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Despite the tangle of thoughts, Ergon gave his girlfriend a small smile. "I assure you, just having you back home is very helpful. There's.. no easy answer here, and I don't expect you to have it."

Still, his jaw tensed back up thinking about his mother. "It.. depends," he said slowly, expression mixed between pain and anger. "When she's herself, she's just hurting. After she met the girl- I mean- Sylvirah.." Yes, that girl had a name. He almost wished he didn't know it. "When mother isn't herself..." It made his heart ache to think about how her mind was rationalizing the situation.

His thoughts were interrupted by Hugs' sudden pounce, brow rising with the sudden break in tension. It wasn't unwelcome, at the least. "Here, allow me," he said, slipping down from the seat to reach for whatever Hugs had gone after. "I doubt she meant for you to have this," he scolded Hugs idly as he scooped up the key and brushed at it before he held it out for Riya to take back. "This looks important..." he ventured, naturally curious but uncertain of how nosey he was allowed to be.

Snorting at Hugs' antics, he sat back down next to Riya. The key seemed to have her ruffled, and he couldn't help grasping at the distraction. He reached out to take her hand not holding the key and gave it a squeeze. "Your house key?" Why would that be so distressing? He attempted an encouraging smile. "That.. looked like a really nice chain. Was it from your family during your visit?" His smile turned sheepish. "If you don't mind me asking, of course.. I wouldn't mind a change of topic for a minute."

Something for him? Her house key?! Was her family really okay with that? "Oh," he breathed out, eyes dropping to the chain. That seemed like quite the step!

Oh, but he didn't know the half of it!

His eyes widened even further when the true purpose of the key was revealed. "Your.. you got a house?" He could tell she was trying, but even he was shocked by the revelation right after his own dramatic reveal. The two bits of news clashed between the humiliation of his father's infidelity and the.. the joy of hearing Riya wanted to take things further. Now he felt a little guilty for pushing such big news out in the awkward moment. Still, it was out there now.

Rapidly sorting the thoughts in his head, he leaned forward to pull Riya into a tight hug. Despite the pain from moments ago, he could feel his heart swelling. Their relationship was certainly not a typical one... "Give me time.. to make sure there will be someone to care for my mother," he murmured, a hand lifting to stroke Riya's hair gently. That, and it would give him time to think on the actual idea of moving in before marriage. He had actually been giving a lot of thought to proposing, but then life had taken a tumble. "Riya.. Thank you."

He couldn't help the small smile rising as the house was described. "It sounds perfect," he replied. They could get something larger at a later time if they wanted to. Or, he could be fancy and have an addition built on depending on the location. After all, children had been mentioned. One day...

Feeling her shrink a little, Ergon found himself nodding slowly. "It's okay. Really. You are not forcing anything." Where would he be without her pushing him to keep at his best? While it wasn't the best timing, it also wasn't the worst. Perhaps it had been just the thing he had needed... Snorting at the tease, and with the tiniest peek to make sure they were still alone, he pulled back and cupped her cheek. "Iriyana, the only thing you have ever done is bring happiness to my life," he assured. "Thank you for reminding me about what matters." Perhaps part of his life had been thrown into an utter disarray, but one part remained bright and beautiful. He wasn't the sentimental type, but the special moment really stood out among the darkness he had been going through. He leaned in to catch her lips tenderly, hand shifting down to take Riya's, the key resting between their palms.

He allowed the kiss to linger for a long minute before pulling back with a smirk. He wasn't sure if he could remember the last time her blush had spread so wide! "If you're going to be that picky about it, then I'll say that the happiness started after we officially started dating." Indeed, their first encounter and those immediately following may have been a bit on the rough side. It had been a rather unconventional introduction, but he couldn't deny that it had lead to something wonderful.

Giving Hugs a peek, he almost felt the urge to attempt giving the creature a light pet. ..That might be too advanced a move for him yet. Instead, he turned his attention to their joined hands, squeezing lightly before separating them with the key chain caught in his fingers. A home for them..."You should show me where this place is. Do you need help moving in, or have you already taken over?"

Speechless as well? This was also a new feature, and Ergon couldn't help his amusement. Dang, that must have been quite the kiss he had given. He certainly had enjoyed it. Perhaps he needed to bring her under the protection of the gazebo more often?

..though, with a whole house of privacy to look forward to...

Now that thought sent a touch of heat to his cheeks and he cleared his throat to cool his head. He wasn't some love-drunk teenager, after all! Briefly being reminded that he was done at work so early in the day was a mood-dampening reminder, but even that could bring him down only so much. "I have the rest of the evening to myself," he assured, giving the key another look. Such a small object that held so much importance... Finally releasing his hold on Riya, he stood up and smoothed out his shirt. "How far is it?"

The touch of those bare fingers brought out a gasp of surprise along with the intended heat further coloring his cheeks. Maybe he'd had that coming after the bold move before... "Wouldn't you like to know?" He replied with a playful glare, taking her hand firmly once it was offered so that it couldn't sneak at him a second time. Tell her what had caused that first blush? Absolutely not!

...though he might be able to show her later, and that alone did nothing to help the heat on his face. He cleared his throat and reached out to pull a curtain aside for Riya to go through. The cool air rushed in, giving him a much-needed jolt of focus. The worst was over, and he could now truly focus on enjoying having his girlfriend home again.

The sly little minx had two hands! Pressing his lips, he was tempted to try calling her bluff... but this was Riya. She was not bluffing. Eyes darting to make sure no one was too close, he cleared his throat and tried to give a nonchalant shrug. They had been dating for quite some time! He was allowed to think things! Saying them, though... "I just thought.. perhaps.. you might enjoy more later. ..once we got home." His gaze flicked down to gauge his girlfriend's reaction, but bashfully could not linger for too long, allowing the brush against his leg to draw his gaze instead. Strange perzi...

Despite his focus on keeping things mostly proper, he found his excitement to see the home itself growing. It was Riya's home, and, hopefully not too much later, it would be their home... He was so ready that it almost ached that the move on his part would have to wait.