Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh no! I am fine." She returned his smile with one of her own despite feeling slightly awkward. "It's nice to meet you though! Despite our uh...abrupt greeting." Oh that was smooth...

Realizing he had gotten her another soda before she could get one for herself she thankfully took the drink from him and sipped it to give herself a minute to gather her wits. His question though had her lowering the drink a bit sooner than she was ready. "Um, yea. I thought some people I knew were coming but no one I recognize seems to have gotten here yet. I've just been keeping an eye on the doors." She shrugged. "There's enough people here already that know each other and I didn't want to just push myself into their groups. Are you here with anyone? Friends? A uh, girlfriend?" Chailee almost grimaced at her rather abrupt question but it had flown out of her mouth before she could even consider what she was saying.

Laney watched Matthew go with a quizzical look. She certainly understood plenty about siblings from movies and media -- it wasn't that she'd literally lived in a bubble all her life -- but sometimes it was hard to truly grasp the fond-combative dynamic that people like Matthew and Orah, or even Kent and Tara, seemed capable of having. Had she ever had a friend like that? Someone who she bridled at, but loved? Someone who exasperated her as much as pleased her?

She couldn't really remember anything like it. It was hard to imagine being that much of a prickly pear in someone's life and still having their love and loyalty. It just didn't seem like it would work.

Still -- she had to admit that watching their little family dramas unfold was a welcome escape from her worries. It was much easier to clasp Orah's hand, enjoy some snacks, and chat idly through the event, keeping an eye out for wayward Matthew's antics, than . . . than remembering New Year's.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm sure he sees enough of me at work -- he should have fun. You look pretty," Laney added, blushing only a little.

The good news was, the night progressed a little longer, and nothing Chaos-related seemed to occur. The bad news was, it was becoming hard not to notice that there was some kind of . . . more mundane scuffle taking place.

"Ummm, Orah . . . ?" she said, pointing with her free hand toward the group of people.

Being so flat out rejected kinda hurt. Sure Ciel wasn't attracted to him, and she had only asked him to dance because she thought it might stop the fight but still that kinda killed her confidence.

She had thought of herself as good looking, at least when she got all made up like was tonight. But he clearly wasn't the least bit attracted to her. Did he think she was just a kid, she thought she looked older but maybe not. Or maybe she just wasn't that attractive, it wasn't like she had ever dated anybody.

When she realized she had been shot down in front of the little group that had form she felt her check get warm as a blushed etched itself across her face. "Excuse me." She said with what pride she could manage and walked past the others back to the punch bowl to pour herself another cup.

This was supposed to be her night to de-stress and that little event had only made her more tense. Well at least there wasn't fight. She thought trying to find some solace where she could.

It was odd for Alexandre to be so casual with someone, enough to share his drink anyway, so those who knew him well might raise a brow but most would ignore it. Some might even think things which weren’t true, though a little voice did whisper thoughts to him which were always shoved away. They’d been friends too long and he was just comfortable with the other, at least that’s what he kept telling himself, he was lucky his secrets hadn’t ruined the friendship they had.

Blinking he nodded his head once while glancing toward Paris. “Perhaps...though she may not mind either.” And he started toward the blond haired woman and the person she was talking to, motioning for Aiden to follow. “I think you’ll like her.” At least he hoped Aiden did, as he was rather fond of Paris.

It was still odd, whenever he thought back on it, how they’d gone from the conversation they’d been having at the planet nursery to him getting lessons in French from her. But he supposed odder things did happen, he knew first hand.

Lilah gazed avidly at the other young girl, intrigued by the fact that the girl was bigger than she was. Being two, she didn't know how to take compliments, but she did know how to answer questions.

“Dada me th' dress an' I like paytime,” she said.

Paris smiled a greeting at Gabriel and said, “Nice to meet you, too,” before her smile turned to one of amusement when Harmony finally noticed Chris. She tried to adopt an innocent look but was sure she failed miserably.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you?” she asked. Paris smiled with pride all the same. “Yes, this is my Chris. Chris, Harmony's the one who took those beautiful photos of me. You remember them, don't you?”

