Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gwen didn't want Anandi to see how her smile faded somewhat at the notion of their roles being reversed. Not just because she was a prideful creature (which was true) but because if she had been in trouble, then that meant that Anandi would suffer for it, that she had failed. And Gwen hated failure, even though the taste wasn't all that foreign to her at times. She didn't want to say anything, though, fearing that Anandi would get the wrong idea, so she covered up her concerns with a hearty, but forced, laugh. "Alright then! I'll hold you to that, even if it means more training sessions!"

Despite her distrust of certain birds, Gwen couldn't help but admire the beauty of the peacock, and she leaned against the railing, content to just watch the bird as it pecked at the ground, and she was rather impressed with Anandi's knowledge of the creatures. Being an animal lover like herself, it was always fun to just talk about them, but then Anandi took her by surprised and poked her nose, causing her to go cross-eyed for a moment as she gave her nose a little itch when Anandi drew her finger away. "Well, they -are- jealous, because I'm not only hardcore, but I have you by my side! What's NOT to be jealous of?"

There she went again, sounding boastful and cocky, but that's just how she was, and she wouldn't deny it. However, Anandi's concern and the cause of it caused her to drop the act completely, and she reached for her girlfriend's hands, cupping them within her hands and giving her a comforting squeeze to match her confident smile. "I think we can... they're your parents, Anandi, and they love you no matter what. I'm sure of it. Just got to wait for the right moment, make it big and special."

When she brought up the war, Gwen showed some concern as well, as she admitted, "Well, not sure if you've watched the news recently, but that news anchor, Tag... said a lot of mean things about us, and wrong things too. But the citizens don't know that, and... maybe we should wait to tell our family about that until we can find some way to get the truth out. Let them know that we're not the enemy and we're not going to hurt them.

"Uh, as for my parents knowing? Erm, my dad died when I was really young, so he obviously doesn't know. My mom doesn't even live in Destiny City, she's with Micah back home, so all I have is Maddy, and she's..."

Gwen wasn't sure how to address the matter with Maddy, and she admitted shamefully, "She doesn't know that I'm a Senshi... and she seemed pretty content to believe in that anchorman's report."

"Don't worry. They love you and I'm sure that they'll be okay with whatever you tell them, when the time is right," Gwen said with a confident nod. She wasn't sure about a lot of things, but this was different. Despite the odds being continuously stacked against them, Gwen felt as if things would work out, so long as they stuck together and continue doing what they knew was right. Whether or not the Negaverse was right about the past didn't matter to her, so long as they had a present and a future. Maybe someday they can convince them of this, but today, she just wanted to focus her efforts on keeping Anandi safe and happy. She openly chuckled at the idea of fending her girlfrienf off of street

hooligans, but she played along with it. "Yeah. Say it was like... four of them, too. With knives and clubs... that's what that youma felt like anyway!"

Anandi's stomach wasn't the only one making loud noises, and Gwen was quick to jump on that offer for food. Those cupcakes weren't enough- with Anandi's cooking, it was never enough, but Gwen immediately objected in regards to one aspect. "Um, excuse me, but it's YOUR birthday! If anyone should be treating, it should be me! Putting my foot down on this, Anandi... even though it's hard with you!"

She hoped she wouldn't have taken it the wrong way and she'd immediately surrender from that if Anandi grew upset, but it just didn't make sense that the birthday girl should have to pay for not only her own treat but her girlfriend's... unless that was something you'd do in her culture. Maybe she could pester Krishna about it next time she went to work...

Gwen had faced down many challengers along the way within the past two years, but her crux seemed to be the bubbly-bouncing Anandi, as she always found himself taken off guard in her presence. She thought little of her own reputation or if Anandi was grinding on the nerves of the other park goerers, as she only cared for her happiness and well being. Before she could object further, she was assaulted by the pretzel, and as much as she wanted to be angry that she didn't have the chance to treat her, she took one look at her and just... couldn't.

She could never be angry at Anandi. Maybe that was Anandi's secret squire power, to make the normal robust and head strong Gwen appear nothing more than a quelled mouse? Some fearsome tiger she was.

With no other choice besides to spit it out, Gwen accepted Anandi's treat, and before she could get away, she grabbed her girlfriend's hand and urged her to follow her. With her mouth still partially full, she chided her teasingly, as she pulled her deeper into the zoo. "Sneaky! Just for that, we're going straight to the monkeys! I think you will get along just fine with them, you stealthy troublemaker..."