Warning signs

He had to feel the air press against the walls of his nose, as she pointed out that Elenora would find a way. That was maybe the part that scared him the most, how far she would go to make sure that it happened. What it would end up putting on the both of them, or if she would even come out on the other side, as the Elenora he knew. Already know he could see just how much his death had changed her, not that it was always visible, and not because he had married her for her to stay the same. But it was still a scary thought, especially when he sometimes looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t know if he could even recognise himself.
Letting out a small laugh he nodded and placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in, so he could place soft kiss against her temple. “That is true, I’ll always have you firebug” he chuckled letting her go again, giving her a soft smile. He took his cup of coffee and raised it towards her. “To remembering, to have more talks like these” he said with a mellow smile and leaned back in the sofa with the cup still in his hand. For a moment he just sat there, before he finally took a sip. It was still insane just how much had happened over the last couple of years, both in his absence, but also in the last couple of months that he was back.

She let out a small laugh as he placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer for a moment. "Yup, no take backs." She then lifted her cup and raised it towards his as well. "Oh yes, I will take your word for it," Mariella pointed out raising a finger towards him with a slightly lifted brow. Because she had missed it so much. Then she just mirrored him and leaned back for a moment just really letting the silence be taken in for a second. Also just processing their entire conversation combined with Yesterday's events. "So how much do you bet Jamie will lose his shit for a second over all of this?" She then asked a moment after. One thing was how she remembered that he had been very jealous of the thought of her having sisters. Not putting any like to sharing his little sister with two strangers. Then the fact that she now had this family history, Mariella could only imagine Jamie taking a her own reaction and flare it up with a cherry on top dramatic version. Which in this case she understood, it wasn't like it was the same as meeting with Ayah, Hope and Juniper. This guy who was her father and so on. These people were dangerous.

“Wouldn’t dream of it” he laughed making a small cross over his heart, and then let go of her again as she would take his word for it. He let out a small sigh and then licked his lips as she asked how much he would bet on Jamie losing his shit. He almost felt exhausted just by the thought of it and pressed his shoulder back as if he was trying to get out the tension that was in them. “Well, I don’t think he will take it well” he said folding his lips against each other, because Archie had never been one to sugarcoat things, which wasn’t true - he had lied to Jamie about seeing McKenna in the garden of Eden, he had only seen his children. Which had been heartbreaking in its own way, but hopefully if Jamie would ever figure it out, he would be able to forgive his brother from telling him a merciful lie. Because he had known that Jamie had needed it at the time, as he kept on blaming himself for that evening, and it wouldn’t do him any good.
“But as everything else, we’ll get through it, together” he said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

He wouldn't. She knew none of them would, but at least the Nigel and Archie could control there temper just a little bit better than Jamie. Maybe it was just the animal in Jamie that wanted to act out all the changes it got. "That we will," she exhaled with a warmer smile. Luckily it wasn't too hard for Mariella to adapt to whatever got thrown over her, she just needed to process it. "So, Nora is still out to find out what the hell Jules is doing with Theo?" Ella then asked, knowing it was a topic as well to be brought up at some point, because it was still only Jamie who had had the pleasure of the siblings to talk with Theo after his return, but she knew from Elenora - and Diego, because she had felt the emotions from that house way to intensely back in January after Derek had gotten hurt and Irina had explained what had happened after a few talks. "I'm still thinking about moving out of Nigel and Irina', giving them a chance to just be themselves instead of me always dropping by around the corner. I mean, the house is full enough as it is," she chuckled a little bit, knowing she had mentioned the thought for Archie at least a couple of times, especially with the new child arriving soon.

