Welcome to Gaia! ::

"They got busted," Roch said cheerfully. "I've made them pay for TONS of stupid s**t since then. Including a mariachi recording, TWO stupid as hell T-shirts, two of those massive water guns, water balloons, glow in the dark stickers, food, food, more food, candy, more candy, pop--Oh, and they had to teach me how to ride one of their motorcycles!" he said proudly. "I'm gonna get my license!"

"I will SMOKE you," Roch bragged. "But let's make them buy us t-shirts for the concert, too! And hats! And necklaces!" he said, practically bouncing.

What was strange, though, was that Vegas just grinned slightly at this announcement, looking almost content with the idea that his grandkid was taking him for "everything he could get."

"Got the tickets," Austin said from directly behind the boils. Roch jerked, surprised he could appear so quickly, even though he'd done it before--but then he pressed down the collar of his vest, giving his dad a suspicious look. "What? No ice to be seen, kid. Relax already."

"C'mon, before someone steals our seats," Austin said. Vegas got to his feet, following them silently as they headed to the amphitheater. The place was literally CRAWLING with people. It was lit up from the inside, and almost pulsated with anticipation. A little grin pulled at Roch's lips as he looked up at it, and Austin looked back at him.

"If you wanted to, kid, you could have this, yourself," he said.

"Nah," Roch said. "But it sure is pretty."

"We got seats," Austin called back. "Section three, row CC," he added. "Those are some jackin' good seats, if you ask me. But then again, I've met the guy that runs this place a few times."

Wait, what?

Roch snorted, then shook his head as they entered the massive building and headed down the rows, past the other people finding their own seats, to their own. It was gilted and had way too much red and gold, but he still sort of liked it. "Do they usually have Jimi concerts in a place like this?" he asked Vegas.

"Nah, usually they only do plays and operas. But hell, boy, this is JIMI," Vegas said. "If he wanted, he could play this place nightly and no one would say a word."

Roch dropped down next to Mot, with Austin beside him and Vegas on the end. He was practically bouncing with excitement as he looked around, then focused on the stage with a happy grin. "Dude, it'll start whenever it starts," he said. "We're all willing to wait, I'm su--"

Then he stopped. Coming through the walls, through the ceiling, all around, were GHOSTS. "Wh--what--" he stuttered.

"Didn't we tell you?" Austin asked. "Jimi's a ghost. That means they're even willing to face an entire town of reapers to see their golden boil. Don't tell me you pissed yourself," he added evilly.

He hadn't, but his attention was so focused on the ghosts that he didn't even reply.

"The boil's terrified of them," Vegas said bluntly. "Look how pale he is."

"I have a ghost friend," Roch said quietly. "Two of them... but..." He reached up, scratching at the back of his head. "JackDAMN there's a ton of them," he complained. He was scared, but the image of Jove danced in his head, then Lattice. If he just pictured a ton of those two floating over head he was--well, not great, but a little able to handle it.

Maybe.

His brain was DRIVING him INSANE!

Roch glanced at him, trying to drone out the itching, to think of something else. "You saw my tatt, right?" he said. "Kinda hard not to see it right now. Ain't it awesome?" he asked, grinning. "Lattice did it for me. Have you met the sisters?"

He was comfortable talking about Lattice, since thinking of her and dealing with the overwhelming ghost thing worked well together. "I met Needle too, when she did it. Bandit, seriously, if you EVER decide to get inked, they're the ones to go to--er, not that I can say that where an Engraver can hear."

"Luckily, none of them are here," Austin drawled.

"Yeah, it's real," he drawled. "You think I'd run around with a massive fake tattoo?" he demanded, pretending to be offended. Then he shrugged.

"I have a reason, I just can't tell you while the old geezers are listening to our every word. But they way they did it--it was awesome! They had me focus on one thing and just created the tattoo off of my feelings or something. So here I am thinking of a giant symphony, and I got this," he bragged, pointing at the note.

"I'd like to hear the reason," Austin said. "Why can you tell him somethin' you can't tell me?"

Roch just looked at him, raising his pierced eyebrow. "Pop? I got a pierced tongue, you wanna see?" he asked, sticking his tongue out.