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((Vivi & Cesc - Appetizer table))

"Wasa, enchanté!" Vivi said, mirroring Wasa's curtsey with a little one of her own. Perhaps it was her dress, or her manner, but something about Wasa recalled Vivi's mind to the circus, the sort of wonderful eccentricities so many of her friends there had. "I am Vivi. Are you also a guardian? Is that lovely one your charge?" She nodded over at Melisande, where the muse was being approached by a white-haired Sigel and also Rivener -- oh, Rivener! She must introduce him to Cesc whenever the scorpion had a free moment... she would not interrupt him while he was speaking to the flower-adorned beauty, certainly not.

A smile slowly spread over her lips as she watched Cesc approach the trio, an ice tea in his hand, his face keen with interest. Perhaps she would not have to do the introducing, after all?

Cesc floated toward Melisande, intrigued by the company that had approached her. More sigels -- none that he knew, although he'd only met two thus far -- and each so different from one another. The white one, with impressive wings and excellent posture, was wholly different from the dark one, so hardy and masculine. The beautiful female was an absolute magnet, Cesc could see ... no wonder she simply asked randomly for drinks. People were always nearby. He was intrigued by them all, eager to meet them -- but he did not want to shove himself in if they were all old friends...

He would not interrupt her conversation. Cesc simply touched her shoulder and offered her the iced tea with a smile and a quiet: "Your drink?"

And then he would float away again -- or at least, that's what he meant to do. But as the lady took her drink and Cesc floated there, in the presence of the three sigels, a strange sort of feeling began to wash over him, beginning as a tingling from his fingers. Something in his body, thrumming from his rune to deep in his skull, was tugging at him. The muse, beautiful as she was ... she was... hurting? No, he told himself quietly, that could not be. The sigel was perfectly fine, perfectly safe, among friends. He kept his smile steady and began to turn away.

There is more.

She had lost something. Something important. And the white one, yes. There was loss here. There was heavy, heartbreaking loss here. Now that he was so close, he could feel it radiating from them...

He could not force himself to float away now. The muse might be otherwise occupied with the dark sigel -- he would not interrupt them. Instead he turned to the white sigel with the stone wings and offered his calm smile to him.

"Forgive my intrusion," Cesc said politely, his low voice humming from his chest. "But I do not think we have met? I am Cesc."

[[Aphismet = Drinks Table >> Maze Signup]]
(Tag to Ebony)

Aphismet smiled happily at Ebony's admission that she found this new job relaxing. He was quite glad for her! A relaxing job that you enjoyed doing was like hitting the lottery in his mind, so his heart swelled with joy for his friend. He'd have continued asking her about it, but Ebony put her drink down and began tugging him away. Chuckling, the chef finished his glass in one fell swoop and put it down, following the purple-haired woman.

"Where are we going, exactly?" he asked, laughing, but he did follow without question.

They ended up at the book with the shrubbery-made sign. Aphi raised his eyebrows. "Garden Maze... I bet Riv would like that. If I sign him up though, he might be quite mad at me." Lifting himself up at his straightest, the white-haired head began swiveling about looking for his ward. He really should check with Riv first... "Ah, he's talking to people already. ...I should just wait. Are you going to sign up Cordelia?" He turned back to Ebony with a smile, somehow getting the impression that the smokey Frei wouldn't be upset at being signed up. Not as upset as Rivener, anyway.

((Pasha -Tables))
((Tag to Riv, Xiu, Cesc))

Her smile faded as Cesc drifted off towards the drinks. When she had been young, truly young, it had been impossible to keep the joy from her face. Everything had been a delight, from the shine of the city to the whipped cream on a sundae. The world was still full of wonder for the Muse, but she had learned restraint, as well. Matter of fact, the one who had taught it to her was close at hand.

Xiu's silent arrival was a surprise, and Pasha's breath caught as she glanced up. For a moment, a single split second, he had returned to her. The pale hair, those kind blue eyes... Melisande's back arched, ever so slightly, as though she were being pulled towards him. The urge to throw her arms around the Sigel's neck was almost overwhelming, but...

...it wasn't Zavier. The moment passed, and unnoticed, the true flower at her temple fell. He was holding something out to her, Pasha dropped her eyes to it automatically. Xiu, it was written. The blossom drifted, and came to rest in the grass.

"Xiu." She said it more to herself than to the Sigel, and her eyes were bright when she raised her gaze to him again. Distantly, Melisande was proud that the tears didn't come. "I'm...happy to meet you, as well." Her smile was small, but heartfelt. "Forgive me. You reminded me of..."

Riv's voice cut through the moment like a splash of cold water. Pasha pulled herself a little straighter, privately glad for the jolt. "...someone." Her wings opened gracefully, and the Sigel turned, making room for Rivener to join them.

