Going into the living room, Armin settled down on the couch. He gazed down at the box, playing with the latch, but not yet opening it.

'...Fair warning, I'll probably get sentimental... So I hope you know that, no matter how I react to these, it doesn't mean I'm still in love with her. Or that I don't love you.'

Dianne: "Of course. I completely understand. No matter how you react, I'm here for you."

Hesitantly, Armin opened the lid. Without looking, he put a hand inside and withdrew the first object he felt. It was an old paintbrush, the wooden handle faded with age, the bristles bent, stained with ancient paint splatters.

'...That was hers,' he said, putting it down on the couch. 'She painted a lot. I think this was the first brush she bought. She used to carry it around everywhere, like a good luck charm.'

{Dianne eyes the brush, picking it up and looking it over curiously.}

Dianne: "Yes, the way it's been worn is a testament to that."

'It was very important to her.' Armin glanced at the brush, then pulled out the next object from the box. It was a scrap of material which, when unfolded, was revealed to be a handmade knitted scarf.

'This wasn't hers, but she made it. For Fred, when he was a kid. Huh, I should give this back to him... I don't know why he'd let me have it...'

Dianne: "Huh. Well, give that one back and see what he says. Surely he has a reason."

Armin shrugged and put the scarf down, before digging out the next item. A gold ring, very similar to the one he used to carry in his pocket, but smaller. He eyed it thoughtfully.

'...I might use this for the... ritual. There's no way I could sacrifice something that meant so much to her or Fred. This is the best thing I can use...'

Dianne: "Ok. Keep anything you don't want to be destroyed. Whenever you want to do the ritual, you just let me know."

'Will do. I think there's one more thing in here...'

He turned the box upside-down and shook out the last item. At first glance, it appeared to be the most ordinary one. A single silver Haar, dull with age. The date printed on the coin said it was around 270 years old.

At this, Armin seemed to choke up. He couldn't even say anything; he just stared at the coin, blinking hard.

{In response, Dianne softly rubs his back and shoulders. She didn't say anything, just waiting for him to compose himself.}

Armin swallowed a couple of times, then spoke up in a voice thick with fraying control.

'...I gave this to her. The weekend we first met, in Riverside. When we were teenagers. I actually had no idea she'd kept it all those years...'

{Dianne hugs him, gently stroking his hair.}

Dianne: "That just shows how much she loved you. How she's always loved you, even when you were gone."

Armin shuddered slightly.

'...She kept something I gave her before she even loved me. And what did I do? I disappeared, leaving her to spend the rest of her life not even knowing what happened to me. I abandoned her because I couldn't find a way to kill or escape Sargon faster...'

{Dianne hugs him tighter.}

Dianne: "No, no.....There was nothing you could have done....It's not your fault...."

'Anything would've been better than screwing up her life like that. After everything she did for me. I should have found a way, dam.n it!'

His voice broke on the last part. He turned towards Dianne, leaning against her and starting to sob quietly and hopelessly over her shoulder.

(Dianne's done a lot of crying over the course of this story. Guess it's Armin's turn. XD)

{With one hand, Dianne strokes his hair. With the other, she gently pats his back. She starts to gently rock back and forth with him, in an attempt to soothe him.}

Dianne: "No, sweetie, no....You did all that you could..."

(Yup. It was bound to happen eventually. XD)

Armin's form shook with quiet sobs as he tried to regain control of himself. He focused on her touch as best as he could, drawing comfort from it.

'Th-they d-deserved better... Not just Janet, but Fred and Julie, too... I didn't get to s-see them grow up, or be a father to them...'

Dianne: "And the man responsible for this lies headless in an unmarked grave, rotting into nothing, doomed to be forgotten. You are not at fault...you are as much a victim of these events as they are."

'Th-that doesn't make it much easier... /Maybe/ I couldn't have done anything, but they still suffered... It's not your fault that your daughter died, but you can't help feeling bad about it. Nor can I.'

{Dianne sighs at that.}

Dianne: "...It is true...The worst of our lives may never leave us entirely....the past is painful, and we struggle to come to terms with it....But, regardless of how much it hurts, you don't have to go through it alone....I love you, and no matter what happens, or how bad you feel, I'm here for you."

Armin gradually quieted down, rocking himself with her and sniffling occasionally.

'...Thanks... I don't normally dwell on it, but seeing that coin brought back something. Having you around makes me feel a lot better. Don't you dare die, or leave, or anything...'

{Dianne just smiles at that, kissing his cheek and whispering into his hear.}

Dianne: "I'm not going anywhere. Come hell or high water, we'll fight them together. Don't you die either, you hear? I love you too, and Esme does too."

Armin wrapped his arms around her strongly. He looked more composed now, though tired.

