Stephen was back by the time Rias was done healing herself, and he watched as she eixted the fire and into the living room, where both of us were waiting for her.

She looked around with intelligent red eyes before her gaze landed on me, and it looked like a small smile appeared on her face before she bowed her head without saying a word.

I offered her a hesitant smile and cocked my head to the side while I studied her. "Are you feeling better?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and she nodded in confirmation and ruffled her feathers.

"I am," she said and looked around the room before she noticed Stephen standing at the edge of the kitchen with two cups of coffee in his hands. She sighed and looked at me, ruffling her tail feathers. "Your friend is standing in the corner of the room," she said.

I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line, even though a small smile wanted to take ove. "I know," I said before I turned to look at Stephen to see him staring at her with wide eyes filled with amazement and awe. "He does that sometimes, and I do not know how to get him to stop." I turned to look at her when I said that.

"Hey," Stephen said, which seemed to stir him from his thoughts. He scowled and narrowed his eyes while he looked at me. "What is that supposed to mean, Erin?"

I shrugged and didn't say a word to him, earning a small chuckle from the bird. "Are you sure that you are ok?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and she nodded in confirmation. "Do you need anything to eat?"

"Please," she said and ruffled her feathers, and a look of exhaustion flashed through her eyes. "I also need to find some place to sleep."

"You can sleep anywhere in here," I said and shook my head. "Do you know how to get home or where home is?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and Rias hesitated before she shook her head.

"No," she said. "I do not know where home is, and I do not know where I am." She sighed and preened her feathers, looking forlorn and sad, and my heart broke for her. "I take it that you do not know where I am either?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I mean, you are on Earth, but that is all that I know," I admitted and shrugged. "We both think that there are different dimensions, but since we are stuck on this one with no way of knowing what's out there or if there is magic or whatever."

"I thought so first," Stephen said, and I had to hold back an eye roll while I pressed my lips into a thin line. "Can I give you your coffee, Ernie?" he asked. "I'm not going to get attacked, am I?"

"Can he?" I asked, trying but failing to keep the longing off of my face. "And is he going to get attacked?"

Rias looked at me with an amused expression on her face before she shook her head. "He is not going to get attacked, so he can give it to you," she said. "Are you two meant to be together as lovers?"

Instantly, my cheeks turned red, but I didn't say a word to her while I looked away from her, making sure that Stphen couldn't see my red face, even though I knew that he would notice it as soon as he walked over there. "You can give me the coffee," I said.

Stephen didn't say a word and walked over to me, and sure enough, once he reached me, a grin appeared on his face. "You're blushing again," he said and narrowed his eyes at me. "Why are you blushing? Did she ask something juicy?"

"Shush," I said without responding to him. "I don't know why you are doing this when you don't have to, and I hope you know how much I hate you."

"I know," he said nad shrugged, "and I hate you, too." He handed me the coffee, and I bit back a small moan of happiness. "But I also know how much you love me, especially when I give you coffee."

"Yes, by using ingredients that I have bought with my money," I said and took a sip of my drink, and I closed my eyes in pure bliss while the burning coffee entered my mouth. "Mmmm." I nodded.

"He likes you," Rias said, watching this interaction, and I could hear the amusement in her voice even without me looking at her. "His eyes are lightening up at the pure happiness on your face."

"The bird is staring at me with this interested look on her face before she is looking at you," Stephen said, changing the subject. "Has she told you why, or are you going to lie to me and tell me that you don't know?"

My cheeks turned another shade of red, and I couldn't help but tap my finger on my mug, hating the fact that he knew me so well. "I plead the fifth," I said, earning a small snort from Stephen while he rolled his eyes. "Thank you for the coffee."

"What does pleading the fifth mean?" Rias asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "And why does he seem so unbothered by it as if he had expected you to say something like that."

"It is because he does expect me to say something like that without giving him the exact reason as to why I am "pleading the fifth" for something that I have done or said," I explained.

"Pleading the fifth is basically some legal stuff where it is saying that I am taking my right to stay silent and not answer any questions someone may ask of me about a certain thing," Stephen said and shrugged, and Rias looked at him. "There is this thing called the "Bill of Rights" in the Constiution for the United States of America, which is where we are living currently."

"In the grand state of Florida," I said and rolled my eyes, and Rias looked at me, "where everything is trying to kill you or eat you."

"Except for Erin because she can talk to animals," Stephen said.

"Besides bugs, and I have no idea why I can't talk to them. Heck, I can talk to fish, so why can't I talk to them?"

"But that doesn't mean they don't leave you alone because they do," Stephen said and shrugged. "I've seen you give a look to a spider before, and it basically seemed like they apologized to you before going off to do something else."

I bit back a small chuckle and slowly nodded. "That is true," I said. "Mosquitoes don't even try to bother me, which I find amusing, especially since they seem to like different people working here."

"Not me, though," Stephen said and shook his head, "and I am so grateful that I spend most of the day with you or making sure that you don't do anything stupid because I think that is the only reason as to why I am left alone, so thanks Ernie. I appreciate it and everything else that you do to make sure that I stay safe."