"So how's it going?" Dave asked Aaron quietly, once Cassia had headed back to her room for a quick shower after lunch.

"It's going okay," Aaron answered just as quietly. "I'm actually optimistic. I mentioned that we had another partner and she took it rather well. She would like to meet Sabella, so I thought we could arrange something. Really, there's only one thing she doesn't know about yet."

"Our immortality," Dave said quietly and Aaron nodded. "How do you think she'll take it?"

"I have no idea really," Aaron said. "Having more than one spouse is common in this century, even if some people don't like it, so the fact that we already had a partner..."

"Wasn't exactly earthshattering news," Dave finished.

"But as for immortality on the other hand..." Aaron continued.

"It's still a fantastic concept, especially in this time of technology. We have space travel to other planets, which at one point was seen as an impossible concept and yet today it exists. I mean we've proven that there is other life out there when at one point it was believed that we were the only intelligent beings in the universe," Dave said.

"Which was pretty arrogant on the part of the humans," Aaron said. "To believe that there was no over life out there."

"We have to consider the times though," Dave reminded his friend. "When most humans believed there was no other intelligent life on other planets they didn't even really have space travel yet, other than sending flaming rockets into space with the first spaces explorers on board. That was the start of them developing the technology to explore their own solar system and the space drive that allowed humans to explore outside that system. We also have to consider that there was no life on other planets when we finally reached that stage that we had the technology to start exploring them. While they were signs there once had been they had died out."

"Earth has come along way since then," Aaron admitted.

"Yes, they have," Dave said. "But there are still some concepts that just can't be real, because they're simply too fantastic and unfortunately, immortality is one of those things."

"I suppose we'll have to go ahead with our plan then and have me break my nose supposedly on accident, as it's probably the only way that Cassia will believe our explanation," Aaron said with a grimace. "I know it'll involve a lot less pain then me breaking an arm or a leg on the slope, but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it."

"I know you aren't," Dave said. "But it's necessary."

"What's going on?" came a very familiar voice.

"Cassia, we didn't realize that you were there," Dave said, his voice nervous.

"That's obvious!" Cassius said sarcastically. "Now did I hear something about immortality? Or was I mishearing things?"

"This is not the place to talk about it," Aaron said.

"Too much chance of someone overhearing us," Dave agreed trying to appear calm.

"So where do you suggest we go to talk about it? I want an explanation now! So you had better start explaining," Cassia told the two men looking rather confused and also mad.

"Our place?" Aaron asked Dave quietly.

"That's probably best," Dave decided.

"Can you wait until we get to our place for an explanation?" Aaron asked Cassia gently.

"Our place is only a short distance from here still on the grounds of the resort. We made one of the cabins, that we offer to our guests our home. Guests request them if they want complete privacy," Dave offered.

"I suppose I can wait that long, but no longer!" Cassia said her tone firm.

