Welcome to Gaia! ::

The young man that arrived soon after him was taller than Auguste, his dark hair longer on one side than it was the other. He was given a curious, interested look, Auguste peering at him with a pleasant expression on his face, and clearly this man knew Nadia, if the look he wore when he was staring at her was any indication.

His attention was momentarily drawn to the cat - which Auguste hadn't noticed at first, but now gave a big smile, because he was nothing if not a lover of all animals, any shape and size - but then was pulled back to the black haired man, and then it clicked into place as to who exactly he was.

"Ah!" said Auguste brightly, eyes alight with excitement. He reached out and extended a slender hand to him.

"Je suis en effet Auguste!" he said. "It's delightful to meet you, you must be Lorne, are you not? Nadia's spoken of you quite a bit, I've been looking forward to making your acquaintance!"

Nadia's text came at a time when he was supposed to be working on a solo piece for some charity function but was, in fact, working on something to post on Youtube. "Hmm..." Colin looked at the scar on his hand and clenched his fist; he should probably not go. Only...he was feeling antsy and wanted to see his friends (if Nadia texted him, she'd texted the other guys too - she was reliable like that) and also, Ash was there. No doubt the beautiful Silver Lady would be expecting him to come by, show his face.

So he shot a text back at her, whistling happily as he typed out a reply.


Colin dug out his swim shorts and packed a spare dance-bag with things for the beach, including a towel, sun screen, two decks of cards, and a few other various items he thought might be useful. He also grabbed a cooler to put vegetarian-friendly snacks in, since people often didn't think about those sorts of things, hopped in his car, and headed off to the location his friend had sent him.

Once there, he took in the growing crowd through his sunglasses, a broad smile on his face. This hadn't been a bad idea, at all, but a great one. There were a good number of people who's faces he knew - even Paris was there, with her husband! Colin spotted Lorne, Auguste, Nadia and Ash and headed over, a breeze flattening his t-shirt against his stomach. What a lovely day to be at the beach.

Colin called out to his friends as he neared, "Hey guys, looking good!" Nadia looked amazing, as she usually did, Auguste was pale but looked comfortable at least...and Lorne, well...maybe he'd feel better about his brief swimsuit now that Colin had arrived? Since his showed more skin by far.

Ash, of course, looked better than anyone else. But that was to be expected, wasn't it?

Nadia smiled as Colin joined them, reaching over to the sunshine and kissing him on the lips as well, though not as strongly as Lorne's. Just a friendly kiss. All of her boys were gathered here, with the exception of one.

Though she assumed that Andrew (Isaiah) was about somewhere. it wouldn't be hard to spot him if she willed herself to leave to look for him. She wanted her own drinks, and when they were made readily available, she wanted to take advantage of them.

"Excuse me, Colin you know everyone here! Would you mind looking after Ash for me?" She reached down to pet the cat, "I hate to leave her alone without a lap she knows to sit in!" Not that many would know she was her guardian and not just a normal cat. The most it was, was a ploy to keep Ash out and about, and surround her with cute men to look at.

"I am gonna grab some drinks." She grinned, "I'll be back in a minute." As she walked by, she walked past Isaiah, tilting her head to rubber neck at him and then smiling. So he had come! Wouldn't Colin and Lorne be pleased! Another friend. She waited till she could catch his eye before blowing him a kiss, turning on her heel towards the drinks.

Lorne hadn't been to many parties; it was easy to forget how quickly one could swell up like a tide, depositing noise and bodies every which was. He tried to keep focused on his little group of friends, because the noise was already just a little overwhelming, and there were just too many strangers. If he'd been alone, he probably would have just wallflowered it out under a tree if he'd even gone at all. (He would've gladly sat with Ash whether he'd known her or not, of course, but she was a cat - cats went by a completely different set of rules in his book.)

