Grudges were important. They were what helped Kady survive in her world. She would know who to avoid, who to semi-trust, and who might have her back. Except for when they didn’t. Or half-didn’t. It was hard to say with Julia. She had saved her life and then dropped her like a bad habit soon after. Something that seemed to be a cycle for the two of them. That wasn’t exactly fair though, Kady knew that.
And Julia had reached out here. Repeatedly.
And saved her ass again. Offered to help her out as well with her magic that was still being wonky as hell.
Kady knew she couldn’t avoid her friend forever. She didn’t even want to, but stubbornness was a hard thing to push back on, especially when it was her own. But she’d managed to make it to the cottage and rapped twice on the front door, hoping Fen wouldn’t be the one to answer. She could handle Margo, but Fen’s cheeriness was a little too grating at the moment.
Hopefully Julia would be the one to answer the door.
The cottage's arrival had done more than anything to lift Julia's mood. The familiarity of the space, especially the workspace where she'd spent hours with Quentin trying to work out how to get magic back had given her a boost. She had all sorts of books and papers spread out, along with a laptop. Vallo magic, a proposed lesson plan for the University, and yes, research that might help Kady, even if her friend never asked for it.
Presently she was working on the lesson plan, because simply teaching a single class with Marina wasn't going to pay enough, and she didn't want to necessarily double down on jobs like so many people seemed to. It was weird, working on something to teach magic when she'd never had real formal training, but theory had guided her well enough.
Especially with this new form of goddess magic that she hadn't asked for but seemed stuck with, and now with no further guidance coming. She was thinking about that when she heard the knock on the door, getting up to answer it. She hoped it wasn't Maze again, who seemed to just show up at random and drink the alcohol before either meeting up with Margo or not.
Instead, she found Kady which clearly caught her by surprise. "Kady," she said in what was almost a question, before opening the door wider to let her friend enter. "Are you here for Margo? I think she's teaching right now."
Kady shrugged, looking around the cottage. She’d been in it only a week or so ago to collect the belongings she’d had in one of the rooms. It helped fill up the space she’d been making into her own at the Sanctum. “I’m not here for Margo.”
The idea of willingly coming to look for Margo almost seemed laughable. Sure, she’d helped save the other girl’s life and maybe they were friends in some capacity, but she didn’t think they were at that level of friendship. Maybe they were though. Time was weird in Vallo, she knew that. People could come from further along or further ahead of her. Or from some completely different version of their reality. Just added to the fucked upedness.
“This is me reaching out.” Kady nodded toward where the kitchen was. “Got anything to eat?”
Julia was unable to hold back the small smile that formed in response, and she nodded, letting the door swing close behind Kady. "We have all sorts of leftovers, including pizza. Or we could make something, or try to order something. DoorDash finds this place about half of the time," she offered, leading the way to the kitchen. "C'mon."
When they got to the kitchen, Julia gestured to the fridge, letting Kady decide on food or not. "How've you been?" she asked.
DoorDash meant sticking around for a determined amount of time so that was definitely out. Kady wanted to be able to make a swift exit if needed, even if she hoped that wasn’t the case. She headed to the fridge and rummaged around in it, looking the leftovers over. “Keeping busy, working with Strange on my magic, practicing it.”
Pizza it was. “You?” she asked as she turned around with the box in hand.
"About the same. Getting ready to teach, which is weird," Julia answered. "Given that I never actually had any formal magic education, but I guess I've learned enough along the way." There hadn't really been an instruction book on her new magic, but she was managing on instinct.
"How's the practice going?"
Kady remembered where some of the things were located in the kitchen and took out one of the pans, putting some slices onto it before popping it into the oven to reheat. Microwaving it just ruined the quality and she wasn’t in the mood for cold. “Everyone’s magic is different here. Formal training would probably be a hindrance anyway.”
She shrugged as she leaned against the counter to wait for the pizza. “It’s going. Practice a few times a week with him and on my own. It’s getting better. Just annoying.” But at least she had it.
"Offer still stands if you ever want to practice with me," Julia offered. As Kady said, everyone's magic was different here. Practicing with someone who used the same kind might help, or it might make no difference.
"I tried to give mine up, back home," she said, figuring Kady didn't know about that, and they probably needed to clear the air on a few things. "Transferred it to Alice, but apparently it didn't fit her."
Kady didn’t say anything about the offer, popping her heated pieces onto the plate she’d found and turning off the oven. “Why did you try to give it up?” It made sense that Alice would be the one after it. That girl did not know how to cope at all without magic.
