Welcome to Gaia! ::

The days had gone by as usual. Slow, monotonous. He got up, ran with Vixen on the beach, had breakfast, worked a little, maybe took a walk along one of the rivers, though he didn't stray too far from the village. He was fearful of running into that wild wolf-woman, but he did want to catch Seth again. He was anxious to get things started, though he knew patience was what he needed.

He'd left Vixen behind this afternoon, not wanting to worry about losing her in the jungle as he ventured out to the tree line, in the part that was still barely the Village. He could see the duplexes behind, and the lawn, but the cool shade and fragrant breeze, as he lifted his nose to it, were welcome refreshments. It'd taken some time, but he was starting to get the hang of his new nose, able to process the information it brought him. It was amazing how intensely he could smell the rich earth, and though he wouldn't admit it, the aroma of all the wet foilage made his mouth water. So it was with a half-dreamy consciousness that he wandered along the jungle edge, parallel to the line of buildings.

Nita was sick of her duplex. Although she let Comet out regularly, they had mostly stayed in the village. Nita had barely spoken to anyone since Miller... and had spent far too much time thinking about what she'd learned. And trying not to think of it, which, of course, only kept it creeping back into her mind. Her first instinct had been to go to Gaius, but really that would make her no better than Lauren. On the rebound. The phrase taunted her.

Even so, the red panda girl had to get out. If she weren't still worried (to put it lightly) about Annie, she would have fled to the jungle. But the edge of the jungle, still within easy shrieking distance of the village, should be safe. Leaving Comet happily passed out across the bed, Nita fled her duplex. Just maybe, outside those walls, she could clear her mind. Or find a distraction.

She padded along, barefoot as usual, barely paying attention to her surroundings. A wisp of scent caught in her nostrils; she stopped in her tracks. Gaius. Should she catch him up? Or go back to hiding in her duplex? Nita shook her head. No. She had to live her life, and avoiding her friends wasn't the way to do it. Nita's footsteps quickened. It took some effort to catch up with Gaius, but after a few minutes she reached his side.

"... Hey," she said quietly, reaching up to touch his arm.

Gaius heard her before she reached him, his ears swiveling to catch the sound of light padding on the turf. His heart quickened as his mind warned him to be wary, never know what might surprise him out there amongst the threes, but he forced himself to calm down, knowing he could easily make a break for the village from there. So he turned his head towards the sound, catching the red figure of Nita out of the corner of his wide vision. He welcomed her with a warm smile, glad to see her out and about, especially after what she'd gone through lately.

"Hay? That's what horses eat!" he joked as she touched his arm. He moved around, wrapping his hairy arms around her in a quick, friendly hug. "It's good to see you! Doing any better...?"

Nita giggled in spite of herself and leaned against Gaius. Hugs were good. "Hay is for horses, and asses like you!" she shot back, obviously teasing. Huzzah for elementary school insults.

Sighing at his question, she bit her lip. "Sort of," she told him. "Well. No. Not exactly."

Gaius laughed as well, more because he'd managed to get a giggle out of Nita, and stuck out his tongue in an equally childish manner.

His expression grew less cheerful and more concerned as the smile went from Nita's face. His ears, the tell-all of his moods, perked up to listen. "Did something happen?"

Nita paused; maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all. But she needed to tell someone.

"She...." Nita gulped. "Lauren slept with someone," she said in a rush. Her eyesight blurred with tears. Wiping them away with a furious paw she added, "She slept with Miller." Trying desperately not to fall apart, Nita glanced up at Gaius. "Just great, huh?"

Gaius blushed at the first bit of information, a bit embarrassed to be hearing about such intimate info of that sort. His eyes widened and even his wings flared a bit as he looked at her with surprise. "Miller? That kid? But... he's not even old enough to be legal yet, is he?"

Nita shrugged. "I dunno, I think he is. Lauren's only eighteen anyway." It had never really bothered her that Lauren was that much younger than her, but under the circumstances... she felt ancient.

