10104/No More Sweets for Sara

No More Sweets for Sara
Date of Scene:	12 February 2022
Location:	Recovery Room 01: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Jon visits Sara in the Triskelion medical ward, and then Cael and Johnny come along too. There are too many sweets and not enough meat or veggies for Sara. There are also difficult topics to discuss.
Cast of Characters:	Sara Pezzini, Jonathan Sims, Cael Becker, Johnny Blaze

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Sara Pezzini has posed:
No longer forced to stay in a hospital gown, Sara is stretched out on the bed in a pair of soft pajama pants with a slightly modified t-shirt. Her left arm is in a sling that wraps around her shoulder and holds the arm against her body, but she has the use of the hand to hold light things. A major improvement over how it would have been if not for Uriel, so she's accepting it for what it is. There is still recovery time expected, a month at least if she can't manage to retain the use of Witchblade again.

The television is on, but the sound is down quite low, someone listening intently could probably hear it other wise the subtitles scrolling across the screen make it watchable. She's not paying attention to the TV really, instead she is looking through information on her laptop and thanking whatever supreme being it was that managed to get Wade and Johnny out of the room at the same time. It had to be an act of some god or goddess, because for the last week, they'd been there like clockwork, taking turns each day and sometimes, the worst times, in the room at the same time.

On the end of the bed is a rubber made container with Torrone, Amaretti and Connoli in it, seems Aunt Ruth went to town this time and made a little of everything. On the sliding table by the bed is a carafe of coffee, one that Alis brought so it's /real/ coffee and not the hospital's poor excuse for it, as well as some powdered creamer and sugar packets.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    There's a knock on the door and then, once answered, a tall and quite thin figure slips in. Jon's actually dressed, in blue jeans and a Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt, a heavy brown cardigan slung over that but left hanging open. There are several changes to the dark-skinned man since the last time Sara saw him: most obviously, his right arm is gone and he's terribly thin, but he's also shaved the sides and back of his head, leaving the top long enough to curl down to his shoulders. He's mostly gotten rid of his beard, too, leaving just a moustache and goatee. It conspires to make him look younger than he used to, more believably in his early 30's.

    He's carrying a container from the cafeteria, and smiles when he comes in. "Hey. I hear you're drowning in tiramisu, so I brought some of Jenny's almond cookies since she was nice enough to put some aside before they all got eaten." Whatever else one might think of the Triskelion's cafeteria food, the almond cookies /are/ pretty good.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
At the knock she calls out for the person to just come in, her tone isn't sharp or irritated, just bland. The nurses knock, and that's who she figures it is.

As Jon enters, Sara looks up to the man and has to take a moment to study him. Cael had warned her about his thinner state, and the missing arm, but that didn't mean actually seeing it made it any easier for her to take in. The sight strikes her hard in the chest, like an invisible punch straight to the soul, but he doesn't see any sign of it. A smile slips into place on her face, not a forced or faked one, a real live grateful smile at seeing him alive.

"I'm going to have to work my ass off at this rate," she comments with a chuckle. "Just to get back to fighting weight." Her comment sounds more like a professional fighter or boxer, rather than a SHIELD agents or police officer. "So more cookies aren't going to hurt a damn thing. Thank you."

She gestures toward the two chairs in the room, neither look all that comfortable really, but they're better than folding chairs. "You can pick a chair or sit on the end of the bed, so you can tell me how you're doing." She then collects the container from the end of the bed so he can sit, moving it to the table as well.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon sets the cafeteria container down on the table, largely so he can snag a cookie himself, then goes to sit down in one of the chairs. On closer inspection, he seems less uptight than usual, as if something in him loosened or let go. "I don't know if I've got time to get to 'fighting weight,' but I've discovered that having just enough food to survive on leads to thoughts of little else. And I can actually eat cookies now, so..." He shrugs and takes a bite of the cookie, chewing slowly.

    "You look like you're doing better than I thought you would." He frowns, blinks thoughtfully. "Or... well, no, they said weeks, right? And it's only been a few days for you. I wasn't expecting you up and moving. Is my timing off or did something happen?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Opening the container of Italian pastries so he can select one if he wants, Sara picks up a cookie to first sniff then takes a bite. Weeks, that's what Cael has said was the time passage for Jon, rather than just days. She didn't understand how that was possible, but she also didn't question it. She'd seen the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode where O'Brien spend years in jail over the course of three hours, anything was possible, right?

"Uriel was at the meeting held after..." she wants to say something along the lines of 'after you were an idiot and gave yourself to Michael' but that was gut reaction and not what she really felt. "... you turned yourself over. I asked him if he'd be willing to visit me, and he did. I could have asked for him to heal me entirely, but instead I asked for healing for just the arm. He took several months off the healing time, the rest is healing on it's own."

Picking up the carafe she pours more coffee into her cup. "Would you like some coffee? It's from the apartment, not the hospital."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon's smile widens at mention of Uriel. "And after Cael punched him, too. He's a good bloke." Did Jon just call an /archangel/ a 'good bloke'? Really? The universe /is/ a strange place.

    He pulls out a cannoli, and says, "Sure, thank you. Cael mentioned that Alis has been popping things over for you. Hot dogs and coffee and the like." He smirks. "I'm surprised the nurses haven't given you any grief for it; usually they're quite picky about what patients eat and drink."

