Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaius grumbled, reluctantly agreeing with her. The door was pretty solid.

As Nita worked on mixing a drink, Gaius flopped down in one of the stools, slumping forward to rest his arms on the bar, but resting his chin on top of them was forever out of the question with his neck. So instead he watched her, letting his eyes wander over the assortment of bottles around. Somehow, something sweet sounded pretty good right now.

"Could you make one of those up for me too?" he asked, pointing at the glass, then added with a weak smile, "Er, please?"

Nita was rewarded for her pun by a couple ice cubes flicked at her. Gaius returned to icing his shoulder as he grumbled, though his mouth quirked up at the corners with amusement. The abused area on the side of his arm was starting to show some color, to his surprise. He hadn't realized he'd hit it so hard...

With a bit of maneuvering, Gaius managed to nurse his drink in his free hand while the other held the ice to his shoulder. Tipping it back, he downed over half the glass before setting it back down.

"I think..." he sighed, "...I know why the tools are gone. It's because I confronted Zach yesterday when he was making trouble, and... well..." He shifted uncomfortably on his seat, looking at anything but Nita's face. "I... lost my temper. I hit him. It was bad enough that I got buzzed."

Shaking his head, he growled, "After that whole deal with Sabin in the labs, I'd been trying to avoid the stupid lizard... And now look what's happened! They took everything away..."

"You could say that..."

The second half of the drink quickly followed the first. He set the empty glass down and sighed again. "I need something stronger-"

Suddenly, he felt something bump against his leg. Looking down, he found Vixen, who'd been nosing about the lower cupboards behind the bar, with a tall bottle of some sort held in her mouth, looking up expectantly. Gaius' eyebrows bounced up, but he took the bottle from her, reading the label. "Vodka? ...I guess that'll do."

Getting up, he went to the mini-fridge, pulling out the carton of orange juice, and mixed himself up a strong screwdriver, then returned to his seat, carrying the carton with him.

"It's his fault. Ever since the start... He first lied to me when I didn't know about the island, then he taunted me after both of my changes, ganged up on me with that Freddie, even attacked me..." He shook his head and took a drink. The dragon was twisted beyond hope, as far as he was concerned. It was almost frightening to think he'd once been human, and been reduced to that, but he comforted himself with the belief that Zach must not have been much of a man to begin with.

"'Doctor's good graces'," Gaius gave a derisive snort, pouring himself another drink, this time more alcohol than juice. He welcomed the warm, almost fuzzyness in his brain. Yet, it wasn't doing what he wanted, it wasn't making him not care. Gaius had little experience with drinking, at least before the island, but that's what he thought it was supposed to do. Clearly he hadn't had enough yet.

Judging from the flush of his face, it was clear the alcohol was working. He took another sip and winced at the strong alcoholic bite.

"That doctor doesn't have anything good OR graceful about him..." he grumbled moodily. Then he turned back to Nita with a sudden change of expression. Looking deeply worried for her, he put a hand over one of hers. "I don't want you doing anything that'd put you in danger with them... I don't want any of this stuff I've dealt with to happen to you! You're too... you're too important to me!"

"Just... take care of yourself." Taking a deep breath, Gaius recovered himself a measure and let go of her hand with a bit of embarrassment. "I know I'm not your kind of guy-er, partner... But still, I... like you. You deserve someone better than this walking misfortune I've become..."

He slumped down onto the bar, glumly taking another drink. It was a pleasant feeling, the warmth and the seeming tongue-loosening, but how much had he drank so far? How much did it take to get a horse drunk? He didn't recall how much he'd consumed the last time, after Oz's change...

"All I wanted... before I came here, was to be a good guy. And now look at what I've become... I get angry, I drink... I even cussed. Whatever happened to the gentleman?" He lifted the glass, as if to have another drink, but grimaced. "The labs... Sabin's taken it all."

The horse-man grunted from his hunched-over position, but the turn of his ears betrayed his attention. He wasn't sure about anyone being lucky, but it was reassuring to hear those words coming from Nita. He really did value her opinion highly.

He turned to face her fully, concerned as he heard the emotion in her voice, and could see it clearly in that fuzzy, animal-like, but humanly readable face. His first instinct was to hug her, to tell her it would be okay, it was his fault for being stupid in the first place, but a smaller part of him spoke against that, saying there was a better way to comfort her. So, Gaius leaned over, arching his long neck, and nuzzled the red-headed girl's shoulder with his nose.

A sudden cry in his brain jerked Gaius back, realizing what he'd just done. Panic gripped him as he stared fearfully at Nita, wondering what the hell he'd just done.

"I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to...!"

"It was stupid!" Gaius protested, though he accepted the ruffling, a couple wiry locks falling over his eyes. "I don't know what came over me!"

Hunkering down, the horse-man tried to hide his red face in his arms.

After a moment of sulking, Gaius tilted his head to the side, glancing up at Nita. "...Thanks. For being here and stuff. I don't think I'd be doing so well by myself."