Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Office Depot: land of papers, office supplies, and the smell of ink. How lovely; it had all the smells and sights of a corporate office; how homey. The staff stood in their stiff khakis and ties, their blank faces the epitome of boredom. The store was nearly empty except for a few customers dotting here and there. The quiet calm of the usually-silent and austere store was broken by the warm laughter and rich chatter of two certain customers, wondering over the various mundane goods the store had to offer.

"My, my, look sister of mine! A handheld blade for sharpening one's pencil's! Ah, the marvels of today's world never shall cease to my amazement." The eldest of the the two sisters said, standing over a bin and examining a small pencil sharpener in utter fascination, pale olive-green fingers turning the small device over in her hands. Amazing....simply amazing. "Ezri, sister dearest, of these we must make a barter for it." The woman looked over to her sibling, holding up the small device for the lankier, less-curvy girl to see.

"Aye, dat be an interesting tidbit, dat be. But look at dis wee bit; paper dat sticks to things of its own accord! And look at all de bright colours it holds in its spectrum! We must obtain some of these as well!" the shorter, slimmer of the two chirped back in reply, holding up a packet of sticky notes for the older one to see. "And look at dese! Index cards of the brightest hues! What a lovely shade of green!" The girl let out a delighted giggle, hugging to colored paper rectangles to her chest and turning in a small circle, as if this was a precious treasure.

Amaranth glanced at his guardians a moment before sighing and shaking his head. Seriously, those two needed to get out more. The blonde turned on heel, leaving the two to marvel over the little interesting tidbits they found as he went to find what he'd come for: paper. After all, he needed paper if he was going to sketch. Well, that and it was an excuse to get some well-deserved quiet-and-alone time. He also needed some mechanical pencils, lead, and erasers, but paper was closer. Getting a basket for himself, he made his way into the maze of aisles, searching for the paper.

The dark-eyed, reticent boy had crouched down, inspecting some of the hard-backed, book-bound sketchbooks silently. He would have been content to browse in silent solitude, to be left to his own devices and thoughts in sweet solitude. But, as Fate would have it, that wouldn't be the case. The boy looked up as a familiar voice quietly broke the silence of the aisle. It was deeper and definitely older than he last remembered, but her recognized it. The boy stood to his feet in one fluid motion, head tilting slightly as he looked towards the sound, flat-black eyes landing on the boy.

"Gregory?" the boy asked, his paper-light voice barely louder than the other child's murmur. It looked like him, it sounded like him, so hopefully it was him.

A breath was released, one Amaranth hadn't realized he was holding, as the boy's identity was confirmed. "I have." he affirmed quietly with a nod, his stance relaxing somewhat. It was nice to see a familiar face after all the changes that had come about while living with his new guardians.

At the question, the boy paused, thinking of how to word it. "Things are...different. Living in a new place. With a new family. They are...less than conventional, and they're ways are different than what I am accustomed to. But, it's not unpleasant." Well, there was a quick summary of how he'd been doing. It was a sufficient answer, right? Right. A slight warmness worked it's way onto his features, but not enough to be considered a smile. "And you?" he asked, redirecting the question back to his friend.