Welcome to Gaia! ::

With the brilliant yellow orb hanging in the sky, normally it meant it was time to get up and out of bed. For most it was an easy task, getting up, washing, combing your hair, brushing your teeth and eating something remotely nutritious. Now those were the logical things to do; however for Ashton it was the opposite. For the past three days the musician had been bed bound in denial. First there was the sudden loss of his dear bottle on the crazy idea of going out into a storm. Then he had woken up in his bed as if nothing happened. Oh and how he wished it had been like that.

Nooo Oh noo…quite the opposite happened. Little did he know when he would open his eyes a child would be sitting across the room, munching on leftovers he had probably found in the fridge. Everything seemed to roll down hill from there.

”Ashton! Come on!” Came the spirited voice that cut through the raven-haired males thoughts. Who, grudgingly heaved a sigh and stepped out into the street, abandoning the nice patch of shade he had found. Being of fair skin, he always had the worry of burning.

”Who died and made you the boss…” Ashton grumbled, storm colored hues looking down at the mop of yellow hair. It wasn’t even blonde, it was yellow and black, and it suited the kid. And it made further sense since the bottled had glowed a yellow hue and was attracted to lightening. But since when were things like this logical?

”You did, one could technically pronounce you dead from how you’ve been the past three days” Ziya pouted, his gray hues matching the others with annoyance. Grinning in triumph when all he got in reply was a heavy sigh and a hand motion to start walking. The boy skipped ahead, looking around at everything. It was all new to him; he had been cooped up in that house for the past three days. He’d been itching to come outside, but he supposed Ashton had to sort himself out first.

Looking over at his guardian, he could hardly call him Dad because of how old he was and how old Ziya looked. Plus he gave off more of an older brother kind of vibe. The other always looked so sad, always alone. You’d think he’d be glad to have the company.

“Can we go to that market that lady was talking about?” Ziya asked softly, earning a silent nod from Ashton. He kinda wished the other would warm up to him faster, but the boy supposed he wasn’t used to having people his age around.

”I know a back road, so we don’t have to squish through the crowd” Ashton gave t he other a tiny smile and jogged down an alleyway. He knew it wasn’t too far, the pub was right on the edge of the entrance so he knew all the quick and painless ways. But little did he know it wasn’t going to be that painless.

”Can we get something to eat soon? We had no plates of food in the fridge left… well there was one but it smelt funny” Ziya crinkled his nose at the memory.

”Ugh, yeah don’t eat that…I don’t even remember what it was supposed to be… remind me to throw it out” Ashton frowned a little, putting his hands in his jean pockets. The breeze that flowed through the alley felt nice on his skin, sporting a nice short sleeved shirt for once.

Just as Ashton stepped out from the alleyway, a barrel came rolling at him. Before he could even get out of its way, it causes him just below the knees, sending him down onto his side with a very ungraceful squawk.

Well things couldn’t get more pleasant for him, getting knocked over by a barrel was Ashton’s favorite past time. Groaning softly, he faintly heard Ziya ask if he was okay but didn’t reply. Propping himself gingerly on his elbows, he tilted his head back to see who was casting the shadow over him. Seeing a dark haired child, he frowned at the look he was receiving. Had the kid never seen someone fall over before?

Opening his mouth to reply, he quickly let it fall closed again when a second shadow fell over his thin frame. Quirking an eyebrow at the banter, he sighed shortly and looked over at Ziya who looked a little helpless. Watching the child shrug his small shoulders, Ashton set his gaze back up when he was addressed once again.

“So they are magical Barrels then?” He chided, taking the others offered hand and carefully got up. “Don’t worry about it, its not like you have a hit out on me” He tried to joke; dusting himself off once he was on his feet again. Rubbing his arm a little, Ashton looked over at the dark haired child, who was heading over to where Ziya was standing. “Ashton, and like I said don’t worry… nothing is broken”

“No he’s not my Dad…” Ziya grinned a little, glad to see Ashton socializing, no matter how terrible he was at it. “Ashton is more like an older brother…. Is Lan your dad or brother?” The yellow haired dust asked in return. A small giggle escaped him when he heard the stomach grumble, knowing his was in the same state.