"Because it came from Reynard," Julia said. "Our Lady Underground took it from him, and gave me a spark when she gave me my shade back." She knew Kady hadn't agreed with her decision to spare the trickster god's life, so she wasn't sure how she was going to take this. It was fair, though. She still second guessed herself at times. "It's mine now, though… Been learning how to use it."
Getting anything from that monster seemed terrible. Kady still thought not killing him had been bullshit, but the fact that Our Lady Underground had taken his spark and put it into Julia without her consent was worse. What the fuck was up with the gods being giant dicks who didn’t understand that concept?
“No way to get rid of it? Or do you not want to anymore?”
"She wouldn't take it away, Alice couldn't handle it." Julia shrugged. "It's helped out, and it's only grown stronger the more I use it for good, so at least I can make it my own. And if we were still at home, I'd probably sacrifice it all soon enough anyway, so might as well not lose my magic here, if I can avoid it."
She wasn't about to spoil Kady for the shit that was going to happen back home, but that one bit of information seemed relevant.
"This isn't an excuse, by the way. I still should have checked in with you. Been there."
It still sounded like bullshit to Kady. Helpful or not, getting lassoed with that kind of thing--a constant reminder of the jackass who’d hurt Julia--wasn’t good. No matter how useful it could be. She also wasn’t surprised to hear that Julia would probably end up sacrificing it all because of course she would, the damn martyr.
“Yeah, you should’ve.” Kady took a bite of her pizza. “Can’t change the past though and you’ve checked in here. So that’s an improvement.”
"Yeah, well the number of times where you've been the first person I wanted to talk to drove that point home," Julia said softly. "You're right, I can't change the past. But that doesn't change the fact that you're the most important person to me here. At home as well, along with Q. I'm not going to fuck that up again."
Julia also knew Kady well enough to know that actions were going to speak louder than words, so she added, "I'll prove it to you."
“We’ll see if you do. I hope you do.” But Kady knew it was a long road ahead for the two of them. Seeing if Julia actually stuck to her word this time wasn’t something that would happen overnight.
She took another bite of her pizza before asking, “So what are you teaching?”
Julia found a glass and then filled it with water, taking a drink as Kady ate. "Collaborative magic, with Marina. And then hopefully magical theory."
With Marina.
Two words shouldn’t have left such a bad taste in Kady’s mouth but they did. On some level she knew the Marina here wasn’t the one who had ruined her life, but it still didn’t sit well with her. “Fun.”
Julia couldn't read minds, even as a goddess, but she didn't need to. She knew Kady's history with the Marina they had known in their timeline. Even her own history with her had been a mess, but in the end Marina had come through for her only for Julia to fail her. She could say she wasn't the same Marina, and she wasn't. But she was still Marina.
So if they needed to have that conversation, Kady could initiate it or it could wait. Maybe the two of them could sort things out on their own. Right. That wasn't going to happen.
"So yeah, having a job will be good. Since we're here indefinitely. I mean, this is weird, right?"
“The indefiniteness of it all seems to be wonky. Could be here forever or gone in a day.” Which was what had pushed Kady to stop being stubborn. She didn’t like having regrets. There were enough of those in her life and Julia disappearing without the two of them at least trying to be something like friends again would have eaten away at her. Annoying.
“But yeah. It’s pretty weird.”
Kady seemed to be done with the pizza, or at least, for now, so Julia considered her for a moment. "I have something for you," she said. "Stay here? I'll be right back." She disappeared briefly and came back with some of the notes she'd taken while researching magic in Vallo that she thought might help Kady out.
"I know you didn't ask for this, but just in case you're interested, here's some of what I found about strengthening magic here." She shrugged. She still thought Kady's best bet was to work with someone who used the same magic, and so had offered again, but she also knew her well enough to not push the issue. It didn't matter if she used a different path if the result was being able to count on her magic.
And Julia also knew herself to be way more into the theoretical side of things.
Kady stared at the notes, considered taking them for a moment before pushing them back toward Julia. “Thanks for looking but I’m going to do this my own way.” She pushed up from the chair she’d been sitting at and placed her plate in the sink.
“I should get going anyway.”
That stubbornness wasn't a surprise, and was why Julia had hesitated to begin with but had ultimately decided to leave the choice to Kady. "Yeah, okay," she said, with just the slightest hint of amusement in her voice. "I definitely wouldn't want to get in your way once you've set your mind to something." Because as stubborn as Kady could be, it also meant she'd get her magic working properly, one way or the other.
"It was good to see you."
“You too.” Kady nodded toward her. It had been a little step forward, but it was still a step. “I’ll see you around, Jules.”