Welcome to Gaia! ::

Just as with the first of the meetings the second one was set up for four children, among this group there were a few children who was missing their DNA parents and then there was a situation like that of the girl Nina. Unlike the others that had lost their parents to various incidents Nina would never have been able to meet her parents given that her DNA was acquired in a very different manner then the others, he would know as he was the one that had retrieved it from his sister, Cydi so long ago. It was her blood that had paid for his way out of the contract that he'd had with Vampy.

He glanced over at the little picnic that he had set up for the children that were coming to visit, complete with snacks and juice. They were going to be studying outside today since the Labs were still on lock down, it was something that had happened since Vampy was so busy with his project and after Coatl had slipped in undetected and taken out a demon... well after that everyone was being super careful.

The Fallen moved over to wait at the iron gate, to let in the ones he was waiting for as they arrived.

As the date for the scheduled "parent meeting" for Nina drew closer, Ephron began to wonder if it had really been such a good idea. The child had been under his care for just shy of one month, with less-than-anticipated interaction with other spawn than he was expecting. Was it too soon for her to be returning to the facility?

This question seemed to pop into his head at increasing rates until the day of, peaking as he rolled the small car slowly down the last block before they arrived. He had been blocking the racket out throughout most of the ride, but Nina's voice seemed to cut through his idle thoughts the closer they got. "I don't want to go!" she cried from the back, punching at Ephron's seat to emphasize her point. He was starting to fear if this was going to be how she was planning on acting through the entire meeting as well.

"Nina! Stop it!" he nearly shouted, attempting to cut her actions short with the volume. It didn't work, unfortunately, and she resorted to kicking at the back of his seat instead. "Stop acting like this! I'm not going to leave you there! I'll be right there with you, okay? If you don't cut it out, I'm going to crash!" He had perfect control of the car, but he had to make some excuse to get her to settle down, even if it was just a notch.

She ceased, and crossed her arms in a huff. She was tempted to keep at it, but it wasn't getting her anywhere. In all honesty, she was terrified. She growled, "How do I know if you're lying or not?"

Ephron sighed, thinking it over. After a moment, during which he ended up pulling to the side of the street just across from the facility, he turned around in his seat. "I'll give you this. You hold onto it until we get back. I wouldn't leave without it, least of all without you," he answered, holding out what appeared to be any old rock. Nina gave him a questioning look as she grabbed it, examining it to try to figure out his logic. He continued, "It was my mom's. It's what's called a 'geode.' It looks like a regular pebble on the outside, but it's lined with crystals on the inside. It isn't worth much, but it's something precious that used to belong to someone I hold dear." Although she was trying to hold the scowl on her face, she couldn't help but feel intrigued by the rock in her hands. Smiling, Ephron nudged Nina towards the door, "Now, we should hurry or we'll be late!"

Once they neared the iron-bound entrance, Nina found herself lighting up as a familiar red-and-gold figure caught her eye. "Rosa!" she called, waving excitedly. She was still apprehensive about the whole thing, but maybe this wouldn't be so bad...

The tall, iron gate was opened up for the three to come inside and the blond gave a smile. Despite his many scars the man really was quite cheerful and seemed to still be rather pretty somehow, in flawed sort of way. He looked over the trio that had arrived one after the other and let them in. Only missing the only boy that was supposed to be a part of this group. Almas would keep an eye out for him he thought, "Good afternoon." He greeted them.

He stepped back to allow the three to head to the picnic area for the snacks and drinks if they wished it, giving the parents that had come along a smile, "Hello." He said to them, before his attention was focused more on the group as a whole, "My name is Almas Gamaliel, I work here at the Labs and am here today to answer any questions you might have for me about your parents."

Might as well start this off he thought to himself, as much as he wanted to put it off due to the fact that explaining to a young group was a little tough, "For the moment, due to issues going on with..." He trailed off a moment, trying to think of a better way to explain given they were children, "I just thought it might be more fun to hang out outside with those your own age, to talk, its warm out and there aren't any techs that hang out around here so it will be far more comfortable for everyone."

He was sure that even these children, perhaps Nina especially, would know how difficult it could be dealing with Techs and how a nice outing without any of them might be preferable.

