Welcome to Gaia! ::

Evelyn and Cressa sang together flawlessly…

“They can beg and they can plead
But they can’t see the light, that’s right.”

Then, suddenly Cressa broke off and Evelyn sang the next lines alone, to Jessie, tapping him with her hips, a sly smirk on her lips.

“‘Cause the boy with the cold hard cash
Is always Mister Right”

Evelyn moved in and kissed Jessie on the cheek before pulling away and laughing. Evelyn was so excited. She hadn’t been able to play a character since before coming to the Order. Laughing her way out of character, she hesitated. She glanced over at Cressa to see if she was moving away from Jessie, in order to follow her lead.

Evelyn reacted her first kiss with a grace that people sing about. Or not.

Jessie’s arm was still wrapped around her waist as he proceeded to make out with Cressa.

During those few brief moments of awkward “I’m-held-hostage-while-they-snog,” Evelyn thought. Was it strange that she got her first kiss at the age of nineteen? Her mind flashed to classmates of hers…who were already on their second children. Yes. It was definitely weird. Her own mother was pregnant with her second child by this point. A brief nanosecond was spared on her thought of being able to get out of any stage kisses as well. Even when she place Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Hm.

Evelyn had already happily stepped into a new character for this. She threw her arms around Lorika’s neck and sang along.

“MAN! I feel like I woman.”

The morning after the party, Jessie sat up in bed, wide awake as always after a few hours of deep sleep. His dreams had been filled with memories of the party. Those last few hours after Cressa had dragged him up onstage had passed in a haze of excitement and merrymaking. He rather wondered if he might have overloaded his circuits. It wasn't often he had such a large amount of fun. He never would've been capable of letting loose in a room full of strangers. He'd danced, he'd kissed women (and they'd kissed him), he'd sang in front of everyone he knew and loved.

He should be feeling guilty by now. But he wasn't. His head just swam with the pleasant after-effects of a night well-spent with friends and family.

Speaking of friends and family, Cressa was sitting at the vanity table to his left, brushing her short, stylish bob of hair. Their room was one of the most highly customised of all the basement rooms, thanks to the ease with which Cressa's magic could modify her surroundings. The colour of the walls was a deep, rich plum colour, which was very easy on the eyes for those adapted to living in caves, but still appealing and elegant. The darkwood furniture hadn't been touched, but alongside it lived Cressa's odd assortment of items she'd collected in her travels - strange, mystical relicuarys; fetish statues that seemed to whisper in the dead of night; a large koto-like harp instrument that hung on the wall; crystal balls and runestones scattered all over the desks, rosary-like divining instruments and bowls; various decks of tarot cards; an ouroboros, and other unsettling hermetic symbols all clustered together in the corner; as well as many, many others. In addition, they had a bookcase crammed to bursting with tomes, as well as more stacked up against the wall by the desk. A couple of ornate swords and daggers stood propped up in the corner by the door to the bathroom, as well as a small hand-axe whose blade, had it been in the light, would catch and dance like a flame. These were the remnants of Jessie's previous collection of artefacts - not that he minded. He'd had too many before anyway, really.

"You overslept," Cressa said, watching him in the mirror, "Gloria already came knocking."

The captain looked puzzled for a moment. "But I cancelled drills today..."

"She and Ardelle went by themselves. Nothing stands between them and their routine, you know that. Gloria said she felt dirty after drinking so much last night. She swore she'd never touch another drop."

"That's for the best," Jessie agreed.

"For stupid sticks-in-the-mud, maybe. Gloria's a lot more fun when she drinks. So are you," she replied. Laying down her brush, she tossed her head from side to side, making a face. "Sometimes I wish I'd never started cutting my hair. Today I could really go for some long, flowing curls. But I can't! I'm stuck with the same old style every day...!"

Jessie got up out of bed as she spoke and walked past where she was sitting, giving her a little touch on the shoulder out of familiarity as he went. "Then grow it out again."

"Oh, you men think you're so logical, but all you do is state the obvious."

"We have to state the obvious, because women are too illogical to see the obvious course of action for themselves," he teased, pushing the door to the bathroom open. Halfway through, he paused and turned his head around to face her. "If I try and have a bath, will you come bothering me?"

"Is that an invitation?" she grinned.

"No, just a question. Will you or will you not?"

"How long have we known each other? OF COURSE I'll come bothering you!"

After a long pause of mock-thoughtfulness, she cocked her head to the side. "Oooooor maybe not. Depends how I feel when you get in there~"

With a little laugh, Jessie turned back around and headed into the ensuite. "I think I might just take my chances this morning."

The sun was bright in the morning off of the coast of Isle De Gambino. Atlae and his parents had arrived at the beach house the day before, and unpacking had just finished. This was the first time Atlae had ever been to the beach, he had never been near the ocean before. It was so expansive, as if the sky had fallen on top of a desert and was fighting to rise again. Atlae had to go out and explore. Even though it was a bright and beautiful day, he wore his usual skin hiding attire. That meant that there was no swimming until nightfall.

Walking up the beach was an exciting experience. The sand was soft and warm, it made it hard to walk and soon Atlae was feeling sweat bead up on the back of his neck under his hood. Sitting under a stray umbrella helped cool him off for a bit, but he was off shortly after stopping. It wasn't long before he came across the boardwalks of Isle De Gambino. See stands set up gave him a good excuse to get some ice creme and continue on his way. It wasn't long until he saw the white glare of a building in the distance.

As he approached the building, he could tell it was the same as he heard in the stories. A building that stands off by itself on the beach and was a bit tacky. Although it didn't seem tacky to him, just a tad extravagant. Though being raised in a mansion for a few years must have desensitized him a bit.
Although he had no intention of being social today, he went to the door and knocked anyway. After all, there was no guarantee that this was the place he heard about. There's only one way to find out.

Evelyn woke up, only a few hours after the party ending. However, thanks to her wonderful little potion, it felt as if she had slept for a day. A wonderful, dreamless sleep. Her first dreamless sleep since the nightmare world.

She threw back her covers and jumped out of bed, feeling more refreshed than she had in ages.

Quickly she skipped across the room, opening her dresser and magicked her shower things to float behind her, before flouncing out into the hallway.

That morning, if anyone was actually awake to hear her, they would hear her belting Paramore’s “Brick by Boring Brick” with a muffling charm hastily cast—less effective than a silencing charm, but takes far less concentration.

Evelyn bounded back to her room, dressed in a towel and towel turban, her shower things once again floating behind her. She slammed the door shut and quickly changed, before throwing herself on her bed with a book.