She raked her claws through her hair, hiding her face behind her forearms. Composure. No more crying. Right.

"It's just... You don't do that to someone!" she exploded, slapping her hands against her thighs in anger and frustration. "It had only been a few days!"

It did surprise him that she'd been dating a girl that was SO young, and he couldn't keep that out of his face, but she looked so distressed that he quickly pushed that shortcoming aside.

"Oh Nita..." Gaius wrapped his arms around her again, hoping she wouldn't mind his attempts at physical comfort - it was the best he could offer, being poor in the verbal kind. "I'm sorry... You're right. She shouldn't have done that. And I'm sorry she did, because she shouldn't hurt you like that..."

Of course, Nita was only three years older than Lauren. But that did mean that Lauren (and Miller, for that matter) was the same age as her little brother. Oof.

Nita leaned into the hug, her arms tucked up against her chest. "I know," she mumbled against Gaius' stomach. "And it really ******** sucks."

It's one thing to hear bad news, another to see it. Even though Sabin told him his eye was gone, and though he could feel absolutely nothing in the socket, it didn't mean it registered in his mind. After a week or two passed, he finally worked up the courage to take a peek under the eyepatch. In retrospect he wished he hadn't. His eyelids were sunken inward, and opening them revealed a dark red hole in his head that burned when exposed to air. It was disgusting in an entirely new way, and he had nearly thrown up at the sight. There were four long and jagged scars that swept across the previous location of his left eye that the eyepatch hadn't fully covered. It would have been comical if it wasn't so disgusting and worrying. He hoped Sabin would help him get his eye back. Forever was a long time to live without an eye, now that he'd seen for himself what had happened.

He needed some fresh air right away. Being cooped up in his duplex was making him nervous. Though the duplex had never changed, it was so small now. There were plenty of spots on the ceiling where his horns had scratched it up. He double-checked to make sure the panic button was on his belt before leaving. It was a physical assurance of protection. Above all else, he didn't want to die. He was getting too close to death with each passing day.

As much as it appealed to his more primal urges, he couldn't wander around the jungle. It didn't take long for his nature walk alongside it to be ruined by a familiar sight - Gaius. And with him, or on him, some furry little creature he suspected was Nita. As if the duplexes didn't afford the privacy people needed for makeout sessions, he mused. The sight did make him angry out of jealousy. He didn't feel anything for anyone but Kaveri, and at this point he saw her so few times that even that could easily have been illusory as well. If he couldn't have love then certainly he wouldn't let it happen when he was around - especially if Gaius was involved. His tail whipped about irritably as he stood poised a couple feet away. "Huh. I guess it takes a pretty feminine man to get a lesbian to fall for him."

The bearded pegasus-man had been about to open his mouth in another attempt to offer some comforting words to Nita when, like a nail on glass, a snide voice cut through the air behind them. Gaius's head jerked up and around, the surprised expression quickly passing to a glower as his ears flattened back and wings extended protectively to shield Nita.

"What the hell do you want?"

Nita turned to the newcomer, momentarily wondering who'd be so rude as to interrupt them. Her question was quickly answered. It had to be Zach. Although it had been months since Nita had seen him last, as far as she knew there was only one red draconic man. She shifted to Gaius' side, her paw discreetly moving to grasp his hand.

She was so not in the mood for this.

"Want?" He paused. In all honesty he didn't want anything from them. It wasn't possible to convince either of them of the fact that their stay on the island was permanent and that they should enjoy it, so bothering them would suffice. Plus, insulting Gaius was pretty fun. He'd have to be a little more discreet next time. Sabin was a little too lenient with Gaius, to the point that riling the pegasus up too much would result in trouble for both of them. And at this moment, he didn't want anything ruining the possibility of him getting back his eye. He scrutinized the pair with his remaining eye, trying not to let his expression show how disgusted he was by the lack of movement in the left socket. "Oh, nothing."

