The Immortal War

@ katahdin

Cat didn't look up at Jonathan until he'd stopped kneading altogether, finding his eyes already on her and herself almost leaning into his touch as his hand brushed her cheek. "It sounds beautiful," she said softly, finding that she actually liked the idea of visiting this place with Jonathan, where he could watch the bakers and she could paint, and the world was at peace because he somehow made it so. As he drew back and turned back to the dough, she stepped a couple of paces away self-consciously, putting more than just a breath of space between them. "You'd have to teach me more Italian first though. I can recognize it when I hear it, but I don't know that much. Since you have the hang of it, do you want me to take over the kneading? It's going to take about 10 more minutes, and your arms get tired fast if you aren't used to doing it." Again, she focused on the dough rather than him, intentionally staying with his movements rather than his expressions.

---

Florence's adamant defense surprised Skylar--especially the thoroughness of it. He... wasn't even sure what to say. That is, until Florence started blaming herself for what happened. Skylar held her a little tighter as he took a breath. "Hey, what happened isn't your fault. You didn't know what was happening and couldn't have known. I thought one of my pets had just broken something again, like always. April was paying more attention at first, so she could've tied you up to or done something else. I'm just glad you showed up at all. I don't know what she would've done if you hadn't, and I don't want to know. I guess what I'm saying is don't blame yourself for it. You didn't tell her what to do or help her." Taking a deep breath, he finally stepped back, and searching for some way to try and lighten the mood, asked, "You really think Jonathan's just jealous of me?"

@ sun spirit

"Seems like a fair trade, you teaching me to bake, and me teaching you Italian." Jonathan teased with a smile, trying to ignore the warm fuzzy feeling that grew in his chest whenever she looked at him. He stepped to the side when she offered to take over kneading the dough, wiping the excess flour on his hands off on his pants as he leaned against the counter. "I'll pretend that that wasn't and indirect way of calling me weak, and let you take over in the hopes that the dough won't be ruined." He teased, pushing away from the counter to wander around the kitchen, trying to familiarize himself with the space. "I can make dinner, if you want?" He offered after a while of silence, sounding a bit hesitant and awkward. "Or we can just eat leftover pancakes, whatever's easy. I don't want to be a bother in your house."

---

Florence nodded a little as she listened to him speak, nuzzling her face into his chest as he hugged her tighter. "I suppose you're right.." she murmured before he finally stepped away, chewing on her lip. She cracked a small smile as he asked about Jonathan being jealous, giving a little shrug. "Maybe.. I think he likes Cat, and wishes he knew her as well or got to spend as much time with her as you do... I could be wrong, but I don't think I am." She giggled, clearing her throat after a moment. "So... Dinner? Do you eat?" She asked, face flushing red at the stupidity of her statement. "I'm sorry, of course you eat, I watched you eat two pounds of pancakes this morning... N-Not that that's a bad thing, I just... I'm doing that weird word vomit thing again, aren't I?" She asked with a blush, looking up at him anxiously.

@ katahdin

"As long as we're being fair," Cat grinned, and when Jonathan stepped back at her offer, she took over kneading the dough, laughing when he suggested she was indirectly calling him weak. "That's it exactly. And you're just here because you're hoping I'll protect you from April." She glanced back as he moved away, but seeing he was just looking around, turned back to what she was doing, the actions coming second-nature to her. It was almost startling when he spoke again, and she paused to glance back at him. "Make yourself at home, Jonathan, really. You're having to stay here because of me and the dagger, and you should be able to make yourself comfortable at the very least. If you want to make dinner, I'd love some. I'm going to take the pancakes to Florence and Skylar anyway, and obviously, I'm not afraid of making a mess in here." She motioned to her countertop and herself, covered in flour because she tended to forget to watch what she touched.

---

(So, since Cat and Jonathan are a little earlier in the timeline than Sky and Florence right now, do we wanna say they showed up with baked goods but Florence and Sky were both asleep, so they just left it on the counter or something for when they woke up?)

