The Search Is Over

Chapter 128

After playing the Durmstrang dance for Halloween, Regulus had taken the next few months to consider how he wished to go about making music a more constant part of his life. The Bardic gift could be used for many things other than just live performances, and he wished to explore as many of those uses as he could.

Performing live was the place to start, though, for it allowed him to train himself while studying the reactions of others to his powers. He wasn't ready to just begin playing venues, though. He needed to build up his confidence first. While he admittedly felt rather confident already, he was well aware that one bad performance could potentially crush that, so best to strengthen his foundations first.

He took to jamming with Mag once a week in order to hone his craft. At his suggestion, they challenged one another with various styles, learning what they could pull off and what just didn't have the magic. Sometimes the lyrics mattered, because it helped to really feel them in some form or other else they couldn't make others feel them. Sometimes the style of music mattered, as it had to flow properly with the sound and range of their voices.

Kreacher attended every practice session with Regulus, and Mag and Severus were always friendly and easy going. They didn't behave any differently than before they'd learned that Kreacher and Regulus were a couple. Regulus hadn't truly expected otherwise, but their initial reaction had bordered on offensive.

He didn't use his vampiric ability to delve into their minds on the matter, because he didn't want to know if they were still disgusted. Hopefully they were just surprised to discover that two people they knew well were gay and they'd somehow had no idea.

He understood the fact that he and Kreacher being intimate was something people may have to get used to as many humans didn't consider elves to be attractive and likely vice versa as the two races looked so different.

Though he certainly didn't find elves to be ugly, Regulus most definitely did not find any of them attractive in the way he did Kreacher. Kreacher's personality showed in every line of his face. He did have a more grim and formidable appearance than other elves, which was admittedly appealing. Still Regulus seriously doubted he would've considered even Kreacher's looks to be what one would call sexual if there wasn't such amazing chemistry between them.

Where other elves were nearly cute, Kreacher looked dangerous. Perhaps due to their extreme chemistry, Regulus did find the danger and power in which Kreacher had always seemed cloaked to be attractive. That wasn't likely a thing to which most humans or elves would relate, and as Regulus saw it it didn't matter.

It was his and Kreacher's business at the end of the day, and no one else's. Their relationship had always been unique, and the fact it had become more, because they meant so much to one another, was natural to them. They were the only ones who mattered, and at last they were at a point in their lives that society could accept it or not and it wouldn't have to make much of a difference. At least it showed them who their real friends and family were, and that was alright.

When Regulus wasn't working on music and Kreacher wasn't working on creating artifacts in Enchanted Odds with Blaise and Gellert, the two continued their mostly fruitless search for connections between fae folk and elves. When Regulus ran across a reference to cold iron harming or weakening fairies for the third time, something occurred to him. As a result, he decided to invite the Lestranges to dinner.

"Which means Kreacher has to cook more," the elf grumbled.

Vampirism made him less confident in his cooking because he could no longer taste it, but anyone who ate anything he prepared always sang his praises just as strongly, so Regulus didn't understand the elf's concerns. Even if he couldn't taste his own cooking anymore, his skills were so honed, his instincts about food so sharp, that it no longer mattered.