    He hesitates a moment, frowning. "How are you... mentally? Emotionally? I... I know we left things on a bad note, after the meeting. I know you've been... struggling with things. But Cael told me you've been praying to Gaea, which I appreciate." He smiles.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Some of the creamer, as well as two sugars, go into the coffee before Sara stirs it with a spoon. She seems to take some time doing that, longer that may be needed really.

"The nurses complained at first," she comments. "But they've had to deal with Wade and Johnny regarding it, so I think they gave up. Besides, the only really bad thing I've actually eaten was the hot dogs, but it was nice to see the cart was back where it belongs in Manhattan."

Her right hand seems to have already adjusted to being the only hand she can fully use, the left helps in holding the packets so the right can tear the tops off. Picking up the coffee she takes a small sip. "Don't worry yourself about what happened," she states quietly. "It's the past, for you the far past. Not worth rehashing or getting into, it just doesn't matter any more." She takes another sip, not really looking at him but more in his direction.

"As for my state of mind," she lifts her shoulders in a slight shrug. "Barachiel pissed me off just enough to rip my head out of my own ass and start to really /see/ things the way I needed to be seeing them." She finally looks up at him.

"While I was in surgery, Gaea allowed my old partner, Michael Yee to speak to me. Normally he would go through Witchblade, but he can't right now because I'm completely cut off from him, but she let him talk to me. I thought it was a dream, but it was more than that. It was a second kick in the ass over my hesitations. I don't know what I need to do to break this geas on myself, but I can tell you I'm ready to wield Witchblade like he was meant to be wielded. That hesitation is gone."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon nods slowly, focusing on eating cannoli for a moment before reaching out for coffee. Nothing goes in his coffee; he just sips it, slowly, while he listens to Sara.

    "Even if it's in the past, I should apologize," he murmurs. "You were worried about me, and I just... yelled at you." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry." A smile. "I had some, ahh, 'getting my head out of my own ass' too, over the last few weeks."

    He tilts his head, frowning thoughtfully. "I wonder if getting into the Astral will do it? Or will you have to face Barachiel again?" He shakes his head. "Now /there's/ an angel I'd like to punch. At least Michael has a /reason/ for his cruelty. Barachiel just seems like a jackass."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara offers another smile, setting the cup on the table again.

"I figured the yelling was in general, not entirely at me," she comments with a small chuckle. "But I accepted it could have been completely and totally at me. I am concerned about you, that hasn't changed. Just like I'm concerned about Cael, but I've been keeping my distance and will keep doing so. You're family to each other, you, Martin, Cael and Agnes are family. I don't need to be shoving my nose into your business."

She finally grabs the remote to turn the television off, a distraction despite the low volume. "I don't think I'll have to face off with Barachiel again, but I hope I get the chance to. The geas is about my not being worthy to wield Witchblade, which is bullshit. No matter what Barachiel, or anyone else for that matter, might think... Witchblade chooses. The worthiness of that choice is entirely his to make, and once he's made that decision, whomever it is... is worthy. That's the part I missed, the part that escaped me." She shakes her head with a slight disbelief.

"I can't believe I was so blind to that, but then Witchblade isn't always forthcoming with information. It took a deathbed ghost whispering in my dreams to point it out. Yee actually believes that Barachiel geased me because he's afraid of Witchblade is capable of with a wielder who is truly worthy of him. Yee also believes I was born with the sole purpose of wielding Witchblade. You can't hear things like that, knowing that Yee exists in a state of being connected to Gaea and Witchblade, and not start to believe. That's why Gaea gets my prayers now, because I /know/ she's real and has our best interests at heart."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I think I was partly taking my frustrations out on you," Jon admits, with a rueful grin. "I can't promise I'll never do that again; people do that. But I'm trying..." He hesitates a moment, looking for the words. "I'm trying to aim at the right target."

    He listens quietly to the rest, about Witchblade, about Sara, and her purpose. "I think I understand what you mean. I finally understand why Gaea chose me... but I should have trusted Her all along. Trusted that She must have had a reason, that I was worthy of the choice. I've been so... wrapped up in feeling inadequate, in proving myself to... I don't even know who, really." He shakes his head. "It should have been obvious. Gaea chose a /parent/. Because Michael is an overgrown child who needs a time out." He smirks, and shakes his head.

    "I'm glad you've figured things out, though. If I can help you figure out how to lift this geas, I will... and I know you'll say 'oh you have your own business to attend,' but I pretty much know what I need to do, now. At least as far as I'm going to be able to, before things happen. Michael gave me something, tossing me into that desert--a chance to get my head sorted out, and to find out what /my/ purpose has been this whole time." He shakes his head. "Damn fool thing, tossing a servant of the /Egyptian/ gods into a desert, but... he's a fool."

    He eyes Sara for a moment, then adds, "You're family to Cael, too, you know, even if she won't say it. There are things she should say to you, and I don't think it's my place, but... she cares about you, a /lot/, Sara. Right now our relationship is new, and she's worried about me, so she wants to spend every second she can with me... but that doesn't last forever. And there's /no/ way I'm going to be okay with her dropping her old friendships for me, that's..." He lets out a breath. "So much heteronormative bullshit, is what it is. Cael needs you, as much as she needs me. So don't feel the need to... keep your distance. I don't... have a family, anymore, except the one I make, and you've put up with a lot of shit from me when you really don't have to. So if Cael's my family, and you're Cael's family, then we're... slightly distant relatives, at the least."

