Welcome to Gaia! ::

LuLu hummed softly when the boy finally admitted what he had been feeding on. She frowned in thought. "There is not much of anything rotten at an ice cream shop." Then offered. "I can see if they have anything expired?" The rabbit was about to rise from her seat again at his word. LuLu determined that everyone deserved to enjoy a cold treat today! Even if it was spoiled cream.

LuLu's smile also lit up as he accepted her proposal. Victory!

The sigel answered his question before she tackled the task of getting him a snack. "I am older. It sort of happened on its own." The rabbit scrunched up her nose. She never had an interest in asking about the complexities of raevan growth. The girl had simply been happy to gain hips at one point or another, and who knew when legs would come along.

Setting her spoon back into her bowl, she floated out of her seat and finally set off towards the counter again. If Ryder was watching, he would have seen her trying to explain the request to the cashier. She started with a glance back in his direction and a nod of her head. Then, there was some waving of her arms. Of course, it concluded with plenty of polite smiling to the human behind the register. The human still looked a bit confused but he bobbed his head and retreated to the storeroom. He emerged with a particularly frosty looking cup of soft serve. In fact, is was practically frostbitten. The rabbit moved to pay, but the human declined.

LuLu returned to her seat and set the cup in front of the frei. She explained, "They only had some expired frozen yogurt cups in the back they had not thrown out yet. Think it will work?"

The rabbit breathed a sigh of relief. She had found something that did not make the poor boy gag. Though, the expired confection would probably make anyone else sick to their stomach.

Nevertheless, LuLu was pleased with herself. She resumed picking at her own treat and responded to his question. "Art and parks. Shopping is fun, too." After a moment of thought. "I do makeup at a tattoo parlor a few days a week. Yourself?"

LuLu nodded softly as she listened to the younger boy list off his interests. She intentionally glossed over the subject of reading. Books were not her cup of tea unless they contained more pictures than words. Otherwise, she had a difficult time staying engaged. The princess stories of her youth had done their job in keep her strung along, but anything lengthier usually ended up collecting dust on a shelf. She diverted their conversation down a different path. "Your magic? What is it?"

To answer Ryder's question, she revealed a small tattoo on her wrist. "They became more active after I got this. It took practice to get better though. Stress makes it harder to control."

LuLu's gaze followed his outside momentarily, but snapped back to attention when he exhaled deeply. She listened to his troubles with a neutral expression. Her ears twitched gently here and there at certain words. His mushroom powers were certainly an interesting quirk. Even though the toadstool cap fit well enough with the rest of his ensemble, using his skill for fashion was an unusual choice in the rabbit's opinion. LuLu mused. Maybe one day she could get the boy into a proper hat.

Another comment which escaped his lips was difficult for her to interpret.

Alice?

The rabbit decided not to pry on that topic for now. She moved onto address the larger elephant in the room. "Poison skin, huh?" Her nails clicked noisily on the table as she mulled over a solution for the frei. She began, "I used to hate my powers. One time they made me turn into something horrible. A monster." The comment was in reference to the events that had unfolded while she had transitioned into a sigel. It had certainly taken LuLu a long time to forgive herself for the damage caused by her growth. The raevan was glad that her ink powers had chosen to re-manifest in a milder way this time around. Though, in the bottom of her heart, she knew the potential to lose control was still there. She sighed, "Do not feel bad for things you could not control. It was not intentional."

LuLu noticed the boy withdrawal. She could not help but lean in closer to fill in the space between them. Her elbows rested on the table. She replied, "Yes, a real monster... worse than the ones in your stories." The girl trailed off. Her amethyst eyes locked with his for a few tense seconds. They held a sharpness that had not been their previously. Suddenly, black tattoos wound into a gruesome mask over her face. "Boo!"

The rabbit giggled and the ink melted away to reveal her normal golden markings. Her features returned to their normal softness. "Sorry, I could not help it. You looked so tense!" A few more giggles and then she settled down. "That is in the past. I do not intend to ever turn back into that monster."

LuLu listened to Ryder's explanation of the poisons symptoms. They seemed to vary greatly depending on the person afflicted. She inquired, "Have you ever let another raevan touch your skin? Maybe only humans are affected?" The rabbit's ears perked as she got an idea. "I am pretty tough. I can give it a try?"

The rabbit rolled her eyes. It couldn't be all that bad. After all, they would only be touching for a moment. What could go wrong? "I am certain." The girl sounded resolute. She reached across the table and grasped his exposed hand in her own. The skin on Ryder's palm was a little clammy from his nervousness. It caused her to giggle.

The sigel waited a few moments for something to happen. She was rewarded by a tingling feeling in her fingertips. It was similar to the sensation that sometimes swept through her limb after she accidentally slept on it. Overall, it was pretty anticlimactic given the frei's harrowing descriptions of other's reactions to this power.LuLu pulled her hand away. She then touched her thumb and fingers together. The prickling only lasted a couple of seconds before normal feeling returned to the digits. She cooed softly, "Interesting."