Welcome to Gaia! ::

'Gotta keep going, gotta keep going,' Tish Wyatt chanted mentally to herself as she jogged through the park on a pleasant day - one that felt more like a sweltering desert to the jogging brunette. She wiped some of the beading sweat off of her forehead and checked her pedometer. Three-tenths of a mile. Well, that waqs far enough, she decided, and made her way off the jogging path and over to a bench to sit down and catch her breath. She didn't really need to lose those ten pounds anyway, right? Surely not, she wasn't overweight or anything - why was she even out here?

Oh, right.

That patient data she'd had to transcribe, the obese woman who had been admitted to Barton General with heart problems. That was what had bothered her into coming out to the park to exercise today. The report had certainly been enough to scare anyone into wanting to lose a few extra pounds! Heaving a sigh, Tish grabbed her water bottle from where it hung on her belt and sipped at its contents, thankful that she hadn't worked up too much of a sweat, yet, as evidenced by her emerald-green sweatshirt, which didn't show any signs of dampness at all.

She looked around idly, noticing a man - an elf by the looks of it - sitting on the other end of the bench, apparently reading something very intently. She didn't think it would be polite to bother him - despite the fact that he was. . . well, easy on the eyes was a good way to put it, at least in her opinion. Instead, she leaned back against the bench and relaxed, enjoying the sunshine on her face and the overall peace of the day.

Nikos was reading a book by Anne Mccaffery; Dragonsong, according to the title. One leg had been gracefully swung over the other. He turned the page with care, before glancing around. He stared for a moment, bright blue eyes watching the woman curiously. Fascinating. He wondered if he should say anything silently; he was still new to Barton, and he didn't know very many people.

He watched as two girls, elves by the look of them, sat on the swings. He watched them, and frowned slightly when he noticed that they were watching him as well. Who were they?

Samantha looked at her sister. "They'd make a good couple, don't you think?" she asked. They had been working on getting people together lately. It was one of the few things both twins liked to do. "He's an elf, I can't tell what she is."

"Like Mom and Dad," Reiya finished with a smile. "They'll be perfect together."

Tish noticed the two girls looking at her and her fellow bench-occupant, but wrote them off as girls being girls. Surely that scheming look in their eyes wasn't meant for her, after all. Instead, she looked over at the title of the book the man was reading - was that really Dragonsong?!?

"Excuse me sir. . . is - are you reading Dragonsong? "

It wasn't much of a start to a conversation but if that really was Dragonsong that he was reading, then she'd need to talk to him a little more - the Pern series was one of her favorites, and if she'd met (At last) a fellow Pern fan here in Barton, then her day had officially been made - and here she thought this day would only be great if she actually managed to lose some of those pounds she had been trying to run off!

Nikos looked up from his book, seemingly surprised. He appeared flustered at first, and had to look at the cover to see the title. "Well, yes, it is," he said with a blush. "Do you like the series?" He tilted his head slightly, black hair falling onto his face. He had to brush it back from his eyes.

"Look! They're talking!" Samantha whispered in a rather loud fashion, barely resisting the urge to point. "I knew they'd be a good couple!"

"Shhh!" Reiya said, but she too was smiling. "He's an elf, we don't want him to hear us and get frightened or something. Mom says sometimes when an elf first comes out of Lynwood, they're really shy."

"Yeah, but they're cute together!"


Tish smiled and adjusted the hairband holding her short brown hair out of her eyes. "It's a good book - have you. . . read any others in that series?" It wouldn't do any good after all to go off on a rant to someone who didn't even know the books. If he did however. . . well that was another story all together.

The human vaguely heard the twins talking to each other, but didn't have the heightened hearing necessary to make it out. Still she could guess fairly easily that they were gossiping about something or other - it didn't take much of a leap of understanding to figure that out. If they were gossiping about her, though, she had to wonder why. Were those ten pounds showing more than she'd thought? Did she have a stain on her sweatshirt and not know it? Did she have an outbreak of adult acne?

