Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ilsa looked just as delighted, and had several false starts in signing a return greeting. I must, she settled on, I'm silent. Very few people knew (or, in Nayeli's case, remembered) that once the blond woman with the porcelain skin had been a fish just like Naida. Though Soma had probably not intended it, there had been a flaw in the process used to create her body; even so, she still constituted a sort of 'ancestor' to every Galatean in the room. She made a face at Nayeli again, then signed again: What have you dressed up as? Where did you acquire the princess in the water?

With a smile, the god slung an arm over Ravina's shoulders. "It'll do. If it tears, I'll get Mom to fix it. Or I'll fix it. Everything turns out good, in the end. If it isn't good, it's not the end." Nayeli couldn't help but be affectionate; he stood too close to people and seemed ignorant of the fact. "Let's go get drinks then! I'll keep you company 'til someone else is freed up, huh?" He frog-marched Ravina over to the table, where the black-haired Death frowned mightily at them and licked chocolate off her fingers. "Hi Huian," he said chirpily. "Actually, Ravina, it took like ten minutes once we got all the stuff together. Ilsa helped a lot, she's a good little mermaid." A laugh, and then he started to catalog drinks.

While Mist prowled around the table bearing foods, a hunter and its prey, Celeste found herself slightly confused at the ink's reply. She wasn't very good with human words, however she caught enough to garner the rest.

"I am Celeste." The crane finally replied, her voice silky, though a slight waver battling between the hesitation of new grounds and the natural pride of appearing knowledgable, "That is Mist." The image of herself and her caretaker were sent almost subconsciously as she had grown used to using images and feeling. She did, however, wish to learn words faster to convey her feelings with the multiple meanings that words could provide.

The explanation of Halloween didn't really enlighten her, though she appreciated the effort. She settled with the thought that some things humans did simply couldn't be explained with reason. After a moment's thought, Celeste paused when she felt a familiar tingle. Sharp eyes turned to a bowl being set down, the shining blue gem enveloped in waters gleaming merrily against the pumpkin lit room.

All things were suddenly blotted away as she flew over to the bowl, half tempted to reach in and grab her meal right there. She decided against it, however, when she thought it might be unruly to be gulping down her food while others were still socializing (with the exception of her own guardian, but that woman ate all the time so it hardly counted anymore.)

Excited to show her new experiences, Celeste sent the fish a barrage of images, from the mansion she now lived at to the fair she had recently attended, then flashes of the oddities she had seen, "Halloween." The word accompanied it, and the crane puffed her chest and settled her feathers.

[Just a reminder, guys from first flat: there's no way you're as advanced as Sumi/Akane/Edwin would be. all of them have been around (though Edwin didn't have an owner) for like a month now... X3; so your characters would still be speaking in emotions and images, even to other Galateans.

At first unable to speak human speech, they can communicate with fellow Galateans via image telepathy - a skill that slowly grows to involve words based on how much interactions with humans they have. They are unable to open their mouths and speak much like a normal human would, as many do not have mouths; those that do still speak in telepathy.]

"Thanks, Ravina," said Nayeli, pausing in his list. Since he didn't need to breathe he'd been going full steam the entire time, but he stopped fullsale then. There was really one thing sweet, other than the sodas, on the table, and that was... "Fruit punch?" He offered her one of the pretty glass cups with a cheerful smile.

"You learn fast, wing-sister," said Sumi, who had difficulty sometimes remembering what language to speak in. In fact, right now he spoke an odd mixture of Korean and Japanese, with the occasional Chinese and English fragments thrown in. It was the language he knew, after all. He responded by sending Celeste- and the beta fish she was speaking to- images of Halloween and a subvocal explanation. He found himself too tired to continue articulating as he had.

The blond girl shook her head, golden curls cascading about. I find it annoying. Nayeli never, ever stops talking... She paused, tilting her head to watch him with Ravina. Her lips, pretty and full, turned into a decided pout. He is a rock star, and I am his groupie. It's accurate. Your 'Dream' is much better than mine. The smile returned, and Ilsa made a cheerful sound somewhat like a chuckle in her throat.

"Jesus, don't you bother me enough already?" Huian flicked the cowl of her costume back a little so she could see more clearly. The Asian girl hadn't even planned to come, had in fact planned on just mailing Sumi to the address, but when things started getting rowdy and her uncles were around...

Well, it wasn't worth it.

She looked up at Raizen, apparently evaluating his costume the same way another would look at a pie in a store window. "Guess it's good enough," she muttered, turning back to her glass. (Maybe he wouldn't notice the slight lack of cohesion between all the dark liquid inside it if she didn't seem too preoccupied with it, but honestly, how could a red-blooded girl resist the lure of trying alcohol where she couldn't get caught?) Her costume was much simpler- just a black robe with fitted sleeves and a hood. The robe opened in the front to a bloody crimson underskirt; it was a lot more feminine and... elegant than one would have expected from the girl had they known her. Pulling the hood back up, she gestured in the direction of the patron saint of hobos. "That way."

