Welcome to Gaia! ::

Characters:

Name: Gia Mandelas (Originally Hally Gren)
Age: 29
Power: Healing
Background: Gia was betrayed by her fiancé and nearly killed in the process. The name Hally Gren became famous for the poisonous gases made by her fiancé that devastated the Jeten forces during the war between the Jeten and the Florisan war. Used indiscriminately, it killed thousands of soldiers and civilians. When Gia learned what her fiancé was doing, she tried to stop the experiments he was performing upon her. He forced her to continue. Her reluctance and his desire to push results and earn a promotion caused an explosion. There was a four mile blast zone and an even larger area infected by the poisons he had created. The experiments nearly killed her and the explosion almost finished the job. She barely survived, but as a result her magic changed. She cannot die, her power thrown so out of control it is in overdrive, turning her immortal. Gia wants nothing more than to just die, but until she can figure out a way to end her life she is doing what she can to help the people of Jetia that were affected by the poisons created by her fiancé.



















Name: Malcom Acistat
Age: 29
Power: Storage
Background: Due to being unable to express emotions well, the male learned to hide quite a bit of them, though he can feel things quite strongly. being that he contained his emotions, the magics he are good at involve storing things primarily, and containing things secondary. During the war the man stored enough ammunition for the whole army should they run out, but when you're following a certain battalion, you're practically and unlimited ammunition supply. He was thankful the war ended, he saw too many soldiers die of various reasons, elements, possession, explosion. He had been running with one of his friends before hiding in a trench. The men shot and he saw his friend duck down, but when he grabbed him to give him more ammo, it turned out his friend's face had been blown off. When the war ended, he put himself in therapy. The trauma was lessened and dealt with for the most part, but his emotional range, not so much. He wanders around a lot trying to help towns and villages desecrated during the war. He has a lot of things in storage to help them from building materials to water and food and clothes.

The veteran was thankful to finally be in a village. He got transporter sickness so had to ride a shuttle there, or, as far as it could go anyway. He had to walk the rest of the way. It wasn't terribly far, but the thoughts of war had him checking the ground for mines, for people hiding in grass or behind exploded buildings. The village must have been a town at one point, but due to the damage, had been downgraded. Thankfully though they still had an inn. It probably housed more homeless than it did actual customers.

He stepped in line behind the woman, bringing out some payment which quickly clattered to the ground as the patron in front ran into him. Well, he thought she was falling so he actually wrapped his arms around her to save her from the wooden floor beneath. She snapped away, the man raising his arms to show he meant no harm. "It's no problem." he said with a polite smile. "The floor does seem a bit uneven, but hopefully I'll be able to fix that. Are you sure you're all right? Will you need help going to your room?"

(( wow so polite. look at him. all the polite ))

The man took the coins from her hands, counting them as he did so, "A carpenter of sorts, yes." This was all of his coin. "I'm Malcom. Just Malcom. I suppose after renting a room, I'll have to check out that hospital, hm?" he gave a small chuckle, side stepping her.

"She bought the last room."

The man looked at the keeper. "Pardon?"

"The lass. Took the last free room. Lotsa rooms are for the homeless, lots of sharing going on."

A small staring contest went between the two, it clicking finally with the patron.

"Well I suppose I'll be sharing with the lass then, won't I?"

"Good on ya." he took the payment and turned to the woman with a smile, "You have the key to the room, yes? Miss...?"

"Gia, that's a lovely name." he said, following her up the stairs. "It's quite a large inn considering the town. I wonder if they restored this first." he mused out loud. Give everyone shelter best they could. It was a good idea. Seeing the room though, he gave a low whistle.

"They did fix this up first."

The bed had enough room to fit them both, there was a small dresser, easy to split up between them. He followed Gia to look at the bathroom. Single sink, working toilet (after a quick flush) and with the shower running, it grew hot after a few seconds. He saw the panel for a Vib shower, thank the lord. If he was going to be helping build things he couldn't take an hour in the shower, though, maybe tonight could be an exception.

