Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was rare and mostly unheard of for Ebony to leave Cordelia alone for any major length of time, yet she had today. Since the girl was no longer virus infected she felt it would be fine to leave her while she went out and took care of a few errands. Besides, the Snake was becoming more and more stubborn about leaving the house these days. One look outside to the cold snow covered landscape and she'd practically barricaded herself in her room. Not that Ebony could blame her, the Brit not really wanting to go out herself, but someone needed to get the groceries.

After she was sure her guardian had left, Cordelia finally slipped out of her room and returned to her beloved fireplace. Ebony must have known she'd eventually return to her favorite spot because the fire was blazing bright while a small stack of logs sat to one side of the hearth just in case. With a more than pleased smile, the Basilisk snuggled deeper into her blanket, sleep not too far off now.

And that's when she heard it, a rough rap to the front door. Her smoke filled orbs looked to it annoyingly. Who was this to interrupt her perfect peace? The girl thought to ignore it since Ebby had said she was not to answer if she wasn't around. But then again...maybe it was the mailman, and maybe he had another present! This prospect had the girl leaping from the couch and making a beeline for the door.

Quickly she undid the locks and threw the door open, a fairly big smile on her face. That was...until she saw who it was standing there. Suddenly that smile turned into a hateful scowl as she hissed and flared her wings at the Sigel. Ebby was right to tell her not to open the door. Now she was alone and he was there. Well he wouldn't get any chances of hurting her this time, she'd make sure of that. Delia quickly tried to close the door before Lazarus could get inside.

She tried to push harder on the door when it was met with some resistance, but to her utter dismay, Lazarus proved once again just how much stronger than her he truly was. The murderous look on her face deepened, but stopped trying to force the door closed since nothing she could do would make it at this point. Though with the Sigel's advance, the Basilisk slithered back just as much, keeping the distance between them constant.

Cordelia watched him fidget slight while trying to peek around her to the house's inner sanctum. Crossing her arms over her chest, the young femme floated higher to match him and spread her wings to block his view. He was not allowed to look upon the place she called home. With a cold metallic stare, dark lips set in a fine line, Delia shook her head. Let him figure out whether it was the answer to his question or whether it was her silent means of telling him he wasn't welcome inside. Perhaps it was even both.

The older Raevan's sudden display of retreat gave Cordelia a deep rooted satisfaction, as if she'd just won a battle between a long warring foe. A smile laced with a tiny bit of smugness to it snaked its way onto her lips, yet when Lazarus stopped and merely floated in place silently and did not depart, the smile slipped away again. What was with this guy? Did he not get the hint? Did she have to force him away? Although she wasn't so sure how well that would go over since she couldn't even get the door to close on him, but hell if she wouldn't try!

Just when the girl advanced closer to the Sigel, calculating thoughts of how to physically move him further away, she was suddenly assaulted with two finely wrapped packages. Presents? A slow blink slid over those scaled lids, sharp wings dropping from their flared position and her demeanor in whole softening some. Cordelia had been expecting possibly a fight, more pain from Lazarus, but not this. Not an apology and most definitely not gifts. Conflicting emotions fought for dominance within her then. On the one hand, she was still upset of how he'd hurt her and made her feel weak. Yet...she really wanted the present! But accepting such a thing meant she was accepting his apology too. Delia sighed and swayed a bit in contemplation. Oh what was she to do?

It was then a giant gust of wind decided to pick up and rush at her into the house. The Basilisk gasped and shivered greatly at the sudden cold swirling about her. In her anger she'd forgotten the current condition of the weather outside. Her grey eyes shot back inside to the fireplace and went wide as she watched it get snuffed out. Panicking, Cordelia quickly forgot the gifts and the other Raevan as she rushed to where the fire had once been. It was totally out and she didn't know how to actually set a new one. Ebony had only put the logs out so she could keep the fire going when it was low. Now what was she to do? Delia had no idea how long her woman would be. The despairing thought made her pout sadly.

Her fingers caressed through the quickly dissipating smoke, the tendrils leaking through her fingers and disappearing altogether. Cordelia made a sour, dissatisfied face. Cold smoke was so icky and tasted like mud not that she'd ever tried mud, but it was what Ebony always said when she ate something that was unpleasant. Besides, warmth was always a plus to the cold blooded Raevan.

At the elder male's voice and approach, Cordelia instinctively raised her wings, a hiss rising in her throat. Then she remembered that the other wasn't here to hurt her, in fact at the moment he seemed genuinely concerned. Folding her wings back down and biting her bottom lip, the Basilisk nodded, but made sure to keep her own eyes on him as he was her then.

