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In a light trailing of her fingers, Ebony traced the petals of the lily above her left ear before allowing her arm to fall gently to her side. Though those slated eyes remained for the most part hidden behind those sunglasses, they were able to take into full account all that went on around her without notice. Yet, where to next?

There was the refreshment stand, but Ebony wasn’t feeling particularly hungry or thirsty then. There was also the fact that there were far too many people in line by the booths for her comfort, so that was out of the question for now. Instead, she opted to visit the booth of which hung a huge banner declaring it the ‘Petting Zoo.’ It seemed that an outside event such as this would demand to have something like this, but Ebony was thinking it was more for children than adults. Still…she was curious. If the lab created uniquely rare beings such as these Raevans, then it begged to ask what sort of creatures they would have in their makeshift zoo.

With a certain sly upwards tug of her lips, that mind of hers calculating rarity and worth, Ebony made her way through the crowd and to the booth.

Julian was almost positive he had asked the woman if she was a masochist before, at least within the confines of his mind, and thus he did not restate the question as she caught up to him and questioned his previous actions. A few short instants went by in which he simply watched Natsuki as she tried to catch her breath and composure. The date auction themes were quite ridiculous considering the weather and the extravagance each outfit required; it was no surprise tgat many of those being sold were beginning to feel as though they were in a relatively large and festive oven. If he had not dropped his water bottle earlier, he might have offered it to the even less comfortable individual.

"There was no need to follow me, Ms. Natsuki," he spoke slowly in order to be sure she would take in every syllable. Without warning, he grabbed onto her arm for the second time that afternoon, though this time he merely used it as a means to pin the other's body to the side of the booth. They blended in with the shadows fairly well, what with both of them wearing the darkest shades possible in an effort to look the part they were to play. As he leaned in, Julian assumed nobody would have the privilege of coming across the private conversation. His free hand pressed flat against the steady wood directly over the young woman's shoulder, and he was mildly tempted to touch her hair again, but strongly refrained. "Did you want me to apologize?"

"I'm sorry," Gage sighed as though it was his sworn duty to express his regrets over his guardian's poor behavioral patterns. If his hands were not already being held in a specific fashion, he might have begun to wring them in some form of mild, guilty agitation. The human speaking to Shuura was completely ignored as the radioactive Raevan's gaze only fell upon either the dark-haired guardian or her counterpart that lingered near the flowers. Gage was steadily reminded of how Julian had threatened some body parts the Frei did not possess if he ever made a mess in his greenhouse again. "I do not know where he is."

Namini felt her cheeks tingle with a small pinkness as the new Raevan met her happily. "So..cute" she said absent mindly, staring blankly for a few moments before shaking her head in embarrassment and lowering her eyes. Feeling her mind go blank all she could manage was an awkward apology.

"I-i I'm sorry! I didn't mean to st-st-stare," she fumbled over her words and continued to turn as red as a tomato, still averting her eyes away from the other.

Eiry stared back at the lady. She was staring at him. Eiry tilted his head, confused. Why was she staring? Did he have something on his face? Eiry rubbed his cheeks with his free hand just in case. He glanced down at his thumbs, no there wasn't any smudges... Huh. He looked back at her, looked behind him, just in case there might be something interesting happening behind him. Nope, nothing interesting. Eiry turned back again to her, "Pardon?" he asked in confusion.

Isi watched the two interact. Seeing her blush, he decided to speak out, "Can we help you, Miss?"

Lillian glared menacingly down at the book she brought along called, "Taxes are Easy!" as she awaited for her brother's return. By now, she was deeply dreading that when he returned, he'd be accompanied by an angry patron or even a dozen of them.

The little animals beside her were moving about in their pens, still quite content even with all the activity going on around them. One of them noisily yelped at the sight of Zephrnyx, as well as the oncoming Ebony.

Finally! She had some visitors! Lillian's booth had been deprived of them since the start of the festival. The vacancy mainly due to how odd the creatures were as well as passer byer's fears of them being unfriendly. Well...that was atleast what Lil thought had caused the no visitor problem. She could be wrong, yet should would have bet her favorite family airloom that she was right.

"Hello!" Lillian happily voiced in a grand greeting filled with a bright and youthful smile. Very quickly, before they saw what she was reading, the young lady set her book down below the booth and out of sight. Then, she looked to her side and to her surprise the young man (who she found quite handsome) was already signing himself up for the raffle! To hide the shock, Lillian bobbed her head into a pleased nod. "Good! I'm glad to see someone showing some interest in these little guys."

Her head then turned to look to the other newcomer, Ebony. "Would you like to sign up for the raffle?" She asked politely, directing Ebony's view to the papers before her. The colorful paper describing what was going on and how to participate. "The little animals you see in the pens are up for adoption, and if you provide for them and give them love along with other things you are allowed to enter." She briefed, deciding the paper shouldn't do all the talking.

Meanwhile, as his sister worked their assigned booth, Tyson made his way through the festival silently. To any who knew the kid, silence was an odd state to find him in. As he turned various corners, searched behind booths, and searched for the young ladies he had been seperated from, Tyson continued to try and push away the recently passed occurence.

