Magical Mate Chapter 2: Spending Time Together

"You have to be the luckiest bastard in the world, you do know that, right?"
Senel looked up from the crystal balls he was polishing and lifted an eyebrow at Mithos. "I thought you just came in to get that book from Fiona- and then you had to run right back home again."
"I got it," Mithos waved the book at him. "But then I asked her why it looked like we had a new employee." He tilted his head towards Nel, who was listening patiently to a customer tell her why she needed a different tea-leaf book than the five she already had. "I was thinking that you must've had a really good night-"
Senel dropped his gaze, willing himself not to turn red.
"And she told me about the visit you had this morning."
Senel sighed and looked down at the cloth in his hands. "It was a surprise-"
"I'll bet it was, but damn, how lucky can you get? She's gorgeous, she's patient with the customers- and she's yours."
"Yeah, I may be lucky, but she's not. The situation sucks for her, don't you think?" Senel said softly. "Handed off to some stranger just to make a connection for your family? Not having any choice in the matter?" He dropped his voice further. "And to have your first time be- well, in that sort of situation?" He'd been thinking about it all day, once he'd recovered from the shock of suddenly acquiring Nel. "Maybe I should figure out a way to let her go- no matter what Fiona says."
His new mate looked over her shoulder at the magician and the dragon, her eyes narrowing slightly, before she turned back to the customer with a smile. Senel wondered what was wrong- Nel couldn't have heard any of the conversation, could she?
Mithos rolled his eyes. "Humans used to do it all the time," he informed his former student, blowing out a whiff of smoke. "You can't blame the Pride for doing the same. Besides, she doesn't seem unhappy. Fiona says she's been having a good first day- a natural with the customers- even learned the trick with the register the first time around. So unless you really screwed up the sex part..."
Senel glared at him. "It still doesn't seem right to me, and I'm not sure how fitting in here means anything- but-"
Fiona chose that moment to appear. Without even looking at Senel she smacked the back of his head and frowned at Mithos. "Your customer is going to be mad if you're late- and if you don't leave in the next minute..."
"I have plenty of time," Mithos countered, but he still slid around the counter and headed for the door. "See you tomorrow!"
"Not until almost noon," Fiona smirked and then turned to Senel. "Nearly done or have you been thinking too hard to work?" Nel was leading the customer back towards the register, a small pile of books in her arms.
"Of course I am," he said and gestured at the stack in front of him. "Just two more."
"Good. Once you've finished, you can go home. I can handle the rest of today."
"Not a lot of customers coming in? Usually we're busy-"
Fiona shook her head. "It's going to start raining in about an hour. You'll want to get home before it starts. Go ahead and finish up and then the two of you can leave. Remind Nel to get her bag, too, okay?"
She vanished into her office and Senel went back to his task. The customer took their package from Nel and left cheerily predicting that she was going to be back next week for more. Senel watched her go, knowing that she would be. The woman was one of their regulars.
He nearly dropped the crystal ball he was holding when Nel breathed in his ear: "I had a choice." He turned his head slightly and found Nel beside him. How had she moved that fast?
"What?" Had Nel somehow heard his conversation with Mithos?
"I said I had a choice. Grandmother had several files- she said I got to choose which one she was going to give me to."
Senel's eyes widened. "And you chose me?"
Nel rolled her eyes. "Don't look so surprised!" She poked Senel gently in the ribs. "I did. Grandmother said there was going to be some complications- and to be honest I thought I was supposed to get the curse removed as a means of introduction- and then try to court you. But Grandmother is not very patient sometimes. I didn't know about how the spell was supposed to be removed until you showed me- and then I knew what her plan was."
"And she'd made you promise not to tell me about your, uh, status."
Nel nodded. "I truly am sorry." She leaned against Senel's back. "It's just- you looked- like you might need someone." That statement made something in Senel's chest tighten a little and he had to take a breath before he could reply.
"None of the others needed someone?"
"Doubtful. All the others were already mated several times."
"Several times?"
"They had multiple spouses." Nel smiled at his surprise. "It's not uncommon among the Pride."
Another surprise. "All the others were Pride?" Nel hadn't wanted someone from her own people?
"Yes." Nel rubbed her cheek against Senel's shoulder. "Are you very upset with me?"