    He grins, reaching out to grab another torrone. "Besides, my daughter desperately wants me to get the tiramisu recipe from your aunt. Doesn't feeding people mean you're family, in Italy?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
A nod is offered as Jon talks about taking out his frustrations, it's what Sara figured was happening. It didn't make it hurt any less, in fact none of it hurt any less even now, but it made sense and at least explained the sharpness of the words. She continues to listen about why he was chosen, not that she ever questioned it, it had to be nice to know the reason. She knew for herself it was nice to realize that being chosen meant she was worthy, and when she could speak to Witchblade again, she'd ask him about it herself.

"You having things to do doesn't actually effect it this time," she comments first. "Lifting the geas is entirely on me. I don't think there is anyone else who can do anything about it. I think..." she pauses a moment, moving the cookie from her left hand to the table. "I honesty think that it will simply stop existing when I have fully, completely and one-hundred percent accepted my duty to this world and to Witchblade."

Now she takes a moment to study him, perhaps too intently, it might seem like she is staring but she's not, she's thinking. "Cael doesn't call you family really either," she offers with a sigh. "I've come to accept that she will never say it to me, but I know she mostly considers me to be family. I made the mistake of saying it once to her, I won't do that again. You know as well as I do that family scares her, so I won't say it again."

The coffee it picked up again, another sip taken. "I keep my distance Jon, because the last couple of times I've tried to... not keep my distance, I've been hurt, by you and by Cael, mostly Cael. I know she doesn't mean to, but it is what it is. With everything that's been going on the last couple of months, she's distant, and that's okay. I'll always be here to help when I can, where I can, but I won't be poking my nose in." She shakes her head a little. "It's hard to be friends with someone who can't even tell you what's going on in their life Jon, but that's the relationship I had with Cael for the past few months. It'll change in time, or it won't."

She sighs, shaking her head again before finally locking it back up. "The recipe I can get, my Aunt has been trying to fork it over on me for a while now. Agnes can have it once I get it."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon considers that for a long moment. "She calls me family, actually," he says softly. "Me and Martin, and Agnes. It... well, it took some talking-to from Martin, but she finally admitted to it, and she's been saying it more and more. Give her time, and she'll open up to you more, I think. Cael's..." He shakes his head. "Well, you know how she is. Stubborn and closed off, but it's because she's afraid of being hurt. And right now, she /knows/ she's going to be hurt. I wish she understood how strong she is."

    He frowns for a moment and takes a bite of the torrone, chews, swallows. "I wish I could help. But sometimes, these things, they're things we have to do ourselves. I'll pray for you, though."

    He looks up. "Is there anything... I can explain? Questions, or...?" He shifts like he wants to hand off his torrone to his other hand, but remembers he doesn't have one; making a noise of frustration he sets it down on the table and then picks up his coffee, takes a long sip. "You're the first person I've come to see outside of Martin and Cael and Agnes, and that's not just because you're here in the Triskelion. I hate that I've left you out, I didn't mean to. But I don't know how much anyone else really wants to hear about what's coming, for me."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
At the moment Sara can understand his frustration over one hand, one arm. Yes, her left one is still there, but all it can do is hold a cookie or something small and light, other wise it's useless and she might as well not even have it. The difference of course, and it was in her mind, is that in time her left arm would work again. Jon though, arms don't regrow without some kind of magic and she was already praying to Gaea that there was a magic out there that could give it back to him.

"Trust me, I know Cael," she offers quietly. "She's kept me out for months now, always at arms length. She let me in once, a step or two closer, but over all she always keeps me just out of arms reach emotionally. I get it, I know why, but it still hurts. I know the strength inside her, I know what's she's capable of but won't let herself see. She always sees the fear of losing someone, so she tries to shove back and shove away, as if that will change what people feel about her."

She takes another sip of her coffee before adding, "So yeah, I know Cael." and then she changes the subject to the other matter at hand.

"Thank you for coming by," she then says softly. "I asked Cael to let me know when you were able to have visitors, or rather when you might want them. I've been... well honestly I've been freaked out. I knew just the basics of why you were handing yourself over and what was expected, just enough to have lived in a constant state of anxiety. I'm the same way about what comes next. Cael hasn't really said anything, she kept whatever promise she made, and wouldn't tell me anything, so again... anxiety and freaked out."

She looks into her coffee cup. "I know I can't help stop it from happening, that I can't help get you back, and christ almighty that hurts, but it's not about me." She looks back up at Jon. "I'll do what I can though, and I'd like to know more. I'm one of those people you can talk to about any thing and every thing, even if there's not a single thing I can do."

