Welcome to Gaia! ::

Giving Elaine a long, steady look, Nis was grateful, for the moment, that her friend was so involved with Tagg. It meant she wouldn’t notice if Nis stared a little. She’d heard Elaine speak wistfully before, that was nothing new. It was the fact that Nis could hear just how much thought had been put into those words, how subdued she was in speaking them. Not that Nis disagreed, but what the hell had happened to provoke this sort of response? Sitting up a little straighter, her eyes narrowed as she listened, practically drinking the words in. No prizes for guessing who the Garde was meant to be though.

“Have you told any of this to him?” she asked gently. She was certain the answer would be yes. Elaine. Joy was not the sort to withhold opinions. Especially not where it mattered. And it surprised her a little that Joy’s own findings had never once occurred to her. And she’d met both people! Given that, and considering things from the angle Joy was describing… Christ. Poor Nail. “Actually, scratch that. I know you would have said something about this to him. Tell me instead, how he reacted.” She could ask that after having spoken with the ghost. And prickly and reserved as he had been, she’d seen a hint of the humor and humanity of the man underneath once they’d spoken frankly. She still thought he needed boatloads of therapy, but she had a slight soft spot for him now. Enough to pity him deeply for having wrapped himself in the wrong mantle for so long.

The mention of another Lysithea knight out there alarmed her slightly, but the one Joy had spoken to was a ‘he’. That was good since she didn’t want to imagine how an encounter between the overly dreamy girl she’d encountered and Joy would go. Hopefully this new Lysithea knight was slightly more sensible. It sounded like he might be. Nodding in approval, Nis tossed her own hat into the ring. “Well, let’s make that three of us then, because I agree with every word. We can’t do our jobs, such as they are, if we’re all drowning in, as you say, cosmic misery. Huh. I’ve never quite considered things from this angle before.” Maybe she’d never really wanted to sit down and really think about these sorts of questions, but she was doing it now. And as she watched Tagg happily gnawing on a yogurt treat, she smiled. He was definitely one of the good bits of this whole mess. Then, her smile widened and she laughed at Joy’s words.

“Maybe it is, but I’m still going to find a way to get a boat up here. Maybe a little coracle type would work. And I would consider showing up all glowy to be quite the upped game.” She paused, remembering how not entirely happy in her own skin Joy had seemed before they got here. Maybe the transcendence markings were still too new or represented something that she, herself, couldn’t understand. But she’d never ask. Everyone deserved their privacy. Though she might have a way to help spin things in a more positive direction for her friend.

Leaning in and grinning in a conspiratorial manner, Nis lowered her voice, nodding at Tagg. “Wanna see something cool?” she asked. “Turn your glow on for a minute and watch his fur. I promise you’ll like this.”

She’d discovered that Tagg’s fur practically glittered when light shone on him by accident. In the candle and lamp light of the cavern, it would be harder to see, but she rather thought that when held very close to the glowing marks of transcendence, Tagg would, quite literally, sparkle.

Taking note of the unanswered questions, Nis gave a small, purely internal sigh. She suspected that whatever revelations Joy had come to, they were all still just raw enough to want to avoid particulars. Well, that was fine. She’d say something when, or if, she was ready. Fortunately, her use of Tagg as a distraction had worked even better than hoped. His cloud white fur looked like he’d been dipped in iridescent, dancing light.

And he, precious bean that he was, didn’t even seem to notice the admiration.

Looking entirely pleased with herself, Nis chuckled a little before adopting a serious face and shaking her head.

“Sorry, I’m afraid his cuteness is entirely legal and quite encouraged. And you can’t confiscate him because then I would be forced to give you sad puppy eyes until you generously decided to return him. Allow me to counter with this, I’ll bring him to visit you at the Garde whenever you need a pick me up. He might even be cute enough to wring a reluctant smile from Nail.” Okay, that last was purely wishful thinking on her part, but really. Who wouldn’t smile when confronted by a sweet little otter face?

“I feel it’s also fair to warn you that confiscating him wouldn’t work anyway. At least not for long. He surprised me in the shop last week after I’d left him up here. So, there is that.”

Accepting Tagg back as he crawled into her lap and curled up, tail tip touching his nose, Nis stroked the soft fur and smiled.

“Easy there, girl. I don’t think they pop in willy-nilly. I was alone and I think he knew that on some level. Though I would love to see a glowing axolotl sometime. So, I don’t think you’d have to worry about your bosses or the maids seeing your wisp or whatever it pops into.” The hotel mention didn’t worry her. Elaine had always said she worked in hospitality. And since Nis couldn't, for the life of her, picture Elaine as a cleaning lady, she’d come to the conclusion that her friend was some sort of concierge. Doubtless she did final checks and finishing touches for high roller rooms.

Of far more interest to her was the hope of another visit to the Garde and another chance to drool over the murals and remains of the past. A picnic out on the water sounded heavenly. And right in line with this new idea of taking and making time for the good parts of this crazy ******** life. “You have a deal! It sounds fantastic.”

She did wonder, just a little, why Joy had paused before saying seagulls. Her smile indicated that this was something she was quite pleased by. Nis glanced down at the otter kit and nodded. “I’m sure he’ll love that as long as they don’t try to peck at him. He’s very good about not hurting the little fishes when he’s playing in the lake here, so I’m sure he won’t try to have a go at your gulls. But if you have actual live gulls now, I guess that means I won’t need to keep my eyes open at estate sales for interesting sculptures and carvings now, huh?” A flicker of wistful sadness crossed her face. She’d enjoyed her little hunts. Ah well.

Affecting a prim little smile and sitting up just a touch straighter, Nis deadpanned, “Well, of course I have. I like to keep my valued clients happy.” She dropped the act quickly and shrugged a little helplessly. “But seriously, yes. I like to keep an eye out for interesting things because I do like to spoil my friends a little bit during the holidays and for birthdays and such. So for you, I keep an eye out for seagulls and old journals and photo albums. That’s all.”

Honestly, now that she said it out loud it sounded mildly ridiculous and sappy, but it was the truth, so she may as well own it. She much preferred thinking about planning visits, though she wasn’t so sure about the whole being owed part. But drinks? Drinks she could do and run up a tab for Joy. “But of course! If you’ll pass me that lovely mason jar near your elbow, I’ll get you set right up!”

Reaching for the bottle, she popped the top and grinned. It was time to enjoy some magical space happy hour time.