Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chel had moved into position behind the couch. It was a bit cramped, but nothing unbearable. Her special hat was securely in place. The lights were dark, and the "object" had been secured in place.

They'd been planning this for a while now. Well, maybe just a few days. But they had been eventful days! Going to the store, gathering supplies for this exciting mission- it had almost been too hard for Chel to keep the secret. She was a blabbermouth after all- gossip was her middle name. Whenever people wanted to confide in her, she just told them they were better off with someone else.

From where they were behind the couch, Chel could hear Milo breathing. "You ready for this friend?"

To be fair, Chel was a mouth breather. Maybe she was just hearing herself.

"Here goes nothing!" she whispered back. The excitement was almost palpable- it was way too much to bare. How was she supposed to just sit here and wait for the mystery man? Chel just wanted to run and tell everyone. A duty was a duty though. She then pulled out her hunter cellphone, tapping out a message as quickly as she could (Chel had nimble fingers, if you know what I mean) and then pocketed the phone once more.

Would he even come after a text message like that? s**t maybe she'd been too obvious. Maybe he already knew. Oh no there were too many things that could go wrong.

As soon as she heard the hunter walk in, her breathing fell to a hush. She looked at Milo giddily, counting to three on her fingers.

On three, she jumped up and flicked on the lights, revealing the impromptu party they'd set up for Evan. "Surprise!!" she shouted, hat still secured on her head. These were the only hats on discount. Sorry Evan. At least she'd gone to the trouble of crossing off the "happy 1st birthday" and instead put "Happy You're an Intermediate Now." True friendship.

On the table behind them sat a pitiful cake, handmade with what little ingredients the island still had. Chel had no skill with decorating, but it was cake and cake was good.

"It'ssss a party. Kind of. More like free cake for a good job." She gave him a thumbs up, and then held up a hat for him too, if he wanted it. "Tadahhh."

There was no way for Chel and Milo to know, of course, that their well-meant surprise party would set off just about all of Evan's triggers. The sudden flash of light, the shouts, unidentifiable objects quickly coming at him--he hadn't been able to handle those kinds of surprises well even before he had come to the island, but the constant stress of the past few months had set him perpetually on edge.

Gir appeared in Evan's free hand even as he swiped instinctively at the other Suns, though he didn't recognize them as such at first--with those oddly shaped hats, they could have been monsters. The teeth coming at the trainees were much bigger, much sharper than they had been the last time they would have seen the weapon; Evan wasn't the only one who had leveled up.

In the split second before impact, the uniquely pink shade of Chel's hair registered as something familiar rather than foreign or dangerous. It was a testament to the growing bond between Evan and Gir that Evan didn't even have to think it out completely for Gir to react, disappearing so that Evan was left swatting only at the paper confetti. He missed the seashell, though, and it hit him right above the eye. It didn't hurt, but Gir giggled as Evan blinked in bewilderment at the two trainees.

It took a moment for all of the individual pieces--the hats, the confetti, the little cake sitting on the table, even the surprise itself--to cut through the haze of panic. It was okay, he told himself as his breathing slowed, it was just Chel and Milo, and they didn't know better, and they were throwing him some kind of party and he had gone and nearly decapitated them.

Whoops.

Evan smiled sheepishly at them, slowly reaching out to take the party hat. "Sorry," he muttered. "Habit."

Oh sweet Super Sentai! In that moment, Milo's brain (and probably Koume too) had told him to get down. And so he complied, taking refuge behind the couch. He had been on the receiving end of that blade before, so he knew how brutal it could be. And for a second, he could have sworn that the thing had looked even nastier than it had before. He didn't get to check on it though and things seemed to dissolve quickly enough. Some people didn't seem to react well to surprises.

Milo soon peeked his head out, watching as Chel levitated the situation before he popped back up. "Wow dude, those are some... reflexes and stuff." He laughed nervously, 'cause he had no idea what to say in all this and his heart was beating a bit quicker there.

"We could also sit AND eat." The brunette suggested lamely, carefully peeling himself around the couch he was behind as to not startle jumpy Evan.

Chel gladly welcomed the hug, understanding that sometimes when people were upset they just need hugs. Though she wanted to pull Milo in too, he was too far down on the ground. So she just enjoyed her hug and kiss, maybe even with a little blush (which was, coincidentally, hard to channel for Chel.

"Good good!" she said, detaching and clapping her hands. Nothing like a return to normalcy to make everyone feel okay. "Yeah man, of course we did!" She patted him on the back, slowly moving towards the table. "It's not every day you become "slightly more eligible than the rest of the trainees,"" she said with a laugh.

Yes, Chel was very far away from ever being a hunter, but she could at least celebrate those who were making their way up the ladder. "Told you, we gotta smile every once in a while!"