Welcome to Gaia! ::

She took baths? That seemed to fit her better than a shower, for some reason. Riv finished pulling the shirt sleeves through the dummy's arms and was buttoning up the front, already thinking of what he could choose to go with this, his eyes going back and forth between his task and Melisande's face. She was glowing, for some reason, and her modesty at receiving a compliment was so shocking... Was she really surprised to find out that she was pretty? Surely she must now, gorgeous as she was! Dazzling, even! Hell, if it made her glow like that and look so charming, Rivener was ready to shower her with a million compliments. His own lips curled up into a soft, slow smile as he considered it.

Suddenly she was backing away as though something unpleasant had occured to her, sending clothes to the floor in a pile. Riv was instantly over to pick those up, leaving the mannequin with a half-buttoned shirt. The last three buttons were askew anyway, as he hadn't been paying any attention at all, his focus entirely on Pasha.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning in puzzled worry, gathering up all the pink items and straightening to start putting them back on the rack, shaking them out to dislodge any dust from being on the floor. He winced as something occured to him. "I didn't make you think of something sad again, did I?"

Riv had been a little nervous, thinking he'd done something wrong, and so he listened raptly to everything. Meli was clearly dancing around something, needing to explain it before she could come right out and say it. She spoke of a Song inside her, of being sick... When had she been sick? And then getting better when she'd met Zave. Feeling whole. Riv's heart pounded. She wasn't comparing him to Zave, was she? She wasn't saying she felt whole with Rivener too, was she? Ohhh, this was very bad. The dark Sigel wasn't so sure he should have come to see her. This was too much emotion for it to be a simple friendship, and guilt stabbed through him at the thought of what Zul would say...

The pretty Muse went on then and Riv let out a soft sigh, half disappointed and half relieved that it wasn't anything as dangerous as being "whole". She'd been feeding from his compliment? He chuckled and faced her with crossed arms once the last pink item was put away, red eyes aglow with amusement. "Why do you look so sheepish about it? Why apologize? It's not like it was hurting me, far from it. If you tell me exactly HOW you can feed from me, I'll feed you all you like! Was it the compliments? Because I have a whole bunch more I could give, you know. Dazzling. Charming. Lovely. Gorgeous. Enchanting." He didn't even blush as he said them, wholly comfortable in his offered words. He told himself this was NOT flirting, it was honest to goodness admiration.

He had a much harder time convincing himself he wasn't flirting when he advanced to her and fingered the ends of that newly-added scarf, head tilted in thought. "Or is it when you inspire someone? I don't see how any of it warrants apology, anyway. There's nothing wrong with what you did, whatever it was."

Rivener hadn't expected that in the least, so he lurched slightly under the sudden hug, wings flapping in consternation. Wide red eyes looked about for a solution here, but there was no help to be had from the racks of oranges and yellows nearby. His cheeks reddened slightly, and eventually he just HAD to at least see what it felt like: his arms wrapped around her in return, holding her close.

She felt warm in his arms. Slender, softer than Zul did, but just as... inspiring, if in a different way. Riv held his breath, shocked at how amazing this felt, guilty at enjoying it so much.

When Pasha pulled away, the Scorpion made no move to keep her, though he ran a hand through his hair and looked around for a moment to banish the remnants of his blush. His smile was surprisingly shy, uncertain. "Ah... Y-you're welcome. It would be my pleasure. S-so, uhm... How do you need to feed? What should I do? It's not the compliments, is it?" He chuckled again, aware that she'd been shy at his praise but not glowing as before.

Rivener cleared his throat softly, fighting another blush. Attention, but more meaningful? He thought that sounded all too much like something he should NOT be feeling at all for her, and the guilt shot through him again. For the second time he wondered if he should just go before he got himself in trouble. That smile or hers, though. She was trying to hide it behind a hand, which made it even more wonderful that he could see it around the edges of her fingers. Why would anyone hide a smile like that? He'd made her happy, she said! Rivener couldn't leave now if he wanted.

He went to the white section and began looking through for something to offset that red shirt he'd picked, though how he'd find anything when his eyes were locked on Melisande, he didn't know. She asked him if there was something he wanted, and a very specific request came to mind. THAT was definitely not something he should ask. Zul would not abide by it. And while Pasha was being nice and offering, she might not feel the same if he was to ask for a k-...

Clearing his throat again, he frowned in thought and shrugged a shoulder. "My goals? ...I never really thought about it. I guess I don't have any goals. I'm happy with the way I am, with what I have, with my work and my friends and my family... I honestly don't know what I could ask for. That dress would look perfect on you," he concluded with a smile, noting quite easily how it matched her ribbon. "I guess if I were hard-pressed to ask for something, I'd ask for you to help me make you feel less sad all the time. Though I seem to be doing a good job of that so far today." He winked at that, a hint of his usual swagger, though he instantly yelled at himself that this was NOT flirting.

Rivener felt warm as she agreed that yes, he was doing a good job. He'd only realized after a beat that she'd been joking about not having any hips. Her sense of humor still left him stunned sometimes, not only because he never expected her to have one, but because she always acted like she wasn't saying anything funny at all. It was hard to tell if she was serious or not until you thought about it. He kept watching her as she worked with the mannequin and then floated over the racks, until he realized he'd been leaning against the white section of clothes doing nothing for close to a minute straight, just staring at her. With a shake of his head, Riv forced himself to pay attention to the clothes he was supposed to be picking.

