Welcome to Gaia! ::

The door opened slowly, and Aki peeked in...ears lowered with stress and vague worry. Her brow eased almost as soon as she saw Chloe, however, and Aki edged into the room making gentle noises.

Her arms were outstretched, tugging Pasha along. The Frei was crumpled with trepidation, curls mussed and eyes wide. Almost all the color had bled from her, leaving her pale and almost translucent. It took an effort of will for her chin to lift.

The first thing she noticed was Roux. Rather, the only thing she noticed...Chloe was simply a given, in Pasha's experience with the bitterly cold Frei. His sudden presence, after so long, didn't warm her as one would hope...instead, she felt the chill that surrounded him keenly, even at this distance.

White skin dimpled under her fingertips as she clutched her upper arms, cold to her rune. Aki pulled Melisande in closer and finally summoned a smile as she turned, nodding towards Chloe and Roux. Her voice was sad, but it couldn't be helped. "This is a wonderful surprise. I'm...sorry it's been so long..."

Trailing off, Aki shrugged, still holding Pasha to her chest. The reason why was clear. Pasha stared wide eyed at Roux, as though he might vanish...still hugging herself against the intangible chill.

At Chloe's expression, Aki blanched a bit...doubly worried to see that the other woman was worried as well. She'd taken Meli through the course of the medicine, as directed, but none of her calls to the lab afterward had been answered. Come to think of it, there hadn't been an answering machine either...

That was all a bit irrelevant with Chloe here. She wasn't one to mix pleasure and business, but Aki knew her friend would give what direction she could. It wasn't an easy situation for any of them.

Judging by Roux's stance, and the thin pale flash in place of his once handsome wings, Aki suddenly realized that time had left its mark on all. Pasha, however seemed oblivious to his condition, seeing only her old companion. Huddling lightly against Aki as Roux approached, and relaxing a bit in amazement as he smiled and paused, a sudden memory brought a faint light to her face. Zae...Zavier. That was his name, wasn't it? He'd been just like that, kind and patient...

Pasha's features smoothed into a gentle acceptance, but her hands remained clasped at her chest. Another time, and she'd have longed to touch someone that offered a gesture so sweet...

Trying not to stare, Aki lifted her eyes to Chloe. In truth, she was a bit disoriented. She hadn't known what to expect, and Pasha certainly didn't wish to come...it had taken a lot to get the evening to go so smoothly. Smoothly seemed the key word, though, so she left herself slowly relax.

"I've...never been here before! Or anywhere like here." Taking a gentle step back from Melisande, Aki edged toward Chloe with a smile. "What do we do?"

Aphismet was startled when he'd received that letter, inviting himself and Rivener to a Karaoke night. Riv, being a sucker for song, had insisted that they go. Aph, however, was a little confused. Especially since it mentioned something about Aki and Melisande, two people that Aph and Riv had hardly ever met.

The adress was rather specific, stating which room would be assigned to them. As they neared, Aph turned to Riv for a final warning.

"Be good, alright? No being snippy."

"I'll try, I'll try. Stop being such a worry-wart." Rivener's mood was hard to bring down, as he smiled widely. He honestly didn't know what the big deal was, they were going to sing! That name, Melisande, though... It didn't ring a bell. He wondered who it was. Sounded like a girl's name, but... Well, hopefully she wouldn't bother Riv too much.

With a nod, Aph opened the door and they both entered the room.

Aph blinked. That elf woman! With the blond hair! She was the one from the Guardian Party, that one time! Aph had thought she was a figment of his imagination! And Chloe was here too! A smile slid onto his lips as he walked forward.

"Chloe, hello! And, you must be A-Aki? I'm Aphismet. Pleased to meet you." He smiled in a friendly fashion and extended his hand for a shake.

Rivener had stopped dead at the entrance. He'd seen That Girl. So her name was Melisande, after all? Hmph. If he'd known SHE'D be here, he wouldn't have come. At least she didn't seem as sickly sweet and bubbly as she was at the Sleepover, so long ago...

A moment later, though, Riv spotted Roux. He was near her, obviously trying to communicate... Riv frowned even darker. So, She was competition for Roux's affection?!

Wings flaring, stingers at the ready, Rivener floated forward towards the two, subconsciously bringing himself up taller than the other two. His lips were drawn tight, and he couldn't even bring himself to say "Hello" to Roux. He simply looked from one to the other.

Chloe smiled shyly as she saw Aphismet enter, feeling her heart do a small leap in her chest. Immediatly she told herself to stay calm and normal.. this was for Meli. She was glas Aphismet and Aki already knew each other.

"A-Ah, th-the sleep over? Roux a-and I were having troubles w-when that went on..." She gave a small frown as she noticed Rivener's sudden change in behavior. She'd never seen him act like this before... shyly she reached forward to touch Aphismet's elbow, moving to stand closer to his side. "Ah.. H-Have.. they all met..?"


Roux blinked as Melisande turned away, the scowl on his face deepening. He wanted her to look at him. He turned to see what had startled the prey and sent it into hiding, finding only Rivener. He frowned at the other Frei as though to ask 'What'd you do?'

