Welcome to Gaia! ::

It took Gaius a moment to recognize his friend in the orange vest standing before him. He blinked a couple times. Unchanged... They'd met a couple days ago, hadn't they? With the movie... Finally, his eyes registered his remembrance. "Hey, Marshall..." he offered by way of greeting.

He remained standing in the doorway, or more like leaning against it for support. The fresh air smelled weird to him, too clean, and the sun was too bright to match what had transpired. Somewhere in his mind, it didn't seem right that the world should continue as normal after the rabbit's murder.

He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the prickly growth of stubble over his face and for the first time realizing how bad he must look right now.

Remembering that Marshall was standing there at his door, Gaius stepped back into his duplex. "Come in, if you like. 'S a bit mess..."

Gaius hadn't even noticed the lights being out. He'd simply not turned them on since he came back. Light, dark, it didn't matter...

He closed the door after Marshall entered, shutting out the too-bright sun, and remained facing the door. Marshall's question made him physically flinch. He didn't know yet... How was he supposed to tell him? This was worse than the truth about the island.

Taking a deep breath, Gaius slumped forward until his forehead hit the door with a dull thump and remained propped there. "To put it nicely, the cow junk's hit the fan... Yesterday-or was it the day before?-There was a girl who was a rabbit... My God, I can't believe she's dead..." His voice came out hollow and distant, once again forgetting Marshall's presence as the images replayed before his eyes for the umpteenth time.

The large man sighed. He didn't have the energy to explode. Not again. Instead, he slowly pushed himself away from the wall and turned around, though he kept his eyes on the floor, rather than look up at Marshall.

"There was another girl... named Annie or something... I saw her change into a wolf... fur, teeth... she... she..." He gulped, eyes darting back and forth as he watched the mental scene. "The way she screamed... she attacked Fee... and ripped out her throat."

Now he looked up at Marshall, eyes wide and terrified. "She ripped out her best friend's throat and began eating her! And I couldn't stop it!"

"I know," Gaius growled through gritted teeth. "I've been telling myself that for I don't know how long. It doesn't help..."

He sank down against the wall, letting his arms fall across his legs and head roll back against the wall, eyes closing. "They're turning us into monsters, Marshall! Monsters! Before, I thought it was just a freakshow, some fur... but I saw a man-a shadow of a man, who'd become an octopus, and been broken by it... They're taking away our humanity. All of it."

His face twisted with barely contained emotions. No, he refused to lose it again. He would stay in control of himself at least. A shuddering breath escaped the big fellow.

"I don't want to be the next killer..."

Gaius didn't flinch away from the touch, but looked up at his human friend with searching, desperate eyes. "But what if I forget who I am? What if I lose my mind? Who knows what I'm becoming? Maybe it won't be my teeth that kill you, but poisons created by my skin? There's sea creatures that do that, right? I don't want to be dangerous to my friends! I don't want to hurt you!"

For the first time in several days, Gaius's lips twitched in the shadow of a smile. He still looked terrible, but Marshall's optimism was infectious, rekindling the same hopefulness inside the big guy. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, dry but tired, and then lay the hand on Marshall's other shoulder, giving the boy a grateful look.

"Marshall... I can't think of anyone better to do that. It's good to know that if anything happens to me, you'll be there... Thanks." He gave Marshall's shoulder a light squeeze, face brightening. "And I'll be there for you."

"And I guess I watch too many movies, huh?"

Gaius winced, though his expression remained bright, and nodded. "Aye, sorry... I should probably do that..."

It'd take some time to fully recover, but at least for now he wasn't dwelling on the horror he'd witnessed, or what his fate might soon be.

Pushing himself up, Gaius tugged off his stained and dirt-smudged shirt and tossed it towards the bed before heading towards the bathroom. He paused in the doorway, looking back at Marshall. "Just, uh, make yourself at home if you want to hang around, or something..."

With a shrug, Gaius ducked into the bathroom, and soon the sound of a running shower and splashing could be heard.

In the past weeks since arriving upon the island, Gaius had learned a good many things. However, one thing had become increasingly apparent over the past few days; There was very little to do. Sure, he’d stopped by the exercise room in the mornings, and there were movies galore, but Gaius wanted something active, something constructive! He missed his work place at home and the fast pace of projects. Now, with so much free time available, he could feel himself falling into a lethargic pace. It was boring.

Thus Gaius found himself standing in front of the black intercom unit. He’d been there several minutes already, steeling himself. How was he going to talk to the staff? His previous encounter with Sabin had gotten him knocked unconscious with a simple command… What would they say to his requests?

His hand hovered over the 0 button before finally pushing it. He held his breath as the line was patched through. Much to his relief, it was a name-less, face-less and bored-sounding lab tech, not Sabin or the dreaded Moreau he’d feared.

“Um, h-hi… I was told, er, I could order some supplies through here…?” he stammered, wincing. When it was affirmed, Gaius went down a list of tools, mainly things for crafts and carpentry of sorts, including a hammer, nails of standard sizes, a powered screwdriver if possible and screws, as well as wood glue, a saw, and a good supply of wood planks.

After that, Gaius faltered. Now came the hard part. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, obviously nervous, and looked down. “And, er, ah… I was, uh, wondering if I could get some books… do some reading and studying, you know… But, uh, the books I want aren’t in the library… Uh, see, I’ve been interested in the ocean… Could you, er, get me some books on ocean currents and on tides? And, uh, storms. Just general info! That’s all…” To anyone knowledgeable in lying, it’d be blatantly obvious that Gaius was fibbing, and poorly at that. However, he brightened suddenly, and looked back up at the intercom. “I just remembered! Can you get me some cook books too? Exotic ones? I enjoy trying out new recipes, see… And… If it’s possible… Could I get access to the cafeteria kitchen? Just for Wednesday? You see, it’s my Birthday, and so I want to fix something special…”

Gaius was relieved when the tech ended the line. The order was placed and sent to be handled by higher-ups in the lab, and now he had only to wait.