Welcome to Gaia! ::

She offered a small nod of understanding as she did a couple of other awkward yet careful fails of her arms. The clattering of hooves did not escape her notice but she said nothing of it at this time. After a few more slightly self-conscious wiggles of her torso she paused her hands reaching for Petro's arm, "Petro, may we get refreshments?"

Lattice waited patiently for Petro to lead her since she wasn't quite well versed with the floor's layout and she didn't wish to accidentally harm anyone.

As Tess and Sheridan made their way along the dance floor, the manananggal spotted a familiar shade of pink hair! Well, two shades of pink hair, but one was definitely familiar to the currently-legless ghoul. Thankfully the dress' skirt was long and full enough that hid the fact she was currently missing her lower half if she hovered at just the right height. She pulled at her boilfriend's arm and motioned towards the trio.

"I think now would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to my best ghoul friend," she beamed to the celestial dragon and pulled him towards the trio of students. "Lizzy!" Tess greeted with an excited squeal, waving to the spider ghoul and then setting her crimson eyes on the other two present. "O-oh, sorry, am I interrupting?" she began, chewing on her lower lip, careful to keep her fangs from puncturing skin.

Heterochromic eyes followed the other ghoul's hands as she reached up to touch the side of the skinwalker's face, dark brows dipping first in mild annoyance, then in curiosity as she gave said hand a closer look. Her thumb was on the bottom, which would make her hands..

Nukpana carefully removed that dainty little backward hand, and the dark skinned ghoul couldn't help the subtle twitch of a pleased little smile, but she could certainly hide it behind a forcibly friendly facade as she stepped away from the wall as the boil made introductions. A dip of her chin served as greeting as she slid into place at the skinwalker's side, one hand coming up to trace fingers along her veil, the other raising to rest curled knuckles along the crook of her elbow. "A pleasure," she offered, then settled into a satisfied smile. "And it's been my pleasure keeping our Nukpana occupied, he's been wonderful company."

Little sister? There was no family resemblance, so she was left to assume that any connection between them was purely emotional and not by blood. Still, who was she to throw stones at other people's bonds? Without falling into the still present void of loss, Neru found herself willing to admit she missed such influential people in her life. She had Bastion, a younger cousin, but he alone, of all the horsemen she'd held dear, had survived.

Mixed emotions were interrupted as yet another ghoul joined them. This one seemed to be investigating Nuk's dark tattoos. "Another friend of your's..?" She asked quietly as Freya made mention of his head before wandering away again. The question didn't sound especially happy, but she was at least keeping any outward hostility under wraps. All things considered, that was pretty impressive for Nergui. She wasn't known for subtlety, or feigned kindness.

Hmm? But what about dancing--okay. Sheridan allowed himself to be led by Tess, tail swaying behind him with each step. And no, he had not thought about the fact that dancing on a crowded dance floor with that tail might not be the best idea, though perhaps it would be...interesting....or a means to revenge on a certain imp.

"Hey, a pleasure to see you again."

He remembered the ghoul Tess had indicated. He had met Lizzy some time ago, though it seemed they had both changed a great deal since then. The others he did know or recognize.

"It does seem a long time doesn't it."

The dragon smiled, how long ago had it been since he'd literally run into her? A year? How quickly that year seemed to have gone by, and yet how long it seemed to have been and how much had happened in what could be thought of as a short amount of time. Such a strange thing time was.

"A pleasure to meet you both."

He nodded a polite greeting to Amarus and Tseng. However his gaze paused at Tseng, eyes narrowed in a brief look of suspicion at the horsemen, a twitch of tail. And then that look was gone, replaced again by a warm smile any hint of discomfort having vanished as well.

"We did."

There was joy in his voice, a definite happiness at being with his ghoulfriend and in sharing that fact with others, even if...no, he wasn't going to let it ruin his evening. He'd deal with that little imp later, for now he wanted to enjoy the night with Tess.

Tro continued to lead Lattice towards the bowl of punch and retrieved the ladle. Before he poured the contents into a cup, the tikbalang sniffed at the liquid, not for poison but with gnomes about he wasn't entirely trusting of the quality. When it seemed fit for consumption, he handed the cup to his date.

