Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( Oceanside ))




The demon laughed, quiet and light. "Did you?" he asked teasingly, smiling at the Kitten warmly. "I miss that beach side house and our Christmas gifts." Zul mused with a wistful expression, his smile almost touching his eyes, nodding some at her trailed off comment. He understood all too well, and between them and all they'd gone through, it didn't feel like it needed to be said. "I'm glad to see you," he settled on instead, giving the feisty femme a gentle squeeze. Lucia looked good; it did his heart well to know his friend was gaining ground again.

Friends. Didn't that just figure. He figured the Sigel did not know what Lucia had been through, and did not wish to enlighten him. Patting the arm looped with his, Zul turned his head when Xiu's name was called. It was time for the next game already? The smile remained on his lips, his posture at ease with Lucia, not in the least bit bothered that the Sigel had to leave their company. "Have fun, then," he said with a flick of his lips into a near grin, though he let it be. The white Sigel had signed up for the game, and while it was true that he was supposed to be one of the Captains, he was also the one that wasn't in the game when the number was odd. Looked like luck was in his favor!

Tilting his head to Lucia, the tri-horned demon allowed the grin to form, though it was far less malicious than it could have been had it been aimed at someone else. "At least we can have better memories here now! I saw Melisande earlier. Did you say hello yet?" Zul certainly hoped the Muse was in higher spirits than when they'd last seen her; sweet as she was, the dear femme could not hide her discontent from him, seeing how little they knew about one another.

(( Petting Booth ))




"Excuse me, miss!"

Gah! MISS! If there was one thing Alex shivered over as much as being called "Doctor Vizcatti," it was that! The Italian glanced up from where she was perched with the Chimera, a grin already settling into place naturally despite the hailed title, though the expression froze as her green eyes fell upon the man in question. In the most unprofessional stare ever, the Researcher blinked a few times and stood, lifting a hand to indicate the man. "Holy--you have the coolest looking hair. Ever. Is it natural?" Perhaps she wasn't the quaintest at starting conversation, but damn! The way his hair was...really reminded her of a family no longer with her, in a land far from this one. It was how she imagined her hair would end up, when age started to catch her, but this guy was probably younger than her, judging by his youthful face!

Smiling in a way that held no apology, she peered over the kiddie pool and giggled softly. "These are called Chimera, and goodness willing, you wont see many of them out and about on the street!" Alex leaned down, ruffling the slick fur on the octopussy's head, earning a faint purr. "However, if you look around, you'll probably see a thing or two you haven't seen anywhere else." She smiled in a manner that was sharp and knowing despite her previously misstep, arching a dark brow in a 'go ahead, look around' manner. "If you have any questions about the Chimera or...anything else," the smile shifted into a grin that showed her teeth, "feel free to ask."

Suddenly snapping her fingers, she extended her hand, the proud type of grin dimming into a kind smile. "By the by, I'm Alex of Lab Three-oh-Five."

(( Drinks booth - Tag Rong Wei & Kenth // Beach - waiting for more people to enter the battlefield ))

Even without Ebony's questioned look, Kyou couldn't help but notice the little tension between Rong Wei and Ripley, but perhaps that is normal between some guardian and Raevan relationships. Awkwardness are common in most normal families as well, what with teenage or child rebellion and some such. He knew that Lazarus was like that once, like a wild horse that was difficult to tame, but seeing how he matured had made him very happy. Silently he hoped for the best between the chinese and egyptian duo.

When Ripley left to the popsicle booth, he just finished his watermelon daiquiri and was sipping on it delightfully. "I'll make you some watermelon juice with honey then. We made a lot of fruit juices today so there's no point wasting them." He chuckled at the chinese woman's new order as he took out another jug of watermelon juice from the fridge. "It does wonders for a hot day like this."

As he went about making Rong Wei's drink, Xuelian's owner came up to the counter again, asking for another bottle of water. Ah, a second chance for introduction. This time he wouldn't miss his chance again. "Hello again, I don't think I've introduced myself. My name is Dr Kyou." Perhaps they could familiarize with each other a little, and it would definitely help if the white haired man could refresh his memory with his name. He was in luck though, as he just moved two bottles out from the room earlier. Carefully he heaved it onto the counter from behind the booth. "Here's your water."

It was probably by chance that he was in front of Zeke when the paintball event started before the results for the seashell contest were announced. As the man stood onto the table, Lazarus backed away a little instinctively, but he soon found himself attracting a few gazes from the crowd. Perhaps because he was made captain, or it could just be Zeke who keeps motioning to him and not the other team's captain.

