Welcome to Gaia! ::

The week had been pretty boring at school, the history of Gaia was a complex multi levelled thing but Rhys had found he could easily ace his tests by just memorizing his reading. Mathematics, physics, and chemistry he did enjoy but he found the current forms being taught to be too simple and more then a little boring. He also took various other classes, but had trouble with fitting in...gym wasn't too bad but he was light and they had started touch football - the key word was touch and didn't seem to be followed by a lot of the kids; Rhys had a nice sized bruise to prove it. He wasn't particularly talented but Rhys had found he liked art, the teacher in charge of it had become something of a friend ... the current day however was a gym day so Rhys had decided to take it off.

He was in the small grouping of trees that sat near the back of the park, sometime ago he learned that the inner ring of the trees was empty creating a secluded area where someone could find a bit of peace - or just skip school in peace. Nearby Suzi sat, she was from a nearby all girls school the young asian girl had her jacket out and was laying back on it, the green and black plaid skirt that was part of her school uniform was hiked up high as she hadn't bothered to fix it when she laid back. At the moment she was idly smoking a cigarette and Rhys was trying to not stare at her legs. Rhys was laying not far at a slightly different angle, but he was propped up on his stomach to keep from having to wiggle around and keep his wings comfortable, he had an art book illustrating some more popular modern art pieces, Mr. Deneau - his art teacher had loaned it to him the other day.

"Really don't know about some of these...others I get but, I think someone just took a pipe cleaner and made a circle out of it with this one." Rhys looked up from his book and quickly diverted his eyes to go from Suzi's legs to her face.

Suzi blew out the smoke from her last drag before looking over, she'd put her dark hair into pigtails today and with how she was laid back along with the cigarette she was smoking she looked every bit the bad school girl stereotype. Hearing Rhys she sat up some and peered at the book, "hold it up some." Scrunching her nose the girl looked at the picture a moment, "no your right it really is just a pipe cleaner."

While Rhys and Suzi sat wasting their day away nearby Tek prowled the thick brush, the day was fairly bright so staying in the brush had it's perks - but Tek wasn't just idly escaping the sun. Xe had been gathering and at the moment had started to create a complex series of strange shapes and designs in the dirt...using acorns as his medium of creation.

It was a nice day, and he really didn't feel like spending all of it inside. Not to mention, he hadn't had a cigarette in a couple hours. He'd slipped out one of the side doors of the school and breathed in a deep breath of freedom. Harper just hated being at school. Gaia was a world of diverse creatures, but somehow it didn't matter. He still got teased, and had been in trouble three times already this year for punching people that pissed him off.

He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his favorite hoodie. It had slits cut on the hood, and he pulled it up over his head, threading his rather long bunny ears through them. Ah, and those were the reason he got into so much trouble. Harper just refused to hide who and what he was. It wasn't that he couldn't, he could look just as human as if he were born that way.

Maybe the principal wouldn't have it out for him if he stopped pulling pranks on the kids that pissed him off. He just couldn't help himself. Spraying the inside of someones gym locker with liquid nitrogen while they were out sweating on the football field might seem like overkill to some. To Harper though it was the sweet sound of justice.

He was also not stupid enough to stick around to watch the aftermath. He should probably be pretty far away when that jock opened his locker.

So it was that Harper slouched his way off school property and found himself wandering around the park. He was dressed in a pair of baggy black pants and an oversized hoodie, so people didn't really look at him twice as he made his way back toward the trees. His fingers wrapped around the cigarette pack in his pocket and he liberated it, pulling it free and flicking it open with his thumb. The pooka knew that there was a clearing out here somewhere. Some of the other kids had been talking about it, and he figured it sounded like a good place to relax. Plus he needed somewhere to Veg until the fallout from his revenge had safely cleared the air.

What he hadn't expected were other people to be there. He frowned a bit as he stepped through the trees, before he leaned back against one and lit the filtered smoke hanging from his lips. Harper didn't try to draw attention to himself, after all, they were probably just wasting time too.