Skylar was glad to hear Florence's giggle when he made his attempt at humor. "I'm going to have to hold that over him the next time I see him," he joked. "He'll hate hearing about pancake Sundays." Which, of course, brought them back around to food, and he had to bite back a small laugh and hope it was dark enough that she couldn't see his smile. "A little bit, but I do it too, if you hadn't noticed, especially when I say something stupid or get worried someone's going to take something I say the wrong way. It kind of makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one. But yeah, dinner sounds great. I'm sure there's no trace of pancake left in me." And he needed to go home and check on his animals afterwards too, make sure they were fine.

@ sun spirit

(Yes that works for me!!)

Jonathan chuckled as she teased him, shaking his head a little. "I'm sure you'll be able to save me." He teased back. He looked over at her again when she told him to make himself at home, chuckling a little as she gestured to herself to show she wouldn't mind him making a mess. "Alright, message understood.. I'll pop back to my house long enough to grab an overnight bag of my stuff, then I'll come right back and make dinner? I'll only be gone five minutes max, and if anything happens teleport to me, got it?" He asked, wanting to make sure she understood that he was being serious. Once she confirmed that she understood he teleported home, and was barely gone five minutes before he returned with a duffle bag at his side, setting it down in the living room until she showed him where he'd be staying before he headed back to the kitchen, relieved to see she was alright. "Miss me?" He teased

---

Florence was grateful that he couldn't see her blush, but she smiled at his reassurances that her word-vomitting wasn't weird, giving a little nod when he said dinner sounded nice. "Alright.. do you have anything specific that you'd like? I've got a lot of ingredients.." she explained as she led him out of her room and to her kitchen, blinking in surprise when she saw a few tuperwares full of baked goods and a note from Cat and Jonathan. "They brought these over for us a few hours ago, but because we were sleeping they left them here... I guess you could have pancakes for dinner again, if you'd like."

@ katahdin

As Jonathan mentioned leaving for a few minutes to grab some of his things, Cat nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Go ahead," she said. She didn't expect anything to happen, and sure enough, all that happened was that she finished kneading the dough just before he returned and had just shaped it in preparation to be put into the oven. She glanced back when she heard footsteps, smiling when Jonathan appeared in the kitchen. "Of course. What else am I supposed to do when you leave?" she joked, bumping him with her hip as she stepped up to the sink beside him and turned on the water to wash the flour off her hands and arms, still unaware of the spot he'd smudged on her cheek earlier.

---

"Ummm, I'm not really picky... I'll pretty much eat anything." Skylar followed Florence back to the kitchen, not remembering how they'd gotten from the living room to her room in the first place, though like her, he paused in surprise upon seeing the baked goods lined up on the counter. Some of it looked like leftovers from that morning. It all made sense when she explained where it had come from though. "I'm actually tempted to," he admitted to Florence with a sheepish smile when she mentioned eating pancakes again, his stomach rumbling its approval of the idea. "If I had to guess, Cat probably brought this over so we wouldn't have to cook." Or to make them feel better. Or because she was stressed. Honestly, Cat baked for a lot of reasons, and it was hard to figure them out sometimes.

@ sun spirit

Jonathan smiled at her response, giving a little shrug as he ran his hand through his hair as he blushed faintly when she bumped her hip into his. He knew that she was joking, but the thought of her actually missing him made him feel warm and giddy on the inside, which was something new but not unwelcome. "We'll, I'm back now, so you don't have to worry about that." He teased, reaching over to carefully rub the flour off of her cheek, hands gently cradling her face as he used his thumb to remove it. He got a bit too caught up staring at her, and by the time he realized what he was doing the flour was long gone. Clearing his throat he stepped back, turning to the fridge to look through what she had available for him to make dinner with. "Do you want anything in particular? Or dislike anything? I'd hate to make something you won't eat."

---

"That was very nice of her.. You're welcome to fill yourself up on pancakes, but I think I'm going to make myself a real dinner." She teased lightly, offering him a little smile before turning to point out different drawers and cabinets around her small kitchen. "Glasses are here if you want something to drink, plates and bowls are here, silverware is here. Help yourself to anything in the fridge and the pantry. There are pots and pans under the stove too, if you want to cook yourself something." She explained, hoping to make him feel at home. She couldn't imagine how he'd feel about his own home after what happened to him there, so she wanted to make sure that he was as comfortable as possible here.

