to make you food? What do I look like here?" Nathan asked with a smile as he sat up and stretched for a second. "What kind of sandwich?"

"That's because sex is a powerful form of persuasion." Varian replied, smirking. "Just a peanut butter one would be nice."

Nathan snorted. "Okay, fine, peanut butter sandwich it is." he said, looking for his clothes. Where had they gone?

Varian pointed to Nathan's side of the bed. "You'll find your various articles of clothing over there."

Nathan looked over the side of the bed, seeing his clothes on the floor as he hummed. "Thank you," he said, getting on his boxers and jeans before picking up his shirt and pulling it on as well.

"Well, considering I took them off you, I would hope at least one of us would know where they went." Varian chuckled. "You're welcome. Now I'm going to take a quick shower, and assess the damage your teeth and claws left on my body."

Nathan snorted, looking at his nails. "Claws my ass. Things are barely longer than my fingers," he mumbled. And more than likely would be bitten off by Monday morning.

"They're long enough to leave marks. I can feel them." Varian said, getting up and turning so his back was to Nathan. Sure enough, there were several long, red claw marks.

"Shit. I thought marks like that healed really fast?" Nathan asked. Any other time he couldn't leave any sort of mark on Varian.

"Not when I haven't had blood recently." Varian answered, lifting a hand to his neck, over where Nathan had bitten him. "This one will be more visible."

Nathan smiled. "I'd say sorry, but that would be a lie because I am not sorry in the least."

Varian smiled back, shaking his head. "I'm not upset. I'll choose to think of them as battle scars. Left by a very vicious, and very opportunistic Mortal who happens to be my mate."

Nathan laughed, standing up and stretching again, cracking his neck before shrugging a little. "I don't know that I would use the term 'vicious'. Everything else in that sentence is correct though."

"Vicious works." Varian stated before heading for his bathroom, but then pausing. "I trust Ace explained what'll happen after all's been said and done?"

"He may have."

Varian only grinned before going to take his shower.

Varian slept peacefully, lying next to Nathan. Until two hands touched his shoulder, waking him.

"Varian." Venerra whispered.

Inhaling sharply, Varian turned towards her, pulling hair out of his face. "What is it Venerra?" he asked quietly.

"I'm bleeding."

Blinking, Varian let that register before he exhaled. "Alright, come on," he said, sitting up and trying not to disturb Nathan as he slid out of bed, taking her hand.

All Nathan did was shift a little, but thankfully he didn't wake up. Quietly, Varian lead Venerra out of his room and shut the door behind him, then turned to his sister.

"Did you wake up with it?" he asked.

She nodded. "My pajamas aren't clean, but my bed is okay."

"Alright, that's fine, come on." Varian said, heading towards her room. He let himself in and then went into her bathroom. "You remember what I told you when we talked about this?"

"Yeah. You told me to tell you and then you'd show me what to do," she answered.

"Right, so I'm going to show you what to do, so why don't you get some clean pajamas and underwear and I'll help you, okay?"

Venerra nodded, her shoulder blade-length coppery auburn curls bouncing from the movement. She left and came back quickly with new pants, underwear, and a shirt.

"Okay, your dirty clothes need to be washed as soon as possible, so they don't stain." Varian told her. "Take them off and run the dirty parts over with cold water, because hot water stains, alright?"

She nodded, her eyes wide and watering.

"Oh, Venerra, don't cry." Varian said gently, pulling her into a hug. "It's okay. I'm not mad. This is special, remember?"

She sniffled, nodding shortly.

"Okay." Varian murmured, going for the sink vanity in her bathroom and opening the cupboard where he'd had her put her supplies away. He grabbed the bag, then set it on the sink and opened it, removing a pad and setting it next to the bag before turning away and going to leave.

"You're leaving?" Venerra asked timidly.

He turned right back around. "You're getting too old for me to be around you when you're getting dressed or undressed Venerra," he explained.

"Please? Just this one time?" she asked.

Sighing, Varian nodded. "Alright. Come on, I'll help you."

Not too long after she'd gotten the hang of what she needed to do, listening to him intently as he explained what she needed to do with the pad and the dirty clothes.

After everything was situated, he took her rinsed out dirty clothes and put them in the wash, Venerra following him so he could show her how to mark the calendar with a red dot in the corner of the day she started, scribbling the number 3 next to it, because she'd woken him up then. Then he brought her back to her room and sat with her as she laid back down.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"It feels funny," she said.

