Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oooh, you can?" Said Jericho in a soft yet excited voice. He did so love magic. Back where he came from, you don't see a lot of it, beside random summoning crap. At any chance to witness or hear more about these phenomenon, he jumped with glee. "What all can you do? Burn down houses? Shoot meteors from your hands? Or you can do smaller cantrips? I saw this guy once who swallowed a whole forest in a biiig earthquake! It was dangerous, but kinda cool."

His arms drew a big circle in the air. It was a pretty huge earthquake.

He quickly regained his calm, as to not cause a commotion in the restaurant that was getting busier as time passed, while the employees were getting ready for dinner service. His eyes still shone bright though, obviously fascinated by the mystical weaving of mother nature's strength.

Except, the more Jericho thought about magic, the more he thought about the rules and, soon enough, he sighed. "I wish I could learn magic, but I'm not allowed to. It's so useful though. Are you good at it?" He asked, his fingertip circling the edge of his cup of water.

"Oh, erm, I-- eh." Jericho's words jumbled out, bumping together in one another as he was trying to say something coherent, but got lost in his own embarrassment. "I ... I don't eat, I mean. It's still warm, you can have it if you want?" He rubbed his own hair a bit. He frankly didn't think he should get that embarrassed about something so trivial; a lot of other species on Gaia didn't eat, or at least didn't eat food. Still, Jericho was blushing, and looking down at his own lap slightly.

The conversation turned idle as Merdice finished her second serving. Jericho explained more about his current situation, about things he needed to do. He went on for minutes about how fascinating things were on Gaia, like the way ambient humidity could affect even your hairstyle, how arcane magic seemed to be so unbelievably common in most parts, and even at how humans were a minority versus angels, demons, other demi-humans, undeads and mythical creatures or shapeshifters of all kind. What impressed him the most was how very little racists there were in general.

Until, finally, he shut up and looked out the great window at his side.

"Sun's setting ..." indeed, the sky and clouds were painted in the nicest shades of orange and pink as the sun descended into the sea. "Are you diurnal or nocturnal?"

"It's getting a little late, I guess." Jericho tapped the window gently. "I guess I kinda took up your whole day, didn't I? I hope you didn't have anything planned?" He didn't really feel bad for requisitioning her attention. More ... concerned, as he didn't want to hinder her own plans, even if he needed her help.

"But I was asking to know if you had anywhere to sleep?" He continued. "If you don't have any obligations, I can arrange you a clean, comfortable and free place."

"Alright then!"

Smiling, Jericho stood and pushed his chair back under the table. The bill would be put on his tab, and paid in due time. Servers had already spotted them, and were ready to clean the table.

"If we leave now, we should get there before it gets any darker. It's right on the beach, just a little further down the street here. I think we can even see it from the window!"

He leaned slightly, pointing at a mass of tall houses on a hill. Indeed, Jericho's was somewhere amongst them, but it was hard to tell what was what at such a weird angle, and in the distance.

"We can walk on the beach instead of in the street if you want, it'll be a lot quieter, and a little faster too."

"Oh, right. I was forgetting."

~~~

A gentle breeze had picked up since the afternoon. Even with the sun down though, the Isle de Gambino stayed as warm as ever. As bright too, as hundred of light illuminated boardwalks lining the numerous beaches of the island, while the grand casino flared its neons over all of the small city-island. Vendors of all kind took advantage of the evening to appeal to the late-night crowd and the various tourists that populated the island

The east-side beach where they walked was much quieter, though. For one because the Gambino family bought it and never exploited it. Then, because it was rumored to stand over the newest underground G-Corp facilities. Fear that something ... fishy would rise from the sand kept most of the tourists off it.

Merdice didn't need to know that, though. Then again, Jericho didn't even know himself, so he couldn't tell her.

"It's nice out tonight." Said the guy himself. Indeed, as they were far from the hype, silence reigned supreme over the sands, and the sky was lit with nothing but countless stars and their beautiful moon mistress.

"Oh, we can see it already. Right there."

He pointed with a foot, as both his hands were still full of groceries. The place was hard to miss though, as it was the only building of any interest in the environs. A tall hotel building of many floors, with a small marina out in the back. The building was of the same architectural style as the Gambino manor, with tall columns surrounding its base, great stairways and small towers separated from the main building, for different activities the hotel offered.

"I rented both penthouses for a year. The view is pretty nice from up there." He said, jolly, as he resumed walking, slowing down a bit for her to catch up and follow.