Dojima-Montague Apartment, Tokyo, Wednesday Morning

[withoutverona]

Romeo's nineteenth birthday started with a package from his father containing a collection of Lord Byron's works, a dagger that was about twice as elaborate as anything Romeo had any business carrying, and a letter that suggested -- in a polite, backhanded, and elaborate way -- that Romeo was missed and should make it his business to visit Verona sooner rather than later.

There was also a large box of chocolates. They were good. Romeo ate the caramels as his breakfast. He should have been reading about the equilibrium point in supply and demand, but that kept turning into perusal of the poetry. Really, the poetry struck him as more relevant.

[OOC: For the girlfriend, or for birthday emails/calls/texts/homing pigeons.]

Comments

[bitchprince]

"I'll let him know," he said, dryly. Really? Because Arthur had so many fascinating opinions on the topic. "How is your Dojima?" he said, instead, and... tried not to think about that being the next question after the whole thing about how Merlin was doing.

[withoutverona]

Well, clearly, the questions weren't parallel at all.

"She's well. She works too much." Meaning only that she wasn't at Romeo's beck and call -- her coworkers would probably have a very different opinion of whether what she did with her time could be called work. "We're supposed to go out for my birthday later."

[Headed home!]

[bitchprince]

"Well, I hope your birthday celebrations are up to snuff." Hey, he was making a good effort to sound like he'd actually known, there. "Get a bottle of wine in my name; I'll reimburse you next time we meet."

[withoutverona]

"Oh, there's hardly a need for that," Romeo said. "I'll have a cup for you, though."

"Besides, I didn't do anything for yours." ... and he was assuming the odds were with him and Arthur hadn't been born in December.

[bitchprince]

Arthur rolled his eyes. "That hardly matters any." Father had always gone a little funny on his birthday; it wasn't exactly Arthur's favourite day of the year.

[withoutverona]

"It always matters a little." Yes, Romeo, poke at him when he sounded exasperated, that usually ended well.

[bitchprince]

"Romeo, I know you people seem to be convinced you can argue with me, but I expected better of you," Arthur said, the back of his head idly thunking against the wall behind his bed. "If you don't accept this, I will be forced to send you some in the mail, and do we really want to deal with the expenses of cross-dimensional traffic?" Beat. "Although investing in that might help the current economy..."

Nerd.

[withoutverona]

"We can argue with you, there's just no guarantee we'll win," Romeo said idly. "Though now you're going to make me look up Japan's policies on wines in the mail. I know they let me ship things to Reno..."

[bitchprince]

"I think we can both agree it would be less effort if you got the wine yourself and let me pay for it," he replied, "Although now the mail does sound like an interesting prospect."

Clearly, he was very clever.

[withoutverona]

"... incoming or outgoing?"

Romeo had absolutely no intention of taking money from Arthur, so he was letting that argument drop.

[bitchprince]

Well, then it was entirely on Romeo's head if he found himself winding up with too much expensive wine on his doorstep within, say, ten working days.

"Incoming," he said. "Outgoing will be a concern once I manage to get those horses for Reno." Still a work in progress.

[withoutverona]

The narrative said that as if there was such a thing as "too much expensive wine" for an apartment with a Montague and a Dojima in it.

"And with the horses there's the concern about keeping them alive, too," Romeo said idly. "Why, is there something from Japan you'd like?"

Please, don't let it be tentacle porn.

[bitchprince]

... No, that would have been a little much even for Arthur at his dirtiest.

"No. Merely curious, for the moment. You mentioned you've been sending Reno some things."

[withoutverona]

"On and off. There's so much need. Ferret treats, things for him to keep himself busy with, seeds when he asks for them..." He shrugged. "Rikku's staying with him for now. That should help."

[bitchprince]

"It should," he agreed. "He sounded pleased when I last saw him."

[withoutverona]

"He's spent a lot of his life tearing things down," Romeo mused. "He's building something now. He has reason to be pleased."

[bitchprince]

Arthur's mouth twitched slightly. "I should hope," he said, "That if Fandom allows us to go home already, there may be room for mail between our worlds yet."

He had no idea if Merlin could make the phones hold out.

[withoutverona]

Romeo hadn't let himself consider that yet, though he could see why phones wouldn't work for long.

"Mail or visits," he said. "If it does let you go home, would you come back to the island for Homecoming? If you aren't working, of course."

[bitchprince]

"Father, there has been a sighting of a terrible beast at the edge of our borders," Arthur said, after a thoughtful pause. "They say it has the head of a lizard, and is at least the size of two homes back to back. Terrible business."

If he wasn't working, of course.

[withoutverona]

Romeo laughed. "And there's no need to trouble anyone else -- you, Merlin and Morgana ought to handle it. Better not to risk the knights."

[bitchprince]

"No, I'd have to take the knights," he said, with the air of a man more than used to sneaking around his father. That was a topic he wasn't about to go into, though, because that way laid headaches and heartache. "And Morgana would have to insist on going to help calm the townspeople; I'd just have to make sure I only brought the most loyal of my knights."

Dinadan, for one, even if he was a pain in the neck.

[withoutverona]

That was well-reasoned enough that Romeo took a second to process it. His means of getting around his own father involved more emotional outbursts and sheer begging than sneakiness.

"You give the impression you may have thought about this for a moment or so, Arthur."

[bitchprince]

There was a short silence.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, eventually.

That was the sound of a million daddy issues, ladies and gentlemen.

[withoutverona]

"How was I being ridiculous?" Romeo protested. "It seemed detailed to come up with off the top of your head."

[bitchprince]

"Well, what can I say, I'm good at improvisation," he snapped.