Dinner as a goodbye...

[1stmacleod]

After talking with Jelani in the Nexus, Connor returns to the place he's starting, tentatively, to think of as home base. He tucks the envelope full of money away in his suitcase, and takes roughly two minutes to pack, because he's been living out of it anyway.
Then he goes to the kitchen, and rummages, and gets to work. A chocolate cake comes first, made from scratch. While that's cooling he starts on dinner; chicken breasts stuffed with broccoli and cheese, rice pilaf, a little more steamed broccoli in case what's in the chicken isn't enough.

He has to tell Kairos that he's going back to his world, just long enough to get things in order and talk to Duncan, but he's not sure how long that will be.

After it's over, though, this is where he plans to return to.

Comments

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"M'not human, Connor. I didn't tell him I loved him from the second I saw him. He warned me that his people don't date, don't fall in love. They just have friends they care about a lot, and they have sex." She shrugs. "I figured I could love him, and I didn't have to tell him about it. He .. he was really great. Wonderful, really. He helped me realize I have worth and he thought I was pretty." She blushes here. "First friend, first lover, first person to really Defend me outside of my family. And then me and my sister had a huge fight, and I told him. He apologized. He didn't mean to lead me on. And he left me there, right in the middle of the Nexus. It wasn't until later that I realized that I'd been the one in the wrong. I'd been the one assuming that he'd be grateful to have someone love him. So it's really embarrassing to see how much of an idiot I was."

She looks up, blushes. "Rambling. I'm sorry."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure if I count as one, myself, but you know what I mean." He starts to cut into his food, at least. "You think as human as I do... and you are pretty." He sighs, and sets down his silverware again without eating. "I could never blame anybody for falling in love. That's just what people do, and whether it's smart or not be damned."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Sh shrugs a little. "I know. I just figured you should know what you're getting into. My people are supposed to be entirely monogamous. One love, forever. My sister and I are.. odd in more ways than one."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor smiles weakly, looking down at his hands on either side of the plate. "I won't lie to you, when I'm not with anyone... I find the outlets I need," Which is as delicately as he knows how to put what in his head is 'I don't have a problem with prostitutes'. "And I've been married twice... engaged once, after that..." Pain flickers in his expression, but it's a little easier to talk about his personal losses in the abstract. "But when I'm committed to someone, I'm committed. I don't cheat. And I don't abandon."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"I know how regular people work, hon." she says a little dryly. "It's just .. weird to go home knowing that I've been attracted to other men besides Phil. My sister's the same. Had a couple of boyfriends, each one was The One.. that sort of thing. Maybe it's because we've been gone for more than a weekend." Not really. Her cousin Mathias lives in Sanctuary, too, and he's pretty much oath bound himself to his high school sweetheart. "The two guys I've been with? They didn't like labels. Loyal to a fault, but not so much requiring sexual loyalty."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He nods slowly, and looks up. "I... can deal with that. With you feeling awkward about me, because I'm not the first." Heather was 'the One' for most of his life, and he remembers that being a problem for Brenda, but from the other side of things, he can accept it. "And loyalty isn't loyalty if it only goes partway."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She shrugs. "I wasn't required to be monogamous either. And I wasn't, not really." She rolls her eyes. "Towards the end, there, I had a baby-crush on Phil's co-worker. Nothing happened, but..towards the end, I think I was figuring that ... hell, maybe he wasn't The One. Or maybe he Wasn't The Only One."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Judging from the way she all but jumped him, a dew nights ago, she's got no problem starting a relationship with him, so he's not concerned about that. "I think... there can be more than one..." He smiles awkwardly, partly because it clashes in his mind with the phrase 'There can be only one' even though that applies to something else entirely. Partly because Heather was it.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She spears a broccoli cut. "Yeah. Probably." It's nice to be on the same page as someone else. "Especially if you live a ridiculously long time. People just aren't made to be alone."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I've tried." He smiles weakly, and prods at his food. "Most of my life I've been alone. Except... for Duncan, but even we go for decades without seeing each other." They have less of an excuse for that in the modern world, where communication is easier, but he's old enough to consider all that a recent development. "I didn't enjoy it, but I managed. It hurt. Every day."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"I expect you can do it, but it's not healthy." Obviously, Kairos. "I'm the opposite. I couldn't get away from family members, until Kalyca moved out. Couple months after that I stayed with Sav for ten years. And now you." She likes being alone, but she much prefers company - even the platonic sort.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"...Tell me... about Sav? I don't know as much about you as I want to." Usually he's the secretive one. But maybe if she talks and he has to listen, he'll actually eat something.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"He's ... hard to explain. He's older than you. Hell, I don't think I know of anyone older, and I've met a couple of gods. Very laid back, very surfer boy. Except he's not. His official job .. or one of them, I guess .. is he keeps his universe's gods in check. If someone does something wrong, and they're the biggest bad there is, he goes in and he handles it. I think they call his kind Chthonian. I met him while he was on the beach, half mad and scared out of my wits. It was like standing next to a .. a power source. I've never known anyone as powerful. It was kinda creepy. He took me home, stayed with me, fed me. I eventually met the people he considers friends."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor knows plenty of immortals older than himself, so he doesn't bat an eye over that, and makes an attempt on eating dinner as he listens. "That's... Greek. Okay." He looks intrigued. "But he's not a threat to you...?"