Cael Becker has posed:
    There's a knock at the door - and then, without waiting for a response, the door opens. Cael knew Jon was headed this way - so why wouldn't she be perfectly welcome in Sara's room?
    She slips in, Bear on her heels in his service vest - it was just easier to get him into the medical wing without an arguement when he has the thing in. "Sorry, Redfox was in a bit of a mood - had to spend more time with him than I expected. It's still //freezing// out there," she complains in a casual voice.
    She pauses, crouching by Bear to pull off the dog's vest - she doesn't actually //need// him to be on duty right now - and tosses it into the corner by the door, then goes to greet Jon with a brief kiss, with one hand going to the back of his neck - her lips feel a bit cold, a testament to just how cold it was out there. ...her fingers are even worse, and from the mischief in her eyes as she pulls away, she //knows// it.
    Of course, it's about then that the relatively serious demeanor between the two of them seeps in - and she looks between the pair. "Am I interrupting?"
    Bear goes to Jon first - tail wagging happily as he bumps up against the man, seeking attention and affection - then at a gesture from Cael, he makes his way to Sara's bed, jumping up to cover her feet as his tail thumps cheerfully away.
    "Hey, Sara," Cael adds easily - before stealing Jon's coffee for a brief sip, her eyes going to the torrone. She's going to have to track down the sweets - in a moment.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon was just about to finish off the torrone when Cael comes in, and he blinks at her as she unceremoniously kisses him. He glowers at her, and says, "You /know/ I'm supposed to be keeping /warm/, Cael. Coming in here with your cold fingers..." It's good natured, though; there's a tug at the corner of his mouth, like he's trying to hide a smile, even as he rolls his eyes at her /stealing his coffee/. Honestly.

    Bear gets pets when he comes over, Jon putting his coffee down long enough to scratch at the dog's ears. "I was just about to tell Sara about... what happened, and what's coming. Your very favorite subject and all." He says that drolly.

    His gaze shifts to Sara. "Michael thinks what he did to me is equal to what I did to him. Archangels aren't meant to be hurt the way he was, and he can't... adapt, the way I can." A pause. "I think he was irritated that we kept beating him, too. He's not used to losing."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara had been watching Jon when Cael and approached Jon, so she looked away to offer a moment of privacy. She chose this time to finish the cookie, and pour Cael a cup of coffee.

When Bear finally gets up on the bed, she leans over to give him a scritch or two, then leans back. "You aren't interrupting," she offers quietly, since Jon didn't really make that clear, then offers Cael the cup. If nothing else it was warm and might help warm her up.

"Of course he's not used to losing," she retorts. "He expected us to be push overs, to bend over and take it up the ass just because he wanted it that way. He knows nothing about, nor can he begin to comprehend, the human mind." She picks her own coffee back up for a sip.

"Cael had told me about the time difference, that you were in the desert, and about your arm, but that's it. You don't have to go into it if you don't want to, that's enough information because it's over.... and I don't think you should put Cael through what's coming again, I'm sure she doesn't want to hear it any more."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael beams back at Jon, not at all detered by his false glower. "Ay, Oruguita," she mutters with a sigh, as Jon brings up his trails - past and future, and takes the coffee from Sara with a grateful smile. She perches herself on the edge of the bed, her own hand on Bear's shoulder for a moment, as she sips at the coffee.
    "It's fine, Sara. We can talk about it. We'll probably be having more meetings about it - and I have to be able to face up to what's coming. And I've certainly stared down what's already happened plenty of times over the past several days. I like to think I've come to terms with it all - as mmuch as I can." Oh, it still hurts - but the ache grows duller each time she talks about it.
    "Your arm looks better," she adds, leaning over to claim one of the amaretti cookies, and take a bite.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I think I'm done with meetings," Jon says with a sigh. "At least big ones. I don't mind telling people what's coming, what I know of it, so they don't worry too much... but there's not a lot to be done or planned. I need to talk to Phoebe about the one bit that needs doing, but more to check in than anything else."

    He sighs. "Talking about things is how I process them, and it's... maybe it's over, but the way my memory works, it will never fade. I have to... reframe things, usually, or else hide from them. And hiding's getting harder every day. So... he gave me forty lashes, and he took my arm. Gave me his statement, showed me the world he wants to create. And then... dumped me into a desert, finding just enough food and water to get by. So I would feel trapped and alone, the way he does."

    He shakes his head. "Like I said... I think the last section was a mistake, on his part. The desert he dropped me into, it was a reflection of the Sahara, not something entirely made by Michael. So my gods were able to contact me, in their ways." He smirks. "I think Ammit has a clue what I'm planning to do... I ran into a lion and a crocodile and a hippopotamus, in succession. Scared off the lion and the crocodile, but only a fool tries to fight a hippo. And then when I reached the Nile--or its Astral reflection, I suppose?--I spoke to Ma'at."

    He shifts a bit, reaches out to grab an almond cookie from the container he brought. "She told me that she's had her eye on me since I was a child. Evidently, regardless of this whole 'Champion' business, I would have become an avatar of Ma'at eventually. She is... ma'at is a concept, as well as a goddess. Truth, justice, balance, order. Law. You might think of her as the Egyptian equivalent of Lady Liberty, or Lady Justice. In fact, the depiction of Justice holding scales goes back to Ma'at. And... I am meant to... become her personification, in the material world."

