Winter in the East (Closed: Nuridia and Tomia)

[Tomia]

Eric smiled at Alex's comment. Aurelia was right, he seemed like a good and fun guy. His smile faded when the discussion became more serious. He saw the family all frowning and looking worried. He saw Aurelia was looking worried as well and took her hand to comfort her. "Hey guys, everything will be alright. It won't be the same as last time. Marie has been safe so far, no one's going to attack you, and we'll all be there for her. I'm sure nothing like that is going to happen." He told Aurelia and her family.

[Nuridia]

"It's not the attack that I'm worried about, it's the physical strain of an angelic labor and what it can do to a mortal body." Alex told John. Marie stood up. "Sweetie, I'm gonna go take a shower." "I feel a bit sticky, it was hot outside." "Be back soon." Marie smiled. "Be careful love, make sure you don't slip." Raphael said, squeezing her hand. "I will love." Marie smiled and gave her husband a kiss before going upstairs. At the same time that Marie was walking up the stairs, Gabriel came back down the stairs laughing. Raphael looked at his brother. "Gabe, what's so damn funny?" the angel asked his youngest brother quizzically. Michael had gone off to train, so Gabriel smiled. "Raph, I got the ultimate prank." "I'm gonna get Mike back good, this is for April fools and what he did to me." Raphael couldn't help a small smile as he rolled his eyes. "You really need to grow up little brother." "What did you do, I won't tell Michael." Gabriel smiled and told everybody. "Okay then, so Michael put live crabs in my bed months ago." "I got him back, he went off to train a few minutes ago." "So when he comes back, he'll be all sweaty." "And sweaty people want to take showers, and of course he'll want to wash his hair." "Let's just say that blondie's getting a surprise hairdo." "You put something in the shampoo, didn't you?" Uriel asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe." Gabriel said smirking. Raphael's smile turned into a frown when he remembered something. "Gabe, Marie just went to go take a shower five minutes ago." "Oh shit." Gabriel muttered, looking scared now." "Let's hope she won't wash her hair, if she does then I'm a dead angel because she's gonna kill me." "It's not going to hurt her is it?" Raphael asked, concerned for his wife." Gabriel then spoke lower. "Maybe only her pride." he nearly whispered. "Maybe we can stop her, just knock on the door and tell her not to use the shampoo." "Hey Mom!" Aurelia shouted, going upstairs. "Mimi, whatever you do, don't wash your hair!" Raphael called, also going up the stairs. Marie couldn't hear them, the door was locked and the running water too loud.

[Tomia]

John nodded to Alex. "I know, but at least she'll be able to give birth in a safe environment. She won't have to wait like last time." John then saw Gabriel walk up to them. He smiled when he started talking about pranking his brother Michael. Gabriel was definitely a little childish but John liked that about him. He didn't take life too seriously. He listened as he talked about the prank and was surprised when he said he messed with the shampoo in the shower. Gabriel wasn't wrong, Marie would probably kill him. He ran up to the room with Aurelia and Raphael. Since she wasn't answering to their calls he knocked on the door hard to get her attention before she used the shampoo.

[Nuridia]