As he passed a large group of people that had been obstructing his view with their pesky long legs. The young boy's once saddened eyes fell upon not one but two people he knew...or...was it only the woman that he knew?

"Alex!" The child yelled, breaking the silence that had fallen over his lips at last. His legs that had felt like lead only a past second ago sprang to life and vanished of the hard feeling as he darted over to the young woman. Tyson's thin arms wrapping around one of her legs, too happy to see her to contain a proper greeting. "I'm so happy I found you!"

Funny how guilt shows its weight. Ravi was here at the celebration of the Lab's second anniversary despite his recent negligence in Lab-related affairs. He had, in not so many words, owned up to being an amateur chef by donating an apron (definitely NOT his favorite, and definitely pink ONLY because of an accident with the washing machine) to be auctioned off, as well as creating some desserts for the Lab's fundraising cook-off. He'd brought some funds to be donated directly, and also intended to spend some of his modest salary here at the actual event. He wanted to help as much as he could. Ironically, he had yet to fulfill the sole task requested of him.

He still had yet to fill his soul bottle.

He could argue about it with himself for ages, devise enough excuses to compose the thesis papers he had spent the past few months grading, and apologize more profusely than a felon on death row, if a bit less convincingly. But the fact of the matter was he had not done the task assigned to him. Were this a bill, he'd be homeless. Were this his job, he'd be fired. But all it was was a gift with a responsiblity attached like a price tag, and Ravi, intelligent though he was, had yet to devise a solution to his ever-mounting problem.

After, he told himself, After, as I'm sure I'll get more than a few ideas here. Maybe being around the Raevans, their owners, and their admirerors, would trigger the switch where the creative parts of his brain lay coated in dust. It was a possibility. And worse comes to worse, there are... "others" whose help I could request... He bit his lip. He hadn't practed any magic recently, either. Perhaps that could do it, though he was very hesitant to try.

For now, though, it was a bright and sweltering summer day; hardly the time or place to think about otherworldly entities and their obsessions with catch-22s. So he let up a fettered sigh and tried to relax a bit, pressing his tongue hard against the roof of his mouth as if squishing the very sarcasm out of his speech. He'd behave. He owed it to the lab. At this point, Dr. Kyou could probably convince him to do anything.

First, he'd drop off his "donation." Since there was no designated area for them, Ravi would drop by the Merchandise booth first. He left the dessert he'd prepared in the cooler in his vehicle, hoping that it would last as long as he'd need it to, and walked over to the booths themselves.

As he approached, he overheard the boy manning the booth introduce his raevan, a greenish, wispy creature, as "Eiry." The name seemed to suit it; something about names starting with vowels made them feel lighter than one named, for example, as he himself was. However, Ravi had not caught the boy's name. Had he met him before? He must have been a poor host, indeed, at the last Raevan party to not recognize him straight off the bat. Ravi extended a hand.

"Hello there; my name is Ravi. This would be the Merchandise booth, correct?"

"Erdrsool...Eiry"

Making an attempt at Eiry's full name, Namini simply laughed at herself. Slowly constructing her confidence again, she broke out into what some would call a cavity-producing smile. "That is a beautiful name and what manners! Eiry, you should thank your guardian one day for raising you so well," she commented, though raised both of her hands to her mouth as the blush returned with a new strength. Hiding her face behind her hands she shook her head a little in distress as she mumbled somewhat incoherently,

"I'm so sorry! Please excuse my rudeness. Sometimes I just..Oh goodness, I wasn't raised properly!" But for a small moment a question brightened in her mind and she forgot her embarrassment. Looking directly into Isi's eyes she asked boldly, as she had done with Rivener, "May I ask your name, sir?"

Alex's smile faltered in the slightest when Aphismet mentioned the other man again. Well. If they thought the same - even if it wasn't in a positive light - she supposed that allowed some room for empathy, like it or not. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, green eyes drawn back to the squirming mass of Gwee that was Munchies. The woman chuckled quietly, crossing her arms and idly playing with the scar on her rib cage. "That's good, very good. I'm proud of you and Chloe." She nudged the man playfully, her chuckle giving way to a grin. Although she wasn't sure why, she certainly enjoyed heckling Aphismet.

"I'm doing well, thank you. Lorenzo is being a--" She was cut short by the sound of her own name, turning around to face the person calling her, somewhat surprised. Luckily, the boy managed to wrap himself around her left leg, causing her to grin in a warmer and almost more maternal manner. "Oi, Ty! Where've you guys been?" Alex leaned down to extract the boy's arms from her leg, instead letting him wrap them around her neck and shoulders as she picked him up. It was no small feat, for Tyson wasn't exactly small, but she did so love to dote on him.

The woman spun in a circle, hugging the boy, laughing into his arms. "How's my Super Ty doing? And where's Matron Lil? Are you going to say hello to Aphismet?" Alex turned her smile back onto the young man she'd been speaking with, still holding the boy with minimal effort. "And pardon me for being so rude!" She bent over, effectively dipping Tyson upside down, although her posture suggested it was on purpose rather than to actually put herself eye level with the Gwee. "Hello Miss Munchies, you are looking simply delightful!"