Welcome to Gaia! ::

At this point, there were very few people in the refugee camp who didn't know that Dionysia of the Cosmos had a family. He had an ex-girlfriend and two daughters, whose pictures most everyone had been subjected to more than once, and whose prodigious childhood talents at water babies swimming or toddler ballet had been expounded upon at great length to anyone who would listen to him reminiscing. Eli Bell loved his family: and it was very obvious he hadn't gotten to see them in years.

Instead, he attached himself to the closest family he could find -- his fellow Cosmos knights, his teammates, anyone he had a connection to. Including, oddly, a Dark Mirror senshi who'd shared the same home, in another life.

It wasn't hard to find Tantalus in the camp. Here, Chaotic auras stuck out like sore thumbs, so Dionysia just followed his senses to where his friend was sitting. His approach was easy to track, he knew -- the long, trailing uniforms of Cosmos knights tended to slither along the ground tellingly, dragging through dirt or rustling through dried leaves -- but he made a point to whistle his approach all the same, just for Tantalus's convenience.

"Afternoon, cousin," he said, easing himself and his guitar down to a seat next to the senshi carefully. He was still nursing a few bruises. "Good of you to visit. How've you been? Keeping out of trouble?"

"Who, me?" Dionysia said, mock taken aback. "Not stay safe? Perish the thought. Cousin, I am the very soul of safety. I wear seatbelts for my seatbelts. I look both ways, and also forwards and backwards in time, before crossing the road. I wear a life jacket when jumping off the diving board." He paused for effect, then said, as though it were just occuring to him, "wait, no, scratch that. Never wear a life jacket off a diving board, that's profoundly unsafe."

He leaned back on the log where he'd seated himself, stretching out his legs. One of his knees gave an unpleasant creak. Oh, good God, Dionysia thought, if I didn't know better, I'd think I was getting old.

"Weather's warm these days. We're teaching some of the older kids how to swim, out on the lake. Oh, and I'm putting together a group to do The Little Mermaid for our next concert for the kids, since it's summer. I can't possibly sing both Les Poissons and Under the Sea, so I fully expect you to pick whether you're showing up with a bad French accent or a bad Jamaican accent for it. I'm doing a bonfire beach party -- I've got some s'mores fixings squirreled away somewhere."

Dionysia loved summer. The weather was warm, the sun stayed out late, and people were in more comfortable spirits. It always made him want to dance with the nearest person, or kiss puppies, or do something fun. And it was almost harvest season, here on Earth. There was no time he felt his Wonder's calling more strongly. It made him antsy, and he had to distract himself with missions.

"What have you heard about the new address from the Mayor? I thought there might finally be curfews, but it looks like not. What do you make of that -- what the hell could they be planning?"

Dionysia was nodding, ruffling his friend's hair briefly and promising to menace him in very bad French -- and for a few minutes, everything was still so light it could've floated on the wind. Then reality was there like an anchor, weighing it all back down again.

"They will. And they'll do it soon enough -- as soon as they're sure they've won the war they already have. They came after us, and we weren't doing anything to anyone. You're stealing away people they can never convert back to their side. They'll come for you."

He frowned. "Truthfully, you'd be better off here. I know it's no luxury, but -- you stay because of Damocles, don't you? Even with all the risks."

Dionysia snaked an arm around Tantalus's shoulders, pulling him close for a sideways hug. "That's alright," he assured the Dark Mirror senshi softly. "No one ever knows what the right thing to do is -- sometimes the best guidance you have is to do the thing that feels like the right thing." He twisted his head to press a kiss to the top of Tantalus's skull, fondly, like he was a brother or a father and had the right to do this kind of thing.

"Be where your heart is, then," Dionysia advised. "And remember that the job you've chosen is to support the person you love, who's doing something you believe in -- so do that job as well as you can. Loving someone makes a difference. The more you love, the more it keeps Chaos at bay."

He settled back, letting the other man go again. "So, my favorite, gifted pupil," Dionysia steered into lighter waters, "shall we do another guitar lesson today?"