Family was everything for the honey-blonde woman. It ran deeper than any raging river that carved its path through the earth, creating those great canyons and ravines after countless centuries. It was stronger than any hurricane or tsunami that would tear into the shores of the world, changing the land to the point of being almost completely beyond any hope of recognition. It was warmer than the morning sun on a summer day, comforting as it soaked into one's skin and it was cooler than the first breath of winter as it whispered across the world. Yes, there were certainly trials and harder times when family could be almost as hard and unforgiving as the endless sands of the Sahara Desert or as mind-boggling and difficult to navigate as the depths of the Amazonian jungle, but that was how life was for everything more or less. Very few aspects of living were ever easy and effortless as the kindness that Elain seemed to extrude with absolutely no effort despite the careful and almost weary looks that the white-haired woman gave her. If anything, she hardly even noticed, only concerned with the fact that she'd said yes to dinner and the excitement that danced freely within her glacier blue eyes were only just a glimpse of how thrilled the young woman really was. Maybe most would not have been nearly as eager or ready to make a new friend in one of the very first faces she'd practically run into (Elain didn't count her classmates or peers though, she saw them on a daily basis and most of them were just kind enough to the young woman so that she might leave them alone to their studies, the struggles of being a diligent scholar in the making), but Elain would not be Elain if she did not happily seize onto every chance she had to make a new companion.

It was this fearlessness to see beyond the less than warm and welcoming persona that seemed to surround Vhalla, to feel as though somewhere behind those brilliant blue eyes, there was someone that needed a friend. It wasn't as though she actually knew if the white-haired woman had friends in her life or even family that lived nearby. She hadn't the slightest idea what that social circle of the older woman was, if she had all the support in her life that she could possibly want or require and didn't necessarily need another person in her life, and the young woman was very much aware of how this could very much be a possibility. But, Vhalla hadn't turned down her dinner invitation, and that was what served as enough indication that just maybe, with any luck, the white-haired woman might become more than just a fleeting face in the big city. Besides, Naomi was quite busy with her own schooling and tending to her own life, and when all she really had these days for companionship was her temperamental big brother that wasn't really keen on bonding moments, always seeming to be pouty about something or out at a bar (which for obvious reasons she could not attend for another couple years legally speaking), life in Sacrosanct was promising to get rather lonely without some form of female companionship. Or just companionship in general, though she highly doubted that Lazarus would be very keen on Benjamin being over to their house. So, the two women walk side by side back to the townhouse that she and her brother had made into their home away from the world that the man insisted they needed to leave behind, the silence perfectly comfortable for the honey-blonde woman simply content for the companionship of another.

They arrive into the house, and as Elain busies herself with starting to prepare the vegetables, keen senses are aware of the white-haired woman rising from her place on the couch as she looks after the various décor of the younger woman's home. There were photos here and there, but there weren't many that portrayed a happy family of four during various points of the year. One of those particular photos that hung in the living room being of a mother, father, and two kinds sitting around a red and white plaid blanket, an assortment of various foods spread out between the foursome as the family enjoyed a bright summer afternoon. For a fleeting moment, Elain's glacier blue eyes admire the photo of a time when their family had been whole and happy, a time when things had been so much simpler and her big brother had actually been known to smile. No, he'd never been a social kid growing up and he'd never been the best at making friends, but when he was with his family... he was an entirely different person. Back then, he didn't bare the weight of guardianship over his little sister, even when he still kept a careful watch over her as they grew up under the nurturing roof of their parents. But back then, before the night when they'd lost their parents, he'd been happier â€" as hard as such a thing would be to think of when one looked upon the aloof man who only ever seemed cold or angry with the world, which he was. He'd always said to Elain that had he been there, had he been older and stronger and more trained in his abilities as a dark hunter intended to follow in his father's footsteps, their parents would still be alive. The honey-blonde young woman could always hear the guilt and grief in his voice from the sparse times that he had made himself vulnerable around her, and it pained her heart in a way unlike anything she'd ever felt. Even the excruciating change from human to dark hunter did not compare to the hurt that her heart and soul felt for Lazarus, and she wanted so badly for the world to know that there was so much more beneath those hardened dark forest eyes and solemn expression. She could only help him so far, though.

Caught up in those thoughts, the younger woman had nearly missed Vhalla's acknowledgment of what it was that would be served for dinner, and so she offers the older woman a sweet smile to let her know that she had in fact heard her, if only just barely. It is when Vhalla expresses her discomfort of just watching as Elain went about cutting the vegetables that the white-haired woman rises from the place she'd sat for only moments before moving to stand beside Elain. With almost startling ease, she plucks the knife from the younger woman's hand and her hips bump gently against Elain's own and immediately those icy blues are alight with that same brightness as a radiant smile dances across her own lips to answer Vhalla's. It made Elain happy to see the woman smile. She watches nearly in awe at the speed and precision of the older woman's movements, nodding lightly as she grabs the chicken and begins prepping it."You're definitely better with a knife than me. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a chef in a past life or something", she says cheekily. She listens as Vhalla speaks, glancing at her as she reached for various seasonings, and when the white-haired woman asks what it was that had brought Elain and Lazarus here, there is still no hesitation."Well, when our parents died, things got harder for us back home. He was the one he decided that we needed a change of scenery, so we packed up what we could and travelled for a few weeks until we came here and saw this place", she says softly, a subtle shift in her airy voice as it seems to grow only just a little heavier at the mention of her late mother and father. Before she can say anything more, she can hear her brother and she turns quickly to see the man in his defensive stance, forest gaze narrowed and fierce as they fixated upon Vhalla. The confusion as the two exchange less than pleasant words is clearly etched into the young woman's features, though it was Vhalla's words that chased away that questioning and they are bright with surprise."So you're the one who kicked his ass?! Wow, what were the chances! I'm sure he deserved it, though", she interjects. When the older woman turns to Elain, she hears that ever familiar nickname that otherwise would have made her giddy with delight at the small steps they were already taking towards becoming friends. She is almost laughing at the woman's word's before she turns to Lazarus and at this point Elain can see that he was getting dangerously close to that tipping point so she moves to stand beside Vhalla."Lazlo, just chill out. This is Vhalla, and she happens to be our guest so check your temper or else you'll just need to eat in your room", she scolds him, those usually bright and sweet glacier depths suddenly igniting with a fire of their own as she challenged him to try and defy her on what she'd already promised.