Ily turned around at the sound of her name. Well, nickname that only one other person really used other than her father, that was. A wide grin spread across her face as the familiar brown and teal-striped hair caught her attention. "NINA!" she squealed, waving back excitedly. So Nina was gonna be there too? That made it WAAAAAAAAAY better!

Before she had time to say anything else to her friend, a flash of red caught her eye as well as the familiar frame of none other than-"BLEEZ! HAI!!! Ohmygoshyewgrewtew!!!" she squealed, waving to the girl and looking ready to explode from excitement. "Nina! Have you met Bleez before? She's fast like me and likes dinosaurs!" the girl explained quickly, unsure of whether the two had met before or not. Well, better be safe than sorry.

"Ilyrosa calm down! I think all your squealing is making my ears bleed," Damon grumbled, rubbing his ear as he made his way over to the gate and where his daughter currently resided.

"OH!! DERE'S KALEB!! HAI!!!" Ilyrosa called out, waving to the boy. Her memories of him were few, since they had been in a day care and she was taken home before she could do much more than learn his name. "Hey! Hey, is there gonna be more people comin'?" she asked, tugging on Almas' pant leg curiously before her gaze returned to Nina with her grin growing even wider. "You're gonna have so much fun! Bleez is really awesome and Kaleb's PURPLE," she said excitedly, bouncing up and down.

As Almas conveyed to the group that there weren't going to have to deal with any techs during the meeting, Ephron saw that Nina visibly relaxed some tensed muscles when she heard the words. Her eyes seemed to grow a little wider, as if she couldn't quite believe it yet immensely hopeful all the same, which was mimicked in the way that her misty wings reacted. Although they weren't very noticeable under the light of the sun, the slight change in her defensiveness was evident. Ephron smiled, nodding to Almas in greeting as well as to communicate a hidden message of, "That's good to hear!" Obviously, neither of them were aware of the circumstances leading to this decision, but were grateful nonetheless.

Despite the news and a slightly uplifted mood, Nina still felt slightly uncomfortable. The wrath-liberality spawn that arrived seemed very hyperactive, a trait that tended to get on her nerves, and the lust-liberality boy appeared to be rather sympathetic with the techs at the facility. At least, that's how it appeared to her. Frowning, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Although she was a child that could lose her temper quite easily, in front of such a large gathering of strangers, she wanted to put all effort forth to avoid that outcome as much as possible. Who knows? Maybe her assumptions were wrong. Even if they were correct, she could just as easily still get along with someone with differing interests. She was hoping, at least.

She smiled as Ilyrosa introduced her to Bleez. "Naw, we haven't met before," she confirmed, before jumping a little at Bleez's outstretched hand. She almost felt uncomfortable to grab it in a handshake, until she realized that Bleez's other hand was clawed -- just like her's. She grinned, glad that there was a little more common ground between the two of them before she shook this new acquaintance's hand with her own taloned one, careful of the claws. Her smile grew broad; if she had been sensitive to such things, her cheeks probably would have been tinted red from all the compliments as well. "Thank you! It's nice to meet you, too!" Obviously still not much for small talk, but at least she wasn't uncomfortable about the whole thing. "You like dinosaurs?" she asked, curious to the statement.

The difficulty of this meeting probably would have been multiplied a few times over if Ilyrosa hadn't been here to show Nina the ropes, or at least to introduce her to people. It wasn't as though the rare spawn was shy, not at all, she was just rather antisocial in larger groups. And if Rosa was sure that she would be able to get along with these two new acquaintances of her's, she believed her. Now, the only person to worry about was Almas himself.

Ephron had moved closer to the picnic spread, trying to get Nina's attention so that she could make her way over as well with her friends; no such luck. Well, either way, they'd end up meandering on over this way in a bit. The meeting had to get going, so it wasn't as though they could spend too much of their time trying to catch up on time.

Ily seemed to glow with happiness at how well Nina and Bleez seemed to get along. There was still a little uneasiness, but she was sure it would pass eventually. As the gate locked behind them, she seemed to suddenly become a little more defensive. She didn't like being in an enclosed area, even if it was as large as the one she was in.