Archie clicked his tongue and let his fingers glide through his hair, as Mariella asked him if Nora was still running around trying to figure things out about her siblings. “I told her not to, because nothing good will come out of it, but I’m pretty sure she is still doing that, yeah” he said with a small smile, did it bother him that she did it? Yes, it did very much. But he also knew that if he started telling her not to do something, she would do it. Which was why he had just voiced his opinion about it, but then told her that she should do what she felt was right. But with everything else there was going on, he understood why Jules needed someone, anyone that would just be there for her. Which he wasn’t doubting for a second that Theo had figured out himself, and then taken advantage of it. It made him sick to think that his brother could do that, but it wouldn’t surprise him either way. And in a way, they were all partly at fault for not taking more time out of their lives and helping Jules when she needed it. But time just hadn’t been there, and it was easy to forget those that never asked for help.
“Oh?” he said lifting a brow as Mariella told him, that she was thinking about moving out of Irina and Nigel’s house. “Well, might be a good idea, trying to be a little on your own for a change” he said with a soft smile, knowing just how important that could be. “So I think that is a great idea, I’m sure you’ll be able to find something really nice” he said nodding a little, for a moment taken aback just how quickly things had changed over the last couple of years in his absent. But also, just in the last couple of months. It was insane.

Mariella understood why it bugged Archie that Elenora was out trying to talk to Jules, especially when everyone knew that once Nora was emotionally invested in something she could come off as a bit more intense than she sometimes wanted to be. And Mariella knew it all came from a place of wanting to protect Julianne from Theo, but so far it just didn't really seem like Nora had any luck in talking some emotional sense into Jules - and how could they? Scars like that weren't easy to heal, and perhaps they weren't even the right people to do so.

So instead of keeping on those tabs on things they couldn't change, maybe it was why she voiced this instead. "Yeah?" She chuckled a little bit and exhaled. Of course she had had her own small place back in Nepal but this was different. "I reckon so too," well Ayah had found a nice little place. Archie and Nora lived here. Nigel and Jamie lived close to each other - everyone just spread out in Gaia so nicely. "Time flies huh? It's insane to me sometimes, but despite everything I'm very grateful for the things that are going right," she chuckled a little bit taking a sip more of her coffee.

He nodded when she questioned if he had meant what he had said. He truly thought it would do some good, especially now that she was in a committed relationship. Maybe it was time for her to take some time for herself as well, before she started tying the knot or whatever. As Nigel had told him about, she had almost done with another hunter, to make sure that he wasn’t going to be married away. Everyone knew that if it meant that others were feeling better, Mariella wouldn’t hesitate to start helping if she could. It was time for her to also take some time for herself.
Archie couldn’t help but to let out a small chuckle as she pointed out the fact just how time flew. “Yeah, it’s rather insane just how fast the last couple of months has just disappeared” he agreed, it still felt like yesterday he had been pulling out hair to make things connect with the wedding. He was never doing that again, that was for sure. Even if it had been a beautiful evening, things had still gone wrong, and it felt like he had been stressing over every little detail for nothing.
“So where are you thinking of looking for somewhere to put down your roots?” he asked, giving her a small smile as he leaned back in the couch with the coffee in his hand.

Where was she even thinking about settling down? It was a very good question, had you asked her last year she would've had a whole different view on her future than she had now. After the whole thing had blown in her face with Nathaniel, she had just sort of given up on her own future, which was tragic - she knew that and she wasn't really proud to admit it was where her thoughts had been. Even when she had been told to marry Quentin back then, she had been finding piece with the fact that at least he was mortal. Hadn't it been because he had put his hands where he shouldn't and so on, she wouldn't have called Nigel - and the story might have been different, even if it wouldn't be a happy one. But it was like meeting Leon had reminded her of the colors she had forgotten all along, and she was hopeful, even longingly just waiting to reach for everything. Because she wanted everything as long as it was with Leon. Realizing she had zoned to a spiral of her thoughts, she could feel the heat rush to her cheeks for a second, "sorry my head went in the clouds for a second there," she cleared her throat, well there was no point of even using a white lie was there? Ella rolled her eyes a little bit. "Don't -" she narrowed her eyes a little bit pointing at him before he could come with a brotherly comment or grimace.

Mariella brushed her hair back and took a sip of her coffee. Then taking a deeper breath in stopping herself from going down another spiral before getting to answer the actual question. "Close to you guys, not saying like Jamie moving up almost second door to Nigel close - but I like being near, it's one of the things I missed most when you all moved away from home," she chuckled a little low. Then licking her lips a bit, "but somewhere close to the forest, easy to just sit out in the backyard and you just have your own little paradise of nature's finest to find the comfort off. -- And then there is of course that no matter where I look at my future there is one handsome face keep showing up in my head, and it's not Jamie's no matter how much his ego wants to be heard," she chuckled a little bit.