Her smile turned into a grin. She was sure she remembered very well.

Out of the corner of her eye, Paris noticed Alex and who she could only assume was his date drifting closer to their little group. She waved with her free hand and happily motioned him over.

“Alex, hi!” she said. “Who's your guest?”







I'm sorry if i missed anyone!

He didn't return the wave, at least not with a wave of his own, rather he settled for nodding his head toward the group as he and Aiden approached. A smile came across his features as he glanced over the group. One of the others he knew, though he hadn't seen her in a good while. His gaze, after a moment, settled on Paris.

"Paris, it's good to see you. This is a friend of mine, Aiden Hale." He introduced as he motioned to the dark haired male who was his companion for the evening.

Glancing back to his friend who helped him in math, and who he hung out with alot; that was another reason he didn't have a lot of time on his hands. Work, school, negaverse, gym, and hanging out. Eventually things would lighten up, especially with summer around the corner. "Aiden, this is Paris Gallo." Nodding his head once more to Paris. "And her lovely baby sister." He might not ever want children of his own but he could admit children were cute and adorable, but too much work for him and not something he had a personal interest in having.

Slate eyes finally turned to the green haired girl. It had been a long time since he'd seen her but he still remembered her. “ And this is Harmony, I met her a while back at Crystal Academy. Hopefully you are doing well”

He turned his attention back to Paris."I'm sorry we haven't seen each other in a while. I've been terribly busy, with work and school, but we should go out sometime soon. Perhaps with your baby sister and Aiden?" He questioned as he glanced between Paris and Aiden, waiting for an answer from them both. He may not be close to her but he hoped things had been going well for her.

Oh my god. Did that guy seriously just say that to that poor girl? Raleigh was torn between stomping after him to yell at him, and chasing after the poor girl to make sure that she was okay. Fortunately, option one wasn't necessary as Ilian grabbed the green haired kid by the shirt and dumped the entire bowl of ice down his back.

Raleigh clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh that accidentally burst out. This guy was absolutely, positively, going to get beat up tonight- especially after that little stunt- but she couldn't disagree that the green haired boy deserved what he got.

Plus... It was only ice...

And at least he seemed to have his two buddies there to back him up if it did escalate to a full out brawl.

Unable to stop herself, Raleigh snorted with laughter at the entire scene before finally skipping over towards the white haired girl. "Heyyyy, you okay? That guy was a jerk, you're the prettiest girl here! It's his loss for not dancing with you!" She offered the girl a bright smile, hoping to cheer her up.

"Plus," she leaned in close, taking a look around the room. "There's sooooo many cute boys here, you don't need him!" She glanced over her shoulder at the group of boys, not wanting to miss a single moment of the drama unfolding.

A blush rose in Orah's own cheeks at the compliment and she smiled, giving Hver's hand a squeeze.

"Ah, thanks... You look... really good, too." She said as she dropped her eyes, twitching her skirt straight with shy fingers. She really did look good and it made Orah happy to get to spend time with her like this. Sure, they had to keep an eye on her brother, but really... he was sixteen, he really didn't need chaperones any more. He'd been out from under her watchful eyes for months now, since she'd moved in with Arian, and seemed none the worse for taking care of himself.

Things seemed to go smoothly, so it was a bit of a surprise and a worry when Laney called her attention to point out something across the room. Orah rocked up onto her toes in her silver heels and peered over the shoulders of the crowd to try and get a glimpse... of Matthew and a couple of other boys. Even as she watched, someone grabbed her brother and dumped something on him. The young woman felt a thrill of alarm, catching just a glimpse of the murderous expression on her younger brother's face as he spun towards his assailant.

"Oh, damn it..." Orah sighed, the expletive falling easily from her lips as she spun to grab Laney's wrist and head for the brewing fight, tapping shoulders and calling out 'excuse me!' as she forged through the crowd.

This was supposed to be a fun night and she'd thought Matthew had grown out of this stupidness. Guess she was wrong on both accounts.