Welcome to Gaia! ::

Frowning slightly to herself, Galatea stood with a red plastic brick in both hands. She tilted her head one way and then the other, squinting a bit and chewing on her lip. In front of her, there was a solid wall of red, topping out just above her head. Silently, she padded around the nearest corner and studied the new wall. Then again. Squatting, she lowered the Lego in her hands to the ground once more, elbows resting on her knees, chin cradled in her palm. Hadn't she drawn more windows into her designs? Her house was going to be too dark.

Not to mention, she was running hideously late. She had hoped to have the roof on before Hadrian arrived but there was no possible way to accomplish that now. He would appear at any moment. If her map had been clear enough. Oh, she hoped it was clear enough. She had even begged her bond to check it for readability.

Captain Rabik watched her feien over the edge of her newspaper for a moment. Finally, she folded the paper with a rustle and set it down on the table beside her chair. "If you need more of those, Galatea," she said, "please tell me in advance. I plan to go to the shops in a half hour for groceries."

The little blood feien jumped to her feet, back straight, shoulders back, and nodded. "Yes, sir," she replied smartly. "Thank you." She gave a tiny, melting smile and there was more than a touch of adoration in it as she bowed slightly. "I will check my blueprints directly."

There was the briefest urge to laugh at the eagerness and then Serafima shook her head and stood. Before leaving the room, though, she paused to check the wooden block under the window edge, sure that it was sturdy and keeping the emergency route for feien open. Then she went to search over her shelves for a new book.

"I believe your guest is here, Galatea." Serafima didn't even look up from the book she had pulled from the shelf. "If he's too tall for your window, tell me so that I can open the front door."

Flushing to the tips of her ears, Galatea nodded and sprang from the table, wings fluttering as she made her way to the window sill. She had been so deep in thought that she hadn't even heard the knock. How shameful that the Captain had to draw her attention to it! Nonetheless, she couldn't quite banish the faint, shy smile that curved her mouth as she spotted Hadrian standing on the outside sill. With a neat back-push of her wings, she landed and padded over towards him. "Hello," she offered, bowing slightly before holding out her hand as if to pull him into the room. "Hadrian," she had hesitated on that one, wondering if he would object to her dropping the honorific. "Please come in. I mean, thank you for coming and please come in."

Galatea went pink again at his action and her hand squeezed unconciously on his as he rose to his full height once more. "Oh," she mumured and her wings drooped slightly, "Oh, I'm so very sorry. I didn't mean to make you crawl through. If you had just waited..." She trailed off and motioned with her free hand in the direction of the lean dark-haired woman at the bookshelf.

"But it's bad manners for me to make you," she explained quietly. The look on her face eased a bit, though, at his easy-going response. Obviously, he didn't feel at all put out or treated badly. Taking heart at this, Galatea motioned to the table on which the red box rested. "Do you mind flying a bit further? I will introduce you to the Captain and then get you something to drink. You must be tired." A tiny crease appeared between her eyebrows. "If my scale was correct, you came quite a long way."

The blood feien nodded and gave him another one of her shy smiles before stepping from the sill and fluttering over to the table. "Captain Rabik, sir?" she called out gently. "I would like to introduce Mr. Hadrian to you, please."

Unseen by the two feien, Serafima frowned down into her book at the call. Then, carefully, she closed it and replaced it on the shelf. "One moment, Galatea," she replied. Turning back to her chair and table, she retrieved a shallow bowl before crossing to her little charge's area and setting it down. The water within barely moved at the shift in location, so steady was the woman's hand. Then she loosely crossed her arms over her chest and regarded Galatea. "Yes?" she prompted.

Galatea's posture improved to military precision and she motioned to Hadrian with a sharp gesture, hand flat. "This is Mr. Hadrian, sir. He has been on Gaia since his birth and he has traveled all over. He is very intelligent." Then she turned to face Hadrian and her nerves over introductions were suddenly clear to the other feien. "Hadrian, this is Captain Rabik. She is my bond."

Undoubtedly to his relief, Serafima merely inclined her head politely. She was all formality and business, no need for gushing greetings. "And you, Hadrian," she replied. Then she glanced back at Galatea. "I finished your reservoir for you there," she announced, indicating the shallow bowl of clear water. "If there's nothing else, I have errands to run. I will be back within an hour."

"Of course, Captain. Thank you."

Serafima gave a final look towards Hadrian and then, with a sharp turn on her heel, she left the room, snatching a coat from a stainless steel hook on the wall before disappearing. Galatea turned back to Hadrian and, oddly, she was beaming brightly. "She likes you," she declared. Then she caught herself and the grin dimmed as she touched her throat for an instant. "Oh. One moment, please. Your drink." Lightly, she moved to an open box that had clearly once belonged to matches. Rummaging, she found a small plastic cup, dollhouse kitsch, and took it to the bowl for filling.

"Would you like to sit down?" Galatea linked her fingers together, hands behind her back, and gave him a sheepish smile. "I have not yet finished my house, I'm afraid. My furniture is all around back of the building if you would rather sit on a chair?"

She nodded immediately, obedient and pleased. There was a moment's pause and then she reached forward to take his hand and lead him towards the structure. Made entirely of red Legos, it shone dully under the room lights, a big four-sided room with no floor and no roof. Two of the walls were half completed, reaching just over Galatea's head, far below Hadrian's own. The third wall was only a quarter done and featured a gap for a door and the beginnings of what would obviously be two windows. The fourth wall reached the highest, easily taller than Hadrian, and sported two window openings. "I'm sorry it isn't completed," she again apologized. "It takes more pressure to push the blocks together than I had thought."

As she lead him around, he also spotted a jumble of furniture and bits of fabric. A few toothpicks and thimbles and a spool of string sat off to one side in the mess. A "woodpile" of straws and popsicle sticks was off to the other side. "Obviously, the roof isn't done," she murmured. Her cheeks were a bit pink and she looked down at her feet as she drew him to a halt. "And I have just been making do with some of the fabric for sleeping."