Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Here we are! Come on boys!" Lillian called as she hopped out of the jeep. With hands on her hips she turned to look back where she came. A few moments after, like little ducklings, Iorek and Tyson got out of the vehicle and trailed after Lillian.

Lil wore a wide smile as she looked them over. "Good. Very good. Oh Reks, here, come closer." She gestured at the hunk of stone.

The raevan drifted close and leaned over. Lillian ran her fingers through his hair and worked to flatten the spiky hair in hopes that it wouldn't resemble a mangy lion mane. "There. Much better!" She stepped away from her work with a look of pride. "Now we're ready."

The trio made their way into the cafe, spoke with the hostess, and were seated outside. It was the perfect place to wait for Anita and her raevan's arrival.

"We're waiting for someone but I'd like to order an ice tea and a lemonade. Thank you." Lillian told the waiter. As the woman walked away she sat back in her chair and looked out at the beautiful park. Yep. This cafe was her favorite.

Hopefully Anitaa would be able to find it. She had called Lillian a few days ago after getting her number on a guardian phone list from the Lab. At the sound of the phone's chimes Lillian had dived upon the device. When the zipcode proved it belonged to a Gaia area and not that of another country, Lillian almost didn't answer the rings. But picking up the phone even when bummed turned out to be a good action.

Anita had called them asking to set up what you would call a 'play date' for the raevan in her care and Iorek. With socializing on the brain Lillian was eager to have them meet. Now they waited for the two to arrive.

Iorek sighed and sunk low to match the duo's sitting level. Tyson glanced over at him and arched a brow at the raevan's sullen behavior. "What's wrong, Reks? You look bummed or something."

Reks perked up when the boy called him out on how he was acting. He fidgeted and glanced from side to side. "Oh, no, no that's not it. Just nervous I suppose. Meeting a new raevan always makes me a little anxious." Iorek smiled weakly and looked between his two guardians. "I'm excited to meet him. I look forward to it, believe me. Just can't help but feel all...weird? Does that sound right?"

The trio looked up from chatting amongst themselves when they heard someone shout, 'Hey guys!'.

Lillian smiled and pushed out of her chair to walk over and meet Anita and Cruz. Anita was pretty gal and her raevan was very striking. His green hues were eye-catching and for a brief moment, Lil feared she may have been staring, "Heh, hello you two! I'm so glad you could come over and meet us. I know you guys live a ways away but I hope the travel was good. We've just been hanging around so our day as been go--"

"Very good." Tyson finished for her as he and Iorek got up and moved over to the little group. The lad grinned and looked between the two newcomers. Just like Lillian he thought Cruz was a very interesting raevan. His colors were vibrant and the sun just brought further life to his appearance.

"Wow, you're a pretty neat raevan. I um...I like your jewelry." Tyson motioned at the necklace and the golden piece Cruz wore. "Has anyone told you it looks like six eyes and a mouth? Kind of like you have a monster or something. It's so cool!" He grinned until he realized, "Uh...that's weird...sorry..." The boy laughed and looked away as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Although he had grown older he could still be a rambling chatterbox around raevans. No matter how old he became the fascination for them was still there. "I'm Tyson." The boy remembered to add.

"And I'm Lillian." Lil laughed and gave a small shrug. She patted her brother's shoulder and scooched them over just a tad to give Iorek more room.

The gargoyle had just been quiet up until now. He'd been looking over Anita and Cruz from where he hovered. They looked nice. He wondered how old the other frei was. Perhaps he was really young? The green raevan was holding his guardian's hand so maybe he sought comfort? Or she was just afraid of him wandering off somewhere?

When the group's attention rested on him Iorek's long ears gave a twitch and he straightened his back. He was supposed to be making a good first impression. They must think he's odd by the way he's been behaving. Or maybe they could tell he was just nervous?

"Oh! Um..." He flushed when it came to his introduction. "I'm Iorek. It's so nice to meet you. How are you doing? Enjoying Gambino?"

Iorek smiled politely but he wondered if that was too formal? He didn't want to come off as a snob. Or was it too scripted? Did he sound like a robot? There really shouldn't be this much thinking into meeting new people. What he needed to do was just relax.

"I'm very happy to meet you both." He quickly added, looking to Cruz, "Especially you. It's really nice to meet other raevans."

