Welcome to Gaia! ::

Even as tired as she was, Sabine had broken away from the group at great speed, moving as quickly as she could toward her home. She didn't power down till she was a stones throw away from the house - and even then, it was for only long enough to slip inside and lock the door behind her.

"I'm staying over at Delilah's!" She called into the quiet house. "Oh, and Delilah wanted some of Johnathan's old clothes - says she's got a project for them."

"I think we have a box of them in the linen closet..." Her father said from the couch, looking up from his legal brief. "Is everything okay? You look like you just ran a marathon."

"Everything's cool, just ran the last little bit, you know - gotta get the blood pumping." Mercy lied, before passing through the living room, and moving into the hall with the linen closet. The box wasn't hard to find. And once she verified that it was old clothes, she grabbed it and headed out.

She put the box down long enough to power up and run back over to Delilah's place, powering down a block away to walk quickly to the apartment building.

She headed on up using her spare key - and then knocked on the door before she opened it.

"Not sure - WHAT - exactly is in here... But there should be something usable... Johnathan was a quarterback after all - so it's not like he was huge..." She said with a smile, placing the box down by the nearest couch she could find.

Whispered and stammered apologies were all Gravina could managed between stumbling steps across the cool pavement. Shoes were an odd thing, he discovered, but the familiar height from the wedge heel was an odd comfort. The senshi had directed him to power down, power down, to think of himself without the starry finery of Cosmos. But… this took time. Gravina had considerable difficulty thinking of who he was without the uniform and without the body he’d grown used to. Through gentle coaching of both not-Phact and not-Trix, the regalia melted away to reveal a dusty and disheveled young man, clad in tattered old jeans and oversized, grungy gray sweatshirt. Its decal was long lost to time and wear.

He smelled of stale air and dust and he shied away from the girl’s eyes, thinking himself still monstrous and still very, very ugly. Their kind words and sturdy shoulders urged him to continue to make those uncertain steps and the young man was near-silent during their trip, concentrating deeply to keep his ankles from rolling.

The elevator was another story.

At first, he stopped just before it, voicing his concern over being too big to fit into this tiny space. Too big and too tall and too wide, can’t fit… They promised him it would be fine, and so he followed the two girls into the tiny-box-that-moved-up-and-down. Uncertainty wracked his features and he quivered with anxiety as the thick metal doors eased themselves closed. The girls hadn’t lied about fixing him, he thought, so they wouldn’t lie about this elevator… right? Breathing quickened and blue eyes darted all around the small compartment, looking for hatches and avenues to claw through for escape if need be. He would do everything in his power to save them should the elevator fail.

The ascent was short, though louder than he would have liked, and the slow stop made his stomach do a flip or two. Once the doors opened again and revealed fresh air, he calmed considerably.

Taking his first human steps through the threshold of a living space, he winced and panicked for a moment, mind still foggy from the purification. “N-no… c-can’t… c-can’t be ins-side… you don’t… w-want me ins-side…” Youma don’t live inside, youma shouldn’t be inside… Instinct told him it was foolish for humans to invite a demon into their homes, but the racing heartbeat pounded in his ears. A heartbeat. Something he didn’t have before, when he was asleep and dreaming of cold, dark places.

Another young woman had arrived shortly after with hair like not-Trix - it was like fire had sprouted from their heads and he was awed by it. Not-Phact had hair like fine things, like dark things, like dark chocolate. Not-Trix had hair like warm things, bright things. She was the one who calmed him and pressed her warm hand to the top of his head, settling him onto the plush couch. The cushions sagged with his weight and for a moment, he was blessedly distracted by the texture of the thing. Pressing his hand into it over and over, he marveled at how the cushion was soft, how it flowed around his fingers, and how not-Trix’s hand was also soft, but warm, too.

“..G...Ginger…” he parroted, realizing not-Trix was named Ginger. This is what not-Phact had said, and not-Trix had replied. Yes, her name was Ginger.

"Mercy just got here as well." Delilah called back from the kitchen as she picked her head up from the fridge and glanced at the doorway where Mercy had just blazed through and Sita worked to get in, a collection of bags in hand. Catching sight of the woman, Delilah blinked and quickly set the pair of coke cans on the counter as she quickly moved to give Sita a hand getting the bags onto the dining room table. "Here, let me take a few." She spoke softly, trying to make sure nothing dumped. If this was what she thought it was, last thing they needed as hummus everywhere!