Marie had already washed her hair before anybody came up, and now she was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair and applying conditioner. When she heard John's knocks it was too late, she had already used it. After she washed up, Marie got dressed into something comfortable and looked in the mirror to start plaiting her hair. She then saw her hair fall in front of her place and grabbed it, she stood in stunned silence before letting out a bloodcurdling shriek. "WHO DID THIS?!" she shouted. "Uh..oh." Aurelia whispered. "If I were you, I would run." she told Gabriel, who paled and gulped. "Mimi, are you alright in there?!" Raphael called through the door, very worried now. "No I'm not alright Raphy, look what happened to me!" "I will kill whoever did this!" Marie flung the door open to the shower, she stood in her pajamas. She looked like an angry bull, or a very pissed off dragon her face was red with rage. Aurelia could quickly see why, instead of the fiery red curls that normally topped her mother's head, Marie's hair was a bubblegum pink. True pink, like she had dyed her hair with a pink sharpie. "Gabe did it!" Uriel called out. "Hey man!" Gabriel shouted indignantly, still scared. Uriel ran out of the door quick as he could. "Sorry bro, love you but you're not about to get me killed today." Gabriel was frightened. "Marie..I'm so." Gabriel was cut off by being slammed into the wall, a hand wrapped around his throat. Apparently being pregnant made Marie in humanely strong. "You think this bullshit is funny?!" "DO YOU?!" "I'm outta here!" Alex ran right behind Uriel, even Raphael and Aurelia looked frightened. Gabriel tried to pry his sister in law's hand off of his neck, he was clearly gasping for air. It was more from fear than him needing to breathe. "Marie, it was...meant..for Michael." "I'm sorry..please don't kill me." he whimpered. Raphael grabbed his wife gently but firmly, pulling her away from Gabriel. "Mimi, Gabe meant no harm." "He was just having a little fun, and you're pregnant so you can't fight."

[Tomia]

After John had knocked on the door he heard a blood curling scream from inside. "Oh this is not good." He muttered under his breath. "What exactly did you do Gabriel?" His question was answered when Marie came charging out of the bathroom. John had to step back quickly to avoid the door that was flying open. He looked at Marie, who looked like a raging bull, and immediately noticed the change. Marie's hair had been dyed bright pink. The sight was strange, and John may have smiled or laughed in normal circumstances but wouldn't dare here. That would be like signing his own death warrant. John, Eric and Sam were genuinely scared when Marie grabbed Gabriel and shoved him against the wall. Sam even ran behind Eric and wrapped her arms around him. John saw Aurelia was scared as well and stepped toward her and took he hand. He was relieved when Raphael grabbed Marie to stop her. He wondered if he should say anything but was afraid he would say something stupid so he remained quite.

[Nuridia]

After John had knocked on the door he heard a blood curling scream from inside. "Oh this is not good." He muttered under his breath. "What exactly did you do Gabriel?" His question was answered when Marie came charging out of the bathroom. John had to step back quickly to avoid the door that was flying open. He looked at Marie, who looked like a raging bull, and immediately noticed the change. Marie's hair had been dyed bright pink. The sight was strange, and John may have smiled or laughed in normal circumstances but wouldn't dare here. That would be like signing his own death warrant. John, Eric and Sam were genuinely scared when Marie grabbed Gabriel and shoved him against the wall. Sam even ran behind Eric and wrapped her arms around him. John saw Aurelia was scared as well and stepped toward her and took he hand. He was relieved when Raphael grabbed Marie to stop her. He wondered if he should say anything but was afraid he would say something stupid so he remained quite.

Marie was still steaming but calmed down a bit after she was reminded about the baby and after Gabriel's explanation. She let Raphael pull her away reluctantly and just froze. "I totally meant to prank Michael, I'm so sorry." the redhead angel pleaded.

[Tomia]

John and the others were relieved when Raphael pulled Marie from Gabriel. Sam and Eric calmed down and Sam realized she had her arms around Eric and blushed, quickly moving away from him. "Sorry" She said embarrassed. She said it to both Eric and Salma. She didn't want her friend to think she was trying to take Eric from her... again. John saw that Marie was still pretty mad and figured he should try to say something now. "It's alright Marie. It will come out. It won't last long. Besides it doesn't look that bad." He said to his girlfriend's mother to try to calm her.

