Welcome to Gaia! ::

"We're here." Ebony stated obviously as she slide the small vehicle smoothly into an open spot and switch the engine off. She looked to her ward then, a touch of concern swimming on the surface of those silver orbs. Cordelia had been extremely quiet all day and it was starting to worry her. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to force the basilisk into a corner like this? After all, the girl had made it very clear earlier that she wasn't exactly Lucia's number one fan anymore. "Cordelia?"

She'd heard her woman, heard every little thing she'd uttered since they left the house and made their way to the beach in this tiny tin can. And it wasn't that she was purposely trying to ignore her, but rather she was so focused on listening that she'd forgotten to reply. Or rather, Cordelia didn't feel the need to say anything. Until now that is.

The automatic response to hearing her name brought the serpent Frei eye to eye with her guardian. Face utterly composed and calm, she simply replied, "Yes Ebby?"

Frowning, the British woman unbuckled and got out of the car. "I'm going to meet Lucia now. I would hope you'd join me, but...well that's really up to you. I won't make you, yet I really wish you'd at least hear her out." She didn't wait for a response and shut the driver's side door quietly before making her way down to the beach.

Again, Cordelia reacted immediately and followed suit, trailing after her woman silently. As they moved along, the floating girl's head tilted from side to side at the many interesting sights and sounds. For the beach, the day was just beginning as people began to pour in from all over Gaia, wanting nothing more than to bask in this beautiful day.

"Lucia!" the purple haired female belted out once she'd caught sight of the familiar Raevan and even dared a wave in her direction. Cordelia motioned to view her former friend, yet remained detached as she'd been for most of the day.

"Lucia..." Ebony seemed to breathe in a relieved tone. Truly the woman had been thinking of the kitten and her blonde guardian for sometime now, even when there really wasn't anything she could do since she hadn't a clue what had happened or where they were. With a tight smile, knowing full well that everything wasn't yet all well, "It's so good to see you dear. I hope you're well as is Yuurei?" Though she didn't exactly ask, the Brit's body language pretty much showed she was looking for any sign of the busty woman.

Meanwhile, Cordelia's black head tilted ever so slight at the metal object, the tiny clink sounding so loud in her ears, she watched as Lucia continued to flick it. She could feel a heaviness starting to weigh her down again as if she might sleep, yet the basilisk Raevan didn't so much as bat an eye. Delia was on the verge of remembering something when Ebony's hand reached out and tugged the girl closer.

As if answering a question that no one had asked, Delia softly uttered, "Yessss..." Her serpent's tongue drawing out the 's' longer than she normally would have or was necessary.

"Sssssorry..." This could have been seen as mocking, but in reality the basilisk had yet to really learn that conversational tactic. What she did was tilt her head back and forth as if mulling over the apology and its meaning, like some great truth would be revealed if she did.

When the gift was abruptly presented to her, the younger Frei gave it the same consideration as her friend's apology. Yet with this she added something more by physically inspecting it as well, slender digits sliding over its smooth surface and finally tugging at the shiny bow once, but giving no indications of actually opening it.

"It's pretty." she said plainly and truthfully. Had Cordelia been in her right mind, she would have been pretty gleeful for having a gift (even one from what she considered an enemy) and wrapped so thoughtfully in her favorite color too.

Ebony nodded and listened patiently to Lucia's rushed run through of what had happened to her previously. Placing a firm hand on the girl's shoulder, "Think nothing of it now dear. What's done is done and now it's past. What matters is that everyone got out of it alive, you especially. I'm sorry for your terrible ordeal, but glad to have you back to normal. As I'm sure..." The woman gave her own dark ward a curious glance, brow arched high at the girl's unusual mannerisms and lack of emotion. It was so unlike her, yet perhaps she was still very upset about the whole incident between her and Lucia. "As I'm sure Cordelia is. Right Cordelia?"

Something seemed to stir in that mirrored gaze and Delia instantly responded. "Yes, of course, glad to have you back." She even managed a small smile as if remembering something very pleasant.

A surprised gasp and some stiffness was what awaited Lucia on first contact with the hug. Ebony still wasn't use nor prepared when others did that to her, but thanks to her own overly affectionate ward, she was starting to get use to it. Dare we say, even liking it?

Slowly, the woman wrapped her own arms around the other dark Frei and gave a light squeeze. She could just sense the utter need for reassurance, for comfort in that one weak moment from Lucia, and it nearly broke Ebony's heart. The Brit knew that Delia's feelings of mistrust and hurt were justified, but Lucia honestly seemed to be better now and was most clearly sorry for what she'd done. Hopefully the snake would see this and stop being aloof.

"You're welcome Lucia." she murmured softly into the girl's ear before letting her go.

Again, if Cordelia had been acting like herself, such an act as the cat hugging her guardian then would have been most unacceptable. But as it was, the girl merely watched in silence, finding no harm of the simple action for the moment. Things might have changed for the blissed out Raevan had Lucia decided to do something to hurt Ebony, but this was not the case and thus Delia remained as she was.