    He glances over at Cael for a moment. "My wings are modeled after hers. Gold and teal and blue wings, and a red dress."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
While Jon is speaking, Sara picks up the container with the Italian pastries and offers them over to Cael, so she can see all the choices inside. Sara is /not/ eating any more of them, or cookies for that matter. By the time she gets out of this place, she's going to be like a hungry lion spotting an injured gazelle in regards to meat and vegetables.

"Okay, so at some point you'll be Ma'at's personification," she repeats slowly. "You know what that says to me? If that's your destiny, if that is what you are meant to become, then this death that's coming up... you'll come back from and we don't need to be worrying so much about that part of it."

She glances to Cael for a moment as she says that, before looking back to Jon. "I realize it's not as simple as that. I've heard something about specific people going to Duat to get you back, but clearly you've been given a sign that it will be a success, or Ma'at wouldn't have been so informative on what you are destined to be. Right?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I'm going to keep worrying about that part of it," Cael remarks in a dry voice, nibbling at the cookie she took out of the box. She sips from the coffee before adding, "To get into Duat, and find Jon, and remind him of who he is - or whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing - I need to //eat a bug//. A live bug. I fuckin' //hate// magic. Magic is just... the worst."
    Looking towards Jon she adds, "You're really, //really// sure we can't just use the key to get there?" Nope. It's not the first time she's made that suggestion.
    Then, curiously, she asks, "What was Sara like in Michaelverse? Or do we not know? Was she 'Sir Not Appearing In This Film?'"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "The key goes to the /Astral/ plane, Cael. You are going to the /Underworld/." Jon raises his brows at her. "Should I make a diagram? I could make a diagram." This is not the first time he's made that suggestion, either, clearly.

    "There's more to what's going on down there than me coming back. We're fixing something, and I'm still not certain how. I'll know when I get there." He sighs. "I have faith, but I'm not leaving everything to the gods. So... evidently, Cael eats a bug."

    He frowns and sits back, sipping his coffee. "She was... I didn't actually see her, but I didn't actually see you, either. She had kids, though, and lived with them and her boyfriends. She baked and cooked. You hated her casseroles. We all spent a lot of time together, I think. I brought up going to her place for dinner."

    He looks to Sara. "Michael showed me the world he wants to create. Peaceful, but still with challenges. Everyone knows God exists, and trusts everything will be okay without too many problems. Everyone I loved was alive." He frowns. "He made me a /philosophy professor/, though. Why on Earth does he think I'd /want/ to be a teacher?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara goes her best not to vomit, but for a single moment she looks disgusted... and no, not over Cael eating a bug. The idea that she did the kids and cooking thing just turned her stomach. That was /not/ who she was. It might work in another reality, but not this one.

"What kind of bug," she does ask, looking between them. "There's lots of cultures to eat bugs, it's not that big a deal. Put some chocolate on it, don't notice it wiggling and down it." She could be joking, she's probably serious. Bugs aren't a big deal to her.

"The imbalance that Michael is worried about it in Duat, I remember hearing that said. That's why you have to go there, so..." she sighs, again looking between them. "I have to ask. How are you supposed to die? When does that happen? And is there really nothing I can do to help with Duat?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I just really don't want to eat a bug," Cael mutters, in response to Jon's repeated offer to draw her a literal map. "I swear - if I didn't love you-" Then someone would be in some serious trouble.
    She alternates between sipping at her coffee, and eating her cookie - nudging back Bear at one point as he tries to get his own share of the amaretti. "It's going to be a live scarab beetle. I mean... hopefully a small one? You think I can put in a request to Lydia for it to be a small one? Maybe one that's just hatched..."
    Then she lets out a snort and adds, "Holy... shit. Kids and casseroles? //Sara//? Wow did Michael get things wrong. At least I was a race car driver and- part of a disaster response team. I mean, those things mostly make sense." One of them makes complete sense.
    After another nibble at her cookie she adds more quietly, "I assume he dies in battle..." And it's part of why she intends to stay near him in the coming fights.
    She just doesn't know if she'll have the courage to really //be there// with him when he dies. She hopes so, but she's already failed that test once.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon shakes his head and spreads his hands. Hand. "I don't know how or when. I presume it'll be soon, though. I won't say I'm looking forward to it... but I'm less terrified than I was." He doesn't mention that he's been having mood swings, of course; that there's been bouts of curling up in bed and staring at nothing, where Cael and Martin have shared worried glances and whispered about what to do for him. He's in a good mood at the moment, and he doesn't really want to ruin that.

    As if to underscore that, he smirks at Cael. "I know, right? This is the true fight--to keep poor Sara from ever having to make a casserole. The horrors Michael wishes to inflict on the world, I tell you."

    He hums thoughtfully. "The scarab has to die in your place, but I don't know if size is all /that/ important. Lydia's the one who has all that settled, including who's going. It's possible that you need to be here in order to defend Earth while they're gone."

    A pause, and then, to Cael, "...Are you /sure/ you don't need a diagram? I mean, here, look, I really think it might help--" He's going to start drawing in the air with magic if someone doesn't stop him, isn't he?

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara snorts again, actually shuddering before she pet Bear's head again. He was heavy on her legs, but she was okay with that. "No casseroles," she mutters. "Never, sick bastard..." Children and cooking, what the hell was Michael's sick and twisted mind thinking that for?!

