"Oh... oh."

Okay he's vibrating again.

"He's adorable."

"Isn't he!" she agrees with a little squeal.

Wait no they are supposed to WAIT UNTIL AFTER 8PM. YES.

"So," says Yvette, trying to be serious, "we are all witches. Aurene has foresight, my brother Blair has tracking, I have transmutation, and James has a, a. Knowledge of all things around him in a radius."

"And you can... instantaneously move places?"

...wait this is wrong aren't they meant to—do something else—wait bedtime—OH RIGHT HE JUST THOUGHT THIS—he's getting distracted by how pretty they both are—

"Yes," he says, nodding many times very quickly. "Places I've seen. No distance limit." Blur blur vibrate vibrate. Frown. "...this is new, though."

"New as of meeting Yvette," James guesses.

Nodnodnodnodnodnod.

She is very tempted to say, 'It calms down a bit when he's touched,' but NO that is a BAD TOPIC they must be STRONG.

"It's very charming! Do you um, want to come inside and meet Aurene properly? Maybe give your opinion on the house and on whether you want anything in it changed?"

"...okay."

Has he just been subsumed by this coven it seems so he cannot seem to find it in himself to object to this it sounds AWESOME actually.

Cottage! Lovingly decorated and very cute, and containing a small cute child!

Small cute child: looks kind of put out, actually.

"Why are your eyes red like mummy's? The pictures said they'd be gold!"

"...my eyes?" Pause. "How are your eyes golden?" he asks James, teleporting in place to face his mate.

"Ohhhhhhhhh dear."

Yvette winces.

"Vampires can live on animal blood, and when they drink it, it turns their eyes gold," says Yvette, carefully. "Except in my case, because I'm a newborn."

"But his eyes are darker!!"

"Right. Uh. Well. He has been on the... typical vampire diet. Of, uh. Humans."

Aurene considers this.

"People are not for eating," she informs Alexei, gravely.

"Animals? They smell toxic."

"No ill effects since I switched. ...well, I got a bit physically weaker, but most changes were positive."

"...like? —wait," to Yvette, "you're actually a newborn?"

Everything he knew about vampires was wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Oh. Yes. I've been a vampire for..." she pauses and does arithmetic. "... a little over two months. It helps that I've never had human blood, I think, and I had warning beforehand."

"Animal blood calms the instincts," James clarifies. "We get more sociable, less aggressive—and, uh, I think smarter too, actually. Or at least it feels that way, there's less space in my head worrying about... other vampires, threats, hunting."

...yeah he's run out of words again this is being a very confusing hour.

"That's why I was in the tree when you met me, actually. I realized I still had the eyes and needed to definitively act like I wasn't a crazy newborn. Because a normal newborn showing up to greet you on her own would have been... alarming."