Welcome to Gaia! ::

Despite the fact Gabrian loved water, it was only on rare occasions that he went out on stormy days. This was usually due to two reasons. The first was that it was slightly inconvenient to come back to the dorms dripping wet from having walked through the rain in his clothes, rather than in his serpent form. The second was that... well, he'd already come to realize he'd become irremediably addicted to company and the few people he'd gotten close enough to enjoy walking under the rain with all probably objected the idea. It was a lot like eating cookies; it was just not the same if he was all alone.

Alas, sometimes, however, the call was too strong and he went out, inconveniences be damned. That only tended to happen when he'd spend a few nights on a row sleeping outside of water, which was now slowly becoming a habit. His body demanded he somehow replace his sleeping habits with a nice dip during the storm, and seeing as how he'd been doing nothing other than reading a book while watching the clouds roll in, he'd put his book down. He'd been smelling the upcoming storm for a while, and he'd been trying to decide what to do about it, but after the first few distant rumbles, the nix had given up entirely. Casting one last look at his room, the demon had murmured something about rain approaching to his pets and then had slipped on out.

Later that day, Gabrian would probably say it was fate or something that tugged him out but for now, he wasn't entirely thinking on any of that. In fact, the moment he set foot outside of the dorms, he allowed himself to shift to serpent form, sniffing the air which he felt was charged with tension. Then, he'd made his way towards the river; he'd only just managed to slip into it when the first few droplets hit his scales. He roared with the thunder, his voice masked by the sound of the phenomenon and just like he let loose around his friends, the nix allowed himself to let loose here too, though in an entirely different way. He poured his frustrations, irritations and all those feelings he'd been unable to cope with for a while out in the open, lashing at the water, diving in... diving out, snapping his jaws at startles fish as he sped through the water.

It helped, actually. Probably more than anyone realized and it was only once the rain was starting to really pour that the large serpent allowed himself to calm from whatever fit he'd just thrown, instead allowing himself to swim calmly along the river length. He even went as far as snatching small pieces of river plant life to chew on as he went and it was probable he'd have made his way down the river and back had a rather familiar voice not caught his attention. Well, no, technically it wasn't a voice; it was just familiar sounds. Coughing, grunting and small curses which Gabrian instantly recognized as Ren which.... oh dear. The serpent just hoped the gryphon had been entirely too occupied in his predicament to have heard his roaring and lashing out earlier. After all, he'd been just around the river bend.

After just a second of hesitation, he swam forward and wrapped around the other boil slightly, allowing him to grab onto his body as if it were a life saver, "Ren, relax for a moment," this was said in a deeply calming voice as he pressed the top of his head against his friend's face, "You're not ever going to climb out of that bank. It's raining and there's mud. You're going to slip right on in," he began toy move downstream, "Hold onto me; I'll take you somewhere where the water is less deep so you can step out," as he swam, his eyes slid over to the other boil, gold and slitted, but still questioning, even if he didn't voice it. What was Ren even doing out here?

"Shhh..." it was breathed out as more of a hiss than an actual hushing sound, though this was mostly due to the fact he was in his serpent form and he really couldn't help elongate some of the 's' sounding words, "Don't talk too much; you're frozen to the bone and you're going to need the strength to walk back, because I can't carry you bridal style all the way," which did imply he might be able to carry him some of the way. Unfortunately, Ren was nowhere near as small as LW, whom he'd carried in that style before. As he swam slithered through the water, he kept looking for swallower placed where he might be able to help the gryphon emerge out of the river. This was, after all, no place for Ren; just like the sky was not made for Gabrian's enjoyment, the water was not made for the other boil's and he under this entirely.

It wasn't until they'd been swimming for a good few minutes that the river became swallower, creating what looked almost like a beach's shore to the right, and the serpent maneouvered over towards it, helping the gryphon stand up on the ground so he could walk out, "I was enjoying a nice swim, if you must know. But I'm quite finished," this fact became quite obvious when the nix, too, stepped out of the water, reverting back to his student form; his clothes were soaked through and his hair plastered over his forehead, but he didn't quite seem to mind all that much, "You know how LW gets when there's a full moon?" despite the fact Gabrian was using one arm to help support Ren as he stepped out of the mud and onto firmer ground... his other one lifted and rubbed the back of his head almost sheepishly, "Storms are a bit like that for me. I usually don't go out unless I feel a particularly strong need to. Usually, that happens when I don't sleep in water and lately I've... been sleeping out of the water," something about the way he said that seemed to betray that yes, he was hopelessly addicted to the company he'd found in them all.