In regards to Jon drawing in magic, Sara won't stop him. If he wants to draw a diagram for Cael, who probably needs it and won't admit it, then she won't be the one to stop him. She's not entirely certain what the diagram is for, but the idea of the bug dying instead of Cael, now that she could get behind.

"Defend earth from what?" she then asks, letting the whole 'casserole and kids' things go for now, and ever, she won't mention it again. "The angels are on a plane I can't get to without the key that Cael has, and... wait, how can she go get you if she has the key we need? Or what happens if she has to go after you and we need to get back into the astral plane? How is all that going to work? Or will that battle be over before..." yep, she's confused and full of questions again.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"You know, if I knew there was going to be a party, I should've gotten an invitation."

Comes the somewhat cheeky voice of Johnny Blaze. He's exchanged the uncomfortable blue gowns of the medbay to his normal black leathers. He rolls his shoulders a little bit as he walks into the room, his eyes immediately resting on Jon....and his lack of an arm. "Shit, he took your arm?" Johnny questions him with a light frown, and how thin Sims looks seems to alert Johnny some. A genuine smile crossing the tortured man's face, however "Well, you're alive at least. A little worse for wear and looking like shit, but kicking it looks like. How are you feeling?"

Johnny turns to Cael and Sara then, looking at the former. "Hey Cael." Because even if she probably still genuinely hates his guts, he can afford to be civil. His eyes then turn to Sara. "How are you feeling, Sara?" He questions her, though he had managed to catch that last bit of the conversation.

"Who are we preventing from attacking?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael sighs, and gestures with her free hand - having just finished off her cookie - for Jon to go ahead and draw his diagram. Leaning in towards Sara, she stage-whispers, "Sometimes you just have to let Jon get out his encyclopedic knowledge." Besides, she probably does need to know this.
    After claiming a cannoli, and nibbles at it, before explaining for Sara, "I'm pretty sure I can just... hand the key off to someone else. You could hold onto it for us - while we're away. Probably be the smart thing to do - unless you think we'll need it down there, Jon...?"
    As Johnny enters, she //barely// manages to restrain a groan. Forcing what she thinks passes for a polite smile onto her features she says a simple, "Hey Johnny," in return.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon pauses with his hand in the air, in the middle of drawing 'You Are Here' for Cael's edification, over New York City on a shimmering holographic map of the United States that he's conjured in front of him. It... doesn't look like he's trying to get out any 'encyclopedic knowledge.' It looks more like he's in the middle of an elaborate attempt to tease Cael. He clears his throat as Johnny enters and waves a hand, dispelling the illusion entirely.

    "I'm alive," he says, "at least for the moment. As well as can be expected." He reaches to grab another cannoli, himself. "How are you?"

    He looks to Sara and says, "The thing is... we have an advantage right now. The angels don't know where the last wellspring is on either plane. We do. So we can move to the Astral and start scouting, as soon as people are ready and able. And no, I don't think... okay, seriously, fine, here..."

    He starts drawing in the air again, orange light that coalesces into what he's trying to describe despite his limited artistic skills. A large tree, and a series of circles around it and on it that looks for all the world like one of the planar diagrams from a D&D book. He pokes at the tree. "This here is the World Tree, see? Yggdrasil." He points at a circle near its root. "This here is the material plane, Midgard, whatever you want to call it. The branches reach out to all sorts of places--Olympus, Asgard, Heliopolis. Different demenses, of different gods and other beings." He gestures at the roots. "The Garden is technically here, where Gaea lives."

    Then he gestures at the circle around the tree. "/This/ is the Astral Plane. It sort of... surrounds and encapsulates everything. It's the realm of imagination and mind, you go there when you dream, ghosts reside there too. Duat isn't technically in the Astral Plane. Duat is one of the demenses, I don't..." He frowns. "I'd probably describe it more as a river if I were including Duat, but that's not... look, my point is that the key isn't going to be much use in Duat, and people could get a jump start on scouting while I'm off... being dead."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
None of that really made any sense to Sara. Sure, the image was right there, drawn out, but it still didn't really explain what these other realms were, where they came from and why she was just learning about them now. The part about the key not working in Duat, now that she'd figured was the case which is why she asked about it in the first place.

"Okay, you seem to think that Lydia, Cael and the others aren't going to drop everything and come after you pretty much the moment you die," she finally states, then gestures toward Cael. "I know she will, which means the others will. So... that still leaves the question, does the key open the astral plane and leave it open or does it need to remain on this plane when they head to Duat?"

Picking up the container, Sara does her best not to really realize that Jon just used a pastry to draw maps with magic, and offers the container to Johnny. "I'm doing good, finally out of the fucking hospital gown and in my on PJs," she offers to Johnny, and once he's taken the container she uses her hand to pet Bear again, who is laying on her legs, in the bed with her.

"Doctor figures I can head home late Sunday, or Monday," she then adds before looking to Jon again.

"Most of what you just said I don't understand, but I do understand that the key won't work from Duat. I think we all figured that, and since I can't go with the others to Duat, it seems logical to leave the key with me when they go after you."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny blinks.

"Are you drawing with pastry?"