It only took a moment after the initial sighting for Gaius to notice the eyepatch covering part of Zach's face. Normally, he would have just stormed off rather than taking the dragon's lip, but feeling Nita's paw holding his own misshaped hand lent him courage and he couldn't in good conscience turn tail in front of her. So he stood his ground, giving the dragon an equally scrutinizing look as he edged a bit closer to Nita.

"...What's wrong with your face? If you were trying to cover it to spare the lady from seeing it, you'll need more than that little patch." He cast Nita a quick smirk before looking back at the dragon.

Nita frowned. She'd heard from Gaius about his issues with Zach, but had never had the privilege of witnessing an encounter. From her vantage point at Gaius' side, she inspected the claw marks extending from under the eye-patch. Someone had certainly taken a swing at him! Good on them, Nita thought crossly.

"Look," she said, rather crankily, "If you don't actually need something, would you just go away? Please?"

The smirk was wiped from his face at the remark from Gaius. He hissed instinctively and spread his frill, placing a hand over the eyepatch as if that would shield it from view. He growled out a reply. "Some people around here just can't control themselves. He's been... dealt with, though. He'd be crazy to go for my other eye."

"If you're looking for privacy, go inside. You two need some more alone time? How romantic." He snorted, moving his hand away from his face. His tail, which had gone rigid, was moving a little bit. "Let me guess, I interrupted you two before he got to first base? I'm glad I didn't get here any later. I don't need to see that."

"Wait, you mean an islander did that?" Gaius's strong front slipped. "Was it one of the wild islanders? Or someone like Jamal?"

He didn't have long to be worried about feral islanders attacking others though as Zach turned his sharp tongue on the moment they'd been having. Though he tried to hide it, his cheeks flushed with shame. Shooting Zach a sharp look, he snapped, "We did have some privacy before you barged in! And it's not like that! I'm just trying to comfort her!"

Nita cast a glance at the jungle behind her, almost as if she expected Annie or Jamal to leap out and tear them all to shreds.

"We weren't doing anything!" Nita protested at the same time as Gaius' outburst. She squeezed his hand. It was probably too late to make a hasty exit; go somewhere that actually was private.

"Hardly. He's in the village somewhere. He was red, furry, and psychotic - I think his name's Lucas? But even if it isn't..." He took a couple steps forward, closing the gap a bit but still keeping a safe distance from Gaius. Zach produced a glass jar from the small bag at his side. Inside it was a single eyeball with a green iris. It bobbed a little with the movement. He kept it with him mostly to ward off anyone who needed a good reason. He really didn't want to die, but every attempt on his life was making it seem more possible. Every gesture of protection counted, especially a harsh punishment like the one administered to the dhole. "This might make whoever it was easy to identify. Sabin took their eye, since they took mine."

He didn't acknowledge their protests with anything more than an eye-roll. It sure looked a hell of a lot like hugging to him. They couldn't fool him.

Lucas?! The name came as a shock to Gaius. The dhole-man had always struck him as a quiet, polite, even rather wimpy individual, not someone who would so ferociously attack another islander, even if it WAS Zach.

Yet there bobbed an all too familiar eye, that same shade of green. Staring emptily at him, and then rolling a little up as Zach rattled the jar.

Gaius's face lost all its color, taking on a sickly tone, and he yanked his hand out of Nita's grasp as he slapped his hooves over his face and turned away. A gulping, coughing noise escaped his throat.

"Lucas?" Nita echoed, incredulous. Granted she'd only met him once, but he had hardly seemed the type to hurt anyone.

She stared at the jar, scarcely believing its contents. "Holy s**t," she whispered, eyes wide. Her ears flattened against her head at the sound of Gaius retching beside her. Oh God, please don't throw up! The red panda girl gulped convulsively.

"An eye for an eye," she muttered. "******** you, Hammurabi." Although Lucas' eyeball was disturbing enough, what made it worse was that Zach had it... and apparently carried it around with him. Nita tore her eyes away to check on Gaius.

