Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nita padded into the cafeteria and acquired her now-typical plate of bamboo salad and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Looking around with her tray, she spotted Natsumi. At first not realizing anything strange about her appearance (with people changing all the time, "strange" was practically an irrelevant term on the island), the red-head waved slightly as she took a seat at the same table. "You mind if I sit here?" she asked.

Nita's white brow raised at the ketchup-covered carrot. Perhaps it was some weird Japanese appropriation of American foods. Or just a dietary change from a transformation... Nita looked more closely at Natsumi and spotted the minor changes in the girl's face.

"I've been.. alright," she said, digging into her salad. "Mostly sticking to my duplex and hanging out with a couple of people. How about you?"

"I've met Thom a couple of times," Nita said. "There was a big game of football a few weeks ago, with a bunch of the islanders. I didn't play, but it was fun to watch." She picked a few of the larger bamboo shoots out of her bowl, not bothering with a fork. It was actually the leaves that tasted the best to her, and made up the greatest portion of her salad, but the shoots were nice and crunchy as well. Nita leaned back in her chair, noting Natsumi's multiple layers. "Is the air-conditioning getting to you?"

Nita took a sip from her own glass, which still had plenty of soda in it. "No thanks, I'm fine." She flashed a smile at Natsumi, idly watching her walk across the cafeteria. It seemed Natsumi had grown a tail, as well as maybe putting on a bit of weight around her middle. Almost as if she were...


Pregnant. Ridiculous, Nita scolded herself. But still. It all made sense. The bizarre food, the bulky clothing to hide her figure... She tried not to stare at the girl, but with the idea in her head, she kept having to sneak little glances at her.

Nita nodded as she returned, working quickly to crack the shell and peel it off of a hard-boiled egg. She sprinkled a bit of salt on the top and bit into it happily.

"It's true, they can be awfully trying at times," Nita agreed, a hint of laughter in her voice. "Good for balance though, even if it's hard to wear regular pants."

Alright. A hamburger with peanut-butter was just disgusting. No way could that be chalked up to some strange animal's dietary habits. The red panda girl noted Natsumi's momentary facial change. Was she going to be sick? Nita fervently hoped not. Carrots and ketchup were gross enough going down; she didn't even want to think what they'd be like coming back up.

"The team Thom wasn't on, actually. Ambrose, Rex, and Amaya were on the team. Don't know if you've met any of them. Amaya made an impressive goalie."

"They're all nice, although I've talked to Rex the most. Big guy, turning into a lion. You'd know him if you saw him. Amaya is an iguana, I think, and Ambrose is a wolf." Funny how easy it was to refer to other islanders by 'their' animal.

Nita worked on peeling and eating the second egg, her salad finished. She just caught Natsumi's soft exclamation and looked at her warily. Please don't throw up! she begged mentally. "Are you okay?" she asked, clearly concerned. "Should you go lie down or something?"