Though Johnny smirks a bit. "At least for the moment." He repeats, as if amused. "I'm doing fine, Jon. Tired, but fine." he informs him, his eyes moving to the large tree, the circles and spirals and branches that Sims proceeds to draw catching Johnny's attention. He's seen this before, or at least something like it. He might have seen it upside down...oh, wait, that was a different tree. But still, this tree looks familiar.

Yggdrasil.

The tree that connects everything. Though he looks at the roots where Sims gesture to, and Johnny nods softly. "Couldn't we get some telepaths to help us get to the Astral Plane?" Johnny questions, his arms crossing over his chest. Though he looks at Cael simply and gives her a nod. Sara's news seems to bring something of a soft smile to Johnny's face, though container offered to him, he accepts it and looks it over, as if wondering what it is. Johnny frowns. "Wonder if I should be on the Duat squad or play guard dog with the rest of the team staying behind." Johnny hums.

"Good to know." he tells Sara.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Okay. I officially nominate, 'while I'm off being dead' as the worst sentence ever and vote it be striken from reality," Cael says in a dry tone, while attempting to study Jon's drawing with puzzled incomprehension.
    "I will definitely drop everything to go after Jon - but it'll probably take Lydia a little time to prepare things. So... I'll have plenty of time to drop off a key. I wouldn't worry about it overly much."
    Towards Johnny she explains, "The key allows us to pass over into the Astral Plane with as many people as we'd like to bring - with out physical bodies. No psychics needed."
    But when the man invites himself to Duat a moment later - Cael's expression closes, and goes hard. "No," she says flatly and simply. "The team has been chosen - selected in a damned vision, from what I heard. Everyone has a role." And she's not tromping through the afterlife, looking for her boyfriend, with //Johnny// in tow. "You stay here."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon nods to Sara. "The key isn't for the Duat business anyway. I think Isis is opening a gate?" He shrugs, and waves the hand holding the cannoli, and the image disappears. "The key was part of the deal I made with Michael. After all, we can't have our grand showdown if we can't /get/ there, now can we?"

    A pause, as he takes a bite of the cannoli, chews, swallows. Then says, "/I'm/ a telepath, and I can't get to the Astral Plane all that easily. I summon things from it, the Archive is there, but..." He shrugs. "The key should work just fine. I think we're pretty much done with the 'planning' phase, and we're about to move into just... /doing/ things."

    He glances at Cael for a moment, and sighs. "The people going to Duat... the three Champions--myself, Caitlin Fairchild, Lady Death. Cael, to be my anchor. And two people who have ties to Egypt--Lydia Dietrich, an acolyte of Isis, and Phoebe Beacon, who carries the Light of Heka, of magic, a power older than my own. Your ties are not to that realm, or those people. These things... you don't just choose people to go based on who /wants/ to be there. You have to prove to the gods that you have a reason and purpose, or they'll get pissy about you being somewhere you shouldn't." He glances to Sara. "I could see Witchblade having a claim to going, but the vision was what it was."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara stiffens, eyes narrowing slightly as Cael turns on Johnny for no good reason. "Fuck Cael, that was uncalled for," she says rather sharply. "He's just offering to help, you don't have to be a bitch about it. We get it, you don't like him, it doesn't have to come up every fucking time he's around. I happen to love the man, could you at least factor that into your thinking before you go on the attack... fuck."

She shifts her eyes to Johnny now, almost apologetic but really Cael was Cael, and Sara was trapped in the middle and there was nothing she could do. She wouldn't apologize in words for Cael, because she understood why Cael disliked Johnny, but she also felt trapped between family and a man she loved very deeply.

"We have shit to do here any way Johnny. No idea when any of this is going to happen, and the fight on the astral plane may require us to be here," she finally says. "I wasn't in this vision either, even if Witchblade got seriously protective of Jon the minute Gaea chose him."

Now she looks back to Jon. "But I have a serious question for you. If you're dead and Phoebe is in Duat for gods knows how long, whose in charge of the JLD?"

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Yeesh. It was just a pondering." Johnny tells Cael a moment, though he looks about to speak when he looks at Sara. "It's okay, Sara."

Three words, as if it finishes it. He knows it won't, but not much one can do about it. "She has her reasons, and whether we like them or not, they are hers."

He looks back at Cael. "Huh, neat." about the Key.

His arms cross over his chest. "I'd be more useful anyway in this plane. Know it better, frankly. Anything that isn't Hell or earth is a little bit wonky for me, admittedly." he smirks.

"Gods are pretty picky, arn't they? But...well, good luck when you go. We'll try and join the others, keep the peace here - for however long that lasts." Which seems to find them all anyway.

Johnny looks at Sara. "That we do. I doubt I - or Zarathos - were in any visions. But, doesn't mean I can't do anything here. I have a couple ideas, some of them may work." Johnny leaves no comment on his plus one's affiliation or connection to Gaea in any way, nor any reason for them to get more involved than they already are.

Sara brings up the question of leadership, and Johnny looks at Sims since the question was directed at him anyway. Otherwise, he leans against the wall.