Tyson's eyes sparkled when he saw those lovely crocodile teeth. "Aw dude, your teeth are awesome!" He leaned forward to get a better look and grinned widely. "Wish mine were that neat." The lad flopped back in his chair and tugged at a tooth. "Maybe I'll get mine sharpened when I'm older."

"Never." Lillian piped in before looking back to Anita. "Ah yeah, the ferry. I totally understand." She played with the straw to her drink and nodded, "Yeah, that's usually us too. We kind of got involved in the Lab after going to one of their events. Oh what was it...Valentine's day! That was it." She laughed at the memory. "But it's totally nice to meet with you outside one of those. Kind of hard to get to know anyone with all the stuff going on during a party."

"Oh yeah! You're from Durem? We know a few people from around there. So many fancy buildings in the city. There's a lot of hustle and bustle compared to Gambino." Tyson added before taking a sip of his lemonade.

Iorek smiled and nodded as a warm breeze blew by them as if to prove a point. "Heh, good job pronouncing my name. It's usually a toughie. You can call me Reks too if you'd like."

"Or All-star Captain Reks as he likes his action figures to call him." Tyson mumbled from between his straw.

Reks groaned and quickly shook his head. "Ah...p-please don't. I-It's just a joke." He lightly chuckled as he slowly drew his hands out from underneath the table. Since their arrival his massive paws had been hidden and he'd hate to frighten the girl with a surprise. When she didn't retract her hand he happily (and gently) shook hers.

Afterwards the gargoyle motioned for them to take a seat. "Come! Sit down! We made sure there's enough room. Sorry we didn't tell you to earlier. Kind of got caught up in the moment." He flushed in embarrassment and gave a little shrug. It didn't seem like Anita minded though. "I haven't met another raevan in quite sometime. How are you, Cruz? Having fun with Anita?"

The Maevin family looked very happy to be in their company. All were positively delighted, especially Iorek as he smiled brightly between Anita and Cruz. The two seemed genuinely happy to meet them and comfortable. It just made everybody relax.

Lillian laughed waved her hand, “Nah, not at all. I’m just glad you guys could make it. It’s about time we all got together.” She smiled and looked between Iorek and Cruz as she murmured to Anita, “Plus, I always feel like Reks is happier when he can hang out with other raevans. ya know?”

Tyson laughed and brushed his now-fluffy hair away from his eyes, “Yeah…” He snickered and dramatically rolled his eyes with a big huff, “I guess Iorek is pretty fun for a living rock.”

Reks smirked and shook his head at Tyson’s little teasing. He reached out and fluffed up the boy’s hair some more so it was even more amuck, “I like to think we get along good enough. Kind of like…what is that term…brothers from another mother.”

Lillian laughed and shrugged, “So…How are the two of you adjusting? Fairly easy or did you hit any bumps in the road? Um…if that’s not too odd to ask?” Probably wasn’t a good idea to go snooping but she was definitely curious to hear how other guardians worked with their wards.

Iorek grinned at the mention of their dog, “We have one too! He’s a big great dane called Marmaduke, or The Duke.”

“He might be big but your still bigger if you ask me.” Tyson added as he nibbled on a treat.

The two boys looked between each other as they pondered what they liked, “Comic books.” They said in unison.

“Cartoons too. We watch those a lot…and uh…” Tyson tapped his chin as he thought about what they did together.

“Training! I work out a lot.” Reks grinned and struck a muscle pose so he could show off his biceps, “I’m gonna be as strong as Superman one of these days!”

Lillian grinned and nodded along with Anita. She tilted her head form side to side as she recalled Iorek’s beginning days, “Oh those days…heh, definitely a lot of adjustments. Iorek was such a different kind of guy. He was very shy, a little slow up in the cranium, and really-and I mean really- enjoyed showing affection through hugging. That would of been fine and dandy but he didn’t know his own strength.”

Lillian dramatically leans back and clenches her torso sides. “My poor ribs shiver whenever I think about those days. He was cute, especially when he was learning to write with his big pencil, but overall it was a challenge.” Of course…the Maevins were raising him on their own. Lillian was a young teen at the time and Tyson just a kid. So kids raising kids..not the most ideal of situations.

Lillian laughed and played with the straw in her drink as she looked from Cruz back to Anita. “But ya know, I’m sure you’ll have a much easier time. Looking at you, you have a lot more to offer than I did. And Cruz seems to be growing into a very nice guy.”