He lifted his hands and raised his brow in self-defence as she pointed at him, not to comment on where she had gone. Folding his lips, he instead waited for her to answer his question on where she wanted to move to.
A laugh left him as she mentioned that Jamie had decided to buy the house next door to Nigel and Irina, shaking his head slightly. That man never really understood when he went too far, not that the brothers could anything but love him for it.
He nodded when she explained her dreams for her new house. “You could move closer to where Daisy lives?” he said with a small smile, and then she would be close to Katelyn and Maya whenever they were there. It would make it easier for Nigel to visit her every once in a while. “it’s not like this island is that big, even though it might take a while to drive. I’ve noticed that sometimes you visit people less when you live right next to them, that saying that; I can visit them whenever I want, often just translate to, I know I can visit them, and therefore I never do” he chuckled and shook his head as he drank the last of his now cold coffee. “want another one?” he asked as he got up and walked towards the kitchen to get himself a new cup of coffee.

She nodded a little, "I was actually thinking about Grounds of Lily, also since Ayah moved there - and well, I do happen to spent most of my time in that city either way," it was also closer to Leon while him and his family were staying in the region. "Yes please," she handed Archie her empty coffee cup and watched him walk out to the kitchen. Leaning a bit back, she closed her eyes for a second, taking the craziness in from Yesterday. "But maybe you will go with me one day, looking at the housing situation?" Mariella asked, "even if you ask Nigel, I do have a good taste in finding the right places, after all he did have me pick the place he so fondly calls home now," she chuckled a little bit. It felt so long ago since Nigel had gotten her out and told her to pick a house that would be a good fit for them. And the house had been a perfect fit for what had happened next, now it was just time for her to find a new fit. And she would rather bring Archie with her than going alone, of course she could ask Leon - she had thought about that too, and if not it wasn't like she didn't have a series of siblings to pick from.

“Sure, I’ll go with you,” Archie said with a smile; even though he might not have the most considerable amount of time these days, he still had time to be there for his little sister. If anything, it wasn’t like he needed to get everything done this very second. Not like the wedding, given this was his biggest dream, and even though he had emerged himself in the journey of opening up his own restaurant, he also knew that stepping away now and then would be good for him.
He chuckled as she pointed out that she had been the one to pick the house that Nigel and his ever-growing family were living in now. Luckily it had been able to fit all of them without too much struggle. To think that the bachelor, after so many years, finally had found his roots and stayed put. He was happy that he was allowed the chance to see that.
“But you’re sure you don’t want your boyfriend or Nigel to go with you?” he asked, looking up. “I don’t know a whole lot about homes; I wouldn’t know what to look out for, at least not like Nigel and what would be able to be done and what would be too big of a hassle to correct”, not to speak about how much money it took to renovate some times.
He poured in hot water as it was done and then walked over to hand her the new cup of coffee with a soft smile. “There you are”, he said before sitting down again, taking a sip of the coffee simultaneously.

Mariella narrowed her eyes a little, and licked her lips, "I see what you did there. You know I'm only going ask Leon out of those two, because Nigel and Irina are to busy making sure everything is ready for when the little one arrives," she lifted a finger towards him, "and you use your limited knowledge as an excuse because well, you would much rather Leon and I get on the same page on what we want, or maybe you didn't even try to do that and were just plain lucky, but I will talk to Leon I'm sure he wouldn't mind a little house looking," she nodded, knowing that if it came down to it, well of course Archie would go with her. But Mariella had never planted roots, not like this, so a part of her found the change scary yet exciting to start a chapter of your life you never thought you would have.
Mariella took the coffee when handed to her letting her fingers take in the warmth from the cup, "thank you." Mariella then took a sharper breath in. "But either way I'm sure everything is going to turn out just like they were meant to."

