Nathaniel Graison (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nathaniel_kitten) wrote2009-09-29 02:33 pm
nathaniel_kitten) wrote2009-09-29 02:33 pm
(no subject)
[OOC: Written in Google Docs by Liz-mun and Nathaniel-mun.]
Nathaniel hasn't really moved all that much. Depression does that to you.
He's been trying to figure out how someone who is supposed to love him, protect him, and wants him happy could do the one thing that would hurt him, leave him vulnerable, and make him the most miserable he's been in far too long. Yes, he still has Asher, and he'll never regret his choice, but he doesn't have Anita. She doesn't even want to look at him. He has been barred from returning to her house -- the house he's seen as home -- and it hurts.
Asher had left him perhaps half an hour ago, and Nathaniel feels it's all right to cry now. It's quiet, soft and subdued, muffled by the pillow he buries his face it. It smells of Asher, and he tries to take comfort in that. In his vampire. Asher wants him, will keep him, will even protect him, and Nathaniel hopes the hurting will soon start to fade. It's just so fresh at the moment, and he sobs, curled on his side, half under the blanket and sheet on the bed.
Liz was kind of starting to hate this whole change of past thing that was happening. It was bad enough that it was confusing and frustrating that memories she had were now different, as well as a few brand new ones that just kind of popped up in her head. Ones she was sure weren't there before. In general it was giving her a headache. The only saving grace was that it gave her a heads up on what was happening with Kitten. Sure it made her want to tear Anita a new one for doing it to him, but her first priority wasn't confronting Anita, it was making sure Nathaniel would be alright in the end.
Which is why she makes her way to the room he's occupying. It's fairly easy to track him down, even if she didn't have the ease of using his scent to locate him. Just knowing him and where he'd go was enough at the moment. A medium size bag swings from her arm, food and drink so that he won't have to leave the room unless he really wants to. Food because she wants to make sure he's eating. She knocks on the door to the room, "Kitten?" She doesn't as much wait for an answer before she's trying the door to see if she can slip in or if he'll have to let her in.
Asher hadn't locked the door behind him, so Liz can easily enter the room. Nathaniel lifts his head head from the pillow enough to wipe his nose and cheeks, giving a sniffle. He blinks a couple of times, and then allows his head to fall back down onto the pillow. "Hey, Liz," he murmurs, his voice thick. "Wasn't expecting company."
The door is closed gently behind her, eyes falling on Nathaniel with an expression that says she'd kill who did this to him if she could. Liz moves easily to the bed, bag dropped on the nearest surface between her and the bed. Settling on the edge of the bed, her hand goes to his shoulder. "Should have been. You know I'll never leave you alone hurt," she murmurs softly, hand running gently across his shoulder to offer comfort.
"I'm not alone," he says, closing his eyes for a moment. "Asher's with me usually."
She settles a little more on the bed, "Pardless then," she counters softly. "I'll never leave you."
Nathaniel offers her a watery smile. "Micah says I'm still part of the pard, even if I can't be at the house right now." But that still hurts, being basically evicted from his home.
There's a small tug, trying to pull him into her lap if he'll let her. "You'll never not be pard to me, Nat. Ever."
"It's not you who decides that," Nathaniel says, closing his eyes. "She's Nimir-Ra. If she doesn't want to protect me anymore..."
Liz pets through Nat's hair, "You won't loose me, Nat." Her tone says she won't abandon him. He's her Kitten and she'll stand by him no matter what.
Nathaniel sighs, giving another sniffle. "Micah says to give Anita a month, and then I'll be allowed back in the house. A whole month not seeing her." He opens his eyes. "It's only because Asher's a guy. She wouldn't be this pissed if I was fucking a woman."
Liz leans down a little, letting her hair fall around her and Nat as she looks down at him. "No, she wouldn't be. And it's such a stupid reason for her to be pissed." There's offered scritches and a soft purr to try and sooth him a little. "Hopefully the boys can get her to see the error of her ways."
"I'm not getting my hopes up," he says, eyes closing as she scritches. However, she gets no purr from him. He hasn't purred in days. "Anita will do what Anita wants. You know that."
