Nothing owned, nothing worth suing me over… same old drill.

Thank yous to reviewers and favoriters and story alert adders! You make the world go round!

And pinkpearlwings07 – yeah, but he hasn't fully grasped exactly what that means yet.

Julian

Being mortal was really, really getting on his nerves. The incessant hunger was bothersome. He was limited to a snail's pace. He had to remember to sleep, or else he would collapse. All in all, a human body was really not suited for any sort of physical activity.

Julian hadn't eaten for several days, and while the feeling of hunger wasn't at all new to him, the weakness it brought… that could be a problem. He still hadn't found Jenny, and until then… anything that stood in his way was unimportant.

Entirely unimportant.

Julian lost track of the days as he wandered. Through towns, through forest, through cities… it was slow. But anything – anything – was better than waiting.

He was never going to wait again.

Jenny

She sat in the corner of two buildings, shadow obscuring her face. It had been a long time since she'd scryed – let alone tried to make up a new spell. But she just needed to focus.

Julian… where is he? A quick vision surfaced – Julian still looking otherworldly and ethereal, though his face was thinner and smudged with dirt and blood. What had he been doing to get himself bloody?

Jenny hesitated. She was still wary of coming into any contact with the people she cared about – she couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong – but she reached out nonetheless, simply touching his mind. No words for the moment.

She felt a jolt as he recognized her presence. Jenny! Jenny, are you all right?

His voice – even his mental one – made up her mind for her. Oh, God, Julian, you have no idea… where are you? I'm coming there RIGHT NOW!

A weary laugh from his end, as he looked around enough for her to get an idea of the stretch of forest he was in – though they all looked the same, she could sense him properly now.

In another second, there was a slight puff of displaced air as she rematerialized two hundred miles away, already looking for his face. It was paler and thinner than it had been, but so heartachingly familiar that she practically threw herself into his arms, knocking them into a tree.

"Julian! I should shake sense into you!"

He laughed in amazement, blue eyes wide. "I could say the same –" but he was cut off as Jenny pressed her lips to his. "Never. Do. That. Again," she said, punctuating with kisses. "Ever."

A melodious laugh. "I should do this more often, if this is the result I get." He pulled her to her feet. "And you aren't off scot-free, either."

She winced, remembering. He smiled dangerously. "Jenny. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, I'm not going to let you vanish on some crazy" – he kissed her – "harebrained" – another kiss – "scheme to keep us safe."

She nodded. "Agreed. So long as you don't forget that you're human, Julian. How long has it been since you've eaten or slept? And don't change the subject."

He looked slightly guilty. She took that to mean "a long time."

"Julian," she sighed, "you. Aren't. Immortal. And if you let that go on for too long, you'd have died." She poofed a loaf of bread, looked at it, and shrugged. "It'll do. Eat this while I talk."

He took it and looked at her, waiting. She made a 'go on and eat it' face, and only when he had ripped away a piece and placed it in his mouth did she start talking. Jenny caught him up to everything that had happened since Tom's arrival at her house.

"So Tom is here, trying to find you. There's some woman who suspects something. I have no idea what our parents think."

Julian nodded, then smirked. "So what are we going to do about it?"