"With the one in the Victorian dress," clarified Sumi. "Good evening, Rune!"

Raizen was momentarily taken aback. He hadn't expected to see Hui there! Despite her criticism he smiled warmly at her. "Thank you, my dear. I'm pleased to see you and your friend could make it! To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd know anyone here but my date." Well, would-be date, as soon as he found him. He turned to scan the direction she'd indicated.

He didn't spot Dragon off the bat...so he turned back to her. "You look very radiant tonight, you know. It suits you very well!" Or as well as anything could fit someone who didn't usually sport it. It certainly had a shock factor - though not unpleasant.

Rune was enthralled to see the ink cousin again. Happily, the wind whistled and danced around the vial. Several images of the hall flashed in the subconscious of the younger being, some unseen by others simply due to vantage - including the inside of the jack-o-lanterns.

Nayeli's smile grew to epic proportions almost immediately. "Really do you think so?" The way to this God of Love's heart couldn't be mistaken for anything but flattery. He threw his arms around Ravina and hugged her tightly- the fruit punch made as if to spill but simply splattered against the top of the cup, as if there was some kind of invisible force field between it and the space outside. (Maybe there was.) "So!" The god let go, putting his hands on his hips and assuming a dramatic pose. "What's your favorite season, Ravina? Do you like autumn too? Of course, I love every season."

She frowned at Raizen, something that lost the effect because her eyes (full of disdain, of course; she treated everyone like s**t, not just Sumi) hid behind the cowl. "I'm Death. If I were radiant, then certainly the natural order's got a shitload of problems." Turning away for a moment to put her glass down, Huian listened to the cross-chatter between Galateans. "Oh, do shut up," she muttered, especially irritated at the sound effects that came with the dog and cat sent by a Galatean she didn't know. When Raizen was tackled by Dragon, the girl felt a little vindicated for a moment. Then she just felt disgusted.

"Oh, get a room," she muttered, knocking her cup off the table. It vanished halfway down and reappeared, though empty, before her. Huian refilled it, this time with seltzer, and went back to sulking and blocking the snack table.

"Root-brother," said Sumi soothingly, "I know he is yours. I have no designs on him." A shaky, half-imagined image of someone- the design couldn't be made out, as if the ink hadn't seen the person in an age- tinted blue with longing drifted out for a moment. Then, laughing, he said, "Thank you for telling me, Rune! That's amazing! Sasuga."

Raizen cocked a brow, curious as to her ire. "Well, I don't think that's necessarily true. Wouldn't it appear radiant if you were suffering and it came to take you from it? I-"

But before he could continue into his philosophical debate, he found himself ensnared by a beautiful predator. "Oh!" His surprise voiced itself momentarily before registering pleasure. Upon finding it to be his lover, he embraced him, kissing him gently on the forehead.

'Oh, get a room' brought him back to Hui. As though the comment had never been uttered, he cheerfully nodded towards Dragon. "Huian, I'd like you to meet Dragon, my mate, and his tree friend."

The tree, being disturbed as it was, was in dire need of some consolation. The wind unwound itself from about the vial's vicinity and dashed towards its would-be lover. To the pair of like existences, images of pleasant things formed in shifting, fleeting thoughts. The wind had received just as much contact as the Willow, but that was simply the way it seemed to see things - be they in forever curious angles. What could be made out to be random hearts came up in regard to the Willow - and images of sunny places came up for the ink, a friendly gesture.

"Cold's already here," Nayeli opined, turning his face towards the window as if looking out at the darkness beyond it. His eyes, though, never left his companion's face. "But that's okay. When it's cold, you get to come inside and sit with your friends and everyone you love and be warm. Also, ice skating." He shrugged lightly. "I'm really, really good at ice skating. I'll have to show you sometime!"

She sneered, upending her glass and watching the seltzer pool around the places where the edges of it met the table. Sometimes she thought she gloried in destruction for its own sake. "The only way Death'd be radiant is if it ended. I fully intend on living forever." Knowing Huian, it was quite possible it might happen, too; that she actually might achieve everything she said. With an aggravated sigh, she tipped the hood back so it rested at the part of her hair and looked at Dragon for a few moments. "Oh," she said flatly. That still didn't excuse the blatant PDA-ing, in her opinion.

It seemed odd to Sumi that the free-spirited wind cousin would allow such a thing- someone so angrily possessive that... Well, as it seemed. Didn't the Willow know that every Galatean had their partner? Even if the partner wasn't human yet... He thought of Blood with longing. Where was she?...

Then he resumed watching, idly splashing against the sides of his vial in patterns.