Legacy(Eros/Mano)

Mano sighed at the letter in his hands. Of course his mother wanted to push the heir issue, especially since Lani had decided to go to university, of all things. He wondered if she knew that having an heir meant he would have to come out to Society. Which meant Eros would have to come out to Society. He couldn’t imagine his husband wanting to do so.
He sat aside the letter on the coffee table and went toward another part of the room. 


Although he considered the little bar to his side, he didn’t make himself a drink. Rather, he took a glass of water and went to stare out of the window. Bugger it all, he was old enough. Married enough. Of course he needed an heir. But he’d hoped that his family would resist their insistence, since he had a husband and not a wife. No options for a child were preferable. Perhaps he should have chosen something stronger than water. 

Eros entered the room from his personal study, a roll of parchment in his own hand. It had arrived the same day as Mano's, only a matter of minutes apart actually, from his mother. Considering the subject matter and how long Mano had been silent, he had a theory as to the contents of Mano's letter.

"It's from your mother?" he guessed, and held up his own. "This is from mine. I have a feeling they've been plotting." His mother wouldn't have sent such a thing if she'd expected to be brushed off.

Mano's lips curved briefly. "Of course they have," he said. He watched the lapping waves of the ocean outside his windowed wall for a moment before he turned and leaned against said window. "I thought we could last another few years, at least." Especially considering the fact he was married to a man, and that Lani was still off in a school that let just about anyone in. "I don't know what they expect us to do. Have bastards and legitimize them?" It seemed a likely option.

Eros unrolled his letter. "My mother would be willing to support that, assuming my heir is male and has d'Avonderre blood. She didn't explicitly state as much, but it was hinted as a possibility, as was a reference to the Blackwood-Hardt twins." He looked directly at Mano. "I'm not particularly interested in following that path." Nor, he assumed, was his husband.

"To be honest, I'm surprised my mother waited this long to say something. I've been thirty for two months." Two months and some days, actually. "I'm quite enjoying our life the way it is, but it does need to be done at some point. Perhaps if I tell Mother we're looking into it she'll settle down."

Mano let out half a laugh as a thought crossed his mind. "Adopting a muggleborn is always an option," he said, though he knew that would never happen. He chose not to even consider the Blackwood-Hardt method as something even worth responding to. After he gave himself a few moments to be amused at the thought of the two of them adopting a muggleborn to bring into Society, he sobered.

"I believe my mother is getting anxious. We'll likely have to make a decision sooner, rather than later." With Lani off and him in a taboo relationship, perhaps his mother was feeling a distinct lack of control that had festered like an ingrown nail. "If we have heirs, we'd have to come out, wouldn't we?" He couldn't think of any never-married men with legitimized heirs. Although, if there were, Eros would certainly know. At the same time, if they both ended up with legitimized bastards, wouldn't that just confirm any whispers, anywya?

"Of course not," Eros said. His chin tipped up slightly. "I don't often discuss my connections, but I'm settled enough that only repeated, blatant disregard for Society would dismantle things. I wasn't so secure a decade ago. I'm sure there are already rumors, but they were ignored when I supported the Blackwood-Hardts, and they're ignored now."

He took a moment to compose himself, to think. A bastard would be more believable from Mano. Many wondered if he'd marry at all, and the man lived to break the rules of Society while remaining within it. It would cause a stir, most definitely, but in the end it would be accepted.

Eros didn't intend to fake marriage to some girl. Although...

"Mano, bear with me as I think aloud, if you will. Whatever we decide, a mother will be required. I had thought we might use the same female, if you'll pardon my abominable phrasing, and of course any lady who'd agree to such a thing would not be Society. My reputation could survive that. It survived attending a ball with Evelyn Fiore, which would be nothing to you, but surely caused some momentary ripples for me."

Quite a bit had been ignored already, in fact. He wondered if it might be more difficult for his contacts to pull away at this point than to continue to ignore. After all, if his reputation were irretrievably broken, it would be an admittance that past rumors might be true.

He blinked, and as his faraway gaze focused on Mano again, he smiled. "I feel like another extended holiday," he declared. "Say, a year?"

Eros and his reputation. Mano suppressed any comment about that. To be honest, it was something he found quite endearing about his husband, even if it frustrated him at times. "Not to Singapore, I assume?" he asked as he matched Eros' smile. Referencing their first getaway was comfortable and reassuring, safe, whenever their conversation was too serious. "I agree, a year. We figure things out so much better when away from everything."

"We do," Eros agreed. "As for the mother, somewhere on the continent should do. Of England's closest allies I like France the most, but if you'd prefer Sweden or Netherlands, either would be excellent." And so the question was, how should they begin the search for a down-on-her-luck Pureblood witch willing to cooperate?

"Shall I fetch the Genealogy?"

"Scandanavians are more likely to match our coloring," Mano said. Perhaps it was vain, but if he was to have a child, it might as well turn out fair like the two of them were. But Eros did love France. "Although, France could also give us someone similar. Fetch it, perhaps we'll find someone worth hunting down." He turned and walked over to sink into a sofa. This would be a part he disliked doing, but at least with the wand he had given Eros years ago it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

"Excellent," Eros said. He hadn't expected this to go nearly so smoothly. Perhaps thirty really was a turning point. At any rate, he'd expected to be married and beginning his family by thirty-five anyway.