"A lovely day." Pasha agreed, and turned her gaze to Rivener. She took him in silently for a moment...looking past the grin and the image. He certainly seemed amiable, but it was always hard to tell with him. There was so much they'd never discussed, and to chat about the weather instead felt almost criminal. Her lips parted, yet she paused. Where to even start?

Instead, she gave up completely, and smiled a bit helplessly at him before leaning in to air kiss his cheek on one side if permitted. She had known him longer than almost anyone else in her life, and they'd certainly been through their share together. There was no reason to be cold.

"And many new faces." The young man with the lovely pink hair had returned with her drink, and Melisande's smile returned in full. He had such a sweet and easy manner about him! She accepted the iced tea gratefully with both hands, and murmured her thanks. It wasn't until he lingered, introducing himself instead of returning to the table, that she realized her mistake.

Pasha's cheeks went pink. With the flowers in her hair, and the pink on her cheeks, she almost perfectly matched her day lily dress! "I'm....I'm so sorry! The vest, and your handsome cravat! I assumed..." Melisande shook her head ruefully, shaking loose a curl from the side of her updo.

What a first impression.

[[Rivener - Appetizer table]]
(Tag to Pasha, Xiu, Cesc)

Rivener could detect the tension in Melisande's shoulders when he interrupted, but she seemed to... well, for lack of a better word, warm up. When she leaned in to air-kiss his cheek, he allowed it with an amused smirk, finding the action charming. Then again, what did the Muse do that people wouldn't find charming? It was part of the things he used to hate about her.

Suddenly a new Frei joined their conversation, bringing Pasha a drink and then introducing himself. He was so polite, and to be honest Riv was rather startled by the tone of that voice. He'd expected this to be a girl, or if not a girl, at least someone like Prajna whose gender couldn't be discerned. "Cesc. I'm pleased to meet you: I'm Rivener." He offered his hand to shake and smiled his dazzling, honeyed smile, assessing this new addition to the Raevan kin. Delicate, pretty, so very pink, yet there was a sense of hidden strength and determination. Cesc was certainly not shy despite his youth. The Scorpion gave a slight nod of approval of everything he saw, as though his opinion was wanted, then turned his attention back to Pasha.

He smiled at her a little sheepishly, glancing at Xiu apologetically for stealing his conversation. As he spoke, the dark Sigel stooped to pick up the flower from the ground, handing it back to Melisande, unaware that this flower might be in any way special.

"I hope I'm not being too forward, but I'd like if you allowed me to accompany you through the Garden Maze, Melisande. I have... We have a lot to talk about, I think, and I never did thank you for... for some of the things you did." He never used to like her, but she tended to pop up in his memories. The song she'd given him when he was infected, at the costume party. Her presence at the lab when Roux was on a rampage. Maybe he'd been too quick to hate her, when he was young. Maybe it wasn't too late to try and be civil, perhaps even friends.

Suddenly Riv realized he may have stepped on toes, and he flinched in surprise, looking between Cesc and Xiu. "Ah! That is, if neither of you had asked her first, of course."

((Ebs – Maze Sign Up // Delia – Near BBQ))
((Tag to Aphi // Tag to Wings))

“Ah no, that’s not…” Delia started, but was cut off as Iorek went on to further explain why comic heroes were educational. Perhaps she should have worded that better and told him what Ebby considered educational. Oh well, what’s done was done. Besides it was nice to hear someone speak so passionately about something they enjoyed, even if they were a bit nervous as they did so.

“Oh no I don’t have anywhere to be really. I’m enjoying talking with you Reks.” To prove it, she smiled most sweetly towards the gargoyle. When the conversation suddenly shifted onto the basilisk and her passion, it was Cordelia’s turn to blush. Pushing back a stray lock of her long, black hair, “I’ve only been playing for a couple years. I’m mostly trained on classical, but I’d like to move into more modern genres. Once I get better of course. I have a hard time though sometimes with keeping my control. If I get too lost into the music, I’ll end up break strings cause of my strength.” She flexed her fingers some. Though they looked dainty and delicate right now, they could easily snap a person’s neck if the girl held the notion in her mind to.

Ebony frowned when they got to the podium. The only real event at the garden party and it was a maze. It sounded sorely disappointing to her, yet Cordelia would probably have fun. The smoky girl rather enjoyed trying new things and if she got to make a new friend out of it then it would make the basilisk even happier. And that was all Ebony ever wanted for her.

Bending over to place Cordelia’s name on the list for the maze, “Hm? Oh yeah no, she won’t mind. She would do it herself even if I hadn’t. If you haven’t noticed, Cordelia doesn’t really take after me when it comes to being social. She’s rather good at it. I guess you could say I’m a little jealous.” Ebony chuckled before looking about to see the rest of the party and its occupants. Wonder what else there was to do if not this event. Mingle more? Eat? Sighing and running a few digits through her short hair, “This maze doesn’t really call to me though so she’ll just have to partner up with someone else I guess. What about you? Will you be joining Rivener if he decides to participate?” Perhaps the Brit was hoping someone would keep her company while her ward was off socializing. Perhaps someone familiar of whom she was already at ease with? It was selfish though to monopolize the chef’s time though, thus Ebony didn’t ask directly of course.

