The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Eighteen

Morpheus feared Steven may have found him out. As much as he could counterfeit forms, he wasn't proving very good at deception. He shifted to a closer chair, and Steven leaned-in toward him, then put his good arm about Morpheus' shoulder in a hug.

"What's he get that for?" Julien asked, looking up.

"He deserved it," Steven said, removing his arm. Morpheus straightened, and saw Steven turn to receive a hug from Julien. "The ravioli's pretty decent. When did you learn to cook?" The implication seemed to be that Julien had once been a terrible cook, if he had even tried.

"When we moved to Barcelona.  We sorta—well there were always these boys about, and as long as they stayed, Athen was always offering late dinners or breakfasts.  Somehow the cooking fell to me.  There was a woman who taught me, and some of the boys...I don't quite remember, a lot of drugs and killing were involved.  Però, vaig aprendre a parlar català." 

"They speak Catalan in Ibiza."

"Has estat allà? "

Morpheus gleaned Julien's meaning telepathically. "I told you."

Julien's mouth hung open and silent for a moment. "Just that it was the Sidhe." There had been this slight awkwardness since the night Morpheus had left Julien's room to go to Jean-Daniel. He hadn't told Julien where he went, or who specifically he saw, or what he did there, just that he was back. Now, as he had so recently done, Julien clearly described them as friends in public.

They were friends. They did things together. They might have made out, but Julien wanted others to understand he did that with "everyone". They were not more.

No one else spoke.  Shade was drinking beer; Morpheus wasn't sure what that did to his Vampyre physiology. Steven and Morpheus were eating.

"Anyone know what Joy's doing?" Julien asked.

"She's doing the invitations," Shade said.

"Halloween," Julien said.  They were expecting Steven's great-grandchildren Amber and Amadeo to visit. Julien looked across Steven, toward Morpheus.  "You want to do something Murph?"

"I haven't got plans.  What do you want to do?"

"I don't know.  Sometimes I haven't got the patience to be immortal."

"Still haven't learned to sit still for long, have you?" Shade asked.

"It's OK when I'm working, but I sent a packet to Karachi yesterday. It drives me crazy they way you all are able to just sit and stare at things.  It's like you're all taking some drug I haven't discovered."

"Are there any rooms I haven't discovered?" Morpheus asked, maybe a little too quickly. "There's a music room somewhere, isn't there?"

"Above the chapel," Shade told him, "All the way at the end of the east wing. Second floor."

"You play also?" Steven asked. The also probably referred to his mother; Steven had originally known her as Joy's bandmate. Morpheus knew she was recently doing some work for Dream outside the Palace.

"Yeah. Guitar."

There could be an opportunity to play on Halloween. Joy had been busy doing most of the planning for a party - possibly a masked ball if rumors were true - assisted by Melalie of the Lilim, who had accompanied Shade home from his recent trip to Rome. Morpheus had seen Athen bring Joy suggestions. Morpheus was still unable to truly comprehend how Joy and Athen had made peace, after she remembered the violence he'd done to her when she was yet Human.