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 Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 1:36 pm
((Henry → Outdoor picnic area | Claire)) With a gentle, idly smile planted on his lips, Henry raised his brows and hummed softly in greeting to Claire looping him back in. Chuckling, he placed a large hand softly on her looped one and stood straight.
”I'd love to!” said Henry as he took a step in favor of Claire's. ”Lorin looks amazing, by the way! Sorry I didn't say anything when you were showing pictures!” To be fair, he had been a bit preoccupied with worries over Ethiriel – even if it was just a simple cold, the Frei never got sick in the few years they had known each other. She wanted so badly to come, and with the new faces in the crowd, the nurse wished that she could have just as hard; she could have made so many friends on this lovely day.
”Where would you like to go first, madame?” Henry teased, passing a glance around the party. Cruz was spotted almost immediately, but he had a few people already upon him. It seemed like their original group was spreading and it was hard to tell who to approach first.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 1:13 am
(( Laz - Picnic area, next to fence - Xiu // Kyou - Cafeteria table - Nell ))
The party seemed to have a life of it's own as it continued to grew, and Lazarus found a chance to get Xiu away from the main group as they mingled among each other. Smiling, he took Xiu's hand and pulled him away from the crowd, only stopping when they were alone and not within earshot of anyone else.
Flower petals fell from above as a gentle breeze greeted them, ruffling the flowers above. They're underneath the tree right next to the white fences that surrounds the Lab. "I thought you usually don't like to come to this type of gathering." Lazarus teased the Sigel.
"Nell, alright." Kyou smiled at the lady as she picked up the desserts for him. "I am eternally grateful." He announced as he started heading towards one of the tables right next to the windows.
"My physician said I should be able to get out of these crutches in another week or so." He said as they walked together, his pace was brisk and even seemed effortless. Knowing how to balance between the crutches and using his own feet by now. "I'm looking forward to getting rid of them." He chuckled as he sat down on a chair. The table was right next to an open window, so the air from outside flows freely in, creating a cooling, comfortable atmosphere. "Thank you so much for carrying this for me." He beamed at Nell as she placed the plate on the table.
"You should go ahead and grab some food as well. I think the bentos are excellent!" Kyou suggested as he motioned towards the table. "And you're welcomed to come sit next to me if you wish."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 5:30 am
(( Xiu- Picnic area, next to fence - Laz))
As more and more guests arrived for the party, both raevans and humans began to drift towards the newcomers until finally an opportunity to escape the crowd presented itself to the two raevans. Smiling as he was led away by the Valsaros, Xiu wondered briefly what the other was up to. Ever since he had taken up sword fighting lessons with Cesc, Xiu had not been visiting Lazarus as often as he would like so this really was the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with each other. It seemed that Lazarus shared his view as the Valsaros led the Sigel to a discreet corner of the picnic area where it was unlikely that their conversation would be overheard.
“I could say the same for you, that is why I am here to give you moral support,” teased the Sigel back fondly. It might be hard to believe but the two Raevans had been together for close to six years now. And yet…and yet… they had never once tire of each other and the time spent together had only served to strengthen their relationship. In fact, there were brief moments in time when Xiu actually wondered…what it would be like to spend his life living with Lazarus without the intrusion of friends and family. But it was a thought that the white Sigel kept to himself as the both of them were as yet unable to shoulder such a commitment. Lazarus had Dr. Kyou and the Lab to run while he had the bookstore and his family to look after. Perhaps there would be a time when a decision such as that would have to be made but for now, the Sigel was content to have things be the way they are.
