Welcome to Gaia! ::

A silver, compact camera clutched in one hand, Lorioth hurried back to the entrance of the Chinkami Mall, his white-blond hair billowing out in the breeze behind him. With his cheeks flushed, and his breath escaping from his mouth in puffs of condensed vapor, the doctor finally made it into the entrance of the mall. He gingerly adjusted the red headband from which his reindeer antlers protruded and patted his windblown hair into place in an effort to look as presentable as he could before finally stepping into its threshold.

Lorioth shyly scanned the vast area of the mall, and it appeared to him that the occupants seemed to have doubled in number. Looking desperately for familiar faces, his emerald eyes landed on the figures of Irame and Micajah. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, and fought his way over, trying his best to poke as little people as he could with the impractical antlers.

“Hi!” the doctor greeted them as he drew near the pair, “h-hope I’m not interrupting, but I’m back!”

He hoped that both of them would be able to accompany him to his booth, otherwise it was going to be quite a—scary experience? Was that the right word? The doctor blanched at the thought of having to meet new people, but with some support behind him he might manage…somehow…

Micajah had been listening rather dumbfounded to Irame's explanation of what Elves wore and their celebrations, his mind eagerly absorbing what information he could. While he didn't know where Zach was at that exact moment and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to find him even if he did know, Micajah set about to listening carefully to every detail spoken by the woman. Anything and everything she said was carefully recorded in the crevices of his mind for future use in some odd situation, like talking to Zach for example, and he smiled as she apologized once more for 'saying more than the youth had wanted to hear'. Her honest apologizes were cute and heartfelt, he thought, so he couldn't help his smile.

"No, I really am interested in everything you have to say. Every bit of your history and culture is like a piece of a puzzle that humanity is trying to place together on their own, and anything I can do to aid myself and my race in their collection brings me some sort of joy. I want to be able to put together more pieces of the puzzle than I could before, connecting the dots with how our cultures share things that are so similar yet so different."

He could have gone on and on (and probably would have) if it wasn't for the re-introduction of Lorioth into their party, and the young let out an almost visable sigh of relief as the reindeer-clad teacher joined the group. As comfortable as he was becoming around Irame, he simply felt a little more at ease with the man in the antlers than the simply dressed woman. Go figure.

"It's good to see you back, Professor. I'm glad you didn't get taken away by a hunter in the process."

His attempt at humor was graveyard at best.

Dagger treked along a long, meandering path. He hunched a little more into his coat, for some reason feeling the cold. He normally didn't, and this worries him slightly. He takes a few different forks at random, moving quicker alon git to stay warm. Soon enough, he finds himself back where he entered the mall, and he stares at it. Normally his sense of direction was excellent, and he would have known he was doubling back...... he grows slightly worried, and quickly ducks inside the mall.

He rests off to one side of the door, letting warmth fow back into him. He instinctively reaches for one f his daggers, only to sigh about having surrendered them. He really would feel more comfort-...... wait, what was that?

He blinks, thinking he heard a familiar voice. He takes off his hat, letting his long silver hair fall freely down his back. He pushes his hair away from his ears, straining...... yes, it is! He dives into the crowd, ears twitching to catch another phrase.

"Y-yeah, I'm not very sturdy on anything but my own two feet," he offered, almost apologetically. RuiZhi glanced over to Scyeth worriedly; he'd run INTO this guy? The Chinese boy had done that at a walking speed and had nearly landed on his rump, he couldn't imagine the force of hitting him on a skateboard!

He looked between the two, smiling a little. "Should we go to the photo booth then? Might be nice to have a little keepsake, right?" Truly RuiZhi had no idea what he was talking about. The whole season was mystifying, and he was only blathering about photos because...well...there was a booth, so it must be in some relation to Christmas, right?

"A tour, hmm?" Norman repeated, rubbing his clean shaven chin thoughtfully. "You've seen the games and plushie booth, but if you would be so kind," he extended his arm to her in a gentlemanly fashion, "I will glady tour you to the photo booth." He smiled warmly, not at all put out by the suggestion. Besides, it was getting quite crowded, and that many excited bodies and a long-sleeved suit did not mesh well. "If you please?"

With his other hand, he put it over his heart, giving another slight smile. "Oh please, excuse my poor manners. My name is Norman." He gave a curt bow before re-offering his arm to the woman.

Compared to all the festively dressed party-goers, people could easily mistake Hyuga's foreign school uniform as dress for a funeral: black trousers, a black coat with gold buttons, black loafers, and a black belt. A festive enamel pin adorned the Mandarin-style collar, green scarf, white gloves, and the jacket hung open, revealing a red and white striped shirt. They were fashion choices that violated his school's uniform policies, but he figured school rules depended on the way one interprets them. With his fingers looped through his back beltloops, he bounced down the mall making in the sights of the foreign school (well, foreign to him that is). His blue-black hair flopped in his brown eyes, but he liked it that way.

"Finally!" Hyuga sighed, relieved to finally make his way to the venue. He whistled holiday tunes as he took in the sight. The school grounds were far better than the ones at the overpriced academy he attended back home.In the distance he saw a fox of a woman, not that he was into older women, but at sixteen a boy could have a crush, couldn't he? Wandering over, he gave the woman tearing tickets a boyish grin. "Quite a turn out, huh?"

Irame smiled, and blushed. Micajah, young as he may be, especially in the eyes of the elves, was an amazingly poignant speaker at times. What he had said really was quite kind, as well as quite touching. It was times like these that she wondered if it really was this race that had forced her kind into their slumber, as well as how much humans had changed, while elves had stayed stagnant and the same.

She said nothing, however, and simply stood, finding Micajah’s joke morbid and slightly humors, but only confused as Lorioth spoke about Santa and reindeer getting killed. S…Santa? Oh wait! He was the one with the flying sleigh… And flying reindeer… The one that broke into homes and delivered presents to children that had been good and coal to children that had been bad. She remembered that! She distinctly remembered wondering how he would fit down a chimney if he was quite large WITHOUT the use of magic. Humans said that he could do that, yet that magic wasn’t real. Quite strange. Almost hypocritical.

She was surprised when she heard a voice that she hadn’t for a while, and found Ardanay. She smiled widely at him. She was glad that he was out and about. She had not seen him much before, and was under the impression that he did not get out and socialize much. She bowed her head to him.

“Heru Veilwood,” She said happily, “It is most good to see you. Please, do join us. I do no not see a problem with you coming into our conversation, in fact I at least would find it most enjoyable. We were just talking about reindeer, Santa, and the festival in general. I hope that at least the last one has been enjoyable?”