Welcome to Gaia! ::

The two figures stalked towards the familiar house, regarding it with quiet eyes. It had been awhile since they had been here last... The larger of the pair stopped at the door, knocking firmly. He had a new edge about him, a rugged and dangerous look, and he carried the scent of the ocean. His hair was tousled and re-dyed, and his skin had taken on a tan color. His shirt was left entirely unbuttoned, which consequently revealed the thin new scar travelling down from his throat to his bellybutton. Oh well, chicks dig scars. He lifted his hand afterwards, scritching at the line of stubble along his jaw. He would only be here for awhile.. Then he had business to attend to.

His young charge had changed slightly as well, taken on a little bit of height.. Although not much. He was still quite the skinny shrimp. His skin had darkened slightly with its newfound firmness, and had grown much more armor-like. His voice had gone through the deepening phase, although it had hardly deepened at all if any, and cracked every now and then. His eyes had only seemed to grow wider, more doe-like and innocent. The wifebeater he wore now barely covered his stomach, and he had traded in his baggy pants for a pair of comfy shorts. He leaned against his caretaker slightly, awaiting some sort of answer to their knocking. He was nervous. He'd talked to his friend the night before, but now he was seeing him after so long..

The man gave a half smile, his eyes remaining rather blank for the time being. "Hey." He did seem happy to see her, but there was something else about the man that had changed besides his appearance. It seemed as if there was so much more going through his mind than there had been before, and none of it even close to the lighthearted thoughts that once traipsed about his mind. The storm that was Axel had grown darker and more foreboding, as if something dangerous were coming. He nodded calmly, and moved to head on inside.

The scorpion lad kept to his guardian's side, and seemed to be entirely unphased by whatever plagued the older man. He smiled warmly to Bree, trying to offer a wave with his claw. It was hard when one didn't have fingers to wave, really. People never quite got what exactly he was gesturing. "O-oh, okay.." He nodded and then began to shuffle his way slowly towards the other boy's room. He felt nervous for some unknown reason, as if fearing that his friend wouldn't accept him like he had before and would shun him off because he left. It's what happens to ones mind, really, when you've been socially isolated for so long.

He rapped on the door lightly, and then lightly pushed it open, peering his head inside. "H-hello?" Those wide black eyes fell upon the familiar shark boy, and then Nero edged uncertainly inside the room. "U-umn.." He smiled shyly.

Axel watched as his child disapeared into Simon's room, and then looked slowly back towards Bree. "How've you been?" He asked, running a hand through his tousled hair.

Axel let his hands slip casually into his pockets, dark green eyes remaining locked on Bree as she spoke. Although his face was fixed on the same expression, he seemed to be truly listening. He moved to follow her as she flopped onto the couch, and just as she motioned for him to sit he did so. He released a sigh and settled back into the couch, and then turned his head to look at her. The coldness finally broke, and he gave a true smile. "Sorry about that, looks like I missed quite a lot. I'm sure everything'll work out soon enough. Just be patient with the kid." He ran a hand idly through his hair, and then arched a brow. "Me?... Well... Let's see..."

He let out a puff of air, "Well, I've been okay I guess. Better, definately, but I'm hanging in there. Spent the past while down by the ocean. Kinda nice. I didn't really have time to enjoy it. I had an... Important job.. To do." He didn't light up the way he normally did when he did well on a job, or even just spoke about one. He usually enjoyed his work. It seems he didn't this time. "Got a little roughed up, but finished it okay. Nero spent most of that time alone with his dragon..." He frowned. "I feel bad about that.. But hey, what can you do?" There was nothing he could do.. He shook his head slightly, and then lightened up a bit, "But I won't be disapearing anymore, atleast. Well, with the exception of within the next few minutes." He winked at her. "I'm afraid I'll be running off for a little while. Sorry about that. You don't mind Nero sticking around, do you? I've got another job to do."

Nero did as he was told, closing the door before moving over closer to Simon. "Y-yeah.." Wow, everything was really... Gone. That was odd. He blinked his smaller set of eyes, and then sat down carefully beside his friend. "I-It's okay." He smiled warmly, "I-I'm f-fine. I d-don't have m-much to d-do at my h-house either.." Or when he was stuck in a motel room all alone... But he left that one out. His friend seemed different, more distant, kind of like his daddy. He reached out to gently touch a claw to the shark boy's arm. "Y-you okay?"

Axel chuckled softly at her expression of bafflement after he announced the news, a hand moving to stroke lightly along her jaw after she turned to face him. "Miss me?" And by him, he meant his body of course, for he was a cocky b*****d. Especially after meeting up with an old ******** a few days ago. They had told him he was like a drug. Addicting. He traced a finger down the side of her neck, and acted as if it were about to travel lower before pulling away entirely, and somewhere during that time he had moved in closer to her. "I'll only be gone for a few hours.. Maybe you could stop by and visit me afterwards, hmm?"

Perhaps he was slightly less playful than he had been before, however he was still the same sensual and rather touch-affectionate person he had been before he left. And cocky as hell. He kept the same approach, though. He threw out hints and waited for his prey.. Erm.. Partner to come to him.