"This way," Aaron said leading the way out the back door of the resort, where the private cabins were located.

~~~Dave, Sabella, Aaron, Cassia~~~

"So explain!" Cassia exclaimed as soon as they were secluded in the living area of the cabin that Dave, Aaron and Sabella shared.

"What I told you sometime ago was that I was attracted to you from the first moment we met at the front desk was true. What I didn't tell you was that there was a reason for that," Aaron explained

"Immortals like Aaron and I have mates and when we meet those mates the attraction is simply overwhelming, so strong that it's hard to resist just taking that person right way without even asking," Dave continued.

"But when that mate is human, well, that's when things get difficult," Aaron continued.

"Immortality is such an impossible concept that most humans don't want to believe it, not without something extraordinary anyway," Dave continued.

"And why should I believe you now?" Cassia asked with a raised eyebrow her tone calm.

Both men sighed their resignation obvious and looked at each other their expressions identical.

"This is exactly why we were discussing ways to get you to believe in something so unlikely," Aaron said in a resigned tone.

"So what had you decided?" Cassia asked curious in spite herself.

"We decided that I was going to break my nose and you would see how fast it healed with no help from technology," Aaron answered honestly. "We heal very fast on our own and don't need medical intervention."

"Not even for a serious wound," Dave added. "One that would at least deliberate an ordinary mortal for a long time, if not kill them outright."

"So how are you going to prove it to me now?" Cassia asked her voice surprisingly calm.

"Well, since you're not running away screaming, thinking we're quite insane, there are several ways to do so," Dave said his voice calm, which Cassia could somehow tell was feigned. She doubted that anyone else would be able to unless they knew Dave very well however. "We could break one of our bones whether that's Aaron's nose or perhaps one of my fingers, then you can watch and see how fast it heals with absolutely no help. We heal in minutes instead of us going to the infirmary, getting a treatment with the healing wand and going back every day for a week, depending on how bad the damage was."

The way that Dave and Aaron spoke in matter-of-fact tones, did a lot to convince her that they were telling the truth. There was no twinkle of humor in there eyes, just seriousness and worry. Cassia figured that the worry was because of their fear that she would just reject them because of what they were telling her. What they were suggesting did seem impossible after all, nothing but pure fantasy.

She had to admit that they had a right to be worried about her reaction. If she hadn't overheard part of their conversation she wasn't sure how she would have taken their explanation. She might have believed that they were lying to her or at least trying to pull a prank on her, though normally, she wouldn't have pegged them as the type to pull such a joke. They were serious businessmen and not the type to pull jokes on others or the type to lie. She didn't see either of them trying to pass off immortality as real it they weren't very serious and truly believed what they were saying. Which meant, it had to be the truth, unless of course, they were delusional.

"What about just cutting yourselves?" Cassia suggested. "If what you say is true you should heal instantly."

"We didn't think you'd believe, if we did something simple like that," Aaron answered cautiously optimistic. "I mean with today's medical technology being what it is..."

"Let me be the judge of that," Cassia suggested.

"We might as well demonstrate," Dave told Aaron who nodded in agreement.

"We might as well," Aaron agreed soberly.

"Why don't you go get us a knife out of the kitchen, and that way you know we're not trying to fool you," Dave suggested.

"You're welcome to test the edge to make sure it's sharp," Aaron added.

"So where are the knives?" Cassia asked.

"The ones that are used for cutting meat are in the knife block, and that's right on the counter. There is also an apple, in the refrigeration unit and you can test the knife on that. They are very sharp I promise you," Dave said.

Cassia said nothing and just headed for the kitchen after Aaron pointed the way. Cassia found the knives easily enough and then looked into the refrigeration unit to find the apple that Dave had said was in there. She found the apple within a minute and put it on the cutting board. Cassia studied the knife for a few seconds and thought it looked sharp, which soon proved to be true, as it took no strength at all to cut through the apple. The knife simply sliced off a piece of the apple as easy as cutting through a marshmallow.

Apparently, Dave hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said the knives in the block were sharp. Of course, men like Dave, weren't prone to exaggeration, but still...

Cassia headed back into the living area with the knife in hand and handed it to Aaron who was closest without a word or comment.

Aaron had taken off his sweater so that his arms and chest were now bare causing Cassia to blush. He immediately took the knife from Cassia and drew a deep, gash into his arm wincing in pain. Cassia winced, but knew that it could be healed with current medical technology within just a few minutes. Cassia knew that Aaron must be in a great deal of pain, as the wound was no little scratch, but deep enough that he would've needed stitches if they used such a thing nowadays.

Even as she watched the blood pouring out of the wound, she also watched as the gash slowly closed on its own. Within minutes the deep gash was gone though Aaron's arm was still bloody and so were the jeans he was wearing. Luckily the floor was wood and so the blood could be wiped up as there was quite a puddle at Aaron's feet.

"Is that proof enough for you?" Dave asked Cassia with a wry smile. "Or do you want me to do the same?"

Dave had watched as Cassia's expression had gone from neutral, to disbelief, to astonishment all in the space of a few seconds.

"I don't think that's going to be necessary," Cassia said her voice choked, as she stared at Aaron's bloody arm.

"What's going on here?" came a female voice.

