Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Come ON, Meagan!" Merrick grumbled as he ran back to get the girl... again. It was just the two of them.... a waterlogged boy and colorful girl... walking alone as they made their way down the streets and alleys of the city. They were going to a Christmas party - where he "worked", no less! It had been awhile since he worked a day for Olivia (though he still owed more time) but he still remembered quite well where the shop was.

He wore a crisp white shirt and tan trousers. Black knee-high boots sparkled in the light from the streetlamps. His hair was still tossled, but the kelp strands just did not cooperate. But other than that, Merrick looked as prestigious as he ever would.

Meagan, on the other hand, trailed behind (far behind) the very excited Merrick. Unlike him, she was almost nervous about this party. But that wasn't what was making the girl drag her feet. Instead, it was the sight. She'd walked in the streets (not that Echo knew) many times because she liked how the lights from the lights shined off the cobblestones, the buildings, the windows... but today was even better! For, there were lights and garland and more shiny things all around. Her eye caught them all, for she was determined not to miss a thing. When she returned, Meagan hoped to get all this down. She should have brought a sketchbook!

The girl was also dressed for the occasion. Her simple white dress rested on her shoulders and seemed to flow - almost touching the floor. That rainbow head of hair was curled and crimped. Her paint smudges were still on her hands and face, for no amount of rubbing could get them off. There was more paint, on that perfect white dress. Merrick had taken to long with his own preparations, and so Meagan was painting before he could stop her and usher the girl out the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Meagan's soft voice echoed off the buildings. She was coming, just not as fast as he wanted.

Merrick reached her and took her hand, "We're almost there!!!"

And in fact they were, for a few minutes later the two walked into the door. Merrick looked around, his eyes shining. The boy saw the refreshments and bee-lined it in that direction.

Meagan, however, stared by the door. The people were all bright and cheery, the store was decked out for the celebration. Her mismatched eyes soaked it all in - the beauty, the senses, the emotion. Oh how it would be great to capture it all!

Merrick took his treasures and then moved to a corner - to eat some and hoard the rest. They were HIS! He wouldn't share... well, maybe he would but right now he didn't want to. His dark eyes surveyed the scene, trying to pick anyone out. He didn't recognize anyone... until his gaze rested on a girl - she was obviously a girl - with sparkling hair and half a mask on her face. The boy had to blink again, to make sure this was no trick of his eyes.

Resentfully leaving his uneaten loot in that corner, the boy snuck up - just to get a closer look.

Meagan was not quite so careless. Sure, Merrick liked crowds, and while she wasn't timid they did make her more nervous. She liked there to be only a few people... no, strike that. She liked to only have a few people to hold her attention, the rest were just there - they held no meaning. But how do you choose with this many people who to focus on and who to ignore? She didn't have this trouble when painting... for Meagan focused intently even on the most miniscule detail in her art.

But thankfully, someone helped her out. Another Scent snuck up on her, though how with at brisk smell... was beyond her. Those strange eyes looked at the other child who spoke. For a moment, she didn't know what to say, so instead she paused and appraised the youth, thinking how s/he (for she did not know what gender was claimed) might look in different settings. Her confusion vanished almost immediately.

A bright smile broke out on her paint-spattered face. "Thanks, Kaoru! They aren't much... but... YOUR HAIR!" Meagan reached out to touch just one of those curls. "It is amazing!" Her mind went into design mode as she let the curl go as that silky hair danced on her colored hands. "You must have so much fun with it. Sadly, I cannot do much with mine," Meagan tugged on her own short hair. "And I am Meagan."

Qadir offered the tightest of smiles as he lifted his free hand to brush back gold threaded bangs from his face, lifting his shoulders in a lazy shrug and playing the part of an overly unconcerned citizen between two women. "I've not made her a possession of mine my lady, I believe she actually enjoys my company from time to time, but never have I insisted anything upon her, as I wouldn't dare to request anything from her either." Qadir replied, turning his gaze to the woman at his side though he didn't consider himself so haughty as to put his hands all over her and force her to stare at him. Such pathetic games were that of women and not of his taste at all. All that remained was the single arm about her shoulders that had remained there since he'd found the center of his world when first he'd arrived.