"Oh, yes. I've read Dragonsinger and Dragondrums," Nikos said, recovering from what he thought he had heard the two elven girls say. Get them together? Hm. It was an interesting thought, one Niko himself approved of. She was a pretty girl; even if she wasn't wearing the best of clothes. A blush crossed his face. "So you like the series?" he asked politely. Might as well strike up a conversation, he knew how elven girls could be like.

"Um... So..." he stammered, looking towards the two girls. This wasn't like him. He was a flirt. A lady's man. What was going on? Where was his sauveness? "What's your name?"

"Oh- yes, yes," Tish said, finding herself breaking out into a fit of nervous laughter. Why was she nervous? This was just a conversation with a stranger - a handsome stranger - a handsome stranger with good taste in books; okay, nevermind, she got it. He was good looking and she wanted to make a good impression for a reason she couldn't quite fathom.

. . . What had he asked, again? Oh! Right. "Yes, I'm - well I'm a huge fan. Not just of the Harper trilogy, but the entire series. Masterharper of Pern is probably my favorite book of them all, but I really do enjoy every one of them. . . and, um, well, my name is Tish. Tish Wyatt, ordinary, boring person, pleased to meet you though," she said. How had she managed that all in one breath? Falling silent, she smiled timidly at the elf sitting next to her, hoping she hadn't overwhelmed him or bothered him somehow. That would be just her luck.

Nikos was nervous, and slightly awkward. Another blush crossed his face, and he thought about informing the woman that she was beautiful for a split second. No, a nanosecond. He shook his head, before looking at her again. "I haven't read Master Happer of Pern," he confessed. "I've only had time to really read the three--out of order," he added. "It's nice to meet you, Tish. My name's Niko Xexen. Um... Would you like to go somewhere or something?" Awkward. This wasn't anything like what would have happened in Lynwood. "I mean... You could show me around or something. I'm pretty new here."

"Listen, he's asking her on a date!" Sammi squealed. Success! It was time to celebrate!

"Shh! He's shy. Anyway, it won't be a success until we know her answer. She's got to say yes."

Tish blushed at the surprising question, but smiled, her own blue eyes on the elf's. "I'd be happy to show you around - there's not a lot to Barton, really. Have you been to the library or the shopping district yet?"[/b She paused for a moment and tilted her head, smilling a bit more.

"Things are pretty safe this time of year, but if you're new in town you should know to be careful around Halloween and Christmas - it gets........... pretty crazy, actually." That was the understatement of the millennium - it was hard to be a normal person in Gaia. It really was.

"No I haven't," Nikos said softly. "I really am quite shy when it comes to Barton, I haven't gone anywhere but the park and the place where I am staying." He paused, and blinked. "You have a library?" he asked. "You must be royalty! In Lynwood, the library we have is only accessible through the castle--of course, the Princess used to invite anyone who wished to visit--but she left, and Lynwood's gone back to their old traditions...

" He sighed. "I would like to visit the library, if you'll come with me," he lifted an eyebrow and smiled at her. "You are really quite lovely," he added. Uh-oh. His shyness was disappearing.

"Royalty?" Tish echoes, her eyes widening and a blush rising to her cheeks, dusting them with a rosy tint. "No, nothing like that. There's a public library just a few blocks away from here - anyone can get a library card and check out books."

The place he'd grown up didn't allow normal people access to their library? That was rather unjust of them, or at least Tish thought so. It was a crime to not allow books to the public. "But sure, I'll take you there. I doubt it's as fancy as a castle library, but it's got a lot of books at least - and some movies too, if you like those kinds of things..."

Nikos seemed fascinated by the idea of a public library. "Let's go," he said, standing up. "Our library was public once. The princess insisted upon it, she said everyone deserved the knowledge contained in books--she was a child then, but her father was willing. She left not long afterward, though." A vaguely sad expression crossed his elven features. "I never met her, of course, I was too young."

"Look, I think they're going somewhere!" Sammi said happily. "So she said yes!" The mission was a success! They had succeed once again! She couldn't wait until they got home so they could tell her mother the good news. "Hey..." She looked to Reiya. "He's talking about Lynwood."