"Sabella, sweetie, we are just trying to prove to Cassia that we are what we say," Dave told her.

"This was the best place to discuss such a delicate subject," Aaron added. "No danger of anyone not in the know overhearing."

"So what happened to the original plan?" Sabella required.

"I overheard them talking," Cassia admitted once she had gotten over her astonishment at Sabella's appearance. "I kind of demanded an explanation, so they really had no choice but to explain it to me. By the way, I'm Cassia Jasperson. I've been told that you knew about me."

"Yes, I do and it's very nice to meet you. I've been wanting to meet for the last few days anyway," Sabella said, shaking Cassia's hand.

"Can I go wash off my arm now?" Aaron inquired of Cassia.

"Yeah," Cassia said. "Why don't you put on a shirt to, as you're kind of distracting."

Dave and Sabella smirked at each other while Cassia's attention was elsewhere, as her comment was very encouraging. Cassia actually seemed to be taking the demonstration rather well.

Aaron simply smiled and took his sweater off the back of the couch with his unbloodied arm and headed into the bathroom. When he returned just a few minutes later he was again dressed in the sweater he had been wearing before his demonstration.

"You sure have accepted this much better than we believe you would," Dave said once Aaron had returned to his spot on the couch.

"I figure if aliens can exist why not immortals?" Cassia shrugged. "Alright, I was shocked at first, but I've had a few minutes to absorbed it now. There are many strange things in the universe and we are not the only intelligent life out there. I won't say I believed in immortals before, but considering the demonstration..."

"Technically, we're just very long lived. We can still die we just don't age from the time we reach our thirties. As you saw just minutes ago we can recover from wounds that would kill a regular human," Sabella said.

"That's true we are not Gods," Dave agreed. "We've always called ourselves immortal because we live forever, barring an accident bad enough that we really do permanently die."

"Or murdered by someone that knows what we are," Sabella said.

"So you can die," Cassia said, "Even if it is difficult to do so."

"Yes, so we try our best just to act normally. I mean we are basically human after all, so that means we know how to act like one," Aaron said

"So where do immortals come from?" Cassia asked.

"We don't really know," Dave said. "I am the oldest of the three of us and if any of the ones older than me ever knew where immortals came from that knowledge has since been lost. All I know is, we've been around for a very long time."

"How long?" Cassia asked.

"If you're asking how long immortals have been around, thousands of years. If you asking how old I am let's just say hundreds of years. We don't really pay attention to birthdays, because who wants to be reminded they're hundreds of years old?" Dave said.

"Even if we don't look our age," Sabella commented pertly.

"Did you ever think that maybe some advanced race made you what you are?" Cassia asked.

"Yes, we have considered that," Aaron answered honestly. "It's quite possible that we were created by some very advanced alien race, but we have no way of really knowing."

"I don't know why it really matters," Sabella said. "Sure, most immortals likely wonder where they originally came from, but there's no answer to that question so why worry about it?"

"I'm sure, just like humans ,some species like to meddle and when they did so we weren't very advanced," Dave said. "There would've been basically no technology, other than simple machines and tools. Things like shovels, your basic hammer and plows pushed by humans to till their fields."

"Alright, so here's a rather big question for you. I'm mortal and I won't live past the 200 year mark, so I won't be around couple hundred years from now. If I'm your mate I'm assuming there's a way to change me."

"Of course there is," Aaron answered. "We had to change Sabella after all. Unlike Dave and I, she wasn't born immortal either."

"I was born at a time where most women just didn't work, not those of a certain class anyway. Some women had jobs, seamstress, teachers, governess, midwives and so forth. There were even some woman doctors or at least midwives, but if you were then there was a good chance you'd never get married. I was living on the street, making money where I could. Luckily, it didn't take much to live on back when I was born."

"That she managed to live on the street and not be raped was practically a miracle. The streets back then were particularly dangerous," Dave said.

"She was rightfully suspicious of our intentions," Aaron said.

"When you grew up like I did you have a refined sense of danger. You either develop one if you've been on the street for any length time or your taken advantage of or possibly killed."

Cassia winced as Sabella described some of the things she'd been through.

"No family at all, that could've taken you in?" Cassia asked.

"Not that I know of," Sabella said with a shrug. "There are many possibilities as to how I ended up on the street. My parents or at least my mother could've died for example. I really don't remember either of my parents. I was probably too young to retain that information. Even if there had been any kind of family there are no guarantees they would've taken me in and treated me decently or if there had been they might have used me as a servant and probably barely fed me. You had to do whatever you could to survive the street, especially in winter. As I got older I got odd jobs here and there. I was even an extra in the theater sometimes, not that it paid very much, so it was either continue to eat or put a roof over my head. I could not afford to do both."

"She's talking about being an extra dancer, which didn't take a lot of skill. All the dancers basically had to do was high kicks. The costumes were provided by the theater. You didn't need to have official dancing lessons."

"She was in her late 20s when we met and looked a few years older than that because of the stress among other things. Life wasn't very easy back then, especially for the poor."

"It's not very easy now either," Cassia pointed out. "Not unless you already have some money."

"It was even harder for someone that didn't happen to have a roof over their heads though," Dave said.