Purr from him or no, she continues the scritches. She knows purrs are for when you're happy, right now she's just offering comfort. "Richard got her to bend before," she offers softly. Which meant it had been done before. It's possible to be done again.
"I somehow don't think Richard is going to be my advocate. He hates me, Liz."
"I didn't mean it that way, Nat," she says with a sigh. Liz tugs gently on a strand of hair in an effort to make sure he's paying attention, "I meant, if she bent once, it's possible for her to bend again." Her head lowers enough to rest her forehead on his, "I'm sure there are more people on your side than you think. Her accepting men together holds a lot of weight for not just you, Kitten." The more people that were held in the balance for this acceptance, the quicker she might come around to being alright with Nat being with Asher.
Nathaniel laughs, but the sound isn't pleasant. "Yeah. If she can handle Asher and me, then it opens the door to Asher and Jean-Claude fucking openly."
Liz sighs, soft and slightly frustrated. "What do you want, Kitten?" Because she's not exactly sure what would make him happy at this moment.
He covers his face. "I don't know, Liz. I want Asher, and I want Anita... and God knows what she's going to do when she finds out about Damian."
Liz shifts them, sliding down to warp around Nathaniel. "One problem at a time, Nat. First get her okay with Asher. Deal with everything with Damian after."
Nathaniel cuddles against her, nodding. "I know. I'm just... it hurts so much, Liz. I don't regret choosing him; I'll never regret choosing him. I just hate I had to choose at all."
She holds him close, a low purr that's more feel than sound from her throat. "I'm sorry you had to. You're everything she wanted you to be, she just doesn't see it." She'd pushed him to be independent, to make his own choices. Liz was just sorry it had to be such a hard choice because she was being a bitch. "I wish she weren't so close-minded."
"So do I. Asher..." Nathaniel smiles, and this time it's a true smile. "Asher is so beautiful. Inside and out. He doesn't think so, but he is. He takes care of me. He loves me. She should be pleased, not... hateful."
She nuzzles his hair, "I think everyone except her is happy for you. It's why we all agreed to not tell her, to let you two set the time to tell her." Because then they had the say it her mood and everything. "I am happy for you."
"Asher told her. He didn't even warn me. He just did it." Nathaniel might be unhappy about that, just a little, but he can understand Asher's reasoning. "I hope she sees reason."
"Maybe there was no time to warn you?" It's the only reason that Liz can think that Asher wouldn't give him a warning. "And hopefully soon." She hates seeing Nathaniel go through all this.
Nathaniel chuckles. "Anita does nothing quickly. Except maybe kill. That she seems to be pretty quick at deciding."
Liz gives a rumble, low in her throat that's a sound caught between a growl and a chuckle, "She makes the rash decisions, the ones that hurt people quick." Her nose nudges against Nat's throat, "I just don't like you hurting, Kitten," she murmurs softly. She really wished there was a way to fix it. Now.
"I don't like hurting," Nathaniel whispers. "It's... I don't like it. I don't want to feel like this."
"I wish there was a way to shield you from it," she murmurs. Liz nuzzles his throat, deciding to switch topics a little. "Have you eaten recently?"
Nathaniel noses her cheek. "Asher made me eat yesterday." That was good enough. He's not very hungry anyway.
"You need to eat today, then." Her tone is soft but holds the alpha she can be behind it. She doesn't want to order, but she doesn't want him arguing either. They both know he should be eating more. "I brought some of your favorites from the bar, Liz's Delivery at your service."
"I'm not hungry, Liz," he murmurs, sitting up in the bed. The sheets pool in his lap, covering him, not that she hasn't seen it all before. "The beast isn't even hungry. It feels like we've been beaten and are hiding under a table."
Liz sits up with him, resting her chin on his shoulder and arms around his waist. "Sometimes even if we aren't hungry we need to eat, even just a little." She vaguely remembers that fact from long ago when she was a kid, being forced to eat at least soup and crackers when sick even though she wasn't hungry. She pushes out gently with her energy, nothing like Micah could do or even Richard with the wolves, just offering comfort in another way.
Nathaniel's leopard responds to it, peeking out from where it hides, from where he hides. He draws a knee up to his chest. "All right. What do you have?"