A gentle breeze stirred the cherry blossoms above them and Xiu took a moment to enjoy the serene atmosphere brought about by the susurration of the wind in the trees. Blue eyes caught Lazarus’s red and the Sigel smiled.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:14 am
((Zeke -- A short ways from the Entrance with Louis
Anya -- Checking out the Cherry Blossom Trees))
He was dying to socialize as Anya so plainly put it. When she broke off from him Zeke waved to her retreating back but only moved a short way from the Entrance himself. Now he was really looking around the party area, looking at the faces who were here, the ones just coming in (he waved to all of them), and the activities set up for them all. This was to be a quieter Lab affair so there was no dunk tank here, but the food spread was present and boy did it look good. His stomach gave the smallest of growls as he had purposely not had lunch so he could enjoy the food as well as the company.
Well why not? A snack would do him some good and at the very least keep an embarrassing growl from coming out of him during a conversation. He started to head that way until a voice called out to him.
"Heya Zeke!"
He spun around and his face lit up.
"Louis! Hey man! And Peri too!" Course now changed, he crossed the distance between them and held his hand out for a shake, his usual hug only passed over because of the Caterpillar encircling the fisherman's neck. "How you doing? Welcome to the party; I'm glad you guys could make it!"
---
Even though she had known Zeke would let her go off on her own to explore, it had still been a great relief to her for him to give her his a-okay all the same. Before parting she was sure to say a thank you, bobbing her head as she did so, and then turning to go...where, exactly? Behind her came the sounds of Zeke getting engaged in talks with someone and as she turned she saw an unfamiliar dark haired man with some sort of Chimera around his neck. Zeke had mentioned him from the week or so ago when he had become a Chimera owner, but she couldn't quite recall his name.
Anastacia turned back around, angling for the nearest pink-blossomed tree. No matter. She was sure to run into the stranger at some point or at the very least get close enough to hear his name passed around. It was hardly high on her list of things that needed to be known or attended to, so no matter indeed.
"Let's see..." She stopped beneath the branches of the tree, watching faces knew and old trickle in and pass on by. Iorek was a surprise appearance and she started to call out to him but Cesc was the faster one and the Gargoyle was already a part of that group before she could move away from her current spot. Anya pouted, but only just a little.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:02 pm
(( Fisher -> Indoor food table - within sight of Kyou and Nell ))
He hadn't meant to do it again, but Fisher liked food, and parties at the lab had some of the most interesting fare he had ever seen. He ducked inside and made a beeline for the refreshments first thing, avoiding all of the interesting raevans and guardians outside in favor of bento boxes and beer. Or juice. Yes. Juice would probably leave a better impression this early in the day.
Both items were already in hand before he realized there were other people present. He grinned a bit nervously once he'd noticed them, waving with his unopened can. At least he had a reason for being here, even if he'd had an empty soul bottle in his possession for three hundred and thirty five days now with nothing to show for it.
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:24 pm
(( Claire -> Outdoor picnic area, Henry ))
"I'm glad you think so," Claire beamed, ever the proud mother. "And let's just stroll, see what happens." She crinkled her nose playfully when she laughed, and with a gentle tug, set them on their stroll.
"I'm sorry Eth had to miss this.. and truthfully, I'd been wondering if I should have brought Lorin." Perhaps she was being a touch overprotective. "But it would not be fair to Aaron, they've not had a lot of time for just the two of them." The small Frei had been by her side for weeks, and given the upsets that he had suffered (and especially in what it had culminated in for Aaron), father and son needed time to bond. She patted Henry's arm as they moved closer to the trees at the edge of the picnic grounds, and a small breeze blew through, scattering some of the blossoms above them. What a pictureque setting; she would have to take many photos to show Lorin later. Springtime always created such a nice, calm ambience, and with a gathering like this, it was hard not to wish for the presence of those who could not be in attendance.
However...