"I won't argue, because you're right," Cassia said. "There are many people that live on the street just because they can't seem to get a decent job and they don't have any family that can or will help them out. Many are addicted to drugs or have some medical problems."

"Believe me, it was worse back in my day," Sabella said. "There were no programs to help the poor like there is today. At least there wasn't where I lived that I knew about."

"And any charities were usually attached to the church," Aaron added. "There were always restrictions when it was a church run charity. You had to listen to their sermon before they fed you."

"And so many priests could be so and arrogant, condensing and sanctimonious that you'd rather starve than put up with it," Dave said.

"Also, some priests could drone on and on and on and you were forced to listen to them if you wanted to get fed," Aaron added.

"It was hard to find a decent priest that really just wanted to help people and not lecture them about their supposed sins beforehand," Dave continued.

"If there had been some kind of charity attached to the church in my area I'm not sure I even would've gone, not even for a free meal. If I had been more desperate perhaps I would have, but I managed to keep myself fed and clothed without having to resort to such measures."

"So how did you meet?" Cassia asked.

"Aaron and I were in the area," Dave explained calmly. "Just passing through and we decided we wanted to see some of the shows at the music hall and the theater. We didn't have any set schedule."

"While traveling was a bit easier at that time since trains were around then, we thought we could relax for a few days," Aaron said.

"She was one of the extras in one of the shows."

"You didn't need to have professional lessons, so as long as you could perform the moves it was all good. It wasn't something like ballet after all, which takes a lot of training from when you're really young if you want to be any good at it."

"Performances like that did give those young woman a little money to take back to their families or to continue eating if they didn't have any other family that needed the money. There were always food stands around in that section of the city where the theaters were and plenty of restaurants where you could go in and get yourself a cheap meal, places that weren't really expensive, mostly pubs."

"Most of those places, in that distract of entertainment had been started by people who had used to be in the theater or some other form of entertainment so they understood what such people needed, cheap gin or beer or tea, and decent as well as plentiful food. Such places that were run by former entertainers didn't try to cheat you like so many others did and gave you a fair amount of food for your money."

"The portions at such places tended to be more than that your average restaurant that wasn't run by a theater person," Sabella said.

Aaron, Dave, even Sabella had been taking turns telling Cassia the story of their beginnings.

"Sabella was naturally suspicious of us considering she had been living on the street, as usually no one in their right mind would be interested in someone like her, except other theater people. Someone who understood how hard it was to make a living and not have a regular roof over your head," Aaron continued.

"Really, only the very best of entertainers made a regular income, were able to get lodgings usually some kind of boarding house that never charged you as much as a regular hotel," Sabella added, "Some boarding houses only took a specific kind of entertainer like one could be for dancers only. In someways, they were better than a hotel, because they always served food at meal times that was usually pretty good that's what I heard anyway. I could never have afforded such places, even though they were relatively inexpensive mostly. They served food twice a day for most of them breakfast and dinner."

The three immortals continued to describe what it was like and Cassia could actually picture the sound of music and people moving in and out the back door whatever theater they were working at, the fans lurking in the alley to get an autograph from some of the more famous and well-known entertainers and the door guard chasing them off. Gangs of little boys tended to hang around the stage door at places like that and tried to slip past the door into the theater itself without paying.

"In any case, they finally convinced me of their sincerity and my attraction to them helped," Sabella added. "They were always plenty more of those girls always wanting to get a shot as one of the dancers, so if one of those girls disappeared for some reason, well...that were was always a dozen more waiting to take their place. Personally, I didn't mind giving up my position as it might not look like hard work, but it was, especially for someone who was lucky to get one meal a day. For one thing you practically boiled when all the stage lights were lit and it was really hot on stage, especially in high summer and all the movement you had to do kick your legs high in the air and keep it up through the performance..." Sabella trailed off.

"That's enough Honeybear, I think Cassia gets the point," Dave told Sabella gently touching her arm lightly who seemed lost in the far past.

That light touch brought Sabella back to herself to where she shook her head seeming to dispel the memories she had been entrenched in.

"I have never once regretted my decision, even if it took them some time to convince me that they were being honest with me," Sabella continued. "They took me out to eat on several different occasions at higher class places and I could afford with no strings attached. I knew enough about the world that no man would've taken a dancer out to dinner or lunch without obligations of some kind, usually sexual in nature. Not the kind of men they were anyway."

"What do you mean about that?" Cassia asked.