Liz turns, leaving the bed only long enough to grab the bag where she'd left it. She sets it in front of him as she settles back onto the bed, arms wrapping around him again. Her energy used as much of a warm, comforting, and protecting blanket as she can get it to be. "All your favorites. I wasn't sure you'd want to go downstairs for food, so I brought pretty much everything." She gives a small smile, "Figured what you didn't eat could be stored for later." Yes, she knows Asher can do this for him too when hungry, but it makes her feel somewhat useful since she can't protect him from this.
Curious fingers open the bag, and Nathaniel peers inside. He grins as he pulls out a thermos of cold milk and a container of warm chicken and dumplings soup. "My mom used to give me milk and soup when I was sick as a kid," he murmurs, sharing a little bit of his past with Liz, explaining why the two items brings tears to his eyes. "It always made me feel warm and safe."
She smiles softly, resting her chin on his shoulder again, "Good memories," she whispers softly. She's glad the soup and milk are making him a little happy. Him grinning means a lot right now. "We always got orange juice instead of milk," she murmurs without ever really thinking about it.
"I've never like orange juice much. I like orange pop, but not orange juice." Nathaniel pulls out a spoon, opens up the soup, and begins to slowly eat the hot soup. "Milk was special. We didn't have much money, but we always had a gallon of milk in the fridge, and having a glass of milk was special. Mom usually used it for cooking or for our cereal, but just drinking it was not allowed."
She nods, the movement never really taking her chin off his shoulder, "I didn't like orange juice much as a kid, which is why I think Mom made me drink it when I was sick." Her sister loved it. Liz noses his shoulder gently, "What kind of soup did your mom make you when you were sick?"
"Chicken and dumplings or a cheese soup, always from scratch," Nathaniel says. "I think I love cooking as much as I do because she loved it so much."
He doesn't know why he's suddenly talking about his past, about his home, when he's spent the last decade of his life hiding it from everyone, keeping it tight to his chest and away from prying eyes. But, not knowing doesn't keep him silent.
"She would make Nicky the weirdest thing when he was sick... soup with chicken broth and peanut butter and a little of this orange jelly she'd make in the summer. I thought it was so disgusting," Nathaniel laughs, "but Nicky loved it."
"She teach you everything you know, kind of deal?" Liz asks with a smile, head tilting a little. They'd never pried into Nat's past either. It was his and no one wanted to try and get more than he was willing to give. That and Gab wasn't all that interested in much of Nathaniel's past, so he and Liz had never really asked before.
Liz's nose wrinkles at that, because that really does sound disgusting, "Weirdest thing Rae or I ever ate was banana and peanut butter sandwiches, which as a kid, they aren't bad. As an adult, disgusting."
Nathaniel chuckles between bites of soup. "I was pretty straight-forward in my eating choices. I wasn't a picky eater."
Not until they'd tried to separate him from Nicky after their Dad had died, Nathaniel thinks.
"I tended to be as a kid. Now days, I'll eat almost anything." She may give a soft nom to his shoulder, joking proof. She'd try almost everything, but what she liked was slim compared to her sister or other kids.
There's some laughter from Nathaniel as he pauses in his soup eating. "I've been agreeable since I was born."
Liz smiles, liking that laughter. It's a good sound to hear as she noses his shoulder. She doesn't really have anything more to say and she's not sure what's a safe subject at the moment, so she just settles her chin on his shoulder comfortably.
Nathaniel eats slowly, smiling at the soup. "Asher chose me as his pomme de sang," he tells her. "Officially."
Liz blinks, a smile on her face but it's a little hesitant. "What about the part where you were Anita's pomme?" Because she's not sure about the rules on them, but being a pomme de sang to two people didn't sound like it would work. And while Anita's angry, to just assume Nat is no longer Anita's might be a bad move. Give her more to be angry at.
Lavender eyes lift to meet hazel. "I'm not Anita's pomme de sang anymore." It is a privilege Anita had been given to call him her pomme de sang, but Nathaniel feels the privilege is better given to Asher who will appreciate it for what it is and treat him as a pomme de sang should be treated.
