Welcome to Gaia! ::

It'd been a couple days since the incident with Annie... everyone was still dealing with the repercussions of that night, and Gaius was no exception. There was one girl in particular he was needing to talk to…

Making his way up the stairs to her duplex, rather proud of how his walking had improved with the week of practice, he paused at the door, shifting the bunch of flowers to the hand also holding the stick, and gave the door a light knock.

“N-Nita?” His voice squeaked. He winced. “It’s me…”

The awkwardness was palpable. Gaius blushed slightly as he shuffled in. "Don't worry, I'd been meaning to too... And, er, yeah, I did..." His mind flashed back to the not-so-decorous pile of zapped folks he'd pushed back on that rusty wheelchair. Probably best not to mention that aspect. "I dropped you off when we got back to the village..." He glanced over her. "Are you doing okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Ah! Right, um... that's actually part of why I came over... Here!" He thrust the bunch of flowers he'd been clutching towards her. They were clearly hand-picked, judging by the stray root or two, but considering the exotic plants available with a short trek into the jungle, it was beautiful in a way, red making up the dominant color scheme.

With the bouquet, Gaius offered a bashful smile. "Don't worry, I don't mean it in that way... I just wanted to apologize. I was an idiot."

It was impossible to hide the flush on his cheeks, though that didn't stop Gaius from trying. "N-No... I just assumed that... well, you didn't want to rush things, which I could understand. I didn't think that when you said 'just friends' you mean 'just friends'... Ah, that's not sounding right..."

He pulled out one of the chairs around Nita's table, settling down in it side-ways to give his spindly legs a rest. His attention drifted to the papers of the survey lying around, avoiding looking at her. "To be honest... I was kinda hurt... but I think I'm glad that it came from someone else... If you'd told me now, I'd think it was because of how I look." He chuckled self-consciously, rubbing at the side of his neck. "Not that I'd blame you."

He looked up suddenly, worried that he'd said something wrong. "No no! I-I don't think you're shallow!" He waved his hands frantically. "Not at all! Just, well, I'm not exactly the man I used to be. Clumsy... I'd probably send any new girls running..."

Shifting in his seat, Gaius let the walking stick lean against the table as he stretched out his legs a bit. He looked back at the red panda - now knowing she was off-limits, and smiled. "A mongoose with horns, huh? Well, I guess a horse with wings isn't so strange in comparison, then... Is she, uh, nice?"

Gaius ducked his head, embarassed that Nita had so easily guessed his serum when Sabin had dangled so many obvious hints in front of him and he'd still been clueless. "Eh, yeah, that's what Sabin said..." he muttered.

The change in Nita's tone made Gaius look back up, concerned as he listened. "You haven't? She... hasn't been in her duplex? But then..." Pausing, an image of the graveyard flashed in his mind. The names quickly listed themselves, but he didn't recall any Laurens among them. "...Where could she be?"

Gaius frowned and shifted forward, placing a hand near hers as he looked at her. "I wouldn't trust them... not one bit. Why should we? Just look at that trick they pulled Halloween, and did they ever tell anyone about that graveyard, or that there'd been people who'd actually died from this?" He spoke vehemently, the too-recent conversation with Sabin only adding to his dislike of the ones he saw as responsible for their condition, including the painful transformations, their isolation, even Annie was their fault.

However, as the rage cleared, Gaius saw Nita's expression and mellowed. No anger was going to help here. "...Maybe... Maybe if you can talk to one of them... not Sabin, but if there's a nicer one... Ambrose mentioned Aubrey. Maybe she'd tell you the truth... at least it'd be better than wondering?"