“I’m hungry too, do you know anywhere that has good food?” Ziya asked with a smile, since it seemed the other would know.

Rubbing his shoulder, he looked over at Ziya to make sure he was okay. He supposed this was how his own parents had felt when he was a kid, always wondering if he was okay, if he needed anything that sort of thing. Who knew he would find his inner parent so fast.

”Nice to meet you too” Ashton gave him a weak smile then looked back up at him fully. “Do you always greet new people by throwing barrels at them?” He teased, putting both hands in his pockets and relaxed a little. The musician supposed he looked like hell right now, if he looked anything like how he felt. The possibility of dark rings around his eyes, which would stand out on his pale skin and the tired look that wouldn’t leave his storm blue eyes. He hadn’t bothered looking at himself in the mirror so who knew what he looked like. Ziya just said it looked like he needed a bit of sun.

”Sounds like Ashton and I…. But he’s a bit more reluctant then Lan it looks like” Ziya mumbled and fixed his shirt a little. His eyebrows rose at what the other said, a bright smile on his face. “A Chef? Cool! Ashton can’t cook worth beans! So the lady he works for gives him plates of food all the time! But he can play the guitar and sing really well!”

Nodding, Ziya faintly wondered if Ashton would go for that, he really didn’t like inviting himself over to places it seemed. “I’m Ziya,” He said in return, giving the other a kind smile. “Sounds like someone else is hungry too!” The yellow haired boy giggled a little, having faintly heard Lan’s stomach protest.

A soft snerk escaped the raven haired male, a small smile appearing on his face. He raked a thin hand through his hair and looked to the side for a moment and scratched the back of his head idly. Making conversation wasn’t his strong point, he usually just listened to what everyone else had to say and made little comments here and there. Being a bartender, you just were there to listen.

”I’ve never met a chef before” Ziya giggled a little and toyed with a blackened end to his hair. The little dust was glad to have met someone new; maybe he could finally have friends! “Yeah he is pretty cool… but sometimes I think he’s crazy… he talks to himself a lot…. But I think its because he’s always been alone before I came” He sighed a little but smiled.

Watching the other child talk to Len, he looked over at Ashton, shooting him a smile. After getting a tongue stuck out at him, the little boy giggled at his guardian’s antics as he watched him turn aloof looking all over again. As if he had done nothing childish, he was good at getting away with that. Once you got past the paranoia, talking to ones self and strange quiet spells he was quite a fun guy. Kind of like a big kid.

“We actually didn’t have a schedule to be honest… but I never turn down a free meal” Ashton smiled a little and looked over at Ziya, who looked excited. “We haven’t eaten today either… that little monster dragged me out of bed and outside… forgetting I worked a night shift last night” he made an annoyed face.

Nodding quietly to the other male, he peeked over at Ziya seeing him happily talk to the other child. As anti social as he was, he knew it wasn’t fair to make the little boy the same. But this Lan seemed nice enough, much more talkative them himself so that was good. But Ziya was a nice kid who deserved to have a few good friends and this little Kirnn, though he wondered if it would lead to sugar filled sleep overs and play dates. Raking a hand through his unruly black locks, he blinked as he held it back and looked at the other. “Hrmm? Oh yeah sure that’s fine… probably for the best since Ziya gets a little antsy when I try to get him to sit still somewhere…. Too much energy that one” Ashton smiled a little.

“Circus? Cool! Ashton has never been outside of this town before so he doesn’t have cool stories like Lan probably has!” Ziya exclaimed, grey hues bright with the idea of stories. Ashton had admitted once that he only knew stories about the other towns through others stories. “Oh me? About three or four days go really… Ashton’s still trying to get used to having me around….”

Looking skywards himself, he silently wished for a thunderstorm, he loved watching the lightening streak across the sky. The sharp contrast of brilliant yellow and grey was neat. “How long have you been with Lan? You two seem really close!”