Iorek and Tyson laughed and nodded along as Cruz played with their dog’s name.

“Yup! He’s a mighty dog. Looks like a cow with his black spots on white fur. Plus with his size and all.” Reks said as he pictured their furry pal.

Iorek’s cheeks slightly flushed when Cruz rested his warm hand against his arm. His green eyes darted from Cruz’s face to the placement of his hand. Just a friendly tap…even if this was suddenly resembling the lovey-dovey couples in his comics. But they had just met and Cruz was only admiring him for his form. Until the hand started moving.

“Um…heh, yeah. Very super! So um, what do you like to do Cesc? Anything you really like?” Iorek asked as he did his best to ignore Tyson’s locked-on stare and Cruz’s soft fingers caressing him.

Lillian blinked as she realized that was probably weird thing to say to someone. Her cheeks flushed and she knew she was close to sputtering but managed to keep herself under control. It still felt odd to talk about their situation. She wasn’t dreadfully afraid to mention to people that it was just her, Tyson, and Reks anymore but she her heart still gave a nervous ha-bump, “Oh, um…I didn’t mean for that to sound…strange.”

Lillian smiled at Anita as she worked to recover from the little slippage, “I meant that, you seem to have a lot more together about you then when Iorek came into our lives. Before it was the three of us, it was the two of us. I was around fifteen…sixteen? Tyson was just a little kid.”

She laughed a little as a few memories whizzed by. Her voice dropped down little lower now to try and avoid the boys from hearing. “So we were babies trying to raise a baby. Not the best situation to be in. I don’t think we messed up too badly but ya know, I still have regrets in a few areas that I think I could of taught him better.” And there it was. Out for a nice bite to eat with someone she barely knew and Lillian was suddenly sharing something that probably was better to bring up after years of knowing each other and over lots and lots of wine.

Iorek licked his lips as he looked between Cruz’s hand and his pretty forest green eyes. His brain was suddenly running over reason as it scrambled to figure out what his stare meant. Did he have something in his eye or did Cruz get this friendly with everyone?

But as soon as it had happened, Cruz then let him go. The young Reks had wasted this nice and affectionate time trying to figure things out and had forgotten to just enjoy it! What a dope he was!

Iorek did his best to hide his disappointed face and tried to brush away his jitters. He was being ridiculous! Although looking into one’s eyes and touching were two ways people flirted…or so it said in all of Lillian’s magazines that he greatly enjoyed reading.

“Our favorite things!” Tyson grinned widely and nudged Iorek.

The boy’s contact thankfully did enough to knock Reks back into the present. He smiled at how cute Cruz was as he listed off his favorite things.

“We live on the beach so…if ever want to come over sometime…” Iorek said to quickly insert some kind of invitation.

“We definitely celebrate Christmas. It’s probably our favorite holiday.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Tyson agreed and nodded along with Reks. “We go all out on it!”

Reks grinned and the two boys shared a laugh as they seemed to recall the same whacky Christmas memory at the same time. “Heh, why do you love Christmas, Cruz? Any special reason?”

“Wow. Something about the lab just brings everyone in. You were pretty young too to take on such a big task. It’s like raising a kid. At least they don’t come baby size, then I really would of been in trouble.” Lillian giggled to herself as she pictured Reks and Cruz as actually babies. Now that would of been weird.

“Heh, I think so? We didn’t break him so that’s pretty good. And Cruz is so sweet.” Lillian was definitely curious to know what was his soul and fel essence. Something green and exotic? But she didn’t know if it was taboo to ask others. While she and Tyson never hid it from Iorek, every guardian was different. ”Have you met a lot of other people from the Lab yet? Has he?”

“I’m gonna go see what else they have food wise. You guys want anything?” Tyson asked as he got up from the table. Lillian handed him some money and said to just buy goodies they could share.

Iorek watched Ty go before looking back to Cruz. He was such a cute raevan. There was something very charming about him. Maybe it was his smile? His personality? His curiosity? Whatever it was made Reks want to pull him into a hug and never let go.

“Mmm, you’re right. Those are great reasons to like Christmas. Too bad it doesn’t happen more than once a year.” Although if he had to buy people presents each and every time Reks would go broke. “Do you guys have a big family or is it just the you, Anita, and Tango? For us it’s Lil, Tyson, me, and our pets.” And sometimes he wished there were more but three was okay. Three was perfect.