"Yeah, and Mom," Reiya added. "I know. I don't think he knows we're related to her though. Let's keep it that way."

"But... You look just like her."

"Not really. She's much prettier."

Tish didn't have any idea what the two girls were talking about, but she could tell they were definitely talking animatedly about something, whish was just a little on the suspicious side. She glanced at the two, then at her new companion. "Are they talking about one of us?" she asked her elven companion-for-the-day, since he undoubtedly could hear at least some of what they were saying. She really hoped they weren't discussing how she looked - she'd gone out dressed for jogging, after all, not for a fashion competition.

"And, well, that's the point of a public library pretty much. There's a nonficiton section for the informational books - I think there's even a few guides to Barton in there somewhere, might be good for you to look at those - and a fiction section that's divided into the usual categories; romance, science fiction/fantasy, mysteries, westerns. It's a pretty average library, really."

"Talking about us would be a more correct statement," Nikos muttered. "They seem to be planning our future for us. Some elven girls are like that--they're deeply into romance." He had to be honest with himself, he generally took advantage of girls with said tendencies. "It's strange though... They look familar. As if I've seen them somewhere before." He thought about it for a long moment. His ears twitched. "They're talking about the princess," he realized. "Princesses? ...The princess has children?"

"Uh-oh," Samantha muttered. "He knows who we are."

"There's bound to be questions," Reiya started.

"Ones we don't know the answer to," Sammi finished. "Mom's not going to be happy."

"Oh - I guess this is. . . a surprise of sorts, then?" Tish asked, frowning as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on now. "Was - is she not supposed to have kids or something?" She didn't really know much - or. . . . anything, actually - about elves, only that they had pointy ears and good hearing. That was the extent of her knowledge, unless you counted knowledge she had to type up in medical transcripts, but she tended to try and detach herself from those. Not that she could all of the time, but she tried.

"Do you. . . still want to see the library? Or would you rather talk to these two? I can stay and hang around a while if you want to talk to them first, and then maybe go to the libray, I suppose."

"It's a surprise, yes. Last I heard, the princess was supposed to have gotten married to a certain elf of nobility--but she ran away before the wedding," Niko explained with a slight frown. "This is a new turn of events..."

There was a pause in which he thought about her question. "Hmm... We could talk to them, if you'd like," he decided with a smile. After all, he was curious. "After talking to them, we can go to the library, alright?" He led her to the two girls; who had been just about to make like their mother and run. "Hello," he greeted them with a smile. "I've noticed you've been watching my friend and I," he said. "Now since you seem to know about me, may I ask you some questions?"

As expected, a giggle escaped Samantha's lips. Her sister nudged her with an elbow, and a serious expression replaced the smile. "We know what you're going to ask," she said. "We don't know anything, really we don't."



Tish watched the girls, mostly quietly, but when they interjected with denials of knowledge before - Nikos, wasn't his name? - even asked them anything directly, she couldn't help but speak up, the more brash part of her nature coming out at the worst possibel time, as was her usual luck. It wasn't for no reason that she kept to herself most of the time.

"Well, of course you don't know, you weren't born when it happened the way it sounds. But I'm sure your Mom does." As soon as the words left her mouth, Tish felt her face heat up in the blush that always followed her blurting out something that was borderline rude. Well. . . at least it hadn't been too bad this time. Nothing at all like the time her cousin had mistaken a rather risque piece of lingerie for a gag gift.

Nikos nodded. "Where is your mother?" he asked, glancing around the park. "I would like to speak with her." Where was she? Surely she wouldn't have allowed two young girls out on their own?

"She's not here," Sammi said with a frown. "We're not supposed to talk about--"

"We're not supposed to talk to strangers," Reiya amended. "There's no point in asking us anything, really though. If you want to contact our mother, she is quite easy to find." She handed Nikos a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "There. You can call her."

"Okay, that works," Tish said, eying the two girls. "But that doesn't answer my question," she added, pinning them down with an intense blue-eyed stare - one that had intimidated many of her younger cousins over her life.

