Welcome to Gaia! ::

Life for Gaius had been interesting the past couple days. His nights were spent curled up sleeping on benches, or in the entertainment room when no one was there, which was rare thanks to the nocturnal islanders, and his sheets and pillow were certainly suffering for the exposure to the elements. He himself was looking a good deal scragglier. Baths in the nearby river helped, but he was developing a distinct stubble around his jaw and upper part of his neck, and his hair was scruffier than usual. Aside from that, though, he was feeling better. With time came the fading of memory, and with that, a pleasant blanket he could put between himself and Sabin’s hard words. Marshall was right, after all, and so was Liamh. They were the people he trusted. Somewhere along the way, he’d finally realized… he had an opportunity to be useful to people here that he didn’t have back home. It was all a matter of numbers. Here, he was the better architect… being the only one. That thought only marginally comforted Gaius, though it made him feel guilty at the same time, but it was enough to rekindle the drive that’d died in the labs.

Having just finished a brief meal in the cafeteria, Gaius stood in front of the village bulletin board, reading over the notes. He frowned. Seemed Billy was already searching out talent for the stage that he hadn’t even started.

“Jumping the gun a bit…” he muttered to himself. Well, he was finally ready to start! There was just one problem…

He still refused to go inside his duplex. The pieces of skin lying about still brought a shudder to his broad shoulders. But that was where his blueprints still were… Maybe he could find someone to help…

Gaius turned, a bit too quickly, as despite the man’s precautions, it’d become easier to surprise Gaius recently. However, he quickly relaxed, seeing the apparently friendly man with scales on his nose. Actually, it rather amused him how similar their flattened noses were, except Gaius certainly won out in the nostril department, he mused ruefully.

“Yeah… I’m the guy working on that stage construction, you see, but Billy, the guy who came up with the whole idea, is already looking for performers… and, well,” he winced, rubbing at his long neck and looking back at the board, “I haven’t exactly made any progress on building the stage for them yet. And it’s kind of hard to have a show without a place to do it…”

Glancing back at the shorter man, he smiled. “I’m Gaius, by the way. Seems I’m always introducing myself to people I’ve never met, just seen glimpses of around here…”

Charlie’s feigned interest was taken as sincere by the ever-innocent Gaius, who was more than eager to share with a sympathetic ear. His own ears perked up at the vague compliment. People spoke of him? Really? Considering the guy wasn’t teasing him for falling for a lesbian, then it must not have been all that bad!

He took the hand, careful of the long nails, and shook it warmly, his smile broadening. “Great to meet you, Frank! And yeah, troublesome is a good way to put it… I gotta get started as soon as possible. I have the plans already drawn up and stuff, it’s just a matter of getting the supplies and labor together. There’s just… uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and lowered his eyes. “There’s a problem getting to the blueprints…”

“Well… ehhh,” he winced. “The problem is, Liamh, one of my friends… you were at his birthday I think? Anyways, he changed again recently, in my duplex. And now half his skin is scattered around my floor with everything else…”

Gaius chewed his lip. That wasn’t all that was currently bothering him, but he wasn’t ready to discuss the labs with anyone. “What it comes down to is… I guess I’m paranoid about going back inside my duplex, at least just yet… But the blueprints I need are still inside.”

Turning his eyes back on Charlie, his smile brightened again. “But that’s where you come in! You can help fetch them for me, right pal?” He planted a firm pat on Charlie’s shoulder, one that would probably turn into a hard grip if Charlie tried to run.

“Right, always a way!” Gaius parroted happily, using the hand to catch Charlie’s shoulder and pull him along in the direction of good old duplex 62. “And perfectly natural, yeah! I mean, hell, who wouldn’t be traumatized when their friend’s skin came off right under their hands?”

Gaius’ long legs ate up the distance, forcing Charlie to hurry to keep up with the horse-man, otherwise risk being pulled off balance.

“It’ll be easy, really,” he assured the red-head, “the stuff’s all lying out on the floor already anyways… Hopefully Newt’s trap is still working, there shouldn’t be any beetles scurrying around… I think!”

Completely unaware of the personal bubble he was violating with what he considered an inoffensive touch, Gaius didn’t slow down until they were near his duplex, when Charlie freed himself. Gaius blinked, looking at the guy with confusion. “What do you mean, Frank?” he asked, using the name the man had given him. “If you have a problem, I’d be more than willing to help…”

And then the conditions were given. Gaius’ face paled a shade, his bright expression falling along with his drooping ears. “G-Go… inside? But…” He glanced up at the door to the second-story duplex, then back at Charlie, wavering. “The skin! And, it all came off, so horrible…” A small shudder ran down his body. Taking a deep breath, Gaius steadied himself. “Y-You’re right… I just don’t think it’s going to be a very pretty sight in there…”

Glancing back up the stairs, he asked, “…Promise you’ll go in first?”

Gaius hung his head, looking rather like a shamed kid as Charlie lectured him, and nodded. Of course, just don’t think about it… Had to be easy enough, right?

The comment questioning his bravery stung, cause Gaius to raise his head, frowning stubbornly. “I won’t run! And… I don’t want anyone else to know…” he confessed. Augh, he could just imagine if someone like Zach found out Gaius was disturbed by his own duplex… And Sabin was probably in stitches watching him right now. Puffing out his chest, Gaius took a determined step after Charlie.

Inside, it was quite obvious the place had been vacated for days. All the windows were closed, leaving the air musty and smelling of faint decay. The pieces of skin were well on the way to drying out, several falling into several flakey pieces and leaving a dust of skin flakes all over the carpet and papers littering the floor.

The aroma caught the two full-on and Gaius gagged, clamping a hand over his nose as he tried to not look at the place where the worst of the skin bits were gathered. “De plans… dey’re ober der…” He waved his hand towards the desk, which was completely clear of anything atop its surface. Behind it, whoever, were crumpled several papers, some that had blue draft markings on if inspected closer.

This ‘help’ Gaius had found wasn’t being nearly as helpful in the way Gaius had wanted… After all, who didn’t like having someone else do all their work for them? He groaned when Charlie motioned him towards the desk, but then, he was right, once again. Gotta get over the silly fear…

Skirting the edge of the radial formed by the decomposing skin, Gaius picked his way between papers and old laundry until he was close enough to the other side of the desk to kneel down. Working quickly, he gathered the wads of paper into his arm, not minding if they got a little more crumpled at this point. As he cleared the floor, he found a notebook beneath the pile, which he picked up with more care. It was Richard’s notes, including the drafts for… the plan. Gaius’ mouth tightened. Soon. He’d have to do it soon.

The breeze of fresh air cleared much of the air, bringing with it the cleaner smell of the jungle. Gaius took a deep breath and stood back up, a hesitant, but appreciative smile on his flattened face. “Yeah, I think I got them. You were right, wasn’t that hard…”