[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

Satisfied with Hayley's response though not expecting a laughing Sean and a giggling Eryn to come at the right cue, Arlia let the shell-shocked woman go with a smile. "Well, that is a good first step indeed," she said and stepped back as Hayley, slowly recovering from her shock, glared at the beta couple and screamed, "I'm gonna kill you both!!" Still, despite her big words, all Hayley could do was fume in embarrassment, the only solace she had being that Alexis still didn't have a grasp on amusement and happiness or she would have laughed at her as well.

[Daxam]

Hearing Hayley threaten Nigel and Arlia, Isaac wraps his arms around his girlfriend's shoulders and says, "Come on, Hayley, let's go finish our movie, alright? No one has to die." As he leads Hayley back to the couch, Nigel laughs and says, "Oh, my, that was priceless!" Sean, now laughing loudly, replies, "Hell, yeah, it was! I'm so glad we got here just in time to see that!"

[Vocalia]

"I-I know I shouldn't be laughing... but I can't help it!" Eryn finally broke down into a fit of laughter, so much that she had started to cry from laughing. "Well, I'd say that's quite a good show~!" Arlia said to the three with a wink, then gently nudged Nigel and said, "Let it never be said that I do not follow my words, love." Not only did she finally humiliate her rival in a non-lethal manner, she also managed to get a good laugh out of it as well, watching gleefully as Hayley fumed on the sofa.

[Daxam]

"I never doubted you for a second, dear," Nigel says with a chuckle, pecking Arlia's lips before saying, "I'll go ahead and get started on dinner. You're free to join me, if you want, love." As Nigel disappears into the kitchen, Sean leads Eryn over to the couch, where he sits down with his arm around her shoulders. "Did you guys get everything sorted out?" Isaac asks, soothingly rubbing Hayley's back as he does. Sean nods and says, "Yeah, we did. We're gonna start moving Eryn's things over this weekend."

[Vocalia]

While Arlia happily followed Nigel into the kitchen, Eryn sat down with Sean, stiffing a laughter at the sight of a grumbling Hayley. "Those bastards..." she mumbled, already calmed down somewhat thanks to Isaac's quick thinking. "I'm rather looking forward to moving with you all, seeing what had happened just now," Eryn said with a bemused giggle. As annoyed as she was, Hayley had no heart to be mean to the innocent girl and groaned in irritation. "I swear, those two are always up to some crazy things..."

[Daxam]

Isaac chuckles and says, "At least they're not trying to kill us, anymore." Sean adds, "Yeah. Besides, now that they're on our side, our collective power's probably increased by about 50%. Me not included, of course." Isaac turns to Sean, brow furrowed, and asks, "What's that supposed to mean?" Sean chuckles and says, "I'm just saying, if I'm added into that, we've probably only gained about .000001%. I just wanted it to sound better, so I ignored my strength."

[Vocalia]

"Right..." Hayley muttered as she leaned against Isaac for comfort and stuffed some chips into her mouth to shut herself up. "I know I'm nowhere as strong as any of you, b-but if there's anything I can help with, please let me know," Eryn said, wanting to integrate herself into the group. After learning about what they all had gone through, she couldn't, in her good mind, ignore their suffering and wanted to do all she could to help, even if it meant jeopardizing her own life.

[Daxam]

"Thanks, Eryn," Isaac says, smiling at the shy woman as he rests his head against Hayley's. "I'll keep that in mind." Sean suddenly wraps both arms around Eryn and hugs her tightly, saying, "Isn't she just the greatest?! She's so kind and caring and loving and adorable!" Isaac laughs and says, "Be careful you don't break her. We just got her, today!" Sean immediately wheels on Isaac and asks in a low tone, "Are you objectifying her?" Isaac backs away a little and says, "Uh...no...I was just kidding..." Satisfied, Sean immediately hugs Eryn again, saying, "Oh, okay, that's fine."

[Vocalia]

Hayley and Eryn chuckled softly as Sean doted on the latter with all the love he had for her. "You're lucky. With a boyfriend like him, you don't have to worry about anything. Worst thing that could happen to you is having to clean up the ashes of any poor fuckers that even think of doing anything to you," Hayley said. Having been told of her foul mouth by Sean, Eryn didn't seem to surprised by her choice of vocabulary. "I admit, it's quite nice to have someone protect me and look after me," she happily replied and gently rubbed Sean's hand.

[Daxam]

Sean hums contentedly as Eryn pats his head, nuzzling his cheek against her. Isaac chuckles and says, "He's like an overgrown cat, isn't he?" Gives a whole new definition to the word 'pussy', Vincent says, laughing as if he found no small amount of entertainment from what he said. Isaac just shakes his head with quiet sigh, cuddling against Hayley as he ignores his other side.

Meanwhile, from the kitchen, Nigel notices Sean doting on Eryn and chuckles. "Look at that," he tells Arlia. "I think they might be together."

[Vocalia]

"Why would Sean Anderson regress to the behavior of a domestic feline? His body language and neural behavior suggest that this is a voluntary and conscious action," Alexis curiously asked. Because he likes her. Sometimes, when someone is in love with another person, he could do things people would consider silly, if not stupid, just to maintain that good bond between them. In this case, Sean is behaving like an extra large cat who ate one catnip too many, Hayley replied, which made Alexis even more curious about human love. "Isn't he already an overgrown cat before he met Eryn? He just found his lifetime supply of catnip in her, that's all," she said back to Isaac, not particularly caring about how the elementalist, who Eryn was now jokingly treating like a cat by gently rubbing his neck and the back of his ears, would respond to either of them.