Wait, DNA donors? Did that mean her angel mummy and demon mummy? Ily's eyes trailed over to where Almas and the folders he said had stuff on their parents rested. "Hey, wanna go look at th' stuff?" she asked once it seemed like Nina and Bleez weren't talking and she was free to interrupt. As she reached for one of the cookies on the table, she felt a soft slap to the hand and was handed a juice box instead. "No cookies, Ily. You have too much energy as it is," Damon scolded, obviously only keeping an eye on her so as to keep the little diligence spawn from consuming unneeded sugar.

"So you have all th' stuff on our paren's?" Ily asked Almas curiously, tail flicking back and forth as she inspected the man from her location by Bleez and Nina.

"OH.YEAH! I.like dinosaurs.a.lot! Tyrannosaurus.Rex.is mah.favorite!" Bleez excitedly replied to Nina's question. "I.know.lot 'bouts.'em.too!" She smiled, joyous that someone was asking her about dinosaurs. Maybe Nina would like to know more about them? She could definitely give her a bunch of information on different types. And as she failed to bring anything tangible to the picnic, she almost felt obligated to give out facts about something she knew.

When Kaleb said "dead" Bleez jerked her head quickly to Almas' direction. "Dead.like.extinct?" she blurted out in her fast speech, "Did.it.get REAL.cold? Or.was.dere a.me-meteor?" In her concern Bleez had scooted her way near Almas. Is she were tall enough, she'd be right in his face.

Moira covered a near laugh with a false cough. Bleez didn't understand death entirely, but she did understand that dinosaurs were extinct and extinct meant dead. So, her thinking was that all death equaled extinct... like the dinosaurs. "Bleez, 'oney, come sit by mummy. I'm sure Mr. Gamaliel will explain if you give him a chance to." Moira held out her hand for Bleez to take.

Reluctantly, Bleez skulked over to her mother's side, refusing her hand and plopping down on the ground, hard. Her tail twitched back and forth in annoyance. Why was her mum ALWAYS telling her what to do in groups like this? She wasn't causing any problems! She huffed, letting the air escape the fanged side of her mouth as she snatched a carrot stick. It was humiliating, really. Stupid mum being stupid. She bit the carrot and snapped it in half with a loud crack. Putting her chin in her clawed hand, she chewed the carrot in an angry silence.

Moira sighed, Bleez was getting to the point where she didn't want to listen to her if she had something to say about her behavior. At least she was still listening, though, right? If she was like this now, Moira was dreading when her hormones would kick in. At least, she assumed the spawn had hormones like any other kid. She mentally gulped. What if they were worse?

Almas gave Ilyrosa a smile and a nod, "I know a good deal about the original group, I am working on learning more about the newcomers though and getting to know them." He said with a smile, "I am also the only one to have actually met Nina's donors as they were never here, I had to venture out to find them."

He turned his attention then to Kaleb as the boy spoke and he nodded his head, "Yes, though two of the angels were freed from an outside source, a rather dangerous angel called Coleth." The one that had injured Vampy and himself, not that a few wounds were going to stop him from doing his job any time soon, "Jhor was, to our knowledge, one of those two. Coleth himself claim responsibility for the two going missing saying he'd sent them home."

Almas thought on it for a moment, "Jhor was very strong and he was very caring, he was in the process of attempting to free the angels with the help of his sister Anani when Coleth sent the two of them home." He left out the part about them battling with Vampy and getting injured since it wasn't important now, children didn't need to hear such stories anyway. Almas lifted up one of the folders, flipping through it and took out the picture of the Liberality angel and held it out to Kaleb to see, "His traits were the living metal wings he had, dark hair, brown eyes, and occasionally the swirling designs on his hands would manifest themselves on some of the spawn born from his DNA."

His attention turned toward Bleez as he spoke and he had to think on that one for a moment, "Ahh... yes, a bit like extincted I suppose." He agreed, "Cold? No... there was an odd explosion in the case of one demon, while it was fights that took out the other two." He spared the details, giving the most basic of information. He didn't seem to be bothered by her close presence after raising two spawn of his own, his son Luthor and Pepper.

Almas turned to digging through one of the folders again and took out two very special pictures, "This one is of Vaelaeli the demon of Revenge and this one is the angel of Hope, Cydi." He told Nina, giving her a smile.