Welcome to Gaia! ::

There were places that Mathias rarely visited his cousin out of a desire to ensure that she maintained a modicum of privacy from what he often considered his own prying eyes. He was a curious man by and large, which got him in more trouble than it was worth most of the time. The events of the last few weeks had left him with a slightly different perspective now, and with the world in danger (and he, himself, helping defend it), he felt the need to ensure that Delilah was safe. So he'd found as near a perfect excuse to come over.

The still wrapped canvas was now leaning against the wall of Delilah's living room - and he had stayed for tea (if only to be polite), but he knew he didn't want to keep Delilah's entire day - so having finished his tea he'd made a show of looking at his phone.

"Well I should probably get-" He started to say before the soft buzz from Delilah's intercom unit piped up, indicating a guest.

---

Meanwhile, Mercy was standing in the lobby, rocking back in forth on her feet as she waited for the buzz in, giving the guard on duty a smile as she held the box full of tea close to her chest. It was a thank you gift as much as anything, but she'd packed it full and she'd already texted Delilah that she was coming by, since she'd been in the area already...

"Not at all!," Mathias replied, heading over to the intercom to hit the accept button, knowing it would let Delilah's guest in past the glass door and into the elevator room and then up to the proper floor. He'd long ago taken to learning all the guards names and making a point to bring them a coffee on his rare stop overs. It never hurt to make friends after all - and they were his proxies since he couldn't always be looking out for his cousin-slash-sister.

With things they way they were of late - he was damn sure he was going to do everything he could to keep her safe.

Stepping back from the intercom, he waited for the inevitable knock on the door.

---

When the door made the gentle buzz that told her she was allowed entry, she gave the guard another polite smile and wave before letting herself into the elevator vestibule, watching as the automated system opened the doors to let her in, the floor already programmed in to the proper floor as she waited. When the door opened she quickly slipped into the hall and knocked lightly with her knuckles on the door, feeling slightly bouncy and hoping that the gift would be appreciated.

---

The knock almost caught him off guard, but Mathias was quick to unbolt and open the door.

"Ah you must be-"

--

Mercy froze as the door opened and she was suddenly faced with a male with amber brown eyes and black hair - but he looked familiar in a strange sort of way. She jumped, taking a half step back and ready to throw the box at his head when his words finally registered.

---

"-Mercy," Mathias finished, having paused when the girl nearly lept out of her skin and almost threw the box she was now holding close to her chest again at his face. "Are you alright?"

---

"Fine, fine!" Mercy managed a cheery smile. "You must be Mathias - Delilah's cousin."

---

"Guilty as charged," Mathias offered with a nod before moving back and allowing the girl into the apartment. "Delilah, your guest is here!"

--

Mercy slipped into the room, putting some space between her and the much taller man. She could see the relation now - recalling the picture that Delilah had shown her on their first meeting. Her uncle was a smidge taller but she could see the similarity in their body shapes - though her uncles was far more defined and his bulk was just as much for show as action. Still she was sure the other man would put her uncle in a tight race when it came to breaking hearts. Not that she found him at all appealing, especially in person.

"I come bearing gifts!" Mercy chimed in. "Fine teas from the far east!"

Mercy had started to make her way toward the Kitchen, Mathias keeping himself by the door now that it had closed - since he was on his way out anyway and just wanted to make sure that everything was good before he did. He remembered the redhead from the selfie Delilah had sent him a bit ago, the night she had texted him the code to be on standby and he'd almost gone tires squealing down to Greek row to sort out some ner-do-wells but had gotten the stand down order.

She was cute - entirely too young for his tastes but he was sure she could have used a bodyguard of her own. He could see the genes were strong in that family. He gave Delilah a nod of acknowledgement, waiting for the young girl to say her peace and get her hug before he would show himself out.

The younger woman accepted the hug eagerly, slipping the box into one hand and squeezing the other woman close. If she had any nerves they were gone now, Delilah had given the all clear as far as she was concerned.

"Well, I skipped ahead a bit," Mercy said with a smirk. "China, Korea, and Japan," She said. "Figured I'd let you sample some of the ones I REALLY liked. There's a really nice hibiscus in here that I think you'll just love."

