[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

Hearing Nigel profess his love for her and his desire to see her live a normal, human life, Arlia nearly broke down into tears again, but told herself to stay strong and returned his affection by lovingly kissing him on his forehead. "I wish nothing more than to belong to you and you alone, my love. It will be a tough battle trying to get rid of this twisted addiction, but so as long as you're by my side, I know I can pull through," she whispered back. "Besides, I wanted to be a sister Eryn could be proud of. She's the other reason I wish to fight these chains that are holding me down still."

[Daxam]

Nigel smiles and whispers, "Then I shall try even harder to break those chains, for you and your sister." Touching his forehead to hers, he gazes deeply into her green eyes, seeing every ounce of love he had for her reflected in them, although they were really her feelings for him. Sighing, he gently pecks her lips and quietly asks, "What do you want to do, now, my love?"

[Vocalia]

The first thing that came into Arlia's mind was, of course, what she was trying not to do, so she quickly shook her head to force the perverted thought out of her mind. Instead, she tried to think of other safe activities that she and Nigel could engage in. "Hmm... Does Sean have some sort of board games or card decks? I do fancy a short chess session or maybe a few rounds of blackjack. Nigel dear, perhaps you have some ideas of your own?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

[Daxam]

Not knowing what Arlia had thought of first, Nigel thinks for a moment and says, "I think he might have a chess set somewhere in here." Climbing out of bed, he looks around for a few moments before finding the board and a couple of boxes, one for the white pieces, one for black. "I'll be black," he says as he sits on the bed and begins setting up his side of the board.

[Vocalia]

"Then I'll be the white one," Arlia replied as she sat up and set her pieces on the table, looking very intrigued about Nigel's playstyle. Arlia's playstyle was something of a cautious one, but she would take a risky strike when she saw an open gap in Nigel's defenses. Contrary to belief, she wasn't reliant on her Queen, but rather spread attacking positions between her "Generals' while taking her opponent's focus from her pawns.

[Daxam]

Nigel watches Arlia set up her board and allows her to take her first move. After careful deliberation, he opts to take a defensive approach, then switch to offense as the game progresses by first making sure his king was well protected, using his rooks as his main method of attack, as well as his knights. "How long have you been playing?" he asks after a few silent turns.

[Vocalia]

"Not for too long," Arlia replied, admiring Nigel's strategy while still not wanting to lose to him at the same time. "I've only started playing a year or two ago. Truth to be told, I'm still not very good at it. I'm still learning even to this day," she said with a chuckle as she began moving against his pawns with hers and the Bishops backing the troops up. "I can tell that you must have played this for quite a while."

[Daxam]

"I used to play almost daily with...with Sarah," Nigel says, his voice catching slightly as he says his deceased sister's name. Clearing his throat, he moves his knights into play, putting them on the front line, a space ahead and in between two pawns, protecting it from any attempts at attacking them. "We started playing since we were ten. I was nothing compared to her. She entered tournaments and always got first place. The way she played was an art in and of itself. She probably could beat even Sean without breaking a sweat."

[Vocalia]

Noticing the placements of each knight, along with the black King's fortified defenses, Arlia moved her Rooks into the front line, positioning them in such a way that any attempts to defeat them would result in the attacking piece falling to the pawns. "I somehow found that very easy to believe. Even so, I suppose my skill is still below you both," she replied with a light-hearted tone, wanting to bring Nigel out of his state of grief and despair. "Still, whether I win or lose, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I get to see you play. To me, studying your tactics is an enjoyment in itself."

[Daxam]

"And that's one of the billion things I love about you, dear," Nigel says, smiling as he moves a pawn forward with another one behind and beside it, trying to provoke an attack, "you're always eager to learn." After a few moments of silence, he says, "You know what would be fun? We should play for something. Nothing serious, maybe who gets to pick our next date or something like that. What do you think?"

