Welcome to Gaia! ::

Life had gotten entirely too complicated for the teenager named Gwendolyn Caspian, so her immediate response was to, of course, dodge responsibility and flee to one of the few places that she felt that none of her troubles could follow her. The Zoo!

It had been too long since Gwen went to the zoo, though she was getting tired of going there alone. Not that she was big on huge group gatherings, but it would have been nice to spend a day with a friend or two. The problem was that, besides Jett and maybe a few others... she didn't have many civilian friends, at least ones that weren't busy. Most of her friends were senshi or knights, and she didn't know all of their civilian identity.

'I really need to get out more often as Gwen... I keep complaining about how boring my civilian life is, but it's not like I'm doing anything to make it better.' Gwen thought, leaning on the railings and looking at the monkeys as they did their usual thing. She was always an animal lover, and with the exception of seagulls and carrion birds, she always took her time looking at each and every exhibit. Today, she figured she'd start with the monkey exhibit instead of the big cats as she usually did, see if that would help liven up her experience. Now here she was, making faces at one of the monkeys, a scraggly Capuchin that ventured close to the glass wall. Sure, she must have looked like a fool, but at least she seemed to be having fun with the monkeys, if not with anyone else.

Gwen was in the middle of making one of the goofiest faces that she'd ever have when she heard someone talking to her, and without even correcting herself, she looked at the girl with the extremely long red hair, silly face and all. It took a moment for her to correct herself, and none could ignore the way her cheeks brightened with embarrassment, though the feeling didn't last long. After a stressful week, this was Gwen's downtime, and if someone thought her weird to be making silly faces at some monkeys, then what did she care?

"I'm fine. Haven't felt this good in awhile, actually." Gwen admitted, her face beaming with a smile though there was a twinkle in her eyes, as though to dare her to tell her otherwise. She kept getting drawn to her hair, and Gwen seldom felt envious when it came to another person's appearance, but there were moments when it struck. And when it struck, it struck hard. "Your hair is really pretty... sometimes I think I'm the only one in this city that can't grow her hair out so long... how do you tend to it?"

Sure, her bangs were long, but she could never grow out her hair in the back. It was spiked up now, with some natural curls, but every time she tried to grow it out, it would look limp, like spaghetti noodles, and then she'd cut it again. It was an endless cycle, but eventually she found something that worked for her. Didn't mean she couldn't be envious of another's hair, however...

Gwen had no idea why the girl was stuttering... she hadn't weirded her out THAT bad with the silly face, had she? Perhaps it was a secret mutant power and she had been going about this Senshi business the wrong way the whole time. 'Note to self, make silly faces at the next Negaverse or Dark Mirror Senshi I see. Or compliment them... they'll never see it coming.'

Or perhaps she was just shy. Being the confident, if not a bit prideful, girl that she was, her chest swelled and she gave her white strands a tug when she had returned the compliment. "Thanks... I'm so short that most people wouldn't even notice me if I didn't have something to catch their eye, even if it's a weird up do like mine!"

Though with the way she carried herself and the strength behind her voice, few were fooled that Gwen would have easily have slipped into the crowd. She noticed movement in the corner of her eye and noticed that the monkey she was making faces at had invited a friend, and she poked her tongue at it. "I usually don't like monkeys as much as other animals, but I'll make an exception for these guys."

She looked to Aggie. "You like monkeys?"

"These are Capuchin monkeys, from Central and South America, I think." Gwen said, trying to remember the information on the plague, which she must have read a million times now with her visits to the zoo. Figures that she was useful with animal information, but when it came to 'important' stuff, she was utterly useless. Animals interested Gwen... always had, and always will. Perhaps she should just live at the zoo, or work at the zoo? It was a better alternative than going to school, anyways.

"They're mostly known for their intelligence," Gwen pointed out, motioning to the two monkeys she was mugshotting and seeing them trying to mimic her expressions. Given her experience with talking felines, Gwen wondered if there could be guardian monkeys as well and these Capuchin were testing her. It was a silly thought, but she could not ignore the thought once it popped into her head. She considered what the other girl had said about lemurs and she beamed. "Lemurs are pretty cool, too. They're further down, though. I heard some zoos allow them to walk on you... I wish they did that here."