[[Aphismet - Maze Sign Up]]
(Tag to Ebony)

Aphismet smiled at Ebony when she bent to scribble in Cordelia's name, then laughed outright when asked if he was going in with Riv. He shook his head, a tad sadly. "No, no no. Riv wouldn't have it, I'm sure. He'd rather go with another Raevan, and would probably think me incredibly boring if I went with. It'll be much better if I sit it out and just wait out here." Of course he had an ulterior motive for wanting to remain in the main party area, and his eyes flicked reflexively towards the entrance to the garden, wondering if she would even come.

"And you do perfectly fine at socializing, I think. How about we go put you to the test, hm? Let's find someone new and talk to them." He grinned, and now it was HIS turn to pull his fellow guardian off, the pair of them wandering through the party. "If you're assisting a wedding planner, Ebony, you're going to have to be more social. Don't sell yourself short!" He'd let her pick their next destination, eyeing her expectantly.

[[Luka >> Drinks Table]]
( Tag to Bros, Petit )

"We were born in the Lab, and then our guardians came to pick us up. We have no real origin. We're a combination of magic and science." Thinking on Havain's question, it dawned on the Frei just how little he actually knew of his own race. He knew about fel essences and souls, but not his purpose. Although he wouldn't like to considered as an experiment, it was obvious the whole race of Raevans was one given they all came from a lab.

Brows furrowing lightly at the realization, the Satyr turned to look at Zurine and Havain. "I actually have to find my guardian now. It was nice meeting you Zurine. And you too, Havain." The latter's name said with less affection than the first. There were a lot of question he had for Jezabroux now. The exact same ones Havain had asked him.

He'd been curious before, but he'd never really put that much thought into it. Giving the two one last smile, he floated off to find his guardian.

((Iorek - Near BBQ, Lillian and Tyson - Maze Sign Up. Tag to Ebs))

"Excuse me, hun. I'm Lillian and this is Tyson." Lillian had wiggled back in on the two and smiled happily at Delia when she finished talking. Tyson held a smile as well and waved to the girl raevan in greeting. Lil looked between the two and gave a sigh, "Hate to cut in but Reks, I'll go sign you up for that maze okay?" They had seen it upon entering and Lil knew it would be swell to sign Iorek up for it. A game was the perfect way to show off his abilities and meet new people.

Like a doting mother hen, she reached out and gave Reks an encouraging nudge before motioning to Tyson that they should be on their way. After all, they didn't want to intrude for long on the raevan's conversation.

"Nice to meet ya, Cordelia. Take care of our boy, alright?" Tyson said with a wide grin that Reks met with a roll of the eyes. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to him, ya know?" Ah yeah, Tyson had tapped into the role of a 50's father as he tapped Iorek's shoulder and walked off.

Before Reks could say anything his guardians were off to the maze sign ups. He looked back to Delia and sighed with relief. "S-Sorry about that. They're just having fun. I will say I'm glad you're enjoying our chat, I am too." Reks was taken back at the sweet smile she flashed him and returned it with another shy nod.

The strong looking lass looked nice with such a kind smile and a faint blush. "That's amazing. I'm definitely jealous of your ability. Now I want to hear you play even more." Iorek chuckled and slowly reached for her hands. "You break the strings? Really? Wow...I thought I was the only raevan who broke stuff." Yes, that statement probably wasn't true but jeez he felt that way most of the time. He was constantly bumbling and shattering pieces of furniture or valuables.

Once again he was captured by curiosity as he looked over her slim fingers. "How strong are you?"

While Iorek was busy chatting up the pretty Cordelia, Lillian and Tyson made their way over to sign ups. They were far too busy chit-chatting about what they had left behind to really notice those around them.

"Think you're going to go in with him?" Lillian asked Tyson as she bent down and wrote Iorek's name on the list for the maze.


The lad gave a shrug and looked back to where Iorek was talking, "Eh...I think I'll let him go in with someone else. Like you said before, he needs to start socializing with others...not just us anymore." But as the boy said this he looked truly bummed.

Lillian sighed and tugged him in for a casual hug, knowing how Tyson was about signs of affection with all kinds of people around. It was tough dealing with a teenager. There were far too many social rules now that Lil struggled to follow. "You know you two are still the best of buds. Don't pout and just enjoy the festivities. You get to hang out with your sister now. Whoo hoo!"

Tyson smiled at her and shrugged, "Alright, alright. So...where to next? See anyone?"

The lass scanned the crowd and nodded at a few familiar faces. "I do..but why don't we walk around and see who we find?"