Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh, so you didn't really know her too well, did you?" Shee giggled. "I'd certainly want to know about who'd marry a man like that, if he's as bad as you say he is. But I'm sure he's not. It happens between people who are close that things just tend to get... amplified."

Shee felt a scoff come out of her mouth inadvertently before she could stop it. After an awkward pause of trying to think of something to say, she tried to sidestep lightly around the issue. "I thought I was too."

So she was glad as the conversation turned towards bicycles. "Really!? That would be so much fun! And don't worry about the season. That's what the endless hallways are good for," She continued nonchalantly, and punctuated her remarks with a sage nodding of her head. She knew this from experience.

Shee giggled again at Lai's confusion over the holiday. She hadn't known what Halloween was either, but after having it explained to her about 50 times by an exasperated Wraith (and who knew where he'd learned what it was), she knew all about it. "Halloween is a holiday that they have in Ireland. You dress up, and you scare people, and there's lot of sweet things! It's great!"

"Well, that's not such a bad thing. Everyone likes to be the centre of attention sometimes, right?"

"I think I could manage. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I assure you, I've been through worse than having to ride a men's bicycle." Shee looked delighted at Lai's surprise at bicycles in the hall. "Well, you probably would. There are some benefits to being in charge, you know."

"Oh, but it is really interesting! I thought it was kind of weird at first, but then, it did kind of remind me of the Asuras and the Mahabharata... so it's not really that odd! And you can dress up in anything you want! It's an excuse to be something completely different than the person you are normally. If you need any help with clothes or anything, you can just ask me. I mean, Wraith would be no help."

The corners of her mouth curled up into an almost devious grin. "Don't let anyone else here know that. They're not all as nice as me."

Shee laughed at Lai's remark. He seemed slightly put off as he talked about bicycles in storage. "Well, just let me know if you ever want to go riding in the hallways. I'll make sure Wraith is distracted."

Shee's eyes widened as Lai tugged at his clothing. Only one set of clothes? She couldn't imagine it. "It would be a travesty to wait that long. Why didn't you tell someone earlier? Clothing is not a big issue." Starting as he mentioned sewing, she looked towards him wiht another admiring glance. "You sew too? You provide food AND clothing?" Maybe she could ask him to make her something. Tailors never agreed with her-- her sewing-related relationships had always ended badly. On second thought, maybe she shouldn't, wincing as she thought of her last visit to Chandigarh's bazaars. She shook her head and turned back to Lai. "I do have a lot of fabric lying around though. I like fabrics; they're so pretty and colourful. Oh! Do you want to grab something now?"

Shee laughed at Lai's... morality, she supposed. "I know how to handle him best. Don't worry; he never really gets mad at me."

"But... don't you ever want to wear something else? For... variety? Oh, but you're right. It does get cold here. You'll need something thick and resistant to snow. Very resistant to snow." She nodded unconsciously as Lai continued. That was something she realized that had probably been used to, after researching what India had been like when she'd lived there.

"Alright! That's fine with me. But Halloween isn't something you read up on; it's something you experience." She tilted her head and smiled at him again, before bouncing back on her heel and bounding back onto the stool she had been occupying previously, fingers tapping against its wooden side impatiently.

"I'll find you some pants then-- promise." She herself wasn't too fond of the cold-- but the wonderous nature of snow and all that you could do with it-- snowballs, snow angels, sledding-- made up for living in the mountains. "I can't either. But... if you were born in the Russian winter, don't you think you would have some connection to the cold?"

Her thoughts were rerouted to Halloween as Lai spoke. "Oh! OK. I can do that. So, lots of people dress up as scary things, like witches and monsters and dead things, and scare other people. But you can also dress up as something cute, or pretty, or... really anything. Wraith was a mummy last time, and I was a ghost. And Eponine was... uh, I don't really know what she was. Something green. Moira was a succubus, and Estrelas was... hmm. Maybe I shouldn't tell you what she was. And I think Sam was a pirate? Anyways, lots of stuff to choose from. I haven't decided what I want to be this year. Aaand... let's see. In some places, children go to people's houses and gather candy in a big bag. And in some other places, they do scary dances and play tricks and stuff. And, you can have a party to concentrate all the Halloween fun..."

Shee continued talking, pausing every once in a while as she tried to recall everything she'd learned about Halloween, not quite realizing that she was beginning to ramble.

"I'll call you thin-skinned then, but don't call me Miss Shee! Just Shee. You're probably older than me at any rate."

Shee fidgeted on the stool, finding that, to her dismay, it didn't spin. Thwarted, she tried to sit still. "I'm sure it does. It's a very big library. It has books on anything you could ever imagine! Wraith adds to it all the time." Failing miserably to sit still, she began to bob her head back and forth to imaginary music. "We are definitely going to have a big party! Since you're such a wonderful cook, maybe you could be in charge of food? We don't really have any cooks here... well, aside from Lhamu, but she probably wouldn't listen to you anyways..."

"Oh, I would. The library is so... boring. I don't know how you guys stand it."

She paused at his question, thinking. "Well... I'm vegetarian, and so is Wraith. Mmm... I don't think anyone else really has any allergies or anything like that. Midori did mention something about fish once, but I can't remember if she likes them or hates them. Or if she was talking about eating them, or just in general. Huh."

Yawning, she surveyed the kitchen in its entirety. It was too cold now to have a garden party, she thought, disappointed. Maybe the ballroom? But that was much too grandiose. There had to be one suitable place in the compound...

Leaning closer to Lai and almost falling off her stool, she squinted, trying to imagine Lai in glasses. It wasn't much of a stretch, she thought.

"That would be fine. Oooh, now you've made me want dessert."