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Gaius blinked, caught completely off-guard by the little gesture.

"I, uh..." He looked back at her, blinking again and looking rather dumbstruck. "You, er... uh..."

Words failing, and cheeks bright pink, Gaius ducked his head, emptying his drink as a cover.

The twitching of his ears between upright and back betrayed the pegasus-man's confusion and nervousness. Nita had been the one to make the move, but he worried he'd done something wrong. Was there something he was supposed to have said? Augh, why'd everything have to be so complicated with girls! What would James Bond do in a situation like this?

"Don't... know what?" Gaius asked hesitantly.

Gaius shifted in his seat, not really sure what the problem was, except he seemed to be part of it.

"Um, er.... I'm sorry?"

His eyes wandered back to the bottle of vodka, the liquid courage and escape he'd been indulging in, and picked it up, but didn't pour himself a drink. Instead, he sighed. "Why does everything have to be so confusing..."

Gaius glanced up, then back at his empty glass, a smirk tugging at a corner of his mouth. "We probably would... human nature."

He winced as soon as the words were out his mouth, but he couldn't help a small chuckle. "I guess some things will never change... I think you're right," he said suddenly, looking up at Nita. "About getting through... To hell with the labs, I'll manage somehow. They'll have to take my hands away before they can stop me from working." The last statement was said with a scowl, staring at one of his hands resting on the bar, which he clenched. "They can keep their stupid tools."

Gaius snorted as he chuckled. "You're the woman, you're always right! It's a law of nature."

"I have a hammer and small saw... just a couple small things. I was stupid and left the box of tools at the site overnight. I was too tired to carry it back," he muttered. Sighing, he rubbed his chin. "The hard part will be the wood... All that stuff already there was handy... I don't know where I'll get more, unless I can somehow use the trees around here..."

Shaking his head, he poured himself a small shot and flicked it back, just something to tide him over.

"I'll figure something out..."

Gaius pulled a face, but pushed the bottle away obediently. "Eh, I'm gonna feel like s**t anyways... Newt's a good idea, though. I should go find him as soon as I can."

Pushing himself to his feet, a wave of dizziness made Gaius grab for the bar edge. Shaking his head to clear it, he moved away from the bar and gave a whistle. Vixen, who'd been rolling about on the beach and chasing birds, came bounding back, stopping only to shake off a spray of sand on both of the islanders.

"Augh! Vixen!" Gaius held up a hand in front of his eyes and shot the dog a reprimanding look as she finished. "Stupid dog..."

"Oh, right, ice..." Gaius glanced down at his shoulder, wincing at the purple that color that seemed to have blossomed amongst the red. The door had been more solid than he'd thought.

He shook sand off his shirt, glowering at the dog, but as with any pet, it was hard to stay upset for long. Nita's question brought his mind back from wandering. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, the dogs! I think I saw Lucas had one... he's a skinny guy with reddish fur, kinda like yours, looks like a dog. And there was another one I saw around, but I don't know who it belonged to... Geeze, I wonder just how many were given out..." He cast Vixen a wondering look as he rubbed his neck.

"That many..." Gaius said in wonder, more to himself. He'd never really thought about it, but if there were four dogs... maybe even more? What did that mean? He cast a look at Vixen.

"Mine... has done some strange things, at least for a dog, I guess... never had one before, so I didn't think much of it. She has this tendency to get into closed places and find exactly what I put out of her reach."

Rubbing the side of his neck, Gaius shrugged. "Oh well, she's just a strange dog! But, I have more important things to deal with... Speaking of which, I should go find Newt."

One unsteady step followed the other, though the way the ground seemed to roll a little in his vision did little to help his balance, but Gaius was determined to manage by himself. Looking back over his shoulder, he waved to Nita. "Hopefully I'll see you again, and under better conditions!"