Welcome to Gaia! ::

Huffing and puffing, this was one of the many reasons why Ryder hated leaving the house. The heat was the worst thing in the world on this day. To top it all off, Reuben left Ryder at the strip-mall to go shopping for some rare herbs he had heard about. So, Ryder's job was to just waste time until he came to pick him up. Oh, why on earth did he refuse to go with his guardian. He regretted the decision as soon as the heat began to spike.

As he was floating, rather slowly might I add, down the strip-mall lot, he realized the heat wasn't going to get any better. With sweat beading up on his forehead (even with his overly large mushroom hat on), he knew what he needed to do. Get somewhere to get away from the heat.

Finally, in his view down the way was a small ice cream shop. Ryder hadn't ever eaten ice cream, but his guardian liked it and just by getting close enough to it, the toadstool raevan knew that it was cold. So they must have to keep an ice cream shop cool, right? It was only logical. With that in mind, Ryder made his way off to the small shop. With a smile on his face, he quickly entered the store to feel the cool air conditioned room air creep onto his face.

This would be the perfect waiting place for his guardian to return to him. Taking off his mushroom cap, he placed it on a nearby table and floated down into a chair, draping his ribbon down the front and grabbing into a small bag he was carrying only to pull out his most recent book. Turning to the page he was last on, he began to read with a smile on his face.

So enveloped in his book, the frei didn't even take notice of anyone around him while he read. The story was just getting good, and suddenly, a squeak emerged and a stranger began to talk to him, interrupting his beautiful tale, and even went as far as sitting across from him.

Quickly, Ryder closed his book and brought it to his chest. Then he watched as this girl's face began to suddenly transform, the tattoos forming multicolored freckles across her face as well. That just made the frei's eyes widen and feel uneasy. It was obvious that she was like himself. He had noticed the ribbon and the half-bodied self. Though she was more like Ethiriel in appearance than himself.

"Th-thank you?" the frei stated in a form of a question as he just stared at the girl. "You...changed your face..." he softly said, in slight shock at the girls powers. He was so naive to this world he lived in. Everyone had these strange, exciting powers. He just hoped that he could figure out a cool, exciting power of his own instead of being stuck with the shitty power of making people feel strange when they touch him. Maybe one day he'd be able to control it.

So this girl was named LuLu, that was quite interesting and fun to say, Ryder mused. And she could control ink? What a unique and interesting power.

"It's nice to meet you, too," the frei began shyly, loosening the grip on his book as he opened up a slight bit. He wasn't one to make conversation, nor give into it, and all he really wanted to do was get back to reading his book. Though, after some thought, he realized that Reuben would be proud that he made a new friend on his own, considering that's all he ever wants of him. As that fact faded from his mind, a small, awkward smile grew on Ryder's face in an attempt to try and make a friend.

"The power to control ink? So, does that include the ink from pens as well? What all can you do with it?" he questioned curiously; and realizing he hadn't returned the favor of introducing himself, he instantly did before the rabbit could even speak. "Oh...and I'm Ryder. I would have to say my favorite color is red or burgundy. What about yourself?"

Ryder just gawked at the thought of making ink move. Reuben had gotten him pens for his first month's birthday and some writing pads, though the frei hadn't really learned how to use the pens and paper. But he knew that he could make ink move when he drew his squiggly lines.

"Wow, that sounds neat. And what are those?" the raevan asked, pointing up at the girls ears as they perked up. The mushroom hadn't ever seen such things attached to a person before, and seeing as how this was only the second raevan he had ever met, he had no idea what else was out there.

As the girl changed the color of her tattoos to red, Ryder chuckled his awkward laugh. "That's really cool! I wish I could do that," he said, crossing his eyes trying to see the freckles on his nose.

As she stated he could touch them, he recoiled slightly. "I...shouldn't," he said, ashamed, his pale skin showing off a red tint as he clenched tighter to the book in his arms.

When the sigel questioned him on ice cream, he hadn't ever thought of that. "Ah, I've never had ice cream before. I...don't know what it's like. I'm only here to get away from how hot it is outside."

"What does ice cream taste like?" his curiosity peaked, and he loosened his grip once again on the books, moving past the subject of touch.

All Ryder could think of was how his powers weren't able to be controlled. What if he touched her ears and she started getting light headed? What if something worse had happened? His face downturned away from the rabbit raevan and darkened red before she began to speak with him further. He just didn't want to admit his powers were a bit out of control at the moment.

Ryder just slowly looked up as the rabbit floated over towards the counter. She was so nice and seemed very enthusiastic about ice cream! This lifted the boys spirits a tad, even though he didn't feel the need to respond.

As she returned with a small bowl of vanilla ice cream, Ryder took in the sight and smell. It definitely looked nice; but all Ryder ever wanted was things that were older; rotting. That's the only type of food he enjoyed; at least via his mouth.

The young frei took up a spoon as he watched his fellow raevan do and followed suit. As the cold hit his tongue, all he could do was cringe before dropping the spoon back into the bowl. "Wh-what was that!?" he called, wiping his mouth. The sweetness was too potent for the young boy, and he blushed in embarrassment. "That wasn't good."

"I'm terrible. I apologize. You went through all the trouble of getting me some and I don't care for it," he said after a short pause, almost stuttering in between sentences. He didn't want to upset or offend her, but at the same time, he was not going to be able to down an entire bowl of this concoction.

All Ryder wanted now was a nice rotting sandwich, or some old bark. Strange things that humans didn't eat seemed to be what the frei wanted. He clutched tightly to his book and couldn't help but feel awkward after creating such a scene.

Ryder couldn't help but smirk at the sigel grabbing his ice cream. He simply clung to his book and looked towards the others in the room, glancing out over the people, all enjoying this thing they called ice cream. He was almost disappointed he didn't like it; for everyone around him seemed to be enjoying themselves so much.

Turning his attention back to the rabbit, he pondered a moment. He didn't really know what he ate. Reuben always called it "trash", as he'd be found rummaging in the trash can for old, rotting food to snack on. Though Reuben told him he wasn't supposed to do that, when he felt this feeling called hunger, he couldn't help but dig around for old food or something that he could eat that tasted delicious to him.

"Well, Reuben calls what I eat 'trash'. But sometimes it tastes so good. There was one time when I felt what you call hunger as Reuben was sleeping, dreaming. I felt like eating whatever was occurring around him...or in him. I can't even understand it. I didn't do anything to him; but I just felt so hungry and it sounded like a perfect meal to me." the toadstool sighed with distraught confusion. The old food he consumed was only temporarily filling; and that's why he needed so much of it. He didn't know if he should eat what people were thinking about, what they were dreaming (or day-dreaming) about, or if he should just leave them alone. Plus, how was he even to know how to eat such things? There was still so much he had to learn.

"How do you eat...creativity? I mean, that's not a meal, or at least...not a real meal, right?"