Once they'd stepped out, he paused and looked at his friend, "Do you need help?" he didn't really want to offend the gryphon by helping him walk unless he really needed it. Then, he waved a hand, "Anyhow, as I was saying. I don't usually do it, but the fact I've been sleeping out of water and err... the frustration I've felt over some tidbits sort of made me decide I should come out and let lose for a bit," stretching his arms over his head, the nix closed his eyes and lifted his face to the sky, allowing the rain to fall on him, obviously enjoying it, "It did me good," dropping the stance, he turned to the other boil, "But the question here is; what are you doing out?"

Had this been any other time, Gabrian would have likely scoffed at Ren, told him he was being delusional and probably left it at that. However, something about the way the other boil was stuttering (or rather, he figured it was the fact his teeth were knocking together from his shivering), not to mention the way he hugged himself... made the demon let out a sigh, "Yes, I believe I may have to, Ren," it didn't sound like the demon was inconvenienced, but rather, it was almost as if he were deeply concerned. In his defense though, the gryphon looked horribly pitiful at the current moment. So much so that Gabrian was quite glad he was the only witness of his friend's downfall, "Please tell me you're not coming down with a cold," he couldn't tell, given the rain and the fact their clothes were soaked through; the way the other boil was talking was not encouraging though. Specially not encouraging was the fact Ren didn't seem to be currently able to walk three paces before falling flat on his face, and while the nix had immediately tried to react in an attempt to help... he stopped when the other boil stood and tried again. Alas, it was only to have the process repeated, for he collapsed down on the ground again.

"H...h-help m-me...? .....p-please..?"

In all honesty, Ren didn't really have to ask in such a pitiful, pleading way; the nix had already begun moving towards him before the gryphon had started talking, "All you have to do is ask," he murmured as he crouched down on the ground. For a moment, he remain there, as if surveying the situation, the ground and his chances of pulling off what he had in mind without falling on the ground with Ren in tow, "Let's give this a try, shall we? Let's just hope that whole thing about birds having hollowed bones is true," that really, the only warning the gryphon got before Gabrian curled one arm under his knees and the other around his back, attempt to indeed lift him off the ground and carry him bridal style. If only because this was probably easier than having to drag around Ren's dead weight and, well,Gabrian felt rather revitalized by the rain in question, "I don't think I'm going to be able to carry you for long, love," he drawled out as he looked down at the boil in his arms, "You're no LW, but I'll probably reach the school gates before I have to put you down."

As they walked, he found himself snorting, "I'm hardly strange. Aquatic. Pull to water and all that. I keep getting the impression you guys forget about that little tidbit," there was a pause during which Gabrian narrowed his eyes before he lowered his head, allowing his forehead to land on Ren's as they walked, "Hmmmm.... I can't even tell if you have a fever or not, jack damnit," he lifted his head up and tried to move his hair out of his face with a sharp movement; it sadly, remain plastered over the nix's forehead, forcing him to blow every so often, seeing as how his hands were occupied, "As far as being out because you needed to take your mind off of things... this wouldn't have anything to do with your recent visit to your house, would it?" he allowed that small bit to sink in before continuing,"LW told me all about that," and by 'told him all about it', Gabrian meant he'd managed to yank it out of the she wolf quite successfully, "Do you want to talk about it?" preferably while drinking hot chocolate and wrapped around warm, fuzzy blankets, actually, but he figured that right now that was asking a bit much.

