"Where'd Billy go?" Perenelle asked her husband the next morning. Light filtered in through the kitchen curtains.
Nicholas looked up from the book he was pouring over. "He mentioned bringing food to someone. I don't know where exactly he went, except that he went in the direction of the park we talked at last night."
Perenelle poured a cup of tea for herself and for her husband. "Did you tell him about the Codex?" she queried softly. Black Hawk and Scathach looked up too.
"I told him," Nicholas acknowledged. Sensing the question lingering in the room, he continued, "I think it went well. He said he'd stand behind whatever decision Machiavelli makes. He did ask that we don't tell Machiavelli about it until he's feeling better at least."
Scathach leaned back to look out the door. Certain that Billy's car hadn't pulled up, she leaned in closer and asked, "Do you think they're going to get married?"
Black Hawk looked out the window too. "I hope he does," he said, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "They're good for each other, kind of even each other out. I've never seen Billy this happy and -"
All the immortals fell silent at that moment though, hearing the crunch of gravel in the front yard which meant that the younger American immortal was back. Sure enough, Billy came in through the front door moments later. "Morning," he said happily to the group of immortals, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"So where'd you go?" Black Hawk asked him.
Billy settled down beside them. "I went to bring food to this kid Mac and I met. We don't think he eats enough and Mac has been away for a couple of days because of his cold, so I wanted to check on him." He took a sip of his coffee and pulled a face. He leaned over to grab the creamer. "I ended up bringing him out to breakfast."
"That was nice of you," Perenelle said, smiling. "Oh, Billy, we've all been wanting to ask you- what is Machiavelli like as a kid, now that you've spent some time with him?" Perenelle asked the American immortal curiously. "Is he very different from the adult Machiavelli?" The American opened his mouth to reply, but never got the chance.
"Billy!" Machiavelli tromped down the stairs. "I don't have any clean underwear," he informed the immortal.
Billy half covered his face with his hand. "Yes, Mac, I can see that. In fact, we can all see that." He got up and pulled a stack of clean clothes from the ironing board. "Here's your laundry," he told the Italian.
Machiavelli grabbed at the pile, dropping at least two shirts in the process. The rest of the stack he successfully hung on to and he scurried back upstairs, calling out "Bye!" to the other immortals in the room.
Billy sat down again beside Perenelle. "Yes, Mrs. Flamel," he said mildly, "Mac is slightly more open as a child."
"I'd wager so," Scathach called out. From her position, the American guessed that she had seen quite the eyeful. He smiled sheepishly at the entire room.
~MB~
"So, how do we play this?" Scathach flipped over the box to the game.
"One person asks a question and everybody else writes down their answer and passes it to the questioner's right," Nicholas read from the instruction manual. "That person reads them out loud and the questioner has to guess which person said what. Each person they guess right is one space they can move forward on the board."
"Cards Against Humanity sounded more interesting," Black Hawk mumbled from his place by the fire.
"Loaded Questions is a good way to get to know others," Nicholas said. "And let's face it, we're kind of a mixed bunch of people."
"Anyways, Cards Against Humanity isn't age appropriate," Billy called from the kitchen, indicating Machiavelli.
"I'm older than you are!" Machiavelli protested. Billy patted him on the head as he passed him. The Italian coughed loudly into the crook of his arm. "Can I go first?" he asked, looking around the room. Nobody protested so he picked up the first card and read out, "What would be a terrible place to find yourself tomorrow?"
Five pencils scratched, then their papers were handed to Black Hawk. He glanced at the papers and said, "Okay, four people answered 'Alkatraz' and one person put downtown Los Angelos."
Machiavelli cocked his head. "I'm going to guess Scathach said Los Angelos and everybody else said, well, you know..."
Black Hawk passed back all the answer sheets. "Good job, kid, they're all right. So I guess you move forward five spaces," he told the boy.
Perenelle asked the next question, "What is your favorite kind of candy?" This question got a more varied answer set, with the answers varying from peppermint drops to panforte. Perenelle got three of the answers right, knowing that Nicholas loved peppermint drops and Scathach always ate Almond Joys, and guessing that Machiavelli liked panforte.
"I was horehound candy," Billy told her taking back his answer sheet. "Black Hawk is the one who's always sucking on maple candy."
"I'm next," Scathach interrupted, grabbing the next card. "What is the worst clothing you could wear?" She looked around the room. "If I could have answered this one, I would have said anything from the 80's. Those were some dark times. Go ahead and read," she told Nicholas, who'd collected the answers.
"Was that directed at me?" Billy asked afterwards, when Machiavelli identified his answer as 'jeans and a t-shirt'. Machiavelli smiled up at him innocently and motioned at Nicholas to read out the next question.
Nicholas frowned at the question in front of him, but read out clearly, "If you were a professional wrestler, what would be your ring name?"
Billy nudged the Italian. "How about Mac-a-Whack?"