Suzi put her cigarette out and moved over to sit closer to Rhys, since the other teen didn't smoke and didn't care for smell of the cigarette smoke she tried to be mindful - he was her friend after all. "Mmm, those aren't as bad - it's pretty abstract but the colors are nice." Suzi tilted her head slightly at a display that seemed to be made up of neon colored slices of fruit.

"...I think some of that stuff Tek makes would fit right in." Rhys considered some of the displays, the little fiend's all metal and sharp edges art projects really would be right at home.

Tek paused in his art, xe'd gathered up some pine cones along with stray rocks and sticks. With xyrs gathered supplies the odd shapes that had been created under the tree started to fill the space more. Other then keeping xemself entertained Tek had another job xe was suppose to let Rhys and Suzi know if anyone was coming up on them. The pine cone arch xe was working on held most of xyrs attention so Tek missed Harper's actual arrival.

The fiend however didn't miss Harper for long and once xyrs attention was on Harper, Tek dropped down low and flowed across the floor toward the teen. Inching closer xe studied Harper, finally deciding that Harper didn't look like much trouble the little fiend reached forward with xyrs tentacle and reached out snaking a tentacle under Harper's over sized pants leg and up over his shin.

Hello! Tek greeted Harper without bothering to move around to where the bunny boy could get sight of him.

His breath caught in his throat on the inhale. What had, moments before, been a peaceful instance of curing his nicotine craving, was suddenly a confusing and alarming occasion. His eyes moved slowly from watching the pair on the other side of the clearing, down toward his leg. What he saw there made him choke, and the surprised noise he made came out twinged with hacking up the smoke caught in his lungs.

Harper couldn't even wrap his mind around the mass of tentacles and eyes staring up at him from the ground. It was as if some horror movie regurgitated it's monster in miniature at his feet. Then he seemed to hear a voice inside his head.... inside his head! Whatever it was, it was touching him, and it was inside his head.

He didn't even finish hacking up his lung when he started backpedaling away from it. The back of his foot caught on a root and he ended up falling on his a**, still coughing and staring wide eyed at the odd little creature near him. His ears drooped and flattened back against his head as he started trying to push himself further away. His heels dug into the dirt and pushed him backwards, scooting along the ground on his backside.

Oh hey! What's wrong?! Tek recoiled from the strange bunny man, xe didn't know what had happened. Rhys! This BUNNY MAN is having a fit!

The coughing was the first thing that Rhys heard, wrinkling his brow he turned instinctively to the new sound, "do you hear somethi-" his question to Suzi got cut off as the mental yell from Tek hit both him and Suzi. Dropping his book Rhys climbed to his feet and darted toward the sound and Tek's mind voice.

Eyes wide with alarm, Suzi flicked the rest of her cigarette to the side and followed.

"What do you mean bunny?!" Rhys pushed aside growth from the nearby trees and blinked, there was indeed a bunny man that seems to have fallen over. "Oh...uhm, hey there." Stepping into the trees he pulled his wings closer to himself, hurrying he moved over closer to Harper, "take a breath, mate. I'm guessing Tek scared you?" He gestured back toward the dark mass moving toward Suzi as she came to the edge of the treeline. "He's not as scary as he looks..." Rhys reached over and attempted to pat the back of the poor fellow that was choking on his own smoke.

Tek moved back more continuing to retreat from the flailing. Curling up near the edge of the treeline the little fiend turned and looked over toward Suzi, then gestured toward Harper and Rhys. See this is why you shouldn't smoke - horrible for you. Just look what it did to him!

Harper finally caught his breath and stopped trying to scuttle backwards on the ground. It took him a moment to realize that the odd little thing hadn't been attacking him. He bowed his head for a moment and just took two or three slow breaths in. His voice was raspy when he finally managed to grate out, "I.. I'm fine. I'm fine." Harper cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. Getting his arms under him he slowly pushed himself up to his feet.