@ katahdin

Her hands clean, Cat turned off the water. "Good. I don't know what I'd do without you," she said with a playful smile as she turned towards him--and the hand towel on the counter behind him. She stilled as he reached out to caress her cheek though, her eyes meeting his. She'd never noticed how blue they were before, like the crystal waters of a pure creek. She wasn't entirely conscious of how long they stood like that when he stepped back, looking away, and she realized she'd been standing there letting water from her hands drip all over herself. Turning away to hide the heat that crept into her cheeks, she quickly dried her hands. "Since this is my house, I'm sure I'll eat everything here. Go ahead and make whatever you want," she answered, and hearing the oven's signal that it was finished preheating, quickly moved across the kitchen to start the bread. Stop acting silly, Cat. He's no different than Skylar.

---

"Spoken like someone who doesn't know the magic of Cat's pancakes," Skylar countered, though it was with a good-natured smile as he closed in on the Tupperware container that held the pancakes. It was then that he noticed something he didn't recognize. Opening it up curiously, he realized it was lemon. "Looks like she made lemon bread to go with the leftovers from this morning," he said, closing it back up, and turned back to Florence as she started to point out where things were in the kitchen for him. "Thanks," he said softly. "I... Thank you. It's nice of you to let me stay here. I'll try not to impose too much, I promise."

@ sun spirit

Jonathan simply nodded as she instructed him to make whatever he wanted, looking through her pantry and fridge for a few minutes before he started to pull out the ingredients that he wanted, moving to set them on the counter. "Hope you like ravioli." He grinned sheepishly before getting to work, rolling up his sleeves as he prepared the pasta dough himself, the only dough he was exceptionally good at preparing by himself. Once that was set aside to rest he began to work on the filling, sauteing some spinach and garlic before mixing it with the ricotta he'd found in her fridge. He then grabbed the pasta dough and rolled it out on the counter, making sure everything was perfect before he began to make the raviolis, humming to himself while he worked, occasionally mumbling something in Italian to himself while he worked.

---

"Spoken like someone who doesn't have a massive sweet tooth." Florence retorted with a smile, pulling a box of mac and cheese out of the pantry to cook, not feeling up to making something from scratch. Her eyes lit up though at the mention of the lemon bread, turning back toward to investigate with a smile. "Jonathan must have told her to make it.. I'll have to thank them later." She looked up when he thanked her, offering him a warm smile and a shake of her head. "You're not imposing at all, Skylar. I'm happy to have you here."

@ katahdin

The active part of her baking done, Cat took a backseat role as Jonathan began to make ravioli. She found an area of the kitchen she was pretty sure he wouldn't need to use and hopped up on the counter, watching as he prepared the ravioli, making it completely from scratch. She was fascinated in the process and without even knowing it, sort of slipped into almost a trance where she watched him prep and make the food without saying anything, just watching as it was done and listening to his hums and quiet mutters. It was only when she realized that he'd been saying her name, trying to get her attention, that Cat blinked, sitting up. "What? Sorry, am I blocking you from getting something?" She braced her hands on the countertop, prepared to hop off if he said yes.

---

"Hey, I want no judgement," Skylar laughed, taking absolutely no offense. Although Florence didn't know him that well, she'd definitely pegged him; he had a sweet tooth and seemingly endless room in his stomach to fill. He'd thought the lemon bread seemed a little random, but when Florence's eyes lit up and she mentioned Jonathan, he nodded a little bit, the inclusion making sense. "You two seem really close," he said, taking a stool in front of the pancakes and watching as she prepared to make Mac and cheese. "I mean... I am here 'cause April broke into my home... that's kind of imposing."

@ sun spirit

Jonathan was standing in front of her, rubbing his flour covered hands together as he tried to get her attention. He wondered if perhaps she'd been having a vision or something, the way she'd been zoned out, but when she blinked and sat up straighter he offered her a little smile. "Oh, no. I just wanted to know if you wanted to help cook the ravioli while I made a sauce? I was also curious to know what kind of sauce you wanted." He said, holding his hands out to her to help her down from the counter.

