Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sun blazing brightly overhead, it was a usual day in the Elysian Gardens, save for one thing. It was closed; the gate shut, a polite little ‘Be Back Later’ sign posted. This insured that the planned guests and their Essentics could visit undisturbed. Elst, busy tending to some of the fruit trees, glanced occasionally over to the distant gate, checking to see if they’d arrived yet. He’d told the couple, Fao and Ellandra, that the Nursery would be purposely closed, and that they could ignore the sign, but still, he wanted to welcome them properly. Verdant…well, he was off somewhere, probably getting ready, or maybe tending to some of the flowers.

Aoi sat square in the middle of a large fuchsia plant, enjoying the new music device Elst had given him – An mp3 player, was it called? The device transmitted the music directly into Aoi’s mind somehow, likely having something to do with the usual telepathy he liked to use to speak to others. The song playing was one of his favorites, one by R.E.M.

That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spot, light, losing my religion… His thought-out voice rang out slightly, enough for Elst to hear. The little flower sung rather nicely, not professional sounding, just deep and melodic. He mixed well with music, it seemed. Elst rather enjoyed Aoi’s voice, but that could have something to do with their bond. Elst returned to one of the large outdoor tables, upon which sat an array of orchids and tulips. He’d been trying to see how many different colorations he could manage within the flowers, and while he worked, a few greenish, strawberry-looking fruits rolled out of his sleeve.

Faolan walked alongside Elle, enjoying the outing. He glanced at Zia, who'd begrudgingly been talked into wearing Fao's hooded jacket to hide his wings, and ruffled the kid's hair. "Ay, now, hinny. No need for pouting. Your sister needs this and you'll be getting to see Aoi again."

"Rather see Crux," Zia grumbled.

"I'd rather not have Tryst break my arm or something," Faolan sighed, pulling the kid over to hug it against his side as they walked. He nudged Ellandra with his other hand. "There's Elst's place."

Elst absentmindedly popped one of the peculiar strawberries in his mouth, staring blankly at the flowers in front of him. They were being a bit…uncooperative. Meaning he’d been trying to get them to turn a brighter purple for the last three hours, and it wasn’t happening. It was getting a little frustrating. He stood, waving to Verdant as he approached. “Oh, hello Verdant, I was wondering where you’d ran off to…. How’s little Orpheus doing?”

From within the fuchsia, Aoi abruptly stood, and began walking down the long, cobblestone pathway that led to the front gate. He still sang quietly as he did so. Upon looking out through the gate’s bars, however, he saw the approaching couple, and fell silent for a moment. He spoke up, however, projecting his voice over to them.

Oh, hello! …Come on in, I don’t think I can open the gate from here, though…you’ll have to get it…

Ziazan shrugged, so much the disaffected teen. "Just depends on when Trystan brings him by again, Mama."

Faolan looked at Elle and gave her a "what can you do?" sort of look, shrugging as well. Zia was a moody little b***h sometimes and shouldn't be taken too seriously when it was wound into a snit. "Best catch your little 'un, Elle, afore someone sees her."

Elst eyed the shining spark in Verdant’s hands; it was obvious he treated it well. “My, you’ve certainly been taking care of him, eh? It’s good to see you’ve been so good to him.” He looked over at the fuchsia, just now realizing that the singing had disappeared. “And, actually, I haven’t the slightest as to where he went, he was over there singing with, yes, his beloved mp3 player a second ago…” He looked over, eyes widening as he saw, at a distance, Aoi standing near the gate, a massive butterfly hovering over him.

“Oh, wow, they must be here! That must be Ellandra’s Spark! Let’s go greet them, shall we?” He began down the path to the gate, eying the gigantic butterfly floating around Aoi.

Aoi looked rather nervous for a moment, from the surprise of a giant butterfly dive-bombing him from out of nowhere, but soon realized who it must have been, and he relaxed a little. I-I’m Aoi, I help with plants… As he said this, a tiny raincloud formed over a nearby flowering plant, pouring a bit of water on it before disappearing. He found that magic was getting easier and easier for him; he’d need to find some more complicated things to do.

Zia waved to Aoi, giving a sort of affected bored teen air. "Good to see you again."

Faolan patted the alter's shoulder, then attempted ushering his family inside before someone noticed the giant butterfly. "Let's go, family of mine. You can only shout 'look at that boozed-up naked monkey in the cornfield' before people stop falling for it and begin noticing what you're trying to distract them from. So, let's all go inside, okay?"

Verdant followed Elst over to the lovely gated entrance to the nursery. It was a bit of a long walk, but it gave him more time to admire the pretty little crystals in his hands. They had finally come close enough for Verdant to see their guests in good detail. Was that Ziazan in a hoodie? He looked like he'd rather be somewhere else than here. He immediately was labeled "Teen Angst Poster Boy" in Verdant's mind.

"Ellandra, Faolan! It's so good to see you!" He eyed the fluttering Proto that had been so merrily flitting about and smiled again. "So, this is your lovely Essentic, right? So cute!"

He waved cheerfully to the brooding Ziazan. "Hey! How's it hanging?"

He then followed after Elst at the mention of lunch; he was pretty hungry actually.