Welcome to Gaia! ::

Quinn tugged on his vest as he surveyed the grand hall. He was surprisingly grateful that he could ditch the tie that came with the suite but even though his collar was unbuttoned the vest added the air of formal that the fundraising event needed. He still wasn’t sure how exactly his mother got him to attend one of her numerous parties and dressed in a sudo tux too. The charcoal gray pants and jacket complimented the golden bronze vest and the matching tie that was currently tossed haphazardly in the closet in his room upstairs. Quinn’s styled hair was disheveled from him running his fingers through it and his moss green eyes clearly stated that he didn’t want to be there. At least it was in familiar surroundings since it was being held in the family’s country estate, several miles outside of the city limits.

The old building was built by Quinn’s great grandfather and boosted a grand hall, a dozen bedrooms, two parlors, a game room, an indoor pool, and a media room. And that was just on the inside…. It was one of those huge manors that had its own name and ended up on one of the stupid TV shows with a title of ‘the homes of the rich and famous’. Lakeside Manor was an unimaginable name since the old bat built the estate just off one of the lakes that formed in the mountains outside of the city. Quinn never really understood why his great grandfather felt the need to build a pretentious pile of rocks out in the middle of nowhere but it did make for a good place to hold a fundraiser.

His parents were entertaining the multitude of guests so Quinn slipped out of the hall and headed to the front door and the grand staircase, hoping to slip upstairs before anyone else came in. He was on the third step when one of the staff opened the door to yet another guest. Maybe if he remained quiet he wouldn’t be noticed, he would just be another guest going to the bathroom or something.

Quinn froze. He had forgotten that the third stair from the bottom let out a faint squeak when it was stepped on. Apparently that faint noise was all it took to draw the attention to the new guest which also drew the attention of the staff member who was manning the door.

He saw the questioning look on the guest, a young lady around his own age,m but it was the raised eyebrow and smirk on the staff member manning the door that prompted him to descend the stairs and head over to the door.

"Welcome to Lakeside Manor. The fundraiser is right this way." He held out his arm in a polite manner. He might have wanted to sneak away but he would not shame his parents by doing so in front of a guest. Quinn glanced at the young woman once more and was struck by the familiarity of her. Something about her practically screamed 'I know her' but he couldn't place it.

It had been years since he was truly active in his parents circle of influence people so it was quite possible he just didn't remember. But then again when he was focused on a project or playing a game in a crowded party Quinn didn't pay too much attention to the other people unless they interacted with him directly.

He pulled himself out of his internal musings and told the middle aged man who had just put away the young woman's wrap. "I'll escort the young lady to the grand hall Jim."

Jim just nodded and replayed, "Of course Young Master Quinton."

Quinn nearly flinched. Jim was one of the few family servants who got a real kick out of calling him young master. Quinn never really understood why he would call him that every time he saw him but Quinn was normally able to return his sarcastic volley with one of his own but with a guest at his side he had to let it drop. Point for Jim.... until next time that is.

"I had but mom asked me to attend so here I am." He smiled and shrugged. Ever since he had started school he had to struggle to find time to spend with his parents, especially his mom who seemed to feel the distance of her only child more then his dad did. Between work, classes, and his friends he wasn't able to get home often as his parents would like so when his mom asked him to attend he caved.

He glanced over at the young lady. It wasn't a secret that he had given up going to all the parties and endless fundraisers. Even his nickname was a open secret but she seemed so familiar to him, they had to know each other. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Knowing he would regret just blurting out the question, his mother would give him a true 'Gibb's Slap' to the back of the head if he didn't word the obvious question correctly. "It pain's me to ask," He smiled softly and it was clear in his face that he truly regretted not being able to place a name with a face. "It really has been a while since I attended one of these things and it is quite unusual for me to forget a name of such a pretty lady, but I have to ask..." He looked quite contrite as he finished his question, "who might I have the honor of escorting to the grand hall"

As he was waiting for her response and reaction, her looks and the familiarity he felt with her struck a cord. "Lia?" It had truly been years since he had last seen her. "Sorry, Lianna. You never really did go for the whole nickname thing did you?" God she had grown since he had seen her last... it had been at least two or even three years.

Quinn shook his head in surprise, "at least two years since that was the last time my mom was able to rope me into a big event. Since then I've been able to use college and work as an excuse." He thought back to that last event and tried to remember if he had seen Lianna there.

It had been a spring party shortly before his senior year officially ended in a week and Quinn would head off on his graduation gift of a trip to the London and France to see the sights. He remembered a lot of pale spring dresses and tea. It was a garden party for an animal shelter if he recollected correctly. There had been puppies and kittens that the younger kids were all playing with, cages of birds were hung in the shade, and quite a few of the pets went to good homes… the kittens and puppies too. He smiled at his mental joke but he still couldn't remember if Lianna had been there.

“The last big shindig mom had been able to rope me into was right before high school graduation, everything else since then has been pretty quiet. A neighborhood bbq, a Halloween party….” He trailed off as he remembered the nightmare that a night of messing around with his friends created. Thank god it wasn't real because there was no way in hell he was some superhero cowboy.

Quinn shrugged. Being able to skip out on all the bigwig parties was quite useful however it had it's downfalls since he found that his disappearance from high society could and did set the gossips tongues awag. He also spent significantly less time with his parents something he did occasionally regret. "I never was a big fan of the monkey suits I had to don," he made an exaggerated face and lightly tugged at his unbutton collar hoping for a laugh.

"I think so. Most of the other things that mom got me into doing were primarily family things or dad's company picnic," he really had faded from society once he graduated and started at DCU. Quinn had come to a personal revelation while on his graduation trip that no matter how much money he had it was still his parents. He hadn't done anything to really earn it or to distinguish himself from any of the other rich kids living off the parents money. When he came back he was able to get a job and a place to stay that he could afford. The hardest was getting his mom to understand why he was doing this, his dad seemed to get it but even now, two years into it, he found deposits into his bank account that his old man did without him knowing. They were just looking out for him but for once Quinn really wanted to see what he was made of without the help of his parents money. With that mentality he did his best to stay away from the rounds of society, after all he didn't really belong there... He was just a kid playing with his parents money.

Quinn pulled himself from his musings as they got closer to the party, the sounds of countless people talking echoing out into the hallway. He internally winced thinking about entering the grand hall once more. His smile was haphazard at best but he still did his best to sound cheerful, "and it was great to see you again Lianna." He was about to open the door to the hall when he paused and asked, "don't suppose you would be willing to protect me from the harpies who 'just have to know what I've been up to' would you?" His smile was bright once more with the charming glint in his eye. "I'll pay you back with a pint of ice cream while we hide from everyone in the media room once the required 'meet and greet' of everyone is done." He nearly begged but if she turned him down cold he might still be able to get out of the party without going stark raving mad.

Quinn's smile was bright and cheerful, she agreed to his plan. She had a point about the tongues wagging when they made their escape but they would do that anyway when he walked back into fray with her on his arm. He shrugged and the smile had more than a little touch of rogue in it, "mom will know why I escaped but we will set the fishwives to gossiping the moment we step in." He held them back from the door for just a little bit longer. He dropped the happy go lucky smile and asked in all seriousness, "we don't have to go in together. I'm sure we can come up with a different plan to escape later. It's up to you."