Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sherry knew she was blushing, and his comment didn’t make things any better. He wasn’t looking at her again though, and she didn’t know what to make of that. Was that a good or bad or indifferent sign? Did it matter at all? She sighed, hands brushing at her skirt again. She was almost feeling silly in the dress, too exposed and too open. “Thanks,” she repeated. “I…hope it is.”

Her eyes went back to his sweater. She…she had been there, hadn’t she? She almost laughed at herself. How could she forget? She’d loved that day. “It looks good on you.” She reached out, fingers brushing his sleeve. When had she moved close enough to touch him? “It’s clean, and certainly better than some things I’ve seen here.” If he was feeling underdressed and she was feeling overdressed… she almost giggled at the idea of how silly it was.

“That’s good,” her eyes went to his foot. “Don’t strain it. Best no—“ She stopped talking as her phone buzzed. “Oh, uh, pardon me,” she said, reaching for her phone. She didn’t moved away from him or anything, the apology was for pausing the conversation that had been going… so very well.

A message from Ofelia? Ofie! Sherry bit her lip again, eyes sliding to Jake. He probably didn’t want to talk to Ofie, and he was certainly in no condition for confrontation. Sherry did want to talk to the girl, but she wasn’t sure if this affair was a good place to make sure her friend was alright. It was better than never, but…



She’d… see how that went.

"Forgive me," she said to Jake. "So, um," Sherry was finding she was really bad at this whole conversation thing. "Anything new?" Silly question.

Wilson laughed, “You know, Ryan and Saya don’t strike me as that type. They’d be growing up too fast if they were.” He tilted his head when Marcus called his name. “Yeah?” He leaned into Marcus’ hold, temporarily relinquishing his grasp on Ryan and Saya. The death hunter kept laughing while rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I could—…” Sudden silence. He looked like a baffled child at first before slowly morphing into a kicked puppy until finally his face utterly crumpled altogether—

He smiled and chuckled. “Yeah. I guess she would scold me too.” Appearing more subdued, he adjusted his clothes a bit so they were more proper then went back to lazily draping his arms around Ryan and Saya. “You’ve been doing good?” he asked Marcus. Wilson looked between the two younger moon hunters and grinned. “Take your time,” he muttered. But he was pretty sure you two were going to end up together eventually.

--

Alaska took a step back to watch Marcus fuss over Wilson. How interesting. Her eyes bugged out upon seeing the lollipop in Sin’s mouth. She parted her lips slightly like she wanted a taste for herself, but then she firmly closed her mouth and turned toward the others. “You look more and more like a brat by the second,” she grumbled. The corner of her mouth twisted into a scowl at Sin. “So you’re that kind of person, huh? Why am I not surprised…?”

“Well,” she started slowly at Ryan’s question, “some people don’t show certain side of themselves under particular circumstances, so it’s not completely horrible to be cautious. But since I’m new here I could be wrong.” Alaska shrugged after throwing in her bit.

Thinking straight? If anything, her nerves were a sign that her head was a jumbled mess . . . But she took the compliment with a polite nod nevertheless. "Me? Oh, not much. Still trying to learn the ins and outs of being a Mist, trying to be more social...and failing sorta...Oh! Miss Candace has been helping me," Stormy added in a happier tone. "What about you? You waiting for someone?" Ofelia seemed to have a connection on the phone as well.

"No." The reply came to Stormy pretty much instantly. "No one is waitin' fer me an' Ah'm not waitin' on anyone." She smiled a bit too bitterly before trying to prop it back into a happy one. "An' yer wit' Candace? Ah really like her, she's super nice! Let me borrow some clothes once when mine got all ruined."

Perhaps Ofelia needed to see her again some day. Catch up with the old instead of swim with the new?

The responses she received from both Jake and Ofie left her feeling a little bit hollow. Ofelia felt like she was bothering her and Jake was… Jake. Bittersweet sadness tugged at her heart, though Sherry didn’t think she was actually sad. That wasn’t the right word for it. It was something else she couldn’t place. Sherry sighed. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to talk with Ofelia, not if she was going to be emotional this easily. Not here, anyway.



Putting her phone away, Sherry moved to catch up with Jake, which wasn’t all that difficult. “I’d rather talk with you right now.”

That was it. She felt like she was choosing between them. Which was silly because she knew she didn’t have to do that. Or maybe she was just wishing she didn’t have to. It hurt, a small ping of ache in her chest, to think that her friends were sad or hurt or angry and… She wondered how Stormy was. After everything and… She hoped the girl didn’t hate her. Stormy had to know Sherry didn’t hate her, right?

Sherry let out another sad sigh. She was wearing a pretty dress. She shouldn’t be sad in a pretty dress. Mission briefings were also no place for sadness. Though she wouldn’t have counted them as places for pretty dresses, either. “I do kind of wish they’d get this started already.”

Sherry got a quick text back.

Of course. He should have known.
Jake turned around to face her, heaving a sigh.
"There's nothing to say. I told you, don't worry about it." Part of him did still sort of hold a grudge against Ofie, as it was her fault this whole thing between him and Sherry ended up going to hell, not to mention she had attacked her. In truth, the only reason he didn't mind her seeing her now was because the hunter wouldn't dare do anything stupid with nearly all the hunters present, would she? But then again, he had no control over Sherry's actions. She could do as she pleased, and even if it made him uncomfortable, he had no right to stop it.

Sherry's second comment eased his mind from the matter as he let out a huff. "Same here."
Really, he was absolutely useless here. If a fight broke out, he couldn't help, not with his injuries still healing and... lack of weapon.

Before he could languish more in this thought, a voice distracted him, and as he looked up (or down?), he tensed, averting his gaze from the death hunter.

"...Gale."