[Nuridia]

"Look at my hair, it's ruined!" Marie squealed before crying. "I mean look at it, Raphy won't even recognize me anymore!" Marie was pissed off, she didn't kill Gabriel but she slammed him against the wall and burst into tears. "I look like a fucking troll doll!" The prank, combined with all the raging pregnancy hormones made Marie sometimes unreasonable. Raphael walked up to her. "Of course I'll recognize you Mimi!" "I mean I'll know you anywhere, and I'll love you no matter what hair color you have." "Fire or bubblegum, it doesn't matter." Marie threw her arms around Raphael and cried, he stroked his wife's hair to comfort her. Raphael then turned to his brother. "Gabe, you alright?" he asked, looking his younger brother over for injuries. Gabriel looked up at Marie, still a little scared. "It's temporary, it'll come out in a few washes or it'll take about eight weeks to fade out." Marie was still breathing while Gabriel winced in pain from where his back had slammed the wall. Raphael was healing him. "Gabe I'm sorry." Marie panted a bit, still red faced and crying.

[Tomia]

John felt bad when Marie started crying. She was really taking the prank hard. It probably didn't help that she was pregnant and having mood swings. He was surprised when Marie slammed Gabriel against the wall. He was amazed at how strong the pregnant woman was and he wondered if Gabriel was okay. He watched as Raphael went over to heal the angel and John went over to Marie. He saw how upset she was and wanted to try to comfort her. John always liked Marie a lot and she was very important to him. She was always so nice to everyone, he didn't like seeing her sad. "You still look really beautiful Marie. Raphael's right, your hair color doesn't matter. Hey Marie, maybe you should go to your and Raphael's room and lay down. It's getting late and I think you'll feel better if you get some sleep. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better in the morning." He said to his girlfriend's mother.

[Nuridia]

Marie heard John's words and nodded, but still refused to go to bed as she wasn't tired. She turned to her husband and brother-in-law. "Raphy, Gabe." "I'm so sorry for everything, I shouldn't have gone off like that." "But I still feel like I look ridiculous." Gabriel had finished being healed by Raphael. "It's okay, I should've thought about the consequences of my actions." "You should've put it in Michael's private bathroom instead of in the guest room where everyone could get to it Gabe." Raphael smirked. He couldn't help that the prank was a little funny. "Damn, you're right!" "All this could've been avoided." Gabriel swore to himself. Marie saw her husband trying to hold back a laugh. "It's okay Raphy, you can laugh." "It would've been funny if it hadn't gone wrong." Marie admitted. "Hey bro, I didn't hurt you too bad did I?" she asked Gabriel. "It's cool sister." the redhead angel smiled, giving his sister in law a hug, accepting her apology. Marie smiled and gave him a friendly hug back before turning to Raphael and hugging him. "Thanks not being too mad at me Raph, I couldn't ask for a more understanding family." She kissed her husband and Raphael smiled down at her, kissing her back. "Sweetie, you're actually kind of cute with pink hair." "Well I'm glad you're alright now Gabe." Raphael said. Gabriel grinned. "It's cool bro, it takes more than a wall to knock me down."

[Tomia]

John gave a small smile when Marie seemed to be calming down. He was glad when Gabriel and Marie made up and grinned at Raphael's comment about the prank. "Ya that might of been better. But I guess you learn by experience. I'm sure your next prank will be better Gabriel." He told the angel. He was glad that the situation had seemed to calm down. John used to think that Aurelia's dad was a little intimidating but he paled in comparison to Marie when she was angry.

[Nuridia]

Marie still looked at a lock of her hair sadly. It wasn't red anymore, it was pink. Even though the dye was temporary and would come out, she wasn't happy about how it looked. She didn't want to look silly and cry about it but it was one of her favorite features and it being altered depressed her. Raphael wrapped his arms around her and kissed Marie's cheek to comfort her. "Aw, Mimi." "It's okay, think about it like this." "Pink is just light red, and besides it'll come out." "So cheer up a little, hm?" "Pouvez-vous sourire pour moi?" "Votre sourire est si jolie, ma cherie." "Je voudrais le revoir." (Can you smile for me? Your smile is so pretty, my sweetheart. I'd like to see it again.) Raphael asked softly, pinching Marie's cheek affectionately and bringing their faces really close together. Marie managed a small smile and sighed, leaning into her husband's embrace.