'I don't intend to. Us vampires, we're kind of hard to kill... I might be a reckless idiot, but I love you, and I don't want to lose what I consider to be my family now.'

Dianne: "And we don't want to lose you. I know how hard it is to lose your family...let's not do that again..."

{She then kissed his cheek, moving down to nuzzle his neck.}

Armin let out a long, calming breath, shivering slightly at her gesture. 'I won't let that happen. We'll fight whatever heIIspawn monsters or people come after us, and survive.'

He tightened his arms around her, continuing to lean forwards against her.

{She hugged him tighter as well, still rocking gently.}

Dianne: "We're going to be just fine. All of us."

Armin quietly hugged her for a little longer, then reluctantly sat up, wiping his face on his sleeve and packing all of Janet's things back into the box.

'Well, I have this stuff, so I can do the ritual whenever I like. Not today. Not after this... I need some time to mentally prepare.'

Dianne: "Yes, that would be for the best. Take some time to relax, it's been a tough week. For all of us."

Armin nodded absently, pulling himself to his feet. 'I'm gonna put this in the closet in our room... Don't let Barnabas touch any of it, will you?'

Dianne: "Barnabas."

Barnabas: "Yeah?"

Dianne: "Do not touch what's in the box. Ever."

Barnabas: "Ok..."

{She then follows Armin up to the closet.}

Dianne: "So, where's Esme?"

Armin found a safe spot in the closet to put the box, then glanced around the room. 'I'm not sure where she is right now. She can't have gone far, though. She's probably just playing somewhere.'

Dianne: "Barnabas, go keep an eye on her please."

{As Barnabas left for that task, Dianne approaches Armin, wraps her arms around him, and pulls him into a passionate kiss.}

Dianne: "Y'know....There's still a bit of time before I need to make dinner....If you want, we could....destress ourselves...if you get my meaning...."

Armin cocked his head, smirked a bit, then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her in return.

'...You're eager, huh?' he murmured, as he drew back from the kiss and playfully nipped at her chin. 'That was pretty enthusiastic...'

Dianne: "Hey, the bounty's gone, Paxton's dead, and you seemed like you could use some...cheering up....Seems like a perfect time to me."

{She then kissed down his cheek and started playfully nipping his neck.}

Dianne: "So...Bed, or bath?"

Armin let out a quick breath and reached over to shut the door. 'Bed...' he said. 'We're already in here and I'm too lazy to go run a bath right now.'

He pressed forwards a little, trying to nudge her backwards in the direction of the bed.

{Dianne lets him nudge her, willingly moving backwards towards the bed. She continues to kiss and nip his neck, moving up to the underside of his jaw.}

Armin's breathing quickened, and he gave a quiet growl, running his hands up her back and starting to gently push her down onto the bed. Though, of course, she was stronger than him, so he couldn't unless she let him.

{Giving a contented hum, she let him push her onto the bed, smiling. Taking his arm, she directs him to the zipper in the back of her dress.}

Dianne: "Here.....Might find it easier to do that....once it's undone..."

Armin carefully held himself just above her and nuzzled along her jaw until he reached her mouth, leaning into another kiss. At the same time, he caught hold of the zipper in her dress and pulled it down to expose her back. He then ran a hand across it, lightly trailing his nails down her spine.

{Slipping her hands under his shirt, she tenses at the sensation traveling across her spine, digging her fingers into his back. She lightly bites his lip as they kiss, her breathing becoming fast and her pulse quickening.}

Armin gave a quiet groan as he felt her hands on his back, pressing himself slightly closer. He drew back from the kiss, dropping his head lower to nuzzle between her neck and shoulder, lightly biting at the muscle there. His vampiric instincts were nudging him to bite harder, to sink his fangs in, but he suppressed it.

{Dianne arched her back, pulling her legs in slightly and growling lowly. Then, she bit his neck, a bit harder this time, while trying to pull his jacket off.}

Breathing raggedly, Armin sat up long enough to pull his arms out of his sleeves and let his jacket slide off. He then returned to nuzzle at the same spot as before, nipping and biting as roughly as he could without leaving puncture wounds.

{Dianne followed suit, nipping and biting at any part of him she could reach. She once again slips her hands under his shirt and brings him closer while raking her nails down his back,}

(We should probably skip there before I have to write paragraphs with DATA EXPUNGED in order to dodge the ban. XD.)

(I should just start posting our RP rooms under a mature filter. XD

What time do we skip to?)

(lmao, probably. I'll skip to dinner time and then we'll decide where to go from there.)

(Alrighty.)