Cael Becker has posed:
    The tension that's crept into Cael's posture only grows more pronounced as Sara abruptly turns on her, Bear creeping towards Cael with a whine to nuzzle at her arms. Cael isn't there for long, though, as she rises from her position perched on the edge of the bed, and sets down what's left of her cannoli and coffee on the nearest table.
    "Well I'll leave you all to figure it out," she says in a cool voice, gesturing for Bear to follow her. The pup is immediately down off the bed and at Cael's heel as she moves to the door to retrieve the service vest she'd left there on the floor, her jaw tightly set, and her movements jerky with aggrevation.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon curls in on himself a little at the tension, frowning slightly. "I need to talk to Phoebe about that," he says to Sara, voice quiet. "We'll figure it out and make sure everyone knows before... things happen."

    He looks between Cael and Sara, frown deepening. Bites his lip, worries at it for a moment. Then he drains the rest of his coffee and quickly eats the rest of his cannoli.

    "I think... I think I should... it's been... ummm..." He rakes his hand through his hair, suddenly jittery. "Thank you for the food, Sara. I, ahh... I'm glad you're doing better. But I think I should... ahhh... I should go. Rest." He hunches his shoulders, and shakes his head.

    "Too much," he mutters. "Just... too much."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara puts her face in her hand, trying to conceal it, trying to keep herself from losing it right there in front of everyone.

"I'm sorry," she whispers softly, voice a little shaken. "It's... hard to be in the middle, but I'm sorry Cael, Jon, please forgive me... I didn't mean to drive you out."

She leaves it at that, keeping that hand over her face so the tears can't be seen. She'd leave if she could, to take a moment to collect herself, but she can't. She's been trapped in this room for a week, and was really glad to have company and naturally, once again, fucked up. Perhaps Cael was right, perhaps family was too much.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny watches Cael take off with a bit of a frown touching his lips, but he doesn't try to stop her. With Jon starting to curl in on himself, he nods to him. "Don't worry about big decisions right now, Jon. Your job is to take it easy and let us carry some of the weight for you, alright? Chat with Phoebe when you can, get the shit sorted out with -help-. Bedrest, Not-Doctor's orders." Johnny tells him.

He's jittery, he's shaking, and Johnny approaches him to put a hand on his shoulder if the touch is permitted. "We got this for a minute. Get some sleep. You've been through a great deal, and that's putting it lightly. We're here if you need us." Hand removed, Johnny approaches Sara's bedside and lets a hand rest on her shoulder if she permits that contact also. "It's okay, Sara." He tells her, squeezing her shoulder.

Cael Becker has posed:
    The moment Cael hears that jittery quality to Jon's voice, she regrets here and Sara's outburst, and turns back to the man, concern on her features. "Jon... hey, I'm here," she offers immediately, moving back to his side, and trying to gently insert himself under his arm, one hand going to his back, the other wrapping around his middle to rest on his hip on the opposide side. "Sorry, love, I didn't mean to pop off like that. What do you need? You want me to come with you?" she offers immediately, studying his features for his reaction, before looking to Sara, with Johnny at her side. What a bunch of emotionally incompetant morons they were.
    Bear follows Cael to Jon's side, leaning up against the both of them - whining quietly as he seek attention.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon flinches away from Johnny's touch, his hand coming up as if to defend himself. "Don't--!" It takes a visible effort for him to pull himself back from whatever reaction he was having. He closes his eyes, takes slow, deep breaths.

    Cael's presence seems to help. That touch he does not flinch away from; he leans into it, breathing evening out, slowly. Even Bear helps, with the quiet support.

    "Sorry, Sara," he says, opening his eyes slowly. He laughs, shakily. "I've /been/ on bedrest. I've /been/ sleeping. I actually need to be up and moving about. And I did. I was. But I think, umm... that's enough, probably. For now. For today. It's... hard. People are... people are hard." He frowns, and shakes his head. "Too much..." He waves his hand in the air in front of him, at something no one else can see.

    "I think," he says after a moment, "I am going to go home and cross some animals. The game, I mean. It's quite relaxing, actually, even if I am very dubious about the merits of tanuki running an island. But I'll see you both later."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara turns her head toward Johnny's hand on her shoulder, away from the others and just nods, keeping her face in her hand as she offers a quiet, "Enjoy your game, Jon."

There wasn't really anything left to say, but the very minute Jon and Cael are outside of the room, we're talking mere seconds from the door closing, Sara is getting out of bed. "I'm getting out of there... now."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
At Jon's defensiveness towards the contact, JOhnny reels his hand away, failing to touch the man at all. Understanding the reaction, he was not quite...-there- yet with Jon, it would appear, coupled with his nasty experiences of late. "My bad." Johnny tells Sims with some guilt in his eyes. "Resting is how the body heals. Go rest, then move around some more and get used to getting active again. But yeah, people really are. Take care."

Johnny looks at Jonathon in apology, before he glances over at Cael, and then he looks at Sara.

Johnny looks at Sara. "You sure?" He questions her. He doesn't stop her from trying to get out of bed, but his arms are crossed. "If you're not ready, you're getting back in bed. If you are, then I won't stop you."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "We'll head back," Cael confirms quietly for Jon, starting towards the door with him, Bear's service vest still held in the hand that's against Jon's hip. She pauses briefly before she leaves, looking back to the bed. "Sara, I- we'll talk later, yeah?" she suggests.
    Johnny gets a curt nod - and then the pair are out the door, and moving down the hall towards the lift - with Bear talking at their heels.