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((Duncan -> Cafeteria, Ronan, Henry, Anita -> Lab entrance, Leigh; Mordekai -> Kitchen, Ronan, Henry, Anita))

Duncan was quietly relieved when Leigh picked up her phone. He smiled tentatively and hummed in understanding-- "No, it's quite alright, Leigh. I'll go meet you at the front of the lab. There's absolutely no rush, people have just begun to settle in-- I'm sorry to hear about the traffic. Keep on the line until you can see me or I can see you, just in case."

He stood from his seat and made his way toward the second exit of the cafeteria, which lead to the Lab lounge rather than the patio. Before he met entirely, he glanced over to see that Mordekai entered into the kitchen again with an entirely new set of people. He smiled toward Anita, Ronan, and Henry, and offered a wave, quiet nod, and brief "hello." He muffled the phone speaker briefly to talk to them properly.

"It's nice to meet you too-- ah," he laughed as Anita struggled to say his name past chewing the food, "Henry. I have to go meet up with someone at the moment, but I'll be sure to see all of you soon-- thank you for bringing food."

With that, he ducked out of the cafeteria and addressed Leigh again. He looked from side to side in an attempt to see where Leigh was. "I'm at the entrance now. Which side did you manage to park on? I know it's quite busy around here."

Mordekai, meanwhile, was too busy entertaining the idea of crab and addressing Henry and Ronan's inquiries to greet Duncan. He laughed at Ronan, "Yeah, y'shoulda, ain't anythin' gonna stop me from hoardin' all this! Ah--" while he spoke, he glanced back at the inside of the pot to check if it was already filled with water. When it wasn't, he snapped his finger and grabbed the pot and placed it under the sink, waited for it to filled with water, then pointed mindlessly at Henry. He snapped his fingers once.

"Somethin' to light that with, got it." He knelt down to check beneath the kitchen sink and pulled out a bic. He peered over toward the counter and held it in his hand tentatively-- "Here, catch--" he said, before throwing it underhanded toward Henry. Once he managed that, he stared wide-eyed over at Ronan when he addressed the fish between his arms, which lent itself to even more wide-eyed staring.

"You brought fish," he whispered; he slowly stood up and grabbed Ronan gently by the shoulders, then shook his head slowly, "Boy, you are tryin' t'steal the show here, ain't you! Holy s**t, it's workin'." He laughed and pat Ronan's arm before looking around the kitchen to address his question. Space was quickly running out, but one last stove top was still completely clear and ready to use.

"There, last stove top. Guessin' y'din't skin th'fish already, right? I'll do that real quick if y'don't wanna, but I'm thinkin' pan-fry or pan-sear, bakin' it's gonna take way longer an' we don't got much here f'flavor," he shrugged, smiled, then glanced at Anita and Ronan.

"Dunno! What d'y'all think we shoul' do?" he brightened and looked back at the crab pot, which was still filling with water, then stared giddily at Anita, "Oh my god, we have crab! Holy-- oh my god, ********, Anita, Anita-- Anita, we need th'Old Bay! Raid the ********' kitchen or I'm bustin' outta here an' hittin the stores!"

((Pasha -> Seating Area | Cesc, Zul, Eth))

Pasha took Cesc's arm gladly and followed him towards Zul and Eth, wings furling slightly in greeting before she ever spoke. The Stag acknowledged them both, and the Muse slipped her arm free from Cesc's gracefully so she'd be free for an embrace from either.

"Ethiriel, it's wonderful to see you again! Hello, Zul." Pasha's eyes were warm, and she took in the Demon's choice of accourtrements for a moment before her smile blossomed. Silver, so Eth could feed!! "You look very handsome."

It was obvious she was touched by his thoughtfulness. The flowers in her hair were full and fine, casting dappled shadows across her temple as she smiled.

((Melanie --> Bonfire | Thanatos))

All the woman could think while he was away was the fact that he seemed so kind and different from any of the other men she had met in the past. She watched, amber eyes gazing at the man as he walked away. All she gave in response to his apology was a quick nod and smirk before he was off towards the food tables. Luckily, the woman wasn't a picky eater in the least.

As he came back, Melanie grabbed her plate and looked it over. "Thank you so much." she said with a smile. Everything seemed to be perfectly fine. She dug into the deviled eggs first, as those were one of her favorite things. She popped one whole in her mouth and began to chew. "Mmm." she muttered as she nodded her head and gave the man next to her a look and smile, holding her fist to her mouth.