---

Florence nodded a little as he mentioned Jonathan and then being close. "Yeah, he was very helpful when I first became an Immortal. He's my oldest friend. Sort of like you and Cat, right?" She asked, glancing over at him before turning her attention back to the stove where her mac and cheese was cooking. "You're not imposing.. Jonathan said we have to stick together, so either we'd have to stay here or at your house. So it's not imposing. Do you want some mac and cheese?" She asked when it finished cooking, draining the water before mixing the cheese mix and milk into the pasta.

@ katahdin

"Oh. Sure, I don't mind helping!" Cat relaxed, but held her hands up when he offered his. "Fair warning though: I'm not great at cooking. Baking? I could probably make anything you want. Cooking? It's pretty hit or miss, and it's always best if I have clear instructions." Since he'd already put a good bit of work into the raviolis though, she figured he deserved the warning. Only after that did she take his hands and hop down from the counter. She didn't need the help, but she'd already shooed him off once that day, and he'd already made fun of her for never accepting help. "And I don't know the difference between sauces, so I don't think I have a preference."

---

Without utensil or syrup, Skylar began to eat the leftover pancakes, breaking off a piece at a time, nodding at Florence's question. "Yeah, she's the first person I met, and she's helped me a lot with adjusting to everything. I sort of got the feeling she was lonely before I showed up, and she was nice, so we just got close." He paused, mulling it over in his head. "Actually, the happiest I've seen her was this morning at breakfast, before we started talking about the dagger." He continued to happily munch on cold chocolate chip pancake as she finished with her Mac and cheese. "I'm good, thanks," he said, holding up a piece of pancake as evidence. "I still feel kinda bad though. You'd probably rather be with Jonathan, but you kinda got stuck with me because you were helping me and he had to run off after Cat."

@ sun spirit

Jonathan chuckled as she explained how bad she was at cooking, shaking his head. "No worries. All you have to do is boil them, not that hard." He grinned as she took his hands and helped her down, glad that she accepted his help instead of waving her off. "I guess that means I get to choose, which means no complaining if you don't like it." He teased as he led her over to the stove, where there was a pot of boiling water waiting for them. "All you need to do is put them in a few at a time, and once they float to the top they're done, so you'll have to scoop them out. The sauce shouldn't take too long to make, and then we'll be able to eat." He explained as he got to work, starting work on the sauce. "Were you having another vision earlier?" He asked curiously after a moment, stirring the onion and garlic in the pan as it cooked so it wouldn't burn.

---

Florence nodded a little in understanding, although she smiled a bit when he mentioned how happy Cat had been. "Yeah, Jonathan seemed pretty happy to me too.. Explains why they've stuck with each other." She teased, moving to take a seat next to him with her bowl of food once she'd finished, eating a few spoonfuls before looking over at him. "I'm sorry April did that to you... She's normally a nice person, I don't understand how she could.." she trailed off, looking down at her food. "I wish she'd stop fighting against us.. I wish I could help her see reason."

@ katahdin

Cat laughed. "Well if it's that easy, I can't possibly mess it up," she joked, grinning as she followed him to the stove where he explained what she would be doing. It sounded pretty easily, honestly, and she nodded as he showed her where to put the finished ravioli and handed her the scoop. "Sounds like a plan," she agreed, and as he started work on the sauce, she put a few ravioli into the boiling water, watching them sink. She wondered how long it would take them to resurface, but guessed she wouldn't miss it when they did. "A vision?" she asked, glancing over at Jonathan, then realized what he meant. "Oh, no! I haven't had any more, thankfully. I don't want to know what it would feel like to go without recording more than one. I was watching you cook, and it was nice, and I guess I just spaced out. You ever have that happen?" She was keeping half an eye out for the ravioli, but she turned so she could see Jonathan's expression as well--or as much of it as she could manage with them practically being shoulder to shoulder.

---

"Yeah, it's kind of strange though," Skylar said with a smile, not at all averse to talking about his friend. "I mean, Cat's been around awhile, and Jonathan's apparently even older than her. So Jonathan would've been around when Cat showed up, so even if he was friends with April and hated the old Fate, he didn't have a reason to hate her. And the way they've been acting, you'd think they would've realized they got along a little sooner." He shrugged. "Or maybe Cat was shy and scared back then. Either way, whether or not she admits it, she's got a crush on him too. They're probably making out right now." He continued chewing on chocolate chip pancake, which was just as good now as it was when it was first made, looking over at Florence as she apologized. He set down the pancake he held, hesitating a moment before putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't apologize. It isn't your fault. You made it pretty clear you didn't approve. I'm not saying it's okay she did it or even that I'll ever feel safe in my own home again, but that isn't your fault. We'll figure out some way to stop her, and with everyone looking for a non-lethal method, I'm sure we'll find something."