[Vocalia]

"Hmmm... I actually like that idea!" Arlia replied as she cautiously moved her Bishops to the front line for a pincer attack. "What should we bet on? How about... loser goes out and hug the person you consider to be a mortal enemy? If I lose, I would go out there and hug Hayley, no questions asked. I figured that we could use some time to get to know them more, seeing that we all want the same faction six feet under, so I thought this would be a good way to break the ice."

[Daxam]

Nigel chuckles and says, "Sure, love, although I'm not entirely sure who could be my mortal enemy. I guess I'll just hug Isaac as a way of hugging Vincent." Seeing Arlia place her bishop on the front line, he looks at the board for a few minutes until he finally makes his move, Bringing a rook behind the frontline, where it bolsters the defense set up around the king.

[Vocalia]

"Oh dear... Given how he responded the last time you implied about Isaac and Sean,I would advice that you be careful around that loose cannon," Arlia replied, moving one knight into attacking position to try and break Nigel's defense. "Still, I can just imagine how surprised he and Hayley would be regardless of who wins this match," she said with a bemused chuckle, seemingly taking her wager in good stride.

[Daxam]

Nigel chuckles and, as he moves one of his own knights backward, taking out Arlia's advancing knight, says, "Yes, and I'd probably end up with a knife in my chest should I try to do that." After almost an hour and a half of playing, Nigel finally manages to checkmate Arlia, having gone on the offensive halfway through. "That was one of the best games I've played," he says genuinely, smiling at Arlia.

[Vocalia]

Gently clapping her hands, Arlia conceded defeat to Nigel and replied, "Glad to know that you've enjoyed yourself. I still have much to learn, but this is a good start." She didn't seem to be disappointed in her defeat, the smile on Nigel's face making it all worth it. "Now then... Would you like to come and watch as I try to thread my life on that unrefined devil's hands?"

[Daxam]

Nigel chuckles and stands up. After helping Arlia to her feet, he suddenly pulls her into a deep, loving kiss. Breaking away almost a minute later, he whispers, "That was to show you that I do still, in fact, love you." Chuckling, he leads Arlia out of the room, then follows her to the living room.

[Vocalia]

Smiling softly, Arlia braced herself as she entered the living room where Hayley and Isaac were busy watching movies together. "Do forgive me for disturbing you two poor lovebirds," Arlia said as she approached the sofa where they were sitting at. "Summerland, can you come here for a moment?" she asked, to which the blonde frowned suspiciously. "Okay, what is this about?" she asked. "Nothing painful or life-threatening, we can assure you," the auburn-haired lady replied. Hayley looked at Isaac, wondering what his judgement of the bizarre situation was.

[Daxam]

Isaac looks up at Arlia, then Nigel. Seeing no trace of ill intent in either of their eyes, he looks back at Hayley and says, "I don't know what they're up to, but Arlia's telling the truth: they don't wanna hurt you." This oughta be good, Vincent says, the anticipatory glee evident in his voice.

[Vocalia]

Seeing that Isaac seemed to trust them, Hayley moved the bowl of chips onto the coffee table and stood up. "Alright, if I see any of you pulling some funny shit, I'm gonna rain hell on you two," she said and went up to Arlia, wondering what she had in store. "Perfect~! Now then, I understand that we both have to fight alongside one another from now on, so I figured that we could, perhaps, take the first step in winning your trust," Arlia said, sounding harmless and calm. "Huh? I know that, but what's that have to d-" Before Hayley could finish her sentence, her own breath was caught in her lungs when Arlia suddenly wrapped her arms around her, freezing her on the spot.

[Daxam]

Just as Arlia, surprising Isaac as much as she did Hayley, pulled the blond woman into a hug, Sean and Eryn stepped out of the elevator. Sean, seeing Arlia hugging a shocked Hayley, lets out a strangled laugh as he attempts to conceal the sound, not wanting to interrupt what was going on. "Uh, Arlia?" Isaac says, turning back to the brunette. "Why are you hugging my girlfriend?"