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((Ethiriel – Snowball signups – Cesc, Mordor and Zuri))

It was with a bright smile that Ethiriel greeted Cesc, her arm still loosely looped around Zurine’s. Her attention was immediately on the stag unconsciously as she stared at him with a pleased expression. However, once his attention was on the owl’s, so was Ethiriel’s.

”Yes, I do know Sir Mordekai, but it is a pleasure to meet with you again!” said Ethiriel, giving the man a gentle bow of her head without removing herself from her Sigel friend. A small blush crept across her cheeks, her free hand lightly waving him off. ”Thank you, thank you… though it is not a big deal. I would much rather be here with you all.” She then turned to Zurine, ”It is my pleasure, it really is. This is all I could ever ask for.”

With a quick look, Ethiriel glanced at the roster for snowball fights and her eyes lit up. She couldn’t read or write, but she gently nudged Zurine. ”Do you think you could write my name…? And Gabe’s, if you would…”

(( Gabe Knight = Entrance --> Snowball Signups --> Lounge Area ))

With the time passed and the snowball fight underway, the interior of the cabin was much less occupied but many faces still milled about. After his very unceremonious entrance, the brother of Ethiriel's guardian stepped into the cabin after taking a moment to kick the snow off his shoes and wipe some off his sleeve from an airborne assault. Though he had only been out a short few minutes, his face was already a little red from the cold.

He started, first, towards the lounge but something in his peripheral caught his eye -- a sign up sheet. After only a moment's pause, Gabe walked himself over to it and quickly scanned for names. His brows flattened as soon as he found what he was looking for; his name, right beneath Ethiriel's on the roster.

Nice.

Gabe ran a hand over his face and sighed. Thank you, Ethiriel, for not asking if he wanted to join even though she knew he was coming. Passive aggression in full reeling mode now, Gabe settled himself into one of the emptier corners of the lounge to decompress. He was here out of necessity, he would have to remind her, because of his brother's poor scheduling. Tired blue eyes drifted to the food table, zoning in quickly on the bottles of alcohol. Necessity also meant he couldn't go for it, as much as he felt like it right at that moment.

(( Gabe w/ Cadi in the lounge area ))

For all of the cold outside had brought, not to mention getting pelted twice, it all rather felt the same once he was inside and seated. Things were quiet and still for several moments, save the idle chatter in the walls and peels of laughter outside. Even if he couldn't take the edge off with some of the champagne, Gabe was still grateful to be inside and not a sitting duck. There were few people here and they left him alone-- or, they were.

His eyes narrowed as someone began their approach but he refrained from looking at them directly until they made full contact, which he sorely hoped they didn't. Today was not his day. Gabe turned his head just enough to give Cadi a dull warning look, a look he hoped said enough that he wasn't in the mood to socialize without needing to open his mouth. It was only then he felt what bit of snow that managed to stowaway in his hair was melting and a cold trail ran down the back of his neck; he grimaced.

"You could say that," he answered stiffly. The napkins were taken and quickly put to use, first to stop the melting drops from moving any lower down his skin, and then to dab at his hair. Only once the issue was well on its way to being removed did he give Cadi a muted "thanks" and leaned back in his seat. "They're pretty indiscriminate out there."

(( Gabe w/ Cadi in the lounge area ))

While she was busy with her soda and weighing her options on whether to sit or not, Gabe paid little mind to Cadi's hesitance and uncertainty; he was occupied with soaking as much water out of his hair as the napkins could hold. At least it would be a couple hours until they were back out in the cold and it was only a short walk to his car. The warmth of the lounge was certainly appreciated.

Gabe offered a short, humorless chuckle to Cadi's first comment, then a shrug to her next. "Lucky you," he pulled the napkins back once they were too damp to use and crumpled them into a messy ball, "I was drafted."

He slipped his gloves off, finally, and tucked them into his jacket pockets. Hands bare, he gave his hair a soft pat down to access the remaining damage; it wouldn't take long for it to dry from this point but it might be worth slipping over to a mirror, if there were any, to make sure nothing was terribly askew. "Now I'm AWOL." He was sure he wouldn't hear the end of this, tonight.

