Welcome to Gaia! ::

Richard was not feeling particularly social able today had found himself unable to concentrate in his duplex. The side of the face still sported an angry looking bruise and the entire side of his face was tender, particularly his whiskers. So he had taken his stack of home schooling literature, "Education for dummies, Teaching reading grade 1-3 and Elementry math, with him to find a quiet place to hole up for the day.

He shunned his fishing hole, it was too close to the village and had been discovered by Seth recently, it wasn't secluded enough. He came into view of the cliff and was surprised to see someone squatting on the edge. He stared at the huddle figure trying to place her. The garish clothes, the naked wings and the slumped posture eventually added up to one person, a changed Shenzi.

By the time he had proccessed this he found himself directly behind her. He barely recalled walking up behind her. He had stalked her. Dammit.

"Shenzi." His whispered.

While a gryphon had only been a guess before, there was no hiding the beast Shenzi was becoming. The feathered eyebrows, feline eyes and owl like ears had given her an appearance that to Richard were alien. Richard took them in for a long time, searching for the girl he knew. The features were there but they were nearly consumed.

He dropped his eyes with a sad smile. "Forgive me, its been awhile." How long exactly? A month? More?

Richard quirked an eyebrow at the hiss but said nothing. The though occurred to him that the scarf might not be for warmth. He looked at her arm like protowings, taking them apart in his head, trying to conjure their final form in his mind. Eventually his own gaze drifted out to the sea as he thought about the events of the past days. "I'm been good considering. Got slugged by a giant squirrel the otherday which wasn't what I would consider a highlight but the newsletter went out a week ago. She was the first that objected to it." He gave a little chuckle.

"You see it? The newsletter I mean?"

"Heck if I know her name, she didn't give it. Just thanked for writing the newsletter and then attacked me." Richard indictated the large bruise on the side of his face. "Acted like she had just done the world a favor." Richard was still absolutely bewildered by the mystery squirrel's behavior.

Richard gave her a look of concern. "How long have you been out here Shenzi? I left one on your doorstep last week."

Richard had not expected that and drew back from her, snatching back his hands from her talons. "Shenzi! Calm down!" It was a bark, a growl and an order.

"Its the 21st of January." He said after a moment, once his own composure had recovered.

"Oh dear. Do you remember anything? Like being taken to the labs?" Now worried Richard eased himself down next to her. He put a hand on her back, between the wings, feeling the feathers under the shirt. "You must have gotten sick." Like Tommy had. "How do you feel?" That was a loaded question he knew but one he had to ask.

"Well best not dwell on it, your back now. Thats the important bit." Richard tried not to think about a gravestone with Shenzi's name on it. The image appeared in his mind anyway. He tried to think postive, find a joke or something. "Yeah I know about the depression. But you have to remember that mirrors are not good things to smash. They bite back." He lowered his tentacles to show her the fading scars along the backs of the clubs. "I highly recommend desks though, once you claw through the lamination on the top they feel pretty good." He talk with a bit a smirk, an edge of dark mirth in his voice.