Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Owie! Gloria! That hurts!" Steff complained as Gloria continued to drag her up through the room and out of the door. Gloria released her, and, oddly enough, turned around to face her without chastising her for whining like a baby.

Steff looked at her queerly. "Is there something you wanted from me...?"

"Eh," Gloria replied sullenly, "I mainly just wanted to get away from those stupid men. They've been driving me insane all night."

"Oh...! I thought you liked spending time with Damien?" Steff asked, mildly perplexed. Whenever Gloria wasn't alone, she'd always be seen with him. Sometimes it seemed like they were glued at the hip.

"Yeah, well, everyone needs a breather from time to time," she replied, folding her arms across the heavily padded bodice of her dress. Steff, who knew little of these matters, immediately jumped to conclusions, her blue eyes growing wide.

"A-are you going to break up with him?!" she squeaked.

Gloria looked at her as if she were out of her mind, making Steff immediately regret asking what was, to her, an obvious question. "What? No! ...I mean, it's a little more complicated than that to begin with. We're not really together, if you know what I mean."

Steff obviously didn't know what she meant. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me that you've never been with a guy but not been with a guy before. I just prefer being single, so we're casual."

"I... I didn't know there was such a thing as being and not being boyfriend and girlfriend at the same time," she replied sheepishly, "I thought being casual just meant... um..."

Her voice dropped to a whisper and trailed off halfway through the final part of the sentence. What was meant to be 'sleeping together' ended up sounding more like 'slurrbhuhrrfhm.'

"What?" said Gloria, unsurprisingly.

"Y-yknow...!" Steff replied, a blush creeping up her face. "Doing... like... together..." she explained. Eventually, she flapped both of her hands up in front of her and produced a visual aid, which involved locking all of her fingers together into the joints of the opposite hand. It made her message click.

"Oh. Well, there's that..." Gloria replied. She looked at Steff piercingly, as if assessing her, and then, to Steff's surprise, she gave a small smile. "You really haven't got a clue about relationships, have you?"

"Umm... not really... I've never had one..." she said meekly.

"Pretty girl like you? There really is something wrong with all the men. ******** nutjobs. So I suppose you wanna get married and s**t?"

"Of course!" Steff replied, her eyes widening again, "Doesn't everyone?"

Gloria looked at her strangely, her expression a mix between amusement and pity. "Hoo boy. Not everyone. Trust me, once you've had as much of men as I have, you'll be wondering why you ever thought that. Marriage'll be a distant memory."

A thought flashed through Steff's mind - if I'd had as much of men as you have, I'd be some kind of slut. That was uncharacteristically nasty of her. That stupid a*****e back inside had obviously gotten her into straight-talking mode. Well, she wasn't going to offend Gloria, especially since for her this was like a sudden conversion to priestdom, so she bit her tongue hard and just listened as Gloria went on. "Hey, Z! Back me up here. Marriage isn't for everyone, is it?"



Steff heard Zuri's catlike, simpering voice before she saw her. It sounded abnormally sober.

"Mmm... not for everyone," she whispered, fading into existence to Gloria's right. As the light drew to her, Steff let out a gasp.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed, "You look ADORABLE! I mean, wow! You're gorgeous! Those colours look perfect on you!"

Gloria raised an eyebrow. "Wow, so you really have gone les. Meh... less believable things have happened."

Steff looked at her, stricken, but Zuri jumped in first. "No, no, no. Not at all," she contested, giving Steff just enough time to recompose herself.

"I-I'm not a... lesbian...! Me and Odin jsut came together because, well, like you said! We were sick of men!"

"Oh?" she answered quietly. Hmm. At least now she had some sort of explanation. Her thoughts turned back to Odin as she'd been seeing her all night, and she gave a sudden jump, her brain immediately trying to distract itself.

"I could never be sick of men," Zuri sighed, "In fact, I'm pretty hungry right now. But I suppose it'll just have to wait. Oh!" she said, face brightening as she recalled, and then darkening again mischieviously. "I have something to tell you."

"Oh?" Gloria repeated, her own eyes lighting up with interest, "Well, spit it out, then. Gossip never takes a holiday."

