Welcome to Gaia! ::

Howick didn’t draw her weapon—yet. The post-storm quiet was too lovely to shatter with unnecessary dramatics. But her senses didn’t lie: someone magical was near. Not quite Chaos, not quite Order. A gray-zone hum, laced with heat and static.

Then he appeared.

He had the confident, strolling gait of someone used to making an entrance—shirt short, hair long, and eyes that were a little too vivid to be anything human. Definitely magical. Definitely not normal. But not hostile. At least not right away.

Her lips twitched as she caught his greeting.

“Aloha?” she echoed, amusement lacing her voice. “That’s not how most people say hello, but points for creativity.”

She let her gaze travel over him with a mixture of caution and curiosity, then flicked back up to meet his.

She didn’t move toward him, but didn’t step back either. The hourglass at her side pulsed faintly with moonlight, like it was listening too.

“Not here to start anything. Unless you are.”

She rocked back on one foot and gave him a small, amused smile. “You don’t seem like the pick-a-fight type, though. More... fire-dancer in a storm?”

A brow arched in playful challenge.

Howick let out a quiet laugh, the sound light and genuine.

“Fair enough. I guess I should be grateful you didn’t lead with ‘sup’ or ‘hey magic girl.’” Her head tilted slightly as he explained his intentions. “A spar, huh? That’s refreshingly direct. Most people wait at least five minutes before asking to get punched.”

Her gaze dropped briefly to his offered hand. She hesitated—not out of fear, but calculation—then stepped forward to take it, her grip firm, grounded.

“Howick. Page of the Moon,” she echoed formally, then added with a small smile, “Knight-in-training, technically. No cool title yet, but I make up for it with style.”

“It’s mostly decorative,” she said with a small shrug. “Old, cracked, a little mysterious. Kind of like a promise no one’s explained to me yet.”

She looked back at him with something between humor and warning in her eyes.

“But it still means something. Or it will.”

Then, with a half-step back, she glanced around the quiet, glistening stretch of street. “So. You looking for a full-on duel or something more... graceful? I don’t dance with fire, but I can move like I’ve got moonlight in my bones.”

She raised an eyebrow, one hand resting loosely near the pendant.

“Your move, lightning boy.”