Welcome to Gaia! ::

After what Yuki thought was a nice, if brief little meet-up, he returned to the games area in search of Astra. He hoped that her partner had been friendly, too. He also inwardly hoped that Deacon hadn't offended his.

He was glad it didn't take long for them to find one another, and when he did see her Yuki felt a little bad for thinking that with her height she might have been lost in the crowd of people.

"Yeah! The student I got paired up with was a witch named Anna. Do you know her? She seemed awfully shy, but a nice ghoul."

He smiled, sliding an arm around Astra's shoulders and walking them toward the games that were set up. "What about yours? Did it go well?"

THESE TASTE LIKE CHALK BUT FREE CANDY IS FREE CANDY.

His friends the bittersweets.

Thackery gave the candy machine a loving little pat, as if to silently say, "It's been too long, friend." Of course, it had only been fifteen minutes at most, but when it complimented him like it did...yeah. That was definitely too long. He inspected the heart that it spat out at him, seemingly unimpressed with this result.

"Eat Chalk? Are you mad at me? Why?"

He looked from the machine to Ash to the machine again, hoping that one of them might be able to give him a suitable answer. When none came, he decided it might be best to give his friend a little bit of space.

The Whack-a-Hunter game wasn't mad at him, though, so that's what got his attention instead. In fact, it seemed quite pleased with him - either luck was on his side for once, or he was really getting the hang of the pattern in which the little hunters popped up. This was his best score yet!

"It's like I'm just getting stronger and stronger," he marveled.

MATCHMAKER MATCHMAKER MAKE ME A MATCH!

Needle wasn't sure what that machine was nor did she have any intention of actually putting her hand on it. It was a series of unfortunate events that had her inky palm pressing down in the proper spot on the machine.

THESE TASTE LIKE CHALK BUT FREE CANDY IS FREE CANDY.

Sin gave a tiny jump startled by a small explosion of glitter and hearts her eyes widened and she quickly moved away. She took refuse behind the candy dispenser and decided to grab another piece of candy while she was at it. Ugh she hated glitter, it just got everywhere. She flipped her candy over to see what message of love she had discovered this time. Dog is Cuter? Well alright...canines could be sort of cute, she ate the candy and waited for the glitter to subside.

Whack A Hunter, the game that kept Sin coming back, she slipped towards it and eyed the couple who had been amidst the glitter shower. Good luck to them she thought and moved to play another game. Sin had hoped to improve her previous high score of 10 but fell shy by one point. The game was random and fast and she had been a bit per-occupied worrying if another heart splashing glitter fest arrow was being shot. This was no way to relax! She decided to move away from the games for the moment.

Score: 9

THESE TASTE LIKE CHALK BUT FREE CANDY IS FREE CANDY.

The candy machine had enough time to itself, Thackery decided, sneaking back in its direction. He curled his arms around the machine, chin resting atop it, and began making a soft little 'shh, shh' noise.

"Hey, listen, I know you were probably mad at me or something before but...I miss when you were nice to me. Do you remember those days?" He let it answer him via another bittersweet.

'Infinis Agony'? He had no idea what that even meant, but agony...oh no, did it not like hugs? Ashamed, he jerked away and nearly launched into a full-fledged apology. The only thing stopping him (which obviously meant that common sense was failing him tragically) was an arrow that spewed glitter and little hearts all over him, and the overwhelming feeling of...

When he looked at Ash to answer him, his eyes were glassy, lips quivering. But instead of bursting into tears, he flung his arms around his boyfriend and hugged him tight.

It was barely audible at first, just a little murmur, scarcely more than a whisper. Thackery was singing. Badly. Yet the intended emotion was very clear, his voice catching and quivering at the parts that hurt just a little more.

"...just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark. If all of the Hells decide that they're all satisfied and illuminate the 'no's on their vacancy signs...if I'm the one beside you when your soul embarks, then I'll follow you into the dark." He gave him a kiss on the neck before continuing his song, despite how much he just wanted to keep kissing him.

"In our new school with scary Ms. Hellma's spite, I got my knuckles bruised by a hunter in white. And I held my tongue as they told me, 'son, FEAR is worth more than love,' 'cause that never felt right." After stumbling over his last few words, he paused, hugging him a little tighter. "You and me have been through everything, from ghouls to Insanity, and your body and mind are all worn down. But I'll tell myself how it's nothing to cry about, 'cause we'll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms. And if all of the Hells decide that they're all satisfied and illuminate the 'no's on their vacancy signs...if I'm the one beside you when your soul embarks, then I'll follow you into the dark."

The love he felt for Ash was unfailing and strong, but dealing with Insanity was difficult on both of them, albeit for far different reasons. Even after his out-of-tune song faded away, he still clung to him, savoring the moment.

The moment that he almost immediately ruined. "I'm so thirsty I could die," he whispered in singsong. He really hadn't meant to, but now that he'd blurted all of that out, with Ash held close...he had the most inexplicable longing for just one drink, and he just had to express it.