@ sun spirit

Jonathan chuckled at her joke, focusing on making sure the sauce didn't burn, although he did nudge her hip with his teasingly. He was glad to hear that she hadn't had a vision when she'd spaced out earlier, but was surprised to hear that she'd been staring at him while he cooked. A faint blush crept up his cheeks, and he decided to keep his attention on the pan as he added the tomato paste, knowing that if he looked at her he wouldn't be able to look away. "Oh, makes sense.. Maybe it happened when I was younger, but I can't remember a time when I did it recently." He explained, adding a touch of wine to the pan before grabbing a measuring cup and dipping it into the boiling water cat was using, taking about a cup and setting it off to the side while he added cream to the pan, humming as he stirred it all together. He added a bit of water to thin out the sauce before turning off the heat, smiling at her as he turned to watch her. "How are the coming along?"

---

"Hm, that's true. April's older than Jonathan, so she probably told him to stay away from her like she did to me, and not wanting to upset April he probably did. He seemed grumpy with her yesterday when she first called us, but I'm glad he's warmed up to her. They're nice together." She blushed a little when he said that they were probably making out at the moment, shaking her head a little as she ate another few bites of her mac and cheese. She looked back up at him when he rested his hand on her shoulder, frowning a bit as he spoke. "I'm still sorry though.. no one should have that happen to them, especially in their home.. You can stay here as long as you want, or I can come stay with you, whatever makes you comfortable, Sky."

@ katahdin

Cat smiled as Jonathan bumped her with his hip like she'd done to him earlier, and as she glanced at him, she thought she saw his cheeks get a little more pink. With the stove and oven on though, the kitchen was hot, so he was probably just getting a little overheated. As the first batch of ravioli floated to the top of the water, she scooped them out and let the next few sink to the bottom. "It's probably just me. I've sort of kept myself holed up the last couple hundred years, and it was only when Skylar showed up that I really started interacting with others on a regular basis again. And now there's you, and we've hardly been out of each other's sight for more than 10 minutes the last day or so, so my brain's just probably having a hard time figuring out what to do with you," she said with a little wave of her scoop, hoping to explain her behavior away. By the time he retrieved some of the boiling water from her pot, she'd already retrieved the second batch of floating raviolis and had deposited the third. "So far so good. I hope. If dinner's no good, feel free to blame me entirely," she said to him with a smile.

---

"Hopefully it stays that way. I don't know how Cat would react if he decided to help April or... well, there's a few things." Skylar frowned. "Wait, does that mean I have to talk to him, since I'm her friend? Like, that thing dads and brothers do, where they threaten the guy who's dating their daughter/sister?" Maybe it would help, but Jonathan was also scary, and that thought didn't really appeal to him. In response to her frown, he dropped his hand self-consciously, though he offered her a little smile as she said that he could stay as long as he wanted. "Thanks... I don't mind staying here for a bit if you don't mind having me. But we definitely need to check up on my babies at least once a day, since I'm definitely not asking that you take them in too. Maybe ask Cat to look after Sprite, since she's needy and Cat loves her anyway."

@ sun spirit

Jonathan chuckled softly as she spoke, pointing out how they hadn't been separated from one another much over the last few days. "True.. if you need some time away from me, I can always hole myself up in a spare bedroom or something, leave you alone for a while." He offered, reaching over to put the cooked raviolis in the pan with the sauce, stirring them in. "They seem fine, Cat. Don't be too hard on yourself." He said with a smile, bumping her hip with his again.

---

Florence smiled a little, laughing softly when he asked about talking to Jonathan about Cat. "I don't think that's a good idea, but I also think it would be funny to see it happen." She teased, eating another few bites of her food. She nodded when he mentioned taking care of his animals, sitting back a little in her chair. "Oh, yeah, we can do that whenever.. Just let me know." She smiled. She didn't dare mention that she was allergic to most household pets, not wanting him to hate her for it when he so clearly loved his animals.

