Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sun was shining. It wasn't exceptionally warm, but Grayson was warm enough, dressed in a turtleneck and a pair of jeans that fit snugly where they ought to. He wasn't one of those boys who wore a belt for decoration; his pants covered all that they ought to, and if anyone saw his underwear, chances were, they had stumbled across him asleep in his own room. He might not have had a lot of shame, but he'd been brought up to not make too much of a spectacle of himself in public.

Apparently, this did not extend to singing on the sidewalk. Singing things that, perhaps, eighteen year-old boys didn't often sing.

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want," He sang, voice much too deep for the lines, though he didn't seem to notice. He got stray looks from those waiting for the light to change, but he also didn't notice those; his eyes were all for the signal, foot tapping along with the beat.

Grayson was a lover of music. Any and all kinds of music. He was in the kind of upbeat, silly mood that required upbeat, silly music, and there were few things better for that than the Spice Girls. While he wasn't anywhere near an avid fan, there was no denying there were a couple of songs on his iPod.

He may or may not have sang them in time with Elke in the past. He may or may not do it again.

The light changed, and he began to walk - well, less of a walk, more of a bebop. His hips moved in time to the beat, and he lifted his hands, the cords of his earphones tangling over his fingers as he went. It was a spectacle; a little girl laughed, and her mother quickly steered her across the street by her shoulders. Grayson continued to sing, undisturbed.

From the back, he probably looked a bit like a lean, straight-figured girl. His hair was in a side-pony, and those jeans looked like something that a girl would pour herself into for the sake of looking good. Despite his slight annoyance with Jude for calling him a girl, Grayson wasn't afraid of his feminine side (clearly) and didn't bother to take offense when narrow-minded people scoffed at him for it.

Well, except when they were Jude. But that was because Jude was Sagittarius, and Grayson was Leo, and he desperately wanted approval from his fellow Zodiacs. Wanted them to be proud to call him ally, friend.

The track switched, and the beat of silence was long enough for him to catch the tail end of a catcall. He blinked, glancing around, and was surprised to see Mackenzie.

He pushed pause on his purple iPod and grinned, lifting a hand. "Hey, Mackenzie."

Grayson's laugh was rich and loud, drawing an eye or two simply because it wasn't contained in the least. He wasn't embarrassed to be caught dancing, and it didn't occur to him that he should be, so he took Mackenzie's teasing in stride. In fact, he rolled his hips in time with hers, then slipped his iPod into his pocket so that it wouldn't disturb them.

"I'm no Shakira," he said teasingly, sliding his hands into the back pockets of his jeans.

He looked her up and down quickly, smile growing to see that she looked well. After Barren Pines, he sometimes still found himself pinching his arm to remind himself that it was over, he was awake, he was alive. He liked to look at his fellow Zodiac and see that they were all right.

"You look good." He stretched a little, popping his back as he did.

Standing in near mirror-poses, it was a little amusing... two people who were content and easy just being themselves, even if being themselves meant they sometimes resembled the opposite sex just a little too much for the rest of society to be comfortable with it. People began to move around them, some muttering about them taking up space on the sidewalk, but Gray merely rolled his eyes and stepped close to Mackenzie. People were so determined to get upset about every little thing that it was baffling to him, especially after Barren Pines.

Didn't anyone just enjoy life anymore?

"I don't think I can do the macarena." He watched her, grin broad, and laughed again. "Nice. I remember it, now. That was all the rage when we were little, wasn't it?"

Did anyone say "all the rage" anymore? Apparently, Grayson did.

He lifted his shoulders, the move what passed for a shrug when his hands were still in his back pockets. "I love to dance. I usually do fire spinning - it's when you dance with tools lit on fire. I actually used to make money doing it, too, but... my parents wanted me to find a real job, so I'm out looking."

He pulled a face. Eventually, he'd stop in somewhere and grab an application. Spending time with Mackenzie seemed far preferable just then.

"Not a lot," Grayson clarified, beginning his walk once more. Mackenzie fell in step with him, and he shrugged, sounding a little wistful. "It was still fun, though. I'll probably make better money once I get a real job, but I'm sure I'll be miserable."

It wasn't like him to be pessimistic, but Grayson didn't really see his attitude toward gainful employment as pessimism. He figured that was just the way things were going to be. His parents were tolerably pleased with their jobs, though always relieved when they came home and were able to relax, happiest when they were on vacation. He supposed it was just part of growing up. The very lucky few got jobs they sincerely loved, and the rest of them had to struggle through varying degrees of hatred for their jobs. Grayson figured, realistically, he would be one of the latter folk.


"You work at Shufflepuck? How is that?" Any place was going to be much the same as the next, as far as he was concerned.