*Discontinued* No Longer

Cucumber Salad and Accusations

Era Damon White**

Tom seemed to glow when he arrived, at the very respectable hour of six in the evening. It was always quiet in their suite at the club, but with both him and Tom present, he hardly noticed. Era was too absorbed in the warm feelings that rose in his heart when he was with his mate.

"I was thinking that we could eat dinner with Lucius," he said, hand in Tom's, making clear it was a question rather than command.

"That's a great idea," Tom said, beaming up at him, seeming to glow evermore brightly.

Era smiled down at his mate, and touched their foreheads together. Being in Tom's presence was both soothing and exciting, like a child going to get ice cream on a hot summer's day, both special and cathartic, though perhaps with less of a sugar rush.

Betraying his calm, a thought that had begun to surface more frequently intruded. Some of the light that mirrored Tom's in his own face slipped. How were his mate's going to respond when they learned he was eleven years old?

While more mentally mature than most adults he'd encountered, and far more intelligent, having inside his mind the life memories of a great many people, in technicality he was eleven. That was quite the barrier, and he worried they would not take him seriously once they knew. While this body was post-pubescent, and it held all the desires of an adult body, within his heart he still identified as asexual, and from a practicality standpoint meant to be at the very least fifteen, though ideally sixteen or seventeen before partaking in anything more carnal than a kiss here and there.

If it ever became an issue, his mates could of course be together, that was something he'd never begrudge them, and if necessary could immediately reveal himself to be Harry Potter if they felt hurt by his rejection. It was far from his intention to ever cause them pain, directly or indirectly.

He managed to bring himself back into the moment, though knew Tom had seen something of conflict and upset in his face.

"Era, what's wrong?" he asked, searching his eyes.

"It was nothing sweetheart," Era responded, and pecked him gently on the nose, "Shall we depart?"

Receiving a nod in answer, the two apparated to Lucius's residence.

"Era! Tom!" Lucius said happily as he laid eyes on them, rushing over to pull them together into his embrace.

"Hello Lucius," Era said, laughing a little and smiling at his sweet sub's happy face.

Tom was laughing too, or more correctly, he was giggling, but it was impossible for him to see his mate's expressions of enjoyment as anything other than charming. His nose crinkled in a way Era found adorable, and it was  impossible not to squeeze his own embrace of the other two a little tighter, treasuring the moment.

"So," Era began, "Tom and I were planning to do dinner together, and were hoping that you'd join us."

He'd said it so hopefully that Tom was nearly smirking, amused at how much he could tell Era wanted a 'yes'.

"Why that sounds lovely! I can have the house elves whip up something special, unless you were considering something else?"

Tom interjected here, "I know a lovely place in France, it's very small, but has the best bouillabaisse, it's in Marseille. And the bread is always perfect. If you two are amenable to some French cuisine, I'd enjoy a visit."

"I'm game," Era said, smiling with dimples.

Lucius nodded happily, and the date was set. They apparated just outside Marseille, actually. There was a small town of wizards settled nearby, and there were few people around. There was one little ramshackle house after another, though likely the insides of which were somewhat altered by their owners magic.