Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's currently sometime in the mid-afternoon. As winter is drawing near, the weather around the island has been rather cool (by island standards, anyways) and cloudy with a very light mist of rain. The beach in particular has been blessed with a refreshing seabreeze, which will probably help speed along the ship out to sea that's nearing the island.

Alphonse deems the weather not rough enough to require an umbrella, so all he needs for protection from the weather is a light brown jacket and a tattered black derby. With his hands shoved in his pockets, he stands at the end of the dock, watching the boat on the horizon with a slight twinge of impatience. It should have docked hours ago, hours that he could have spent working on his current subjects! Ah, well. Such is life. At least it's close now, close enough that he can see the sailors on the top deck.

Once the ship docks, it was just a matter of correctly remembering the names of the people he'd be expecting; not that he really knows what they look like, just their handwriting...

Having never truely spent a great deal of time on the boats, in the past Christine was more than glad to feel it finally dock. She pulls the hood of her cloak high up over her head, watching as the first man decends from the vessel, vaguely aware that there was another man awaiting to greet them.

She hadn't really spoken with anyone the entirey of the trip. It was rather unnerving being the only female in one area, especially when there was little to no where to go in the event of an emergy.

All that aside, she was looking forward to this event. With pacing steps, Chris follows down the plank after Dorian, her form hiding in the layers of cloth.

Without a word, she kept her distance for the time being, allowing Dorian to speak with... the rather odd looking gentleman.

Alphonse knits his fingers together, watching the procession down the ramp off the boat. Oh, this is lovely. He approaches the three, reaching out with the intent to shake each of their hands while holding on to the brim of his hat with the other.

"Not much right now, I'm afraid -- I'm the best there is to offer for such a welcoming commitee," the man smiles at Dorian.

"I am Dr. Alphonse Moreau. This here is my island, which shall hopefully become the home of a worthwhile project. I hope you all enjoy working with animals, I'll assign a brute to you all once things are all settled -- you may have, ah, met a few of them on your voyage."

He wiggles his fingers, then lifts a hand to point over towards the boat where the sailors are starting to unload the living, and most likely pissed off, cargo, then gives a sidelong glance to the cloaked figure.

"I would personally advise against wearing such outfits around here, as it can get rather hot and uncomfortable. Unless you wish to die of overheatedness, but do realize how inconvenient that would be," he says to her with a sage nod.

He purses his lips thoughtfully, then mentions to the new arrivals: "We might need a little extra help getting the cages unloaded and moved up to the kennel. Do take care not to put your hands near the bars, there are ropes attached to them for pulling and wheels beneath them so they are not just dragged along the sand."

From inside her cloak, Chris nods her head as the gentleman makes commentary on the climate... and her inappropriate attire. Biting her lip slightly, her attention turns towards Dorian as he speaks up once more.

"Chris, Chris Dawes." she offers in a quiet, but assured voice.

This idea of dragging crates, however, wasn't sitting so well, seeing as she was rather unaccustomed to a good deal of physical labour.

But, she ventures in her own mind, that what needs to be done simply needs to be done.

"I would appreciate the help, Dorian," the doctor nods at the young man, "even I will be rolling these crates myself, as well as the deckhands." He raises his voice, cupping a hand around his mouth as he calls towards the sailors on deck -- some of them visibly slacking off. "Am I right, men?!"

The deckhands rouse, and the two that were leaning against the wall quickly stand up and start hesitantly shuffling towards one of the covered cages.

"Ah, Chris," he says, "in that garb you might not want to pull a crate along, I really do not want my men dying on the first day of exhaustion. Maybe you can gather your belongings, as well as those belonging to Dorian and the other young man... Tobias, if you can carry it. These cages, I imagine, are much heavier than satchels of supplies and clothing."

He's pretty sure that's Tobias, anyways, of only through using the process of elimination alone. "If you're not Tobias, please do correct me," he adds, then starts to walk up the ramp for a cage. "Good thing the ropes don't give you splinters, yes?" The doctor smirks, picking up the rope attached to a tall, uncovered cage with a strange, striped hooved creature in it.

Maybe not splinters, but ropes do burn. Alphonse knows that.

It seems that Chris was into a bout of luck with Alphonse opting for her to take satchels and supplies in their stead. She gives a quick, agreeable nod, and moves off to gather up the supplies, making herself wary of the uptight Tobias fellow.

He reminds her somewhat of the stogey old politicians back home... a stick shoved quite far up their...

Ah well. Back to work. She never knew anyways, perhaps he was just cranky from their trip over.

Alphonse begins to slowly roll the okapi's cage down the ramp, carefully walking backwards to ensure that it doesn't roll off into the ocean or anything. That would be most awkward.

While he's pleased with Chris and Dorian willing to help, this young man here is proving to be almost as obnoxiously stubborn as that damned Norsewoman. "Maybe it is work more suited for the sailors, but do not be expected to not lift a finger and help unloading what will, in time, become your 'pet' project," he says sharply, "and if physical labor irks you so much, there are at least two cages with smaller animals, as well as a crate of rabbits."

Getting the okapi's cage safely onto the dock, he gives Tobias an apprasing look as he stands close to the cage. "I am much older than you, surely -- old enough to be your father -- and I am not afraid to lug around cages with animals that are sure to bite off my hand--" Alphonse is interrupted when the okapi pokes its muzzle between the bars, slurping its tongue out and licking the back of the man's head, turning up his hat and tilting it over his face. "-- oh, confound it! Stop that, you! -- but I am certain you will have no troubles with the cage containing a large rodent or God-forsaken rabbits." Alphonse waves his hand at the okapi, stepping away from the cage and readjusting his hat.