Watching from the kitchen as her twin sister practically wrapped her hands around him, Arlia chuckled and replied, "Well, if anything, I think Eryn has him wrapped around her fingers. Knowing her, she might as well give him a bit of a belly rub and a stroke along his back. Sean is in safe hands with her, after all."

[Daxam]

Sean, oblivious to Isaac and Hayley's existence, rolls over onto his back, his head resting on the armrest, saying, "That actually feels really good, Eryn..." Isaac laughs and says, "I think you're right. At least he's addicted to something positive."

Nigel chuckles and, wrapping his arm around Arlia's waist, rests his head against hers. "At least today wasn't as bad as it could be," he whispers, feeling the grief from before lift from his heart a little. "I'm glad we brought Eryn here. She really was what we all needed." Lifting his head, he looks down into Arlia's eyes and says, "Although, you're more than enough for me." That said, he brings her into a gentle, loving kiss.

[Vocalia]

"Just dress him up in a cat onesie and nobody would be able to tell him apart from a real cat," Hayley replied with a gleeful grin as Eryn, taking to Sean's cat-like behavior, gently rub his belly and neck like she would a real cat. "There, there," she softly cooed, her affection making her face brighten up with joy. It was as if her infectious love and kindness came from deep within and were radiating through her skin. Hayley could feel her happiness and joy infecting her and soothing her previously grieving heart, making her hopeful for the future for them.

Arlia, returning the kiss then breaking away moments later, chuckled and replied, "And here I thought I'd have to brainwash you to keep you for myself." Gently rubbing his back, she looked at Eryn and said to her, "Careful, Eryn. One wrong spot and he could scratch you with his not-so-sharp claws!" Giggling softly, Eryn smiled and replied, "I won't do anything he isn't comfortable with, I promise."

[Daxam]

"You have hands like an angel!" Sean says, feeling as though he was going to start purring as Eryn rubs his stomach. Isaac laughs again and says to Hayley, "I'm pretty sure nothing exists to him other than Eryn and himself." Damn, Vincent says. I don't think Eryn's as powerless as she says. She just might be able to control people's minds with how sweet she is! Isaac watches the girl and elementalist for a few moments before chuckling as he says, I think you might be right.

Nigel watches the newest couple for a few minutes before pecking Arlia's cheek. "Come, love," he says. "We should finish making dinner before Sean comes to his senses and realizes he's hungry."

[Vocalia]

"Aww... I still want to watch Sean roll over~!" Arlia jokingly pouted and turned back to their dinner preparation. "Still, you might be right. Better get the dinner ready before he thinks that Eryn would make an excellent food substitute," she replied and began working on the food, only to realize that she had little idea of what to do with them, having relied on either him or Sarah for food and having never been raised around the kitchen. "Umm... Love, what should I do?" she asked timidly.

[Daxam]

Nigel hears Arlia and sees her, standing in front of the ingredients without a clue. Smiling, he walks over to her and says, "I'll have you chop the vegetables, for now." Leading her over to the cutting board, he places a carrot on the board and stands behind her. Reaching over her, he hands her the knife and says, "Alright, there are a few things to keep in mind when doing this. Put your hand on the larger end of the carrot and curl your fingers so you don't accidentally cut them off." Then, wrapping his hand around the one she held the knife with, he slowly starts chopping the carrot, saying, "Make sure to have a rhythm. Your cuts will be more even, that way, okay? Just take it nice and slow."

[Vocalia]

"Nice and slow... Nice and slow..." the auburn-haired woman murmured as she intently watched her beloved work. "Alright, love. I'll do my best," Arlia replied and, after letting Nigel move away, began to chop the vegetables at the pace of a kitten taking her first steps. She seemed to be worried about not being able to cut the vegetables according to Nigel's standards even as she followed his instructions down to the letter. After a while, she finally managed to get the vegetables all cut up, though some were slightly uneven. Still, she hadn't cut herself or mangled the vegetables too badly, so she hoped that Nigel wouldn't be too disappointed in her.

[Daxam]

Seeing Arlia's work, Nigel smiles fondly and kisses her forehead. "Great job, my dear," he whispers before taking the vegetables and dumping them into a large pot for stew. "I'll take care of things from here," he says, looking over his shoulder at her with a smile. "But, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to have your company."

[Vocalia]

"Gladly!" Arlia repied happily, overjoyed at having her efforts recognized by the man whom she had sworn to devote her life to. She stood near him and watched as Nigel swiftly worked on the stew with precision and personal flair. The scent of the cooking stew was enough to tantalize her hunger and she wondered if she could cook, at the very least, as well as he did if she kept on practicing. "Love, if you don't mind me asking, what sort of food do you personally like?" she asked. If she was going to practice cooking anything, she figured that cooking for her beloved would be a good start.

[Daxam]

Nigel thinks for a moment and says, "Well, my sister makes...I mean, used to make this amazing lasagna. Every time Isaac was over, she would make it and put all of us into heaven. But, it looks like that recipe died with her, as she never taught me how to make it..." Shaking his head to clear it of those depressing thoughts, he says, "Other than that, I do love a good brisket, especially when it's seasoned with peppercorn. Why do you ask?"