His pants were covered in dirt, and he quietly thanked whatever gods were out there that it hadn't rained recently. He started dusting himself off with one hand, and reached out to stamp out what was left of his cigarette against the bark of the tree next to him with the other. After taking stock of himself, and the fact that these two seemed to know the odd floating mass that had been molesting him, he muttered "He's... with you then?" He was trying to play it much cooler then he felt. His voice was much steadier then it had been moments before, obviously he'd at least come to accept the very odd situation.

Harper was about as mortified as he'd ever been. He was ready to chock this up to one of the worst first impressions he'd ever given someone else.

Rhys stood up and held his hands up as if to show Harper he didn't mean any harm, with the other boy panicking he brought his wings in close and folded them against his back as if to minimize them. "I'm Rhys...and yes, Tek is with us. Or rather me."

Turning Rhys looked back toward Suzi and Tek, Tek had taken up curling around Suzi's leg. Suzi waved toward the two, "I'm Suzi...guessing you were hoping to use our hideaway too."

Tek dropped down near the ground some and slinked closer to Rhys and Harper, pulling xemself up he took on a more humanoid shape. Hello we are Tek - you should be careful of smoking it didn't look like it agreed with you at all.

The pooka eyed Rhys and he couldn't help the curious glance toward his wings. Well at least this kid probably wouldn't poke fun at his ears. Sometimes he wished he'd been associated with a more dangerous critter. Something that commanded a bit of respect. Maybe the normal people wouldn't feel like they could say whatever they wanted then. "My name's Harper. It's nice to meet you. I don't recognize you guys, you don't go to East Durem Highschool do you?" The girl at least looked like she was in some sort of school uniform, or probably some bastardized version of it. So he figured she went to some private school. Rhys he had no idea, it didn't hurt to ask.

He didn't drop the butt on the ground, instead he deposited it into his pocket. Normally Harper would light a new one, but he'd just tried to hack up one of his lungs. He wasn't sure the smoke would go down without a couple more coughing fits, which he didn't want to do in front of these two. "I was trying to stay out of the way when... Tek you called it? He um.. he just kinda stuck something up my pants leg." He didn't add that it had scared the crap out of him. That part he figured was blatantly obvious.

Rhys started moving back out of the trees toward the main area of the opening, "your welcome to join us..." he shifted his gaze to Suzi and Tek and then back at the question, Rhys stalled a moment before answering. "I go to Bay Area," the school was a charter school, people seemed to have odd ideas about them Rhys had found.

Suzi looked up and over toward Harper, "St. Bartleby's" smirking slightly she gestured to the plaid skirt that acted as part of her school uniform.

Tek darted forward toward Harper, they aren't things! Flailing xyrs tentacles Tek moved foward toward Harper again as if to demonstrate.

Rhys glanced down trying not to grin as he listened to the description, "well he won't hurt you, so what brings you out here?"

Harper nodded when they mentioned the names of their schools. He himself didn't care one lick about school spirit, or the other crap that the pep squads and cheerleaders went on about. If his school had any type of rivalry with either of theirs, he wouldn't even know it.

The fae was opening his mouth to answer Rhys when he saw the black thing move toward him, waving what looked like tentacles at him. He jumped back again, this time putting his back up against the tree he'd just stamped his cig out on. Hearing a voice travel through his head he sputtered, "Right! O.. Okay." He didn't see it hurt either of them, but that didn't mean whatever it was wouldn't try and do something strange to him. Who knew what kinds of defenses it had, venom, or maybe ink? Octopus had ink right? Or was that squid?

Harper inched around so the tree was partially between him and Tek before he managed an answer to Rhys. "I'm out here avoiding... people." Avoiding bullies more like. He probably should have said it, but he was already acting like a pansy because of that weird thing. Harper didn't want to add to the idea of him being a complete wuss.