"No," Senel managed, still trying to assimilate all this new information. "I just- I'm still sort of getting used to all of this."
Pulling away, Nel smiled. "I can understand that. Did Miss Fiona say we could go home when you were finished?"
"Yes."
"Good." Nel's voice dropped to a purr. "I'm looking forward to a repeat of last night- without the removing the curse part."
Senel was glad there wasn't anything too flammable around him, because he was sure his face would've ignited it.
"Nel-"
"I'll get my bag."
Senel finished and put his cleaning supplies away. He could hear the soft murmur of Nel and Fiona's voices in the back, but since he didn't want Fiona to smack him again, he just waited for Nel to finish.
Was he really taking Nel home with him? For good?
"Yes!" Fiona called from the back.
Senel refrained from smacking his head into the wall. Why did he even try?
Nel was smiling when she appeared, bag in hand. "Ready?"
"Yes," Senel headed for the door, Nel a step behind him. "I usually walk- I know you had a car before-?" He wasn't sure what he was going to do about that. His building didn't have many spaces.
"It wasn't mine. I borrowed it- and the clothes- from one of my cousins." Nel grinned. "Grandmother wanted me to look like I could pay a lot for the removal, though she said you weren't known to be greedy."
"Ah, sounds like she did some research-" Senel wasn't sure what he thought of that. "Um, you really are sure about this-?"
Nel nodded and reached out to take Senel's hand. "Yes. I told you. If anyone should be having doubts or getting mad it's you."
"I-" Senel thought about it. Maybe he should be mad. But it was really hard to get mad with Nel looking at him like that.
"Let's go home," Nel tugged his hand. "We can talk more there. Miss Fiona said it's going to rain. Is she ever wrong?"
Senel groaned. "Not that I've ever seen. I wish." He followed Nel down the street, noting that his new mate still was doing that scanning of the area thing. It was enough to almost make Senel jumpy. Did Nel expect something to leap out at them?
They were almost home when a couple of young boys walked past, looked at their linked hands and muttered something only half under their breaths. Before Senel could react, Nel had turned around and snarled at the youths.
Who promptly turned pale and fled down the sidewalk.
Senel didn't blame them. It wasn't a sound you expected to hear from a human throat. It was a sound from the jungles, something that made your shoulder blades itch and your guts turn to water. He filed away the thought that perhaps it would never be a good idea to argue with Nel.
Nel was still wearing a satisfied smirk when they entered the apartment.
"Dinner?" Senel asked after he kicked off his shoes. "I think I have something I can make. Frozen pizza maybe?"
"I'll do it," Nel left her bag by her shoes and headed for the kitchen. Senel shook himself and went to check his messages. Nel was on the couch when he finished, studying the bookshelf beside it.
"Fifteen minutes," she told Senel.
"Thanks. I was thinking," Senel sat down on the other end of the sofa, "that I'd let you have the bed. This couch turns into a sleeper, and I can sleep here." Nel frowned and slid down the sofa towards him. "I know where all the bad springs are-" Nel dropped into his lap and Senel had to take a breath.
"I told you. I'm sleeping with you."
"You don't have-"
"I do." Nel put her cheek against Senel's. "I'm your mate. I sleep where you do." She laughed softly. "I want to try it when we don't have to stop in the middle to remove a curse-"
"We should've stopped right afterwards-"
"I didn't want to. Don't you remember?" Before he could think of a response, Nel moved closer still and whispered in his ear: "Let me remind you? Please?"
If the timer for the pizza hadn't gone off thirteen minutes later, Senel wasn't quite sure what would've happened. As it was, somehow his shirt had mysteriously moved to the other side of the room...
"I'll get it!" Nel slid out from underneath him with a mischievous grin.
Senel put his head down on the sofa and groaned. What was he doing? Why did all his common sense fly out the window the moment Nel smiled at him?
Shaking his head, he got up from the sofa and made sure his jeans were securely fastened before heading for the kitchen. Nel was carefully pulling the pizza onto a cutting board.
"I wasn't sure which plates you use- the real ones or the paper?" She said as she placed the cutting board on the counter.
Senel smiled as he opened the fridge to pull out a few sodas. "Whichever are fine, I usually just eat over the sink."
