Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was muggy and hot. Teide felt suffocated by her uniform's high collar, and had climbed skywards in search of a cool breeze. She'd been unsuccessful at that, but now that she'd made it to the top of the tallest apartment building she could find, she was reluctant to climb back down so soon. Instead, she untied her sash and pulled her jacket open, fanning herself with it.

It was too hot out, she thought. This time last year she'd been an officer of the negaverse, filled with cool, earthy darkness. It hadn't bothered her as much then, when Metallia's influence deafened everything else.

She was better now, brighter.

But the night was oppressively hot. Teide groaned and flopped against the balustrade, looking down at the street below. There was no point to her being out here, she thought. She should just go home. She had books to read.

Someone was moving down below, Teide realized, her vision sharpening. It was easy to pick the page out, because she was light against the dark street, her robe catching the streetlights and turning them to glitter. Teide closed her eyes for a moment, reaching, and felt starlight and gossamer and the heady scent of pine, something earthy but not of Earth, and light and like and kind calling to kind--

She opened her eyes. The page below her had said something - it wasn't quite loud enough for Teide to make out the words, but she heard the intonation of disbelief. Perhaps - perhaps she was new? Her jumping had seemed a little clumsy, like she hadn't been made to practice.

Teide bit her lip. They were like and like, she thought, cut from the same cosmic cloth, but Hyperborea's words still stung. Cosmos knights could be like Hvergelmir, true, but they could also be cruel and callous and callow. There was no way of knowing without introducing herself.

So: she cupped her hands around he mouth and called out, "Hi!"

Teide waited. And waited. And waited, and finally, the page made it up onto the same roof as her. She realized belatedly that she'd been rude not to go to the woman - pages couldn't jump as high as knights, after all. Somewhere easy for her to reach was a struggle for one of them. She bit her lip. "You'll get better in time," she said, feeling overwhelmingly apologetic. "I should have gone to you, I'm sorry."

But instead of being frustrated with her, the page began to laugh! Teide smiled hesitantly. "N-no," she stammered. "You looked fine. Um. A little silly - but it's okay! You're really strong! You went all Wonder Woman on that wall. It was really cool."

She offered the page her very best friendly smile - hi let's be friends we are kin and kind don't you feel it well it's okay if you don't because I do - and stuck out her hand. "My name's Teide Knight of Cosmos, and it's really, really nice to meet you."

Teide bit back a nervous giggle - she hadn't expected Odainsaker to be nearly so friendly. (But then again, she'd just scaled a building to come meet her - she needed to stop being so nervous about everything!) "It does give you more power," she said. "You can run faster. Jump higher. Hit harder. And you'll have magic. Not yet, but - once you've learned a little more. When you're a squire."

She looked the page over. Her uniform was certainly... sheer. It didn't leave anything to the imagination, but it had its own kind of elegance to it. "I think your dress is beautiful," she said. "And your name is really pretty."

Smiling shyly, she repeated, "Odainsaker," letting the sounds roll around. "Have you been to your wonder? What's it like?"

Teide grinned. "Yeah," she said, glancing down at the crystal ball in her hands. "Like real magic." It would probably be rude to demonstrate anything without asking, though. Odainsaker wasn't a negaverser and deserved more basic courtesy than they did.

She pursed her lips, considering the conundrum raised by the other girl's outfit. "You could get sweatpants. Or a coat. Maybe both?" When she'd still been an officer with the Negaverse, it hadn't been uncommon to put layers on top of their uniforms to try to pass unnoticed among civilians. "I... I don't think it would interfere, as long as you weren't taking things off."

Leaning forward, Teide took Odainsaker's hands in hers. "You're going to love your Wonder," she said. "If you take the time to listen, it'll call to you, because it's yours and you're its. You're one and the same. My wonder is Teide and I am Teide. You are Odainsaker."

How could anyone not love their Wonder? Wonders were so important!

Teide was pleased with how excited Odainsaker seemed about the prospect of her Wonder. It was only appropriate, after all! "Yes!" she said, clapping her hands together excitedly. "You can take other people as long as you're touching when you go! It's like apparating."

The rules were about the same from where she was standing, anyway.

Teide reached for her crystal ball, pulling it up into her hands and holding it shyly towards the page.

"I could show you some magic right now," she offered. "If you're okay with it. My magic, um, it changes your perception of time - so only if you're okay with it."

Teide grinned, holding her crystal ball out in front of her. "Okay," she said confidently. "Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?" Odainsaker was nice, and she was desperate to be friends with her, but Teide remembered that she'd asked Kerberos to experiment with his magic on her and the results had been terrible.

"Here goes," she said, calling up the wellspring of power within her and letting it flow into her weapon. The orb began to glow, the stars inside it swirling as though she'd taken the night sky and shaken it. Teide looked up at Odainsaker, watching her face cautiously.

Teide let her power ease, the glow fading from her orb, the stars inside it slowing. "Are you okay?" she asked gently, taking a step towards Odainsaker incase the page was suddenly unsteady on her feet.

"Yes," she admitted, "It would suck for anyone fighting against me... but I don't like to fight."

Hvergelmir had sworn an oath of nonviolence. Teide had made no such pledge, but she still strove to emulate her mentor in every way she could. "Will you be able to get home okay?" she asked.