But he wasn't alone - and Nadia's kiss, as passionate as it was, reminded him. It left his knees weak and his fraying nerves smoothed, easing the tense edges of his smile and drawing him back into the moment. (No matter how flushed his cheeks were after the fact.) So when Auguste offered that hand in greeting, Lorne was able to take it. "Oh , merveilleux! That I am!" To have him introduce himself without so much as a stutter, at a party no less, was truly a testament to something - be it Lorne's effort or the sheer influence a kiss from his beautiful girlfriend could have on him. "Nadia's told me nothing but delightful things about you. The pleasure's all mine, really."

Then there was Colin, and really, no, his swimsuit did literally nothing to help Lorne feel better. Not that his eyes would ever stray from Nadia, they were only for her, but he'd be completely lying if he said Colin didn't look fantastic too. Either way, though, he was no less delighted to see him, flashing him a broad, toothy smile as he waved. The kiss between them didn't phase him; he'd had a brief, minor internal struggle when Auguste had entered the picture on whether or not he should be jealous. But no. He trusted Nadia implicitly, and it would be too much wasted time and negative feelings if he fretted over every little thing she did. Nadia would flirt. That was her nature. To try and change that was to try and change her, and he had no desire to do that.

However, another voice, familiar but unexpected suddenly had his full attention. Lorne whirled, yellow eyes going bright as stars as comprehension dawned on him. "Kyle!!" His voice carried; he never got that loud unless he was screaming in agony or something. (It still wasn't that loud, really, just loud for him.) Like he hadn't even heard his comment about Nadia, he flung his arms around his cousin, laughing as he pulled him into a tight embrace. "I only just heard you were - I hadn't expected to see you for - Kyle! It's so good to see you!"

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Pixie Nyxie

Whimsical Blue

Kuropeco

Syrie

[Mistress Morbid]

Chris stared out at the lake as he and Paris sat there on the beach. Part of him wanted to get up and do something, as he usually felt restless when he was not Valhalla, but at the same time, the calm was… nice.

He glanced over to Paris when she voiced her concern, trying to gauge her expression but realized she was doing a pretty good job of trying to hold back any kind of reaction from him. Was she afraid? “I don’t know,” he admitted, but smiled either way. “I always figured I would have kids one day, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. It’s not like there’s anything you could have done about it. We’ll figure it out, right?”

He knew she was worried, but he figured as long as something dramatic didn’t happen to them again, they should be fine. Besides, there were worse things than children.



“Lovely was on his way to find something to eat,” Ilian amended, attempting to guard the hurt he was sure could be seen in his hazel eyes at Lovely’s comment. “If you’re heading to the water, I’d be more than happy to accompany you, Chailee,” he said, slowly turning from Lovely so he could show her a winning smile.

Whatever he had done to Lovely aside from existing, he had no idea. The other boy was always switching from hot to cold, pleasant to ill-tempered. Ilian had no idea how to read him and the fact that he so casually threw around the fact that his family was dead, well, he hoped Lovely didn’t think he solely relied on him for his livelihood. He had his own job, was living on his own, and if he ended up not having a ride, he could always just power up.

“I like how your inner-tube matches your hair. It’s cute,” he added cheerfully, taking another step towards the water. “Which high school do you go to?”





Well, that was a slightly better reaction than he was expecting, and Peter let out a small breath that he’d been holding, preparing himself for Haven to nag at him. “You wouldn’t be intruding. I don’t even know if Michael will be home or not. He’d either be out at a bar or on pa-- uh…” he backtracked, realizing Haven might not know that his brothers were also involved in the whole war thing.

“Paris wouldn’t mind. She owes me, anyway.” For what, well… he would have to come up with that when the time came. Although he was sure he could remind her of a few things from over the years.

As for why he was living with Michael now, Peter shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of reasons, although I guess the most acceptable answer is that it’ll be easier since we’ll be both going to the same school, anyway.” He didn’t know how in depth Haven wanted him to go, but for now he would leave it at that. “Did you want to get a spot on the beach before it’s all taken?” he asked, realizing they were just standing there.