How awesome would that have been? A Lemur, to Gwen, was a mixture of a monkey and a cat, and the thought made her giddy. She'd have to find such a zoo!

Gwen wasn't known for her modesty. In fact, the worst thing anyone could possibly do to Gwen was to shower her with praise or inflate her ego anymore than it already had been. She soaked in the other girl's amazement at her own feats and allowed it to turn into fodder for her ego, and one could tell that she had gained a lot of confidence by the way she puffed her chest out. "Well, I'm an animal lover myself, with the exception of some insects, arachnids and some carrion birds. I've also been to this zoo enough times to know where everything is."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but Gwen wasn't going to go into technicalities. The Capuchins continued to mimic their motions, moving their arms and tilting their heads, one in particular was mimicking Gwen almost perfectly. "Unfortunately they don't allow the lemurs to roam free here, but there IS a petting zoo. I know the aquarium has a section where they allow you to touch various coral, stingray, and sometimes, baby sharks."

She mused to herself, wondering if the reptile exhibit would have a section where they could pet an animal. A python immediately came to mind, tapping her chin in thought and noticing that the monkey was doing the same. "Have you ever pet a snake before?"

The monkeys were completely off of Gwen's mind now- to think, she came here to mess with some Capuchins and she'd be leaving with a new friend. She needed to come to the zoo more often! "I used to come here all the time, but due to school and other extracurricular activities, I haven't been coming here as often as I used to. Kind of miss this place, even with the smell of animal poop."

Gwen didn't want to admit that it honestly never bothered her. It probably should have, but she didn't care. Even when her world got crazy, she still loved animals, and if that meant growing accustomed to the smell of their excrement, then so be it. She'd rather deal with that then sit through another boring school session... she'd rather fight the god-damn General King to the death than sit through another math class.

"Sharks are surprisingly soft, until you try to stroke against the 'grain', then it feels like really gentle sandpaper," Gwen said, recalling the sensation and getting excited just thinking about it. She never really considered if petting sharks stressed them, but despite her rowdy ways, she personally obeyed all of the rules when it came to handling animals, and the thought of angering a shark, even a baby or a nursing shark enough for it to bite her didn't hit her as being something that even she would willfully do.

When she introduced herself, Gwen returned the favor, extending a hand to shake as she introduced herself. "The name's Gwendolyn Caspian, but you can call me Gwen! And I'd love to join you. Follow me!"

It was always great to share her enthusiasm of animals with other people, and it made Gwen appreciate her civilian life all the more when there was a REASON to indulge in it. Screw school life and other mundane, boring things! Animals were definitely her thing, none of this going to college and becoming a wealthy business woman that everyone seemed to be wanting to thrust upon her. It made her grateful, in the very least, that there were days she could power down and still feel significant... even if it was throwing useless knowledge she'd collected over her visits at another girl.

"Well... let's see. I love cats, especially big cats, as well as canines, equestrians..." Gwen listed them on each finger, knowing that she'd soon run out of digits with the way she was babbling, but then again, who was really keeping track? "Sea animals, fish and mammals alike. I also like rodents and hares. I have a pet rat myself, named Micah... though if the apartment allowed pets, I'd have a few cats and maybe a dog or two. I'm not a real fan of some birds, but birds of prey, like eagles, ospreys and hawks? They're great too!"

As anticipated she ran out of fingers, but that was hardly her concern now. They drew close to the petting zoo, not once looking up and at the animals they passed by as she had pretty much memorized this entire zoo by now and would likely be back to observe them later. Especially the tiger pit... it had been too long since she sat down and talked to them. She felt like she owed it to them, all things considered. But for now, it was a mission to the petting zoo, and that only made her list grow even larger!

"The petting zoo here has goats, pigs, cows... even sheep. I adore sheep, especially the lambs! If we're lucky, they might let us bottle feed one!" The thought made Gwen all the more excited, and she actually picked up the pace, almost threatening to leave poor Aggie in the dust with her childlike enthusiasm. It was days like this that made Gwen enjoy her mundane life, away from all the fighting and war nonsense...