Welcome to Gaia! ::

It seemed like there were only a few days in a year that didn’t wear on Ione, but she’d like to think she was getting used to the whole ordeal by now. Either it was too bloody cold, to her at least, or too bloody hot. A lot of things were like that, but she was damned if she’d let it stop her. Firmly placed under her umbrella, her usual jog had become a walk about, meandering through the city under the bright sunlight. Sunbae would be in classes for most of the day, so she wouldn’t be missed until a while later. She never had much cause to head out to the waterfront of Ikebokuro, but it didn’t seem like that bad of an idea for today. Maybe the sea would be bringing in a few breezes to cool her off.

Heading towards the saltier air, the mixed female kept out of the sun as much as she could; moving from shadow to shadow. The umbrella helped to a point, but the hot concrete under her was still a bit of an issue. She could feel the waved of heat practically billowing up at her, bringing a slight sheen of sweat to her skin. Twitching her tail in slight irritation, she moved off again, following a slightly cooler breeze down the street, enjoying the feeling of it on her bare arms.

It was still just as hot, but as Ione approached the beach, the wind picked up a little, blowing cooler air across her brow. She smiled, enjoying the pleasant tingle for a moment before approaching the sand beyond the sidewalk. It was still blazing here too, but Ione pulled off her shoes, braving the heat of the sand for a few moments before digging her toes into the loose grains to get at the cooler sand beneath. Reaching this hidden soil, she sighed contentedly, feeling the temperature in her feet drop considerably. She stood there, observing the beach goers under her umbrella, relishing this respite from the warmer elements of the day.

A voice in her direction pulled her from her reverie and she looked around, eyes falling on a grayish snowshoe tom that was looking back at her. She took in his blue eyes and scarred forepaws for a moment before noticing the metal collar around his neck, the familiar indiscernible text in a blue square under his chin. For a moment, Ione felt her own, the second collar she was forced to wear, tight and so very cold around her neck. Then the feeling was gone, and she was left blinking down at the snowshoe tom that was still waiting for an answer.

The mixed female smiled slightly, the momentary flashback forgotten for now. “It’s called an umbrella. You can get them in town.” She raised her own umbrella slightly. “I got this one in Kokitsu Plaza.”

Ione smiled slightly, watching his irritation. The breeze felt amazing.~ She have to convince SunBae to get a fan for their room before it got too much hotter. She’d probably end up lying in front of it for hours, or until she got too hot. Then she’d lay on Bae! She chuckled to herself, trying to remember exactly how much the umbrella was.

Glancing back down at the tom, she raised an eyebrow. He did seem like he might need one. Even from a distance, she could sense the waves of grump radiating of off him, like the burning heat soming from the asphalt. She would have given him the umbrella right then if she didn’t need it so much herself. It wasn’t the only one she owned, and it was a little battered from how many times she had hit Toshiro with it. “They aren’t that much… You might even be able to get one around here.” Ione glanced about. “But they might not be the kind you’re looking for. Beach umbrellas seem a bit big for you to carry about.” She gestured to a few brightly colored umbrellas nearby. She smiled slightly, pulling her feet out from under the sand. Picking up her shoes, she walked over to him through the sand, burying her feet again once she had reached him. Just the short trip over had made the soles of her feet hot again, and she restrained herself from cringing at the hot grains of sand. “Here.” She said, holding the umbrella out over him as well, smiling slightly down at the irritated snowshoe. “What’s your name?”

Ione’s eyebrow raised in mild incredulity; grumpy indeed! She snorted, smirking slightly down at the snowshoe tom. “Fine.” She said simply, resting the umbrella back on her shoulder and tilting it so that the sun shown back fully into his face. She smiled in his face, reminiscing on teasing Toshiro for so much of her life. She had so much experience dealing with grumpy toms, mostly her brother, that this one hardly fazed her. That and the weight of her claymore resting in its hilt on her back was a solid point against whatever growling threats grumpy face made. “My name’s Ione, by the way, grumpy face.” She said, tilting her head slightly to make the hilt of her claymore subtly more prominent. She didn’t feel the need to go as far as to actually use her sword against him, but Ione was of the mind that the best medicine for impertinence was a few good thumps about the head. She waited for whatever snarl he might throw at her, given that she was now somewhat openly provoking him. Shifting her feet a little to get a better footing in cool soil under the sand, Ione continued to look at him with mild amusement, just waiting for him to try her further.

Ione snorted again at his anger; she couldn’t help it! The grumpy tom was just trying too hard to verbally bully her and she couldn’t help but crack a grin. “Then I think you’re going to have to come up with a few new names, kiddo, because you’re going to be stuck in the sun for a looong time.” She jibbed, smirking at him. If he had been her size, or maybe a bit more physically intimidating, she might have taken him a bit more seriously. But as it was, his threats just made her laugh.

“Come on.” Ione grinned. “What’s your name? You might as well be sociable; because that’s the only way you might ever possibly get this um-brel-la from me.” She teased, stretching out the syllables of the word. She leaned forward a bit, the gloved hand not holding the umbrella placed on her hip. “And that,” She continued, “is my sword. Which you shall certainly not be laying your hands on without my express permission.” She smirked, wondering what he’d have to say about that. Her fluffy beige-ish tail swished backwards and forwards, the sea breeze ruffling through it and around her legs; an outward sign of her silent mirth.

Nice name… Ione inwardly raised an eyebrow, curiosity roused by such an unusual name. Her gaze flicked back down to his collar, her smile softening to something slightly more pleasant and less mocking. “See? Was that so hard?” She shifted the umbrella back so that the glare wasn’t in his eyes anymore, smiling kindly back at his defensive pose. She mused that maybe she had more patience with him might have also been born out of thoughts of the possibility of having her own kits. She felt more inclined to be kind rather than sharp at this furious snowshoe.

She shook her head, still smiling. “No, it just seems like you’re trying too hard to be mean.” Her smile widened a bit. “That and you didn’t really choose your victim well. I’m not exactly a soft target, Nemesis.” She murmured, smirking gently, her eyes twinkling. She flexed her arm slightly, showing off her not-so slender arm muscles, previously hidden with shade and distance.

Ione felt another slight maternal flutter in response to his mildly petulant statement, bringing another soft smile to her lips. She sat down next to him, her feet still in the sand, adjusting the angle of her umbrella to keep them both in the shade while at the same time not blocking their view of the beach. She gazed out at the humans milling about on the sand, not thinking anything in particular except about how pleasant the wind was until his gruff voice broke her thoughts once more.

In a way, she was a bit relieved that he had brought up the Facility and not her. She never really talked about it much anymore with anyone, and didn’t know any other cats very well who had gone through… whatever they were doing in there. Bae was a halfway point, though; having regained his sight by accident while trying to save her, though… that was different. She sighed slightly, glancing back into his blue eyes, a rueful look from her golden ones. “Sorry.” She murmured at him. “It just brings back memories…” She looked back at the ocean again, rubbing her arm a little with a gloved hand. “I don't want to dump all my issues on you... You probably have enough from Them as it is. That collar’s a b***h to get off, though. Worse than the other one they put on me. Not… Them, but, you know… the humans…” She smiled, still a little ruefully at him. “So I don’t think I’ll be able to get the Facility out of my system very well. They kind of left their mark all over me. S’why I have this umbrella in the first place. I’d give it to you otherwise, though… But if I didn’t need it, I wouldn’t have any… so… I guess that doesn’t exactly work.” She scoffed at herself, shaking her head a little.