Welcome to Gaia! ::

A park seemed as good a place as any for two Chibi Senshi to meet.

Ganymede sat on one of the swings, slowly pushing herself back and forth as she waited with Oberon for the arrival of the small Senshi she'd met and saved from Buddingtonite about a month previously. Tonight she was on baby-sitting duty, as her in-laws were using the evening for some time to themselves, and as Oberon could only be distracted so long with the promises of movies and popcorn and hours of video games, Ganymede thought it the perfect opportunity to make some introductions.

“Massalia'll be here soon,” she said, glancing around the park every once in a while to see if she could spot the second Chibi approaching. “I think he's a little younger than you, and he's new, so try and be helpful, okay? He's still learning. You're still learning. You guys should try and help each other out.”

Massalia had practically leapt when Ganymede finally contacted him again. The past month was not kind for the Chibi Senshi - After Buddingtonite he'd met Bischofite, and then learned that some senshi joined the Negaverse... And others had a whole other court.

It was overwhelming and confusing and very little made sense, and now he was more wary going out, using small spaces to hide, or bringing his dog along for walks to patrol unpowered, or - well, generally avoiding Negaverse agents like the plague. Today, however, was no day to hide. He was scared, certainly, but not cowering. Today he was carrying his old soccerball, careful it had air in case - just in case - something attacked. In case he was in danger, to protect himself. He wished he could wear his cleats, but one could not apply cleats to moccasins, and so he settled.

It worked though, and very carefully he approached the park discreetly, revealing his fuku only after he knew it was safe, moving to approach, ball in hand as he swallowed nervously. He'd be brave! Really he would!...Maybe he should have made more snacks to bring. He was discovering cooking was a big calming aghent, and he weas doing as much as he was allowed now.

Oberon steeled himself as the other chibi approached, slowly standing up from the bottom of the slide. He didn’t have any reason to be anxious, he told himself. It wasn’t like he would see this other kid very much, right…? Especially if he really was a bit younger than him. They would be in different grades, which would be nice because he didn’t particularly like the idea of being friends with someone who was a jerk to him in his own class.

It wasn’t his fault he had no faith in kids his own age — experience gave him that much to go on. Yeah, he might be a know-it-all at times, but it wasn’t like he tried to not be friends with the others… they just ended up not liking him.

“I’m… Oberon, senshi of Adventure,” he introduced, wondering if it would be weird to offer his hand for a shake, and did so, but was ready to withdraw it the moment it seemed as though this other guy wasn’t interested.

Crap… he did look younger than him, but apparently Oberon was still shorter… Maybe he was just standing on a hill.

“I, uh… like your soccerball,” he said lamely, immediately wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

“A burro?” Ganymede wondered.

Fluent in French, any familiarity or understanding she had of Spanish came in the areas where the two languages overlapped. “Burro” didn't strike any immediate sense of recognition, though from context Ganymede assumed he meant either a youma or a Negaverse officer. Experience led her to lean more toward youma, since she doubted a soccer ball would be much benefit against a grown man with a knife, whereas with some finesse it could probably be used rather effectively against a low level monster.

“You didn't have any trouble getting here tonight, did you?” she asked. “We could have picked somewhere else to meet. I thought this place would be okay since it's kinda out of the way, but if it was too far from home... Sorry, I could have at least met you half way instead of waiting around here.”

Oberon perked up a bit when Massalia said he liked the idea of adventure. “I bet coyotes have a lot of adventures. Although I don’t think eating pets qualifies,” he added with a grimace. He wasn’t always so sure about meeting other chibi senshi, but this kid… he was nice at least. Not like any of his classmates who didn’t want anything to do with him.

Of course, when Ganymede decided to pick on his magic, he frowned, lifting his arms to cross over his chest. “Maybe that was just you,” he huffed, not wanting to admit that he wasn’t all that impressed with his own magic. He figured it was supposed to make people feel more adventurous, but he also knew how dangerous that could be.

Ganymede's facial expression immediately fell into concern.

She had a bit of an unorthodox view on Chibi Senshi in that she thought they had every right to show their stuff and join the rest of them in battle. She worried for their safety, of course, and she wasn't about to let one of them get hurt if she could help it, but weren't they safer with magic than without it? Being a Senshi came with obvious dangers, but there were benefits they shared that a normal person wasn't privy to. Their magic, for one; their increased speed and strength, as well. And they healed faster to boot.

But a Chibi Senshi who didn't know how to use his magic was in just as much danger as a normal child.

“Do the cats not teach you these things as soon as they awaken you?” she wondered. She was tempted to ask who had done the awakening so that she might have a word with them, unsure if Massalia had mentioned anything about it before, but she chose instead to focus on the more important things.

“Nevermind, ignore that,” Ganymede said with a shake of her head. “Try using it now. It's not hard. Just sort of focus inward. You'll know what words to use. It's almost instinctive. If you need some help, Oberon should be able to give you a little motivational boost.”