Liz watches Nathaniel a moment, taking that in. She nods after a moment though, still smiling a little. "Congratulations then, Kitten." She'd always stand by what Nathaniel wants. What will make him happy.
"If I was so easy for her to throw me away, she doesn't deserve that from me," Nathaniel murmurs.
Liz noses his shoulder gently, "You deserve to be treated better than that."
"I still love her," he says, poking at a dumpling. "I'll still feed her when she needs me, if she asks me back, but I can't be her pomme de sang anymore." Nathaniel looks at Liz. "Do you think she'll hate me when I tell her?"
"I don't know." Her gaze shifts to eye the dumpling before looking back at him. "I think she should be happy that you're being independent and making your own choices." What Anita does is anyone's guess, though.
Nathaniel sighs, closing his eyes. "I wish I could be two people sometimes," he says. "What each of them wants and needs."
Liz nips his shoulder. "You be who you are, not what they want you to be. And the ones that stay around are meant to be around. The ones that don't stay, good riddance, Kitten."
"I need him," Nathaniel says, a fierceness in his words as he leans against her. "I need him."
Liz holds Nathaniel to her, "And you have him. And he doesn't seem to be going anywhere."
Nathaniel nods a little. "He's my Master. He can't very well just ditch me."
Liz shifts a little to nuzzle his throat. "He can't, but he doesn't want to either, Kitten." And that was an important part. That Asher wanted to be there, for and with Nathaniel.
Finishing the soup, Nathaniel reaches into the sack and pulls out a container of his favorite sushi. See the Kitten's face light up as he opens it and pops one in his mouth. "I'd do anything to keep him happy," he says between bites of sushi.
Liz is grinning faintly, glad that the food is brightening his mood a little. "Somehow I think the feeling is mutual for him." She's seen them together. They're cute.
"I promised if he would start feeding from me again, I'd eat." Nathaniel smiles at Liz. "You've made it very easy for me to coax a feeding out of him tonight."
Liz bumps him gently, "I'm glad I could help. In any way."
Nathaniel leans over and kisses her, friendly and sweet. "Thank you, Liz. For everything."
She rubs her nose against his after the kiss, smiling. "Always, Nathaniel."
Nathaniel hasn't really moved all that much. Depression does that to you.
He's been trying to figure out how someone who is supposed to love him, protect him, and wants him happy could do the one thing that would hurt him, leave him vulnerable, and make him the most miserable he's been in far too long. Yes, he still has Asher, and he'll never regret his choice, but he doesn't have Anita. She doesn't even want to look at him. He has been barred from returning to her house -- the house he's seen as home -- and it hurts.
Asher had left him perhaps half an hour ago, and Nathaniel feels it's all right to cry now. It's quiet, soft and subdued, muffled by the pillow he buries his face it. It smells of Asher, and he tries to take comfort in that. In his vampire. Asher wants him, will keep him, will even protect him, and Nathaniel hopes the hurting will soon start to fade. It's just so fresh at the moment, and he sobs, curled on his side, half under the blanket and sheet on the bed.
Liz was kind of starting to hate this whole change of past thing that was happening. It was bad enough that it was confusing and frustrating that memories she had were now different, as well as a few brand new ones that just kind of popped up in her head. Ones she was sure weren't there before. In general it was giving her a headache. The only saving grace was that it gave her a heads up on what was happening with Kitten. Sure it made her want to tear Anita a new one for doing it to him, but her first priority wasn't confronting Anita, it was making sure Nathaniel would be alright in the end.
Which is why she makes her way to the room he's occupying. It's fairly easy to track him down, even if she didn't have the ease of using his scent to locate him. Just knowing him and where he'd go was enough at the moment. A medium size bag swings from her arm, food and drink so that he won't have to leave the room unless he really wants to. Food because she wants to make sure he's eating. She knocks on the door to the room, "Kitten?" She doesn't as much wait for an answer before she's trying the door to see if she can slip in or if he'll have to let her in.
Asher hadn't locked the door behind him, so Liz can easily enter the room. Nathaniel lifts his head head from the pillow enough to wipe his nose and cheeks, giving a sniffle. He blinks a couple of times, and then allows his head to fall back down onto the pillow. "Hey, Liz," he murmurs, his voice thick. "Wasn't expecting company."
