Welcome to Gaia! ::

A rather short, thin figure was weaving its way through the crowd, wide black eyes focused idly on the floor. The green teenager was clad in a baggy, faded black and white striped shirt that drooped low on his shoulders, even going as far as to reveal one entirely. The shirt almost entirely covered the shorts he wore, bagging rather low, but luckily the shorts managed to pass as long enough so as to prove he was indeed wearing some form of pants. His upper arms were wrapped in multi-colored bandages, and special-made black gloves (cut off at claw-tip- the equivalent of fingerless gloves) stretched across his lower arms. His usually bare feet were settled into a pair of black and white sneakers, which looked rather old and worn- well-loved, perhaps was a better way to put it. It was obvious that when he was forced to wear shoes, he usually would choose these ones. His hair was flared up at the back, sticking out in all various directions, yet falling flat in the front, framing his face rather nicely. He got a few strange glances- both for his extra appendages (and tail) and his strangely effeminate form. Perhaps his shrimpy height and color played a part in this as well.

A light jingling noise announced his approach, a sound drowned out to Nero by the headphones snuggly placed over his pointed ears. There was a collar tightened at his neck- made of some strange plastic and metal, something he found impossible to remove. The tags linked him back to the D-Corp building, and the collar itself held a tracking device- he was their property ever since the death of Axel. He paused as he noticed someone rummaging around frantically, lowering a headphone from his ear in a thoughtful manner... And then he headed right over, going to kneel beside the girl, "Wh-what's up? W-what ar-are y-you looking f-for?" His head tilted as he extended his obvious offer of assistance, and then he paused. All four of his eyes filled with a sudden surprise- he knew this girl! He must have been really spaced out if he hadn't recognized her before. "Z-Zyan!" He smiled, pleased to have come across someone he knew... It had been a long time.

Nero flinched slightly as the girl's head smacked into the bench- oops. He hadn't intended to startle her.. He shifted a bit uncomfortably under her stare, yet his smile only faltered a little bit. Had she forgotten him? Was she upset? He expected those two things to happen a lot over the course of the next few months as he refound all of his old friends. After his disappearance... He just expected it.

And then suddenly he had fallen back on his rump and Zyan was hugging him, and after he shook off the surprise he felt extremely relieved. She wasn't upset, and she hadn't forgotten him. He even laughed, albeit very faintly, at her enthusiasm as he returned the hug. It was nice to see this girl again, the one D-Corp child he had met who really shared something with him. Their bizarre, awkward features.

He settled back a bit as she released him, smiling warmly. It had been awhile since he had felt happy- then again, it had been a long time since he had seen anyone. Living in D-Corp proved a miserable experience for the most part. "M-me?" He asked, cocking his head to one side slightly. His tail began to slowly, idly wave back and forth behind him, "I-I've been g-getting by.. H-how about y-you? Wh-what have you b-been up t-to?" He paused for a moment, "O-oh, and wh-what were y-you looking f-for?"

The older of the two smiled slightly at her first answer, giving a nod of his head- he could relate. He was trying to deal with all of the people handling him back at D-Corp.. He also knew that kids that reached her age usually began to distance themselves from their families- he never really got to experience that part of growing up, but he still knew it existed. He had met enough D-Corp children to see that.. Especially in the case of Simon.

He settled his arms around his knees in a rather relaxed pose, something that was rather rare from him as of the past few months. He didn't relax very often, and this was the first time in a long while he was cheerily interacting with another being. He hadn't seen anyone he actually cared about in a long long long time. "Ah, th-that s-sucks. I h-haven't re-really had any t-teachers yet.." All of his teachings thus far were self-learned or taught by his passed on father. "Tha-thank G-God." He threw in there, giving a smile and a shake of his head this time.

And then his second question was answered, and he leaned forward, listening with a slight intentness. He wanted to help, so he had to figure out what was missing. "O-oh, your ea-earring?" He frowned sympathetically. Those could be pretty hard to find.. Not that he had any... YET. His main motive for coming to the mall revolved around getting his ears pierced. The usually timid boy was going to a place that made him rather nervous (thus his drowning himself in music- it calmed his nerves) in order to do something that made him nervous.. He had to. It was a mark showing his brand new start. Because in reality, nothing was the same as it was before. His extra legs came to rest on the floor, automatically trying to help stabilize him as he leaned to examine her remaining earing. A cheery smile crept across his face, "W-wow! I-it's a sc-scorp-scorpion." He noted, leaning back so as to look the girl approvingly in the eyes. "I-it's really a-awesome... I-I've never seen o-one l-like that b-before.." A strange feeling of happiness and excitement filled the boy once again- he was honored to see someone wearing something scorpion related.. Usually they perceived him and his kind as little monsters. "L-let me h-help you l-look for it!" He offered merrily, moving from his bum onto his knees.

Well, in truth, he was not only happy to see someone liked his kind- he was also pleased to see nothing had really changed between him and his old friend, even though there was a huge difference between when they first met.. And he had been gone for so long..

The boy drooped slightly when he saw the girl's dismay, frowning thoughtfully. "W-well... I-I was ju-just headed t-to the p-piercing p-parlor, s-so if w-we ca-can't f-find it, I-I can take y-you to s-see if they ha-have any..." He paused.. And then got a determined look in all four of his eyes, "N-no, w-we'll f-find it." If he had any talents at all, one would definitely be finding things. When Kei was a baby dragon, he loved to take little things and hide them, and to keep the peace between the dragon and his father he would have to search the house to find everything. He smiled hopefully, "L-let m-me try." He gave her a light touch on the shoulder with one of his extra legs in a reassuring manner, and then crouched lower to look under the bench.