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

Kairos is too busy talking to get a lot of food in there, but she tries. "Not even a little bit." Her nose wrinkles for a moment. "Well, maybe that's not true. We're really good friends, and he trusts me in a way he trusts few. I'd be a good target. But the door is closed again, so.." she shrugs.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

They'll just have to take turns picking at the fabulous meal he's made, and she'll end up with the leftovers while he's gone. "You mean... you can't get back to him?" He frowns.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Well. The last door took ten years to find. Maybe there's another way, but if there is, I don't know it. But then, I'm sure there's not a lot of people sharing the news if there's a portal to another world. He doesn't have a PINpoint, so we'd have to rely exclusively on doors." The thought of his world's demons infiltrating hers sort of terrifies her, to be honest.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I got a PINpoint, but I'm still trying to figure it out." He sighs. "I'm sorry..." Because he knows what it's like to lose a friend.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She smiles at him. "Look on the internet. You can use my laptop if you want. They've got instructions on nearly everything." She takes a swallow of Pepsi. "Thanks. But why are you sorry? Savitar's still alive, and he'll turn up again sometime. He promised. But until then, I'll keep hoping and praying for his safety." Not necessarily that he'll return to her, but that he stays safe. She feels the same about Phil; and Connor as well, when he leaves in the morning.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I've got a manual, but..." He shrugs. "I guess I'm behind on technology in general." He sips water, and pokes his food around a little more. "He's alive, but he's out of reach..." Like Duncan has been, for him.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"At least you don't freeze your technology. I have to stick to paper books because the Kindle my father got me for Christmas? It ended up in the freezer. Doesn't work anymore." She watches him for a moment. "Yeah, I guess he is. But not for long. The Nexus has it's way of giving you what you want." and then she just kinda smirks. "Or what you didn't know you wanted."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"...What's a kindle?" He smirks a little. "If you want, I can check the freezer regularly for electronics."

The last part of her statement makes him look shy.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She rolls her eyes. "Please do. I lose more things that way."

And she looks pleased at that shy look. "Dinner has been very tasty, Connor."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He chuckles softly, looking flattered. "Thanks. Sorry if I'm distracting you from eating it." Not that he's doing all that great a job on it, either. "But... why the freezer?"

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She shakes her head. "You're good. It's good to go slowly." She means food, really. "Dunno. Sometimes it's just accidental - I'll open the freezer, have something in my hand, sit it down, and forget I sat it down. Other times ..just don't know."