It really was amazing, some of the things he found there. Some of the clothes was run-of-the-mill, yes, but some of them were high-class indeed! A D&G blazer, cut stylishly in white with very light cream trim, drew Rivener's eye and he grinned broadly to see it was in his size. As much as he'd want to put it on the mannequin, he slipped it on himself first, tucking his wings against his back since he had no time to cut holes for them to stick through. It made the fit a little wonky, but the Scorpion could tell it would be perfect once the wings were let out. Thrilled at his find, he looked up at Meli and modeled a bit, making a turn as though asking her opinion of the color.

"As far as I know none of us have legs yet. I figure we keep growing until we're completely ground-locked," he made a face at this; he loved flying too much to be grounded. The idea of leg nubs made him snicker, though, face alight with amusement. "Oh god, I hope not! If we're going to grow legs I'd rather the whole thing at once. Otherwise it would look so stupid. I am not particularly looking forward to having legs anyway, so I'm no hurry. Are YOU? I see you already imagining your curves." He grinned mischeviously at her, eyes dipping down to the swoop of her hips.

Rivener blinked as she said the blazer reminded her of Zul. He glanced down: it was certainly true. His lips curled up fondly. "Yeah it does, doesn't it. I'm going to get this." With a decisive nod he removed the jacket and went to put it on the counter by the register, for later. Then he returned to the white rack and found another jacket for the mannequin, though again Riv wanted to get it for himself instead. It was a short-sleeved military-like jacket with gold detailing. The short sleeves would offset the red shirt's long sleeves in a fun way. Rivener floated over to begin putting it on.

"It's true that we didn't change much, and I hope you're right about keeping our wings. I'd really much rather fly than use my legs to walk. And the light... I've no idea what'd happen. I've no idea if we're even supposed to grow more than this, really. And though I'm not looking forward to it, I have to agree that getting to buy pants and shoes will be nice. Ah, speaking of which..." He needed pants for the mannequin. Those were always the last things he thought of. He glanced over a shoulder as the muse found a pretty gray coat, another item she'd look stellar wearing. "Is this a race? I didn't know! And here I was taking my sweet time watching you float about like that... Oh, this is nice!" A red fedora with a dark charcoal band caugth his eye from atop the red section, and he floated over with a glint in his eye. Hats... He'd never really thought about wearing one. His horns were in the way, but if he could make holes, maybe a hat wouldn't be so bad on him... For now, it would go atop the doll's head.

"I just need trousers for it. You know, that coat would suit you well, too. Would you let me buy those things for you, as a gift?" He smiled winningly, pausing in his perusing the gray section for pants.

Rivener grinned as she mentioned the hat, looking rather proud at being complimented himself. "Oh yeah? I thought so too. Maybe I'll try it." Still, for now it would go on the mannequin. He found a pair of snazzy, crisp gray denim pants with white stitching and brought it over to the mannequin. He bent to struggle the things onto the doll's legs, glancing up at the lighter Sigel. He flinched, eyes wide. She was positively glowing again, and oh god it was so beautiful! He realized his mouth was hanging open and he clapped it shut, turning his eyes to his task with great effort. Wrenching his gaze from her when she was like was like a monumental achievement.

"It doesn't have to be your birthday for someone to buy you a present, does it? Come on, let me. It would make me happy. And feeding you, that doesn't count as giving you anything, because I get just as much out of it." He angled his eyes up again after buttoning the pants closed, smirking slightly, red eyes shining. "You're fascinating when you've fed. All glowy and beautiful."

Okay, this was REALLY venturing into flirting territory. He forced his eyes away again with a faint clearing of his throat, and plopped the fedora onto the mannequin's head. "There, I think I'm done."

Rivener rustled his wings happily as she agreed to let him buy her the things. Thank goodness she wasn't the type to fuss and argue about it! He had more than enough money to buy a few things off a thrift-store rack, especially when it was such good deals!

She declared him the winner and Rivener actually laughed, arms crossed in front of himself. "I only won because you reverse-cheated and held onto that necklace until the last minute! I'm not counting accessories as part of it so in my book, YOU won. Teaches me right for lazing about at the beginning." He was grinning as he said it, a flash of pearly fangs, clearly not minding who won when the game had been such fun. He'd found a few treasures for himself along the way, too! And a few treasures for her.

As she floated over to admire his handiwork, he did the same by floating to her mannequin. He circled it slowly, pulling the coat closed to admire how it nearly covered the skirt's hem, then opening it again. Red eyes followed the line around back, and he glanced at Melisande, imagining her future curves the same way she'd done to herself, though Riv's hands hadn't the privilege of slipping along her body to sketch out the shape. Still, he got the idea, and his lips quirked up into an amused smile. This really WOULD look lovely on her, now and in the future. "Yours looks like the two items were cut to fit together. Very nice pairing! And the colors compliment each other, and you, so well. The gold is the perfect little finishing touch." His fingers flicked at the key pendant softly.

When she declared that he had style, Rivener snorted with a smug grin, turning to her with a fist on his hip and a cocky angle to his head. "Was there ever any doubt?" He chuckled, but didn't wait for a response. It was half redundant question anyway. "Now come on, help me get this stuff off so I can buy it for us. I'm going to be keeping that military jacket and the hat, too. I'm still rather sad that cool shirt is a small." He almost pouted as he looked over at it, starting to lift the pendant off Pasha's mannequin. Suddenly he gasped and put it right back. "Oh! Wait, wait. Stand there, please, between the two. I have to take a picture of all this on my cell, or I won't believe I wasn't dreaming, in a few days." He smirked, trying to get her to the right position.