Zach continued to hold the jar at them. He couldn't understand their disgust. It was just an eye - and it wasn't even a bloody eye. But at least they were reacting to it. That was the point of showing it to them. He didn't trust Gaius to keep his word about holding off on the punches after the tantrum he saw following the apology. Hopefully this would deter him. And Nita? He didn't really care what she thought of the whole thing. Seeing her here with Gaius had dropped his already-negative opinion of her sharply.

"It's about time violence had serious consequences around here," he stated, shooting the retching Gaius a particularly scathing look.

"God... damnit..." Gaius muttered as he fought to recover himself. That was his eye. Lucas's eye.

"You cut out his damn eye!" he sputtered, shooting a nasty look back at Zach, though his pale face stole some of the fierceness. He tried not to look at Nita, unsure he'd be able to keep his slim grasp on composure if he saw her expression.

"What level won't you sink to? Now you have the labs cutting people to pieces at your whim?!" He waved a hoof angrily. "What next?! Opening them up while they're awake?!"

Mostly convinced that Gaius wasn't about to lose his lunch all over the place, Nita forced herself to relax. And not stare at that awful jar. She wanted to launch herself at Zach, to wipe that obnoxious smirk off his face. At her sides her hands clenched and unclenched angrily. Nita was nearly shaking from disgust and anger.

"And carrying that around like some ******** trophy?" she hissed. "It's sick."

"You give me too much credit. I didn't cut out his eye. Sabin did." He spread his wings slightly in a defensive gesture. "He deserved it. It's not much different from any other system of law. There's crime and punishment. If you attack someone else here, you're going to run into... trouble. It's surprising how no one around here seems to understand that."

"It's a warning," he growled at Nita. He wasn't fond of being insulted, either. "I don't like getting attacked every other week. I lost my damn eye to this guy. If seeing this'll make some idiot around here think twice about trying to kill me, then it's better for both of us."

Gaius shook his head. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew it was all too true. Sabin was just the sort to do something that twisted, no matter how human he'd seemed in one brief conversation. That glimpse must have been as rare as a solar eclipse, because now he was back to his old practices...

He took a step forward, raising an arm in front of Nita as he growled at the dragon. "Hey, don't you threaten her! She hasn't done anything to you... You're the one barging in and waving that... that..." He waved his other hoof at the jar and snorted, focusing his eyes back on Zach's sneering face. "If you just minded your own business, you probably wouldn't get into so much trouble!"

If Nita hadn't already been in such an emotional state, this run-in with Zach probably wouldn't make her nearly as angry. It almost scared her; she was usually so non-confrontational and had never been prone to violence.

"But losing your eye doesn't seem to have 'warned' you not to be such an a**!" Nita shot back, fuming. She grabbed hold of Gaius' arm, both to hold him and herself back from doing something really stupid.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're outside, aren't we? I don't need you chiding me for taking a walk. So not only do you hate this island, but you think you own it too. Fascinating logic." Zach's thoughts on the island had reached a religious level. Without room to argue, and with the threat of horrible things hanging over him should he choose to disagree with or disobey the doctor, there was no other avenue of thought. Sabin had proved himself to always be right. But it was comforting, in a sense, to know right and wrong as being rigidly defined. It made him more confident in judging others. "What are you talking about? I'm supposed to just roll over and let all of you keep badmouthing? It's the rest of you who can't handle a difference of opinion without resorting to violence. At least I don't have to worry about that now."

"Don't you dare. You have no idea..." He gave Nita a poisonous look. Did she even understand what he meant by the fact he lost his eye? There was no eye whatsoever. After a moment of seething, he decided to give her an explanatory visual. The eyepatch was lifted up delicately with a couple claws. The scaly eyelids underneath were sunken inward due to the lack of anything pushing them out. They only stayed closed for a moment, though. The empty inside of the socket stung when it was exposed to air, but he kept it open as long as he could. It seemed like it was sights and not words that these people responded to correctly. "See this? This is what I have to live with every damn day now. There is nothing left. I think being upset about it is appropriate."