As he asked the question of her profession, she raised her eyebrows. That's true, she hadn't really explained her profession; but then again, she didn't know that telling him why exactly she was here was the best idea. Interviewing Raevans and Guardians for the Gaia National was probably not the highest thing on their list. It wasn't as though she would use names, per se, but she decided to be slightly aloof on the subject. Taking a sip of the wine, she cleared her mouth of all debris and spoke, "I'm a writer. I love my work; but it just tends to take up a lot of my time these days." she said, trying to change the subject and bring it back to him. "What about you, handsome? Country guy like you, I wouldn't be surprised by anything." she asked, taking yet another sip of wine.

[[ Thanatos | Bonfire | Melanie ]]

Ah! A writer, well that made sense he supposed. A writer never really had much time but to write and they dealt a lot with other people in the business. Deadlines to be had. He could understand but there was no way he could relate, he'd never wrote a book in his life. Reading on the other hand...!

He arched a brow as she turned the question on him causing him to stop mid bite when he reached for his ribs. That wasn't a hard question to ask so he dove in. "Well, I'm always around kids and you know I like music. So it isn't hard to guess that I own a music school." He gave her a moment to digest that information as he took a drink from his beer. "Actually, I run the school from my home. Too many empty rooms for just three people living there." he trialed off with a slight chuckle. "I got my business license did the whole jumping through hoops and all to get the place working ready and opened the doors probably a few months ago. It's fairly new, classes are good and the kids love it." He allowed his gaze to shift toward his charge. "So does Domo, he's taking up playing the cello with a fellow Raevan. Aside from that if I'm feeling up to it, I freelance my piano talents to upscale night clubs for a price. Extra if they want me to sing." Which he didn't really like doing but it seemed folks enjoyed his soft country tone. He shrugged and took bite of his rib.

((Melanie --> Bonfire | Thanatos))

Melanie's eyes widened. A musician and teacher? That was rather surprising. "Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that. But it must be fun to be around the kids and music twenty-four seven." she paused a moment to gather her thoughts and digest the information. So he could sing, play instruments, and got along with kids?! This man seemed to be out of a dream for her. Romantic, good looking, kind, sweet, and a musician. Some of the main qualities she needed a man to have to ever think about actually dating him. She had completely stopped eating for the time being and just took a sip of wine.

"So, let me just take a guess and say that you can play most any instrument, then? Do you have any other teachers to help you, or do you do it all alone?" she questioned, very interested in learning more about this little business he owned and operated.

[[Revontulet > Tati & Luka // Food Roll]]

As the newbown looked to her, as if for guidance, the aurora gave a somewhat startled but warm smile and nod of her head. Many people returned compliments to one another, back and forth like a ping-pong ball being shuttled across the small table. Just because it had always been Ren's preference to give out compliments when they felt most sincere, and not simply because someone else was prompting her, did not mean she should be rubbing those opinions off on the Hamsa.

"Yes, this is true. I can hardly elaborate on a story of how we met...seeing as how she simply called my name and I was there...err...here, actually," Revontulet added, sweeping her hand out to the side to motion to the general area of the party. Not exactly a story to be singing from the rooftops on a grand scale.

A little flutter of her wings showed the irritation the aurora felt at having to be 'watched' by Troxel, though he was doing a grand job at not hovering like Doucette would have. Lips parting, Ren would have made a comment on the whole arrangement, mostly in agreement with Tatiana, but she was interrupted but the very warm greeting Luka was giving the other orange-ish frei, starting a whole new thought process rolling through her mind.

((Wasa - Craft Table| Lulu))

"Thanks!" She smiled, running one of the fuzzy stems through her fingers to smooth a kink as she tried to pull her mind out of imaginary corridors and rooms in the building beyond. It did little good to picture herself looking for something she did not know in a place she had never seen.

There was a second compliment, she remembered now, and the artist bobbed her head graciously. "Thanks. I suppose it's what I do." She turned the little gastropod over and rubbed a fingertip over the oblong spiral that made its 'foot.' "I make things. Any sort of thing." She lined it up with the others and drummed her fingers on the table once, debating how much more she could do before she threatened to monopolize both the table and the Raevan. "If you ever find yourself in the mood for a buffet, there's a little bit of everything at my place."