[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Daxam]

The cloud of darkness around Sean begins shifting, as well, slowly taking on the form of a winged, demonic-looking creature, sitting on it's haunches. As if it had senses of it's own, the dark being leans closer and sniffs the snake-shaped sludge like a curious dog before it suddenly vanishes as Sean closes his eyes. After a few brief moments of him seeming to fight something back, he opens his eyes, revealing his normal shade of blue, and stands up. "Get these off of me, Isaac," he quietly says. After Isaac frees his hands, Sean sighs and turns on his heel, walking away as he says, "That's enough for today. We'll go again in a couple of days..."

[Vocalia]

The moment Sean returned to his senses, Alexis was abruptly broken away from her trance-like state and watched as Sean abruptly ended their session left, telling them that he would schedule another trial in a couple of days. Lex, what's wrong with you just now? Hayley asked, sounding less annoyed about her not responding to her and more worried about her being in such trance-like state. "My most profound apology," Alexis replied, both to her and to her training partners who had seen what had happened to her and Sean. Although Hayley was worried about what just happened, she was relieved to know that nothing bad had come about from the strange incident, recalling how the sludge snake seemed to similarly try to identify the strange, demonic creature just as the latter was sniffing it and seemed to be non-hostile around it.

[Daxam]

Isaac watches Sean walk away, seeming to be deep in thought. Just as he wondered if he should go after him, he hears Alexis speak and turns to her. Smiling, he says, "It's nothing to apologize over. At least you guys didn't keep trying to kill each other." That would've been fun to see... Vincent mutters. So, you'd be fine with losing Alexis as long as it meant you'd get a good show? Isaac challenges. After a few moments of thought, Vincent amends, No, I wouldn't. I'd only be happy if she won. If Sean killed her, I'd kill him a dozen times over. Isaac chuckles quietly, then turns to Alexis/Hayley, asking both of them. "So, what now?"

[Vocalia]

During the time of Isaac's discussion with Vincent, Alexis handed back control of the body to Hayley, allowing her to assume control. "Me?" she hummed, then quietly thought for a while before replying, "I'm going to rest for a bit, just giving myself and Alexis a short break, then it's off to training." She looked at Isaac, then gritted her teeth in shame and anger. "I feel so fucking helpless... Sean knows everything I could do and more. Had it not been for Lex, he would've tossed me back and forth around the room. Can't say it's left unscathed, but it could've been worse." She looked at the debris, the torn wires, and the glass shards lying on the floor, Alexis having swept these dangerous objects aside to a safe corner.

[Daxam]

Isaac hears Hayley voice how helpless she felt and, without saying anything right away, walks over and wraps his arms around her. "Don't beat yourself up over that," he quietly says. "Sean's been using his powers much longer than you, so he has more experience. Plus, he seems smarter than the four of us combined, so it's no surprise he trounced us so easily." Leaning back, he smiles as he looks into his girlfriends' eyes and says, "We just gotta get better, that's all. I promise, in no time at all, we can both take him with both arms tied behind our backs."

[Vocalia]

"Fuck yeah! I'm not going to let him keep on prancing all over us," Hayley replied and gave Isaac a pat on his shoulder. "I guess that makes sense, seeing that I've barely known my power, and Alexis for that matter, for less than a year while Sean probably has his since childbirth. Besides, all things considered, we didn't die, so I guess that's a good thing. We'll all train hard and kick his ass so hard someday that he'd have to graft that smug face of his onto his skin." Looking out the window, she smiled as the sun finally came into view. "How about a nice breakfast to celebrate us not losing any of our limbs to Sean? I could use some pancakes and you know how bad I am at making them," she said, looking at Isaac with a sheepish grin on her face.

[Daxam]

Isaac smiles, glad to see the Hayley he knew and loved replace her self-doubt, and says, "Sounds good. I wonder what fruit Sean has around? There's a recipe that I discovered a while back that I've been wanting to try." Are you talking about that confetti shit? Vincent asks. Yeah, Isaac replies. All I need are some blueberries, strawberries, and whatever other fruit I can get my hands on. Vincent makes a gagging sound and says, Glad I'm not eating that! Where's the meat?! Isaac sighs and replies, Vincent, you can't put meat in a pancake. No matter what cut you use, it'll be too dense and you'll end up with either a burnt pancake or raw meat in the pancake. Vincent scoffs and asks, So? Your point is?