"It looks like I need to go now." He turned and said apologetically to Cordelia, whom he did not hear mentioned in any of the teams. "Wish me luck!" Picking up a gun, he headed out into the sand, joining Rivener and a very tanned Frei that he had not met. "Hello guys!" He greeted them, wondering if he should say something encouraging which would sound... captain-like. "Good luck!" was the only thing he could gather up as he patted their backs lightly, going into the battlefield.

Ducking behind a sand dune, he laid low and started searching for a possible target.

(( Ocean Side >> Paintball, team Papaya
Shot 1/6, 1 hit ))

Originally Ronan had been heading to the petting zoo. However, upon seeing the interactions taking place there, he decided to come back at a later time - also, a slightly longer resting time sounded rather nice.

Trotting back over to his towel Ronan let himself flop back first onto the cloth, once again putting his hands behind his head. He also began to repeat the experience of watching the clouds, but this time more intently.

There, that one billowing shape, a long straight line sloping diagonally, a hole at the end of the wedge, two diamonds towards the top.... a horse! Wait a minute, the straight line was becoming jagged, and the hole had split open, diving the top and bottom of the wedge for a bit, and the diamonds were sloping back.... more like a dragon! Huh, no, the bottom part of the wedge was blown away leaving a delicate snout, the line began to smooth out again, the diamonds widening at the base.... ah, now it was a fox!

So engrossed in his cloud watching, Ronan missed the announcement for the seashell hunt and barely noticed the raevans that combed the beach edge. Not long after that his eyes drifted shut and all that could heard from him was the soft murmur of sleeping breath.

That is, until a certain fly wandered too close. Unwittingly breathing in the hapless insect, Ronan's eyes flew open and he sat up as quick as he could. In a short time he had dissolved into a massive coughing fit, leaning over the edge of his towel as his body hacked and spit in an attempt to get the foreign body out. And lucky it did come out, but only after couple minutes of the exhausting effort. Giving one last miserable cough, he looked over to the popsicle booth to see what was going on over there. Wait a minute.... paintball guns? Oh crap.

Scrambling up from his position on towel, Ronan bolted over to the booth, giving a quick "excuse me," to any one that was in his way. Eyes darting over the list he finally found his name under team papaya - green. Snatching one of the properly marked guns, he then set off full blast towards the field, ending the journey by diving behind a protective sand dune. Peering over the top, Ronan saw his first target with a pink marked gun - Ripley. Positioning the butt of the rifle against his shoulder, Ronan looked along the top of the gun then pulled the trigger. The green pellet wizzed off, exploding spectacularly again one of the Egyptian raevan's metalic wings.

Now, just wait and see how the chaos would play out.

(( Petting Booth ))




A pleased smile returned the answer given to her, inwardly satisfied that the man had replied without embarrassment or recoiling from her rather straight-forward antics. Alex crossed her arms over her exposed stomach with a quietly bemused smile as the man took her words to heart and looked around; from her vantage point to his kneeling, she could see the look in his eye, the other covered from her view. She always felt a mixed concoction of apprehension, anxiety and hope when this happened. Would the person accept what they saw? Would they find the Raevans to be freaks? Would they be the few that joined the ranks of Guardians to the fantastic beings...?

Her lips curved into a high smile at his reaction. It was a good one, promising to nix out the middle option, which was always a good thing. His hand shake was agreeable, and his name... "Jezabroux? Well aren't you just full of awesome." Alex chuckled, listening to his story and nodding at his explanation, settling her hands on her hips and flinching a little at the title again. "Just Alex if y'don't mind. We're pretty much all family and friends here." Smiling to make sure the man knew there was no harm, no foul, she continued on.

"The information is to gauge your interest," she said simply, lifting one hand and indicating the beach-front party. Her eyes briefly skimmed the bodies - whole and partial alike - engaging in play, conversation and meeting. Distantly, Alex realized she wasn't squinting as much anymore, glancing upwards to the thin wisps of cloud with gratefulness before returning her attention to Jezabroux. "You're here; that's a good sign." Acting as the Italian she was, she moved her other hand so the palm was facing her, using her other to point her index against it as though writing. "The survey is if you're interested in Guardianship of one of our sweethearts - we call them Raevans."

A low sound of amusement escaped her, tilting her head towards the drink booth. "The gent yonder with black hair and equally black horns is Doctor Kyou - he and his associate are the owners, creators and supporters of this project." Alex glanced towards the oceanfront, spotting her own charge with Lucia, earning a small, affectionate smile. "One thing you ought to know is that the Raevans are like you and I - sentient, intelligent with fathomless potential. They aren't cute little pets, and some don't take well to be approached like an alien - and believe me, there's been plenty of that." She laughed lightly under her breath; with all that Gaia had living on its surface, it seemed funny to her that Raevans garnered so much gaping and odd treatment.

