Welcome to Gaia! ::

Pop-ups had well, popped up all over the city with this Starfest thing going on and there was a huge variety of snacks and treats. She normally ate easy-to-make foods or things she could get from the camping supply section. Using a microwave was a nice new thing she had been taking full advantage of since moving to the city. It wasn't a luxury they had had back at her parent's house.

Walking through the stalls as she shoved popcorn into her face, she noticed that there was just a senshi chilling in line. It felt odd to see someone all powered up in public, wouldn't that spook people? Or were all these city-folk used to the weirdness to the point that it didn't even show up as a blip on their radar? She looked up at the sign for a moment, it was a sweets and coffee shop apparently. It looked kind of like what she had seen at the carnival before back home, except all star themed.

Getting in line behind the senshi she poked him slightly before whispering. "Aren't you supposed to be like... all lay low ish? I thought it would freak people out if people walked around all magical and stuff?" He looked like a mirror senshi but she worded things to keep from straight out confirming that she was one too. It was definitely out of the norm she thought but at the same time she was still getting used to the fanciful design of her own senshi outfit. Maybe others were more used to it or enjoyed it like Hybris did?

"Well I mean you look like one of those weirdo cosplayers I mean? Unless you're meaning something else? I'm just a photographer from outta town." She leaned back a bit and pulled up the strap of her camera to show him. "But if you're up for buying me some snacks I'll take the sweetest thing on the menu I can take some photos of your outfit if you'd like in exchange." Smiling a bit as she eyed the menu up above, there were so many fried and candied things they could make. "Maybe the starry sweets surprise?"


Pointing up at the special on the menu she nodded. "Yeah that looks pretty good and then maybe a redbull too, if they have one. I'm going to be photographing a lot of stuff for the festival tonight and into the morning probably." Tossing the empty popcorn bag into the trashcan next to the stall, she wiped off her face with a napkin before turning back to Morpheus. He was being so serious and he was definitely older than her and probably knew more about the city and stuff.

"I guess you've been here awhile, I really have no clue what all this star fest business is. We don't have stuff like this back where I came from but we do sometimes have little carnivals in the next town over."

Taking the bag of candy, she didn't wait to try a piece. She grabbed a handful and popped them in her mouth as she followed the other. They tasted really good and reminded her of some of the homemade stuff that the neighbors would make in the summer. As she chewed she nodded and listened. at least until she noticed that the candy basically turned into glue. Panicking slightly as she followed the other and sat down, she grabbed napkins and tried to spit it out.

What the heck was with the weird city and it trying to kill people?!

It wouldn't come out and she waved her hand in front of her mouth as she looked up towards the other. She could still breathe through her nose but she was starting to freak out a little bit. Nobody else seemed to have the issue, had he done something to the bag before giving it to her as a hazing joke thing? Trying to talk turned out to be a dumb idea, nothing came out as she failed to open her mouth.

Ok so maybe he hadn't done it but she was getting really tired of this city having the Australia amount of danger. Focusing on breathing through her nose, she tried working her jaw to try and chew to make the glob of candy break down. She really did hope it would break down because she really didn't want to try navigating her way to the urgent care and having to try explaining what happened.

He had grabbed her hands and it did kind of help her focus even if it made her feel embarrassed. Thinking to the other things he had said, about the holiday weirdness, she hoped that it wouldn't be as messed up as the acid-spitting cicadas she had dealt with. But she did feel like Halloween would be the best time to walk around powered up given her own outfit's appearance and Hybris's offer to modify it to be spookier and a bit more discreet to blend in.

Bouncing her foot under the table nervously, she counted the seconds as she worked her jaw. At about the sixty-second mark, the wad softened and she was able to swallow it. It hurt to swallow the thing whole but she could open her mouth and reached for the redbull. Promptly cracking it open, she chugged it to try and wash whatever was left out of her teeth and mouth.

"This city sucks." She looked up at Morpheus as she stretched her mouth out and made sure it wasn't going to get stuck shut again.

"Has it always been like this? I've photographed some weird things since coming here, look." Pulling up her camera, she flipped through the digital gallery to the meteor shower that she had photographed before turning the image finder towards him so he could see. "I feel like this was the least dangerous thing so far. How does everyone deal with it?" She was genuinely curious because there were obviously a lot of people living here.

Maybe it was just all the less dangerous stuff that kept people around, or they had all become desensitized to the weirdness. It was something she would have to figure out for herself since this was her home now.

Ok... that she could work with. "Strange dolls you say?" Sitting up and a bit more attentive she looked at him hoping he would say more. "I think that would be a type of weird I could manage. Are we talking like Annabelle or more like Chucky?" It was her favorite horror movie trope and of course, it was her universally assigned power. But he didn't know that, yet.

She was versed in many haunted doll movies and stories from folklore. Now that she had her own magic, she had looked into voodoo dolls and those like proxy things. It helped her understand a bit more about how things worked.

Waving her hand in a so-so motion. "Annabelle isn't as stab happy so more like poltergeist-ish than the other. But if that happens around Halloween." She leaned back and looked up at the weird sky of this city. Leaning back forward and returning her gaze to Morpheus, she took his photo and stuck out her tongue. "You've gotta show me them if they come back."

She was his problem now, at least a bit. At some point, she was sure he would see her out and about with her wraith so maybe then there would be a better introduction. Pulling out a business card from her pocket she placed it on the table in front of him. "If you need any photos taken you can get ahold of me before then too. The first one's free but then I'll charge ya." The number and email on the card were the ones she had set up under her business name Locke Art and Photo. It would send calls and texts to her second phone so things wouldn't get crossed when she was bouncing between her business stuff and personal stuff. Mostly she didn't want to miss any of the drama and photos Malroy sent her on her personal phone.