Welcome to Gaia! ::

Philo gave a heavy sigh. This was so typical. Here he was, all alone at the portal, waiting for his his mom to finish up with their days and come and meet him. All the other students they normally portal jumped with had gone home for the day. Philo didn't even know where his sister was. Maybe she was with mom? Either way, Philo felt very bored, very forgotten, and very alone.

The season was cold and the wind blustery, and Philo tried his best to bundle up and keep warm as he waited. True, he could have waited inside the building or even outside of his mom's classroom until she was done her teacherly duties. But somedays him and his sister had to just go on without their mom. Sometimes she would work late in to the night and not show up until nine, sometimes even ten, and him and his sister would have to pack extra food to make sure they didn't miss dinner altogether. Philo had considered convincing his sister to request to board at the academy instead, but he wasn't sure how to broach the subject with his mom ...

If only his other mom was home more often. Philo imagined things would be quite different, and their home a lot happier ...

Looking downward, Philo toed at a small pebble by his feet, rolling it around to pass the time. He hoped someone would be along eventually ... anyone would do. The boy didn't really wish to be alone with his thoughts any longer.

Philo tightened the scarf around his neck, trying to keep himself from chilling any further, pulling his tail in tight against his body. His small head perked a touch as he heard the voices of two girls approaching. The boy blinked lucidly, hoping that the females were his sister and mother, but the moment he looked up he knew that it was two unknown girls roughly his age instead. His heart sank a little. He just really wanted to go home. Where were they? Especially Cerys ...

Philo put his head down and tried to keep to himself. He didn't want to interrupt the two girls, nor did he want to make a nuisance of himself, in case they were in a hurry. And truth be told, the boy wasn't exactly in the mood to talk. He was feeling quite miserable at the moment, turning his feet inward.

"Hmn?" Philo heard one of the girl's address him and lifted his gaze once more, though not his head. "Me? Oh, I'm just waiting for my mom and sister ... they're probably inside still. I'm sure they'll be along in a moment or two." Philo tried to reassure himself. "And you? Are you both heading home ... ? I hope you both had a nice day at school today." he was trying to be polite while they were still there. Not that he wouldn't be polite otherwise, but he figured he might as well make his time with them as pleasant as possible while Philo and the two girls were still present together.

"Because my mom's a teacher ... " Philo mumbled under his breathe quietly. This information would either get him teased mercilessly or seize the pestering. That's always how it seemed to go. In truth, Philo wanted the company, but the one freshling seemed rather mean ... he wasn't sure he wanted them around.

"She's always caught up with work. So I have to wait here for her ... " Philo tied his scarf tighter around his neck as he shivered from the cold. Even despite the one child's negative attitude, Philo wasn't going to allow their snorting and huffing make their day any worse than it already us, and instead addressed the nicer of the two.

"I hope that your ride comes soon ... it would be awful if you had to wait out in the cold too much longer. But you both looked nice and bundled up ... I doubt you'll get too cold. Which is nice ... I probably should have brought a couple extra layers this time around, now that I think about it."