(( Gabe w/ Cadi in the lounge area ))

He let out a short, humorless chuckle. Conscription was right. Gabe passed a glance to the nearest window in attempt to see if Ethiriel herself was still in the game and just as jovial as when she first pelted him but the sky was getting too dim in contrast with the interior lighting to make out much of anything from where he sat.

Unlike Cadi seemed to be, Gabe wasn't overthinking his station here very much. He wasn't intending to socialize in the first place by being here, and truth be told he wasn't much in the mood for it but compared to most people he came across that were affiliated with lab she wasn't bouncing, bubbly, or otherwise being intrusive which he appreciated for the time being. While she fell silent and fiddled with her can, Gabe pulled his phone out and reclined properly in his seat. Cadi flicked the tab of her can, his thumb scrolled across the screen. He assumed their brief conversation was over, until she spoke again, and he looked up at her without lifting his head. The only time he could recall anyone affiliated scarcely agreeing with him about the place was one time in a bar that proved Gambino was entirely too small if he was bumping into lab folk at random.

"You're telling me," Gabe set his eyes back to the phone screen. Mid-scroll, he furrowed his brows and let his arm go limp against his leg while his attention moved to the fireplace. "Are you new?" He had to assume, due to how unusual it seemed to find people that weren't brimming with enthusiasm and blind praise. Not that he had spoken to many, very few in fact, but Gabe took his brother's small number of frequent associates to be a shining example of the community at large.

((Vivi, Shep, Cesc--> re-entry from the snowball fight))

"That was quite lovely!" said Vivi with a laugh as she stepped inside the cabin again, setting the camera down on a nearby side table. She pulled off her mittens and shrugged off her coat and put it up on a hook, looking around. "Why, it's so bare in here with everyone out having fun!" She grinned at Cadi and Gabe. "You two are smart to get such a good spot by the fire!"

Shepard set his and Cesc's popsicle makers under their coats, and he took a cloth napkin to scrub through his wet hair as he came in. His nose and cheeks were red, but his eyes were bright with amusement and good humor. "The important thing," he said, "is that Rhede's team went down."

Cesc snorted, pulling off his jacket gingerly. He was practically soaked through from all the snow-dumping that he'd received. "Yeah, yeah..." he shook his hair, droplets flying everywhere. "Geezus," he said, looking behind him to Ethiriel and Zurine. "I think I need to change--you two are merciless, you know?"

(( Gabe w/ Cadi + Vivi in the lounge area ))

His brows rose slightly with the knowledge that Cadi was in a similar position as himself -- guilty by association. Gabe nodded as his eyes returned to the screen of his phone, only managing a single scroll of his thumb across the surface as Cadi continued. The term 'raevan' had certainly thrown him for a loop when he was first becoming acquainted with Ethiriel and the lab; Gabe had outright mistaken it for the bird, a raven, but his brother and the silvery frei were able to set him straight.

At her question, he shook his head. "My brother," Gabe glanced up towards the windows again -- it was getting dark quickly now, "I got saddled with transportation."

Only a few moments later did the whistle blow outside and a cheerful, albeit muffled, announcement was shouted outside. Gabe glanced to the front door briefly as people began shuffling inside, the first of which he averted his eyes from to avoid drawing attention and generating conversation but, of course, it was a wasted effort. Vivi came right up and engaged them both with a grin, which Gabe took as time to stop bothering with his phone since it seemed he would have no peace now that the snowball fight was over. He tucked it back into his pocket and gave Vivi an acknowledging glance that at least seemed polite; the warmth and quiet from before was certainly helping him shake off the cold and irritation from when he first arrived -- though not by much.

"I'm sure everyone has the same idea now," he commented, leaning his head back to peek around Vivi as he heard Ethiriel come in next. At least with them all inside it wouldn't take long to round the tea raevan up when it was time to go.