"Weeeell," she said slyly, "Drax is insane."

"Yeah, basically. And?"

"And... he seemed to suggest to me earlier that he was planning some kind of big operation. Which seemed to revolve around getting you and your little friends drunk," she informed her, "You haven't by chance drank that rum he handed over to your pretty boyfriend?"

"No...! And uck, if he was planning to drug us, I don't think I want to drink it at all anymore," she scowled, face twisting with revulsion, "Seriously, what is that guy's problem? I have a mind to go and punch his stupid fat face right this instant."

"That's exactly what he wants," Zuri said, giggling, "He said he wants to 'test the combat division' to see what would happen if they came under 'true threat.' How boorish! How stupid!"

"Yeah, well, he's a moron on a power trip," she said, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, if we wanted to test the combat division, we could just head over to Barton and fight animated for the day. Jessie - Captain - never saw the need to 'test' us. Most of us are freaking soldiers already."

"Maybe he was getting round to it...?" Steff suggested, looking between the two women like a bewildered doe. They came alive when they were gossiping. She wasn't sure she was quite keeping up. All that she knew was suddenly it sounded like Jessie was being criticised for not doing something, and she didn't like that.

"No, stupid," Gloria snapped, and Steff once again regretted opening her mouth. "You've seen the freaking brutal way the Pig teaches combat. When he says he wants to "test us" he probably means "try to see which one of us won't die naked in front of a flamethrower." Jessie never would've pulled any s**t on us like that."

"Oh...!" Steff said, comprehending, "I'm with you now. I hate Drax. He was horrible. And scary."

"Damn right, except for the 'scary' part. If he were here right now I'd freaking crush his teeny-tiny man-bits. I'd rip them off with my bare hands!" she seethed. Zuri put a calm hand on her shoulder and patted her gently.

"And we're back to man-hating, of course. It seems to crop up a lot. Steffie, don't you have a real date?"

She directed this last part sweetly at the blonde girl, who seemed to droop. All the same, she managed to sound defiant. "No, and I don't want one! I'm here with Odin, and we were having fun until that... that... idiot showed up and dragged her away."

"Aidan? He's okay in my book," Gloria said. He would be, wouldn't he? Steff furiously thought to herself. Then, Gloria continued, and her anger abated to an all-time low. "Bit of a c**k, too much of a swagger, lazy with his posture, has a bad habit of slipping out of stance. Lots of smarmy back-talk. ******** stupid smirk. But at least he knuckles down and gets the job done. You can't have everything in a student. And certainly not in a man."

Zuri was stepping towards her, still smiling, as Gloria went off into an oral end-of-term assessment. "My my, look at your beautiful eyes. You have a lovely soul."

"Oh...! Thank you...!" Steff replied gratefully, but as she did the succubus cupped her cheeks in her hands and tilted her head this way and that. Having such an ethereal beauty so close to her was unreal, and she couldn't help but stare even whilst wondering what the heck was going on. "...Um...?"

"Oh... I think we can work with you," she smiled, "By the end of the evening, you WILL have danced with a boy... and maybe even two or three!"

"Him," Zuri's voice hissed in her ear. "He's a perfect target. Do it just like we told you."

Steff's eyes and expression were as wide and frozen as a bisque doll's. She felt an invisible hand push her forcefully in the small of her back and juddered forward a couple of rigid steps.

"I should've known this'd be good," Gloria sighed, rolling her eyes and folding her arms disdainfully as she watched from afar. Zuri tried again, prodding the blonde girl forward, towards a nearby line of men chatting in front of a row of seats by the wall. The tall, sandy-haired one on the left, to be specific.

"Come on, my little dove," Zuri cooed, applying a firmer, more consistent pressure to make her move forward steadily. Finally, they were making progress. "He's nice, he's non-threatening, he's almost totally vanilla. He's your type. Most girls would kill for the senses I've got. I'm the best wing woman money can't buy - just trust me on this!"

"Mrghhhleeffrr," Steff whimpered, the self-same paralytic look on her face.

"Just walk up, say 'Hi, would you like to dance?' and then enjoy. It's that simple. He is not going to say no to you, because you're his type too. I know these things, trust me. This is a piece of cake in the park. It's nothing but net, sweetheart."