"I take it we can thank your grandparents for stocking us up?" Delilah smirked, a sly thank you before glancing over towards the couch and the other three sitting there. For as nervous as all four of them were dealing with someone who had been a youma, Gravina's human form looked...at peace. Something about him playing with her couch pillow just made an innocent smile spread over her face.

Yet she took two seconds too long and her fridge beeped at her reminding her that the door was still open. "Oh...hush you!"

Disappearing back into the kitchen, Delilah gathered up her collection of drink choices and plopped them on the tray she normally served tea with. Coke, water, milk and apple juice. She'd save the mango juice for later. Tea was heating up because that always calmed her nerves and lord did she need them to relax. Grabbing a second coke for Ginger, Delilah slipped out of the kitchen once more carrying the tray slowly towards the coffee table.

"Four women on a mission. Heaven help the person who tries to stop them." Red eyes glanced at every one who seemed to be as frazzled as she felt. Everyone but the man of the hour.

Setting the tray on the table, Delilah let herself drop the rest of the way to the ground, curling her legs around her. Taking two seconds to breathe, the hostess glanced to the others there. "Ladies, I think we all need to stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off for a moment." She turned to glance at each of them. Lord she was lucky to have them as friends. "Because if we keep this up, we may scare...." Delilah stopped. Her back went straight as if she realized something and a lightbulb went off.

"You know, we forgot something of the utmost importance." Eyes glanced back towards their guest. "You have no idea what our civilian names our and we don't know yours." It wasn't a bad thing but it was something that should be fixed and quickly! They couldn't go around calling each other by their powered names.

In turn, Delilah pointed to each of the girls. "Allow me to introduce you to the family." Glancing first to Sita, Delilah smiled. "The one who has provided us with a feast is also one of the most passionate women you will ever meet. Protective of her loved ones and the person that keeps everyone here sane. That lovely lady is Sitara Brennan. But we also call her Sita for short."

Next she glanced behind her at the fire cracker. "This woman you always want to be on her good side because lord help us otherwise. Her frame hides one heck of a right hook But under that feisty, red headed exterior, Ginger Crispin is a true friend to anyone close to her."

Then to her second. Delilah met Mercy's eyes and she smirked. "Don't let Mercy Haynes every catch you being rude to someone. A lady to a T but also one of the best strategist you will ever meet. "

"I am Delilah White. Provider of meeting space and fashion items whenever one of them wants something in particular." Delilah smirked a hand coming to her chest as she truly tried to make sure each of the girls knew how much she meant to her.

That was when she extended her hand towards the male and asked softly. "And you? Do you remember your name?"

"See, there you go. We're just fine." Ginger assured, as the young man tripped over her name with an tone of almost child like awe, and lightly boxed the air with a grin at Delilah's thoughtful introductions, adding, with enthusiasm. "Ooh Sita that smells amazinnnnng. This is gonna be gooood."

She really hoped that their guest didn't have stomach troubles to go with his transformation, though it occurred to her that food as delicious as was produced by Sita's family might well spoil a body on other, cheaper delights like that one hot dog cart she loved, or hot pretzels, and really cheap chocolate, cream filled cup cakes from the gas station.

Sita was more than pleased when Delilah came to help her with the bags. There were four int total so each girl took two and managed to get them to the table with little trouble.

Once Deliah was back from the kitchen, Sita chuckled, she setting out the many bowls of curry and hummus that she had managed to bring. There was butter chicken, tikka masala, and green curry. There was also spicy hummus as well as mild, along with a large bowl of Couscous. Pita was always on the list, and Sita dumped the large bready pieces into a bowl before moving back to the living room and joining the others.

She could not help but notice the Mercy was in one of her silent states. That was never a good sign, she knew it, but she could only do so much. She moved to sit between her friend and the newcomer to the group, she playfully leaning into Mercy and giving her a gentle hug.

"You will make him look like a jock in all of that, my friend." She joked, glancing at the young man across from them, as if she were trying to guess if her could pass for the type or not.

She reached out and leaned forward a bit, she touching, Julien was it, 's arm. She made the gesture soft and caring before scooting over to him and resting right between the two. It was hard to comfort two at once.

"You need not try and force things, Julien." She whispered softly to him. "We can wait as much as you can. Tonight is about making you comfortable. That is our goal. That and having a night with the family." She messed his hair slightly, letting him know that he was, in fact, included in that statement.