Rhys gaze slide over toward Tek, he was still learning when it came to body language and social situations but he could tell that Harper wasn't feeling all that comfortable. Tek he knew tended to have that effect on people, "hm, why don't you come over here and get a better look at Tek. He won't hurt you as I said...he's mostly shadow." Rhys did his best not to wince as he spoke, to his own words the explanation sounded like that of a crazy person. Rhys preferred his world to be made up of facts that he could understand and measure or at least theories he could back up with known facts, giving souls another chance was a reach that he had accepted just not easily.

Rhys moved over near Suzi and reached out running his hand through Tek, the little shadow let out an odd giggling sound that reached the others in the area. "Mostly shadow."

Tek's tentacles wriggled as xe giggled, the little fiend turned xyrs attention to the nervous new arrival. If xe could have grinned xe would have, instead the slant of xyrs eyes shifted just enough to give someone familiar enough with xem forewarning that something was about to happen. With a quick motion three of Tek's tentacles reached out and wrapped around Rhys arm, concentrating the fiend used enough concentration to put a visible pull on the boy. But not only shadow! A hint of the laughter heard before was still in xyrs voice as xe spoke.

Rhys sighed, "not only shadow," shifting his gaze back he looked to Harper, "as for hiding this is a good place for it...you'll just have company both of us tend to use this place from time to time."

Harper watched the interplay and he was leaning further out from behind the tree, until Tek grabbed onto Rhys and pulled. His ears flattened out against his head, though it was hard to tell as they were sorta loppy to begin with. "It's not going to hurt me though..." The statement sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of it then anyone else. His voice was full of trepidation as his blue eyes were locked on the tentacled mass. The pooka took a deep breath and moved back from around the tree again.

He hated that part of himself. He knew it was because he was a "rabbit" he spooked easily and he couldn't help it. His every cheerful mother used to sneak up on him when he was younger and startle him because she thought his squeak was adorable. Harper secretly thanked her for that, because it trained him to smother that reaction. If the other kids at school could make him squeak, he'd never get any peace.

Harper glanced up at Rhys and nodded a bit. "I'll probably come hang out around here if you don't mind. I could care less if you guys are here or not." Plus they seemed pretty nice, it would be nice to have some friends...

Maybe....

"Tek won't hurt you...I'll try to explain a bit about what he is sometime as well..." Rhys turned some and tried to give a reassuring smile to Harper, his wings flickered a little uncertainly as he did; his wings along with Tek Rhys realized started to push him toward being stranger and stranger.

Picking up the unease from xyrs guardian Tek moved around toward Harper, we won't hurt you, we promise.

Rhys looked back toward the small grove that the kids had taken over and then to Harper, "here for the rest of the day then? Or need to be back for something?"

Suzi frowned briefly and looked down to her wrist, "speaking of which, I need to get going. I have to turn a paper in the last hour of the day." Moving over she gave Rhys a quick hug and smirked before reaching down and patting Tek's head which for the moment seemed materialized enough. Suzi moved to the clearing and grabbed her bag before hurrying off back to school, she paused a moment at the sidewalk and dropped her cigarette stamping it out.

"Well seems it's just us...I wasn't planning on heading back to class today."

Harper slowly inched forward and shoved his hands into the pouch-like pocket on the front of his hoodie. His ears were still cocked back at a somewhat petulant angle, but he seemed to relax slightly. "Oh I'm not going back today." He was expecting a beating when he did get back to school. No one stood up to people the way he did, and he knew that the kids he'd pissed off were going to hold a grudge. "Kinda need to avoid a few people until they cool off."

The pooka inched a bit closer and he glanced curiously away from Tek up to Rhys, "Are you and her, you know..." He trailed off and arched a brow suggestively. He was of the school of thought that it was good to know who was hooking up. That way at least he didn't accidentally step on any toes.