The door is closed gently behind her, eyes falling on Nathaniel with an expression that says she'd kill who did this to him if she could. Liz moves easily to the bed, bag dropped on the nearest surface between her and the bed. Settling on the edge of the bed, her hand goes to his shoulder. "Should have been. You know I'll never leave you alone hurt," she murmurs softly, hand running gently across his shoulder to offer comfort.
"I'm not alone," he says, closing his eyes for a moment. "Asher's with me usually."
She settles a little more on the bed, "Pardless then," she counters softly. "I'll never leave you."
Nathaniel offers her a watery smile. "Micah says I'm still part of the pard, even if I can't be at the house right now." But that still hurts, being basically evicted from his home.
There's a small tug, trying to pull him into her lap if he'll let her. "You'll never not be pard to me, Nat. Ever."
"It's not you who decides that," Nathaniel says, closing his eyes. "She's Nimir-Ra. If she doesn't want to protect me anymore..."
Liz pets through Nat's hair, "You won't loose me, Nat." Her tone says she won't abandon him. He's her Kitten and she'll stand by him no matter what.
Nathaniel sighs, giving another sniffle. "Micah says to give Anita a month, and then I'll be allowed back in the house. A whole month not seeing her." He opens his eyes. "It's only because Asher's a guy. She wouldn't be this pissed if I was fucking a woman."
Liz leans down a little, letting her hair fall around her and Nat as she looks down at him. "No, she wouldn't be. And it's such a stupid reason for her to be pissed." There's offered scritches and a soft purr to try and sooth him a little. "Hopefully the boys can get her to see the error of her ways."
"I'm not getting my hopes up," he says, eyes closing as she scritches. However, she gets no purr from him. He hasn't purred in days. "Anita will do what Anita wants. You know that."
Purr from him or no, she continues the scritches. She knows purrs are for when you're happy, right now she's just offering comfort. "Richard got her to bend before," she offers softly. Which meant it had been done before. It's possible to be done again.
"I somehow don't think Richard is going to be my advocate. He hates me, Liz."
"I didn't mean it that way, Nat," she says with a sigh. Liz tugs gently on a strand of hair in an effort to make sure he's paying attention, "I meant, if she bent once, it's possible for her to bend again." Her head lowers enough to rest her forehead on his, "I'm sure there are more people on your side than you think. Her accepting men together holds a lot of weight for not just you, Kitten." The more people that were held in the balance for this acceptance, the quicker she might come around to being alright with Nat being with Asher.
Nathaniel laughs, but the sound isn't pleasant. "Yeah. If she can handle Asher and me, then it opens the door to Asher and Jean-Claude fucking openly."
Liz sighs, soft and slightly frustrated. "What do you want, Kitten?" Because she's not exactly sure what would make him happy at this moment.
He covers his face. "I don't know, Liz. I want Asher, and I want Anita... and God knows what she's going to do when she finds out about Damian."
Liz shifts them, sliding down to warp around Nathaniel. "One problem at a time, Nat. First get her okay with Asher. Deal with everything with Damian after."
Nathaniel cuddles against her, nodding. "I know. I'm just... it hurts so much, Liz. I don't regret choosing him; I'll never regret choosing him. I just hate I had to choose at all."
She holds him close, a low purr that's more feel than sound from her throat. "I'm sorry you had to. You're everything she wanted you to be, she just doesn't see it." She'd pushed him to be independent, to make his own choices. Liz was just sorry it had to be such a hard choice because she was being a bitch. "I wish she weren't so close-minded."
"So do I. Asher..." Nathaniel smiles, and this time it's a true smile. "Asher is so beautiful. Inside and out. He doesn't think so, but he is. He takes care of me. He loves me. She should be pleased, not... hateful."
She nuzzles his hair, "I think everyone except her is happy for you. It's why we all agreed to not tell her, to let you two set the time to tell her." Because then they had the say it her mood and everything. "I am happy for you."