(( Ripley - PAINTBALL!!!!

/shooting at Rohan - HIT!

[ Team Mango
shot 2/6 ;; 1 hit, 1 miss ] ))

Ripley had thought he was secure with his back to the surf and his eyes on most of the contestants, though a sudden impact to one of his wings sent him staggering (float staggering, as it were) forward with the sheer momentum. It wasn't another strong that would seriously injure him from the hit, but seeing as the Egyptian Frei was not expecting such a thing it was enough to catch him off guard as it were. His head quickly turned, eyes narrowed almost to a fine point, and the usual look of calm grace that Ripley allowed on his features was nowhere to be found. There was a loud crackle about him as well, even a pop like one would hear as something explodes (as in a circuit, perhaps), and if one looked close enough at him they were likely to see little streaks of lightning moving across his skin.

Oh yes, Ripley was angry, and to that end his revenge was certainly going to be had. He'd watched enough people move the guns up and fire them to know how to properly operate one now. All that was left was to see who'd shot him, which was an easy enough task - the boy who'd fired hadn't even thought to move. Without so much as batting an eye Ripley raised the gun up enough and pulled the trigger before he decided to aim.

"Boom. Head shot."

It gave him a strange delight to watch the pellet contact with the boy's head, be that it hit him in the forehead or on the cheek or anywhere else, but Ripely had certainly scored a head shot. If that was against the rules than so be it - not a single soul had dared announce rules before this insane excuse for a 'game' had started. He probably would have laughed out loud too if it wasn't for the fact that others were still around and moving, and Ripley lowered his gun as he decided to simply stay where he was - let others come to him. He would pick them off one at a time.

((Delia=Popsicle Booth // Ebs=Popsicle Booth -> Paintball

Team Papaya
Shot 1/6 | Hit: 0 | Miss: 1
Aiming at Rivener. Missed.))

“Good luck Lazzie!” Cordelia chimed as loud as her wispy voice was able to carry with the encroaching wind. There was a brief moment were she swayed gently from side to side debating on what to do next since she wasn’t in this event. Her guardian’s sudden and very loud presence then made the girl jump. Oh, why was Ebby mad? “I…signed you up…” the girl murmured quietly, gently mashing her index fingers together. Had she done something wrong?

“What?!” screeched the British female as she swung around to confront the one forging her name. Having not realized it was her own ward, Ebony’s anger immediately melted into a shade of remorse and embarrassment for having yelled. “I-I’m sorry Cordelia. But…why?”

“I wanted you to have some fun too.” The Frei shrugged as if it was the simplest thing in the world and that she was dumb for not seeing it herself. “Don’t you want to have fun Ebby?”

Ebony opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to piece together what she wanted to tell her Raevan. Of course she wanted to have fun, yet rolling about in sand and paint was not her idea of said fun. Looking into those hopeful eyes, Ebony knew she couldn’t stand breaking the girl’s heart at something as trivial as this. Besides the girl had thought what she was doing was somehow beneficial to her human, a totally selfless act.

Finally, pulling slender digits through her purple hair, Ebony sighed and replied. “Seems I’m playing Zeke. Sorry about the yelling.” Grabbing a gun, the Brit masterfully opened the chamber to check her ammo amount. Only six shots and there didn’t seem to be any lying about for reloads. Another sigh before she quickly locked the gun back in place and headed out. She’d have to shot wisely if she wanted to win.

Even if her woman wasn’t entirely pleased with being forced to play, Cordelia was ecstatic and waved her off like she had the fire Sigel. “Good luck Ebby!” It was then she realized that they weren’t on the same teams. Some of her favorite people were going against one another. Oh no! Who would she root for then? All in all Delia should probably root for her guardian above anyone else, but that just didn’t seem fair to the Raevans and yet rooting for them wasn’t fair to the woman who was taking care of her. The snake pouted immensely from her uncomfortable dilemma. This paintball thing was much more trouble than it was worth it seemed.

The Raevans may have had their floating, wings and varied powers to give them an edge in this game, but Ebony had her own acrobatic skills to aid in evading any unwanted hits. Given it wasn’t full proof given the great variables surrounding whom, when and where not to mention all the other non-players mulling about the beach to distract. In a blur of purple Ebony dashed and dived past Rivener’s floating form and in that flash she managed to get a shot off. Unfortunately, because her mad run wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, it only managed to whiz past the Sigel by mere inches, landing in the sand with a dull thud. If anyone cared to look, they’d have seen the violet haired woman disappear behind a rock before the pellet had even landed. Her mark might have been off (or as she would have said, he moved just in time), but Ebony wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t be sitting in plain sight if she could help it.