Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lab 305 has rented out a cabin near the Barton Woods for the New Year's Eve festivities. The cabin is a picturesque log cabin with two stories, a wide deck and a well-lit backyard.

As you walk in, there are cozy rugs on the ground and a roaring fire on one side, surrounded in couches and lots of comfortable, textured seating. Fur throws are comfortably tossed against most of the seats, inviting you to come in and cuddle up. There are golden accent pillows against the white and grey chairs, and the wooden mantle is streaked with gold, as though the metal were woven into the wood's fibers.

On the far side of the room is a hot cocoa bar--help yourself to a mug and go ahead and sit down to chat and relax! There's tons of finger food: cheeses, bruschetta, pull-apart bread, gingerbread men, cookie twists, even a few skewers of marshmallows to roast at the fire. Take and enjoy.

Beside the mantle is an open book where you can sign up for the snowball fight later in the evening--but take care, because the fight will be over in time for everyone to count down the new year! At the ready, two bottles of champagne and two of sparkling apple cider are laying in a silver basket of ice, along with rows of glasses, each with a skewer of 12 grapes--each to mark the sweetness of the new year's coming months. There's also a pile of golden scrap paper and pencils where you can write your New Year's resolutions.

(( Aina, Mordekai, Seabiscuit -> Entrance ))

Powdery white snow and a warm cabin in the distance. Mordekai let out a soft laugh as his feet crunched into a deep layer of snow around Duncan's rickety old car and stepped around toward the back seats, peaking through the window to glance at Aina and Seabiscuit. The pomegranate Frei had her head rested against the great dane's back, wrapped up in a thick blanket; she made a soft noise in acknowledgement to the gust of cold wind that blew into the car when Mordekai opened the back seat door.

"Short trip, huh?" he picked the Frei up into his arms, and Seabiscuit lifted his head from the seats and peaked out past Mordekai, sniffing the air. "S'like a fairytale out here," the blond stepped aside to let Seabiscuit out, "Up and at 'em, Seab."

Aina rubbed her eyes and smiled blearily out toward the distance of the cabin - once Mordekai and Seabiscuit walked toward the warm building, she brightened at a familiar sight just ahead. "Cesc?" she asked, pointing toward the stag.

"Oh! 'Ey, Miss LaCelle!" Mordekai waved toward Cesc and his camaderie; when Seabiscuit let out a soft huff and hesitated to come forward, the blond gently placed his palm on the back of the great dane's neck in reassurance. "Happy new year!"

(( Aina, Mordekai, Seabiscuit -> Entrance ))

Mordekai leaned forward to let Aina onto the floor so she could float on her own - the pomegranate eagerly moved forward to greet Cesc with a warm hug, the blanket still draped over her shoulders. "Hi Cesc, you're really warm," she nuzzled a bit; she giggled and glanced back at Seabiscuit and Mordekai, "This is Seabiscuit! He lives with Mr. Hartline but he's Momo's."

"Bonne année, Vivi! Ça va?" Mordekai greeted the brunette, meanwhile, returning her hug warmly with a relieved laugh - it was nice to see familiar faces right through the door. He attempted to shake the remaining cold off his shoulders while pulling the scarf looser from around his neck, and Aina, when greeted by the woman, smiled up at her shyly.

"Hi Miss Vivi," Aina pulled the blanket off of her shoulders, quietly bundling it around Seabiscuit; she smiled with more familiarity, easily comfortable around Cesc and his charges. "It's really nice seeing you too... I missed you lots."

Mordekai knelt down and gently took Seabiscuit's paws into his hands, careful to wipe the excess snow off of him; when the great dane remained stationary as Shep came closer, Mordekai hugged the dane's back. "Wanna meet Shep? Nita's friend?" the blond encouraged; after a moment, the great dane leaned forward and took a sniff at Shep's palm, then licked it sloppily. Mordekai laughed. "This is Seab! He's a good kisser."

(( Ian -> Entrance - Lorenzo ))

Ian pulled his scarf closely around her neck and buried the lower half of his face in the warm yarn, shivering as he got out of his car. It was a beautiful scene, certainly: fresh white snow on the mountain, a large and stately cabin glowing with warmth inside... Speaking of which, he needed to get inside now.

He entered with a relieved sigh as the wave of heat enveloped him and promptly closed the door behind him. As he peeled off his thick peacoat and scarf, he glanced around. There weren't too many people here yet; he spotted Cesc some distance away, chatting with a bearded man and a very childlike Raevan; she looked somewhat familiar but he couldn't place her name.

Further inspection revealed a rather surprising guest: Lorenzo! A confused but no less pleased smile appeared on Ian's face as he approached, combing a few small snowflakes out of his curls. "Lorenzo, what a surprise! Have you applied for guardianship at the Lab?" He asked. The feeling of relief at seeing someone he knew fairly well was so nice, and definitely a great way to start off a potentially stressful night. New Year's Eve and a snowball fight? That combination meant there would be plenty of opportunity to embarrass himself.

((Cesc and co== Entrance--> Lounge))

Shepard was more than pleased with the Great Dane, and having gotten the approval of sloppy kisses, bent down to give the dog a good rough patting. "Seab, is it? Good boy! What a big handsome beaut y'are. Good pup, yeah…" His attention was taken almost wholly by the dog.

Meanwhile, Vivi leaned to hug Aina, pressing her cheek against the child Frei's. "My sweet!" She cried. "I missed you lots as well. Come, come. Let us get out of the cold, n'est pas? Come and see the beautiful decorations and the hot cocoa! And the windows out to the snow, it is possible to enjoy the view without the cold. And look--" she added, leading the way in. "--plenty of blankets for all!"

Cesc laughed at the proceedings and followed Vivi in, clapping Mordekai on the back as he passed him. "It's good to see you!"! He exclaimed. "How are you? How's Anita and Cruz? Are they coming tonight?"

Cesc hadn't seen Cruz since his breakup with Iorek--he wondered how the croc had done in the meanwhile. Out of the corner of his eye, Cesc spied Ian in conversation with another--but his hello could wait until after he properly greeted Mordekai.