Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oz looked at his foot in disbelief, as if it might have been controlled by someone else at that moment in time. Needless to say, it brought a smile to his face. If he had to get used to this new form, he should at least use it to the best of his abilities.

"Well, frig me," he smirked to himself, grasping his foot just to make sure it was still real.

When Sophie toppled into sight, he flinched a little. As she barely avoided hitting the floor, Oz stretched out one massive arm and gently helped nudge her back to a more comfortable position.

Up close, Oz could now understand Gaius' blush around Aislinn. As long as she was more than five feet away, he found no problem with her nakedness, almost like trying ogle sunbathers. But...close up was a totally different matter. He couldn't really blush, but the fur on his crown and back suddenly fluffed up.

"Err...thanks Aislinn," he said dryly, his mouth even more parched now. He didn't really want to eat the banana, but he hadn't eaten anything in days. He began to nibble when he caught the bottle of water. Unable to control himself, he grasped the screw lid in between his teeth and chewed it off, taking a hearty swig of the mineral water.

"And no alcohol for me, gotta keep tee-total."

She was going to get used to this whether she liked it or not! Gloria shook out her hands and returned to her radio, which sat in the grass mocking her. She dragged it onto her lap and gave it a once over; it was still on and the digital number '13' blinked placidly on the screen, showing her it was on pause.

Hm, must have been on since the night before was what she figured, even though she couldn't remember what CD she had been listening to (or listening to anything at all on the radio, really). Now here came the real problem - should she hit play and see what came up, or should she turn it off and fumble for another CD from her book?

Turning it on seemed to be the most logical conclusion to the zebra woman, if not the easiest way out. Canting her head to the side, she dragged the pointed part of her hoof across the screen and jiggled it onto the 'play' button which was embedded on its front, and out blared:

You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals
So let's do it like they do on the Dis --

There was a loud bray (on her part) and resounding, plastic sounding smack in which the radio was sent catapulting a meter or so in front of the zebra.

No wonder she had hit the pause button however many nights ago! The young woman, though she felt the base of her ears become warm, burst into a fit of laughter and fell backwards.

"Augh!" she cried in between laughing. "I'm too old for this mess! I give up!" She rolled onto her stomach and threw her arms over her muzzle, shoulders still twitching with laughter at her own stupidity.

He wiped his leathery muzzle of any excess water and continued to bite small shunks from the banana. He could only imagine how stereotypical he looked right about now.

He smiled down at Sophie. He'd never get used to that - being sat on his fuzzy rump and STILL being pretty tall. Grimacing for just a moment as his left leg began to cramp up again, he stretched it out and then gave Sophie his full attention.

"Pleasure to meet you Sophie," he said with a polite nod, and with that certain British charm. "My name is Oz."

He took another quick swig of water and then finally discarded the banana peel. As demeaning as it was to eat it, his stomach wasn't in rolls of upset anymore. But Gloria's sudden descent into rolls of laughter caught Oz's attention, leaving him with a bemused expression.

"Oh I've been tempted," he chuckled. "Waking up with a face normally seen scaling the Empire State Building is enough to drive anyone to drink."

"Eh, I just think about the fact that I'm not cold-blooded, and then I don't worry if I walk into a bar and the bartender asks, 'Hey, why the long face?' And if it does happen to piss me off at the moment, I can just kick their face off." Sophie smiled, or did as best she could considering her muzzle.

"Though I have to say, walking's been a tad bit harder since I couldn't fit in my shoes."

Looking up at him, she decided to take another sip, just because it was warmer out here than usual. For a moment, an awkward silence loomed, and trying to lift the primate's spirits, added: "I mean, it's better than being a literal jackass or insect or something like that."

She pushed herself up and retrieved the radio, eyes still crinkled into half moons of glee. She scooped up her CD case with a fixed resolve and a new goal - she wasn't going to eat until she at least got some proper music playing. Although the last one seemed rather fitting considering their circumstances.

Gloria began to fish for the zipper and after a bit of trial and error, managed to catch it within the cleft of her hoof. Only it was backwards, pulling back would only cause her to lose her grip. She curled her black lips back and yanked her hoof free, nibbling onto the rubber grip.

"Got'shu," she muttered triumphantly, pulling it back with her teeth; why hadn't she thought of it before? She popped open the book and reached over to the radio, popping open the plastic covering and somehow managing, by the grace of God, to flip out the disc.

There.

Now only to get one in.

As she flipped awkwardly through the case, she vaguely heard something along the lines of 'jackass'. Her mouth puckered and her ears lay back.

"I'm an a**," she said from her place on the ground, ticking her tail. "In a sense. Striped, but still."

She did her best bray yet, before falling silent. Wasn't as though she had a choice in what she could have been. Even though she'd rather be human, Gloria would have chosen something a little more intimidating than Simba's lunchmeat.

She shook a salsa mix CD out of the case.

Gaius held the plate of meats up a moment, hopeful grin on his face, then sighed, setting it aside on the grill shelf. He should've known better with a primarily herbivorous audience. He'd never admit it, but the smell of perfectly barbecued steak didn't even appeal to him! Picking a drumstick and a hot dog for himself, the equine man shuffled through the stuff he'd grabbed and piled on several carrots, raw broccoli, cellery, and an apple.

He flumped down on the ground, spreading his wings out behind him in a more comfortable angle and took a bite from his apple, thinking about how he'd never have thought he'd ever be a vegetarian in his life, and he still wasn't willing to give up meat entirely. Somewhere in the back of his mind was that bird of prey who'd given him his wings, and even if his largely horse mind balked at the idea of meat, the eagle yearned for it. Gaius let out a loud sigh that came as a snort and he shook his head. Hurray for inner termoil.

"Guess I should learn some vegetarian stir fry or something, huh?" He chuckled. "Do any animals even eat tofu?"

A CD finally clicked into place and not too long after, a woman's voice could be heard, backed up with a clear Latin sound - Gloria was trying to mediate. She didn't know whether anyone else could understand Spanish, so she chose a song where the woman sang in Spanglish!

Really, though, music didn't have a singular language, so what did it matter?

She climbed to her feet and glanced over at Sophie, fixed with her angriest face possible, even though it was hard being an equid and all. How dare you! it yelled...or it would have if she had the ability to keep a straight face. She broke into an earthy smile and laughed.

"Actually, I have the biggest ears of all the zebras!" She motioned to the large fluted appendages jousting from her hair. "Don't worry about it, hon'! They're still nothing in comparison to my brothers, and he's still a one hundred percent human!"

She gave a genial wink and turned to the food, only to stop and stare wide-eyed at Oz's antics. Gloria reeled backwards and laughed again (she was very easily amused) before finally reaching forward for a hotdog.

"I know I shouldn't, but the thought of giving up meat..." Her nose curled upwards at the thought of tofu. That wasn't even real food!

"I don't know how I'm going to do it. You don't think the lab will provide a resident psychiatrist, do you?" she queried in between her nibbles and her dancing.