"Y're being an excellent date," he assured her then returned with a question of his own. "How'm I doing?" He only hoped she was enjoying herself.

At the mention of Needle, the horse boil scanned their surroundings, trying to spot the other ghoul and her date. It didn't take long for him to find the Strix and the Engraver by the food. "Y' could ask her herself, 's this way," he placed his hand on the small of Lattice's back and lightly nudged her towards the direction Needle and Ulmuka were.

Old...? But she didn't remember him having scars there! Amrita remained unconvinced, frowning as she now assumed he was lying to her - and in her mind, he had never lied to her before! Ever. Suddenly though, something clicked in place; his actions seemed forced, his laugh trying to sound one way, and yet falling short. So...he wasn't lying to her, but he was...what? Protecting her? Not wanting to talk about it yet? Hrm. Well, no matter the reason she was curious now, and he wouldn't get away with not telling her forever. She knew those scars weren't old.

"Ner--Oh! Oh Jack, I am so sorry!" She turned towards Nergui, all sheepish smiles. Sheepish smiles that turned exponentially more shy - and yet strangely very happy - as Nuk introduced her as Little Sister. "I...I didn't mean t-to interrupt your date, I'm so sorry!" Before she could elaborate further though, someone had come up to stare at Nuk. A familiar someone. Didn't this ghoul fill out a yearbook form, and sign up for her game? ...She was!

But she had no idea what was going on, who this Johnny Danger was, or anything. She just settled for standing back and looking thoroughly confused for a moment or two.

"He is good people." Amrita murmured to Nergui, not quite thinking about what she had said as she was coming out of a confused daze. "So, you're, ah, new at the school?" She didn't recognize Nergui, and she liked to think she had a decent enough grasp on the student body.







Salbei fumbled with the cup that Taima so sweetly handed down to him, taking short sips at first, practically nursing the cup as he shakily got to his bone feet. Being supported by the somewhat noisy chatterbox helped, but before he knew it his friend was drawing him away. It was better this way he imagined; he didn't have to have the ghouls feel how he still trembled in the aftermath. Fai, on the other hand, was no stranger to his spells and felt free to lean his weight against him. He paused drinking long enough to wipe his blood smeared mouth, quite unable to do anything about the splatters on his light orange scarf.

"I assure you, I will be fine. This...Cricket will not be able to help me." He gave her his best, most assured smile, his voice still hoarse, but slowly recovering. "No, thank you, Fai. I'm alright now." To prove this, he worked to stand on his own, putting less of his weight on the Alchemist. Taima's questions didn't go ignored however, and he turned a small smile towards her.

"It's...mm. Accidentally-self-inflicted ailment from my youth. I am not going to die, I imagine if I was, I would already be." The thought seemed to amuse him enough to make him chuckle, shaking his head. One gulp later and the punch had been given was emptied, but he didn't know what to do with the cup. Did they keep them around here? Throwing it away would be a waste. Deciding to hold on to it, he turned a fond, crescent-eyed smile down at Taima. "Thank you for your concern...and I'm sorry I startled you." While her actions had been embarrassing, he couldn't fault her for it. His gaze then shifted towards the unknown ghoul. "And you, thank you."

A somewhat red, thin hand gestured towards the horseman at his side. "Taima, Taima's friend, this is Faiyum." He focused on the apparent demon ghoul. "And I am Salbei, miss...?" As he sought her name, his hands disappeared into the folds of his robes.

When Needle finished eating she was giggling, amused by how he managed to eat so violently and yet sound so happy at the same time. It took everything in her power to not throw her arms in the air and cheer, instead settling for sitting straighter in an almost smug manner, tapping her mouth with a napkin. Sure her shoulders were shaking with restrained laughter, but she was going to hell and back to try and be a lady.

"Sneak?" She parrotted innocently, smiling brightly. "I do not know what you are talking about, my good sir." Her lips pressed together before settling back into a smile, biting back whatever cheeky comment she had. It was payback for how he threw her off guard the first time. Payback. "My, it seems that we are tied! Fancy that." She wiped her hands on the napkin and refolded it, setting it on one of the many empty plates on the table.

"So we get to go swimming?" The Engraver was focused on the topic at hand, the angle she was sitting leaving her unable to see the approaching tattoos of Lattice and Petro.