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It's something of a truism that "it's not like the Empress is going to make a speech or anything" when the Masquerade folds up. Regardless, there comes a time when the incessant requests to be allowed to make a documentary about the Golden Coven are met not with "absolutely not", but instead, "let's talk".
Elspeth does a fair amount of the negotiating for this - she does run PR. Harley, presently thirteen, is allowed to sit in on a few of the storyboarding discussions - the documentary will not be fictionalized, but they still have concern for narrative flow. It's going to be very long, after all.
Significant portions of the documentary will be conjured recordings of events, from outside or even first-person perspectives, but an entire segment is devoted to personally profiling members and peripheral associates of the Golden Coven, one by one. Harley's not on the list - it's mostly a history documentary, with younger generations present almost entirely for 'where are they now' color, and he's not, technically, her son - but Elspeth and most of her family is. And Harley is permitted to lurk around the studio setup while various people prep with their interviewers, or eavesdrop, or - if they are sufficiently non-vampiric to allow makeup to stick - get that applied. It's a big production; the supernatural community would have found it just as convenient to spread it out, but the film people want everything taken down, edited for a consistent look-and-feel, and released according to schedule within a certain time frame.
So there are a lot of people around. Mostly vampires, but plenty of hybrids - there are most of Emmett and Rosalie's kids, over there, with the proud parents themselves - and wolves; Jacob is over with Elspeth - and even a few humans, ranging from imprints to Lizzie who's with Carlisle, Esme, and Lily, and also Alice and Jasper and their son Brandon. People not normally seen around the Golden Capitols have been hauled in. There's Marcus, no longer as craquelure thanks to magic, and Didyme at his elbow, literally radiating happiness. (Bella rendered her power opt-in along with several other mind-affecting abilities that can't be turned off, but it's very inviting, so people usually do so opt.)
And of course Bella and Edward themselves are present, flitting around, mingling. Their interviews aren't until later.
Kerron waves to Harley when he shows up.
her_imperial_radiance
Harley waves back! There is all this stuff going on, and it is kind of fun to wander around and bother the people who actually have to worry about the stuff in between their stuff-doings. Kerron looks like a prime target.
"Why are you even here, are you getting in everyone's way? I'm getting in everyone's way," Harley says brightly.
"Why are you even here, are you getting in everyone's way? I'm getting in everyone's way," Harley says brightly.
pina_colada
"I'm not important enough to be here on my own merits, but I'm here to talk about Safesun," says Kerron. "Maybe lean into frame when Dad gets interviewed. Thwarted anyone's schedule yet?"
"Give me time," he giggles.
Random hug!
Random hug!
Harley sporfles.
"I ate a whole pie by myself the other day," he brags. "And then Zeus was sad that he didn't get any pie so I made him another one."
"I ate a whole pie by myself the other day," he brags. "And then Zeus was sad that he didn't get any pie so I made him another one."
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"Are humans supposed to eat entire pies?" asks Kerron dubiously. "Is this a full-sized sugary kinda pie we're talking about?"
"Yeah," giggles Harley. "It was strawberry with whipped cream on top and it was really good."
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"Sounds like it. Did your wolf get the same kind to be fair or would that've been too repetitive?" It amuses Kerron to speak as though Harley is Zeus's imprint, solely on the basis of the amount of time they spend together.
"Well, I still had the rest of the strawberries, and I wasn't gonna eat the second one," Harley shrugs.
pina_colada
"Makes sense. I try not to eat too much solid food unless it's for social reasons. Makes my hair grow faster."
Harley giggles. "I think you'd look good with long hair! Maybe I should feed you pies."
pina_colada
"I did grow my hair out for a bit when I was six but I didn't care for the look. Besides, there's apparently a guy in another world who looks like me but isn't an alt, and he has his down to the shoulder."
Harley peers thoughtfully at Kerron's shoulders.
"Yeah, I could see that working for you," he says. "I will bake you tons of delicious pies until your hair grows out as long as mine. It'll be an evil scheme. An evil, tasty scheme."
"Yeah, I could see that working for you," he says. "I will bake you tons of delicious pies until your hair grows out as long as mine. It'll be an evil scheme. An evil, tasty scheme."
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"I will thwart it with a set of clippers and you'll run out of pie crusts."
"I never run out of pie crusts," says Harley, grinning.
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"You know, I don't think anyone has actually experimented with the appetite capacity of half vampires? I know we can eat as much as wolves do if we want, I dunno what happens if someone just keeps offering us pie and we never say 'no I couldn't possibly'."
"I bet it doesn't make you grow tons of hair all of a sudden," snorts Harley. "But if you ever want me to bake you a million pies just to see what happens, you got it."
pina_colada
"Sure, we should do that sometime. I think I'd get sick of pie in particular at some point, though, might have to throw in mozzarella sticks and swordfish steak and chicken soup and whatnot for variety."
"Sure," Harley says cheerfully. "I like cooking. Cooking's fun."
Harley rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Jokers are not literally the only people who like to cook," he says.
"Yeah, yeah. Jokers are not literally the only people who like to cook," he says.
Harley cracks up.
pina_colada
"Besides, she does fancy molecular gastronomy. Deconstructed haggis or whatever's new this week. If she ever made a 'pie', the crust would be over here, probably raw and cut into some kind of shape with a cookie cutter, and the fruit would be over here arranged in a flower, and there'd be a little pile of cinnamon-sugar over here and then she'd drizzle it all with a caramel spiral and lecture everyone on how to eat it."
Harley wrinkles his nose. "No thanks," he says. "I think the best way to eat a meal like that is to throw it at a wall and go get pizza."