"Don't act so high and mighty when you're laying judgment down on us, Zach. I was just walking until I met Nita, and we were having a chat. You're the one making nasty suggestions. Probably 'cause that's what you want."

He closed his mouth and glowered at Zach, knowing quite well of the 'violence' the dragon was referring to. He'd promised not to do anything of that sort again, but boy did the dragon make it seem tempting. No, no he would not allow himself to lose control. Puffing up his chest, he stood straighter, the better man of the two.

And then he practically gagged. "Frickin' hell..." Gaius turned his eyes away from the nasty red socket Zach was so casually showing off. "Do you want to make us sick? Geeze..."

"You approached us, Zach. You could have passed us by or left us alone long ago," Nita said, as if she were explaining something very simple to someone lacking in cognitive faculties. She might have gone on to make some other smart-mouthed comment, but Zach flashed his eye... socket.

In elementary school, there's always that kid who turns his eyelids inside-out and grins around and the other kids to freak them out. Nita had always hated that kid. But this was so much worse. Unlike the jar, which she had kept staring at in fascination, this was just disgusting. Like some terrible special effects in a horror movie that Nita would never watch. Except there was no doubt that this was real.

Nita gasped and stepped back, gazing fixedly at the ground. After a moment, she took Gaius' arm and said loudly, "Come on, let's go. I'm sick of this s**t."

"I wanted to make you understand, but sick is close enough for me." He let go of the patch so that it covered his injured eye once again. The jar was pocketed. It was tempting for him to ask himself why he even kept going, but he had a purpose now. He'd cure the islanders of their insanity, even if it took him months. If only it was easier.

He looked between the two of them. At this moment, he was fighting a losing battle and he could tell. And not only that, it was two against one. He really needed some backup. He let the tips of his teeth show in his mouth as he contemplated. He'd have to keep walking and just get away from them. His original intent to walk around sulking could still be upheld. His voice was sour, but he knew there'd be other opportunities to change their minds. "That's it? Fine. I'll leave you two to whatever you were in the middle of."

He moved past them as quickly as he could despite his heavy gait, grimacing once they'd disappeared behind him.

Understand? What was there to understand? He had a bloody empty socket! And that eyeball in his jar meant there was another islander out there with the same situation. He doubted Lucas was so cavalier about his condition... and he doubted the dhole would give in to anything quite so extreme as what Zach implied. He couldn't see the guy removing anyone's eye.

Still feeling sick to his stomach, Gaius gave in to Nita's pulling, glowering back at the dragon as the reptile walked away. His hackles stood up at the glimpse of the teeth, having little doubt the guy'd use them if he had a chance... He made himself look back at Nita.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stayed there when he showed up. If I'd known he'd do that..." He trailed off and snorted moodily. His body still felt tense all over.

Nita gave a sigh of relief when Zach put the patch back down, rolling her eyes as he stalked off. She watched after him until she was sure he had actually left, upon which she sank to the ground. Her knees had been shaking so hard she had been worried for a while that she might collapse.

Looking up at Gaius, Nita shook her head. "You couldn't have known. I mean, really, who does that?" Zach, apparently. "Jesus Christ, poor Lucas," she mumbled.

"Ngh..." Gaius ran his free hand, the palm of it, over his coarse face. "s**t, I can't believe they'd do something like that! I mean, the serums are one thing - they're not okay, but they aren't cutting out someone's eyeball on a whim!" He let out a low angry sigh and shook his head, the wavy mane flopping between his eyes. "They say they're giving us a better life here that's more comfortable... Like hell. It's all lies... All of it."

The anger faded away with his words and he took a deep breathe to regain himself. Then he squatted beside Nita, reaching for one of her hands and giving it a squeeze.

"More comfortable," Nita repeated. "If we cooperate. That's what Moreau told me. As if it's our fault that we're here and everything." She leaned forward to rest her forehead against her knees.

