Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gather a team.. of short people. People way shorter than himself. Not only would that mean they would be all female, they would all make Otto look tall in comparison.

Otto saw no downside to this. None at all.

While he wasn't sure what Clarice needed his so called expertise for, the Life Division Assistant didn't steer him wrong yet. As far as he knew. Other than that backhanded comment about his height, or fit. Or.. whatever. He had a mission, and he was apparently needed. Whether or not it had to do with his skills or his height, didn't matter.

The short blonde scrolled through some contacts, putting names to the heights. Who was shorter than him.. there were countless hunters who were taller. Countless. But shorter? He knew them all, simply because there were so few.

Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz.

Hazel's phone went off on the table in her room. She doesn't get messages from other hunters very often, except for the higher ups, so this one surprised her a bit. Looking at her phone, she noticed it was a text from a particular grumpy individual. She gave a smirk at the text and immediately typed back.



As a joke, Hazel was using military terms to Otto, wondering if he actually understood them. No matter. Though, unknowing to her that this was a mission she was heading to. She did think it was strange to have a 'mellow break in the Life Division Assistant's office, but hey, she was getting free marshmallows!

When she had arrived, she looked the same as usual. Big frizzy hair, her uniform, and several pouches filled with who-knows-what. One thing that may be questionable is the empty reindeer-print coffee mug she was holding in her hand.

"Jaeger, reporting for 'mellows!" she saluted with her cup.

Tiny Solia was tiny. Pocket sized. Something that bothered her on occasion but really, she adapted. Most by mastering, (or trying to at any rate), fighting in shoes with heels. She’d get it right. She’d conquered cobblestone after all, she could learn how to fight with them too. Still heels didn’t solve all the short hunter trainees problems. There were other things to deal with. Being small was just something she’d get over with in time. Maybe.

As Otto’s text rolled in, the pout came as her face tried to figure out if small was a code word for something or he just hit italics by accident. Surely, Otto-bot would not mock her plight?
Israfel pointed out he probably was referring to team size. Still, she happily texted him a reply

Wash em or they would begin to stop being the mass of fluff that they were. Did she cover that with him? She didn’t recall. Either way she’d check in and help him if he needed it. Fluffy pillows helped a hunter get a good night’s sleep after all.

Making sure to go rent out archery gloves before leaving, Solia skipped her way to the office. When she arrived? “Hiiiii~ Oh Ami! You are coming too? And Um-“ She looked at Sasha, the one she only knew as lady french, and Hazel, the human vacuum. Hardly fitting nicknames. “I have no idea who you guys are but I’m Solia Delacroix! You here for the mission too?” If possible, her smile got wider and out of them all Ami alone would be able perhaps to pick up on fact that Solia was getting excited. NEW FRIENDS. BICHON MODE ACTIVATED.

Nobody had to really tell her twice. Dress up in a costume? Did you mean cosplay? She did cosplay-

Alas, little Solia’s heart sank when no it was not cosplay. Not really. Close but no cigar. Elf costumes festive to the season, parts of which looked like spandex. Why did spandex exist? She’d never know. In any event Solia began with closing her coat before starting the art of clothing and dressing and undressing while in public. Elf costumes were not the worst really. “I wasn’t even here last year, so I have no idea!” Solia smiled.

And jingled a bit.

Ami could have screamed when Solia walked through the door. "You invited her?!" she hissed at Otto, quiet enough that only the blonde would hear it. She would have left then and there, but Clarice began talking and there was nothing she could do about it. Whether she liked it or not, she was in for the long haul, Solia and all.

Fit what perfectly? Ami was all but ready to go along with Clarice, thinking it would just be something like bulletproof vests or wetsuits for an underwater adventure. Of course, it would never be that easy. No, this was Deus.

As Solia pulled out the elf costume, Ami sighed. She didn't grimace or groan, not out loud anyways. She couldn't do something like that right in front of Clarice. Inconvenience or not, orders were orders. Ami didn't have a choice.

So all she did was sigh, and move towards one of the presents and opened it, finding herself with an elf costume similar to Solia's. "No, I wasn't here last Christmas..." Ami said. She'd only just missed Christmas by a month or so. By the time Ami had gotten here, all of the holiday festivities were over and it was just work work work.

Luckily Otto did a bang-up job of summarizing it. Ami hefted her costume into her hands and timidly asked, "Is there ... somewhere else I could change?"

Ah, God. Skintight little elf uniform things? Sasha's brows furrowed as she glanced up at Clarice, mouth wrenched in a slight frown. She didn't really care about stripping down in front of everyone - she was certain that it could be done with minor skin being shown - but the last thing she wanted to do was to put on an elf costume.

Then again, it was for Otto.

With a grunt, Sasha took a box and sighed as she rummaged around for the pants. Kicking off her heels, Sasha slid the pants up before sliding her skirt down.

"We don't need privacy. Just put the pants on, and worm around until you can get the top on."

Grumble, grumble.

"I wasn't here for last Christmas, either."

Ami nodded gratefully and ducked into the workshop, still able to hear Clarice's words even from the distance. Truthfully, her changing had nothing to do with shyness or with Otto, but instead with her scars. It was a... tad embarrassing to have so many scars as a newbie hunter, and quite frankly she didn't want to deal with the pitying faces and the "awww how did that happen?"s.

She winced a little as Clarice emphasized avoiding battles. Ami couldn't help but think that was a tad aimed at her, even if it wasn't. No weapon meant vulnerable meant near useless in battle.

By the time she'd changed, Clarice was talking about happiness and the resistance they held against it. She nodded quietly and said, "Understood." Ami was looking rather out of place in such a cheerful costume, and she kept tugging on the skirt. The hemline was just a bit short for her, and she wasn't a fan. Perverts like Dakota had taught her otherwise.

"No runic weapons then?" she asked quietly, biting her lip. If she had no weapons ... She hesitated. Perhaps she would just tell Clarice she wasn't suited for this. Then again, Clarice wasn't stupid. There was no doubt in Ami's mind that Dr. H had already told Clarice about her ... condition. A division assistant wouldn't let someone go on the mission if they had a chance of screwing it up. Ami trusted Clarice's judgment on the matter.