Welcome to Gaia! ::

The bright fluorescent lights of modern grocery stores had never agreed with Akina Tokuwa. For one, she was accustomed to buying all of her food from fresh markets in the town square of her old village or wandering into the woods to gather herbs that the local healer was unable to find. And secondly, she was an elf born to be outside in nature. Something about the stark white walls and cool tile of a supermarket seemed... unnatural.

Regardless, Naraka had requested tylenol, advil, midol, robotussin, and a handful of other manufactured pain killers. Akina had fought with her on the need for them when natural and magic remedies worked far better, but her roommate would not relent. After all, Naraka was trying to become a registered nurse. If she was going to be giving other people this kind of medicine, then she needed to start putting her faith in it hands-on.

The wheels of the cart squeaked and clattered as Akina entered a world that seemed so confusing to her. The aisles were narrow and filled to capacity with row after row of identical products. It was unnverving.

Thankfully, Brimstone had tagged along to keep his guardian company, and it made the elf sick to see how deliriously excited Brim was to be in the store. He reached with grabby hands toward all batteries and cleaning products, but Akina denied all of his pleas for products here. "No," she would chide, unwilling to foster her child's love of all things manufactured and industrialized, "I won't buy you that, B. Stop begging. All of this is... bad."

The little Shattered would just pout and squirm as he was trapped in the child's seat at the handle of the cart. "We'll be done sooner if you stop distracting me." Of course, Brimstone did not want to leave this modern day facility so he took his time trying to grab things off the shelves and fling them into the cart without Akina noticing. Besides, he was having fun holding the bottle of tylenol that the elf had already picked up, shaking it back and forth as they continued to shop.

Akina had heard some small creature moving toward her, but its aura was nothing to be threatened by. Still, she was surprised when, while trying to pick Midol out of a wall of identical pills, there was a small churr at her feet. "Where did you come from, little guy?" she asked, stooping down to get closer to eye level with the child.

Up in the cart, Brim craned his neck down to look at the blue eyed child beneath him. Who was this now? In a matter of days, Brimstone had been exposed to so many other children when, up until then, he had only known those people who lived in his house with him. Remaining quiet, he continued to watch the boy, eyes flicking between him and Akina.

The elf stiffened at Psy's hiss, but did not withdraw her presence. He was just a child, after all, and Akina's reflexes were keen enough to block anything he might try to throw at her. "My name is Akina, Psy. And this is my little boy, Brimstone."

"Not little," Brim replied flatly from the cart.

Ignoring Brim's antics, Akina pressed forward with Psy, wondering where his guardian was at and why they had let him get out of their sight. "Psy," she began, slowing down her words to make them easier to comprehend, "where is your guardian? Didn't you come here with somebody? I bet they are very worried that you have wandered away."

"Riycan?" Akina replied, glancing to look around for the nearest adult in the vicinity. Before she could inquire further on the whereabouts of Psy's brother, the elf quickly grimaced at the sound of the nickname "Kina". Yuck. Why were people always wanting to call her that?

Saying nothing on the subject, Akina turned her cart around before glancing back to Psy. "Won't you take us to Riycan, Psy? I'm sure he is looking for you." The elf tucked a piece of brown hair behind her left ear, doing the same favor from Brimstone while she waited for a response.

Brimstone, of course, just sat there in silence, looking about the store with his mouth still wide-open and slipping a box of vitamins into the cart.

The ramblings of the small boney-winged child floated in and out of Brim's head without him ever paying attention. It was only when the cart jerked forward that he even realized that they were actually going to personally take Psy back to his brother. The green-eyed Shattered shot an aggravated glare at his mother, but continued to busy himself with the box of tylenol he held in his little hands.

Akina, meanwhile, was paying attention to the path that Psy took, recognizing Riycan as the boy that stood by the cereal boxes. Before she could even introduce herself, Riycan had already told her his and Psy's origins, which was something the elf chalked up to being far too trusting. She would never tell a complete stranger something as personal as how she came to exist in Gaia. "Oh," she said, stepping around the cart to shake Riycan's hand. "I'm Akina, and this is my son, Brimstone."

Her mind made a note that Psy came from a piece of glass though her lips said nothing of it. "And yes, Psy here wandered over to our cart, and we just wanted to make sure he got back safely to you."

Baby fat-ridden digits clawed at the paper box that held the tylenol inside, eventually ripping the thick paper off of it. Brimstone quietly dropped this into the cart, grinning at what he had accomplished thus far. The Shattered had no idea what was in this little plastic bottle, but he was ready to find out. Placing a hand on the lid, he tugged and tugged until his neck bulged. Refusing to try anything new just yet, he continue to pull with all his might while his guardian was distracted by the newcomer.

"Oh, it was no trouble. We just wanted to make sure that Psy got back to you." The rustle of pills in the cart behind her was enough to tell Akina what Brim was up to, but she knew that he wouldn't be able to get through the childproof lid. After all, they still gave her roommate Naraka trouble from time to time.

Hearing a compliment directed at her, Akina smiled lightly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It had been a long time since she had gotten any compliment at all. "Thank you, Riycan," she responded politely.

Behind her, Brim had frozen midaction at the mention of his name. In a flash, he stashed the bottle of tylenol behind himself, issuing a curt, "Not rock. Smoke. Wings with smoke. Rocks are in ground... and adult head!" A flurry of snorting giggles erupted from the Shattered's lips at his attempt at an insult which was still too old for the toddler. Akina silenced his giggles with one glare, easing her expression as she turned backed to Riycan.

"No, no. Brim isn't my blood son, just adopted. I kind of found him... more or less." Akina shrugged, dropping her gaze down to Psy as he spoke more about "the flock", whatever that meant. "Okay," she replied with a smile, not really having any retort for Psy.

Keeping one hand firmly on the cart, Akina chuckled good-naturedly as Riycan spoke. "Sounds like quite a family," she retorted, making conversation. Sure, she hadn't intended to speak to the boy for so long, but the elf was never one to walk out on a friendly exchange.

Behind her, the cart twitched as Psy made his entrance to get closer to Brim. Akina turned to face the cart, picking up Brim out of the child's seat and folding it closed. Wordlessly, she placed him in the larger basket of the cart so that he could play with Psy and turned back to Riycan.

Radioactive green eyes started coldly at Psy. What was this thing that had interrupted his tylenol mission? Brim grunted once, inching to the opposite corner of the cart. He listened to Psy speak, though his expression did not reflect this.

Could he fly? Truth be told, Brimstone had never attempted to fly with his wings, but judging by their size, it probably was not possible at this age. Like him, they were still developing and were not large enough to support his body weight in flight. "Brim flies," he lied, not wanting to be in the same category as this other Shattered.

If Psy could not do it, then Brimstone just assumed that he could.

Akina stood awkwardly, looking around for an easy escape. Unfortunately, the aisle that they were now on was next on her list to go to. How could she smoothly say goodbye when she would be on this cereal lane for another ten minutes, keeping in mind how long it took Akina to identify the foods that Naraka described on the grocery list? Instead, she just laughed and looked around, itching at her elbow.

"Clouds?" Brimstone questioned, looking around the confines of the cart. He peered through thin metal criss-crossed bars, looking for these 'clouds' that Psy mentioned. Lights? Check. Tall storage shelves? Check. Fooooooooood? Check. Clouds? Nada. "No clouds here," he decided at last, folding his arms and giving Psy a fulsome stare.

Obviously, this poor child in front of him did not understand what a cloud was, or atleast, that was what Brim had decided for now. No clouds, no go.