A few days later, in a different part of town, Nigel stands in the middle of the park, clad in a black coat and jeans, along with a hat to hide his silver hair. It took some doing, but he finally managed to get away from Crey to meet up with someone whom he recently realized he had developed some sort of feelings for. Now, sitting on the park bench as the sun dips below the skyline, he begins to wonder if she was going to come, even though he had only been waiting a couple of minutes, or if he had somehow missed her.

[Vocalia]

Approaching the location of the man in black in the park was a woman, dressed in a simple white, backless halter top with red knitted waistband, along with matching accessories and a pair of white wedge-heeled sandals. The woman had long, blonde hair tied in a low ponytail and something about the hair seemed odd if one were to look very, very closely as if it was covering something underneath, but to the eyes of an average joe, nothing seemed to be amiss about it. Her green eyes scanned around for someone in particular, but when she was unable to visually identify this person, she searched with a different method and somehow managed to home in on the man in black. "Buonasera," she said to him, her voice kept low and unassuming, but loud enough for him to hear her.

[Daxam]

Hearing that beautiful, musical voice, Nigel felt his heart soar as a wide grin suddenly threatens to break out on his face. "Good evening," he says, barely able to contain himself as he begins scanning the area for any signs of Crey or the Medicis'. Seeing none, he stands up and smiles at the woman. Looking up at the sky, he lets himself smile and say, "It's a beautiful night for a walk, I must say." He then fixes his blue eyes on the woman's green and quietly says, "But not as beautiful as the woman standing before me."

[Vocalia]

Giggling softly at Nigel's compliment, Arlia replied with a curtsy, "Why thank you. I'm truly flattered, but surely this illustrious night is nowhere as captivating as you are, good sir." Over the last few days, Arlia began to experience strange symptoms whenever she thought of him, such as increased heartbeat rate, the slight rise in temperature of her face, and her wandering thoughts about the silver-haired man whose personality, charm, and charisma infatuated her. After reconciling with the fact that she had began to think of him more than just a professional partner, she had decided to hide this from the rest of the family out of fear that they would take this glimmer of joy and hope away from her. "Well then. We have a lovely night to ourselves tonight. Shall we?" Arlia offered one hand to him, on her face a sweet, if not somewhat shy, smile unaltered by any pretense.

[Daxam]

Nigel smiles, feeling his own heart begin to beat faster at the sight of Arlia's beautiful smile. "We shall," he says, hooking one arm and allowing Arlia's arm to wrap around it. Then, slowly, he begins walking in no specific direction, figuring that all that mattered was that he was spending time with the beautiful woman on his arm. For the first few minutes, he walks in silence, more than happy to have physical contact with her. However, he eventually asks, "How have you been these last few days?"

[Vocalia]

While Arlia desired nothing more than to be open and honest to Nigel, she felt a sense of fear that he would abandon her if she told him anything he would consider unusual or, worse, ludicrous. For the time being, she put on a calm, brave face and replied, "It has been... quite eventful, I suppose. For one, my father came for a visit not too long ago. He just came to see how the family was doing and he seemed to be quite pleased with what everyone is doing."

[Daxam]

Nigel quietly listens to Arlia, having a feeling that she wasn't telling him the whole story, especially after having received a report from one of his spies shortly after the Medici head visited. Even though he wasn't able to get all of the details, his spy had told him that the boss, Arlia's father, had taken the young woman into a separate room, from which they didn't reappear for some time. However, he doesn't say anything to contradict her story, not wanting to lose her by revealing that he had spies infiltrate her family. Instead, he only says, "I'm glad to hear that your father seems to like how things are being run."