-----

{After finishing their activity, Dianne had made dinner. Coming into the living room, she puts a plate of pan fried fish down for Esme and sits with her own. Her neck still bore the marks of Armin's love bites, given how recently they were sustained.}

Armin was leaning back on the couch, comfortable and content. He had marks on his neck, as well as other spots that weren't visible, his back was scratched up, and his hair was ruffled. He glanced up at Dianne when she approached, then accepted his share of the fish and started eating quietly.

{Dianne smirks at him, briefly glancing at him. She begins to eat quietly, watching a movie on the tv. She was happy, and her expression showed it. Just being part of a nice, peaceful family brought back fond memories and feelings. Too long, had she been stuck as an instrument of suffering. This felt, to her, like a long overdue and well deserved experience.}

Esme devoured her food while simultaneously trying to stare at the TV. Armin finished a little more slowly, taking his plate into the kitchen before returning to the couch. Looking at Dianne out of the corner of his eye, he just smiled fondly. He liked to see her happy, especially since he was as well.

{Dianne put her empty plate on the table, leaning back against the couch in contentness. She glances fondly at Armin before turning back to the movie.}

Dianne: "Heh....That was a dumb move....The bad guy was just standing and pointing. That's your cue to shoot him."

'Well, they have to do stupid things for the sake of drama. The movie wouldn't last very long if all the characters had common sense...' Armin smirked. 'You really like picking holes in movies, don't you?'

Dianne: "Yeah, well, being stupid kind of irks me. Still, I do enjoy the movie. It is entertaining."

'Yeah. Esme seems to like it too...' He glanced at the dragonet, who had finished her dinner and was watching the screen curiously.

With a slight yawn, he let himself tip sideways and lean against Dianne, enjoying the extra warmth as he watched the movie.

{Dianne smiles, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer.}

Dianne: "Feeling cold there, sweetheart?"

'It's not too bad.' He wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled comfortably against her side, closing his eyes as he listened to her breathing and heartbeat, the noise seeming to relax him. 'It's kind of been a long day...'

Dianne: "I know, darling, I know. I hope our little...activity made you feel a bit more relaxed..."

{She wraps both arms around him and snuggles into him fondly.}

Armin hummed contentedly. 'Yes, that usually helps,' he said with faint amusement. 'Back in Shacklestone, I often used that as a form of stress relief, or a distraction from... everything... But it's nicer with you, because now it's more than just a coping mechanism.'

Dianne: "Heh, yeah...I never really did it, except for that time with Ardens....loneliness and mating season tends to lead to bad decisions....it's much nicer with you, that's for sure...."

'Yeah, loneliness was something I was pretty familiar with. If I wasn't filling the emptiness in my life with /that,/ then it was alcohol or fighting... Hang on, did you just imply your species has a mating season?' he said, doing a double take.

{Dianne looks at him quizzically.}

Dianne: "Yeah, we do. Is that a surprise?"

'Well, I just hadn't heard of many non-human races having one, except werewolves. Though I guess it makes sense for some dragons to.' He squinted a bit in thought. 'You don't seem to mind doing stuff at other times, if the last few days are any indication...'

Dianne: "Oh, during the normal times, I still have...urges.....but only during mating season can I...bear children....does that make sense? When it rolls around, I get an influx of hormones that make me....more eager....but it also starts the ovulation cycle. Does that make sense?"

'Yeah, it makes sense,' Armin replied, in a relaxed but attentive tone. 'I guess it's not something that will really impact us... it's not like we could unintentionally have children...'

Dianne: "Yeah, even if you weren't a vampire, this form is sterile. I might be able to have children in my dragon form, but I haven't looked into that, so I'm not sure..."

'...Is there a reason why you wouldn't? You obviously did before.'

{Dianne sighs, thinking about the question.}

Dianne: "Well....I'm 3000 years old, so, I don't know.....However, my body undergoes cellular resets after certain periods of time, of under certain stimulIi....I don't know if that affects the reproductive system or not...I'd have to go see a doctor to know for sure...."

'Mhm.' Armin was silent for a short while, mulling over the discussion. 'Would it matter to you, if you found out that you couldn't? Even if you wouldn't be able to have children with me anyway?'

Dianne: "...I don't know...I don't know how I'd react...I think I would be sad if I couldn't....but would it make any difference even if I could? Perhaps it's better left to ambiguity..."

'Yeah,' said Armin contemplatively. 'I guess it's not relevant... not now, anyway... We have Esme, she's not related to either of us, but she's still ours. Her not being your biological kid obviously doesn't make you care for her any less.'

Dianne: "Of course not. She's my baby now, and nothing will ever change that...I love both of you, and you're my family now. I don't think I'd be happy with life any other way."

{She then leans forward and Kisses Armin on the forehead.}

(Have to post new room)

Lol, k