Welcome to Gaia! ::

She was still following him Rook noted, the small violet eyed toddler had been trailing him for three blocks, ever since he’d left the coffee house. He’d only looked back and seen her twice, the rest of it was just reflections in store windows and rainwater puddles. Rook didn’t know what she wanted from him though because she always kept her distance and hadn’t yet spoken. He would have thought he was just imagining things if it weren’t for the fact that he never saw anyone else with her that could be leading her the same way he was going. Parents were permissive on Gaia but they weren’t usually keen on letting toddlers run wild especially not in the heart of the cities where vehicular accidents were still a fairly common occurrence.

Rook wasn’t the most interesting person walking the streets either that day so he couldn’t begin to fathom just what the little girl wanted with him in particular. He also didn’t intend to ask, stopping to talk to strangers, no matter how innocent or pathetic they might look at the time, was rarely a good idea. You could get conned into all sorts of things here just by being a good Samaritan and Rook had enough on his plate right now. He had work, stabilizing his magic and keeping up with his family to keep him busy. Now was not a good time to be charged with quests and the like, it didn’t make him a bad person, just one who wasn’t currently able to help others for the greater good.

It seemed though that fate cared little for what Rook thought because the shabbily dressed girl followed him all the way back to his apartment. The teen had just unlocked the door to the lobby when there was a soft whimper and he turned in time to see his mysterious followed collapse on the floor at his feet. Reminded of his own fainting spell not that long ago and feeling guilty for letting this happen he gathered the unconscious girl into his arms. A strange tingling feeling spread over his skin as he held her but Rook could only ignore it as he headed further into the building. Sure he could tell the girl was clearly magic but that mattered less right now than getting her settled and revived. Hopefully then she’d talk to him and tell him what she wanted, why she was here.

Hours later when Zora was settled into his bed and he was sleeping on the couch Rook noted with a small smile that like his mother he seemed destined to pick up strays that literally walked into his life.

Takes place early october


"But then she gets dirty again right away mother, it's like she's attracting dirt on purpose," Rook sighed as his mother laughed at him over the phone. Honestly it was a legitimate concern he'd come to her with. How was he supposed to take care of Zora when he couldn't even keep her clean? His little stray didn't mind water and hummed happily to herself in the bath but it took less than an hour for her to find some way to be covered in grime again. Even in his apartment which was kept immaculate due to hiss obsessive compulsive disorder. Somehow Zora could find the one windowsill that'd collected dust in the last twenty-four hours and get herself dirty. It'd make more sense to Rook if Zora actually showed signs of liking being dirty but she just seemed ambivalent about the whole thing.


"Alright I get it, she's just a kid and it's not like she's getting hurt by it. Yes tell Bishop and Andrea I said hello, ok I love you too, bye." The grey skinned man hung up the phone and sighed softly. It was always good to talk to his mother but she'd been of no help to him. Yes she'd hammered home the fact that technically this wasn't hurting anything but it still disturbed Rook. How good
of a parent was he if he couldn't even keep a little girl clean indoors?

( stuff here)

Fate had brought together an odd pair in them, Rook mused as he went to make the hot chocolates. They both liked things to be just so and yet their opinions on what constituted that clashed a great deal. Rook was never content until things were organized correctly and Zora seemed to lapse into zen like states when arbitrary levels of.. something were correct to her. He walked in measured steps projecting a sense of purpose and Zora, Zora seemed to just be places as if she'd teleported there. He'd hesitate to call it skulking but even when they were side by side Zora's gait was functional but odd more often that not. Finally he was well an alterer huge, hulking grey skinned and with and with far less fingers and toes that a normal humanoid not to mention his tail. Zora in comparison was tiny, weak and nearly wholly human looking. No one who did not know them would think they were family.

Somehow though they fit, they lived with each other despite their differences and for all that Rook grumbled about things that bothered him he was happy.