Welcome to Gaia! ::

They were settled happily for a while, and he actually dozed off for most of that time. The doorbell did eventually ring, waking him from his little nap, and he squinted over in the direction of the door a bit dumbly for a long moment before it registered who was probably at the door.

Seren controlled the urge to sigh again, and just snuggled against him, watching the 'fire' on the screen in front of them, lost in thought as they relaxed. She smiled when she realized he had drifted off, knowing he was probably going to be extra tired for quite a while, thanks to everything, and figured extra sleep was good for him.

When the bell rang, she gently pulled free once she was sure he was awake enough to not fall over. "I'll be right back, babe."

She pressed a kiss to his forehead, then hurried to the front door. As soon as she opened it, she was swept into a hug, a joyful Merry Christmas falling from her brother's lips. She laughed in delight and led him down the hall, to the living room. "I'm going to go check on things for dinner, I'll be right back."

—

Dai turned set the bag he had with him down, on a small coffee table, and settled into an armchair facing Nate. "Merry Christmas, Nate... Are you feeling any better? I know you're definitely glad to be out of the hospital but have you been able to relax? Did you sleep ok?"

“Mm,” was his quiet response when she said she was gonna get the door, and he smiled at the little kiss before focusing on waking himself up. He wondered if it was his medication that contributed to the drowsiness, probably on top of his body just needing to recover in general, and the sweets they just consumed. He sighed as he shifted in his seat, glancing over at the siblings as they exchanged very cheerful greetings at the door.

That brightened his expression considerably, and he kept his eye on the hallway and waited for them to appear.

“Hey, Merry Christmas,” he greeted as soon as he saw Dai. He watched him get settled, and nodded at his questions, chuckling while he did. “Yeah, much,” he said. “Of course, that’s thanks to Seren. Relaxing and sleeping are probably all I’m gonna be doing until at least one of the casts comes off, and then it’s therapy until I’m back at a hundred, or as close as I can get.”

He gave a sigh at that, and then quickly waved his good hand as if to wave away the bad vibes. “Anyway, what about you? How’s everything?”

"I am glad you're feeling better. And I know she's going to take good care of you, since that's her way." Dai settled back, and glanced down the hall towards where Seren had vanished off to the kitchen, before looking back at his 'brother in law'. "As for me, I've been well enough since I saw you two yesterday. Just relaxed, really, not doing too much."

He was about to say more when Remy came galloping over, wuffing to demand that Dai lean over and pay attention to him right NOW, thank you!

Dai began to laugh out loud and leaned down, scooping the silly dog up into his arms, cuddling him close and giving him a good head scritch. "Yes, pup, I missed you too!"

—

Seren came back into the room, smiling. "Shouldn't be too much longer before everything is done. I'm glad to see you've both settled in. I have the table prepped, and the sides are heating up. I'll be back again to let you both know when it's ready."

"It is, yeah," he said through a little smile. It always had been, he noticed even before they started dating. She took care of him and Remy when they were just neighbors and eventually friends, and that carried on even after they became a couple. It did bring to mind other aspects of their relationship. They'd been maintaining for years now, and he'd been hesitating about moving on to the next logical step because of how much time he was actually spending working, between civilian work and the Negaverse.

Somehow, in the same instant he had the thought he felt like it was just an excuse... so he tucked away his decision on what he ought to do next just as Remy barrelled into the room.

Nate laughed lightly at the sight of Dai and Remy catching up, then shifted his gaze when Seren spoke. He settled his eyes on her and smiled, giving her a nod in response.

"Thank you, love," he said as he started getting himself ready to get up. It was a slow process, and granted he didn't know how much longer anything was gonna take, he figured it would be good to at least be ready to get up for when everything was ready."

Seren gave him a bright smile, and one for Dai, too, always happy her brother and her partner and her partner's dog got along so well.

—

Dai glanced up, nodding, then looked at Nate with concern. "Do you need nay help? I don't want to push, of course, but I also don't want to see you push yourself harder than necessary, or risk you getting hurt again..."

His tone was a little hesitant, because he was concerned he might be pushing a boundary by accident, but he also wanted to offer, to be there for his brother in spirit if not in fact.

"A spotter, maybe," he said to the younger man, still wearing a smile. He understood the concern, and while it did dig into his pride a little bit he knew it was coming from a place of genuine concern for him, same as Seren. "But I think I'll be okay, thanks."

Turning back to Seren, he said, "I'm right behind you, babe."

"Mmm sounds like a plan." Dai stood up, and moved to where he could act as spotter, without being intrusive or pushy, and just quietly kept an eye on Nate while he stood up, being ready to help if needed.

Honestly, he hoped he wasn't for a lot of reasons, one of them being he could tell Nate was not comfortable with needing to be helped, let alone being in the state he and his body were currently in. As such, Dai just hoped Nate would make it, no trouble, so that he would not feel the bruising to his pride any further for the moment.

