Welcome to Gaia! ::

"If you give me a moment, I can try to figure it out." Lantis went to the corner that she'd indicated and looked at the machine. It was a new model, no wonder she had trouble working this. It seemed that with each new model you had to become smarter, and smarter than the machine. Lantis flipped a switch here, and pressed a button there trying to get a reaction. "I guess you don't drink coffee much." He joked. "I remember I had a coffee machine that was hard as hell to work but~ Ah! There we go!" The red light came on and the coffee maker made a watery churning noise as it came to life. "Volia, coffee, and tea with muffins and sweet cakes. You name it I can get it." He made the gestures as if he were a fancy waiter. He looked about with a light smile. "You know, if you really wanted to, you could turn this place into a quaint little cafe, it certainly has the mood and looks to attract people. You'd make a cute waitress that everyone would come for just to serve them tea..." He tried to make the compliment obvious.

"What? Trying to avoid your boyfriend or something?" Gabriel said with a laugh. Just then, they reached the Jack in the Box. It was one of the remodeled ones with the more contemporary style. He held open the door for Nikki and Marisol, though it seemed silly in such a casual place as a fast food joint. "Ladies first." It was something that Melissa had always wanted from him. 'I love it when a guy opens the door for you, when they hold an umbrella for you, and even when they just make the effort to compliment you on an ordinary day.' It was a moment before he realized he'd spaced out and Nikki had already walked into the 'restaurant'.

Lantis tilted his head curiously. "I don't know, it's really up to you, but if you're the only one here, this house would start to get a little lonely. I think the atmosphere would make it a great attraction, and you've already got the startings of a great cafe. Coffee, baked goods? If it were me, I'd come here every day." He nodded his thanks as he accepted the offered coffee to him before continuing. "And since baked goods don't stay good for long, you can take the left overs to the homeless." He smiled thinking of it, if the house kept it's setting, it would a really quaint cafe, give people the luxury of a fancy tea party or simply a place to sit and get lost in their thoughts. When he thought of the house in that sense, it didn't seem so scary. Lantis looked to Rae then and laughed when she spoke about babbling. The smile on her lips was perhaps the first real smile he'd seen from her. It was stunning as it was brilliant. "...And when you smile like that, it makes me certain that the customers will continue to come..." He paused again thoughtful and took a sip of his tea before he added quite casually; "And I think it's cute when you babble. No one likes a silent waitress you know? I'm certainly enjoying myself right now!" He meant that too. It was funny, he couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun with anyone. But his eyes kept twitching back to his hands as though to make certain that no one else could see. Of course they were clean, as they had been for years. But only Lantis could see their secret.

And he remembered why he stayed away from everyone, because there was the off chance that someone else would see the blood too. And then...they would hate him because they knew what he was capable of doing. His eyes dimmed somewhat, but he forced himself to cast it aside remembering what his doctors said about his 'condition'. The smile was back on as he began to talk to Rae more. "So where did you used to live after you left this place? You said you were just coming back right?"

"Or something," she replied, no amusement in her voice. When he pulled the door open for her, she hesitated for only a moment before stepping in front of him and into the cold 'restaurant.' Nikki had never really liked having people behind her because that meant that she couldn't see what they were doing, if they were about to attack her. And she hated her father for instilling that kind of attitude in her, hated him for what he did to her. When she had children, she swore that she would never lay a hand on them.

When Gabriel was beside her again, she easily lifted the child from her shoulders and set her on the ground, not letting go until she was sure that Marisol was steady. Smiling, Nikki was reminded of why she had chosen to be a kindergarden teacher. At first it was because she had feared that she would hurt children the way that her father had hurt her and Nikki knew that if she didn't face that fear then it would very likely become a reality. After a while and adjusting to the different atmosphere, Nikki had come to realize that she truly enjoyed being surrounded by children. Their innocent view on life was a refreshing view on the way that things really were. Contrary to belief, the children were also very sensible for their age, noticing small things that most adults would never understand.

Grinning again at the little girl, she nodded to the menu. "So what do you want? Tell me and I'll get it while you pick a table." It was one thing she remembered from when she was a child and she was with a friend whose mother took them to places like this; being able to pick where you say was always the most fun thing to do, besides the play ground that is. But Nikki wasn't sure if Jack in the Box had a playground, so she settled for her statement, before turning to Gabriel again. "What about you? Not that many guys would stop to hold the door open for a woman anymore."

"You're funny." Laurence smiled, handing the cashier a crisp, twenty dollar bill. He recieved his change and slid it into the wallet. The wallet went back into Laurence's duffel bag just as the song Sorry by Buckcherry began to play. Digging through his bag, the soccer player managed to uncover his iPhone, the touch screen lighting up. It read one missed call from an "Unknown" number. But it wasn't unknown to him.

Laurence pretended as if that caller had been nothing but a wrong number. He smiled, taking the completed drinks. Handing Serena her drink, Laurence smiled as he stuck the green straw into the mountain of whip cream. He took a sip. "So, shall we stay here and drink, or would you prefer to go home and change out of your wet clothing?"

Serena thought on it a moment, shivering slightly. "That was a good song... I kind of want to listen to it now," she said with a laugh as she nodded her head toward the door. "Let's go back to my place... I have admit... Dry clothes do sound rather appealing to me at the moment," she said as she walked toward the door, the green tip of the straw in her mouth as she sipped the drink silently, her head swimming with millions of thoughts.

What was she doing? Was this betraying Devon's love for her? Betraying the child that was growing in her stomach? She shook her head. her eyes towards the gray pavement, a solemn look on her face. Was she doing the right thing? Devon would want her to be happy... Not mope around over him, right? She sighed, looking up at Laurence. "My flat is just around the block," she said with a smile. Hopefully, it was somewhat tidy....

"You're not getting anything?" Gabriel asked. Melissa never wanted to get anything either. It was always 'too much fat' or 'too much sugar' or 'too much sodium'. "Did you have lunch already, or do you not have the stomach for fast food? I can't say I blame you. Though I've had worse." He stared into his milkshake, playing with the straw rather than drinking. He had had worse. Prison didn't exactly have a gourmet restaurant. Though he supposed some had it worse. He glanced at Marisol. The little girl was happily crunching on their curly fries. As usual, not a care in the world. As usual, Gabriel was envious.

[[They just get shorter and shorter! gonk ]]