Comfortable. Not that Nita had really been all that comfortable at home, constantly stressed out with school. She'd moved back home after one year in the dorms and some shitty roommate issues. Back to her dad, whom she loved and who understood her depression, except for when his meds acted up and he only made things worse. Her mother, who was wonderful but was always vaguely aware that Nita was unhappy and couldn't do anything about it. And her brother. Sam was okay, but his acting up made Nita only want to push herself more, to show him up, to be the 'good kid.' The first child. But she couldn't do it, she got sick of it, and fell apart at the seams...

Nita squeezed Gaius' hand and looked up, pushing her hair out of her face. It needed a trim, she thought irrelevantly. "So," she said. "That was fun."

"'Fun' wasn't exactly what I was thinking..." Gaius chuckled dryly, then sighed. Leaning back, he propped himself on his other arm, lifting his head to look up at the patches of blue visible between the green and gold leaves. "I guess I could see this as being my own fault... if I hadn't been so ambitious and willing to leave my family and friends behind in pursuit of my dream job... Hell, if I'd had a little more common sense and seen that no one would hire an amateur for a pro job..."

He sighed, hanging his head. "This one time... months ago... Sabin took me and Zach into the lab... I haven't really told anyone about it, but... things happened. He was trying to make the two of us 'get along' or something like that. Anyways, Sabin got mad. Mostly at Zach. And I don't care how low he is, he didn't deserve the words Sabin was throwing at him at the time. So I spoke up, and he turned on me. I've... mostly gotten over it, been able to forget for a long time, but it still haunts me, what he said. 'No one back home wonders where you are. No one is goign to come looking for you.'" Gaius closed his eyes, his brows furrowed together. "'We chose the architect who was NOT likely to get other job offers.' They got me because I was no good... I've... fought to change that, but it's still there, over my head..."

Gaius took another deep breathe before turning his blue eyes back towards Nita. His expression grew apologetic. "I... I dunno why I said all that... it's the first time, to anyone outside of Marshall or Liamh... I shouldn't have dumped it on you, after everything you've gone through today."

"It's too easy to look back and say, 'My God, I should have known something was wrong'," Nita said quietly. "I was supposed to be with a group of other top students doing a sort of independent study thing, away from the pressures of family and the university atmosphere... Seemed so perfect for me, you know."

Nita shifted to lean against Gaius and sighed. "That's awful," she told him after a moment. "And it's not true. Just look at what you've done with the theater, in spite of their meddling..." She quirked a smile. "Don't worry about it. I guess I've done my share of dumping on you, too." Especially when I know full well you like me...

Gaius's heart quickened as it often did when Nita was in such close contact with him. He managed a half-smile, grateful for the kind words. They helped, though it was always hard to forget the ones that hurt.

"I know, but still... it's not proper for me as a man to be dumping all these old little problems on you when you're the one in distress." He paused, gathering his thoughts, then glanced down at Nita along his long nose. "Did... Miller say anything? About what he'd done, I mean? If not, I can go make him apologize to you..."

Nita looked at Gaius over the top of her head. "What am I, a damsel in distress? I'm a pretty tough cookie, you know." She flashed him a rather sardonic grin. "Besides, you're allowed to have problems," she told him, twisting to look at him more comfortably.

She sighed again. "I haven't seen him since... Anyway, it's up to him- both of them, really- to apologize. You can't just force someone to be sorry..." As much as she appreciated the gesture, it wouldn't solve anything.

"Alright, alright," Gaius chuckled, "if you want me to stop trying to play the knight, I will. But it's still not very, uh, gentlemanly. And you're gonna have to go against years of my dad's training to get me to change..." he added with a playful smirk. He knew his values were 'old fashioned', but they were the ones drilled into him since he was old enough to talk, and he never saw them as a detriment.

"I suppose you're right..." he sighed, knowing Nita wouldn't like him to take any action of that sort. But... His mind churned it over. Miller was needing a talk. A good, hard one, because if he thought he could continue behaving like this... Gaius smirked to himself. He had another thing coming.

