Name: Rilakkuma Age: 23 Breed: Chai Looks: Large lilac eyes; long brown hair (usually tied back); "earth-like," such as a gardener might be; slightly muscled... like a gardener might be (there's a theme, can you see it?) Personality: down to earth, hard-working, day dreamer Other: N/A

( whispers; thank you for joining! )

It seemed like just another day at the Everglades which meant that Gom was reading a book of fairytales. He sat under a tree outside while the late autumn sun shone on the brown and golden leaves of the tree. His brows furrowed in thought as his eyes scanned over the page, round glasses slipping down his nose every so often and so he would push them up without breaking his concentration.

Just another day indeed--at least, Kuma thought so, until he was tripping over some kid sitting under a tree. His tree! Okay, it wasn't his tree, trees belong to everyone, and he shouldn't have any sense over ownership over such a thing. Except that he loved to climb this tree every single day, and had done so every single day for at least... A very long time.

It dawned on him, as he he lay there--face in the grass and breathing in that earthy dirt scent--that maybe he could ponder the ethics of claiming trees another time. Since, well, he'd just tripped over someone, and they probably noticed.

Slowly, he rolled over, eyes tuning in on the clouds. "... Sorry, friend. Stepping on you was not intentional."

Blink. Blink.

Gom was mostly confused and a little hurt. Not emotionally hurt because he wasn't very emotionally attached to the person who had tripped over him. "Oh. Um." He gazed at the person now rolling on the grass. Peeking over his book, he continued to stare at the older (?) bear. His cream coloured ears twitched a little and he pushed up his glasses again.

Was he supposed to continue the conversation or maybe there was something vitally important in the sky since the other seemed to be intently staring in that direction. Gom tilted his head to the side and back, squinting a little and scrunching his nose as he tried to see what he was seeing.

He saw clouds. Pretty, fluffy clouds and a bright blue sky. And that was about it.

For a while, he just continued to stare up at the sky. Admittedly, he'd forgotten entirely that he'd just tripped, let alone over another chai, as he was mesmerised by the clouds passing slowly over the treetops, catching glimpses of sailing cotton through golden leaves.

Slowly, he sat up, feeling lightheaded from having been fallen for so long. And for some reason, he was legitimately surprised that there was another person.

"Whoa--who are you?"

"I'm the person you tripped over... Um, my name is Gom." He gave the day-dreaming Chai a small, slightly unsure smile. Was he so forgettable that this guy wouldn't remember him in such a short space of time? Gom tugged on a light brown lock of hair and tried not to fret about it a lot. "Have you been staying here for long?" He nodded towards the Everglades building and waited for an answer.

He supposed it was a good time to try and make a friend and stop reading all day every day. Or maybe not. He quite liked reading...

"Gom," he repeated, and as the name settled into his memory--he remembered the important things--he fell backwards, lazy, into the grass again.

"No. I don't stay there. I stay here." He lifted his arms into the air, and then let them span out, falling limply to either side of him. If he were in the snow, it would be like a half-assed snow angle, but instead, he just lay in the earth, like the grass would envelope him if it were so kind to do so.

"In the glade." The glade-glade; in the trees, and the grass, and the spring. Most people thought "outside" was a thing separate from themselves, where as Kuma thought of it as the only home he needed.

His bottom lip curled out for a moment and he waited for the other chai to introduce himself... And it never happened. He heard a lazy repeat of his own name. Gom. Three letters. Surely he would remember that? For some reason it made Gom unsettled to think that someone could forget him so easily. Not that he had ever done much in his short to life to try and stand out... And... Well... Now that he thought about it, he supposed he could be accused of being something of a wall flower.

So perhaps there really was no sense in him being upset that he had been forgotten.

"You... live in the Glade?" Gom was a little perplexed by the statement.

"I'm from the glade," he corrected, eyes drooping half-lidded as if the lull of autumn was beckoning him into sleep. Blinking heavily, he added, "I'm Kuma."

Better late than never, right? "Why are you reading here?"

"Oh Kuma! It's so nice to meet you I---" He paused for a moment because it looked like his new friend was about to fall asleep. Was he forgettable and sleepy? Gom tried not to pout at the thought. "Because it's relaxing in here and the lounge in Everglades smells strange." Like too much potpourri. Was it rude to say it aloud to someone else?

Gom would have to make up for this later. He didn't know how or even when but he would. He was a good Chai. "Are you... Sleepy?" He asked in his soft voice, leaning a little closer to Kuma. He did look nice and comfy though.

"That's because an indoor place is trying to smell like an outdoor place," Kuma explained, and slowly, once again, sat up. Finally, he stood, yawned, and stuck both hands out.

"Come on. No time to sleep; you need to see what the real glade looks like."

"Oh..." He wanted to say wow as well because that was an ingenious way of thinking about it. Gom pushed up his glasses and watched as the other Chai sat up again. And then stood. And then held out both his hands.

Quickly, his offered his own hands to the sleepy Chai and eagerly stood with a little help. "The real glade? But, we're in the real glade..." Or so Gom thought but now Kuma was making him question that. Even though he had studied a map of the Glade before he had come here...

"This is..." As soon as Gom was on his feet, Kuma dropped his hands, furrowed his brow, and turned to eye the building and the garden-like area surrounding it.

"This is only the beginning." An entrance into something far more grand, and yet so little people were able to see. As far as Kuma was concerned anyway.

"Come look, it won't take long."

For someone who was very into his adventures and his fairytales, he was very excited to find out that there was some kind of secret place in the Glade?! And Kuma was going to show it to him.

So he felt a little less forgettable and a little more special as he nodded excitedly. "I'd really like to see, it sounds..." He searched his brain for the right word and then smiled brightly. "Magical!"

Kuma grinned, happy to have someone to adventure with. Most of his days were spent meandering through the Glade solo, and though the Glade had many a creature to keep him company, wandering with another Chai would be a welcome change.

"Great."

Without further adieu, he nodded for Gom to follow, and disappeared through the trees, taking a clear, but also noticeably unofficial path into the Glade.

"Great." Gom echoed with a smile as he watched Kuma disappear between the trees, leaning to the side a little to see where he had gone but... That wasn't the way into the Glade... Hopefully this wasn't some kind of a trap. The sweet looking Chai had been subject to such 'antics'.

Still. There was probably nothing to worry about. He seemed so harmless... Gom bounced in after the dreamy Chai.

There was a lot of stumbling and tripping that followed. The path was not so beaten that it was difficult to navigate, Kuma was just... Ridiculously clumsy. It was not a long walk, however, until there was a clearing to a fairly open area with a spring, where Kuma was happy to plop down to inspect a bumblebee.

"This is the real deal, Friend. A real place to relax!"

Gom gasped loudly at the sight that greeted him. It truly was a wondrous and magical glade and he was certain he had never heard of nor seen a place like this before.

He watched as Kuma flopped into the grass and seemed to direct his attention to something else. This left him free to wander about a bit, pushing up his glasses and trying to take in as much of this new place as he could in a short amount of time.