Welcome to Gaia! ::

With the sun setting slowly behind her, a winged Audio softly landed beside a small rose bush, the blooms large and somewhere between pink and red and smelled divine. A satchel hung at one hip, the strap from the hip to the opposite shoulder.

"Mmm, so beautiful. No wonder we have them all over," she whispered with a smile, bending over one bloom, gently lifting it to her nose so that she wouldn't hurt the flower, nor p***k her fingers on the thorns. Her wings folded against her back and her bi-colored tail swished back and forth, low to the ground.

"Thought about-" Marcia began the automatic reply, but then jumped, slicing the tips of three of her fingers on the thorns.
"Ah!" she gasped, cupping her uninjured hand around the lightly bleeding one as she held it up to her face. She frowned at the mark and whirled round to look at the Audio that had startled her. She frowned as she took him in, for there was no doubt in her mind that he was one of the "pretty-boys" that hung around the shop that Shunsui had told her about. Rose red hair, spring green eyes, he reminded her of a flower. But not frail, not easily plucked from a stem to wither and die. No, he seemed... strong, in one sense or another.

"Who are you?" was all she could manage, taking a step back. She hadn't heard him approach. She didn't sound frightened or angry, just... questioning.

There was no hesitation in Marcia's face, nor her actions when she placed her hand in his, palm up so that he could see her fingers.
"It's not really that bad, just stings a bit. Like a papercut, only a little worse," she said, shrugging a little. And it looked a little like a paper cut, only wider. It still bled slightly, barely noticeable against her black fur. She looked up at him again and tilted her head, a little like the small bird she resembled.
"You didn't answer my question. Will you tell me your name, or should I make something up?" she asked, smiling wryly.

"Kurama..." Marcia muttered, testing the name and putting it to memory with is face.
"It's different, but I like different names. I'm Marcia Jean, but just Marcia is fine, or however you would like to shorten it," she introduced herself before returning her attention to her fingers, flexing them to test the cuts.

"What did you mean, before," she began, her attention still focused on her hand. "When you asked if I 'thought about it'. What 'it'?" she finished, just glancing up at him through her dark lashes. The sunset played well in her eyes, splashing the gold with reds and oranges, pinks and purples.

Marcia glanced over her shoulder and then turned to look at all the bushes.
"Actually, I hadn't. I was commenting on how beautiful roses are in general and why there are so many back at my home. But," she paused to tilt her head once more to the side, "It is not a surprise that they are all around here either. Unless there's another reason beside their beauty and fragrance..."

She wasn't really sure, actually. She knew one of her "relatives" knew the properties and symbolisms of roses, but she didn't, not now. They made her think about the book she was reading. The author always liked to use roses and freckles. But she digressed. She drew her wandering attention back to Kurama.

Marcia smiled back and rose an eyebrow at his book.
"Actually, I landed here for several reasons. One, yes the roses. But I also came to sit here in the light from the fading sun to read a bit. The surroundings... fit the book, I guess. Or play, perhaps. I hadn't really decided what I wanted to do when I landed," she explained with a small shrug, looking down at her bag and reaching in with her non-scratched paw and pulling out a book and a thin, black flutecase.

Inside rested a special instrument that Reeshie had commissioned especially for her. With a normal, human flute, her fingers might have been awkward, but although this was made of the same silver-white metal, this one had been modified to better fit her paws.

The book was a plain paper-back novel that looked like it had been read a few dozen times. On the cover was a meadow of yellow flowers, red clay plateaus rising in the background and Come The Spring written in curling reddish-orange letters near the top.

Marcia flopped down onto the soft grass and set her flutecase to the side. She placed the book in her lap and leaned back, propping herself up on her hands.
"It's a rather nice book, so even a little reading away from a noisy home is nice. It's... about two men, one a lawman, the other roped into helping him and another lawman take three "witnesses" of a bank robbery/mass murder to a trial. But on the way, the first lawman and the man helping them start to... fall for the women they're protecting," she explained. She really did hate explaining her books, but a part of her loved to share them with others. Mostly, she just didn't like others getting the wrong idea about her or the books.

"Now that I'm done rambling about something you probably could care less about, what are you reading, if I might ask?" she asked, blinking up at him.

Marcia rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Yeah, he is rather unimportant. See of the three women, only one of them is the real witness. The second is a friend whom she told, and the third is actually the gang leader's lover. Since she's a "bad guy" they don't follow her much, and so not the lawman with her. The book centers more around lawman Daniel Ryan and Cole Clayborne who hasn't always been on the right side of the law," she said, looking off a little. She really did like these kind of stories. They made her... well, she didn't really have words to explain how they made her feel, but happy.

"So, what is your book about?" she asked, returning her thoughts to the conversation.