"I've just had the best idea." She stopped, hand loosed from around Henry's arm as she clasped her own together, eyes shining brightly. "What do you say to a meeting of the households, maybe a small party, when everyone is up to it?" Her smile was growing in enthusiasm with her idea. "Just a small thing between your family and ours to let Lorin and Eth meet, enjoy this lovely springtime weather." A small, low-stress meeting between the houses, with familiar faces around should things prove too overwhelming for either Raevan, as well as quiet places to retreat to. Truthfully she had known fairly early on in her acquaintance with Eth that she would want her own Raevan to to get to know them, but this was the perfect solution. A party in celebration of this momentous meeting. One she could also possibly rope Cadi into coming to, oh, she was certain that she and Henry and Eth would get along swimmingly. "What do you think?"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:48 pm
((Henry → Outdoor picnic area | Claire)) ”As you wish~” hummed Henry, keeping along with Claire's pace. He nodded solemnly, though his smile remained ever present. ”She wanted to come so badly, but we figured she shouldn't over exert herself while she's not feeling well – and also to keep it from spreading. Imagine if they both had come and it got Lorin? It's for the best.”
Perking, Henry raised his brows and looked to meet the lab-mother in the eye as they continued their stroll. His grin grew and eyes lit up. ”That sounds like an amazing idea! Ethiriel would love it!” he cheered, chuckling as he pat Claire's arm. ”After recent events I know she's itching to see people. She'll be glad to know that Lorin's come around for sure!” He then paused, lifting his chin for a moment in thought. ”You guys are always welcomed at our house, and I bet Ethiriel would like to show off her sun room to the little guy! But, then again, she's been interested in the progress of your garden...”
Henry laughed lightly, gently putting his hand on Claire's shoulder. ”What do you think we should do?”
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:42 pm
(( Claire -> Outdoor picnic area, Henry ))
Claire tapped her chin in thought - that was a good question. However, it was one she did not need to muse on for very long as she remembered that her garden was still in its winter sleep. None of her bulbs had bloomed yet and some of her branches, while sporting a handful of leaves, were still taking their sweet time in coming to.
"I think your sunroom is probably the best bet. Most of my garden is still dragging its feet." She laughed in a tone that matched Henry's in joviality. "The next one can be at our house, I think by early summertime everything should be properly growing in." The mugs sitting in the back of her cupboard came to mind again, and she smiled softly - she could not wait to see Eth give her mug to Henry and to catch up on everything. "So let's plan for your house." Her fingers laced together once again in delight. It had been a while since she had planned such a gathering, and never for as joyous an occasion. "Oh, I'm so excited, I know Lorin is going to love Eth." She put a dreamy hand to her cheek and sighed - her little boy was growing ever more curious, and she could not think of a more appropriate Raevan for the young Frei to meet when first making friends. Ethiriel was gentle, which would be a balm to his eager-to-please and somewhat nervous soul.
"What do you think, sounds like a plan?" She beamed, sunshine and happiness with their conspired meeting, and looped her hand once again through the crook of Henry's arm, an indication that they could continue their stroll. Things were coming together more quickly than she had anticipated - already a few possible meetings for her young son!
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:53 pm
((Henry → Outdoor picnic area → Cafeteria table | Claire, Nell and Kyou)) With an animated nod, Henry crossed his arms and daintily placed his hand against Claire's. ”Yep! Sounds good to me!” Giving a gentle pat, he added, ”And Eth's gonna love Lorin!”
After passing a few quick looks around the outside area, Henry stopped for a second to gauge out just how many people were around. He didn't want to butt into others' conversations just yet, especially as all the groups seemed pretty self contained for the moment. With a hum, the nurse continued their stride. Glancing into the building he saw Dr. Kyou and Nell working on setting out foods – of course, as was his nature, Henry wanted to help. Tapping Claire's hand with two of his fingers to get her attention, he nodded his head toward the cafeteria.
”Dr. Kyou! Nell! Do you guys need a hand?” he asked rather boisterously, giving them both a wide, toothy grin while he lead Claire into the building. ”It's good to see you both! Been a while!”
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 8:09 pm
(( Yves & Yuri --> Outdoor Picnic Area || Vesna, Lulu, Aadhira )) As soon as they had begun interacting with Vesna, Yves had taken just a step back to allow Yuri to talk to her. He watched the two of them with a broad smile; was this what it felt like to be a parent, after all? He'd been afraid that Yuri would not take to any other Raevans and would want to go home, but he still had a lot to learn about his own Raevan.
