Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You're welcome Margy." Stephanie said with a warm smile, crossing her arms under her head and resting. "It's cool." She said with a long yawn and stretch. "It's all good...I just...sleepy...." Slowly the dog slumped herself back onto the pillow and went out. This time she hit the pillow hard.

((Meaning she's in REM already XD))

It was well past noon before Soul's eyes flickered. The sunlight had finally positioned itself enough so it draped over his head, engulfing his dreams with a yellow tint and eventually allowing him to wake. The only window facing the sun right now beamed on him, and he yawned. Blinking profusely, he rubbed the sleep off his eyes and looked around, instinctively reaching for his glasses. Day after day, he sighed to find that they weren't there - they didn't exist and he didn't need them. It was a hard habit to break, even after six months. Looking at the counter below him, he let it all come back to him slowly. He even nodded as he registered every memory that filtered in as if verifying it. Giving off one more oxygen-filling yawn, he silently jumped off the table and grabbed the sheet off of it. Moving around, he checked on the soaked blanket and muttered something under his breath. Picking it and a dirty clothes basket from under the counter, he crept out the door. Moving up the few steps to the main floor, he took a direct U-turn and headed out the back-way. Meeting one of his many neighbors in the backyard of the apartment complex, he gave a subtle wave to the male hamster and accompanied him in their morning ritual. Soul took note of the fresh smell of the outside -the storm really helped the plant life in the backyard. Mrs. Patterson would be happy to know her flowers were blooming after the storm. Soul turned to the male hamster, James, before speaking.

"Well, James, how's life treating you?" Soul asked, glad to see one of the laundry baskets filled with soap and water. He placed his basket near the line and began to dip his clothes in it, before thinking better of it and starting with the blanket, picking his stray quills out of it.

James took a moment to think about it, and muttered, "Can't say too bad. Can't say too good either. Brit told me about some sounds last night from below, and how some creature is out there blowing @#$% up." He said, stretching. "She heard it from Mrs. Patterson this morning, said you took care of it. What's that all about?"

Soul gave a chuckle, putting one of his shirts on the line. "The sounds ended up coming from the company I had over. Relatives... kinda. Anyway, one of them's easily hyper so she ended up scaring the other one. Fed a bull story to the super. I'd have laughed if I wasn't so close to being kicked outta here."

James laughed. "Yeah, things aren't looking too good for us guys. A lot of the jobs are getting eliminated." he expressed, scratching his ear a moment before hanging a pair of socks. "So what about the creature? I hear that's a real story. How'd you know that one, TV?"

Soul thought a moment before answering, "Actually, I was nearby when it showed up. Bullets didn't do a thing before they drove off in the direction of town hall." He said. As he spoke, the sunlight was swallowed up by a passing cloud, allowing Soul to look up a moment. "Crazy stuff."

James nodded. "Nice, nice. You seem to always know what's going on."

"Specially when it comes to the unordinary." Soul added. He said this for no particular reason outside of himself. He always paid attention to extraordinary things - anything that might lead him back to his home.

Stephanie gave a long, lazy groan as she stretched in the bed, trying to roll over to try and go back to sleep after Margy went wandering outside. No use. Light was already blinding all areas of the house, though it didn't seem as harsh on her face as when she usually woke up. Hair frizzed, eyes half open, the dog slumped forward in the bed and turned her head lazily to a nearby clock.

12:00 PM

Her ears shot upward. Twelve noon!? It'd been years since she slept in that late. Back then she used to spend weeks at her grandma's staying up all hours of the night, playing card games, watching movies... Back when Nana was well and everything Papa tried to do didn't cause her to go into a weeping rage.... The thoughts of her family caused her shoulders to get heavy as she slumped herself back onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, her mind drifting back home. Maybe she'd be lucky and things wouldn't change. No, of course not. Jenn would still be arguing with mom about Dan, Hayven would probably have Karumi back by the time she got back and would be happy to see her. She could imagine her expression as she tackled the puppy....

Stephanie woke herself from her daydream as she looked at her paws and gave a chuckle. "Puppy...." Her pads squished as she wiggled her fingers back and forth, repeating the word as if calling for a lost pet. "Heeeeere puppy. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere puppy, puppy, puppy." She got up calling for the imaginary animal, seeming sadly bemused by her predicament. There was no one around so she already knew that she would be calling to herself anyhow. "Ok, this is pathetic" she grunted before shifting around her feet, not sure what to do.

Her stomache grumbled as she stood in the one room apartment, looking back and forth between rooms. Part of her was still uncomfortable about rumaging through Soul's kitchen to get something to munch on, plus would she get lunch or breakfast? Too tired to care for the moment, she just decided to head to the bathroom.

Stephanie had just managed to sit down on the toilet when she heard a sudden abrupt barking. Her ears shot up and twitched sensitivley, but her expression was still very human. What would anyone else do when they heard random barking outside.

"Yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.....?" she shouted from the bathroom. "Margy? What is it?"

"Well I was....eh....well...." She began to shout, until shaking her head. "Gimme a minute ok?" After making use of the restroom and washing her hands, she came out and was greeted by the confused hamster. This time her tone was normal and non-shouty. "I was kind of....borderline depressed. So I started acting silly to get my mind of it."

"Oh..well.." Margy said as she stared at Stephanie for a bit. "Margy started barking, so..she be Stephanie's doggy!" She gave him a wide grin, before suddenly running towards Stephanie at full speed.
"BARK!!" she said loudly, before suddenly tackling her friend, knocking her flat on her back. She grinned widely a second later.
"BARK BARK BARK BAR---" she stopped a second later as she saw the door open and found herself staring at Soul.
"BARK! YAP YAP BARK!!" she said, leaping off of Stephanie and beginning to bounce up and down. She seemed to be taking this dog thing a bit to far.
As crazy as she was acting, she was doing it in order to make Stephanie feel less depressed and hopefully laugh at her craziness.
"Yap yap yap! Bark!!" she barked. "I'm a guard dog!'

"Guard... dog?" Soul asked, looking over the hamster. "I... um... what?" He blinked, looking between the girls, before shaking his head and grabbing a clementine off the fruit basket on the counter. Peeling it, his head kept shaking, as he muttered it was too early to think about guard hamster-dogs and head injuries. Stretching and putting a piece of the orange-like fruit in his mouth, he turned back to the girls as Stephenie asked him whether or not he was getting evicted.

"I can't say for sure." Soul said, swallowing the first piece. "I don't think she would do that for one night, but your little shouts in the middle of the night didn't help my case at all. We're not supposed to have overnight guests." He sighed, thinking about the other tenants. He guessed that most of them didn't care, or thought him as some sort of sex pervert, judging from the fact he had two girls screaming and yelling in the night. He sighed and ate another peel. It's not like he lived in luxury anyway. "In any case, I'll probably find out when the super thinks I'm alone." He expressed. "If nothing happens, I'm off the hook. If she calls me to the foyer... I dunno." He sighed. "I dunno."

"Oh?" Soul said, as Margy began to partake of the fruit. He shrugged and thought about it some more before adding. "I like them a lot, so I make sure there's always some around. I have guests over every so often. Or rather, guest." He said, thinking of James. While Soul spent more time with the other male at his place, James didn't have a computer. And as much of a crap, weak thing in the corner his was, it was still more then James. "So here - have another." Soul said, idly grabbing a second clementine and tossing it over to Margy. Grabbing a fourth, he placed it on the table, offering it to Stephenie.