"What, exactly, were you plotting when you were talking about us?"

She didn't really expect an answer, but she'd guessed what they had been planning anyway. The human just hoped the two Princesses would admit it themselves.

There was a hesitation, before Samantha drew herself to her full height--which really wasn't all that tall. "We were planning to get you two together," she told the woman. "So now that you're going on a date, our work here is done. Can we go home now?" she asked, idly looking at her fingers. She was playing with a tiny flame.

"We hope you enjoy your date," Reiya said with a smile and a nod. "Don't tell mom where you got the number. Bye!" The twins took off into the field and towards their home.

Nikos was silent for a moment, before looking to Tish. "That was... different," he said. "But helpful. Would you like to go to the library now?"

Tish nodded. "I. . . .. suppose so." She wondered if she'd see those girls again at some point, and then wondered if she'd get to see Nikos again after this. He did seem very nice, after all. And those looks didn't hurt either!

"There's other places we could go, too, if you'd like," she added, smiling a bit.

Nikos gave a smile. "I would like that," he said. "But I would prefer it if we went to places on a daily basis, maybe? Would that qualify as dating?"

"I would to," Tish replied, smiling. "And yes, I think it would."

"Would you like me to show you the fantasy section?" Tish asked, smiling at her companion. It was nice to explore the library with someone else, she decided, even as she fought to keep down a blush. She was just enjoying this so much already - well, the company, at least. "I can show you where the rest of the Pern series is located," she offered, looking over at her elven companion - dare she think date? - and accidentally bumbing into someone by a shelf.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going - did I make you drop anything?"

Niko returned Tish's smile easily. He was glad to be able to talk to her without being so shy now. "I would really like that," he said. He followed her and paused when he saw who she bumped into. He smirked slightly. "So this is where the girls ran off too..." He muttered. Sure enough, Samantha and Reiya were in the background, looking for books.

"It's quite alright," the woman who Tish had bumped into said with a smile. "I don't believe we've met, my name's Thali." She was quick to notice the man with Tish was an elf, and frowned slightly. What was he doing here? She didn't recognize him though... No, she didn't know him.

Niko merely nodded at Thali, before putting an arm around Tish. "It's nice to finally meet you," he said with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you; I wondered when I'd get the chance."

"Yes, they are," Thali said, giving Tish a smile. Bingo, the elf had a weakness. Talking about her children seemed to animate her. If only Tish understood that Thali knew full well what her daughters had been doing. "Sammi and Reiya. Have you met them or something?" she asked, before looking to Niko and frowning again. Clearly she had had plenty of elves 'curious' about her. "You needn't bother," she muttered. "I am no longer in hiding."

Tish blinked at the elven woman's frown, and on instinct stepped a little towards Niko, concerned about the other's intentions toward him. This was before she noticed the twin girls in the background, and when she did, a frown appeared on her face as well, just briefly.

"Are those two girls yours, ma'am? And I'm Tish, sorry for bumping into you." If it sounded a little less than sincere than before. . . .well, this woman - Princess, whatever, needed to get a little better idea of what her daughters were getting up to. Playing matchmaker wasn't a safe thing all the time, after all. The two couldn't be right all of the time, and some people wouldn't appreciate their meddling.

Samantha and Reiya stopped their pretense of looking for books to listen on the adults' conversation. "Mom looks annoyed," Sammi observed.

"We knew she would be; who's idea was it for them to follow us?" Reiya asked.

"I think they came up with it on their own," Sammi muttered. "I thought I heard them talking about books earlier anyway."

Niko didn't fail to notice Thali's tense behavior. He didn't fail to notice Tish's blush; but he rather enjoyed that. "As she's said, no harm was meant." Thinking he would do more harm than good, he fell silent.

Thali gave a relieved smile, and directed her attention at Tish. "Oh yes, the library," she said, her shoulders relaxing. "I had heard that Father closed it. I kept it open for quite sometime. Books should be available to all; the treasure within them is worth far more than any other we had in Lynwood."

