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Time passes. Well before Zeus's thirteenth birthday, he looks human-25, and then he stops, and Harley catches up; Zeus is still taller, but not by much, and burlier, but not by much.
Wolves have a lot of casual sex amongst themselves; the girl wolves can't get pregnant, and with pack telepathy it would be pretty hard to hide a secret crush. Everyone avoids getting serious - well, the lesbians don't, but any couple involving a male wolf has to avoid deep emotional entanglements that would shatter if he imprinted; the Imperial Seer helps, but she is not perfect and they will live for long enough that even a slim chance adds up. But casual sex absolutely happens. Zeus has a friend with benefits by the time he's fifteen (her name is Kitty, but she thinks this is ridiculous, and prefers "Xanthe" after her yellow fur).
He helpfully passes on to the pack that Harley thinks they are all hot; several people take advantage of this information, and Harley has more than one friend with benefits at the age of fifteen.
(Meanwhile, the masquerade is in tatters; wolves are just more convenient than looking for human partners, at least until Zeus decides he's interested in the Seer finding him a suitable imprint.)
This newfound interest does not mean Zeus and Harley don't hang out, even now that they're both sixteen. Presently, Harley is getting his ass handed to him by his wolf-reflexed sparring partner at a mo-cap fighting video game entitled Bloodsport V.
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her_imperial_radiance
her_imperial_radiance
[Okay. If you have questions about how imprinting works that you didn't ask before, you can of course ask me.]
He giggles.
[I know. I love you, Elsie.]
[I know. I love you, Elsie.]
Harley snuggles Zeus.
"I told Elsie," he says. "She says she'll talk to some people and try to fix the thing."
"I told Elsie," he says. "She says she'll talk to some people and try to fix the thing."
"Okay," says Zeus.
Snuggle.
Snuggle snuggle snuggle. Wolves in general tend to simple desires; imprinted wolves more so.
If Zeus desires snuggles, Harley is so on board with that. He might just curl up right here and take a cuddlenap.
Zeus would be happy to snuggle his sleeping imprint! That sounds like just about the best thing.
Awesome. Cuddlenap!
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth is home a few hours later, and holding a hexagon.
She stands in the doorway, and coughs.
She stands in the doorway, and coughs.
Harley remains asleep.
He yawns.
"Mm? Hi, Elsie!"
"Mm? Hi, Elsie!"
her_imperial_radiance
Jake thinks it will be best to make the wish while Zeus is asleep. Do you want to hear how we've designed it up or shall I just go ahead?
[Yeah, I wanna hear.]
her_imperial_radiance
She lobs a summary of the entire conversation leading up to the design. Jake advocated for the minimal change - an exception made for deliberate masochistic experiments only, not random mayhem. Elspeth, armed with the judgesighted histories of eleven Jokers, suggested that this would still leave tension between imprint instincts and Harley's interests - Zeus has never been a restraining influence on Harley's risk-taking behavior and starting now wouldn't really help anyone. Bella's general discomfort with mental editing led her to suggest simply selectively reverting Zeus's opinions about Harley's safety to whatever he had before, since apparently that was working so well, and Jake grudgingly allowed that this would be okay. The hexagon Elspeth holds is intended to do exactly that.
[Sounds good to me,] says Harley.
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth nods.
She wishes.
The hexagon won't go.
She sighs, puts it away, and pulls out a star, on which she wishes. This goes.
She wishes.
The hexagon won't go.
She sighs, puts it away, and pulls out a star, on which she wishes. This goes.
Zeus sleeps on, still holding Harley.
Harley snuggles down in Zeus's lap.
[Thanks, Elsie.]
[Thanks, Elsie.]
her_imperial_radiance
[You're welcome,] she says. [I wish I'd thought of this before.]
He shrugs.
her_imperial_radiance
She smiles an indulgent smile, pats him on the head as she walks by, and heads up to her home office.
N'aww.
Snugglesnuggle.
Snugglesnuggle.