"So! My dear not-damsel in distress," Gaius adopted a mock-chivalrous air as he spoke, "is there anything this poor fool could do to lighten your mood even a little? A song, a dance, or perhaps I could sling you over my shoulders and take you back to your duplex? Not that I'd do anything to you like Zach implied..." he added quickly, blushing.

"Hey now, I've got nothing against chivalry. But gentlemen don't have to be tough all the time." She reached up and playfully poked Gaius' flattened nose.

It was kind of nice to be treated like a lady, Nita mused, although she wasn't fond of macho, tough-guy posturing. And it was rather interesting to have someone so ready to leap to her defense. Not that she wanted Miller harmed, per se, but that kind of violence would only get Gaius into more trouble.

"Hmmm," Nita said, tapping her lips with one finger. "Can you juggle?" She quirked one of her fuzzy white brows at him and burst into giggles, which stopped abruptly at Gaius' last remark. "Psh," she said uncertainly. "Don't worry about what Zach said..."

Gaius crossed his eyes as he followed the finger that poked him, making a goofy face until he broke into a chuckle himself.

"Juggling? Of all the things to ask for!" He winced and made a little dip with his head and neck. "I'm afraid you'll have to remain un-entertained, because I am about as good at juggling as... well, an armless drunk octopus." The teasing seemed to be working on the red panda's mood, which lifted his own. Gaius smiled brightly, though it had taken on a bit of a ridiculous appearance since his last change, being more incisors than anything else, and the hair along the sides of his cheeks tended to stand up.

"I try not to. Most of what he says is bull anyways. I'd be worried if he actually believed half of what he says..." Gaius shrugged the dragon off and shifted so his legs were under him and he was sitting on his heels.

"Oh drat," Nita said, grinning. Her own cheek fur puffed out when she smiled, sharp teeth gleaming. The image of Billy juggling popped into her head; she snorted. Now that was entertaining.

Nita's plump shoulders shrugged. "Even if he does, we know we weren't doing anything to be embarrassed about. Whatever." She waved a paw, dismissing him from her mind. "Do you want to go watch a movie or something? Get a snack?" Nita smiled. "It's nice to have some company."

"A movie sounds like a great idea," Gaius grinned. Standing himself up, he leaned over to offer Nita a hand, giving his tail a flick at the same time to get some of the leaves out of it.

"Though, uh, I'd be grateful if it wasn't something too, er, chick-flicky..."

Nita accepted the hand up and spent a moment brushing bits of dirt and vegetable matter from her pants and tail. Snickering at the request, she said, "Tell you what. We can stop by the entertainment room and you can pick something out. I don't have a lot of variety in my duplex... Although I've got the first two X-Men movies, should that strike your fancy."

Gaius's ears went straight up as he looked at her. "You mean we're not watching it in the entertainment room...?" The thought of watching a movie anywhere else hadn't struck him. But of course! There was that huge TV in her duplex, it was impossible to miss! Feeling a bit silly, Gaius said, "Oh yeah, you must have a DVD player and all with that TV... I'd forgotten!"

Strolling alongside Nita, Gaius smiled. "Actually, I think X-Men is just the kind of thing I'm in the mood for. Haven't seen those movies for a good while, since my friends took me to see them in theater. I'm sure Liamh and Marshall would be appalled to hear me say that!"

Nita hid a smile. "Yeah, it's pretty nice. I used to grab stuff from the entertainment room all the time to watch." Granted, the TV had come from Moreau, as a sort of bribe. When she and Lauren had gone to dinner with him... But it hadn't been taken away upon their break-up, and it seemed a waste not to use it.

"Hey, they're good movies. The third movie hadn't come out yet when I got here, so I never got the chance to see it."

It didn't take too long to get back to the village.

Nita led the way up the stairs to her duplex. Hearing the key in the door, Comet barked a greeting. "Hush, it's me," she called. The barking subsided, although the young dog bounded at both Nita and Gaius as they stepped inside.