Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was not long after Zeke perched himself at the front desk that the rabbit and her guardian made an entrance. In their typical fashion, it was a dramatic one. The front doors slammed open. LuLu was the first to burst through them. Her guardian was huffing and puffing right at her heels. He pleaded with her, "Lu! I am not dragging you here for my good. It is for you! I want to make sure you are not seriously hurt." He folded his arms over his chest to make himself more imposing. He knew the tactic would likely fail, but it was worth a shot.

The sigel released a deep groan that cause her whole chest to heave forward. She spun around to face him and the boy's tough act immediately fell flat. She retorted, "I can take care of myself." Her swollen nose and black eye said otherwise, however. The girl's normally delicate tone was garbled into a nasally pitch secondary to her forcing air through obstructed nostrils. "I do not need help. I need space." Lu then began to move towards Zeke's desk putting distance between her and Josh.

The sigel greeted the man with a soft glower through her puffy eye. She nonchalantly reached for a pen strapped to the counter by a thin chain. The girl popped the nib of the pen between her pursed lips indifferently. It remained there for a few moments before Josh approached the counter and plucked it from her mouth.

The flush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks was obvious. Josh sighed and moved to sign the girl into her appointment. It was the first step and there were still many more to follow, but he was determined to get them both through the next hour in one piece. The pen he pilfered from the rabbit seemed to have different plans though. He attempted a few quick strokes but no ink flowed onto the paper. After a few more tries, he shot his charge a glare. "LuLu! What did I say about eating ink!"

The sigel grinned and giggled michievesously. The purple bruising on her face had faded a shade or two into a duller blue. Even the swelling seemed to have deflated a little after her small snack.

Josh's expression during the whole ordeal read clearly that he was very sorry for whatever his sigel was about to do, but that he also had very little control over the matter. Lu's guardian took a short break from reprimanding her to acknowledge Zeke's greeting. He took the other man's hand in his own and gave it a firm shake, "Nice to meet you, too. I hope we did not cause too much of a comotion." With a smile, he plucked the fresh pen away from Zeke and finished signing into the appointment.

LuLu's ears perked at what she interpreted as a bottomless pen buffet. Well, if Zeke was offering. The girl reached for the whole cup. However, the rabbit was thwarted as her guardian quickly placed his hand over the container. He returned the ballpoint pen back to it and gave her an incredulous look before setting it on the other side of the counter just out of her reach. Of course, the sigel's pout returned in full force. How was she supposed to heal her injuries if Josh kept getting in the way!? She could do it in a snap and be as good as new in a few minutes if he would just let her down some ink like she wanted to.

Josh offered an explanation to Zeke before he was chalked up as a raevan abuser. "Lu also feeds on creativity and she had a full breakfast this morning. I am sure she is still satisfied from it." He glanced at her as he continued as though addressing the elephant in the room, "She is wanting to feed on ink to heal the injuries she got from her last boxing match faster. But, I want you to take a look before she fixes them wrong or something." Concern edged into the boy's voice. "I do not want her abusing a shortcut and avoiding real medical attention. Plus, some bad stuff went down when she had too much ink before."

LuLu expression seemed to soften at the boy's final comment, just a bit. Even she had to admit, that was a valid concern. The last time she had gorged on ink they had all suffered for it. Still, she had learned her lesson from that time and understood her limits more now. LuLu was confident that she would not repeat the same incident. It was frustrating that her guardian did not trust her ability to control herself. The girl sighed, "I know what I am doing."

Lu crossed her arms over her chest when Zeke sided with her guardian. Of course he would. If the girl had feet, they would be stomping as she brushed past the humans and towards the examination room. The sigel commented offhandedly, "I do not care if he comes. Just finish up quickly." The faster she got this over with, the sooner she could get on with her day. It would also mean she would be one step closer to getting the ink she wanted. All she needed now was for Zeke to tell her everything was A-ok, like she already knew it was.

Josh followed at their heels. An apologetic look was perpetually plastered on his face as he tried to make up for each ill-tempered comment that fell out of the raevan's mouth. He tried to fill in the silence with something other than Lu's grumbling, "So what does the exam entail?"

Joshua nodded along with the other man's description. He added in a few interested hums for good measure. However, his eyes seemed focused intently on his charge hovering down the hallway.