The gears in his little head started turning- where would they have fallen. They could still be up on the bench.. Or... Hmm. He decided to begin a little conversation, in hopes of cheering his friend up a little, "S-so, wh-what have y-you been u-up to? I-I mean, I ha-haven't s-seen you i-in forever. L-lots of st-stuff must h-have ha-happened." He shot her an inquisitive look from the side before he continued his search.

He sweeped and extra leg over the bench, the thin appendage dipping into any grooves and searching them thoroughly. Another sweeped over the floor, and after that he stopped and took a look at the floor surrounding the bench... He was starting to get an idea... "Hmm.." He muttered to himself, stooping a little bit more forward.

"Ter?" The boy questioned idly, continuing to poke around like a true search-hound.. Search-scorpion? Whatever. He looked over towards her, giving his friend his full attention while she explained her going-ons. He looked a bit perplexed as she first mentioned the gang, and then smiled warmly. "A-A kind o-of anti-g-gang g-gang?" He questioned, seeming a bit pleased by the information as well as humored. Who would have thought that anti-gang gangs would be formed? Hmm. It seemed all too ironic. Beating people up so that they wouldn't beat people up.. But that was alright. There were far too many scary people in this world.. If that could bring them down a notch, go ahead and give it a shot.

He laughed a bit once again when she talked about her and Ter arguing, "R-really? Th-that's f-funny." He had wanted to say cute, as he still thought of this girl as more of a child- and that kind of thing with children and their relationships was indeed rather 'cute.' But he would never want to insult his friend by talking at her like she's a little kid. He returned to searching. "M-my dr-dragon is..." He shook his head. "I-impossible to k-keep out of t-trouble." What a scary beast that thing was, especially now that Kei was big. Good thing he stayed under D-Corp's supervision now. "A-ah, I-I'm so-sorry." He offered, although he didn't seem to concerned either. He knew that Chath could reform limbs, so it really wasn't too much of an occurrence.

His smile grew somewhat sheepish as the attention turned to him, and a light pink even could be seen tinging his cheeks if you looked close. "Y-y-yeah..." He paused a moment, "L-lobe and up-upper c-cuff.. Maybe e-even a-a fiv-five-wire.. Or som-something-" He suddenly went silent, sweeping an extra leg under the leg of the bench and pushing himself to an erect position. "Fo-found it!" He announced cheerily, using a claw to delicately lift the earring and display it to its owner.

The scorpion lad chuckled warmly, "Y-you wa-want to c-come with m-me, then?" He paused to settle back into a sit, crossing his main legs. "I-I w-wouldn't m-mind some c-company." He didn't seem to think much about the lingering touch, imagining to only to be a result of his friend's excitement at the return of her earring. It seemed like it was really important to her, so he felt himself swelling a bit with pride at the idea that he had found it. He could do something right after all.

He smiled brightly at the thanks, his naturally large eyes lighting up. He really did enjoy making the people he cared about happy, and he hadn't really made anyone happy since he was younger... And since before the incident, which was ridiculously long ago by now. He wrinkled his nose after the kiss, smile lingering. He was raised to be a more affectionate creature by his father, and thus he didn't think much of that either. It was just on the nose, it wasn't really anything. A tinge of pink did appear at the corners of his cheeks, as he hadn't experienced any affection from anyone in a long time and thus he had grown somewhat shy as far as that went.

He happily took the offered hand with two extra legs rather than his claws. They had grown stronger and sharper, and he didn't want to hurt his friend while she was helping him get back on his feet. He unfolded into a stand, stretching slightly. He looked at her with a thoughtful expression after her offer, and then smiled somewhat sadly, "I-I wish I c-could.." He sighed a bit and shook his head, "I-I c-can't get o-out v-very of-often though.. A-and I pr-probably w-wouldn't be m-much help an-anyways." He suddenly could feel that collar tight at his throat, with its tracking device and all. He was property now.

The scorpion tilted his head thoughtfully, a frown painting itself across his face. He didn't really like to explain his situation very much- not in detail, anyways. He didn't really understand everything.. Which is one of the reasons he tried to sneak out every chance he could.. Which still wasn't all too often. "Y-yeah, I u-used to sn-sneak out all th-the time.." He offered idly, still pondering over something or other. He didn't really sneak out- his dad just didn't pay any attention. He had been free to just walk out and do as he pleased.. Although it had driven Axel crazy. "A-and I'm k-kinda sneaking o-out just t-to be he-here.. B-but everything i-is di-different now."

He nodded slowly, extra legs folding over his belly. He supposed that was enough. He smiled a lop-sided smile, "B-besides, I-I'm more o-of a pa-pacifist now.. B-bullies d-don't bother m-me anymore." Meaning the bullying no longer bothered him. He still got made fun of for his bizarre appearance, his height, just everything. But it all just rolled off his back after years of it as a child. The only thing that bothered him was when they touched him- he would NOT tolerate that. And after the incident with his father... No more, not unless he needed to. If it could be avoided, it would be. "I c-can st-still hang o-out with y-you guys though, so-sometimes.

Nero lit up as her excitement returned, "A-alright. L-lead the w-way." He offered merrily, tail swaying contentedly behind him.