Tish blushed as Niko put his arm around her - it wasn't something that had happened before, that was for sure. It was rather pleasant, though. Sensing the (former?) Princess's upset - it was evident from the tone of her voice, let alone her expression, that she was used to and annoyed by this sort of questioning. "Oh, there wasn't any harm meant or anything - don't be upset. I don't know much about where you came from or anything, but personally I don't think it matters." She smiled at Niko after a moment.

"To be honest, the only thing that would have bothered me if I were an elf would be that the library Niko told me about was closed to the public."

"That's better," Reiya said, looking to her sister. "Mom's relaxed. How long do we have to stay here watching them talk anyway?" She asked with a slight frown. This wasn't as interesting as things had been at the park.

"Well, I suppose until they're done talking," Sammi replied.

Niko gave Tish a smile. "If that book's like any of the others, I'm sure it'll be quite enjoyable."

Thali looked surprised. Pern? She knew Pern. "You've read the Pern series?" she asked. Finally, someone in Gaia who'd read it.

"You're preaching to the choir," Tish said with a smile. "I agree with you entirely. I was just showing Niko where the Pern series are. . ." She paused for a minute and faced Niko, poking him lightly in the shoulder.

"And you're going to read Masterharper of Pern, most definitely. That's non-negotiable," she said, smiling at him to show that she wasn't really all that serious.

"Uh-oh, they've caught us again," Reiya said, glancing at the adults before going back to looking at the young adult fiction shelf. "There's nothing interesting. I've read all these."

"Because you're always looking for a certain author's books," Sammi pointed out helpfully. "Try Dogsbody, it's really good."

Thali had to think about the woman's question. What was her favorite book? "The Dolphins of Pern, I think--it's rather difficult to have a favorite in this particular series. What's your favorite?"

"We are," Niko said with a grin. "But let's continue boring them; maybe if we bore them enough, they'll lose interest and find something else to watch."

"Nearly the entire thing," Tish said with a grin. "Niko's read some as well; I'm just introducing him to the rest of the series now." "What's your favorite book in the series?"

Unconsciously, she stepped a bit closer to Niko and watched the two girls. "I think we're boring them," she said, trying not to smile.


"Maybe." Tish said with a grin, then smiled a bit wider. "Or. . .. we could call them over here, actually meet them, and thus stop their eavesdropping!"

Turning back to Thali for a moment, Tish smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, they're all such good books that it's hard to pick just one as a favorite. . . but in my case, The Masterharper of Pern is the one I like the most. But then, that's because Robinton's my favorite character in the entire series."


"Maybe," Niko said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should invite them over," he gave Tish a smile. "Hey girls! Did I hear that you're reading Dogsbody?" he called in a voice that just barely would have been allowed in a library.

"Told you we'd been caught," Reiya muttered, before they dropped the search. "Come on, might as well meet them. That elf's been eavesdropping on us all day."

"We've been doing the same thing," Sammi pointed out.

"Yeah, but we never made him talk to us."

"Oh Robinton! He's wonderful," Thali said with a smile and a nod. "I think I like F'lessan and Golly best though, and then Lessa." Of course she'd like Lessa; Lessa was the most like her. "Robinton is in my favorites, though."

"I think we have," Niko mutered, grinning. He watched as the girls walked towards them. "So are you looking for Dogsbody?" he asked curiously. "I never caught your names." This wasn't the exact truth, as Thali had told them their names.

"I'm Samantha," Sammi said, forcing a smile. "We already know your names; you're Niko, and she's Tish." Reiya nudged her with an elbow. "And this is my sister, Reiya," Sammi added with a grin.

Thali rolled her eyes. "You guys've been at it again then," she said, looking to her daughters.

"Not exactly," Reiya said.

"Yeah, they got together on their own. We didn't have to do anything."

Tish smiled at Niko and the upset look that the girls had on their faces. "I think we just ruined their fun," she said, trying not to laugh at the eavesdropping romantics.


Tish grinned. "But you were going to, weren't you? What were you going to do, anyay?" Silly girls. They hadn't needed to meddle at all; had that disappointed them?