Welcome to Gaia! ::

The chill air of Destiny City was getting less and less accommodating by the day, but it still wasn't quite enough to keep the majority of the population spending most of their day shut away indoors. People just adjusted by throwing on a jacket and a scarf and going on their way, and as such the density of the meandering traffic at the plaza hadn't changed much during its peak hours of activity. Those who stood at corners and by lampposts handing out pamphlets for under-supported causes would receive funny looks and dismissive handwaves, but their sanity would be only be questioned so far as how they stood outside all day brandishing colorful stacks of paper. It wasn't quite cold enough for them to be crazy enough to outright avoid.

Simon was one of those types who could never refuse a pamphlet if handed out to him, and so by the middle of the day had no less than half a dozen shuffled into his hands. He would even take a moment to at least look over them-- at this moment he was fumbling to open one that outlined why the Trendleton Amphitheater shouldn't be torn down and a shopping center be built on top of it and what you can do to help, while walking down the street, aimlessly and not exactly watching where he was going.

Considering the amount of sheer energy contained within the little package that was Pasha, nobody really looked for an excuse as to why he wasn't being sedentary indoors. Cold weather was no deterrent - it was simply an excuse to pile on more clothing and accessories, which amounted to roughly two scarves, a hoodie, a coat with pompoms and frills, armwarmers, legwarmers, and more candy jewelry than anyone could count without losing sanity.

He wandered along the busy streets, cheerily greeting every stranger who met his gaze. In tow was his very patient (non-speaking) kitten, Trinket, evidenced only by the slightest wiggling of his messenger bag every few moments.

A bright leaflet fluttered to his feet, immediately catching his eye. Curious, he bent down to pick it up, realizing that one of the two people in front of him must have dropped it. He hardly waited for the girl to finish apologizing before holding it between them.

"Hi! I think you dropped something, maybe? If you didn't, it looks kinda neat, so maybe you'd like it anyway?"

Honestly, it had been rather surprising when she was suddenly taken by the shoulders with a gentle grip and when she had regained her balance, she smiled up at the brown-haired boy. "Thank you!" Her attention was soon drawn to the leaflets that he had dropped and she immediately bent down to help him gather them up. They were all different, which meant that he wasn't one of those people handing them out. "You didn't have to take them all, you know." She teased him gently, hands reaching for another one of the papers. "Unless you were planning to save the earth by recycling them all. Don't apologize, it's my fault, really."

"Hi!" She said brightly to the younger boy. "Your hair's cute." It was one of these things that she couldn't help noticing and commenting on it. Giving compliments was perfectly fine, wasn't it? At least she wasn't telling strangers how to dress more fashionably (which she had learned they didn't like), and moreover, the boy was really adorable.

He hadn't wanted to take them all, his gaze seemed to be saying, regarding the shuffled papers with a resigned look. Things just turned out that way, a dozen instances of walking just close enough to the advertisers who held them out to him -- and he could never quite bear to turn them down. As if him politely saying "no thanks" and going on his way would somehow ruin their day, or it would lead to some awkward face-off or pursuit instead of being allowed to keep walking.

And, suddenly, Simon found that he had bumped into two unabashedly nice people who weren't looking at him funny for being clumsy or stuttering. This was extremely strange, and a brand of uncomfortable all its own. People were not supposed to be unabashedly nice to him like this. It was throwing him off.

"N-n-nuh-n-no," he answered, awkwardly, to Pasha's question. And then, noticing he'd also learned the other boy's name, he hurriedly and just as awkwardly added, "I'msimon."

Another smile met I'msimon and Eve as he learned their names. New friends! To show his gratitude for the newly-acquired friendships, he quickly hugged them both around the arm; Simon looked like he could use a hug anyway.

"I'm happy to meet both of you! And happy you guys bumped into each other! That was really lucky, huh? It's like something wanted us to be friends!" he laughed, once again missing just how forward he was being. There was really no room to be withdrawn around Pasha. In his mind, yanking someone out of their comfort zone was just one tiny step on the way to helping them be as happy as they possibly could be, and the small sacrifice of comfort was nothing in the long run.

"There's lots of stuff in my bag," he said, an air of confusion in his response. He hefted the bag off of his shoulder and opened it up in his arms, intending to display the bag's contents to Eve. Instead, Trinket emerged in an explosion of pens, beads, and candy, eyes wide and as cheerful as the boy himself as he stared up at Simon.