Welcome to Gaia! ::

Harland thought it was funny she'd shortened his name, but not terribly surprising. And he kept calling her little rose because it reminded him of home, in a good way. Irish folktales of strong, beautiful women. Probably the opposite of Sleeping Beauty, but maybe Lilac could be a little of both? All he knew was that she was new, and he was going to do his best to keep her safe.

He watched as she put in sugar, noting how much. Now he knew how to make her coffee, and wouldn't have to grab a bag of stuff every time he did so. That couldn't hurt. "You know, there's an expression for coffee with sugar and no milk. Have you heard it? Almost poetry, seems like. Dark as night, sweet as sin," he mused. He smiled when she said it was her secret, and put a finger to his lips. "I won't breathe a word of it, count on it," he said. "Another tiny story: the philtrum above our upper lips," he began, touching his index to his own philtrum and then reaching over as if he was about to touch hers, but stopping very short, with a teasing grin, "was put there by an angel, before we were born. To make us forget the secrets we knew."

He took another sip of his coffee, and laughed as she found her sandwich and offered him his own. "Not shy, are ye? I'm glad of it; I suspect it's why you're not terribly afraid of me," he said, shrugging one shoulder. He could be a bit overwhelming, he knew. "I'd love mine, thanks," he added, enthusiastically.

"Never worry if we're together," he said, looking at her from over the top of his coffee cup, his eyes reflecting his smile. "In any case, we're made for Titan hunting. I studied this-- well, we were all debriefed, a long while ago. I never... found anyone to try it with, though," he said.

He looked at his watch, and noticed how very past seven it was. Well, maybe they'd have time for him to show her some stuff, then. He motioned her over to the pile of gear, and started to point features out, explaining what the different parts were used for, and how they'd make an excellent pair: he was Death, after all, and she was Moon.

"You said you had granola bars right?" He stretched once he'd finished off the tea and straightened his scarf so it wouldn't suffocate him. "Edible ones? or are we talking cardboard with a vague honey after taste?"

He got out less than 'Land did so so far all the faces were new to him. Enough seemed new new that he must have missed some others actually getting woken from pods.

<Better than dreaming them woken from pods>

Hush you, we agreed that would never be spoken of again

"Granola bars are in my pack." He got one out for Inoke, holding it over before glancing around again.

Several more minutes passed and fter tapping his foot for a little bit he pulled out his phone again, the herbal energy mixture he'd thrown together making him more than a little bit anxious to get started. He flipped through his texts once more, pulling up the one from 'Zoe' before responding to it.

Evan nodded at Nora's assessment, surprised himself that she was so spot-on. "Look at you, sounding like a veteran already," he replied with proud approval. "Now you just have to live through your first mission and it'll be smooth sailing from there." As smooth as life on Deus could be considered, anyway.

It was to his credit that he refrained--barely--from doing what he could to keep Nora's attention. His desire to deal with Peyton, alone or otherwise, was less than zero. It had nothing to do with the actual bad blood that carved a river between them and everything to do with the wild, foreign impulses that wanted to spill more of it. They had been so good, so happy when they had been in the field with no shortage of monsters to kill. Evan hadn't needed to control Gir because Gir hadn't wanted to slip the leash. Hindsight being what it was, Evan wondered if he should have tightened it anyway. He may not have held a grudge anymore, but Gir, apparently, did.

Still, they were on the same division on the same tiny island, and he supposed he'd just have to man up and deal. There were worse things to live with than an angry voice in his head. "Well, wonder no more," he replied to Peyton with forced casualness. "We're back. Sorry to disappoint."

A thick eyebrow raised at the call, his head turning to spot Nora who was calling. A crooked grin spreading his lips with a flash of white teeth. He had to admit, he enjoyed the whole armor thing. It took a bit to get used to moving around in but it was a challenge he was willing to try to overcome.

The whole crushed thing didn't seem to sit with him too well though. Not that it showed on his face.

Placing a clenched fist into one hand, he cracked his knuckles. "I can crush back pretty hard if I need to."

Gothsmog huffed.

Gale's gaze went first to Stormy, standing a short distance away, and then to Nora, standing with Evan and chatting away merrily. He gave her a pointed stare, rolling his eyes a little, and then pulled out his phone, typing out a message to the original sender.

As Mimsy did not consider herself 'available' in any capacity, she had no intention of attending the dispatch mission. The Titans and any research relevant to them had been set aside in favor of progressing on other projects, and she was perfectly content to leave it that way. Not even the monetary compensation was appealing - her time was worth more than that, she thought, and it could be spent doing far better things than combat.

She did, however, have to pass by the training fields on the way to her actual work. It was half past seven, and there were definitely trainees and other Hunters gathered, but they didn't seem to have any assistants or leads with them. In half an hour, they surely should have begun this mission, right?

Well. That wasn't her problem.

Content to go on her way, she moved to continue past the group, waved to Shu, then--oh.

Now it was her problem.

"Good morning," she wearily greeted her, with a weak (but forcefully present) smile. "Still intrigued by the Titans, hm?"