Welcome to Gaia! ::

Melanie didn't notice Dean's gazing, at first. She was too busy trying to be really loud just for Kiera. But eventually, her eyes flickered and caught sight of the guy, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to figure out what he was looking at.

She looked at Dean. Then she looked at her apple. He didn't look like the type of guy who wanted it - but hell, she wasn't the type of girl who wanted it. If she hadn't been so hell bent on refusing to get new slacks again, she'd have probably been in the Butterfingers faster than he had.

So she held the apple out to him. "You want a bite?"

Looking over her assignment, Neala made no attempt to assist in saving her assigned partner from the current problem at hand. Instead, she waited patiently for Kiera to join her, drumming her fingers lightly against her arm.

Half lidded eyes followed his colleague as she moved very subtly to the side so he was now serving as a shield between herself and their superior. It made him smirk, and he turned as she inquired as to what he was intending to do as one of the unassigned staffers. "Probably return to the lab to check up on everything there, make sure every things running smoothly." His shoulders rose in another shrug. "At some point i'm sure I'll make my way around the island and look in on the creatures." On a day like today, they really couldn't be too careful.

He hadn't failed to notice the small bit of tension between a pair of handlers and Keira. He couldn't say he shared his co-workers disapproval. What was it to him if they wanted to snack before the park opened?

September was late.

That was nothing new. The only time September wasn't late was when it involved some form of beast or mythological creature for him to coo at and try not to get eaten by. These formal things - they weren't something he was accustomed to, and even as he tripped into view, he was scratching and tugging uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt. His bright eyes stood out against the dark shade of freckles dotting his face, hiding the pink that had begun to tinge his cheeks from exertion.

Slipping quietly into the rows of staff, the handler tried to catch the tail-end of whatever was being said, only to be none to pleased when he realized that he was unassigned to any said group. Which meant he could drop in on whoever he liked. He briefly wondered how unlikely a chance it was that he could somehow wrangle his way out of these infernal clothes, but threw away the idea when he caught himself staring at the top of Wickett's head thoughtlessly as the man rattled off the last of the assignments. Wincing, he looked away, drowning out Cecil's loud voice.

Something about selling fun and yay dragons and all of that mojo. His lips curled into a suitably mischievous grin. Well, with all manner of strange and fanatical men and women arriving, maybe he'd get a kick out of sticking around. Hell, writers, experts, historians, cryptozoologists? Sounded like fun.

Oh, September thought dazedly, and ducked behind the first two people he could find (Les and Kiera, if he remembered correctly) to pull out his phone.

"Hide me for a minute." He whispered almost jokingly at the two, but with some strange air of seriousness to his voice. But hiding a lanky boned, skinny boy with freckles and unruly hair was like hiding a rhinoceros at a dinner party.



September paused after hitting the send button and hastily wrote a second text.

He'd been trying to sleep (on the job) but clearly this wasn't working too well.

Tobias sat somewhere near the back, feet propped up on a box that may or may not have been important or something, absently using his phone to scratch at his chin, which was slightly fuzzy from a lack of proper shaving. He supposed he should have maybe probably been paying more attention, but it was more fun to idly toss things at the back of the heads of those in front of him than actually participate.

And then the meeting was over and, well, whoops he had no idea what was going on.

Yawning, stretching, and smiling broadly, Tobias kicked his feet out and stood, stretching his arms upwards. He clapped a hand on a few people's shoulders, shouting out cheerful greetings, and was about to head on over to his assigned station (wherever that was), when he felt a buzzing in his pocket. Digging around for a minute, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open to find -

- a text from September. Tobias snorted with laughter, tried to conceal it, and wound up just laughing more, clearing his throat as though this were a very important message he was reading.



Which he did, moments later. It was somewhat difficult to not notice someone like September, and Tobias didn't even try to hide the smile on his face this time as he made his way towards him, threading through the throngs of staff milling about; a tall, vaguely muscular figure with violently red-orange hair and bright amber eyes.

"Hey," he said, reaching out to tap the other's back in greeting, the gesture lost in the thick crowd. "Did you forget to comb your hair this morning? Sheesh."

Tobias reached up, ruffling the other's hair and probably making it even more unruly than it was before and therefore not solving the problem whatsoever. He gave a big grin to the other two standing nearby, their names escaping him.

"Ready for our day?" he asked lightly, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm sure it'll just be grand."

Apparently Les was a pro at this meat shield thing. Good to know, if this scientist gig ever fell through.

An inquisitive brow shot up at the lanky kid that had ducked behind himself and Keira. He almost asked, but really, he didn't actually care. Instead he rolled his eyes back to the woman before him and offered a soft chuckle. As much as Lesley wanted this entire thing to go off without a hitch, he wasn't letting himself get all worked up over it. So long as they went about their business as usual, nothing should go wrong. "You should relax, Keira. Or you'll give yourself a anxiety attack." As light as the words were, his expression was one of genuine kindness. He liked the other lab tech, she was fun. In a.. rigid, strict, far too serious sort of way.

Another guy had joined the one that had been ducking behind him, and he offered a casual smile. "Ready as I'll be. You?"

Today was going to be a good day, Abigail could feel it. The creatures were all fed and happy and--well, that's really what mattered most. She worried a little bit at the prospect of being a tour guide, ever afraid that she would get the unruly group that would scare or pick on the poor, defenseless creatures. It was a good thing, then, that she was paired with the head of security.

"Mr. Wickett!" Abigail called, raising a hand in the air and waving it in order to be seen over the taller staff members. She dodged around them with an "excuse me" and "oh, pardon me," every time she bumped into someone, slowly but surely making her way to her group partner. "Mr. Wickett," she said as she finally reached him, a little out of breath but otherwise looking far too bright and cheery. "Mr. Wickett, hello! Are we ready to show off the residents?"