Proving she most definitely hadn't heard a word Zuri was saying, Steff suddenly turned around and tried to escape, only to come to grips with a pair of invisible hands which curled around her wrists firmly and locked her in place. "I don't think I can do this," she whispered, terrified, into the solid air, "I don't think-"

"Don't think. Or," Zuri said craftily, changing tack, "Don't think about yourself. Think about him, all alone in that desolate huddle of testosterone. You'll be doing him a favour pulling him out. Not only will asking him to dance boost his own confidence immensely, it'll boost his credentials with the rest of the male herd. It's a winning situation all around."

Gently, she managed to turn Steff around and wheel her once again in the direction of the man who was as yet happily oblivious to his potential dance partner's inner turmoil. It wasn't long now. They were almost upon him. Then, at the last moment, Steff dug in her heels and whispered, a little too loudly in her panic. "...What did you mean by 'almost' totally vanilla...?!"

With one last almighty shove, Zuri sent Steff tumbling forward. She couldn't possibly have judged it any better. A few moments later, Steff's poofy-pigtailed head made contact with the side of their target's shoulder. Bullseye.

"Woah!" the stranger cried, turning around and catching her to steady as she tottered around on stiff, frozen legs. Steff looked up at him, her eyes huge, doe-like and petrified. He stared as he met her gaze, blinked, and then his face melted into a genuine smile. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Steff somehow managed to reply. She couldn't quite believe the sound of her own voice, and looked away for an escape route. "I'm sorry...!"

"It's fine! Hey, wait!" he said, as she moved to break away from him. He gave her another warm smile and tilted his head, trying to meet her eyes. "I'm Jamie. Would you like to dance?"

Meep! No no no no no! The poor boy was left standing as Steff bolted, practically sprinting away the way she'd come.



((This wasn't where it was meant to end but I suddenly feel ill, so I'll leave it there for now. Maybe I'll add to this later or maybe I'll just make a new post, idk yet. ^^ ))

As the notes of the romantic song faded away, they were met once again with applause. However, the couple near the back of the room barely noticed because they only had eyes for each other. Mirassou had noticed them a little while ago and tried to direct his energies toward them. From what he could see, it had apparently worked because they were holding hands and gazing into each others' eyes.

The band began to play the notes of the next song behind him--it was Merry Christmas (The War Is Over). The waiter began to sing but as he did, he noticed the couple walking over to the dessert bar to be alone.

How sweet! He thought to himself. I'm happy for them. I hope it all goes well.

Little did he know that putting those two near a dessert bar had the potential for either hilarity or disaster to ensue.


((Argh, I know this post is piss-poor, but I didn't have a lot of time and I had writer's block ON CRACK. ><))

Oh no, Alexi thought. We're heading toward the dessert bar. Too many bad things have happened over there.... She remembered the incident with Zain not too long ago. She'd learned her lesson; never let the merman near any sweets, lest potentially hilarious disaster occur.

Sven sat down and took a cupcake from one of the many trays on the table. Taking a bite--and finding he liked the taste--he swallowed the rest in two more. He then reached for another cupcake, and another, and another. Alexi watched in horror and strange fascination.

"Sven, you're gonna get sick if you keep eating like that..." she warned.

But the boy didn't seem to heed her advice. He continued to eat rapidly, consuming more and more cupcakes. Alexi was reminded of the debacle with Zain once again. It would be a very bad thing if Sven got sick and tossed his cookies...er, cupcakes...or potentially even worse, got sugarhigh and caused a ruckus.

"SVEN!" the girl shouted suddenly, reaching for his right wrist. She grabbed it and pulled it toward her.

"What?" Sven asked, his mouth full of food. "Izh somfing wong?"

Just then Alexi got caught in his gaze. His red eyes shone with an innocence that she knew she had seen somewhere before. It almost frustrated her, being unable to place it. Oddly enough, his gaze wasn't the only thing that had piqued Alexi's interest; his eating patterns mirrored those of a friend of hers...Total's, in fact. But she couldn't very well tell him that he ate like a plant. How insulting and embarassing would that be?