Even Delphine was capable of taking breaks - didn't necessarily mean she wanted to, but it was plausible. When word got around about a beach party (and the free food), the young woman was admittedly tempted. It was fairly easy to coerce her into going to the event with Kamboja and his current flame. She didn't mind Sana terribly, and for the most part they got along. Her tolerance for Kam had clearly just carried over to some of the people he associated with. Just some. Most of them annoyed the ever-living s**t out of her.

It was a goddamn mercy that Kam had gotten a second place, just so he could keep all of his trash there instead of her apartment.

She had taken her motorcycle, which was a few years old now but still handled well. It had been a gift from her parents, back when they... actually got along and when she could weasel every little thing from them. Parking her bike, she waited a few minutes for Kam and Sana to catch up - they had the booze because there was no way she could carry all her supplies on her bike alone. She had already lathered herself up with sunscreen, which was an absolute necessity when she was pasty white as all hell. Her skin practically screamed in agony at the sight of daylight. Delphine was wearing a simple white t-shirt over a tiny black bikini. Her blue hair was pulled back into a loose bun, and in the summer heat was one of the few occasions where she would actually have her hair done up.

Delphine thought she looked pretty damned good, and she really had to be considering she'd be standing next to Sana for half the day. She refused to be the ugly one out of the pair, though really with Kam around he'd take the fall for them both. The young woman smirked to herself at the malicious little thought. If she had a penny for every time she demeaned someone else for her own benefit, she'd be really ******** rich by now.

Seeing Kam and Sana pull up, she waved to her friends before she started to make her way down through the clearing and towards the food table. A girl had to have her priorities, and she sure as hell didn't cook lunch herself today when she knew free food was just around the corner. Over the years she had gotten to be a better cook, but convenience always won out over prepping a nice meal. She was a busy lady - had asses to kick, a world to save, all that mumbo and jumbo.

So, when free food was around she just had to take it. "I don't think I've been out like this at all this summer. I'm going to burn into a crisp." She greeted her friends when they finally caught up to her, giving them both an envious look over. Dark-skinned bastards.

When Gwen began walking Elysha followed in beginning to do so too despite Elysha's seat being closer to their destination. So though Elysha ended up having made it to the spread of food and drinks some steps ahead of Gwen due to taking into account this comparison of their seats' distances, Elysha remained in earshot for sure.

It was after arriving there that Elysha's mind had managed to put together and finished formulating another reply. She grinned to Gwen in agreement as she said with a nod that was followed by a transition into resuming her browse, "Indeed there are so many treats here in the food and drinks area to choose from and indulge in." She was insecure about her social skills, but Elysha persisted to try her best to do as well as she can.

Then when her gaze traveled back to seeing Gwen as she was further addressed, Elysha's gaze followed Gwen's to where two good-looking guys were chatting and then moved her gaze at an unchanging pace to scan other happenings in the area. She was of the mind that avoidance while aiming to upkeep politeness in light of her comfort zone helps her steer towards keeping platonic relations with men so admiration stays admiration and doesn't grow past that towards falling hard for one.

"I can't say I'm a fan of playing volleyball on sand as well. I tried it several times and it's certainly different from playing on level ground. But when it comes to sports, for the most part I tend to like to participate in trying them, such as to get an idea of them at least," She went through motions to distract herself from staring where she intended not to stare, starting with putting a burger on her plate as she responded to Gwen's question a bit nervously but still with continuing affable and genuine good cheer. After thinking to try the burger Gwen had that looked delicious, she had to pause and look around for what else she would end up choosing since everything looked like such a treat it was hard to pick. She ended up adding an apple and a serving of cashews to her plate.

"Admittedly, with how my juggling of different parts of my life is looking at present, I am feeling that it should be just me, myself, and I until further notice," Elysha replied with a smile and an attempt at maintaining a calm exterior. If there was a publicized list of things Elysha feared, she'd sooner face an array of animals or heights than add to her nearly nonexistent personal experiences of romance even if only by a small margin. But it may be unneeded to go into further detail than the two statements she'd just given in reply perhaps. Decidedly, she asked the question in kind but certainly willing to accept any reply given that Gwen was comfortable with, "How about you, Gwen?"