[Celtic]

He was taking a stroll, not exactly something he was known for doing, but since it was Christmas time and everyone was running around like madmen getting gifts, even he had to take a break and get away for a bit. His mind seemed to be everywhere at once, but his thoughts remained quite happy and light. After all, it was his first time to this coast, and the smell of the sea was quite pleasing.

The man stopped halfway down the beach, looking towards where the sea met the sky, the sun coming close to the point of sunset. He was beginning to realize why people believed such things as the scene he was watching to be beautiful, it truely was breathtaking. Maybe it was just the simplicity of such a thing in nature, or it was just something no one would understand. Either way, it was beautiful and he wasn't going to start off his evening by questioning it.

[1- His anthro is like twenty with brown hair + purple streaks and he's just wearing kahkis and a blue knit shirt. o3o]

[Azura Rayume]

Il'aria was smiling on the inside, but only because she was unable to smile on the outside. She loved Christmas, but sometimes she had to get away from all the people and the looks they always gave her when she wandered into a store or down a street corner. Not that she could blame them for such shock, though; most of them had probably never seen an angel before then, much less an angel doing Christmas shopping.

It was time for a break, though, as she kept reminding herself. She spent so much time in town that now seemed like a good time to take in the sights of Terra. She rarely ventured outside the wall of the mansion except to visit Aldrect (her favorite place in all of Terra, she would add). Maybe just one trip that wasn't to there or Nabias would do her some good.

So she had come to the beach. She had been told of this place, and how fantastic the sunsets looked when seen over the water and black sands of Sa'fir. And, now that she was seeing it for herself, she could go home and tell them they were right. "Terra is such a lovely place," she muttered to herself with a raspy electronic sigh.

[Celtic]

There was something not quite right about this night. Not in the least, but Rikki didn't really pay attention. That is, until something crossed in front of him. His face seemed to lose all color. It was... A mechanical squid. D8; Rikki was not at all prepared to encounter one of these. Was it wild? What did he do? Should he run, or would that aggrivate it? Oh dear Xu-

Did it just... Talk?

Rikki stared, his mouth slightly open, as if he were catching flies. I believe it just did. Something about Terra being beautiful. Whatever Terra was. Maybe it was code for the sunset? Or teh sea? Or life? D8; Rikki just didn't know, but what he did know what that he should shut his mouth and either continue to stare at the sunset, or creep away slowly, hoping it didn't eat meat.

[2]

[Azura Rayume]

Ila paused in her marveling for a moment, the sound of a sped heartbeat reaching her sensors. That was strange... She hadn't seen anyone before now. Her internal radar picked up a blip in that moment, and she turned (rather elegantly for a mechanical beast of her size) to find a petrified human standing in her shadow.

"Oh, dear," she said, glass lenses of eyes staring down at the male. "Is something wrong? Can I lend a helping hand?" Oh, how naive she must seem to someone like him... She only wished to help, though, and hoped he could tell that through her rather bulky exterior. Why the Heavens had given their angel such a gargantuan form to do her work through was beyond her comprehension. Still, she was willing to try to help this citizen of Terra out of his fright if she could.

[Celtic]

Oh shiiiiiiite.

Rikki gulped. It really just talked to him. In a mechanical voice that was asking something that really shouldn't have come out of its mouth. He was expecting something along the lines of, Gimme your lunch money D:< And then like take one of those tentacles and throw him into the water. But no. It asked if everything was okay, maybe it was just trying to lure him into a sense of security and then it would eat him. He had to get out of there. He had to go home. Now.

"Uhhh.... No, no, everything's okay. Everything is just fine. " He gulped again and started inching away from the giant thing. Oh dear, hopefully it wasn't going to take offense and kill him for that. Maybe he should try to suffer through a formal polite conversation and then go. OH geez. Either way could get him killed and he was to young to die. Far to young.

[Azura Rayume]

Oh, dear... The poor boy was frightened, all right, but of what she just couldn't say. She hoped it wasn't her because she had no way of knowing how to make him not be scared if that was indeed the case. She had no idea why anyone would have a reason to fear her, but such a preposterous thing did happen from time to time, and he was always left with no way to mend the situation.

By the way he moved, she assumed it was she that was the source of his fright, which was most unfortunate. "Are you sure you're fine?" she asked. While it might be better not to push the issue, she had to know exactly what was wrong before she could go about fixing it.

[Celtic]

Couldn't she just leave him alone? Rikki whined inwardly. He wanted to leave, to save himself and not get eaten. But she just wouldn't leave it be! Nevermind she had only asked a single question and they'd only been talking for like two minutes, but he was anxious to leave. Not just anxoius, but rather frightened.

"Yepp! Completely fine." He managed to get out, sounding rather strained. Rikki tried to grin, but ended up looking even more scared. He was so afraid of getting her mad or provoking her or allowing her to eat him or anything really. Wait. Shouldn't he be trying to get her to like him so she wouldn't eat him? Isn't that how it went in movies? Wasn't it?! D8; Oh no. He could be using a terrible approach and get eaten. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. He was going to die, that was that. He was going to die. ;-;

[Azura Rayume]

So it was her after all. Ila sank a bit on her tentacles, managing to look entirely depressed without having the luxury of facial expressions. This rarely happened to her in such face to face meetings, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. The boy seemed far too frightened of her to let her help, so trying would probably end up being for naught.