The boy relaxed as his friend seem to cheer up, and he offered him a shy smile. "O-okay, th-that's good." He settled back, folding his claws the best he possible could in his lap. He took another look around the room, and then gave a baffled look to Simon. NERO had grown? He laughed softly and lowered his head sheepishly, "N-not really... J-just a little... Y-you've gr-grown much more..." He paused, listening to the other talk about his dragon. He took on a curious look, "R-really? K-Kei's gotten really b-b-big, too." He remembered the creature wouldn't even fit into the van on the ride home from their 'vacation.'.. And how they had to struggle to keep him outside of the motel room because they couldn't get him in and out of the door. "H-he's..." Even more rambunctious than before, more cocky, and more bastardly. But Nero decided to let whatever he was about to say go, and shook his head exhasperatedly. He was no match for that dragon.

"H-he stays in th-the heat r-room my d-daddy made f-for him in th-the basement." Perhaps most almost-teens would be ashamed to call their father daddy. Not Nero. He adored the man, as many knew. He looked towards the mentioned window, and then moved to go look out of it. He glanced around for the pool, and then nodded, "Y-yeah, I see.." Wow, that dragon must be getting real big... His tail began to sway contentedly from side to side, more like a cat than a scorpion.

The male arched a brow, watching as Bree headed off towards her bedroom. He chuckled warmly and pushed himself to his feet, strolling casually along behind her. So, maybe he had to go, but it would be totally out of character for him to choose work over fun. All work and no play was insane. He personally would have preferred the couch, but remembered also that they had their charges just in the other room, and had they decided to walk out... They would be scarred for life. Or atleast a few hours, anyways. He ran a hand through his hair, following the woman into her lair. Erm, bedroom. Lair sounded sexier though. Hmmm.

"Mnn.. W-whatever is on th-the radio, really..." Nero continued to stare out the window thoughtfully. He'd been listening to the radio quite a lot the past few months, that cheap alarm clock radio in the motel... He turned suddenly, eyes hooking on Simon's face. "H-hey... L-let's go s-somewhere." He was pretty sure they probably weren't supposed to go anywhere, and although the scorpion was still rather obediant.. He had grown an independant side in his time alone, a very strong one. He often wandered off nowadays, he doubted Axel would mind... And he doubted his friend would care if Bree minded.

"S-somewhere f-fun." There was nothing here after all, he was certain both of them were aware of this. He liked being with Simon and all, and he was very content sitting around and talking, but he was sure the taller boy would prefer to do something more active. So he'd come up with a new idea.

The scorpion trailed along behind his friend, waiting excitedly for the taller boy to fill him in. He snuck out almost all the time- well, not really, he just kind of wandered out of the house without telling his caretaker- but this was the first time he'd go somewhere... Not alone! Which was nice. Especially because it was with Simon this time, so he wouldn't just be wandering around in silence with nothing but his own thoughts keeping him company. He was sure this would be a lot more fun. He took up stride behind the shark as he moved out, and once they were outside he stepped out of the way and took a look around. "Hmm..."

Nero went over his list of places he liked to go that weren't scary, let's see. "W-well, we c-could go g-get something t-t-to eat first, i-if y-you want. I kn-know some places.. O-or! Th-there's an arcade I-I know of... O-or.." He paused.. Those places were open this late... What other ones were? "W-we could s-see a m-movie or so-something.. O-or.." He looked up at the other boy, smiling, "Wh-where do y-you like t-to go?" Maybe Simon didn't have money on him, but Nero sure did. He had plenty of it. Axel made sure he was always stocked up incase he ever got into trouble during one of his wandering expeditions. He decided to assure the other that he indeed had some with the simple phrase, "I-I've got a l-lot of mo-money I've b-been saving u-up, s-so.."

The scorpion, on the otherhand, really spent a lot of time... Trying to find something to do to occupy his time. Thus, his growing experience with sneaking out. He was no longer as easily entertained as he was when he was a child. He needed to get out and do stuff... Some of the places he listed, he had never actually been to, he had just passed them.. But he knew where they were, anyways.

"A-alright." He smiled and nodded. Food sounded good. He hadn't eaten, either, although ever since their return the whole family's eating habits had been totally thrown off. It was strange. Everything seemed so different now... He didn't like it very much. It was unnerving... Almost... Scary, really. He hated this new change.

He blinked, and then nodded obediently, "R-right!" He trailed along behind his friend cheerily, completely unphased by the fact he was being ordered around while they were following his suggestions. He really didn't mind... He wasn't much of a leader, after all. He was a follower... Or, well.. He was growing quickly into a loner, really, more like his species.

The boy had been staring in a ponderous manner at the ground when his friend's voice shook him from his thoughts, and he glanced up at him with his curious and wide eyes. His head automatically canted itself to the side, yet before the words had been entirely comprehended the shark was counting down and preparing to take off. This snapped the scorpion out of his thoughtful trance entirely, and a wide smile spread across his face. "'K-Kay! G-go!" He echoed and immediately kicked off, deciding to take it easy at first. All good races were supposed to start that way, right? That's what he had learned in his early childhood, anyways, that if you reserve your energy at the beginning and gave it your all near the end you would do better. He drew in a deep breath and held it, glancing the eyes on one side of his face over to find Jekel.

Nero may be a clumsy little fellow, but he was quick on land, a gift given to him by his scorpion counterparts. Racing was an activity he rarely got to partake in, however, so whenever the opportunity arose he was always hasty to snatch it up.