@ katahdin

Cat shook her head. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing. It’s actually been kind of nice. But back at you. If you get sick of me, let me know. We’ll figure something out,” she said. She scooped out the last batch of raviolis for him to take and mix with the sauce, laughing as he bumped her with his hip again. “I’ll be as hard on myself as I want,” she countered, bumping him back, then stepping away to open up a cabinet and retrieve a couple of bowls and forks. “It smells good,” she complimented as she passed a bowl to Jonathan.

---

Skylar smiled sheepishly. “Then how about I just stick with not a good idea and leave anything to do with the two of them alone?” As he munched on his fourth pancake, he reflected about earlier that morning and his misunderstanding and how they’d both reacted. He’d almost finished pancake number four when Florence agreed to his request. “Thanks. I’m sorry to pull you into it, but it’ll probably take a little while to do, especially if I want to give them some attention. I’m usually not gone as long as I have been the last couple days.”

@ sun spirit

"I don't think I'll get sick of you anytime soon." Jonathan chuckled, smiling at her reassuringly. He laughed as she did when he bumped her hip, shaking his head when she bumped him in return. "You shouldn't though. Give yourself more credit." He took the bowl from her with a thanks, filling his with the ravioli before moving off to the side so she could get hers, sprinkling a little extra cheese and some fresh basil on the top. He moved to take a seat at the table, waiting until she'd sat down too before he took his first bite, humming happily at the taste. "Cooked perfectly, Cat. A plus." He teased, although he meant it.

---

"That's probably for the best." Florence smiled, finishing her bowl of mac and cheese before moving to get seconds. Normally she didn't eat too much, but today had been stressful, and she'd used a lot of her magic over the past few days, so she was rightfully hungry. "Oh, no worries. I'm happy to help. We can go after this, if you'd like?" She offered. She didn't want to be unhelpful and just sit around while he did all the work, but she also worried about how her allergies would act up. Hopefully if they were both doing whatever chores he needed to do, it would get done much faster.

@ katahdin

Cat laughed softly. "Just in case, I'll have to make an effort not to drive you away. It doesn't seem like you'd do as well with Skylar," she teased, and after he finished filling his bowl, she stepped up to scoop ravioli into hers. Like him, she paused to add a little extra cheese on top, then brought her bowl to the table as well. She shook her head as he complimented her, and without consciously making the decision, bumped his leg with her foot. "You did all the hard work," she countered, smiling as she took a bite as well, making an approving noise around the food in her mouth. "This is great," she complimented after she'd swallowed most of the bite, standing a moment later. "We need drinks. You stay there. Shout what you want. If I don't have it, I'll list replacements," she said, already walking back into the kitchen to retrieve glasses.

---

With his fourth pancake finished, Skylar only had two left, and he fully planned on finishing them. As Florence returned with a second bowl of mac and cheese, he started on number five, nodding as she offered the idea of going after they finished eating. "That sounds good. I fed everyone this morning, but with everything that happened, I'd feel better if I checked in on them," he explained. He hoped they were all okay and felt guilty for letting his fear of April convince him not to check on them immediately. What if she'd hurt them? His stomach turned at the thought, and he set down the piece of pancake he'd been taking bites from, pushing the last pancake and a half away uneaten.

@ sun spirit

Jonathan chuckled as she bumped his leg with hers, shaking his head a little. "But you cooked them. That's a very important part of the process." He teased, taking another bite as he watched her return to the kitchen. "I'm fine with whatever you have. Water always works for me." He called, setting his fork down while he waited for her to return, wanting to enjoy a long meal with her. It was a weird thought, but at some point he wished that every evening could be like this, them joking around and cooking together in the kitchen.. But that had some heavy implications, and he was fairly sure she wouldn't be interested in him like that.

---

Florence frowned when she noticed he'd stopped eating, taking one more bite before standing, resting her hand over his. "We can go now, if you want. I can always heat this up later." She smiled a bit, gesturing to her bowl. "And maybe when we get back we can dig in to some of the other stuff Cat made?" She suggested, hoping to cheer him up. She didn't like how upset he'd gotten in such a short time, hoping it wasn't anything she'd said.