Welcome to Gaia! ::

Justin was running just a little late. He didn't generally drive, and his taxi had gotten woefully stuck behind a moving truck. He tapped at his phone as a particularly burly man wrestled a dresser out of the back.

Justin sighed and swiped over to Dead Space while waiting. Luckily, after a lot of creative swearing from his driver (Justin could likely take classes in cursing from him) that the truck moved. The evening after he'd gotten his bottle, his vial, he'd gotten a surprsing text from Aaron - they had been chosen to become guardians as well. It would be nice, he thought to have someone to do this sort of thing with. He was pretty sure Claire knew about 156% more about parenting than he. The taxi careened to a halt. Justin paid quickly, stuffing his phone in his pocket.

Straightening his shirt, he plodded into Raine's, giving Aaron's name to the hostess. Soon, he was in front of their table. "Hey." He smiled. They looked happy, excited and far less like the nervous wreck he generally was. Justin couldn't decide if that was heartening or made him even more anxious. "So... you guys excited?"

Justin smoothed his hair, a nervous motion, and slid into a seat at their table. If he were honest, seeing their earger faces made him feel just a little more at ease. He wished he could be more collected - like them. "I mean, it's not that I'm not excited. I'm just really glad you guys got picked at the same time as me. Oh," he looked at Aaron. "If they have a Dogfish Punkin, I'd like that. If not, just whatever you're having." He cracked his knuckles before placing both hands on top of the table. Then rearranging them. And rearranging them again.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say I can't think of anyone else who'd deserve getting a kid than you guys. You both seem solid - the good parents type. I might end up having to ask your guidance a lot." And then Justin smiled, dimples flashing in his cheeks. "So, congratulations! Have you had in luck in finding your 'soul'?"

Justin smiled at Aaron's obvious ploy to leave them alone for a bit. "It is scary, but I just have to, I don't know, convince myself that I'm prepared, you know?" He twiddled his thumbs for a second. "It would be nice if they could be friends - I'm not entirely sure how children normally act, my brother and sister were... interesting, to say the least." He pursed his lips in thought and chewed the bottom one. Soul capture worried him, too. It seemed... cruel somehow. He could take from one being and give it to a raevan. It wasn't like Justin was some Robin Hood of souls. What right did he have?

"I'm worried too, to be honest. I... don't feel right when I think about using up something's life, even if it's to create another. I'm also kind of afraid it'll try to take my pet snake or something...." He laughed a little, awkwardly enough to show that this was definitely a real concern of his. "Why can't I use... I dunno the heart of the cards as a soul? But yeah, I guess a rock would be ok." Justin tapped his fingers along the edge of the table in thought.

"Are you just... gonna toss the bottle at rocks and hope something sticks?"

"Maaayybe... it'll be a plant?" he said, rather hopefully, echoing Claire's earlier sentiment. "Yeah, I don't think I'd feel too bad if it were a plant. A hunting trip would work, since it would die anyway, but... green." He chewed on his lips thoughtfully. "Oh, uh, did I tell you mine was kinda green-blue, too?" He pulled his phone out of his pocket and swiped and tapped a few times before sliding it over. On the screen was a picture of both bottle and essence, just chillin' on his dining room table. That was where they currently set up shop until he could figure out where else to put them. If he kept them in his room... Well, Monty wasn't green, but he didn't feel like taking chances.

"Sorry - I'm... a little all over the place. I don't think I even asked what your essence was?"

"Maybe we'll end up with some kinda twin-souls or something." He laughed a little and obligingly scooted his elbows off the table when Aaron, and the booze, returned. He supposed another person could have seen it as an odd competition - who could get the suitable soul first. But there were many, many greenish things in the world and Justin's urge to compete was currently thoroughly overridden by his general nervousness.

"I figure," he said, tilting Aaron's phone, "-that it's kind of like a baby picture in a way. Gotta keep records and scrapbooks or something. Yours has got a lovely golden color to it - it's hard to think it might be anything but a really delicious regular honey. At least you won't be feeling the urge to upend it into some tea." He set the phone back down on the table, sliding it a little back towards Aaron. It clicked against a glass.

With a thoughtful hum, he took his own phone back, looking at the picture once more before slipping it into his pocket. It really was a beautiful essence - like a moon surrounded by a dark night sky. "It's called, uh, independent bio-luminescence. Which is a mouthful. Mean it glows a lot. Sometimes, I think other things get dim around it, but its probably just my imagination." He took a drink, letting the slight bubbles p***k across his tongue. "It might be silly, but I already have a name. Aadhira. Because it kinda looks like a moon and stuff... and Aadhira means moon. Have you guys thought about it?"

"Oooph, that's a little creepy - the light-stealing. " he nodded, failing to conceal his amused smile. "-maybe he will be a good nightlight, after all. Or he will just suck up everything still and rack up my bill astronomically. And maybe your raevan will just eat all the sugar in the house." For all his anxieties (and that was a new one), Justin was excited. He was excited to be a part of a community, even if he felt like he didn't quite fit in, and excited to be having, well, a child, sort of. Was he cut out for this? Aaron's voice drew him out of his nervous reverie.

"I'd really like to met your raevan when they arrive." He raised his bottle, too, and looked at Claire. "A toast to... to raevans and muddling through things and -" He shrugged and waited for someone else to say something. Justin was not exactly a wordsmith.