"Less cleanup works for me," Nel laughed.
As they stood companionably eating their dinner over the sink, Nel eyed the curse mark that circled Senel's arm. "How is it?" She asked and Senel shrugged.
"Don't know yet. I wasn't going to try it out until Mithos had a minute to watch- just in case something happened when we did the transfer."
"I am glad it's not on me, I much prefer my own shapes." Nel shivered a little.
"Did the Pride really give you a bad time?"
Nel nodded. "Of course. Like I said- I'm already low in the ranks. Any sign of weakness is a bad thing."
"Why are you low in the ranks? Is it an age thing? You have to work your way up over time?" He wondered how old Nel really was- her Grandmother hadn't looked more than 25...
That made his mate laugh. "No. Well, you do, but in my case, I'd never get very far up the ranks."
"Why not?" Senel swallowed his last bite of pizza and searched for something to do that didn't involve going back to the couch. "Want to grab your bag and get settled in?"
"All right." Nel finished her can of soda and tossed it at the recycling bin. "I'd never get very far up the ranks," she said as she followed Senel back into the living room, "Because I have the wrong shape."
"But we got rid of the wolf."
Nel laughed and picked up her bag. "Not that shape. My normal shape."
"Okay, I'm confused." Senel led the way back to his bedroom. "Go ahead- there's space in the closet- and the bathroom is across the hall."
"Thanks." Nel opened her bag and started to unpack. "How much do you know about Pride?"
"Practically nothing. Sometimes we have one come in the store, but that's really the extent of it. Mithos has done a few jobs, I think, but he's never said much."
"Well, think of big cats. What's the best one?"
Senel frowned. "A tiger?"
That made Nel laugh. "No. Though I'm sure those Pride members who have that shape would agree with you. Pride considers lions to be the best."
"Ah. So if you have a lion shape, then you're already high in the rankings?"
"Exactly. Lions are the main body of the Pride- thus the name. Those of us who have other cats as our shape are automatically lower than they are."
"That doesn't really seem fair- it's not like you can control it-"
"Sure you can. If you're a lion, you breed with a lot of other lions and have lots of lion babies. Other cats will also try to breed with you in order to have lion children. Thus the multiple spouses thing- it's the lions that have them."
"They don't just end up half and half?" Senel remembered that all the other matches he had been offered had multiple spouses. Why had Nel turned down a match with a lion?
Nel laughed. "In a normal cat population, sure, but we're shifters. My mother was a lion- but my father wasn't- and I got his genes."
"So what do you turn into?"
Smiling over her shoulder, Nel asked: "Want to see?"
"Sure."
Senel had to swallow hard as Nel began pulling off her clothes. "It's easier to shift without getting tangled in the fabric," she said with a grin when she finished- and changed.
Sitting down on the bed, Senel studied the large cat in front of his closet. "A jaguar?" He said after a moment, and Nel leaped up on the bed beside him. Carefully, he touched the rosette markings on Nel's coat, letting his fingers sink into the soft fur. "Amazing."
A moment later, human Nel was beside him again, Senel's fingers tangled in her hair. "Not too bad?" She asked softly and Senel shook his head.
"Not bad at all. I'm wondering what the big deal about lions is." Nel laughed and tackled him down onto the mattress.
"Now that we've had dinner, and my things are put away- maybe we can go back to what we were doing on the couch?"
Senel opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Nel's lips covered his.
And he was lost again...
~*~
The phone rang.
Senel opened an eye and glared at it.
It rang again.
Nel groaned and buried her head against Senel's chest. "Who would call so early?"
"There's only one person I know of-" Senel reached for the phone. "Fiona," he said into the receiver. "What is it?"
"We have a job," his boss said brightly.
"This early? You couldn't have warned me yesterday?"
"Nope, because then you would've used getting up early as an excuse for not doing what you did."
"Fiona-"
"Just hop in the shower and get dressed, will you? Bring Nel, you're going to need her- but don't take the shower with her- I need you down here faster than that." She chuckled in his ear and hung up.
"We have a job?" Nel asked, yawning.
"We do." Senel threw the covers back and sat up. "And I have a feeling it's not going to be one of the easy ones..."