Welcome to Gaia! ::

Room 132 had been empty for awhile. Even when it's occupant was on the island it was more like a tidy storage space that only looked like a bedroom. Some observant hunters would have noticed the owner dragging himself in and out at odd hours of the day for clean clothes or more snacks, but for a few months there was not even that infrequent visit to speak of.

Until one afternoon, when the door sat open just a crack. From inside came the scent of spicy nachos, and the sound of dramatic music played quietly on tiny speakers.

Oliver nearly choked on a tortilla chip, the 3DS playing Monster Hunter fell from his hands and onto the bed. He coughed, and scrambled to pause the game before he got slaughtered.

"Aro! I sent you a text this... morning..." The youth scratched the faded scar across his nose as he looked at his phone, and then a bright blush spread under his freckles. "Oops... I forgot to hit send..."

Oliver had to hold his 3DS in a death grip as he was plucked off the bed, to make sure it didn't get dropped a second time. The hug felt just the same as before he left, but the Life intermediate would probably feel different to his big friend. Oliver had come back leaner, more wiry, having shed whatever softness his desk work and snacks had afforded him. He didn't look particularly different, a little tired maybe, but his day-off dinosaur hoodie and jeans could disguise quite a bit.

Once he was dropped back onto the bed, he shuffled over so Aro could have a seat next to him. At the head of the bed was the giant dinosaur plushie Aro had left in his closet one year for a birthday surprise.

"I was... uh, doing some research and stuff, um... Catching things, testing devices... In Iceland mostly," he stammered, still as self-conscious as ever. He pulled the dinosaur over and curled up comfortably in it's plush arms. "Just the usual stuff I guess. Did I miss anything exciting?"

"Wow, congratulations!" Oliver said with a big smile. He never wanted to think about the circumstances for his own promotion, and he was greatly relieved his big friend could speak of it proudly. "What do intermediates get to do in your division? I really like having more say in the projects I work on, but I don't know what it means to rank up anywhere else."

He closed the 3DS and set it next to the bed, hands covered in cuts and scratches in various states of healing, and then took the ridiculously large plate of nachos and set it on the bed in between them. It looked like far too much for him to eat by himself.

"Want some? I'd love to hear about what you guys have been doing... Ah, i-if you have time, that is..." Oliver hadn't been changed too much on the inside, he still slipped into the timid stammering far too easily.

"I'm glad it wasn't that bad... I still sometimes have nightmares about that mission right before I was promoted." Oliver's smile was sheepish. "Mermaids sound kinda nice though, unless uh... they are those really awful cabin in the woods type mermaids or something..."

He glanced away nervously. What briefing they had received in Iceland hadn't been very informative or thorough. "N-no, we didn't exactly run into much in the way of horsemen... Not... i-in the traditional sense at least. Mostly just FEAR creatures and whatnot. I'm apparently really good at catching them, since I've still got all my fingers." Oliver wiggled his fingers in demonstration and then helped himself to a chip.

"I hope I won't need much defending now that I'm out of the field, I'm looking forward to getting back to the lab work... But... It will be really good to know you've got my back." Oliver embarrassed himself with his own honesty, and scrambled for a paper napkin as a distraction.

"They weren't so bad in Iceland, maybe it was because it was cooler at night where the base is stationed," Oliver reassured. The nightmares were just a part of him now, like the scar on his nose, and the other assortment of fading scars he had earned on that mission.

"I heard far less than I wanted to," he said, a small crease forming between his brows. "They weren't very... uh, clear about anything... Maybe because there weren't many of us affected all the way over there. It was treated more like an inconvenience than anything..."

He snuck another chip in between replies, and a shy, almost conspiratorial look crossed his face. "We did catch a big one," Oliver said once his mouth was clear. "It took seven of us to get it under control once we caught up to it. It was almost like... like something straight out of Monster Hunter, I was so scared..." Yet he was smiling.

"I remember that part, it was... really strange..." He frowned, but let Aro's reassurances banish the thought.

"It was really big, and kinda like a therapod- a two legged dinosaur, with giant horns all over it's face and shoulders." Oliver's little smile returned as he recalled the adventure. "It was probably as long as a bus! The Moon hunters had the really hard job, they kept it's focus away from the rest of us, and we managed to get it lassoed in ropes and tied down. It took a lot of ropes..."

He blushed brightly and glanced down at his hands. "I'm not that brave though, a part of me still can't believe we all survived. A-and I was just extra help on that one."

"It wasn't just me though," Oliver protested quickly, unaware of the mess Aro was making of his hair. "It's not like I could have brought it down by myself, I was just a small part of the group. I don't think the team would have even taken me with them if they hadn't needed everyone available!"

"Things could get pretty scary at that base, I think there must have been some weird portal stuff happening, there always seemed to be things lurking around... We always had to stay pretty alert." He frowned. "I really miss the lab work."