Archie blinked a little when she started telling him what he had done. As he sat down, he laughed at her and shook her head. “My darling firebug”, he raised his brow, giving her a bright smile “, you give me far more credit in being mischievous than I’m am– whatever you just said, I would go so far to say that it tells me far more about your thought process about your boyfriend than I ever did, and believe you me I have no bigger ulterior motive to get you to go with him - if you want me to go with you, I’ll gladly go” he gave her a slight push against her shoulder before he took his cup of coffee and leaned back to enjoy it to his best ability.
“But yes, I agree, everything will turn out as it should”, he said with a small smile as his eyes looked straight ahead, slowly retreating to his constantly working brain that tried to make up new recipes or remind himself of what he needed to get done sooner rather than later.

She narrowed her eyes remained positioned in that suspicious expression for a while longer then she took a sip of her coffee. "Well I will let you know I guess - I don't think today is going to be the one where I make the grant choices," she shook her head a little bit. Not because she didn't want to, she wanted to very much actually - but with the news from Yesterday still poking her mind, she wanted to let those thoughts process as well.

Mariella enjoyed the silence, the sipping coffee and just look through her phone whilst Archie was doing whatever he was doing, but she liked being able to just sit and be whenever she was here, just like he could go around doing what he felt like needed without having to entertain her all the time. Mariella turned her head towards the door when she could feel the change of emotions, not because they were bad or anything, Elenora just had a very special emotional pattern that made Mariella able to know it was her by a second. And right she was, Elenora unlocked the door and stepped in, letting the lovely smell of thai food start reach out the room.

He nodded, giving her a big smile when she told him that it wouldn’t be today that she was going to make any grant choices. Which might be a good idea since this wasn’t something that you should take lightly, and given that Mariella wouldn’t die of old age, she had so many lifetimes to explore who she was as a person; she could take her time and didn’t have to hurry through it as many humans did. Even then, he had also thought that humans had too much speed when running through life as it was an obstacle course, himself included, when he had been a mere human.

He just managed to take a sip of his coffee as the key in the door was heard, and in came Elenora. He got up and walked over to help her with the takeaway with a big smile. “Hmm, smells nice. Was it from that new place that opened up?” he asked as he walked with it to the kitchen, where he placed the bags on the counter and started finding the different things they needed to eat from. “Did you have a nice outing?” he asked with a small smile as he looked up and watched his beautiful wife walk toward him, pulling her in so he could place a kiss against her temple.

Elenora let Archie take the paper bags with the food to the kitchen to pack it all out, "it is, thought we had tuh try it out," she replied with a brighter smile. She took off her jacket and her shoes, giving Mariella a warm smile before walking out to her husband in the kitchen, giving him an even brighter smile. "I did. Even though I changed my mind on goin' on knockin' on Jules' doawh, instead I asked if she wanted tuh meet up fawh cawhfee some day. So, we will see what she says about dat," she made a small shruh and placed her arms around his neck, as he pulled her closer. Meeting Julianne out in the open was perhaps better than going to her house, not because Nora liked the fact of feeling like she had to put up warning signs around her younger sister. But she hated how things had turned around, but now that spring was out and about, so had Elenora's mood and powers turned up for the better. "D'ja have a good tawhk?" She wondered being able to sense the calm state in the apartment, at least more calm than when she had left.

He nodded understanding as Elenora explained that she hadn’t gone and knocked on Julianne’s door. There was always a day tomorrow, and maybe it was better not to ambush her like that. “I’m sure it will turn out fine”, he hummed and then let go of her, so he could walk toward the kitchen once again and start taking down the necessary utensils and bowls so they could dig in and get something to eat.
“Well, you haven’t been gone that long”, he teased when she asked if he had a good day “, but yeah, we’ve just been talking and getting a cup of coffee or two,” he said with a smile and looked toward his sister, not wanting to say anything that she didn’t feel comfortable with. Besides, what was said about confidence should stay that way. “So all in all, it has been a nice day; nothing grand had happened”, he decided to add as he started taking out the things from the bags.

Elenora nodded, placing a soft kiss against his cheek before then taking the plates in so they could get starting on their dinner. Which was nice, just sitting having some nice chats and laughs. They needed more of these days, where nothing grand happened other than the casual everyday mundane dramas. But as everyone knew, the supernatural drama always lured in the darkness just waiting for the right moment to strike, but for tonight the beast was sleeping allowing the three of them to enjoy their evening in peace.
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out