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After his first meeting with the dragon and lion, Gaius had retreated to his room, where he spent the better part of a day lying on the bed... just thinking. Considering everything in his life had been completely scrambled in one afternoon, Gaius was feeling less than peachy. Here he was, on an island full of monster-people, and soon going to join them, if Rex was right. It was something he would rather not face.

However, he knew it would be impossible to hole up forever. After just one day, Gaius was already going crazy pacing in his small duplex, and his stomach demanded attention. Sneaking out in the late afternoon, Gaius stopped by the cafeteria, grabbing himself a sandwich with the intension of returning to his duplex, but once outside, he found his feet carrying himself down one of the paths from the village. The air was beginning to cool with the sun lowering in the sky, and Gaius couldn't help but admire the surroundings. Soon there was sand under his feet, and an expanse of ocean greeted him, painted red and orange with the setting sun.

Settling down on the sand with his sandwich, Gaius let out a long sigh. It was almost perfect... if only he could stop picturing Rex and Zach's fearsome maws in front of him, and wondering how long before he saw the same thing in the mirror.

Gaius took a bite of his sandwich, enjoying his self-made meal and letting his worries melt away with the satisfaction of his most basic necessity. Lying back, Gaius set the sandwich on his chest. At least out here he was alone. No mad scientists or animal-people to worry about.

It seemed he'd thought too soon as the sound of crunching sand behind him alerted him to approaching company. Tilting his head back, Gaius got an upside-down view of what looked to be a white cat of some sort with far more tails than any creature had any business possessing. He yelped in surprise and scrambled upright, dropping his sandwich in the process.

He remained sitting in the sand where he was, half of a meat sandwich still hanging from his shirt, staring wide-eyed at the lady in front of him. It took a moment for her question to get through to him. Finding his voice, Gaius stammered, "T-told...? ...Oh! Yeah... Though I'm still not used to the site of animal people." He chuckled weakly and winced. "...Sorry. Give me some time, I'll work on it..."

Gaius winced again, realizing how rude he was being. "Sorry, I didn't mean any..." His apology was interrupted by the sudden purloining of what had remained of his sandwich. He blinked, glancing down at the sandy mess that was the rest of his sandwich, and back up at Antony. It was all too surreal for him to handle. Shaking his head, Gaius broke into a fit of chuckling.

"Ha ha! I know this has to be real, it's too weird to be a dream!" He brushed his sandy hand on his jeans before gripping her clawed hand and shaking it, finally breaking into an actual smile. "I'm Gaius."

Picking off a bit of cheese still clinging to his clothes, he stuffed it in his mouth and reguarded her. "So... I have to ask, how long do I have before I join the likes of you anyways? I looked in the mirror earlier, and I don't seem to be sprouting fur yet as far as I can tell."

He nodded slowly, absorbing the information. "So... it's more injections?" This was all new to him, having only learned the basics in his previous encounter. Thankfully, Antony seemed far from being angry, or a sneak like that Zach. For that matter... she was the first woman he'd encountered on the island, at least the first changed one. He glanced back at her, eyes lingering on her face, wondering what she had used to look like under the fur. Looking away quickly, he frowned and furrowed his brows. "...I'm sorry..."

"Ah, well..." Gaius scratched at the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his. "I meant... I'm sorry for you being here. And that your tattoos are covered..." he trailed off and shrugged. "They were probably pretty."

The movement of her tails caught his attention. So many of them... It was still hard for him to not think of the limbs as costume props, but they were all part of Antony's body. He couldn't fathom having so many of anything. He opened his mouth to ask how they felt, but quickly closed it and looked back out at the water. Best not to be rude. Instead, he asked, "Do you still do tattoo art? I'd love to see samples of your work."

Somehow, despite Antony's strange appearance, it felt almost normal to be talking about tattoo sketchbooks compaired to everything else he'd gone through the past two days. He just wished he knew how to relate better to her. She wasn't the type of girl he would have been around much at home, so he felt a level of seperation beyond the difference in their state of humanity.

"That'd be fun sometime..." he said. He didn't feel like moving quite yet, enjoying the breeze off the ocean as the sun disappeared. The first stars were beginning to peek out above them. Gaius leaned back on his hands, a small smile spreading across his face. "Being out here under the stars remind me of camping with my dad..." The smile suddenly vanished. He facepalmed and fell back on the sand, angry with himself. And he'd been able to forget everything for a couple minutes, then he had to go and remind himself! "Damnit! Why am I here... I don't deserve this! You don't deserve this!" He groaned. "I'm a mess..."

He remained lying on his back, hand over his face as he answered, "That I'm stuck here. Never going home or seeing my family. It's just hard to really understand." He let his hand drop back onto the sand. Never going to see his father again... What would he think? The last thing Gaius wanted was to worry his family. "I wonder if they'll even know what's happened to me..."

Well, wasn't he a little ray of sunshine. Though, considering the situation he was in, it wasn't exactly conducive to a cheerful attitude.