Welcome to Gaia! ::

Xiu's gift was like a blessing from heaven. Her eyes lit up, and she reached over, letting Jericho go just to wrap her arms around Xiu and lift her up in a twisting hug.

You ghouls! You're so wonderful. Make sure you tell Lizzy how grateful I am. You even left me a plate of the broken ones.. you're so thoughtful. She kept Xiu in one arm, moving out of the way so that Roch could get himself a -

- well hello there, someone was blushing. One of Riley's eyebrows rose, slowly, as she kept watch of Roch's departing form.

Hmm. She idly reached back and picked up one of the cannon cat plushies that she could see Jove eyeing, placing it within his reach. Please, take it. Maul it. Bite it, if you will.

It seemed the festivities had at least garnered the attention of one Horseman. Or rather, just Invictus as far as he knew. He hadn't made any dates with the others to come and visit. Then again, his visitation was...limited..in scope. His interest really lay in one or two individuals who were littered about the campus.

One of which was quite easy to spot right off the bat. She never failed to make an appearance, though perhaps Conquest had a bit of..tunnel vision as far as the lady Mindflayer was involved. He never really called her anything else. Simply 'Lady Mindflayer'. Perhaps it was because her name completely escaped him. Maybe he did it out of some sort of respect.


Maybe he wanted to see how long it was until she corrected it or if she'd wait and see if the terminology caught on.

"It seems you're aiming for a very well suited position, Lady Mindflayer." Invictus spoke, the barest hints of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips - lips that moved in such ways for nobody but 'his'. 'His' Horsewomen, 'His' Lady Mindflayer. Clearly, Invictus was trying to gather a harem.

Or just liked thinking he had a certain possession of the wimmenz. But never the less, he offered a hand out, palm up, towards Riley.

Munching contently on the spookie he had managed to snag, Jericho smiled to Xiu and nodded.

"And I'm Jericho," he grinned while shaking her hand. He soon held up the half-eaten cookie for a moment, before adding, "I gotta say. This is pretty good. You made these?"

Riley's words hinted that Lizzy might have gotten in on that as well, but he asked anyway.

Then, hearing a vaguely familiar voice, he turned to see the Heir to Conquest coming up towards the booth. Nearly immediately, Jericho's eyes narrowed as he regarded the horseman warily. His gaze shifted over towards Riley briefly, before staring down the shorter boy. He didn't really like the way he was approaching the Mindflayer.

----

Still observing the two, Shun noticed that moment of what could be considered panic upon Xiu's face. Roch looked a bit uncomfortable as well. Hmm.... Frowning some at all of this, he moved on over towards the Baku and placed a hand onto her shoulder for the moment.

"Helping out?" he asked quietly.

Invictus kissed the back of RIley's hand when she offered it, relinquishing it when this task was completed to stand proper. The Dragon's gaze seemed to not bother him, though for a moment he gave Jericho a look. It certainly wasn't a passive look, but it was clear that even with the difference in bulk, Invictus had a very grounded self confidence that would not be done in by a look of suspicion.

"I don't believe I have met him on..this side of the curtain." Conquest looked to Riley, knowing that she knew precisely what it was he spoke of. "Though he seems to be a very reliable young man." the way he said 'young' didn't make it sound as though Invictus was old, but rather that he was praising Jericho for making such an impression while being younger than he was.

At the very least, Invictus wasn't making a point to antagonize the dragon. Then again, Invictus didn't antagonize, he simply crushed things that he felt needed to be dealt with - a side of him that most students were more familiar with than they should have been.

Never the less, "I won't lie- I will be disappointed if your classmates don't vote you into that position, Lady Mindflayer**. But I do trust that they have good taste."

** OPINIONS OF THE HORSEMAN, NOT MEANT TO OFFEND OTHER RUNNERS. LFS biggrin KAJSd. *has to disclaimer*.

For a moment, Jericho's hands clenched as he saw Invictus kissing the back of Riley's hand. And why the hell was she going along with this? He continued to glare at the horseman, trying to figure out what was going on here. The way Riley was acting was rather different than how things had been before. The dragon knew she went to speak with the other horsemen, which also raised a couple flags.

Did.... Invi have some sort of way to do mind control? Was that a power of Conquest?

No. No. The Mindflayer would not succumb to such things even if the horseman was capable of it.

As he was pulled closer to her, he glanced to his friend for the moment, pausing as she introduced them formally. She didn't call him her best friend - she regarded him as her right hand man, which held a different sort of weight. The sort of weight that kind of buffered his ego some.

It also seemed that Conquest wasn't here to trash things. Relaxing at all of this, he grinned faintly to the horseman.

"Well. At least you know who the best candidate for the position is," he replied.

Mistress? Mistress do you need any help? I made these posters and- Christof had been busy that morning, so much to do, so many people to see, so much booth to set up.

Jericho is my right hand, you see. My best man.

The posters scattered at the hunchback's feet as he didn't even have time to take in who Mistress was speaking to.

It didn't matter. She was busy. She already had help. He turned on his heal to go back to hiding in his own booth.

She hesitated, giving a shake of her head at Shun's question. "N-no, not since I spoke to you," She confessed, looking a little ashamed, "I should have, but--!"

Xiu jumped as Roch's voice suddenly rang out. Stepping out slightly from behind her friend, she took a deep breath (mentally, at least) and directed a smile in Roch's direction. "U-um...yes! And Lizzy did the lovely packaging!" This wasn't so bad now, was it? It was just like...how she would usually have spoken to Roch. "I'm glad you like them."

He hadn't really been treating her any differently...so the Baku should return the favour, right? In the end, she was the one who was probably making things awkward between them. Er, even more awkward, that was. Glancing up at Shun, she gave him a small, crooked smile that seemed to say, "I guess this is my chance, though".