That cool voice held not the snippy tone he'd so thought would have been coating his words in the irritation he felt from the woman before him. Her assumption that Qadir would ever turn the woman at his side into any sort of puppet of his made him feel absolutely sick to his stomach. Astounding how utterly rude the woman could be with her ridiculous assumptions and rude demeanor. The vampire did his best to shrug it off, waiting for the woman to finish her speech of incompetence before turning to Crystal and unlooping his arm from her shoulder and offering a wave in Orpheus' direction. "Please pardon me for a minute my love. I would like to make sure Orpheus is ok, for you know he doesn't do well at these sort of gatherings. I'll be but a minute but I certainly understand if you would rather Sena's company for the evening. I had hoped we could talk about what I promised, but perhaps another night."

Once finished with his short speech he'd lean in and press a soft kiss to the woman's lips and brush a lock of hair from her cheek before offering another bow of his head to the other woman and taking off in the direction of the two boys clearly up to no good. He had specifically used the other woman's first name instead of her last for the sole purpose that he would never allow her to assume him anything close to a servant of her family, and she had just stated that that's what calling her by anything other than Sena would garner.

"You're very welcome!~" Cyr replied, smile brightening more as he stepped close and hugged the other briefly. "I'm glad you like it!" Running a hand down the other's side, he turned and moved down the wall, picking out and smelling various oils until he bumped into Crystal just after Qadir left.

Blinking, he looked up sharply, "I'm sorry!" The Shifter grinned sheepishly and swept his hat off as he bobbed his head apologetically. Pink eyes played up and down Crystal then settled on her eyes to meet her gaze. "Good evening." He met Sena's gaze as well and nodded, bowing slightly to the two of them. "Pardon me if I've interrupted anything, I didn't see you there."

Fiddling with his hat, he replaced the sample and glanced over at Arcanos briefly before facing the two women properly. "It is certainly a beautiful evening, is it not? But I must admit the festivities are new to me - I'm not from around here, you see."

"Sena," she breathed quietly as the lovely woman cupped her face, "I would be honored to be counted as a friend." Deep breath. She was about to talk back to a noble, to defend another in the sweet way that only she could manage, her heart speeding and her skin flushed, but Qadir decided to speak at that time. He didn't have to concern himself with making Crystal look at him, for she was more than staring at him, lips parted in quiet surprise. 'My love?' And...he had intended to talk tonight? Oh gods, she couldn't put that off, absolutely not, she'd fought too hard for--!

And then he kissed her in front of god and everyone, and everything went perfectly blank in her mind. "Qadir..." she squeezed out, alarm setting in as he started to walk towards Orpheus. Did she chase him off? What was she supposed to do? She couldn't be rude! Wide eyes turned back to Sena, apologizing quietly, "Forgive me Sena, we have not seen each other for some time, I could not bear to--!" Crystal was startled out of her sentence as another kindly noble bumped into her.

If her eyes could get any wider...well, they couldn't. "Not at all," she said airly, not quite feeling like herself, looking between the handsome pink eyes of the gentleman and the stunning violet of the lady, even though her mind was still with the gold eyes of another, "it's quite new to me as well. I'm just...just here with my daughter, she really wanted to come. This is a special place to her...to most of us here, I'd imagine." Crystal smiled, but she wasn't feeling well; there was too much too fast.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was simply delighted. "Really? Thanks! I really love your hair!" The Scent reached out to touch the prism tresses, entranced. The child had never seen such colors on a human before, and Meagan wore it so well! Slender fingers carefully took the girl's paint-spattered hands, admiring those as well. "You are like a rainbow, come to life...it's wonderful! I'm glad you came!"

The Scent was overjoyed, having met so many unique people already. Even the older ones! Unlike the others, however, Kaoru couldn't quite pick out Meagan's scent, but it wasn't too important. The girl was a feast for the eyes, and the pomegranate child was one to appreciate such fantastic displays of color and life.

Kitten shot a glance in the direction of the woman that Mary had bumped into, lofting her brows as she watched the glowing group that made up the higher ranks of their society. "Ice Mistress indeed," Kitten replied, the tips of short gray hair tinging a reddish hue, though perhaps not nearly enough to be thought of anything more than awkward lighting around them. "I certainly hope you're here for the same reason everyone else is here. To celebrate!" And with that Kitten's hair grew into lengths that reached her shoulders, curling around themselves and turning a surprising shade of green, still tipped in red, though more prominent this time.