The temperature slid downward a single degree or two at his displeasure. She had been speaking and it had been as he'd remembered and for just a moment... a fragment from a dream floated up from the eternal depths of memory.

Instead of further showing his displeasure he simply... floated there, somewhere between Rivener and Melisande, though his sharp eyes bore intently into her back. For a brief moment he wanted to rip at the feathers in her wings out of spite, but then it was past and he just stared.


Chloe tensed, something was... not correct. "A-Ah..." She flustered, biting her lower lip before bringing her hands together in a single clap. "I..... I-I know! U-Uhm... w-we're still waiting for one o-other b-but... we can still.. s-still.. ah.. g-get the music started!"

Chloe swallowed hard, licking her lips as she turned a weak smile to Melisande, though she couldn't see. "U-Uhm.." Awkwardly she stumbled onto the stage, managing to trip -up- the steps. She took the microphone and shuffled through the tunes before stopping on it. The song she'd found ahead of time.. the song that she had been prepared to bring out in case Meli was feeling to down to do anything.

"U-Uhm... this.. this is...w-well." She pushed her glasses up on her nose, closing her eyes. "This song is for Pasha."

With that she hit play and soon familiar strains of song began to play. It was 'Yellow' by Coldplay.

"Look at the stars... look how they shine for you, and everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow..." Chloe's voice was tiny and soft and only slightly on key. She was singing with her eyes shut, clutching the microphone with both hands as though it was the only thing keeping her standing.

Pasha missed a good bit of the interactions, head still buried against Aki for comfort. The music stirred her, though, as it began...ribbon spiraling for a few moments in a weak surge of interest.

Ignoring the way the pressure in the room seemed to prickle at the back of her neck, Pasha turned her head the slightest bit to the side. Her eyes were still vivd, bright blue through her pale curls as she watched Chloe quietly sing. The stress written across her young face didn't fade, though, not even at the bittersweet melody.

In a moment of bravery, Pasha let her eyes slide from Chloe, back to the others in the room. Roux, looking at her with frightful instensity, and Rivener, posted like a dark cloud beside him. The combined atmosphere was enough to make her cringe, and her gaze flicked to Aphismet to escape the piercing glares.

He seemed to be enjoying himself, bobbing and smiling the slightest bit at Chloe's performance. That was a vague comfort, and Pasha relaxed a bit in her guardian's arms. Aki glanced down in mild surprise as the Frei attempted to keep afloat on her own...following the girl's gaze to Aphi as he swayed.

It was brief, just a fleeting moment relief, but a ghost of a smile tugged at Pasha's pale lips. It was like warmth, his expression, the easy music...the gentle attention Aphi focused upon Chloe was beautiful to the Frei.

"Well, that's something." Aki's voice was quiet, and she shared the tiny smile as she glanced back to Chloe. Perhaps the evening could be salvaged, after all.

The song ended and despite being horribly startled when Tsu and Zave entered she was delighted to see them both. She smiled and set to microphone down, holding her hands together - they were shaking from nerves! That was her one song for the night, she decided.

"O-Oh! Dr. Tsu! I-It's so good to see you!" She carefully stepped down from the stage, walking over to stand shyly by Aphismet - at least near enough so that her shoulder was touching his. "A-And... y-you're Raeven." She hadn't really met Zavier yet, seen him in his tube at passing, sure.


Roux huffed darkly as Tsu and Zave entered. He recognized both, giving a lofty nod to the storm Frei in recognition. They were good in his book - Zave had been there to assist after that horrible thing had attacked him. (The fact that he'd gone at her first had been neatly edited from his own memory).

Aki turned as the newcomers entered, and smiled with genuine warmth. Her greeting was quiet, since Chloe was just finishing her song, but she mouthed a silent 'It's good to see you' to both gentlemen.

As the song ended, Aki applauded, which inadvertently distanced her a bit from Meli. "That was great, Chloe! You have a lovely voice!" Even Pasha nodded, and her hands pattered softly in honor of the song. Aki could totally relate to the other woman's nerves...she wasn't sure she'd ever sung in public before, and the thought was giving her butterflies.

Pasha, however, had more than butterflies. She found herself suddenly floating on her own, with Aki a few steps off talking to the other adults. Hands balled into tiny, pale fists, both pressed against her chest above her dim rune, Melisande finally peeked back over her shoulder at the new arrivals.

Dr. Tsu! And Zae! The bright look of surprise that crossed her face said clearly that if she had the courage, she'd have fled straight to them in welcome...but instead the corners of her blue eyes simply crinkled in understated greeting, and her hands slowly relaxed.

Out of habit, Pasha looked briefly to the other two, wondering if they were as relieved to see Zavier as she was. Roux and Rivener were still distanced, however, and their expressions were hard to read...which did nothing to inspire confidence in the delicate Frei. She distantly remembered Zae's gentle words and kind face...would he still be the same? Or would he sour, like all the others?

Filled with uncertainty, and wishing the tension would break, Pasha was almost startled as Aphi began his song. The words were so warm, like his voice and Melisande she wished she could be in the place he was describing, right that very moment. Her ribbon fluttered weakly, still sporadic in its spiraling, and she absently drifted a few inches closer to the floor.