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

"Twenty-Eight" (Draft 2)

"David, where does Joy live now?"

"Castle Fortnight...it's in Poland. She's got a small coven there, John and Claudia and Angel's child Daerick, and his two children. I used to live with them before I came back here."

"Oh."

"It's quite a long story."

"But the accent what is it?"

David laughed. "I'm Scots, but my mother brought me to Karachi when I was quite young and I always spoke Arabic growing up, or Punjabi. You taught me to speak American properly, my mother always hated it, didn't want me taking after Thierry at all."

Julien sashayed into the room with a pitcher of coffee. "You be careful what you tell him, My Treasure," he said. He came to the bed and refilled Morpheus' cup. "I'm an annoying waitress," he said.

"Murph wouldn't use the information for anything bad," David said.

Julien shrugged and lifted Morpheus' wrist as he drank another cup of coffee. "Still slow. I think you should try sleeping, you'll wake up feeling better."

"I thought going to sleep after eating was a sure way to gain weight," David said.

"He's sick, David...and have you ever known Morpheus to gain weight regardless of the amount he eats?"

Morpheus turned and looked at David. Impossible to tell if he had ever been fat at all, he was so lean, just bone, muscle and skin. He was built rather like Athen, though he wasn't so youthful. He did look a lot like Thierry, same beautiful cheekbones and small bright eyes. Morpheus wondered, if David had grown up here, if Julien's own concern with his weight had made him hard on David.

"Go to sleep, you'll heal faster," Julien whispered, "The sun's killing me, anyway."

He set the tray on the floor and climbed over Morpheus into the bed.

They went to sleep.

When Morpheus woke he was alone in the bed. It was night. Something doomy was playing at low volume. He sat up. The doors were open to the terrace. The pool was glowing. Morpheus got up from the bed. He felt a little better. He went to the doors and saw that Julien was lying out by the pool dressed in clingy swim trunks. David, by the red hair, was swimming laps in the pool. There was another young man, one of the Weakeners, like Crystal. He was all around slighter of build than a Human and still quite young. He was sitting beside the pool in some shorts.

David got out of the pool gave a smile to Morpheus then walked around to the place Julien lay. He took up a towel and dried his face and neck. And then Julien's hand rose, strangely, because he said nothing and moved in no other way. David took something from Julien's hand and raised it to his neck. Morpheus saw it was the choker. Apparently this was Julien's token on his child and he was very strict about David wearing it. Morpheus walked to Julien's side and crouched down.

Julien's eyes rolled to Morpheus. "You look better. Will you leave?"

"I don't think I can fly...you know...over time. It does take some effort, you know. And going backward is much harder."

"I've got all sorts of selfish wishes about you staying here," Julien said.

"Have you always got boys about your pool now?"

"Joe? He's my ward, his mother was killed near here in one of the past riots, you know, Human hate groups...but there are others about, my students. I never touch them, Morpheus, you should know that...except for David."