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Harry sprinkled chile-lime seasoning on the bowl of popcorn, humming quietly to himself to distract himself from how quiet the house was otherwise. Given the number of Bonded in his Circle and the amount of children running about on any given day, such silence was rare.
But the Evanson Circle had whisked the children off for a sleepover, with promises to deliver them around lunchtime the following day, and as for the rest of Harry’s Bonded … well, it was date night, with everyone paired off. Most of them had opted to spend the evening out in the city and, unless something went seriously wrong, weren’t likely to return until the early hours of the morning.
Valerian had offered to take Harry out too, but he had taken mercy on the ACE and had opted for a night in instead. He didn’t mind taking advantage of an empty house, though there was an equal opportunity he’d fall asleep halfway through the night.
He loved his children and parenting was infinitely easier with all of his Bonded to help him, but being a parent was still exhausting.
Especially considering that he was pregnant again. He had the magic to spare, but the energy to use it was something else entirely.
Harry popped a few kernels of popcorn into his mouth, then took the bowl out into the smaller living room where Valerian had been setting up. They usually kept the room on the cozier side—it was the go-to napping spot for his Circle and children, and the first choice for anyone struggling to sleep at night—but he smiled softly when he spotted some of his preferred pillows and blankets already sitting out in the recessed sitting area.
He pressed a kiss to the corner of Valerian’s mouth to express his appreciation for the gesture and set the bowl of popcorn within easy reach. Silver eyes flicked over to it, noting the single, larger bowl instead of their normal two smaller ones, and then returned to Harry, a blond eyebrow raising in silent question. In reply, Harry simply offered a one-shoulder shrug. As cravings went, it certainly wasn’t the oddest he’d dealt with.
An arm reached out and wrapped around his waist as he settled into the overstuffed seating, so Harry shifted closer, pressing against the ACE’s side.
“Your choice,” Valerian murmured into his ear.
“Your choice,” Harry immediately countered. “I chose the snacks.” Specifically because it was the easier choice, but he didn’t say that out loud.
His Bonded heaved a drawn out, put-upon sigh. “At least narrow down the options?”
“Not Gheyos,” Harry said after a moment of consideration. He wasn’t sure he could handle the blood that usually was part of those shows. “Something that’s easy to follow.”
His green eyes watched the screen as Valerian scrolled through the options, going slow enough so Harry could read the synopses for each one. A grin crossed his face and he nudged the other man when he spotted a familiar one, a competition-reality series about an ACE presented with several different Gheyos of the same rank and tasked with finding one they were interested in courting or joining their Suite. The first season had started with the ACE seeking a King, and then had gone on to finding a Queen and then the lower ranks.
He’d yet to get Valerian to admit that the show was where he had gotten the idea to “audition” Gheyo Queens of different elements and, based on the dirty look he was given, he doubted he would get that admission tonight.
“They’re doing Princesses now,” he said. “Will it be Jokers next?”
“That ACE isn’t the type for Jokers,” Valerian replied. “It’ll be a new ACE finding a King next. And then when they’ve got three or four Suites prepared, they’ll do a special season during the Hunt with the Suites courting Submissives or Alphas.”
Harry wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. On one level, it sounded interesting, but he had a hard time picturing the Submissives that might agree to have such a public courting.
“Do you ever wish to fill out the Suite?” he asked as he prompted Valerian to scroll on. “Find a Prince or Princess?” The question crossed his mind from time to time, but he usually avoided asking it so he wouldn’t give his Bonded the impression that he wanted to start hunting again.
Silver eyes slid in his direction. “No,” came the slow reply. “I have my claws full enough with the two I have. I’d rather another pair of Jokers than try to find a Prince and Princess that would mesh well and still allow me to keep my sanity.”
Harry laughed. Fair enough, especially considering how dramatic bonding in their Queen had ended up being. He himself didn’t want to go through that again, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t wonder…
After a few more minutes, the pair of them narrowed it down to two shows—a comedy series about a Pareyic Coven and the various situations they dealt with and the recording of the most recent Fractalian competition, where Mages competed amongst each other with the aim at becoming the next Royal Archmage or Grand Archmage for their element, which had ended at the beginning of the season.
It was an easy decision, in Harry’s mind. Since he didn’t want to watch anything with Gheyos, it seemed unfair to make Valerian watch a show featuring Pareya. It would be easy enough to talk one of his Pareya into watching the show later on during the week, if the children didn’t do that first. They already knew who had won the Fire-element part of the Fractalian competition since they’d been to the celebration at the Fire Courts where the Mage’s new position was announced, but there were four other elements they could watch—four, not five, since that was yet another thing the Merrow did differently.
Harry tapped the play button on the tablet, starting the show. A wave of Valerian’s hand had the lights dimming, and he shifted so he could rest his head on the man’s shoulder. His hand drifted down to where Valerian’s arm still rested around his waist. He squeezed it affectionately. “Happy date night, my ACE.”
“Happy date night to you too, my Submissive.”