"So you actually feel better now that you threw up?" Scathach asked the Italian skeptically. She sat down beside him where he was sitting by the window, working on the Hogwarts castle set that she had given him. He nodded at her. She shook her head. Machiavelli heard her mumble under her breath, "humans."
Machiavelli grinned up at her and leaned into her side. She moved slightly away from him, uncomfortable at the close contact, but he cuddled up against her again. "I was mostly all right the other day. I just..." he trailed off.
"Ate too much cake," the Warrior supplied. She handed the Italian another Lego like the one he had in his left hand. "Here, you need this if you're going to make the divination tower."
"Thanks," Machiavelli said distractedly. "Where's the turret?"
Perenelle scooped a piece off of the floor. "Is it this?" she asked handing it to him. Machiavelli nodded and grabbed it happily.
"Where'd the rest of the guys go?" he asked the room at large, still concentrating on putting together his castle. Legos seemed to suit the Italian immortal incredibly well; they required his attention and precision, characteristics that he had honed for years.
"They're down by the lake fishing," Scathach replied, wrinkling her nose distastefully. "They said you could go down and join them if you want, once you got up, so if you want to go that's fine. But I'll stay here. I don't like fish and fishing is boring, so..." she trailed off.
"I'll stay here too," Machiavelli chimed in, surprising the two women. He looked up at them and caught the tail end of their confusion. "I don't like fishing either."
"We're just a little surprised because we thought the two of you were attached at the hip," Scathach told him, poking him in the side. Machiavelli blushed faintly, determinedly fitting together the pieces. Perenelle shot a look to the Shadow and smoothed out the hair on the top of his head.
"What Scathach means is that we've noticed the two of you are very close. So we were expecting you'd rather go out and be with him than be shut in this cabin with the two of us," Perenelle explained demurely. "Especially since the forecast calls for rain the rest of the week."
"It's going to rain all week?" Machiavelli gave them his full attention now. "Then we won't be able to see John for another couple of days..." he trailed off. "I'm going to go see Billy."
"Okay," Scathach helped him up.
Machiavelli let the screen door slam shut behind him. He leaped over the front steps and took off at a run towards the docks where he could now see Billy, Black Hawk, and Nicholas sitting with fishing lines dropped into the water. He ran down the length of the dock and came to a halt by the American, skidding into the man.
Billy slung an arm around Machiavelli's thin shoulders. "Hey sweetheart, we've been waiting for you." He smiled brilliantly.
'His eyes look just like the water,' Machiavelli noticed, getting distracted. He shook his head, telling himself to focus. "It's going to rain the rest of the week?" he asked, leaning against Billy.
Billy's eyes darkened slightly. "Ah, you heard about that? Yeah, it looks like we'll be stuck in the cabin together for couple of days. Too bad too since you just got better..." They both watched as Black Hawk pulled his line in, the string taunt and jerking. Moments later, the Native American had a rainbow trout about the size of his forearm. Machiavelli turned his nose slightly, a movement that Billy caught. "Don't like fish, huh?" he asked, pitching his voice low so that only the Italian and him could here. Machiavelli shook his head.
"Can't we go see if John's at the playground?" Machiavelli asked, dropping all pretenses. He attempted to look as cute as possible.
"Sure," Billy agreed.
Machiavelli huffed. "Well sometimes I don't know what to do with you," he said.
Billy looked surprised. "What'd I do? I agreed with you!"
"Exactly! I put all of this effort into looking cute, and you just agree like nothing." Machiavelli gestured to himself. "I'm working hard for nothing. I ought to-" Billy hugged him tight, cutting him off.
Billy released him and wound in his line. "We can go now, if you want. You guys staying here?" Black Hawk and Nicholas acceded. "Okay, then it's just you and me, Mac. Unless maybe we can get one of the girls to go with us..."
~MB~
As it turned out, both the female immortals accompanied the American and the Italian on their trip. Though Perenelle claimed she wanted to catch some sun and Scathach complained of boredom, Machiavelli suspected they wanted to observe him in action.
Scathach turned out to be a lot of fun to Machiavelli's surprise, who still harbored some resentment over the whole door incident. After Machiavelli looked around for the pale boy with the sad eyes and didn't find him, he agreed to play with Scathach. The Warrior was particularly happy to find a set of gymnastic bars and he watched her with some amazement when she flipped over entirely and turned in midair. She only stopped her antics when she saw Perenelle drag her thumb across her throat, jerking her head at the open-mouthed parents.
"Ah, maybe you can show me the drawbridge," she told Machiavelli who agreed without question, having seen the disbelief forming on the face of one mother in particular. He shook his head slightly as they climbed onto the wooden bridge.
Machiavelli was caught by surprise when she jumped on her end of the bridge. His end bounced up and he came back down with a jolt. His face broke into a happy smile and he began to jump up and down with her. "I love you!" he hollered happily before dashing away to slide down the fireman's pole. Scathach was left standing rather dumbfounded on the bridge.
Billy leaned onto the side of the bridge, tugging on Scathach's ankle. "Kids," he called to her, "they get you every time." He walked over to where the Italian had dropped down the pole. "You're friend's here Mac. I told him I'd push both of you on the merry-go-round today. Scathach too, if we can pry her off the bridge."
"Okay," Machiavelli took off like a shot. He grabbed Scathach's hand, dragging her with him. "Come with me. I want you to meet John."
"Where's Perenelle?" Scathach called over her shoulder to the American. He pointed to where the Frenchwoman was already pushing a skinny kid around on a tricolored merry-go-round. She pulled it to a stop and let the Italian climb on.
Stepping into place, Billy asked the Shadow if she wanted to climb on, to which she rolled her eyes. "Anybody else getting on," he called out cheerfully. A little girl with pigtails timidly asked if she could get on too and he smiled gently at her and helped her up. Making sure the three kids were on securely, he began to spin the ride, letting it gain momentum. The pigtailed girl squealed with happiness. "Tell me when to stop it," he said, letting it spin on its own volition mostly now.
Billy stepped back a bit so he could talk to the ladies. Occasionally he would reach forward and give the merry-go-round an extra spin. When the little girl called to him, he pulled it to a stop and gave her his hand. She looked up at him with starry eyes, like he was akin to the gods. "She's cute," he commented to the ladies as he settled with them on the park bench.
Perenelle laughed, her voice tinkling like small bells. "She is," she agreed.
Scathach tutted slightly. "I can't even remember being that young," she said, a peculiar edge to her voice. "Where are the boys going?" she asked, looking after them as they ran around.
"Exploring," Billy explained, leaning against Perenelle slightly. "I think Mac worries about that kid. I wasn't originally planning on staying here as long as we have been." They all watched as the skinny boy whispered something in Machiavelli's ear. The Italian immortal listened carefully before cupping his hand to the boy's ear and whispering something back."
"Wonder what they're talking about?" Perenelle mused.
Billy shook his head. "I don't want to know," he said honestly. "By the way, we're probably going to have some company tonight," he told the others. "I told Mac that he should invite him over for a sleepover. Give the boy's mother some rest. Apparently, she's always working."
Perenelle scrutinized the American. "You're going to try to save that family, aren't you?"
"Of course." Billy beamed at her.