Ren was indeed surprisingly light, to the point the nix suddenly stopped walking in order to move the gryphon in his arms, his face thoughtful, as if he were judging something or other, "Hmmm.... actually, no, scratch that," he drawled out as he continued onward, his tail twitching lightly behind him, "You're not that heavy. You're only slightly heavier than LW, and I've been able to carry her longer distances," he seemed to consider his own words and snorted lightly, "I'll let you make the choice, Ren, because I'm not quite sure you want to be seen carried across campus in this style. So if you think you can manage, I'll let you down once we get to the gates," Gabrian motioned up ahead, eyes hooded calmly as he moved, "It's right up ahead, don't worry. We'll get you warmed up. And we'll refrain from mentioning this little escapade to the ghouls; you know they tend to worry," unfortunately, the position was hardly warm. Now that he was out of the water, with the wind blowing against him though... it was uncomfortable, and he clutched Ren all the tighter out of instinct.

"You look like crap," he told the boil his his arms, his gaze lowering down to inspect him, "And I mean that as lovingly as possible, Ren. But honestly, you do. I was going to offer you some swimming lessons at some point, I realize what a bad idea that is just by taking one look at you," he shifted the boil's weight slightly so he could snake the hand gripping around his back to his forehead, pressing his palm against it, "Hmmm..." shaking said hand, he attempted to rub it against Ren's shoulder to heat it up, "I really can't tell, jack damnit..." thankfully though, they were reaching the school gates and the nix let out a soft sigh of relief, "Would you rather I carry you all the way, or would you like to give walking a try? I'm taking you to my dorm by the way. The ghouls are in the monster building right now anyhow, and I rather not risk it until I have to all freshened up and warm."

The fact Ren had evaded the topic of his visit was not missed and the demon narrowed his eyes slightly, but chose to ignore it for the time being, instead deciding to focus on what was a little bit more important now. Which was... trying to get Ren on his feet without allowing him to fall flat on his face. This was easier said than done though, seeing as how the poor gryphon could barely hold himself up, "I'm going to let go of your feet, but keep my arm around your back. You keep yours around my neck and we'll make it just fine with a little bit of effort," the position was reminiscent of the one he'd been in with Alessa during their walk through the Icy path in Christmas land, albeit... much colder due to their soaked clothes, "And... you know perfectly well what I'm talking about," it was said only after he'd begun to take tentative steps forward, waiting to see if Ren could endure this or if he'd have to lift him up into his arms again, "Don't be too harsh on LW though. It took me quite a long while to get it out of her. The little minx refused to tell me anything but.... I got it out of her at the end," he actually managed a small smile, as if to say that why yes, he had his methods, and they were actually quite effective.

Alas, the smile vanished almost as soon as it came, his grip around the gryphon's middle section tightening just a notch, "Well," he drawled out, "I'm not going anywhere, Ren, and surprisingly enough, no, I have nothing better to do than hear you talk. I like your voice anyhow. Might as well make some conversation and get it off your chest. I'll listen," he paused and motioned towards the demon dorms up ahead, "Might make you feel better. specially once we're inside. Do you like hot chocolate?" this was murmured as the took their first steps up the stairs and into the dorms.

Ren's small snort was met with an elegant arch of the demon's brow, "Healthy, you say, huh," they were climbing up the stairs of the dorm, and he figured that taking the gryphon's mind off the task was probably for the best, "I don't know, Ren. One would figure that with Alessa for a ghoulfriend, your diet would have too much sweet stuff to be determined as 'healthy'," he smirked down at his friend slightly, and then helped him up the last couple of steps, thankful to be out of the rain and under a roof. Granted, the demons weren't going to like the fact the corridors were going to be soaking wet... but they would have to deal. Hopefully the gnomes would fix the water stains they left as they walked along soon enough, "I won't tell them if you don't," he murmured, making his way to his dorm room, which was thankfully on the first floor. He'd never been so glad to live on the ground floor than that very day, "What they don't know," he murmured as they reached his door, "Can't hurt them," he used his free hand to open the door and peeked inside, making sure there were no unexpected visitors before shoving it wide open in order to guide Ren inside.