Yuri, likewise, had a lot to learn about himself, and others, too.
When Vesna - much more upbeat, seemingly, than himself - offered him a charm, Yuri looked down at it with immediate fascination. Yves had a phone of his own, but Yuri had never used it. He took the charm and held it up against the sunlight. With some awe in his voice, he responded, "Thank you." Yves nodded his approval, grinning from ear to ear. Yuri's first friend! He should have brought a camera. He should have taken up scrap-booking, too, with that attitude.
When another Raevan had turned her attention to him, Yuri immediately took notice of her long, yellow ears. They reminded him of his own, but... different. He stared at them for several full seconds before registering what she was telling him.
He made an incredulous face. Underwear? He didn't even know what that was, but apparently it helped. He made a mental note to ask Yves for some "underwear" when they got home.
Nearly right after the long-eared Raevan had spoken to him, another had entered the conversation and Yuri couldn't help but begin to feel a bit overwhelmed. Wanting to be able to speak to everyone at once, he looked from Vesna to the long-eared one, to the feathery one that had just spoken. He fidgeted and didn't know what to say to answer his question; why were they talking about underwear? Should he have asked what underwear was in the first place?
Yves stepped up and placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder, causing the wolf to jump. Pleasantly, he offered a smile to both Lulu and Aadhira and a slight dip of his head. "Pleasure to meet all of you! You will have to forgive my Yuri, he is a bit shy." Yuri squirmed in place, still eager to get to know the newcomers, but remained quiet. Secretly, he was a little thankful that his guardian was doing the talking for the moment.
"My name is Yves, and this is Yuri. He is new to this world and needs some friends! Would you all be kind and look out for my boy?"
Yuri blushed. He didn't want Yves to do everything for him. It made him feel small, like a child. Technically, he supposed he was a child, but... still. He wanted independence, too! He nodded a couple times, though, to show his agreement with Yves' statement.
Yves lifted his hand from Yuri's shoulder and gave his Raevan's back a gentle pat. "I will leave you to socialize, if that's alright?" Yuri didn't hesitate to nod. "Great! Just come and get me if you need anything, oui? I will not be far."
"Okay," Yuri responded. Then he thought about it and tried, "Um. Oui." He looked back to the group, hopeful. Being on his own for the first time was a big deal. A big deal. He bit his lip and tried to smile, but it came out strange and he decided to just keep his neutral expression.
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 8:25 pm
(Cesc == Iorek, Lorenzo)
"It's gorgeous weather," Cesc agreed, looking up at the cherry blossom trees around them. Spring still seemed to be deciding whether or not it had sprung, and the sweet blossoming of the flowers at least heralded their timid vote. His eyes trailed back down to Iorek, and he clasped the gargoyle's arm fondly. He had urged him to come, but he was really happy that Reks finally decided on 'yes' as his answer.
"I'm really glad you decided to make it! There's a lot of new faces here. Claire there was just showing us pictures of her new boy, and Lorenzo here, he's the guardian of that vibrant girl over there with the black sclera--" He indicated Vesna to Iorek with a gesture. "It's crazy how many new, young Raevans there are."
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 8:49 am
"Well that's not too far away! Got anything fun planned for when you ditch them?" She had tried to at least have her pace match Kyou's s she didn't get too far ahead of him, but still managed to make it to the table a few steps before he did. But at least it gave her a chance to arrange his plate nicely before he sat down. "Just let me know if you need anything else!" she said cheerily as she waved off his thanks. " And I might just have to try- oh! Hi Henry, Claire! I was just going to grab some food for myself!" It was then that she noticed someone new standing by the food table and cheerily returned his wave.