"Just that people like me could tell that they were gentlemen of some means, by the way they dressed and acted. Their manners were refined so you could tell that they were men of some education. Their speech wasn't rough like people who have never been to college or even school. It was clear that they came from an upper class background or at least middle class. The two of them could've been merely well-off or they could've been rich, as men like that don't usually pay attention to people like me. I wasn't in their class, so I was basically beneath their notice. I was like a plow horse instead of a purebred. They would come to the theater and watch the shows, but such people usually didn't pay attention to the actors as we were like a good wine. A wine that was to be enjoyed then forgotten. If they did take notice it was just for a fling as most of them were married, but hadn't brought their wives along on their trip."

"So they could cheat with impunity," Cassia snorted feeling sympathy for Sabella as she described what her life had been like before she had met Dave and Aaron.

"I'm sure not all of them thought that way. Those gentlemen gave us money, sometimes a lot of money, that would last awhile if one was careful and clever. A lot of girls took those gentlemen up on it. It was an opportunity to make some extra money to take home to your family if you had one and some of those girls were desperate enough to do it," Sabella explained. "Dave and Aaron were different from the start in a lot of ways to other gentleman I had known. For one thing, I was never beneath their notice like a bug. They paid attention to me, but it was somehow different then with those other gentlemen. For one thing, they genuinely seemed to care for me and seemed interested in what I had to say, which I didn't understand at the time. They also weren't married, which was very unusual for their apparent ages at the time as they were handsome, financially solvent and seemed genuinely kind. Most such men were married long before they reached their ages which looked around 30. Of course, I learned better later, but at the time I was going by my own observations not facts."

"Most men of a certain class, but especially women, got married really young back in those days," Aaron explained.

"It was mostly the times," Dave said, "but it also had to do with having children and women, especially had a time limit on having them."

Cassia nodded in understanding.

"Most men back then, especially those of the wealthy set didn't treat their wives very well. It was mostly arranged marriages, not love matches. I won't say there weren't some exceptions though," Aaron said.

"I think we need to give Cassia a chance to absorb what we've told her before we tell her anymore," Dave said. "It is past time for lunch, as we've been talking for hours and I'm sure she's hungry."

"I hadn't realized how late it had become," Cassia said looking at her watch. "You're right I'm starving and I didn't realize it until Dave mentioned it was time for lunch."

"Not surprising really," Sabella said. "You've had a lot to absorb in the last few hours. I remember how shocked I was when I learned they were immortal or at least as immortal as it was possible to be. Once they demonstrated I couldn't really disbelieve them, as there was no way they could heal so fast at that time, as there was no technology in my time that could've helped them. Once the shock wore off though, I was perfectly happy to mate with them as I truly loved them, something it took me awhile to realize."

"She had never really been in love before," Dave said. "She had the type of life that falling in love was dangerous, as there were just as many bad people back then as there are today and would have taken advantage of someone like her. Women, had to be really careful about that."

"There were predators out there that would have raped her and then killed her or left her alive where she likely would've killed herself after being so brutalized. Whoever had committed such a heinous act wouldn't have cared if Sabella had killed herself. To whoever had done it would have meant one less whore and who cared if a whore killed herself of ended up dead? Even if she'd gone to the police they likely would've dismissed her story just because it was clear she was homeless. Those of wealth often got off scot free simply because they had money and a lot of officers didn't care to go against that," Aaron added, even as he hugged and kissed Sabella in obvious affection.

"You can't really blame them, because they could've easily have lost their job if they ticked off someone really powerful," Dave added.

Aaron hug and kiss was somehow more comforting then intimate, Cassia noticed. Talking about her past was obviously difficult for Sabella.

"I think it's time for us to get some lunch and we can either eat here in the kitchen or we can eat in the hotel restaurant," Dave said. "We have a lot more to talk about, but it doesn't have to happen today or even tomorrow. It'll always be your decision whether or not you want to join us Cassia, as neither Aaron or I will force that decision upon you."

"We'll give you plenty of time to absorb what you've learned and to think about it. Sabella was more than happy to join us once we got past her distrust and suspicions. I believe that in the last few centuries her life has been much better than it was when she was living on the street. She, of course, would be dead a long time now if she hadn't accepted," Aaron added.

"You know I have been," Sabella said kissing Aaron and then Dave on the cheek from where they were sitting on either side of her. "As I told Cassia I have never once regretted my decision. It was actually rather nice to not have to worry where my next meal was coming from. You let me buy my own clothes and spend as much as I wanted. You never once gave any indication that I was unwanted. In fact, if anything, you spoiled me rotten with that first shopping trip. I only had a couple of outfits living on the street, even if they were much cheaper back then then they are today," Sabella explained. "Clothing wasn't exactly a priority not unless it was so dirty and torn that you couldn't wear it out in public."

"I would think putting food in your belly would be the most important thing," Cassia said.

"I, for one, was glad when pants became acceptable for a woman to wear," Sabella said. "But to answer your question Cassia yes, food was really the most important thing, as you needed it to keep up your strength."

The subject was finally changed as they decided to eat right here in the kitchen area of the little cabin that the three immortals had made their home.

~~~Dave, Sabella, Aaron, Cassia~~~