She stepped back a bit, her limbs grinding in the black sand. Perhaps a bit of space would help him calm down. That usually worked, since it was typically being in such close proximity to her that made others worrisome. She knew that much and even knew that it wasn't just her. People did that to the Khalmar back home, too. Whatever his name was. The one that thought she was a robot instead of the angel she was so obviously meant to be.

[Celtic]

Rikki couldn't describe what he was seeing. It seemed that the scary thing was.... D'awwww D8; His heart simply went out for the thing it was looking so rejected. He couldn't possibly think anymore that such a poor creature would ever think of eating him. Funny how simply body language could completely change your mind on something so drastically.

But he didn't know what to do to make the thing feel better, so he tried a more sincere approach. Kinda. After all, he was a college boy and guys were not exactly known for their way with words. "Honestly and truely, I'm okay. Are you okay?" He tried to look into the things eyes, but that was still too unnerving, so he just settled for trying to look sympathetic. He truely felt bad, he didn't want the poor thing to act this way almost as much as he didn't want to get eaten.

[Azura Rayume]

Ila glanced up at him, though the motion was imperceptible. He didn't seem as frightened now, so she supposed it was space that he needed after all. That was good to know. She had to remember that Terrans liked their space and that she was far larger than what they would like invading their space to begin with. Always learning, she was.

"I'm fine if you're fine," she said, trying not to sound too confusing. "I can never be happy when people around me are scared, you know?" Now she was surprising even herself. She normally made some comment about her angelic status, but the thought hadn't even crossed her mind until she noticed the topic's absence in the conversation, however small a conversation it might be. Well, never mind that. As long as the boy was happy, she would be fine.

[Celtic]

Rikki was confused. But hey, at least the color had returned to his face and his limbs weren't trembling, life was good, y'know? And sides, couldn't hurt to talk to the thing. It seemed to have fragile emotional status (like he didn't? ahaha) and he'd already made it depressed once, so why not continue to make it happy. 'Til it tried to eat him of course though. Because, that was still a very valid possibility, after all, it was big enough.

"Uh-huh. Never really had to deal with that, 'cause at my school, it's generally a good thing to be feared. Can get cha what ya want." So he may not be the best at conversation and he couldn't help but steer the conversation to a topic he loved to boast about, his fights. After all, being one of the few evren on campus made him somethin' to be feared. So long as Ahora didn't tag along which she liked to do. Then he was made a fool. She always beat him.

[Azura Rayume]

Best to be feared? She straightened up slightly, her head tilting slightly. That was a concept that she found entirely foreign, wanting to be feared. She had idea how that could work out for the better, but she supposed that it worked if you were a boy of his age. She had no idea his background so was in no place to judge his actions. Still, something about it didn't sit quite right with her.

"How can that be good?" she inquired, still unsure of the context of his statement. Best to give him a chance to explain, she supposed. She would never understand anything if she didn't give him a chance to explain. Better way of learning, listening to others.

[Celtic]

....So the squid thing was not big on violence. That much Rikki had gotten D8; Which was awful, because he like, loved fighting. With his whole heart. That is, so long as he had valid reason, fighting for fun was pffft, immoral and stuff like that. Yeah >><<>> Immoral. Totally.

"Well, er, people don't pick on ya, or steal your stuffs. And you get popularity points? Oh. And badass status. That's a major thing." ....Sigh. Rikki needed a lesson in right and wrong. But still, the way he thought, being a badass he was able to get the girls easier, cause really, who doesn't wanna be with the sexy badass? ;D

[Azura Rayume]

That explanation made absolutely no sense to her. Ila understood fighting well enough; she often engaged in combat with the devils that dared to invade Terra. All those fights were to protect someone or rid a region of some darkness. She had no concept of fighting just for the fun of it, nor did she find fighting particularly entertaining whenever she had to battle. And she had no idea what "badass" meant at all.

"I'm afraid I still don't understand," she confessed, feeling a bit ashamed for making him explain all that for naught. "You speak of fighting as if it were a game, which is a new idea to me. I have never heard of such an attitude toward combat. And I have no concept of your term 'badass.'"

[Celtic]

Rikki gulped, he didn't know D:< Jesus woman. The thing really needed like- Wait. Hold up. Did he really just call it a she? Well, it made sense... It didn't understand the concept of fighting for fun. Women like never did that. Said it was frowned upon by society, pffft. Like that was true. After all, it came with certain perks. That is, if you were good enough not to get your face punched in and rearranged, though he usually rearranged other's faces so its all good. (I bet he's all talk. That's just me though)

"Weeelllll. Er, I'm not sure I could explain it to ya then. Its kinda a guy thing and most 'refined' people frown upon it." Jerk. Only a few seconds ago he was trying to cheer her up, but now he just wanted to get away from her. 'Cause although he knew it unlikely to get eaten (thank god) but it might be a little more likely to get a lecture on fighting. Pffft. Like he didn't get that enough. Maybe it would be better if he was just eaten. God. He hated lectures. They were death in verbal form.