"Hm? Oh, I'll take whichever side is closest to the door, and you're free to use the dresser." He raised his hands with a chuckle, "I obviously don't have anything. I do, but I don't physically carry it. So feel free to fill it with your things. And you can shower first, so you can have the hot water as well." The man took off his own jacket and things, setting them up on the coat rack besides hers.

"I'm sorry for all the demanding sort of things, I'm not quite used to sharing things with a woman before. I'm used to sharing with men."

Tents and open air toilets? The man could only stare at her, shocked. Where had she been previously? Had she been a refugee? The man looked her up and down. She couldn't have been. No scars, no signs of stress, no callouses of hard work. A noble on the run?

He thought about this, taking a moment to realize she had left to the bathroom. The shower was still running. Malcom focused on the door, listening to the sounds beyond it for a moment. The sound of light shower water, then heavy water, wringing out her hair or it falling off her body at an angle.

That was a thought he cut off quickly, turning to her bag. A refugee or a noble? What else was there? A nurse, perhaps?

He looked into it, taking out what appeared to be a uniform. A nurse then. It looked like one of the self sterilizing uniforms. Setting it aside, glancing at the door, he continued sifting around. Bottles and boxes of medicine, syringes, gauze, tape, sutures. She had to have been a nurse, or a doctor considering the size of her supplies. A bag of food, the bag itself being a preservation bag. Kept the food inside fresh.

It took a moment to realize the water had turned off, moving everything inside the bag as he found it (or best he could, anyways), before moving to his side of the bed, taking off his boots as she walked out. "Oh, that was fast." he commented, placing his boots at the end of the bed, the mattress being weighed down as she moved onto her side.

He knew that smell.

"Looks like heavy material." he teased lightly as she pulled out the book, going to the bathroom and closing the door behind him. All at once the smell which was light and mild on her hit his nose full force.

Apples.

When was the last time he actually ate fresh fruit?

Suddenly he craved it, undressing and turning on the shower, opening his palm, watching the shapes of light flicker through before grabbing one, light disappearing and showing a bottle of shower wash. It simply had a clean scent, but was much nicer on the skin than the soap the military handed out. Sandpaper would've been nicer on his skin, and his skin was hardly sensitive.

Rinsing off, the shower water was turned off and the vib turned on, tossing his clothes in and letting it work on them. The soap was put away, the man pulling out the old military shirt and some slightly nicer pajama pants, the vib finishes and Malcom walking out with the clothes. "Sorry about that. I'd forgotten what hot water felt like."

Setting the fabric at the foot of the bed, he got under the blankets, taking off his glasses and putting them under the pillow. "So are you a nurse, Gia? Or a doctor perhaps?"

A doctor.

He nodded in agreement. "It has. Friends and families are lost, or worse, friends and families only lose one person. the gap is the same, regardless." he sighed, fluffing his pillow.

"My job is hard. Finding help isn't hard, it's putting everything back together. And I'm skin and bones so I don't do the work." he shrugged, "I gather materials and bring them back for a lot of buildings. It's a strain but I've helped quite a few areas out already." he gave her a small smile, "They get houses and libraries back and hospitals. It certainly helps you out. If theirs is destroyed, we could try building that back up first if it makes your job easier."

"More people can be housed in the hospital if they cannot be housed here. At least the injured will be somewhere safe. I prefer large buildings being done first, as cruel as it sounds, they serve more purpose than homes. But if the hospital is in relatively good condition, I'll see if I can go about fixing a few homes first."

She tucked herself in, turning away from him.

Truthfully, she seemed quite willing on sharing a room. It was strange, incredibly so. Really odd. What sort of woman willingly shares a room with a man? What if he was a murderer, a rapist or a human trafficker? What about all of the above?

He rested his head on the pillow, back turned to her. He'd probably have an early morning too. Wander around, see what needed repair. He hadn't really been paying attention on his way in.

Somewhere between these thoughts he fell asleep.