Welcome to Gaia! ::

((This is continued from the ICRS Halloween thread; you can find the link on the first page of the ICRS homepage))

Familiar? Autsu wasn't sure exactly what that meant. Conventions of dress on his own planet were not so different from Gaia's, though Gaia certainly had more... variety. So the idea of drastically different fashion norms was simply not something that occurred to him. Still, he accepted it. Somewhere, out there, there was a planet peopled completely by cowboys, he supposed.

Autsu followed Kian's hand as it touched the brim of his hat, eyes almost crossing with the effort. Not a touch, but close enough to a touch to make him desire such an action. To remind him of their last meeting, pushing aside the simple joy of companionship with a rush of... other thoughts. Things were complex, now. Kian was not simply an ally. There was more. There were options. Even if Autsu was not entirely aware of the details of those options.

But those thoughts would have to wait, would have to bow to the present moment, in which the two of them stood in a room full of people, including comrade Archie and Kian's sibling. He would be gracious in this environment. His father had taught him something of grace.

"Yes, too long." He agreed, stepping past Kian, toward Ques as cookies. Archie received a small bow when he returned in the room with little toys. "Yours too, Comrade Archie. You are being... brown?"

Oh Autsu, a lifetime on Gaia and he would probably spend the entirety of it oblivious to the majority of the culture. Maybe if Archie had come as Karl Marx, Autsu might have recognized him. Maybe.

"You have not had further trouble, with those who wish you ill? Of course not, you would have told us." Yes, Autsu was in the habit of answering his own questions. You try living in a family where no one talks.

And then, at last, cookie in hand, he turned his gaze to Iamel. A nod, not quite the bow he'd offered Archie, and an irritated look. "Good Evening, Kian's sibling. I am here, you may ask questions of me directly. I have not met Rothe, or the pink child."

Deidre, indeed, noticed the bright pink thing. Her bright eyes went wide and the snowflake wriggled, just a bit, in her fathers grasp and one small arm reached for the brightly colored thing. This father, she knew, would not hit her if he disapproved. In fact, this father rarely disapproved of anything she did and often laughed along with any of her antics.

She liked it.

Iamel was momentarily distracted and he glanced over at Archie. "Are you tempting my daughter with dolls?" The bird queried, his lips curling into a slow grin. "Fine, fine, tempt away. It's the first time she's actually taken interest in something."

He sauntered over, wings bobbing and Deidre held out her hand even further for the doll. She was silent still, but her eyes were wide and staring at Archie.

Rothe was cast a Look from Kian, the cyclops brother heaving a sigh. Autsu was speaking to Iamel (who was all but ignoring himfor the pink doll his new daughter was so enthralled with) and Archie. The dark boy slid away, tail twitching briefly as he made a beeline for the kitchen. He didn't wish to speak to Rothe or the pink child and others were busy.

There, apparently, were apples there. One was stolen from the large canister full of water and apples, taking a bite of the fruit. Psh. Bobbing for apples. This was so much easier.

Iamel finally glanced over at Autsu and he grinned at the irritation. "Maybe you should! I think you and Rothe would get along."

"NO, Sibling!" The bellow came from the kitchen and the redhead snickered.

Kian was merely hungry. Cookies were nice, every so often, but he had a particular soft spot for things of a slightly healthier variety. Abandonment of Autsu never occured to him - Autsu was not in the vacinity of the apples and thus, he left the room.

His brother cackling was ignored and Kian shifted, leaning himself against the counter in the kitchen. It was relaxing, to be away from the crowd at large, but he pushed himself away from the cool surface with the slightest of sighs. It wasn't right to leave Autsu out there, where Roth ecould attack him and... eat his eyes or something.

He wouldn't put it past Rothe, not for an instant.

So the alien moved to the door in what only could be considered a swagger, popping his head out the kitchen door to see Autsu and Archie moving closer. Fantastic! And for once, he meant that seriously (at least, he would have, if he knew the word was conciously drifting through his mind). Archie and Autsu were, really, the only people he felt like socializing with this night.

"Archie," Kian started, holding out the already bitten apple curiously, "Why were these in a large tub? It is an odd place to keep them." And Autsu? Autsu got a smile.

A smile. And what was that really? Barely anything at all. Cold reception indeed. Unless it was Kian smiling. Unless it was Autsu smiling back, just a slight upward twist of his lips, and no more than that. The winged one had learned something of smiling, as he'd learned something of anger, but the expression was not among those he commonly wore. Just a small quirk of his mouth, but it lingered. It held.

"Your traditions are strange, Archie." The admonishment was mild, and he walked past Kian, released Archie, and stared into the tub full of apples. Huh. Crazy Gaian's and their weird fruit and squash oriented holidays. But it made sense for such an odd and varied people to have equally odd and varied traditions. Ex'Di'Ne's traditions went back generations, unchanged. They were strict formal affairs. There was no bobbing.

Perhaps that was a flaw.

"I will do this thing, then." He announced, studying the bucket full of wet apples as he spoke. "I will be Bob."

"I, um... You really don't have to," Archie said, smiling wider than was probably appropriate. At least he wasn't laughing. He spared a glance out of the kitchen into the main room. "I don't think anyone else would care if you just took an apple too."

Autsu feared no fruit? The comment made Kian actually snort a little in his hidden amusement, lips twitching this way and that as he took a hold of hi friends cowboy hat. In the back of his mind, he could kind of see a giant apple, looming over and intimidating Autsu, as a sort of revenge for not fearing them properly.

The entire show was one of amusement, with one hand holding a hat and the other a bitten apple, as Autsu shook and blinked and snapped and - oh, he got it. Look at that. It was funny, though, Kian had no doubt of that.

So, he snickered, offering Autsus hat back out towards him. "Congratulations on becoming Bob, my friend. I believe you are getting your shirt wet, as well, however." The cloth was eyed suspiciously but Kian gave a mental shrug, eyes twisting back towards Autsu. Hrm.

"I do not think I shall become Bob."

Triumph though it was, Autsu discovered quickly that the results of his triumph were less than pleasing. He was dripping wet, his shirt was soaked, and, well, he didn't even really like apples. This is what happens when you refuse to back down from challenges. He gave himself another dog like shake but it didn't stop the wet material of his shirt from clinging to him, and he was quickly discovering the experience was distinctly uncomfortable.

With Archie gone, it seemed socializing in the kitchen was no longer needed, so he met Kian's eyes and tried his best not to look like the half drown rat he felt he was. "I believe there are extra shirts in the barracks, and mine is wet."

Barracks? Where did he even learn that word? And how on earth did he think it applied to either of the rooms in the two bedroom house?

No matter, he clearly expected Kian to accompany him on his quest for drier clothing, if the hopeful look he was giving his friend was anything to judge him by.

The apple, he still held in the hand that didn't now hold his hat, apparently he had no intention of releasing his prize, even if he didn't actually intend to eat it either.