[Tomia]

John watched Marie look at her hair longingly. He could tell she was really upset by losing her red hair. He watched Raphael attempt to comfort her and tuned to Aurelia. "Wow your mom's really attached to her red hair huh? She seems so sad about it. I hope your dad can manage to cheer her up. I was actually a little scared or your uncle back there. You know your dad can be a little intimidating sometimes but I will never piss of your mom."

[Nuridia]

"That wouldn't be wise, unless you're trying to commit suicide by Marie." Aurelia joked. "Dad has quite the temper too, you just haven't seen him really pissed off yet." Alex warned. "Yeah, she really loved her hair." Aurelia said to John. "It was a very pretty feature, people used to tease her for it but she was always proud of being a redhead since it was so rare." "And it's super long and curly, so girls are jealous of that." "When Mom was bullied, people would throw water balloons full of dye at her to dye her hair, and filled balloons with hair remover to make her hair fall out." "So I guess the dye reminded her of what she went through as a kid, people ruining the hair she liked so much." "It was the only thing she liked about herself for a long time, I guess all those memories were coming back." Alex added.

[Tomia]

John chuckled at his girlfriend's joke. "Ya, that's probably not the way I would want to go out." He said smiling. He turned to Alex. "Ya, your dad definitely does have a temper. I actually kind of have seen it. It wasn't a pretty sight." John said thinking of when Raphael almost killed him because he thought he and Aurelia had slept together. He listened to Aurelia and Alex tell him about Marie's childhood and frowned deeply. "Gods that's terrible. I'm really sorry she had to go through that. I guess kids can be really mean when they want to be. I can understand how Gabriel's prank would bring back memories." John looked over at Marie and in that moment felt really bad for her. He hadn't known the part about her being bullied. She didn't deserve to go through all that and know it was all probably replaying in her mind. He abruptly walked over to her and hugged her, gently of course to protect the baby. "I'm really sorry about your hair Marie." He told his girlfriend's mother. "It'll be okay though. It's not like the other times. You have people who love you. We won't make fun of you."

[Nuridia]

Marie was surprised by John's hug, she had grown to care for her daughter's boyfriend like her own son. She considered him like a son and gave him a hug back before pulling away. "Thank you John, thank everybody for their support." "I'm trying not to make a big deal over this, but my hair is just crazy." "I may have to...cut it off for it to grow properly again." Raphael nodded to John in thanks and then went over to hug his wife. "Mimi, listen." "Your hair doesn't make you you, your soul does that." "And you'll always be beautiful, because you're a beautiful person, wife and mother." "And we all love you." Raphael kissed Marie, smiling at his wife as she hugged him. "Thanks Raphy." "I love you too." she sniffed. Raphael was quite aware about how fragile his wife was emotionally, he loved her with his whole heart and Marie loved her husband and children deeply as well but her childhood experiences had still stuck with her.

[Tomia]

John smiled when Marie hugged him back and nodded to her when she thanked him. "You're welcome. I just want you to feel better." John had definitely grown to care for Marie over the last couple of months that he had known her, especially since he had started dating Aurelia. He saw Raphael nod to him in thanks and John nodded back in recognition before going back to stand next to Aurelia, taking her hand as he watched Raphael try to comfort Marie.

[Nuridia]

Marie seemed to cheer up a little and kissed Raphael on the nose, smiling up at him. Raphael pulled his wife to him and stroked her long, now pink hair. "See my love, was that so bad?" Raphael asked with a smile of his own. Marie shook her head and still had her arms around her husband. The two stayed like that and Alex smiled at his parents. He hadn't seen them together in so long and had forgotten how beautiful of a coupl they were. "Raph, you cut your hair." Marie mused. Raphael's black, slightly curly hair had gone from shoulder length to the same length as his brother Gabriel's. "I did it before we went to Sheol, we were so excited seeing Alex again that nobody noticed." Aurelia's father said. "Do you like it Mimi?" Marie smiled. "I love it I love your hair no matter how you wear it, but at least this way I'll be able to see your eyes better." she smiled, which made Raphael laugh a little.