He smiled. "It will until you get used to it."

"Okay," she yawned.

"Alright. You go back to sleep, and I'm going to go back to bed too, okay?"

"Yeah. I love you Varian," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

He smiled, stroking her cheek gently. "I love you too Venerra."

After that, he went back to bed, closing the door as silently as he could behind himself, walking over and slipping back into bed.

Nathan still didn't wake, and Varian shook his head at him as he shifted a little more. Laying down, Varian moved so he was touching Nathan, then closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep, and tried not to let the thought that his sister who had passed her ninth birthday, and his second anniversary, a week ago already had her period.

Which he succeeded at until his body determined it was time for him to wake up. Opening his eyes, he found himself curled up under the covers like usual, but Nathan wasn't asleep.

In fact, he was currently sitting up in bed and fiddling with his phone, though the volume wasn't up. Uncurling himself, Varian stretched, giving himself one last moment of relaxation before sitting up and running his fingers through his hair.

"Ugh," he muttered.

He was tired still, and he knew why. Because Venerra had woken him last night because she'd gotten her period.

Nathan glanced over with a raised eyebrow. "Morning," he said.

"Mm."

Nope, not in the mood. At least Nathan hadn't added a "good" before it. Instead he just smiled slightly and shook his head, looking back to his phone.

"Why are you so happy this morning?" Varian asked, looking over at Nathan.

"I'm not allowed to be in a good mood in the morning?" he asked.

"I didn't say that, I just asked why you were so happy."

"Well I don't have a reason. Just woke up in a good mood."

Snorting, Varian sighed, rubbing at his temple. "That makes one of us."

"I can see that."

"You didn't get woken up at three o'clock in the morning."

"What woke you up?" Nathan asked, frowning slightly.

Varian sighed again. He wasn't so much irritated as he was sad. Venerra was growing up so quickly. "A small child whose body decided to physically mature last night."

Nathan seemed a little confused and looked up from his phone before understanding and raised his eyebrows. "Oh! Oh." Then he paused and grimaced slightly. "Oh."

"Mm." Varian repeated.

All Nathan did was shift a little before sighing and put his phone away. Not that Varian expected him to do much.

"Should probably move the shotgun to a more readily accessible place. Like the closet in the living room."

Yeah, that sounded pretty good. Once the period kicked in, it was only a matter of time before he had to get her her first bra. Then it was scaring off all the boys.

Nathan snorted before laughing at that for a minute. "Not a bad idea."

"If I go to prison for voluntary manslaughter, what's the probability you'll visit me?" Varian asked.

He could see that happening. Which was a scary thought that he hoped to never revisit.

"Every day. And I'll bring the twins with me."

Varian actually smiled then, shaking his head. "I think I'd take the prison over Justin."

"Then I suggest you don't go to prison. Hide the body well."

"Oh, I'm very good at burying evidence." Varian commented.

If he wanted to, he could make a lot of things disappear. And it'd be very easy, because he wouldn't need a shovel.

"You should be good then." Nathan nodded.

"But now that we've discussed this, you'd be an accessory to murder, because they'd probably check the earth first." And that wouldn't end to well. "So then we'd both go to prison."

"Shit," Nathan would said, frowning as he thought for a second. "...who's gonna watch Venerra?"

"I think Evan would. But then I'd worry about her mental state of being." Varian replied, thinking as well.

Yup, Venerra with Evan for an extended period of time? Bound to turn out interesting.

"But on the bright side, they can't split mates up in prison."

"Oh, well that's good." Nathan said. "Because I'd be really pissed off if I went to prison because you killed someone, and then was separated from you on top of it."

"Well, it works out in our favor, because we're both male. So we'd get a cell together." Varian stated. "So you can pick how the bunks are set up, and I'll keep it clean."

"Good, good. Glad to know we've got this all figured out."

It was nice to know, but now that they were discussing it, the original thought no longer sounded very good.

"Mhmm." Varian hummed in agreement. "Hey Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm perfectly content keeping this scenario hypothetical, so is it okay if I just keep the shotgun in my closet?"

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." Nathan nodded.

"Alright." Varian exhaled. "Knives would be closer anyway, and I could brush that off as self defense if I wanted to."

"Mhmm. As absolutely amazing as prison sounds," Nathan said sarcastically, "I think I'd rather not experience it."

"Same."

Varian could definitely agree with that.