She was strolling deeper into the Lab and the two humans were not far behind her. Joshua could see the girl's hands were reaching out to poke and toy with the objects she came across. With practice movements, Joshua fixed her small displays of rebellion. He stood up a placard she had knocked over and re-adjusted some magazines that were skewed in the examination room.

As Zeke patted his shoulder, Joshua offered a weary smile, "That is a relief." The boy quickly took a seat in the corner of the room. He crossed his legs for a moment but seemed uncomfortable in the position. He then uncrossed them and scooted closer to the edge of his seat. The guardian watched his charge's evaluation curiously.

LuLu stared up at Zeke with her arms crossed over her chest. She frowned and stated blandly, "It is easier to show you." The sigel lifted up her shirt until it was tucked under her armpits.

Her guardian sputtered from his corner of the room. He yelped a single word with a shaky tenor, "M-modesty!" He set his face in his hands. There was a furious blush alighting his cheeks.

LuLu shrugged indifferently. She pointed to a scattering of faded bruises along her ribcage. "Most of them are gone now. These are left." She then smoothed her shirt back down.

Josh seemed relieved that Zeke was relatively unphased by LuLu's little display. Perhaps, she was not the first one to be so bold during a check up. The boy pondered this. Maybe the lab was full of other pint sized terrors.

Zeke's offhand comment did bring a soft smirk to the rabbit's lips. She considered it a compliment. LuLu certainly did like to make things interesting.

The sigel shook her head, "No. Not much anymore. Maybe a three with the big bruises." She blinked owlishly as a thought occurred to her. "I have been able to do this lately..." Her voice trailed off.

Suddenly the tattoos on her face slid like liquid under her skin and took on a new pattern. She figured it was worth mentioning. This was an exam after all. Returning to Zeke's questions without missing a beat, she answered, "Nothing on my back."

Joshua perked up in his seat at Zeke's sudden enthusiasm. He had been just as animated when LuLu had first shown him. The novelty still had not quite worn off, and a soft grin had krept onto his face upon seeing the girl's powers in action. Joshua agreed, "It is something alright. She has made some pretty rad ones." The boy started to reach for his phone. There was a glimmer in his eyes like a father getting ready to show off his daughter's yearbook photos.

LuLu cut him off, however. The sigel answered Zeke, "I can have whatever I want." Her tattoos continued to shift and spread along her skin. "But, I like keeping the ones I was born with. They are easier to make." She pointed toward the red marking still on her shoulder.

Upon the man's request, LuLu nodded. She turned around and pulled up her shirt once again. Likely to Zeke's delight, another new tattoo had formed on her back. It crawled up her spine like a willowy vine.

Her eyes eventually flicked to Zeke's and she commented offhandedly, "I can do it to other people's tattoos, too." She held out her hand towards the man. "If you want to see." Her lip quirked in a way that was more than a little mischievous.

In the background, you could see Joshua give his charge a pointed stare. He looked nervous.

LuLu's gave a small curtsy to the man after his praise. Her own tattoos melded back into their usual appearance as she spun around and floated closer to the man. She was beyond pleased that he had given into his curiosity. It had been a while since she been able to do a large piece on a client.

This would be fun.

LuLu laced her fingers together then cracked her knuckles with a muted pop. Her hands reached out and clasped around his bicep. She gingerly ran her fingers over his skin as though she was feeling for something. The rabbit paused and hummed softly once she found it.

It was more difficult to use her powers on others, especially when their tattoos were not fresh. Nonetheless, she could feel the ink under Zeke's skin calling out to her essence. It was ready to be manipulated and made into something new. She commented, "Sit back and relax. It may tickle."

Her grip tightened on his muscle. For a few seconds not much happened. Soon, however, the man would feel a tingle under his flesh akin to a bug crawling on his arm. LuLu's eyes slid closed. This kind of work demanded all of her focus. The clearer she envisioned the picture in her mind, the better it would turn out.

Josh cradled his chin in his hand and watch in curiosity as Zeke's tribal marking started to move. The tattoo caved in on itself until the whole thing had receded completely under LuLu's palms.

She girl's brow wrinkled with concentration. The ink began to take on a completely different shape. Even the color shifted from a dull, faded black until a full spectrum.

The sigel continued her work in silence. Shifting her hands as she perfected each part. After a solid ten minutes, she reopened her eyes. LuLu pulled her hands away and breathed a sigh of relief. She chimed triumphantly, "All done!" She was proud of what she had created. Zeke's new tat was one of her best works to date, in her opinion.