Firs things first; they were going to have to get Ren out of those clothes and dried up. Then dressed up in clean, warm clothes, followed by chocolate, with marshmallows, apparently, "I keep wondering how we get ourselves into these situations..." it was probably hard to tell what he meant by those words, at least until he unwound his arm from around Ren, allowing him to drop on the sofa before going to the dresser. Once there, he grabbed a large towel and a set of baggier, more comfortable clothes; the ones he'd worn the day he'd met Medieval, actually. After tossing the towel and the clothes to his friend, he turned to watch him, arching a brow as he leaned against the dresser, "We're always getting into situations, you know," the way he stressed out that word seemed to suggest at the clothing (or lack there of), was becoming much more normal than it probably should be, "Bathroom's over there, but I've no qualm on you just taking them off there. I was also wondering if your wings might need a hair blower. They look heavy like that. Your hair might need a go too," but then, so did his.

Gabrian, however, unlike Ren, could wait. He wasn't going to catch a cold anytime soon and though it was true he didn't particularly enjoy the fact his clothes were soaking... it was merely a minor inconvenience, as far as he was concerned, "Hmmm.... you know. If you ever go back, you should take me with you instead," he had little doubt he'd manage to do anything at all, but really, he wanted to see it with his own eyes, "People rarely change. Which is probably something they don't realize. I think you're just fine the way you are," a shrug, and then a small smirk, "I can be very convincing and persuasive when I want to be; I get what I want out of you, don't I?" he seemed to catch the way Ren arched a brow, because he lifted his hands in the air, as if in mock defense, "I was a perfect gentleman all the way. I am most innocent," and despite the fact he looked anything but, it was technically true.

Another smirk, which soon enough dissolved into a smile; a real smile, "Your voice is lovely, Ren," he then brushed his own comment aside by motioning towards the cupboards, "I've got marshmallows, but you might want to freshen up first, love."

For a long moment, it was quite clear that Gabrian was trying to decide if he should laugh or snort at Ren's words. Honestly, he couldn't even think of a decent way to rebuke his claim because... well, the gryphon was right; most of the questionable situations they had found themselves in, had been initiated by him, "Indeed?" he managed as he arched a brow, "All I can say in my defense, is that you were asking for it. Every single time," he winced slightly at Ren's first sneeze, which was swiftly followed by a succession of sneezing, "Eesh... Ren, change already. You're going to catch your death if we dally any more," he turned around and headed towards the dresser again, this time pulling out a clean towel and another set of clothes which he intended on putting on himself. After all, worrying about his friend was all fine and dandy, but he should probably take the chance to dry himself off too; while it was true he rather liked water, he did not appreciate the cold feeling that accompanied it when he emerged wet from a river.

"Hmmmm?" he looked over his shoulder as Ren spoke again, and then made a soft clicking sound with his tongue, "You have nothing I've not seen before," was his drawled out declaration as he shrugged out of his vest and cape, using the towel to dry his chest, head and hair off. Then, after dropping the wet, soggy clothes into the laundry basket, he took his clothes and headed towards the bathroom, turning his head to offer his friend a smirk, "Of course I have a hair dryer. Why do you ask?" he was about to close the bathroom door behind him when he paused, frown and turned towards the other boil again, pointing at the ground with a finger, "Stay. Wait for me here. I mean it. Don't go away," that said, he slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

When he emerged, some minutes later, he was sporting baggy sweatpants and a large, comfortable sweater. Under one arm, he held the hair dryer he'd talked about earlier, "And why not?" he'd emerged just in time to hear his friend squawk about how he could not go home with him, "I reckon that... it might be a g good idea to handle them, rather than let them handle you whenever they see fit. You know what they say - attack before your enemy can attack. I'm not a fighter, Ren, but I can stand my ground a touch better than my poor Puppy," his other hand held a brush which he was using to comb through his hair, making his way towards the bed where he flopped down by Ren's side. He offered the gryphon a small smirk of a smile, "Yes, persuasive. But that's because I'm usually right, am I not?" that said, he let out a sigh, "Fine, fine. Chocolate first. After I set it up, you're flipping over on your stomach so I can dry off your wings. Otherwise you're going to be napping on wet blankets soon enough," that said, he got up and made his way towards the kitchen which... was, essentially, just a couple of cupboards, a mini fridge, and a microwave.