"Asher told her. He didn't even warn me. He just did it." Nathaniel might be unhappy about that, just a little, but he can understand Asher's reasoning. "I hope she sees reason."
"Maybe there was no time to warn you?" It's the only reason that Liz can think that Asher wouldn't give him a warning. "And hopefully soon." She hates seeing Nathaniel go through all this.
Nathaniel chuckles. "Anita does nothing quickly. Except maybe kill. That she seems to be pretty quick at deciding."
Liz gives a rumble, low in her throat that's a sound caught between a growl and a chuckle, "She makes the rash decisions, the ones that hurt people quick." Her nose nudges against Nat's throat, "I just don't like you hurting, Kitten," she murmurs softly. She really wished there was a way to fix it. Now.
"I don't like hurting," Nathaniel whispers. "It's... I don't like it. I don't want to feel like this."
"I wish there was a way to shield you from it," she murmurs. Liz nuzzles his throat, deciding to switch topics a little. "Have you eaten recently?"
Nathaniel noses her cheek. "Asher made me eat yesterday." That was good enough. He's not very hungry anyway.
"You need to eat today, then." Her tone is soft but holds the alpha she can be behind it. She doesn't want to order, but she doesn't want him arguing either. They both know he should be eating more. "I brought some of your favorites from the bar, Liz's Delivery at your service."
"I'm not hungry, Liz," he murmurs, sitting up in the bed. The sheets pool in his lap, covering him, not that she hasn't seen it all before. "The beast isn't even hungry. It feels like we've been beaten and are hiding under a table."
Liz sits up with him, resting her chin on his shoulder and arms around his waist. "Sometimes even if we aren't hungry we need to eat, even just a little." She vaguely remembers that fact from long ago when she was a kid, being forced to eat at least soup and crackers when sick even though she wasn't hungry. She pushes out gently with her energy, nothing like Micah could do or even Richard with the wolves, just offering comfort in another way.
Nathaniel's leopard responds to it, peeking out from where it hides, from where he hides. He draws a knee up to his chest. "All right. What do you have?"
Liz turns, leaving the bed only long enough to grab the bag where she'd left it. She sets it in front of him as she settles back onto the bed, arms wrapping around him again. Her energy used as much of a warm, comforting, and protecting blanket as she can get it to be. "All your favorites. I wasn't sure you'd want to go downstairs for food, so I brought pretty much everything." She gives a small smile, "Figured what you didn't eat could be stored for later." Yes, she knows Asher can do this for him too when hungry, but it makes her feel somewhat useful since she can't protect him from this.
Curious fingers open the bag, and Nathaniel peers inside. He grins as he pulls out a thermos of cold milk and a container of warm chicken and dumplings soup. "My mom used to give me milk and soup when I was sick as a kid," he murmurs, sharing a little bit of his past with Liz, explaining why the two items brings tears to his eyes. "It always made me feel warm and safe."
She smiles softly, resting her chin on his shoulder again, "Good memories," she whispers softly. She's glad the soup and milk are making him a little happy. Him grinning means a lot right now. "We always got orange juice instead of milk," she murmurs without ever really thinking about it.
"I've never like orange juice much. I like orange pop, but not orange juice." Nathaniel pulls out a spoon, opens up the soup, and begins to slowly eat the hot soup. "Milk was special. We didn't have much money, but we always had a gallon of milk in the fridge, and having a glass of milk was special. Mom usually used it for cooking or for our cereal, but just drinking it was not allowed."
She nods, the movement never really taking her chin off his shoulder, "I didn't like orange juice much as a kid, which is why I think Mom made me drink it when I was sick." Her sister loved it. Liz noses his shoulder gently, "What kind of soup did your mom make you when you were sick?"
"Chicken and dumplings or a cheese soup, always from scratch," Nathaniel says. "I think I love cooking as much as I do because she loved it so much."
He doesn't know why he's suddenly talking about his past, about his home, when he's spent the last decade of his life hiding it from everyone, keeping it tight to his chest and away from prying eyes. But, not knowing doesn't keep him silent.
"She would make Nicky the weirdest thing when he was sick... soup with chicken broth and peanut butter and a little of this orange jelly she'd make in the summer. I thought it was so disgusting," Nathaniel laughs, "but Nicky loved it."