[Tomia]

John smiled at Marie and Raphael. Marie seemed to be feeling better. She was even joking and smiling like usual. He turned to Aurelia. "Well your mom seems to be feeling better. Your dad did a good job of cheering her up." He saw Alex watching his parents and smiled. He was glad Aurelia's brother was back. He knew that would make both Aurleia and her parents happier. Alex's death always seemed to weigh on that. He was glad they would be happier. "It's good your parents have each other." He told Aurelia. "They seem so able to comfort each other."

[Nuridia]

"You can feel the love those two have for each other and for their children." Aurelia told John, watching her parents together. Marie looked up at Raphael. "Hey Raph, you wanna go somewhere a bit more private?" "You know, get out?" "Just the two of us, well soon to be plus four." she said, talking about Aurelia, Alex and the unborn twins Marie was carrying. "Well where would you like to go, my pink haired sweetie?" Raphael joked. Marie frowned at that a little but then hugged Raphael. "Doesn't matter, you pick." she sighed. Raphael thought about it. "Well how about Alexandria?" he said, talking about the place in Egypt. "I can get there in a flash." "The place brings back very fond memories." "Remember our honeymoon love?" Raphael smiled. Marie smiled back. "How could I forget?" Aurelia and Alex blushed at their parents' conversation, the older half angels were conceived in that city.

[Tomia]

John smiled and nodded to Aurelia. "Ya you really can." He said to his girlfriend. He heard Marie's comment and smiled. He wasn't surprised that Marie wanted some alone time with Raphael. It seemed those two couldn't keep their hands off of each other. He saw Alex and Aurelia blushedat the mention of Alexandria and remembered Marie and Raphael had told him that that was the city where Alex and Aurelia were conceived. "Well, hopefully that thing Michael was talking about before with woman getting pregnant while pregnant doesn't happen. I don't think your mother could handle anymore kids right now." He said to the twins with a small smile.

[Nuridia]

"Hopefully." the twins said in unison. Raphael smiled and kissed his wife's neck. "Well this will be something new." "I mean I've been with a redhead but I've never done it with a pinkhead before." "I'm curious to try it out, I wonder if it's different." "Wait a minute, I'm a married man." "What will my wife say?" Raphael joked. Marie laughed at the joke and playfully slapped Raphael on the shoulder. "Well she doesn't have to know, I won't tell her if you won't." she joked back to her husband.

[Tomia]

John chuckled at Alex and Aurelia's unison response. He had never heard them do that before but since they were twins and very close he couldn't be surprised. He heard Raphael's joke and couldn't help but smile. It didn't take long for Aurelia's parents to make each other feel better. It was amazing how happy they made each other. "Well, your parents are back to their old selfs." He said to Aurelia. "I guess their going to be 'doing their taxes' soon." He said to Aurelia in a much lower voice and smiled.

[Nuridia]

"Oh they're gonna do their taxes alright, they'll probably take forever going over the numbers." Aurelia joked back to John. "Well Aurelia, Alex,we're out." Raphael said. "Bye Dad, bye Mom." "See you guys, well whenever you finish." Aurelia winked as her parents disappeared in a flash of light. Alex was playing with Asteria, bonding with his niece.

[Tomia]

John laughed at Aurelia's joke. He very much enjoyed his girlfriend's sense of humor. He liked how easy it was for him to talk to her, like they were best friends as well as boyfriend and girlfriend. He had dated a few girls that he had a really hard time talking to, they didn't understand his interests or his sense of humor. Aurelia wasn't like that though, probably because they had been friends before they started dating. When he finished laughing he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Ya they probably will." He turned and saw Alex playing with Asteria and smiled. They seemed to be getting along and John was glad. "Your brother really seems to have taken a liking to Asteria. Not that I'm surprised. She's the sweetest little girl I've ever seen." He told Aurelia with a smile.