Welcome to Gaia! ::

Merci grinned, "Oh come on now your just ruining my fun. There are few things in life more fun the shooting a shaken up soda can. They explode most satisfyingly." She shifted and pulled her legs up to sit indian style. Thankfully today she was in jeans and not in the usual short leather skirt. Zero might have seen way more then she wanted to. "You're like Cinder with your crazy gadgets. Though she has this thing I really really wanna try some day. She calls it a Mu Suit." This was a side that Merci didn't get to talk about very often. Not with the fact they had kids around. Every now and then though, even if you are a responsible adult, you just wanna blow something up.

Dio frowned, 'What did you do all that time?' For once he didn't seem to talk incessantly. He was honestly curious. The fiend never thought of himself as a social creature, but the idea of staying in Merci's house all the time and not going anywhere seemed boring.

Merci leaned forward and grinned widely, "I had to have her explain it to me, but now that she did I totally wanna try it out. It's like a mech type thing. you get in it and it has some heavy weapons. It honestly sounds like it could cut my car in HALF." She was acting like a teenager, she totally knew it and didn't care. Guns and explosions made her happy. "I don't have a spare car to try it out on. Unfortunately I can't afford one with Dio's spending habits."

Dio frowned and he floated up a little bit so he could put his hands on either side of Red's face. 'You don't have to be bored anymore. We could leave Zero with Merci and go for a walk? Ooo, or we could do something you like to do? We've always done things I like to do. What is it you like to do?' He realized that he never really bothered to grill Red. Dio just felt so comfortable around him that he talked and talked. Maybe he needed to listen more.

Merci's brows furrowed and she canted her head to the side slightly. Her ears cocked backwards and folded down a little bit, expressing her concern "If you start having problems let me know okay? I do get paid for working here, and Cinder being home is immensely helpful." She sighed a little bit and her ears perked up some, "I've been really worried that maybe I hadn't heard from you because of what happened when you guys came over last time. If you get hurt like this you have friends you can call to help you, you know that right? I mean if I'd known you were going through something this difficult I would have come and helped."

Dio stared at Red a moment and he didn't let go of his face, 'Come on I tell you the things I like to do. Are you embarrassed about something? Do... Do you not trust me?' For some reason that thought started to upset him. 'You're my best friend, and I've been so selfish.' The smaller fiend wouldn't blame Red for being grumpy with him. He hardly ever paused long enough to appreciate him.

Merci shrugs a shoulder and she gave Zero a wry grin, "I kinda understand. I really don't have very many people that fit into the description of the word friend. Pretty much the people I've met here. I didn't lead a life that lent to close relationships when I was younger." Her brows furrowed and she grimaced, "Not that I'm exactly old or anything."

Hey so there was a somewhat feminine part of her that didn't want to admit that she was reaching the wrong side of thirty. Just the very idea of it made her cringe inside.

Dio blinked at Red and he finally let go of his face. 'Mmm I think the back of the custom order forms might work.' Dio rummaged around and came up with a couple forms. He turned it over and picked up a pen that was used mostly for shop keeping notes and signatures. 'Pen is okay? I don't know where there is a pencil or anything else.'

Dio didn't notice that he seemed to be crowding Red physically. He'd not seen his friend in so long it seemed like he had to be in almost constant contact with him. The smaller fiend moved up and pressed himself against Red's back, so he could peek over his shoulder and see what he was going to do.

The woman stretched her legs back out and leaned her body against the backrest. "Hey sure I bet that would be nice. Cinder and I are going into the business with Clotho, who is a friend of Cinder's. We're hoping that it can make enough to stand on it's own and hopefully offset some of the horrible debt that seems to come along with our lifestyle." Merci's ears perked up while she was talking, "Dio's spending habits aren't helping anything either. I'll talk to Cinder about it, we're hoping that we won't have to do to much work on the place before we can open the doors."

Dio wrapped his tail around Red and slipped his arms around his chest. His chin rested on the larger Shadow's shoulder while he watched him draw. 'How come your embarrassed about drawing stuff? You're really good Red!' For some reason, being close to Red made him feel safe and content. 'How did you find out you liked it? I've never even tried things like that before.' The curiosity reared it's ugly head.

Merci sighed a bit, "I'm excited for the place to open so I'm out of the house a little more too. It's not empty by any stretch, we have a little of the opposite problem. To many people, critters, whatever in one place. It wasn't so bad before Cinder got back, but now with Rhys, Peeps, Clotho, Sarraqa, Cinder, Tek, Dio, Seraph, Maili, and Vance it's getting crowded. Luckily we got an older house that had guest houses and old servants quarters in seperate dwellings, so we shuffled the snakes off to one and Clotho lives in the other. Helps the place feel like it's not coming apart at the seems."

Her ears cocked toward the storefront and she paused for a moment listening, "They are being awfully quiet. Should we be worried?"

Dio laughed a little bit before he started talking 'Girly? Really? The greatest artists in history have been men you know. Vincent Van Gogh, Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, Claude Monet... the list is really really long actually.' Educational TV for the win. He liked documentaries. 'I wouldn't say liking drawing is girly at all. Why would it bother you even if it was? Do you think I'm girly?'

Merci nodded a little bit and stood up, her tail swishing behind her as she did so. "At least I don't hear glass breaking, that's good. Pretty sure Athan would dock my pay for the cost of the display case if something happened on my shift." She winked at Zero and walked over to peek out and see what was going on. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle the snort.

Poor Red, she couldn't help shaking with laughter. She looked back at Zero and her eyes were twinkling, "It's worth getting up and looking seriously. Do you need help?"

Dio moved a hand from around Red and petted his braided head. It worked with Peeps and Merci sometimes when they seemed slightly agitated, maybe Red would like petting too. Though he knew his guardian would rather die then admit she liked getting her ears scratched. He also didn't seem concerned that Red didn't directly answer the question. He hadn't said he WAS girly, which was as good as no to him. 'Can I keep it when your done? Then I'll have something you made for me.' This did not seem like an odd request to Dio at all.