"She teach you everything you know, kind of deal?" Liz asks with a smile, head tilting a little. They'd never pried into Nat's past either. It was his and no one wanted to try and get more than he was willing to give. That and Gab wasn't all that interested in much of Nathaniel's past, so he and Liz had never really asked before.
Liz's nose wrinkles at that, because that really does sound disgusting, "Weirdest thing Rae or I ever ate was banana and peanut butter sandwiches, which as a kid, they aren't bad. As an adult, disgusting."
Nathaniel chuckles between bites of soup. "I was pretty straight-forward in my eating choices. I wasn't a picky eater."
Not until they'd tried to separate him from Nicky after their Dad had died, Nathaniel thinks.
"I tended to be as a kid. Now days, I'll eat almost anything." She may give a soft nom to his shoulder, joking proof. She'd try almost everything, but what she liked was slim compared to her sister or other kids.
There's some laughter from Nathaniel as he pauses in his soup eating. "I've been agreeable since I was born."
Liz smiles, liking that laughter. It's a good sound to hear as she noses his shoulder. She doesn't really have anything more to say and she's not sure what's a safe subject at the moment, so she just settles her chin on his shoulder comfortably.
Nathaniel eats slowly, smiling at the soup. "Asher chose me as his pomme de sang," he tells her. "Officially."
Liz blinks, a smile on her face but it's a little hesitant. "What about the part where you were Anita's pomme?" Because she's not sure about the rules on them, but being a pomme de sang to two people didn't sound like it would work. And while Anita's angry, to just assume Nat is no longer Anita's might be a bad move. Give her more to be angry at.
Lavender eyes lift to meet hazel. "I'm not Anita's pomme de sang anymore." It is a privilege Anita had been given to call him her pomme de sang, but Nathaniel feels the privilege is better given to Asher who will appreciate it for what it is and treat him as a pomme de sang should be treated.
Liz watches Nathaniel a moment, taking that in. She nods after a moment though, still smiling a little. "Congratulations then, Kitten." She'd always stand by what Nathaniel wants. What will make him happy.
"If I was so easy for her to throw me away, she doesn't deserve that from me," Nathaniel murmurs.
Liz noses his shoulder gently, "You deserve to be treated better than that."
"I still love her," he says, poking at a dumpling. "I'll still feed her when she needs me, if she asks me back, but I can't be her pomme de sang anymore." Nathaniel looks at Liz. "Do you think she'll hate me when I tell her?"
"I don't know." Her gaze shifts to eye the dumpling before looking back at him. "I think she should be happy that you're being independent and making your own choices." What Anita does is anyone's guess, though.
Nathaniel sighs, closing his eyes. "I wish I could be two people sometimes," he says. "What each of them wants and needs."
Liz nips his shoulder. "You be who you are, not what they want you to be. And the ones that stay around are meant to be around. The ones that don't stay, good riddance, Kitten."
"I need him," Nathaniel says, a fierceness in his words as he leans against her. "I need him."
Liz holds Nathaniel to her, "And you have him. And he doesn't seem to be going anywhere."
Nathaniel nods a little. "He's my Master. He can't very well just ditch me."
Liz shifts a little to nuzzle his throat. "He can't, but he doesn't want to either, Kitten." And that was an important part. That Asher wanted to be there, for and with Nathaniel.
Finishing the soup, Nathaniel reaches into the sack and pulls out a container of his favorite sushi. See the Kitten's face light up as he opens it and pops one in his mouth. "I'd do anything to keep him happy," he says between bites of sushi.
Liz is grinning faintly, glad that the food is brightening his mood a little. "Somehow I think the feeling is mutual for him." She's seen them together. They're cute.
"I promised if he would start feeding from me again, I'd eat." Nathaniel smiles at Liz. "You've made it very easy for me to coax a feeding out of him tonight."
Liz bumps him gently, "I'm glad I could help. In any way."
Nathaniel leans over and kisses her, friendly and sweet. "Thank you, Liz. For everything."
She rubs her nose against his after the kiss, smiling. "Always, Nathaniel."