"Uh, no, I..." she stuttered. "Just...don't eat so fast. Or you'll get sick to your stomach."

"Oh," Sven said, looking down at the cupcakes he held in his hands. They had to have been his seventh and eighth, or maybe they were his ninth and tenth...who knew? He swallowed the remaining bit he had in his mouth and put the other two on the table. "I'm sorry," he said, slumping down in his chair a little bit.

Alexi smiled softly and sat down next to him. She hadn't realized she'd been standing the whole time. "It's okay," she told him, patting his shoulder. "I like desserts too, you know."

Sven's eyes widened slightly. He wasn't used to the feeling of someone patting his shoulder, much less it being Alexi. It was strange, but still, it felt good. Really good. Granted, it was just a shoulder pat, but to Sven it was so much more. He had never felt any emotional human contact before, and now that he was feeling it, it excited him, thrilled him, made him want to jump in the air and scream, "YAHOO!" He closed his eyes and immersed himself in the feeling of Alexi's hand on his shoulder. He didn't even realize after a few minutes that she'd removed her hand. He just sat there, in his dreamlike state, feeling a blissful state of happiness that only he could understand. It was similar to the time when he'd first discovered his derriere, but oh, this was much, much better.

After a few minutes, however, Alexi noticed he was off in space and attempted to get him to come to.

"Umm...Sven? Sven?"

It was almost strange that this guy who had eaten a boatload of sweets and acted almost childlike had swept her into a majestic waltz just fifteen minutes prior. Talk about a change of personality. Just as she was beginning to think that this guy was a mistake and how his romantic attitude earlier was too good to be true, she felt something grab her left arm. Whirling, she was about to hit the offender--a reflex she had picked up in the war--when she realized that the "offender" was Sven.

What? The girl thought. What is he...?

All of a sudden he began nuzzling her arm, almost like a little wolf pup would nuzzle his mother in affection. Alexi was beginning to get weirded out. Who the hell was this guy, and what did he think he was doing? But it was at that moment that Sven looked up and noticed she was uncomfortable. He backed off, cursing himself under his breath. How could he have been so stupid? He knew she loved random things, but he shouldn't have taken it that far so soon.

"Of all the things," Alexi said. "I never expected that. I mean, to be honest, you're acting kind of...strange...Like, a few minutes ago, you were all romantic and serious and now...you're..." She couldn't word things well under pressure. Knowing it sounded all wrong and maybe even kind of mean, she hoped the boy wouldn't take it that way.

"I'm so sorry...really," Sven stuttered, bowing his head slightly. "I just..." He stopped. He couldn't say "I know you like random stuff, but I probably shouldn't have done that yet." She barely knew who he was! Not to mention his name and form change...things were not going as well as he'd expected.

Alexi continued her awkward speech, but Sven was only half-listening. He had to do something. He looked over at the girl. She was turned the opposite direction from him, seemingly off in her own world as she rambled. Suddenly, it was clear. He knew what he had to do.

Wiping the crumbs from his face, Sven leaned over and landed a peck on Alexi's cheek.


((Whew!! Weeks and weeks of writer's block, one near-computer-blowup and an hour or so later, a new post!! Happy Valentine's Day! ^w^))

Well, that wasn’t quite what he expected. Consequently, Aidan found himself fumbling for words for the first time that evening. “Oh? Well.. Uhm.. If that’s the case then.. ah--”

“..so you better have a damn good reason for wanting to know.”

“Ehh..?”

Oh how she wanted to kick herself. Slash that. She wanted to slam this b*****d onto the floor, kick him for all he’s worth, and ultimately kill him on the spot, and then she decided she would kick herself. Hard. There was absolutely no way she was going to tell this jerk the story of her life. As much as she’d been holding back all this time there was nothing he could say to sway her.

“W-well… Ahhh…”

Silence was between them for a moment. The look of shock and confusion not once leaving his features and beyond his eyes she could tell he was trying to come to a decision. She let out an exasperated sigh, as though she was disappointed, and made an effort to move away. Before Odin could step aside though Aidan’s hand flew to one of her wrists holding her in place.

