Welcome to Gaia! ::

At first it looked as though his friend had stopped breathing, but it became clear it had nothing to do with breathing and everything to do with feeling. That expression was enough to make Jove's own chest hurt. His own expression changed to one of worry. Clearly he had done the wrong thing, and Mathias needed an answer one way or another. The pup could understand, relationships were serious things! And definitely not to be taken lightly.

Perhaps that was why his friend was so distressed, being in a state of indecision over something that important must be tearing him apart. Relationships could be very precarious. What made a pair stick together and live together happily, and what made others separate from each other with angry words and bitter memories? Just the thought that he could come to avoid such a good friend was too much for him to dwell on.

This time it was Jove who reached out to grab his friend's wrist, trying to keep him from pulling away. If neither of them had the answer, wasn't it important that they both find out?

The little ghost started towards the pool building, gesturing for Mathias to follow him around the corner. And conveniently out of sight of the crowds at the dance.

Jove ignored Matty's protests altogether, neither pausing to explain or to reassure. It didn't take long before they broke through the crowd, and very shortly they had reached the shadows near the building.

The little ghost let go of his friend's hand and looked both left and right, scanning the area almost furtively to make sure they were alone. Away from the speakers the sounds were much softer. It was impossible to make out any conversation, and even the sounds of voices seemed to blend in with the muted tones. If they looked around the corner the music and crowds and festivities would be clearly visible, but nobody was right there to see them.

Jove didn't give Mathias time to run away. In one quick movement, he turned to wrap his arms around his friend's neck, giving the wolpertinger a tight hug. It was meant to be reassuring. There was nobody around, so it would be okay, right?

In that regard relocating was useful for two purposes, not only would other students not see the hug, but Matty could also regain his composure without being uncomfortable and crowded. Despite currently having his arms around his friend, Jove understood the wolpertinger's need for personal space.

To his first question, Helmut only pointed at her nose. She didn't know where the food was now, but it was only a matter of time before she could lead them right to it! His second question was first met with a smile, but then a curious head tilt, and finally she looked down at herself. The ghoul was quite the opposite of large - in fact by all accounts she looked borderline malnourished - though she had never given it any thought before now.

"I love food! Any food, all the food!" She chirped excitedly, swinging their hands between them as if it were the most normal thing to do. "-Which is good because I'm always hungry." She pat her growling stomach with her free hand, and then set to chew on the side of her own thumb; the talk of food only made it worse, and the smell was getting closer.

"TAHDAH!" She screamed in delight, letting go of his hand to gesture widely at the table of picnic baskets, as if showcasing something important. With clear restraint she leaned in, sparing a few quick seconds to read why there were sealed picnic baskets here. "Oooh, secret food! Hrmm...I'll take this one!" The little ghoul merely assumed that Xavier would pick his own basket, and wasted no time in opening the one she had; to her absolute delight, it was filled with various raw meats. Her favourite. She sniffed at it and let out a predatory keen, though one that sounded perhaps a little too happy.

In a rather unladylike display of gluttony, Helmut ate all of the basket's contents in record time, the food barely chewed before it was swallowed near whole.

Mathias was all kinds of confused as they came to a stop, his hand suddenly released and his friend just standing there looking left and right as though looking out for anybody nearby. The wolpertinger found his own eyes following along, and he could see for himself that they were, for the moment, very much alone. It was actually quite relieving to know as much, and he hadn't even considered before now that perhaps a lot of his nervous feelings had to do with the larger crowd of creeple pressing in around them, combined with the loud noises of chatter and music.

Still, it was odd that Jove suddenly felt the need to find them some privacy, and while Mathias tried to smile at him, hoping that everything could still be alright after his own verbal blunder, he found the effort to do so to be almost too challenging, and the upturning of his lips couldn't have looked more insincere if he'd tried.

There was still the matter of the unanswered question, but in Mathias's mind, Jove's reaction had been enough of an answer. He hadn't expected to feel anything but relief, however, but his embarrassment combined with other unknowns had him feeling more confused then he had been at the beginning, before he had asked. Still, it was one question, one small matter that could be laid to rest. They were friends, and there was no need to worry he had done anything to make it seem otherwise. There was no need to----

That line of thought was cut off abruptly when arms wrapped around his neck, brushing against the collar of his shirt and jacket, slipping beneath his hair that had been tied back in a black ribbon, cold arms that grazed against what little of his scars would have been visible if not for the hair in the way, and suddenly those arms were pulling him into a hug.

Now he was just as confused again as he ever was before. Having never been hugged before, Mathias stood with his arms straight down at his sides for a time, stiff as a board. "J-Jove?" He barely managed to hiss out, feeling his face flush again, feeling the chill that began to seep through his clothes at the close proximity of the ghost that was pressed up tight against him.

And then his own arms moved. Hesitantly at first, before hands pressed against Jove's back and hugged him back, awkwardly, and his claws were probably digging into the poor ghost boil. He didn't really know what the hug was for, or what it even meant, but it was starting to feel...rather nice, actually. Surprisingly so. They were virtually alone in their little area away from everyone else, and Mathias was learning a new thing.

Hugs felt good. And also somehow made things somehow feel better, even if more confusing. It was no head butt, but it would do.

Freya did, in fact, have her phone out. She wasn't tweeting, but she was taking pictures. A few of them had been selfies, but most of the time Freya was sneaking in pictures of other people. Specifically, their outfits.

She'd made a promise this time around. She wasn't going to be obsessed with live-tweeting the event - she would just gather up pictures and make some commentary blogs on the fashion of the evening, later on. So far, it was looking pretty dismal. Her own outfit - a high collar, ultra couture strappy dress, was the fanciest thing there.

Her iron grip held her phone tight, but the picture she'd been taking of Amrita blurred. She laughed, and tried again. "I don't cares! So long as I'm with yeh, and I can takes lots of pictures." She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

But she did allow herself one indulgent tweet. It stated nothing more than: "2014 Scarentines, I've arrived!"

#Scarentines #Love #Fashion #Couture #Unconditionally #Obsessed

He wrinkled his nose at her response, "Well you wanna start off trying out the love tester-thing they got going?"

Not that it mattered to him what the thing said about their love, he knew the truth. It just seemed like a fun thing to do for the pure enjoyment of it.

"Or we can um..." Kettil pursed his lips a little, "We could dance?"

He fake whined at her a little, "Wearing the pants is harrrddddd," but he still enjoyed the affection she showered at him - quieting down just long enough to bask.

After a second or two he transported himself and her toward the love tester and took a hold of a handle and shifted a bit to let Freya down so she could do the same.

Upon catching up with the two ghouls, Christof was panting and flushed, all three fists clenched tightly. Still, Hel was harassing poor Amrita, insisting on dances and monopolization.

He understood friendship now, yes. He understood there were situations under which he should NOT get jealous or over protective, and he still had reservations about hitting girls... but that didn't mean he wouldn't throw a chair at one if it was warranted.

He growled, shuffling to position his hunchbacked bulk between the two, glaring hotly at Hel as he gave a few pointed gestures- if Amrita managed to catch a glimpse at his hands, she'd be able to translate, but just in case, eyes locked with Hel's, he patted his chest, pointed behind him to Amrita, and then mimed a few clumsy but determined dance steps, and ended in a pointed grunt.