The thing of it was, the melody wasn't just coming from Delilah's purse. The music had also caused Mercy to freeze, and she had gently thrown the box onto the coffee table as she dug into her own messenger bag frantically. After all, what song isn't better in stereo?

"Same ringtones, huh?" Mathias asked, leaning now to look at the two women who were both frantically trying to get at what he surmised to be phones - which was odd because Delilah kept hers out and about usually and rarely in her purse unless she was in transit - but he couldn't speak to Mercy.

"Oh you know," Mercy managed a half-confident sounding laugh. "Just... girl things right?"

She shot Delilah a look that had her wondering. Was it possible? No, the odds were... But the cat in her bedroom had been very familiar - too familiar. But, that was just a coincidence right?

"Right..." Mathias said, in a tone that implied that he had not quite accepted that answer as his gaze shifted from the redhead to Delilah. "Everything okay?"

Right...

"Ah!" Mathias snapped his fingers. "I see, well I am glad that she's been helpful. Let me know if it ever passes the R&D stage."

Did he buy ANY of this? Oh hell no. Was he going to make a scene about it - of course not. He could smell the lie - and that STUNG but he also couldn't fault Delilah for having secrets with a friend. He had his own secrets he too was keeping from his cousin.

After all - if he told her was part of a secret arm of a foundation that was attempting to save the world from an exterior invasion well... She'd have him committed faster than he could blink. He wouldn't blame her for it either.

"Well, I was on my way out," Mathias said with a bow of his head to the two women as he made his way to the door. "It sounds like you guys have a potentially wild afternoon of... tea drinking - I'd hate to intrude."

He waited at the door for a moment, as was polite and proper until Delilah gave him the nod to go or any sort of sign to swing by later.

"It was nice meeting you!" Mercy said as she finally pulled her own phone out and quickly shut it off, dropping it in another pocket of the bag to read later.

"And interrupt ya'lls power hour? Perish the thought," Mathias said with a soft smile. "No I'll take a rain check this time. Besides, I've got a few things I need to work on back home. And YES I promise I won't stalk every woman with teal hair..."

That one got Delilah a legitimate eye-roll. Was he put out that there was something she wasn't telling him? Oh - definitely. But he knew better than to make a thing of it.

She would keep her secrets. If she felt the need to tell him - she would. Besides, it was probably nothing and he was overcautious do the events of the othere evening - where he HAD met a certain teal haired woman again... But that was neither here nor there.

"Alright, I'm out, you two have fun," He said, before opening the door and giving them a wave before closing it behind him and making it a point to make slightly more noise that necessary so that Delilah knew he'd walked to the elevator.

Hey - he wasn't going to begrudge her a companion. If she was swinging for that team right now that was her choice - he wasn't going to make a fuss of it.

---

When he was gone, Mercy let out the breath that she was holding, before quickly grabbing the communicator again and holding it up to give the message a quick read, before her eyes darted back to Delilah.

"So... Uhm.... this is a bit awkward," She said finding herself rocking on her heels again. "I've never... met... another...."

She motioned between the two of them - seemingly at a lost for words.

"Senshi right," Mercy nodded, she hadn't powered up really aside from that first time with the cat, but she'd at least paid attention whenever they'd come around. It had been a really chill time and this was the first time anything like this had happened. "Oh, uhm, two years?"

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you've probably been one longer?" It would only stand to reason, especially if she had been just as shocked as Mercy had been when the damn communicator went off. That thing NEVER went off, not really. Not like this.

"I mean, nice of them to put out an all call, I suppose," She said, running a hand through her hair. "Would haver been nice to you know - not give us a heart attack though."

"HAH! I knew it!" Mercy said when the cat came in and hopped up on the table. "I knew I recognized you."

She was probably a bit too pleased about that, but she crossed her arms across her chest, thinking for a moment. "Yeah, I mean - it's not like we go running around powered up anyway - is something going on?"

They'd never had a manditory meeting before.

"Also, with a name like Ra, shouldn't he be a bird?" Mercy offered with a soft smile. "Like, a hawk right?"