Her eyes, of which looked so much more serpentine in this hyper-aware state, trailed over to the girl and the present once more. Curiosity clearly reflected in those silver orbs, Cordelia listened attentively to what the other girl had to say. Yet at the suggestion of opening the gift, the smokey girl quickly complied, effectively ripping the package open wide and removing the items carefully.

Silver watched silver dance in the sun as Delia dangled the charm bracelet around, looking at it from almost every angle. "Zul..." she said with a soft fondness. That was right, she remember that Rivener had mentioned that Lucia had been spending a lot of time with the demon lately. She remembered how angry she'd been (still was), but none of that displayed now as she extended the jewelry carefully to her guardian for safe keeping.

Next was the trendy, yet somewhat risque shirt Lucia had modified for the other Frei. At the sight of it, Ebony's eyes widened considerably, yet refrained from snatching the thing out of the youth's hands. It was hard, but she didn't want to hurt Lucia's feelings especially with knowing how hurt she already was. Yet...her mind was already thinking of good places to hide the shirt until she deemed Cordelia old enough to wear it. Which was never of course. Delia, on the other hand, simply traced her fingers smoothly across the black snake splattered across it. She liked it very much, smiling sweet before handing it too to Ebby before the poor woman busted an eye vein from all that twitching it was doing.

And last, but not least, the coup de grace. The basilisk's smile soon pulled into a larger grin, her eyes almost glittering with the same level of brilliance it normally did when she was extremely pleased. Hugging the bag in a tight hug as if very protective of it suddenly, "Green...I love green...thank you..." There was another moment of silence that seemed to stretch for eternity. Her mind could be seen quickly thinking, calculating something. Finally her dark lips moved again, "You know that this only softens the blow you dealt."

"CORDELIA!" Ebony gasped, entirely shocked at what her ward was saying. She was fit to continue on with more, but was stopped by her Raevan's almost sinister glare and strong lifted hand that pleaded for her silence. This was a side of Delia the woman hadn't seen until now. What had gotten into the smokey girl?

Turning back to the kitten, "I will accept your gestures of apology, but I will not, cannot accept the apology itself because I cannot easily forgive. What you did was unacceptable Lucia, even if it was outside yourself to control." Her hands roamed gently over the bag once more. "By your hands destroyed, by your hands rebuilt. Let us rebuild."

And with that, the dark serpent's enlightened spiel ended, her looking more worn from it than could have been anticipated. Ebony was speechless of course and could do nothing more than look back and forth between the girls, mouth slightly agape. Where the HELL did that all come from?

"No Lucia, wait!" the British woman quickly said, grabbing the girl's wrist gently to keep her there with them. "Please, just...just wait a moment okay?" With that she let the Frei go and hoped she would wait.

Turning stormy eyes onto her own ward, Ebony carefully placed her hands on the youth's shoulders, giving them a little shake. "Cordelia, you NEED to understand and apologize for being...for being..." Her first thought was 'for being so cold', but then thought twice about saying that. No doubt Cordelia would take it far too literally as she had to be cold being so close to the cool sea. And getting side-tracked now wouldn't do any good. "For being rude and inconsiderate. Lucia is trying to apologize the best she can. You may not be able to forgive her, but you CAN accept her apology. You must!"

With the jarring, Delia felt herself waking just a tad, yet not enough to completely snap her out of her trance. Smoke black locks shook with her head. No, it was they who misunderstood. She knew she couldn't forgive the kitten for what she'd done, but she was willing to move beyond it, to rebuild their broken relationship. "I forgive nothing, but I accept everything Lucia places before me now." Couldn't they understand that? Or was she speaking in tongues again?

The woman opened her mouth, facials pulled into a defiant look, yet nothing came. Eventually her tan features smoothed out as her mouth closed, but a frown remained etched in her brow. She couldn't claim to understand this process in a friendship as Ebony had never been exactly close enough to anyone (aside from her late father) to have to get to an apology stage. Perhaps her want and need for having others in her life that she could care for and that could care for her is what had driven her to desperately cling to the feline then. She didn't want Cordelia turning out like her, un-bendable and alone.

Nodding her purple head at Lucia, the Brit decided to be quiet and keep out of it. This wasn't her battle to fight. The girls would have to find common ground again on their own, as much as she hated it.

Despite the sun, the sand and Delia's black attire, the ocean's breeze was strong and keeping things under one hundred degrees on the beach today. Thus fatigue was waning on the cooling snake as well, but it was hard to even try to fall asleep when your subconscious was so hyped up, thoughts buzzing about like little bees.

A tired sigh left her lips, "I'm hungry..." An odd thing to say at a time like this, but it was true nonetheless. With a tiny smile, the younger girl floated down and took Lucia's hand in her own. Tugging her along back towards Ebby's car without really asking if she wanted to, "Come on, it's too cold here. You'll come home with us. I'll show you my violin."