He let out a shaky breath before locking eyes again. Somehow she was dreading what he was about to say, feeling that familiar warmth creep back up her face.

“H-hey, as much as you don’t want to hear it from me,” he started slowly, “and as much as I hate to admit this to you... but... I really am, uh, genuinely… curious… about you.”

If her eyes could have gone any wider they would have, but she’d have to settle with whatever expression of shock her face was in. She could not believe how many times this person had made her speechless throughout the day. Of course Odin was not one to talk much, but then that was the point. As little as she does say, this b*****d makes her want to say even less, and she hates how he does it so effortlessly.

“Curious? What do you mean by that?” She swears her voice faltered again into the most ungraceful squeak she’s ever heard.

“I’m curious,” he replied simply, and she saw that he was measuring his next statement. “Because I want to know more about you.”

“Are you sure you want to know?” she replied, trying to keep her tone even, but he saw that her eyes had gone dark. This is an incredibly huge baggage for me to lay out to a practical stranger. Can you handle it? She wanted to add so much more but the effort of keeping herself in check was costing her too much energy. It was an effort in itself that she was standing here enduring this from him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t.” She could hear his sureness waver for a fraction of a second as the words leave his mouth.

“Fine.” Aidan noticed her scowl soften as he let her wrist slip from his hand. Her arms are at her sides, hands curled into small fists. Odin hoped beyond everything that she wasn’t shaking.





((I am alive!! ;A; Somehow I survived school these past few months.. I feel bad for neglecting this.. ''OTL))

Evelyn

“Can’t you row any faster?” Evelyn asked eagerly, turning back to face the red-haired boy, causing the bells attached to her stole to jingle.

“I’m trying, Miss Evelyn. Perhaps if we had taken the speed boat we could have been there already,” Gilroy responded, inwardly rolling his eyes.
Evelyn sniffed at his suggestion. “Gilroy Obadiah Jenkins! You know we couldn’t have possibly taken the speed boat without being noticed. Besides, it’s not like I asked you to come along.”

At this, Gilroy snapped. “Dammit, Evelyn, for the last time, my last name isn’t Jenkins! It’s McCray!!! MC-CRAY!!!! M-C-C-A-R-Y!!! Got it??” Gilroy said, releasing the oars and flailing about, only to realize the oars were slipping and grabbed them quickly. Gilroy knew that he wasn’t acting professional at that moment, and straightened himself up, his entire demeanor turning back to the humble servant.

Evelyn laughed heartily at her childhood friend. His father had served her family before him, and while Gilroy may have favored him with his red hair, he couldn’t have acted less professional, try as he might. “Of course it’s McCray. Jenkins just would have been funnier,” she giggled, before straightening and putting on a serious face. “But my point still stands, Gilroy. I never asked you to come with me. And I’ll need you to turn around and leave as soon as you drop me off.”

The island came more into view as they neared. Evelyn refused to allow Gilroy to speak, lest he talk her out of sending him away. A fresh coat of resolve settled over her, as she shook the feeling of her old home off of her and saw her new home—the Temple—come closer. She glanced down at the water, finding it shallow enough to walk through, she threw herself out of the boat and landed in the water, immersed to mid-calf and began running toward the shore, full speed. The bottom of her light blue dress was soaked, but she couldn’t have cared less, but she did take care to keep the trailing sleeves out of the water. A smile spread across her face that she hadn’t worn since before leaving the island. As soon as her feet hit dry land, she threw herself at the ground, giggling like crazy.

Gilroy ran the small boat ashore before jumping out, careful not to get his pant legs wet. He held a briefcase and Evelyn’s purse. “Miss Evelyn, you’re leaving this,” he said, holding the white purse out to her. “And may I just inform you that this behavior is not becoming of a lady.”

Evelyn looked up at him and pouted, before retorting with “Of course, you’d know all about what sort of behavior befits a lady, wouldn’t you, Gilroy?” Gilroy growled, but thankfully wasn’t overheard over Evelyn laughing at his fallen face. After a few moments, Evelyn’s face turned reflective. “I wonder if anyone noticed I was gone…”

((Hey, loverlies!))