Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was a slow day at the café and it showed when looking at the employees. The manager was in the back playing cards with the cook and the dish-washer while the two waiters on staff cleaned the tables for the fifth time that day.

Tanz was sitting in his corner as usual. He was coloring and speaking quietly with his stuffed monkey after he got yelled at for spilling a glass of orange juice when he tried to help clean up. Shiri was cleaning up the mess as a cold breeze blew in from the open door.

Otto brightened right up as he heard the door bell ring and ran right over to talk with the people who stumbled in. He missed his chance to take them to a table so he just went and introduced himself.

“Hello I am Otto and I will be your waiter today with the help of my good pal Shiri.” The redhead smile widened impossibly larger. “What can I get you folks to drink?”

Grabbing his pen and paper Otto stood ready.

Cassi looked up at the man speaking to her and Cole. She gave him an appraising look and quietly decided to herself that she had done worse. She slowly took off her jacket and made a huge show of placing it on the back of her chair so that the young waiter would have a proper chance to see her, ah, assets. Her shirt was a vibrant purple, tight and low cut. Cole just stared at the menu, ignoring everyone around him.

“Well, hello there sweetness, I think I’ll just take you if that’s okay!” She winked at him, placing her bare white arms on the table leaning closer to Otto. The jingling of her bracelets snapped Cole out of his reverie. He stared at the silver bangles with a small glint in his eyes before he turned to the waiter.

“Small stack of pancakes with orange juice, thank-you.” He said crisply, his face devoid of expression except a hint of a frown that seemed to be permanently etched on his face.

“Cole! Honestly! Could you be any ruder?” Cassi took the appearance of a concerned mother in an attempt to look better in the eyes of the waiter. “I’m sorry for my son’s rudeness, you said your name was Otto right?” She had turned back to Otto and flashed him a pearly white smile. “Now Cole, apologize for being rude!”

“But I said thank-you, that’s not rude.” Cole argued, hating that his mother was making him look like and idiot in public again. Cassi would be missing the bracelets on wrists later that night because of it.

“But your tone, Cole, what have I said about your tone?”

All Cole could do at this point is sulk farther back into his seat and apologize. “Sorry sir that my tone was rude.” A black shadow fell across Cole’s face. “Happy, mother?”

“Yup!” Cassi chirped. She turned once more to the waiter, giving him her most seductive smile. “Kids these days right?” She purred. “Now how about some coffee, strong and black to go with those pancakes, hmm?”

As Otto flirted back, Cassi’s eyes danced in victory. It’s not every day that she finds some one that willing. But then her fun was ruined when Otto’s co-worker came. She watched with disappointed eyes as Otto fled from the scene and a new waiter took his place. Cole remained disinterested in the whole exchange and started fiddling with the sugar on the table.

“Oh honey, it’s fine, I started it, but maybe you would like to finish it? Seeing as you seemed to have scared him off?” Cassi sweetly cooed. She would not be deterred by a change in waiters.

“Mother, I want my violin.” Cole lifted his head from his fiddling.

“Cole! The adults are talking! Why don’t you color or something?” She brushed him off, and turned her attention back to the waiter. Cole sunk even further into his seat, a dark aura surrounding him, his eyes fixed on the necklace Cassi was wearing as it glinted in the light. He went back to sullenly playing with the sugar packets.

“Yup, coffee, delicious and bitter coffee, strong like a man such as yourself!” She said, tilting her head to look Shiri up and down. Cassi finally noticed the presence of the other boy, “Oh how cute!” She leaned in close, “Hi, my name’s Cassi, what’s yours sweetie?” She ruffled his hair and plastered a fake smile on her face. “Cole, look, a new friend for you!”

Cole continued playing with the sugar packets

This wasn’t the first time Cassi had found out one of her ‘interests’ batted for the other team, so rather than get offended by it, she accepted it and moved on. She grinned at the young dad’s reaction to his talkative son’s words. “Well then,” her train of thought derailed slightly as she searched for a name, and came up empty. “I’m sorry, I never asked your name, I’m Cassi, by the way, and this scruffy thing is Cole.” She carelessly waved in Cole’s general direction as she extended a hand to the waiter.

“It’s too bad about the whole gay thing, we could have had a good time!” She winked up at Shiri, “But I do have a couple ex’s that I could hook you up with if you ever needed me to. I find that a lot of my partners are quite flexible, in more ways than one if you catch my drift.”

During this exchange, Cole had started to stack the sugar packets into a small castled, the conversation going completely over his head. He didn’t even blink when his name was said. He was fixated on making the castle of sugar.

“Hey, sweetie, what’s wrong with me talking to your dad?” Cassi asked Tanz in a high pitched baby talk voice. “Your dad can talk to anyone he wants too! Now why don’t you go talk to Cole over there and let the grown-ups talk, kay?” Cassi nodded in Cole’s direction once more.

Cole ignored his mother and went on to making the fourth story of his castle. “Mother, I’m hungry. When is our food coming?” Cole lifted his head from his half done castle, his feet slightly swinging from his seat as he wiggled to get him self sitting straight up.

“Yes, what about our order,” Cassi turned her attention fully on Shiri. “Maybe you could send out, oh what was his name, yes! Otto, to take care of us.” Cassi cocked her head to the side to look up coyly at Shiri.