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 1:56 pm
((Iorek -- Cesc, Lorenzo)) "I'm glad I did too. Nice way to show everyone I'm still alive and floating around." Iorek chuckled. It really had been a while since he'd been to a big group event. Even if the people changed, the parties felt the same. The familiarity brought a nice home-y feeling, something to rely on. "Oh really!" Iorek smiled widely at Lorenzo and turned his attention to try and spot the guardian's frei. It took a moment but with Cesc's direction he found the pretty little lady fairly easily. "How exciting! She's a beautiful young raevan." She looked like an ocean flower, exotic and enchanting. "Congratulations, Lorenzo. You must be really happy to have a new family member." "At least you seem to know all of them, Mr. Popular." Iorek smirked at Cesc. "I feel like an odd man out. At least I've met Claire and Lorenzo now. Obviously Lorenzo is the coolest guy at the party so I can probably just go home now." Why not try a little joke? A fun tease to make their introduction a little more relaxed. "It seriously is. I'm recognizing less and less people, ya know? I'm probably one of the oldest freis here and yet I feel like a newbie all over again." Reks huffed and crossed his arms as he scanned the crowd between looking to Cesc and Lorenzo. "And they just keep getting more attractive! I think Dr. Kyou's good looks gene he pops into our creation thing got an upgrade compared to what us old guys had." Another little joke for a quick laugh. Young or old the truth was all the raevans in one form or another were ridiculously attractive. Dr. Kyou has successfully created an army of magical models.
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:46 pm
(( Laz - By the fence - Xiu // Kyou - Indoor cafeteria - Nell & Fisher ))
Lazarus chuckled at Xiu's reply. "I got quite used to it, since I can't seem to escape it most of the time." What with most of these being held in the Lab or if not, hosted by them somewhere else. He's no longer so socially awkward like how he used to be a couple of years ago.
Hand still held to Xiu's as they admired each other wordlessly for a moment, just enjoying each other's company as the wind rustled the flower clusters above them.
It was Lazarus who broke the silence. "So what about this 'intense class' that Cesc was talking about earlier?" He asked curiously, his fingers still loosely hooked to Xiu's as he swung their hands idly. "Is that why you've been too busy to see me lately?" He teased playfully.
"Oh, I haven't thought so far yet." Kyou replied Nell's curious inquiry honestly. "I'm definitely not doing marathons or sports anytime soon." He chuckled as he cut the mochi in half with his dessert fork. "Perhaps... just taking a casual walk around town, visiting cafes and stuff, enjoy coffee on a porch by the beach on my own with a book." Lazarus and Jeremy had been buzzing around him, caring for him all this while during his recovery. It'll be nice to be on his own, alone for once, when he's no longer considered 'disabled' anymore.
He noticed the person waving at them as well. Beaming, he waved back. Kyou does believe that the person is a guardian, or at least possessing of a soul bottle. However he had not return it successfully yet.
Kyou beamed when Henry and Claire came by, waving to them excitedly. "Hey! Do help yourselves to the food on the table. This is a self serve establishment." He laughed as he pointed at the covered bentos stacked neatly as well as the plates. "The mochi is delicious!" He said as he picked up the one in his plate and puts it in his mouth. It was light green colored with matcha filling inside. "Smooth, cooling and delicious!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 8:42 am
(( Xiu -> By the fence | Laz ))
Xiu smiled. “Cesc isn’t wrong when he said that the classes are intense. We have decided to take sword fighting lessons, Lazarus. Since well…I have a sword and Cesc is able to materialize his out of light particles. Unbelievable right? And if you think that is incredible, our instructor is a vampire no less!”
Seeing Lazarus’s stunned expression, Xiu gave a soft chuckle and drifted closer to the Valsaros, his hand never leaving Lazarus’s grasp. “I had planned on telling you about the lessons but I guess Cesc beat me to it. Please don’t be angry?” coaxed the Sigel gently but there was amusement in his countenance as well. “Did you miss me though?”
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