He returned some minutes later with a stack of heavy, gilt-edged books. "I'd like to be able to cross-reference, if necessary," he explained, laying them out on the coffee table. "We don't want anyone too closely related to High Society. If anything ever surfaces, our word must not be questioned against hers." He was thinking aloud so that Mano knew what he was doing, not because he thought the man cared about his specific research style.

He drew a silver wand from within his waistcoat and glanced aside at Mano. "I'll begin with France, then move directly to Scandinavian countries," he said. They wouldn't know what she looked like just yet, but if this was to work, they needed to narrow things down on paper first.

Mano nodded, but said nothing. He loved seeing Eros engrossed in a new project, in his element where he was so confident. This couldn't really be happening, though, could it? Them finally bringing in children...did this home even have room for a nursery? They had turned two of the spare rooms into offices, and the one that had been Eros' token room was now simply a guest room. His brow furrowed and he tried to drag his thoughts away from such things.

"I still can't believe you brought all those books with you when we don't have a library," he said. "Perhaps we need to look for a larger home." Okay, his thoughts hadn't completely moved on, and, oh, how he loved his home here on the beach.

Eros had caught up Généalogie Sorcier de la France in his left hand. "One thing at a time, Mano," he said, then brandished the silver wand. "Innuptae, viginti annorum et viginti novem annis," he murmured, then paused, as though correcting himself. "Nullum. Innuptae, viginti quinque annorum etatis et viginti novem. Don't ask how I know ideal childbearing years," he said absently, watching as numerous pages grew paper tabs. "At any rate, a woman on the shelf will be more interested in such a proposition."

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Unmarried females, aged twenty twenty-five to twenty-nine years

Mano nodded, though he said nothing. This was Eros' world, the world of books and letters and Society connections. Rather that disrupt Eros' thoughts, Mano simply shifted closer to his husband. He remained quiet as Eros worked, content to settle in close and enjoy the man's solid warmth that eased his fears and doubts. He would trust what Eros decided, as he had trusted the man with so many serious matters before.

Eros cast this spell and that, occasionally looking through tabs personally to compare information, then narrowing things down again when he thought of another qualifier. Soon he had tabs edged in different colors as he searched family names, looking for dead ends and comparing connections he found familiar with those he didn't. Now and then he touched a tab directly with the silver wand's tip, and it shrank back into the book as though it had never been.

Several books were open when he finally summoned parchment and quill, and he rolled his sleeves carefully above his elbows to get them out of the way. Non fratres, nec sororibus, parentes defuncti, non prius cognati... As the number of tabs dwindled, Eros lay the wand along the open center of Great Britain's genealogy. There were no more murmured comments to Mano, who was merely a comforting presence by now. His face was clear of emotion except for the deep focus in his violet eyes.

At some point they must have eaten, but he continued his work as they did. At some point he must have visited the toilet, though his mind never slowed. At some point he must have asked Mano for more light and given him a grateful kiss, but if any of that happened, he wasn't entirely aware of it.

At last, he walked aimlessly before the darkened windows, a bit of pale hair loose from his ponytail, the curl brushing against his opened collar. His waistcoat was still on, but also open, and he turned to one of few tabs left in the book he held.

"Anaïs Élodie Margaux Louis de Pointe du Lac," Eros said, and the quill on the coffee table jumped to life. It scribbled the name on a length of otherwise blank parchment, then waited for further instruction. Eros turned where the windows met and walked along the next set. "Léa-Julien Mireille Brigitte Olivier de Lioncourt. Note: Possible relations to vampires.

"Nominoë Loïc Noemie L'Aubespine. Note: Family fell into poor circumstances in the 18th century. Aurélie Etienne Océane Jean-Jessime Capet. Note: Relation to Capetian dynasty?"

He paused to switch out one book for another, then resumed walking. "Rebecka Rakel, asterisk, Birgitta Sture. Note: Which of three families? Pia, asterisk, Hannele Felicia Natt och Dag. Note: Well known family. How close? End." The quill laid itself aside.

He sighed as he closed his book, then stood looking past his reflection onto the dark waters. "I suppose that's all we can do here," he said, as though Mano had been rifling through books as well. He rolled his shoulders, then turned and made his way to the coffee table. He set down the book, then sat beside Mano.

"Six names out of all of France and Scandinavia," he said. "All with great potential. I'll need to go home to answer these questions." He picked up the list and perused it, then looked sidelong at Mano, smiling lightly. "I didn't bring my entire library." His mind was a mess of names, of relations he'd forget by morning, but he'd accomplished something.

______________________________________________________________________________

No brothers, no sisters, parents deceased, no first cousins...

Mano put aside the book he'd picked up at some point during the evening to bring himself back to reality and glance at the list. "You're so picky," he teased. It was too bad the genealogies had no photographs, though adding looks to the equation would just make the whole thing even more picky, he knew. "Do you need a break from it all, or do you want to run home and get it over with now?"