[Vocalia]

"He's quite a finicky man, if I do say so myself, although he isn't very particular about what we do as long as we can maintain the power and influence we have. Still, he can be quite strict and ruthless when he has a goal he wants to achieve and will do anything in his power to achieve it. You can say that he's used to having whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and by any means necessary" Arlia replied, keeping her voice slightly hushed in case anyone from Crey or Medicis were listening to them. "Still, aside from that, there is nothing interesting I could share with you, unfortunately. The life of a mafioso can be a tad dull at times." Chuckling softly, she turned to Nigel and asked, "What about you? Has anything of note occurred to you over the past few days?"

[Daxam]

Nigel smiles and says, "No, not really. My employers have been working to put together an elite task force to take on Sean Anderson and the other two. We need to assemble an entire army just for that one man, which isn't surprising. The last time I saw him in combat was five years ago and he practically leveled a mountain by himself. Just thinking about how much stronger he is now actually sends chills down my spine..." Shaking his head, he smiles at Arlia and says, "But that's enough about work. Tonight, you're a regular woman and I'm a regular man out on a date." Suddenly, his face flares up and he sheepishly rubs the back of his head, muttering, "That is, if you want to think about it, that way..."

[Vocalia]

Arlia similarly blushed and twiddled her blonde hair, which was actually a wig covering her auburn hair, and replied, "I-I wouldn't mind, Nigel... We certainly aren't meeting to discuss our work..." She didn't say it out loud, but she was hoping that he wouldn't mind if she thought of their secret meeting in such a way, but it seemed that Nigel had taken her words right out of her mouth. Gently holding onto his hoked arm with her other hand, she smiled and said, "Ah, it's nice to be able to step out without having anyone tailing me or looking after me. I suppose one would think that I like being spoiled, but I'd rather do things on my own pace."

[Daxam]

Nigel smiles and says, "That's what I thought when I first saw you. For someone who seems used to privilege, you seem very...down to earth, for lack of a better term." Gently resting his hand on Arlia's on top of his arm, he adds, "But I know how you feel. Even though I'm not entitled to any special treatment from Crey, I can still appreciate a few moments of privacy. You wouldn't believe how many cameras they have at headquarters." Chuckling, he falls silent for a few moments before asking, "What do you want to do with your life, Arlia? Do you have to take over the Family?"

[Vocalia]

"To be quite honest, I can't say that I know what I would like to do," Arlia replied with a somewhat forlorn sigh, walking closer to Nigel as if they were truly a couple. Even just being near him made Arlia's heart flutter inside her chest with indescribable joy and she wanted that feeling to remain for as long as it could. Of course, not knowing how he felt about her, she tried to keep her own feelings for him under wraps. "I certainly have no interest in taking over the Family and I doubt I ever would. My father doesn't deem me to be a suitable heir to the family, saying that I'm too kind-hearted to succeed his station."

[Daxam]

Nigel quietly listens, unable to help noticing that Arlia had drawn closer to him. Acting on impulse, he wraps his arm around her shoulders as she explains that her father doesn't think she's right to inherit the Family, a fact which somehow relieves him. "I can see why he'd say that," he says after a few moments. "Personally, I tend to agree with him, if only for the simple fact that I wouldn't want to see you in that much danger. I know how there's almost always someone ready to stab you in the back in that kind of position..." Eventually, they come across another bench and Nigel sits down, bringing Arlia down next to him, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders. After a few moments of silence, he says, "If I could somehow find a way out of Crey, I'd love nothing more than to just settle down in the country somewhere, where I can start a family and still keep an eye on my sister, if need be. Somewhere I could just live the rest of my days in peace and quiet."

[Vocalia]

"I can hardly blame you for desiring a peaceful life. Our line of work seems to entail a life of suffering and infliction of pain, emotionally and physically. Your sister is fortunate, indeed, to have someone like you who looks after her well-being," Arlia replied and gently brushed a few strands of his silver hair away from his face. "The blood of the Medici flows in me and there is no escaping that, but if I have the chance of breaking away from this life of mine, I would very much like to travel abroad and see the world with my own eyes without having to shed blood or induce despair to everyone around me. I've always want to go to Italy and explore the roots of my bloodline, not to mention the wonderful collection of arts and food..." she said with a light-hearted giggle.