Cole’s entire face dropped along with the tower, all his work, all his dedication, gone in the one second. Gone was any emotion that might have been on Cole’s face, even the scowl was gone. Cole’s face was just blank.

His eyes fixated on the pile of pink packets that was once his masterpiece, Cole moved his mouth, “You ruined my castle, you ruined my castle,” He repeated twice, his voice that of disbelief. He finally turned to look at Tanz, “You ruined my, you ruined, you!” Cole’s scowl was back, but fiercer than ever. His green eyes piercingly glaring at Tanz.

“What are you? Stupid? You don’t go ruining people’s castles for not good reason!” Cole spat at Tanz, sincerely distressed that his sugar castle was gone. Cole loved all of his things and hated it when they were taken away from him or destroyed. In those few bored moments, the castle had become his own and he wasn’t about to let it go.

“Cole! My god! You don’t say things like that to other kids. Say you’re sorry!” Cassi yelled, afraid that some one might of overheard what Cole just said. Cassi was very concerened about appearances and she didn’t want to seem like a bad mother.

“No, Mother, he ruined it and I’m not about to apologize for it! I’m going to the potty room!” With that Cole stormed off to the bathroom to stew a bit more. His black coat swished behind him as he walked off. He opened the door and went into the nearest stall and sat and fumed.

“Kid, Cole didn’t mean it, just don’t go touching his things and he won’t go all crazy and sh-crap like that.” Cassi told Tanz in an effort not to make the kid cry or anything like that. She didn’t know if most kids would cry over something like that since Cole wasn’t like most kids when it came to expressing emotions.


((Ooooh! Cole's mighty pissed!))

Cassi sighed as she watched Tanz run after her moody child. She was cradling her head in her hands when she heard Otto’s voice. “Cole had a fit, again!” She huffed. “Jesus, I don’t know what to do with that child sometimes!” She noticed the glorious cup of black coffee sitting in front if her. She immediately reached out and grabbed it. She took a huge whiff of it before she tentatively sipped it.

“God, that’s good coffee!” She exclaimed, leaning back in her chair in complete bliss. She looked up from her coffee cup and noticed Otto sitting across from her. A coy smile lit up her features as she set her coffee down and flipped her hair. She slowly leaned over the table to show off, her, ah, assets as she outstretched her hand to lie on Otto’s hand. She moved her fingers sensually across his hand as she purred, “Yes, now we can talk about us. I was thinking, later tonight might be the best time. You, me, this club I know. Maybe some dancing, dinner perhaps.” She then leaned across the table so that her face was but a whisper from Otto’s ear. “Then, maybe coffee at your place, hmm? Sound good?” She slowly leaned back into her seat and took another sip from her coffee as she stared at Otto from over the rim.

Cole had heard Tanz enter the bathroom, how could he have no? But he stayed in his stall, refusing to move. He ruined my castle! He’s just stupid! I don’t like him at all! Cole kept chanting these thoughts as he scowled, his legs crossed on top of the toilet seat.

It was when Tanz started humming that Cole became unbearably upset. He was okay with just sitting there in silence, but Tanz’s constant humming drove him insane.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He jumped off of the toilet and burst through the door. “Would you stop that?” He growled. “It’s bad enough you broke my castle, but now you’re breaking my quiet!” Cole crossed his arms and stared down at the boy sitting on the tiles.

“Why did you do it? Why did you break my castle? I didn’t do anything to you! You haven’t even apologized yet! Go away! I don’t want you here!” Cole accented that last statement with the stomp of his foot. His body trembling with anger made him look smaller and younger due to the fact that the too long sleeves of his coat shook with him, making him seem like a tentacle monster of sorts.

“Leave me alone.”

Cassi continued to stare coyly at Otto, “Here, let me give you my number and address,” She started rummaging through her purse to find her scented pink pen and paper that she carried with her where ever she went. She quickly jotted down seven numbers and her street address and held it between her fingers, just outside of Otto’s reach.

“Pick me up at around 7? I like and early start, and a late finish, if you catch my drift,” She leaned farther back in her seat, making it so that in order to get the paper in her hand, Otto would have to lean over the table. The trap was set.

Tanz’s comments about the sugar not being his to begin with shut him up real quick. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. His face screwed up into a tighter scowl, more rage filled then ever.

“Just because the sugar wasn’t mine doesn’t stop it from being my castle! I worked hard on it! And I was alone before you hummed in! So therefore the quiet was mine before you ruined it!” Cole was getting angrier and angrier with the boy in front of him.
“And there’s a reason why I wouldn’t have talked to you! And that’s cause you’re stupid!” Cole threw his most offensive insult at Tanz as he walked into his bubble.

“Saying sorry doesn’t change the fact that the castle I built out of sugar I don’t own is completely broken!” Cole’s hands were flying all over the place as he yelled at Tanz. He couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Tanz any more. He began to walk towards the bathroom door when he heard Tanz’s final comment.

His hand hovered over the door for a second before he turned and looked at Tanz with the same piercing stare as before, this time, his eyes her blank. “I think you’re weird.” With that, he left the bathroom and walked back to the table where Cassi was planning her next conquest and pancakes.