—

Seren gave Nate a smile as she headed back to the kitchen. "Just head into the dining room, I'll be along shortly with the food, love." She headed back in and focused on everything, and soon, she was heading back and forth to the dining room table with platers and bowls, and a pie on a trivet, finishing with a big jug of ice water and another of lightly sweetened lemon tisane.

Once it was all out, she ran back and grabbed the plates, cups, and the basket she had stuffed with utensils, both for eating and serving with, and got the table set.

“Thanks,” he said, looking between the two siblings before turning his focus to safely getting himself up. Again, it was slow, but he managed…okay. A little teeter at one point, but he was eventually up and making his way toward the dining room. In the time it took for Seren to get most of the table set, Nate hobbled over and got settled in his seat, fighting down the guilt of not being able to do anything to help her.

Soon they were all settled in, and they had a lovely meal. The conversation was comfortable and relaxed, as they generally avoided anything that would make things sadder for anyone. The food was delicious, the mood was quiet and happy, and when it was over, Dai gave Seren and Nate their gifts, and vice versa.

After a few hours, Dai gave Nate a good night hug, before Seren escorted him to the door, hugged her brother goodbye for the evening, before heading back to Nate. It took a little while before they headed upstairs, as Seren was packing up the last of the food and cleaning up, but soon, they were in her rooms, snuggled up together on the couch.

"That was a lovely evening, babe. I always love these nights where we get to snuggle up and spend the evening together after a date or event."

“It was, yeah,” he said, smiling softly as he turned his head to press a kiss to her hair. Not taking his injuries into account, this was how he wanted every night to be—her tucked in against him as they wound down together at the end of a long day. The thought settled again in his mind, and he turned it over for a moment before reaching for her hand.

“And same. Feels like it’s been forever since we were able to do that.” Probably his fault, but they’d been avoiding things that could possibly dumb down the good mood and good vibes of the holiday, so he left that part out of his thought out.

She took his hand, happily, as he reached for hers, her fingers gently twining with his, her eyes filled with her love for him. She leaned up to press a kiss to his lips, before replying.

"Perhaps but we're here now. Let's make the most of it for as long as you're going to be staying here with me, yeah?"

Her other hand slid up to gently run her fingers through locks of his hair, just an affectionate and loving touch, no more.

He happily returned the kiss, smile becoming a contented one as she pulled away. “Mm…” he mused for a moment as he closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her fingers in his hair. It was a feeling he’d always enjoyed, from the early days of their relationship up to now.

He took a breath before opening his eyes. “Yeah, about that,” he said as he brought her hand to his lips for a little kiss. “I, uh, had a thought earlier. about maybe making that a more…permanent…arrangement?” He met her eye then, smile turning small. “I feel like it shouldn’t have taken an accident to make me ask, but the truth is I’ve thought about it a lot. I just kept thinking I was working too much, or that kinda thing. I wasn’t sure if it’d be fair to you…”

She smiled softly, always glad to see how much he enjoyed those simple, affectionate touches. It was just a simple thing, but it reminded her that they were just... Right together.

And then he began to speak, so she simply tilted her head, to indicate she was listening.

Her eyes widened at his words, and the hand that feels his tightened just a little. "More permanent... Like living together? Maybe... You moving in with me?"

She sounded hopeful in a way that would show she really, truly liked that idea. "And I don't see how it would be unfair to me... It would mean that you'd be there for me, far more often than you can be now. I don't blame you or your job, but it definitely means you're be here more. And Remy would have me when you're working nights... I honestly don't see a downside?"

He nodded when she phrased it more plainly—moving in together. He could sense her hopefulness from her response, and a bit of confidence slipped into his smile as he listened to her. He gave her hand a little squeeze as she spoke, and by the end he nodded slowly.

“I just have been working a lot, so I haven’t been home as often as I normally would be. Remy’s been at the station a lot because of that, actually, and I don’t know if my work situation is gonna change but…”

He paused then, and again lifted her hand to his lips. “After this accident, I know I don’t wanna spend any more time away from you than I have to.”

She smiled slowly, her fingers brushing his cheek. "Well this was, Remy won't have to be at the station all the time... He can be here, and even when you're busy with work, I'll have a companion at my side. And we will have more time together. I like that idea..."

Her eyes were bright and happy at this, so pleased that they could finally be in the same home, reside in a place with privacy, just for them.

"Honestly, this is like a perfect way to end Christmas... Like a surprise extra gift from us to us."

It took a moment for him to process what she said, slowly coming to see that the pros far, far outweighed any cons. So he nodded his head before leaning in for a little kiss.

"Yep," he said with a little smile, "Merry Christmas to us."