No, Gabrian could not cook, and he wasn't even going to try it, "You liked marshmallows, didn't you? If you want those, you're going to have to help me," that said, he grabbed the bag of marshmallows from a cupboard and tossed it across the room at the gryphon, "How do you plan on handling your family anyhow, Ren? Ignoring their existence is all fine and dandy until it's... not. you're going to have to do something at some point."

Making the chocolate was nowhere near as hard as making that damned minipet food had been. After all, it didn't really involve real cooking; at least not the type of cooking Gabrian was almost certain might cause his room to catch fire. It was quite obvious by his fluid movements that this wasn't the first time he'd gone through the trouble to make himself (or someone else) a cup of it. In fact, going by the simplicity and efficiency of his movements, it was probable he had chocolate quite often; he was even able to pay Ren most of his attention as he moved about, "I have no idea where you might go, Ren. I just didn't want you leaving to evade talking to me. Besides," this was said as he finally extended a hand, no doubt expecting Ren to have the marshmallows ready, "It's not all about you; I need help."

The small admitance probably seemed almost out of place given the current conversation. However, the moment the demon turned to look at his friend, it was clear that he was not only not mocking the gryphon, but looked deeply concerned, "Leaving your family aside for a moment.... Ren, has Alessa ever taken her hoodie and those long... fluffy sleeve things she insists on wearing in your presence?" this was drawled out carefully as he handed the other boil a mug of warm chocolate, taking the other one for himself. Rather than wait for an answer (because he was quite sure the answer to his question was 'no'), Gabrian strode over to the bed, lifting the humid covers away from the bed so they could sit, "I figure you haven't, or you might have stormed into my room demanding an explanation," he sipped his chocolate before settling his gaze on the other boil, making a motion for him to come over, "Sit. Turn your back on me. I'll deal with your wings while we talk - and having a hair dryer is not girly. I heard you by the way. My hair happens to be long and I despise the cold," that and it tended to need quite a lot of care.

Waving a hand, the demon almost seemed to wave his words away, setting his mug on the nightstand before reaching for the hair dryer, "Anyhow," he murmured as he plugged it in, "As I was saying; you would have had something to say, because you see, Alessa was marked by a demon. Very much like LW was," he switched the thing on and began to dry his friend's wings, "The marks are around her wrists, I believe. both of them. Beautiful, little serpent bracelet marks," he reached with one hand, running his fingers through the feathers as he blew the hot air on them, "And before you decide you want to throttle me, I'd like to point out I'm only responsible for one of them; the other one was all Alessa's doing and you were actually present when it was made. The older one... well, I take full responsibility for it. I didn't like her very much when I made it. She was stubborn, rude and all kinds of unpleasant," he clicked his tongue over his fangs, "I'm not used to people being outright unpleasent to me and when she came to me, asking for singing lessons... I tricked her into shaking my hand; she owes me a favor which she won't be able to refuse doing."

His hand stilled in his friend's wing and the dryer lowered, "And I'm quite stuck. because now I do like her..." this was whispered, and the only reason Ren heard him was because the demon flipped the hair dryer off to continue talking, "I'm not sure what to do or how to do it in a way where she won't realize what I've done. She thinks she's giving me cooking lessons in exchange, but I worded the deal in a way that made it so rather than cooking lessons, she owes me a favor. I'm not sure how to break it - I've not even done the papers yet because I don't know how to break it to her without letting on what I did," at this point he let out another sigh, "The other mark doesn't bother me because her part is done; I owe her a favor, and... seeing as how Alessa is Alessa, I'm not particularly worried or concerned over what she might ask," setting the dryer down, he reached for his mug and took a few sips from the warm liquid, "As far as your parents go, well..." he turned his head and waited for Ren to look at him before continuing, "I don't think you can change them - just like they can't change you. What I meant to say was... how are you going to handle them? There will be a confrontation at some point. There will be a final confrontation where either they'll give up, or they will win. I'd rather the former over the later myself, and in my honest opinion, you should prepare for it. Also... don't worry. Feeling's quite mutual; I don't like them either. In fact, I abhor them," another sip, his hand reaching for the wings again, "I think they're mostly dry now."