She leaned in closer to Lazarus, curious as to what he was going to do. Whenever Ebony started the fireplace she had one of those long fire starter sticks, though Cordelia knew there had to be more to it than just that. Seemed too simple to her. Yet when the embers suddenly jumped back to life it made the Snake jump back as well. She came back though with a look of complete awe on her face, her mouth making a small 'o' shape. Looking up to Lazarus now, Delia's silver eyes shone with something akin to admiration. He was a fire summoner!

A genuine smile on her face, the Frei gave the other a hug in thanks. Though she'd only meant for it to be a quick gesture, Cordelia soon found it was hard to pull away from him. Lazarus she found was very very warm, much like the warmth of the fire he'd just started back up again. Thought went out the window when the Snake's instincts took over, wanting to be warm she snuggled closer to the Incubus. Was it her imagination or did he smell a little like smoke too?

She couldn't see his blushing, but Cordelia felt his body temperature spike up slightly, something she relished. When he tried to pull away she instinctively gripped him tighter, not wanting to be cold again so soon. He reminded her of Zul, but his heat was different, wild somehow. The Baphomet's had always felt like it was being held in check by something else sometimes, yet Delia was unable to place a finger to it exactly.

Again Lazarus wriggled in her embrace, trying to get away. Did he not like her hugging him? She couldn't possibly be hurting him since it was very obvious how much stronger he was than her. Thus Cordelia clung to him and shook her blackened head in a resounding no. She didn't want to go back to being cold again just yet. But his voice...it'd gone up an octave or two, the panic in it quite apparent. Lifting her eyes to meet his, they widened in shock at how red his face was now. Immediately she let go of him and backed up a bit. It was true, Cordelia didn't always know her own strength, but she was sure nothing she could do would be enough against the likes of him. He was older after all and they were suppose to be stronger right? But maybe, maybe she had hurt him! There had been a time where she would have liked nothing more, but not now. Not after his apology and his help.

Biting her lip, the Basilisk slowly drifted closer again and reached her hand up to one of his still blushing cheeks. As carefully and gently as she could, Delia traced her fingers over the skin there, half wondering what was causing it. She wanted to apologize, but she didn't know how. Not in his tongue. So she did the only thing she could, quietly repeat his name as she remembered hearing it. "Lazarus..." She hoped in that one word she could convey the feelings she felt then to him.

Those seldom blinking orbs watched as the tension in the male finally melted away, even daring to take her hand in his. And then he smiled. It wasn't a huge production of sorts, merely a small upper pull on the corners of his lips, something that could easily be thought to have been imagined if one wasn't careful to notice. But Cordelia was watching and that minuscule facial expression made her heart flutter a bit. In fact her wings gave a few happy clicks as she smiled broadly at the fire Raevan. He wasn't so bad after all.

Cordelia almost pouted again when he pulled away, but soon her smile was as bright as ever. The gifts! She'd totally forgotten about them what with the whole fireplace going out and all. In a very giddy and child-like manner, the Basilisk took the presents and debated which to open. Lazarus had said the purple one was for Ebony, but...Delia really wanted to open it too! Yet she didn't, simply sighing and placing it to the side for her woman later. It was really hard to be good sometimes.

Curiously, she shook the package deemed for herself. The contents rustled about softly, but gave no clear indication of what awaited inside. Immediately she ripped the gift open and drew out the...Delia blinked. What was it? She held it up to the light and watched the beads sparkle and twinkle. Well whatever it was it certainly was pretty.

Remembering the confusion of the hug earlier, the dark femme opted for gently patting his cheek in thanks. Then, well because she was a little embarrassed not knowing what it was or how it worked, Cordelia bashfully held it out to Lazarus. It was his gift, he should know how to work it after all.

She watched him closely as he fiddled with the accessory. It was obvious he wasn't well versed in these kind of things either and the thought made her not feel as dumb as she'd originally felt a moment ago. Humans had such odd bobbles and trinkets, Cordelia quickly surmised.

When Lazarus began pulling up at his hair like he was about to put it in a high ponytail like she'd seen her woman do hundreds of times now, the girl couldn't help but giggle a little. She'd never seen a boy with a ponytail before and it made her sad she wouldn't now as the Sigel just as quickly allowed his long flowing hair to fall back to its normal place. Cordelia never realized how lovely the bi-colored locks were until now.

She was just about to reach out and touch a strand when Lazarus leaned in to place the glittering comb in her hair instead. The Snake blinked and rolled her eyes up to view it, but for obvious reasons she couldn't. That wasn't fair! But before her frustration could even begin to build, the Sigel's broad grin and compliment stopped it dead. He thought she was pretty? This bolstered Delia's ego and she floated higher, meeting his height once more and grinned brightly at him. Every minute that passed she was liking him more and more. She was sorry she'd ever wanted to see him hurting now.

Drunk on his presents and compliments, Cordelia boldly took the strand of his hair she'd wanted to touch. Gently she caressed it with her fingers, "Lazarus..." she murmured again in that velvet smoke tone.