Welcome to Gaia! ::

Derek sighed. He supposed he'd have to do something to get this crazy elf chick off his back. She sure was giving him a run for his - ... well ... something. He looked back down at the paper and squinted. "Teach. I gotta be honest. I didn't put my contacts in this morning." He gave her a mix between a sheepish look and an 'aha! Now I have an excuse!' look.

Derek set his elbow on the desk and placed his cheek in his palm. He gave Thali the best 'you're nuts' look he could muster, then mixed it with just a pinch of boredom. "Go for it," he said flatly.

Derek nearly leaped out of his seat, knocking it over in his haste. He paused long enough to find a safe path to the door and bolted straight for the bathroom.

Unfortunately for him, Kat was also headed towards the bathrooms. They nearly collided and her mouth immediately dropped open. "....you!" she exclaimed, a murderous look appearing in her eyes.

"Who, me?!" he asked innocently, immediately backing away. However, the look on her face quickly convinced him that he wouldn't be able to talk his way out of this.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded, following him as he continued to back away - straight into the emptied gym.

"Uhhh......visiting you?" Derek shifted back to his normal form - a taller, slightly more muscled version of his former high school self. His now golden eyes shot towards Adrian and an evil smirk curled onto his face. "So who's the cream puff?" Kat's hand curled into a fist. Mission success. He grinned widely as he quickly shut the gym doors behind him, at the same time ducking the fist that had been aimed at his cheek. However, he couldn't dodge the hand that suddenly snaked out and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. He soon found himself face-flat on the floor, his right arm twisted behind his back and a very pissed younger sister breathing down the back of his neck.

Kat's eyes, previously blazing with fury, suddenly cooled into merely a look of mild frustration as she turned to acknowledge Thali. "He's stalking me," she said flatly, not bothering to let Gavin up, who was now starting to make small noises of protest. "He always does this when I go off somewhere!" She turned back to Gavin and grumbled. "I can take care of myself just fine."

"Kat!" Gavin exclaimed, feeling as if his arm were about to break. However, he didn't move for fear of incurring her wrath again. He knew to let her simmer down before actually trying to move. "My arm..."

"Why don't you trust me, Gavin?" she demanded, eyes boring into the back of his head.

"I do! I just don't trust anyone else..." He sighed. When would she understand that he was just trying to look after her?

"Fair enough." Kat's look of frustration disappeared as she released his arm and stood. "But you still owe Adrian an apology." She pointed to the elf, whose whipped puppy look was about to melt her heart into a little puddle.

Derek was about to chuckle at Thali's comment when he caught Kat's look out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't angry this time - she actually looked sad. He let out a small sigh and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He turned slightly so he was facing Adrian and bowed slightly. (Yes, he'd spent much of his childhood in Asia.) "I apologize, Adrian. You definitely aren't a cream puff." He stole another glance at his sister, trying to gauge her reaction. Kat still didn't look pleased, so he explained further. "I said the first thing that I knew would make Kat angry." He paused, then murmured, "I didn't think she'd nearly break my arm over it..."

Gavin laughed quietly with relief. "No, I definitely didn't mean it. And it is Gavin." When Adrian assured him that Kat was safe, he immediately cast a half-glance towards Kat. A concerned look flickered in his eye as he glanced up at Adrian. Well, at least he seemed capable of protecting Kat. Just as he began thinking of a way to lighten the situation, Kat spoke up.

"I can take care of myself, you guys." She suddenly realized that her next class was lined up at the door, peering in apprehensively. "Oh my gosh, you guys! The teachers are late for class!" She chuckled at the irony and rushed to let the kids in.

Thali smiled at Gavin and said, "Well, late for history--and you're late for your next class." She teased. "I still expect your homework done by tomorrow~" She said in a sing song voice, before skipping off.

A few feet away, she nearly bumped into a lost looking teen. "Oh, hello." She said, by way of apology. "Are you looking for a class?" She asked. "You can come with me--make the excuse that I was keeping you busy in the hall or something." She suggested. "What class you looking for?"

"Oh, follow me!" Thali said brightly. "You're in luck--I'm the history teacher this year." The elf lead her new student to the class room, where the rest of the students were waiting. One of them bravely threw a paper airplane. Thali caught it, and threw it back at him.

"I take it that you want to learn about airplanes first?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. She started passing out the assignment for the start of class--just a piece of paper saying what they would like to learn about first. "When you're done, place them in this hat." She pointed to a cowboy hat. "Then we'll take a vote."