Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alba shook himself out of his state of awe. "Um, well, uh... How much space do you have for it?" He looked up and down the Great Wall of Television. "Good gods... The last time I shopped for a TV, I'm pretty sure they all came in box form." Had it really been that long? Used to be any TV that wasn't as deep as it was tall was only owned by the wealthiest people he knew. Now nearly-flat was the norm. And there were even some on sale!

"A wha?" DVD player in a TV? Had tech people switched straight to freaking sorcery? Alba followed after Claire and stared even more at her discovery. "You have got to be kidding me..." Seriously? Seriously??

Alba answered the question with a well thought out, "Uhhhhhh." He scratched at the back of his neck and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Honestly? Maybe... ten, no... sixteen years? Wow." His eyes took on a slightly glassy appearance. "In the end, we decided we needed the money elsewhere. My dad gave us his old TV as an excuse to get a new one." Giving his head a shake, Alba came back to the present. "Sorry, didn't mean to ramble like that. You, uh, sure you don't want some help with that?" he offered, moving his arms as though ready to take the box for her as they went.

Yep, Alba was definitely behind on modern... stuff. Though, holding the door for her again, he did seem to catch on to the new dilemma rather quickly. "So, um, did you already have plans for how to get that back, or- Oh, wait a sec. Bill!'

A casually dressed young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, stopped at the call and did a half turn while calling back, "What?"

"Where'd you park the van?"

"Got the same spot as last time, if you believe that," Bill answered, coming towards them. Noticing Claire and her purchase, he nodded knowingly and dug into a pocket. "Just don't forget to lock it back up when you're done, Rookie."

Alba caught the keys that were tossed to him in one hand. "Yeah, yeah. Will do, thanks." The other trainee had already started moving on again, and Alba turned to grin at Claire. He dangled the desired key between two fingers. "Crisis solved?"

Alba nodded and hummed his agreement. On his shoulder, Spook was, for once, being quiet and looking content with just watching the city scenery as they walked. "I bet." The memory of Lucas and Aulus' yelling match came to mind again- Wait. "Did Lucas have work today? I didn't see him in the room this morning." Actually, he hadn't seen his roommate since the night before, when Lucas had left in a hurry to find Claire.

"Huh, okay. I just had the random thought that he might be around here somewhere. Figured he'd want to tag along and help out if given half the chance after yesterday." He looked down at the box again. "Speaking of, can I at least help carry one side of that?" If Claire wanted to make a point, he didn't know her well enough to argue that. Plus, he had enough experience with independent women to know better. But heck if he was going to face an angry Lucas back at the base that night if she somehow pulled a stitch or was otherwise hurt.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Alba decided to make an attempted leap at another by switching the box entirely to himself. "Hmm? Oh, nothing, really. You know, just everyone worrying about where you guys disappeared to. Oh, hey, I see the van!" he said in a voice that wasn't speeding up or sounding strained at all. And he was not speed walking now to the vehicle, either. Nope, not at all. Totally normal.

Setting the box down so he could unlock and open the side of the van, Alba laughed. A very slightly not really nervous laugh. "Nothing happened. Everyone was just worried." He knew he was repeating himself, but really? What else could he say?

Closing the door and turning around answered that for him: nothing. He gave a deflated sigh. Busted. "Look, you have to understand. Your group vanished off the face of the planet, and when we finally heard there was some kind of sign, there was only one beacon. It didn't look very good." He used the excuse of locking the van back up to buy him a few more seconds. Not nearly as long as he would've liked. At least the van had been parked down a lesser used side street, and no one else on the main road seemed to have any reason to be there as well for now. "Lucas... may have gotten in a disagreement with Aulus. I don't know what it was all about. They were just two very unhappy guys. That's... that's all I can say." Shaking his head, he lifted and held out his hands briefly to the sides before letting them fall back to hang loosely, as though he didn't know what else he could possibly to offer.