Ava filled the perculator and sat opposite him. "What are you actually doing here?"
"I told you. I thought you were supposed to be in today."
Ava tilted her head at him and stood to fetch the coffee, putting milk in hers.
He shrugged. "Considering last night I just... I don't know."
"Well I'm OK, just feeling a bit bedraggled."
James' head jerked in a short nod. "So, everything went alright last night, then?"
"Yeah, D wouldn't really let anyone hurt me."
James nodded again and picked up the cup of coffee that had been put down in front of him.
"She's an actual immortal so I'm happy to let her act as a human shield. Well, kinda human."
"Are angels not immortal then?" James asked without meaning to.
Ava shook her head. "Neither are demons, it's just hard to kill us. It's why I'm blade trained and trained in hand to hand. I can do guns but I hate them."
"So, you really were dying? Before I mean... after you'd come back...?"
Ava nodded again.
"Shit," James breathed out.
"Not the first time, not the last."
"They were scared you were going to. That you wanted to," James said quietly. "Your friends, I mean."
"I did," Ava muttered. "I do."
James' eyebrows rose. "Do?"
"I'm very old, and I should have been gone a long time ago. Sometimes it weighs."
"I... guess I forgot about the age thing. I can't imagine.." He absently spun the empty cup. "You seem to have a lot of people who care about you though. Who want you around."
"My actual remains are real, I have a grave."
"Oh. Right." James stared at the cup, not sure what to say or how to react to that. Or if he was expected to.
"I went there once, it was weird"
"Again, I can't imagine."
"Felt like a war grave"
James frowned. "I'm not sure what that means."
"I got taken, to fight and die."
James opened his mouth to speak, closed it again and lowered his gaze. The cup chinked as he spun it once more. "I should probably go."
"If you want to, but you can stay as long as you want," Ava replied
"I'm sure you don't want me to."
"And if I did? If I asked you to stay? If I admitted to sleep properly I needed someone with me and the best friends weren't doing it?"
James blinked at her. "Why?"
"Because they aren't human either."
James frowned. "You need a... human?" he asked, confused.
"Life, real life," Ava replied
"I'm still not... What for?"
"You see me right? The skin, the breath? I even smell like a human, it's no more real than the other identities," Ava murmured
"I still don't understand."
"I don't feel like I even exist."
"Of course you exist."
"Do I?" Ava murmured
"You're standing right there. Talking. Drinking a cuppa..." He shrugged. "Either that or I've finally snapped."
"When's my birthday? Because even I can't remember."
"How would I know?" James rubbed the back of his neck. "Besides, birthdays are overrated."
"When's yours?"
"Why? It hardly matters."
"Because I want to know"
"Fine. 8th September."
"I missed it, you should have said."
"Why?"
"Because it's what friends do"
James shrugged. "It's just another day."
Ava chuckled. "For my hundredth birthday I got that," she pointed to the baby grand.
"You bought a piano for your birthday?"
"No, a friend bought it for me"
"Oh. Right."
"No one ever bought you a present?"
He shrugged. "I can buy my own things."
"So can I, presents are still nice," Ava pointed out
"If you say so," James muttered before taking another swig of coffee.
Ava smiled. "I do, they can help focus good thoughts sometimes."
James arched a sceptical eyebrow at that.
"Well, when it's the right thing, you know someone's thought of you, remembers who you really are,"
James blinked slowly. "Right." He gulped his coffee.
"You've never ever felt that? About something or someone?"
James lowered his gaze, setting the mug on the table. "Does it matter?"