Silly little dramatic woman. "I've no doubt your boy will be just fine. Boys will be boys and kids will be kids, you know? Your story reminds me of this one time Vanyel came back from the park. Some boy insisted that everyone should be building sand castles for him. My Vanyel thought he was just the cutest thing she'd ever seen, all bossy and such." Kitten laughed, completely unaware that she was speaking to the person that indeed cared for the boy in the story. Interesting pair they were. Turning one green eye and one red eye around the room, Kitten gave a short visual hunt for her own orange girl, finding her entwined about the Mad Love boy they'd met before. Oh no. That would be interesting...

---------------

Vanyel could have purred like a kitten as she pulled Arius into another hug and pressed against him. Silly girl still didn't really realize everything that came with having a great (and well revealed) teen body, so she had no clue being so close might not be the best of ideas to follow. Shame she didn't really, though it was likely Arius wouldn't find it in himself to complain. Cheeks grew a peach shade of reddish orange at his compliment and she'd giggle softly from his words. "Well you grew up as well, and you look even more handsome than you did before," the girl almost cooed at him.

Leaving her arms draped around his neck she'd wiggle playfully in excitement, bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet as fingers toyed at the hair at the nape of his neck. "What have you been doing since we last met? It's so sad, that pretty dress you picked out for me doesn't fit anymore, but I really loved it until I grew up." Pretty little pout graced her holiday glazed lips at her sadness at having lost the beloved dress.

---------------

Orpheus followed the boy's motion towards Mary and Kitten, not knowing which of them was the one Amahte was really motioning too, but then Kitten did her little trick and he was pretty damn sure it wasn't that woman that Amahte had such contempt for. The little vampire was quite proud of how great Qadir was, especially at a distance, but he only let his shoulders lift in a shrug in order to remain quite impassive.

"Taken her into his Harem? Qadir doesn't have a Harem per-say, just a lot of women that fall in love with him. He only cares about that air-head flower woman though," Orpeus said with a snort, shifting on the counter before leaning back on his arms and closing his eyes. "Indeed I am already saddled with miss Kaoru. I fear I've never met anyone more ungrateful for the things I have done for her. I have even taken her dancing on water and she repaid me with rude words before leaving. I have never been more vexed I must confess."

---------------

Qadir had not meant to make it sound like he was being chased off, nor had he intended to make it sound as rude as he had, for he didn't ever wish to put his darling in a position where she would be forced to choose between himself and another. That was too underhanded, and besides, it would be too unfair to the person he was competing again. Qadir was sure he'd win no matter what in such types of instances. Unfortunately, that poor man didn't realize the type of position he'd put the flower woman into, so instead he had just done the first thing he thought of and taken off. He wished for Crystal to have a good night above all else, for he could spend time with her whenever he wished he was sure.

Pausing half way to Orpheus he'd let out a heavy sight and shake his head. He wasn't in the mood for the little boy's attitude at the moment, nor the attitude he'd likely give Crystal or Kaoru if he brought the duo up. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he turned and made his way to the door, nodding and smiling at Mary and Kitten as he passed before making his way into the cold, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath of the crisp air. Yes, the night was better and the sight of the moon was more than enough to calm him.

Cyr nodded, intrigued. "Important? Definitely seems so." His eyes narrowed slightly as the other woman ignored him completely and huffed, one brow rising in disbelief. Such a noble air and yet she couldn't acknowledge another's presence? Sighing, he shrugged it off and took a step back, bowing his head once more, "It does seem as though I've interrupted something. My apologies." He offered a hand as he smiled, "I am Cyralthein, should you wish to speak again. Have a pleasant evening, m'lady."

"Kaoru? What an elegant name, akin to your own, Crystal. See you later," Sena said, giving Crystal a final nod and another formal bow of her own, Sena glided over to the lavishly decorated table. Plucking up a champagne flute, she sipped the sparkling beverage. Immediately, a positive impression of the show owner intoxicated her senses. Clearly, the lady in charge knew how to pick a fine champagnge. Not Sena's favorite, but definitely a high quality beverage indeed. "Kudos to the gracious hostess," Sena said aloud not to anyone in particular. Despite saying it out of social mechanics, it didn't lack the gratitude that filled her heart.

Locating a vacant seat, Sena carefully drew in her sleeves and sat gracefully so as not to crush her brocade sashes. One of the benefits (and disadvantages) of wearing such formal regalia was the little she could eat and drink. Good because it prevented unnecessary weight gain and obscene drunken antics, but terribly bad when there was so much mouthwatering food and drink to be had. Allowing the fizzy bubbles to tickle her tongue, she relaxed and took in the sights, plotting a less dramatic next interaction.