A little coffee with your tea? [Oliver]

raya had noticed Oliver somewhat struggling with his broken arm, but she didn't dare voice an offer to help him. She knew somewhat of the kind of person he was, and she didn't want to seem like she was admitting him to be unable to handle himself. If he needed help, he would ask for it. The silence that their lunch had progressed with was a welcome, comfortable one, without either of them feeling awkward about it or trying to force a conversation to rid themselves of the silence.

She noticed a certain kind of falter in his eyes when she had asked him the question. It was a momentary flash that had Eraya's eyes convey curiousity through the gaze she had on him. However, he seemed to simply ignore it and go on to answering her question, so she focused on that instead, brushing away the thought. Her glacial eyes seemed to crack with a momentary flash of memory as Oliver mentioned the injury he had received from a Magi Terrorist. She had indeed been glancing at his arm out of absent curiousity at times, but never outright staring at it. And she had definitely also observed his glances down where her eyes weren’t, but she was used to having men do that, so she didn’t exactly give it much thought. The thought didn’t even come to her mind, actually.

“What happened?” She asked, referring to the Magi Terrorist incident, asking about more details on it. He answered her question by stating that she’d get the details on the report that he’d be giving her later. She nodded, as she leaned back in her chair, the action inadvertently spreading her loosened collar slightly wider, exposing a small visual slice of her defined collar bones. She took no notice of it as she brought her cup up, taking a sip from it. “I’m afraid much hasn’t happened with me like that.” She said, giving him the courtesy of answering her own question after he did. “I came back recently from my station overseeing the new trainees at the Corps to be the supervising officer as I am now.” She took another sip of her latte as a sign that she was done with her line of conversation for the moment.

She gave him a knowing smirk as she retorted to his words, “I know what you mean. I barely have anything going on with my work taking up everything.” She paused as Oliver seemed to be conflicted with something. It was something that no one else would notice, but Eraya, having known the man for a while, and being as noticeable to his tells as he was to hers, saw it. She raised an eyebrow as she waited patiently for him until he finally spoke.

"I recently found out I have family."

The shock that passed through Eraya’s eyes weren’t muted, but they were gone in a flash. She set down her cup as she clasped her fingers together on the table, trying to think of something appropriate to say or ask. She was surprised. Very surprised. But nothing negative. No, she was trying to figure out whether she was happy for her friend or if he needed help regarding it. She knew about his immediate family’s status, and her eyes instantly glanced at his hands for the signs of any rings, finding none. Which only left…

Another flash of surprise passed her eyes as she then said, “What’s his… or her... name?” She asked, her voice quiet, holding her surprise in it. She simply was not expecting that line to have dropped so suddenly. She was instantly filled with a sudden urge, thanks to her empathic nature, to help the child. “Who’s the mother?” She asked as well, giving him an apologetic signal through her eyes incase he didn’t want to talk about it, knowing he had the choice of declining to answer if he wanted.

Eraya shook her head at his question, as she leaned back again. “I’m afraid nothing interesting has been going on with me. I just got back to Felici a few months ago. And since then, I’ve only been working, going to the gym, going to bars and going to-” She paused, swallowing before continuing, in a slightly more somber tone. “- going to visit my father.”
Not many people knew, but Eraya’s father was buried outside, halfway between Felici and Dagos, in a graveyard out in the countryside, inside a small forest. But Oliver knew. After all, he was there during her father’s small funeral, where she had remained strong and silent. And he had been with her after the funeral was over, as Eraya had allowed her strong outer shell to crack and had simply gripped onto Oliver for dear life, sobbing all her pain and regrets into his shoulder.
“Nothing’s really happened yet, I’m afraid. Although…” Her eyes lost the pensive shade to them and, instead, glittered with amusement again as she paused, no doubt giving a delay to see if he would do his little head tilt. Because, “I do plan on getting a dog soon. Since it’s been getting a bit boring all alone in my house.” She didn’t say that Oliver’s head-tilting had given her the idea, only silently mused about it in her head. She also didn't say anything about how her statement about the house could've been taken in another meaning, mainly because she didn't notice that meaning when she said it.

raya could not help but be slightly surprised by Oliver’s simple explanation that he had been beaten. Bested. From what Eraya could recall, Oliver had been an exceptionally good fighter. That must’ve only gotten moreso over the years they’ve been apart. To hear that he was beaten by someone in the way he expressed it was unexpected. It was even more strange to hear how Oliver’s runic weapon (Eraya tried to suppress the small flinch she got from hearing of a weapon made from the bones of a slain magi, only showing the smallest reaction with her eyes narrowing and her lips tightening for a split second.) failed to dispel the fire of that magi. Oliver’s last comment about the metal detector didn’t really amuse Eraya though, as she was still deep in thought about the fire terrorist he fought, her brows furrowed. She had a small twinge of worry over Oliver’s arm, but she knew he could take care of himself in regards to that as it was already cast up and healing.

“That is a very strange incident indeed. When you submit your report about it later, could you please include visual descriptions on the fire magi?” She said, taking a sip of her drink as she gazed down at his arm again. As Oliver then explained that he’d include more details in his report, she nodded.
“I hope it’s only a one time magical thing. If it’s a major thing involving all terrorists… It would be difficult to contain.” She shifted her gaze outwards, weighing a decision she was making. A tough call. Then she looked back at Oliver.
“If you find any signs of this fire magi again in the future, I want you to inform me at once.” She then allowed a coy smile to come onto her lips as she added, “As confident I am in your abilities, this person has kicked your ass once. I’d rather it not happen again if I can help it, so I’ll be accompanying you next time.” She said, humor in her eyes at the small taunt, but steel underlying in her voice that clarified that there would be no arguments on that. Aside from him being her friend, she was his CO now and would not let him expose himself to a known high threat. She also wanted to see if this really was a threat, or just a severe misunderstanding.

Hearing about Oliver talking about his child was very… strange, to say the least. Eraya had always assumed everyone would, at some point in their life, settle down and have a family. The notion existing was one thing, but to actually see it occur was another entirely. She suddenly felt quite… old. A woman at the peak of her prime, yes, but after the peak was nothing but a downclimb. Those thoughts nagged at the back of her mind but were drowned out about the details she absorbed about Oliver’s daughter that he divulged. Especially since she was a teenager, that age was quite a difficult age to deal with.

“I can imagine it to be quite different.” She said, her sapphire ice eyes filled with mixed emotions, indiscernible since she wasn’t really feeling anything in particular aside from too many thoughts on what it was like. But a flair of protectiveness and instinct did flair up inside of her as she fixed her gaze (which had unfocused for a second or two) on him again.
“If you ever need help with her, I’m here to help.” She said, imagining her own teenage years as her eyes grew distant again. “I grew up without a mother. My father provided for everything, as I’m sure you do, but… Sometimes, a girl needs another girl to talk to.” She closed her eyes and shook her head, a sad smile coming onto her lips for a second before fading. “I’m not implying anything, but just saying that I’m here to help if you feel like she has something you can’t understand or deal with.” Her voice was sincere despite her foreign feeling to the whole subject.

As soon as Oliver tilted his head, Eraya couldn’t help but chuckle, covering her mouth with a slender hand by reflex. But when Oliver threw up his offer in the air, Eraya’s eyes seemed to focus in on him with interest of varying degrees, trying to dissect the intention behind his words. She decided to play the cards in his own game as she shrugged, taking a sip of her drink before saying “That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I’ll give you a ring whenever I’d like to go out for groceries and need someone to help me carry things.” Her voice was just as casual and nonchalant as his had been, as her eyes scanned outside through the window, taking in the view of the street.