Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ever since his last change, Gaius had been faced with a most annoying and painful problem - no shoes of any size or make could possibly fit his new feet, or his new method of walking. However, the handy-man was not to be deterred.

An old pair of flip-flops sacrificed themselves to the cause, going under the knife to have the back halves hacked off, and then had holes nailed in them on the sides. The shoelaces from Gaius' old lucky sneakers were pulled out and strung through the modified foam soles and then, with a bit of work, criss-crossed up the length of his feet and tied above the ankle to keep the work from sliding down. The final result was a bit tight in places, but, to Gaius' delight, functioned well as a strange kind of sandal.

A test run was in order! Walking stick in hand, Gaius went out into the village, where a turn about the duplexes proved to be successful. Then, he turned his nose towards the lake. His explorations had been hampered by immobility, but now, that old wanderlust of his resurface and he began his trek towards the lake, probably the farthest he'd gone from the village aside from the party down on the beach - He wasn't brave enough to go that far again yet, not with Annie still out there.

Gaius likewise did not notice the octopus enjoying the water, his attention on avoiding the treacherous roots that crossed his path. However, he did take great pleasure in stepping on pebbles and twigs. Ha! He didn’t have to worry about coming across the stray rock or thorn anymore! It was a wonderful feeling and lifted Gaius’ mood like it hadn’t been in over a week.

Nearing the water, the fellow stepped down into the shallows, sighing with pleasure as the cool water washed over his toes. He’d missed being able to get out here to enjoy the water and sun.

His bliss didn’t last long, seeing as one could only miss a purple form swimming about the lake for so long. Gaius looked up, startled. He hadn’t really been expecting to run into anyone out here. Of course, he berated himself, this was Billy’s usual hang-out after all.

The dutiful guy still felt guilty after their encounter at the Halloween Party, never having meant to get Billy into any kind of trouble. He’d just been trying to help!

Part of him wanted to leave before the octopus noticed him and just forget everything, but Gaius wavered. He’d made amends with Nita… Billy deserved the same. Taking a couple steps out into the lake to catch the purple man's attention, he raised his free hand in a small wave. “H-Hey there… Enjoying the weather?”

Gaius flinched as the question struck a blow to his ego.

"Yeah," he said, lowering his head self-consciously, "It's me, Gaius... uh, the vodka guy."

He stopped, about ankle-deep in the water, and fiddled with the grip on his impromptu staff. "I... wanted to apologize. I didn't want to get you in trouble or anything." His eyes searched over Billy, spotting the collar still in place, but the guy looked to be much more lucid than he'd been at the party. That had to be a good sign. "You're looking better!"

Seemed every time he ran into Billy, he was in a new state of mind. But, compaired to the crazed groping or the sedated wheezing accusations, this was more than a welcome change. Gaius' ear flicked back at the question, a dry chuckle escaping him. "According to the doctors, I'm supposed to end up as some kind of 'pegasus'... Uh, a horse with wings. That's what these things are supposed to be." He turned slightly to give Billy a better view of the deformed limbs as he spoke, then turned around again.

"Sedated? Was that what they were doing to you? Geeze... didn't realize they'd be so harsh for having a little alcohol..." He shook his head. "Glad to see you're not under that anymore... makes me feel a little less guilty!" he confessed, perking up a half-grin.

Gaius' scowled darkly, the off-hand comparison striking a tender nerve for the would-be 'mythical'. "I'm nothing like that damned dragon!"

"Er, well..." His eyes trailed down to his own hand. He hadn't really given the full implications of a 'horse' transformation - namely the hooves - much thought. "Before my last change, I was working on making fitted wood furniture for islanders, even made a chair for Nita, to fit her tail and stuff. Was kinda proud of that..." he smiled.

"Have to admit, I haven't been very productive since my last, er, change... Was a bit pre-occupied figuring out how to walk again..."

His feet were getting cold in the water, and the sandals were well beyond soggy, so Gaius moved over to some rocks situated near the bank, high enough to be not too damp to sit on, and pulled up his legs beneath him. "I... just haven't seen much reason to pick up the work again, I guess. What's a chair going to matter, anyways? Nita could have easily ordered one made for her from the labs..." He sighed deeply, resting his head on a knee. The thoughts had been eating at him over the past week. "I should've been focussing on figuring out a way off instead of playing around... Now there's no way I could pass for human if I escaped."

He looked up with perked ears. "Huh? Er, yeah, I guess I'm good... I mean, I'm a bit rusty and all, but..." Ah hell, why did he let himself mope so much? Shoving his worries aside to be delt with later, Gaius grinned. "Actually, I was an architect back in America, or at least was going to be one. I did a lot of construction work, things like buildings and stuff mainly, around the cities and stuff. What I learned of woodwork came mostly from my dad, but I've been re-training myself. Why, there something you need?"

Gaius had thought perhaps he'd managed to get over their original meeting, even not really minding Billy's appearance, but his sudden, slithering-writhing approach brought back uncomfortable feelings. To his credit, the horsey fellow managed to keep them under control, just shifting back a bit and pulling his tail back away from the water - just so it wouldn't get wet, of course!

"C-convenient?"