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Arriving at the cafe, the two pulled up in Reuben's Prius and parked. "This is it," he said, a large smile on his face as he opened the car door and looked at the sign on the outside that said 'The Silver Fox'. His smile was apparent more for the fact he was about to see Evan than anything else, since it had been so long. Also, trying to find Adrian right away to ask about Ebony would be a top priority of his.

Ryder exited the vehicle on the passenger side with a sigh. He wasn't sure how he'd like this outing. Nothing had been going right in the poor frei's life. Being honest with himself, he wasn't really up to meeting new people. But, he decided that he'd do anything to get out of the house. He closed the passenger door with gusto and floated slowly behind his guardian, wrapping his arms up. He was garbed in his usual attire, not caring for the whole "costume party". He wasn't in the mood to get dressed up in anything fun. Though his normal attire, being that of medieval times, could very well be taken as a costume in and of itself.

In the parking lot, just a few cars over, Evan waited for Reuben's arrival with his headphones in, watching YouTube videos. That was, until he had a knock on the window. With a startled jump in surprise, Evan chuckled and took out his headphones before opening up his car door and exiting to give Reuben a long awaited hug. "Reuben! It's been a while! How've you been?"

"I've been great, and thank you so much for coming out tonight. You've already met Ryder," Reuben's tone changed, for how the two met was rather messy.

Evan smiled with a nod. "Of course, how're you doing, buddy?"

Ryder gave a slight smirk and a shrug to the question, not really wishing to disclose any further information than that. Reuben just rolled his eyes and shook his head at his friend. "Don't mind him, he's been in a mood all month," he said quietly enough that Ryder couldn't hear.

Evan just shrugged it off and wrapped his arm around Reuben's shoulders. "Let's get on in there, shall we?"

With that, the three entered the bar, ready to mingle. Reuben and Evan in arms and Ryder following closely behind.

"Whoa, there's a lot of people here," Evan stated as his arm dropped off of Reuben's shoulder when the three entered the cafe.

Reuben nodded, trying to keep an eye out for anyone he might know, especially looking forward to seeing Delia and Adrian.

Ryder just felt uncomfortable. He didn't know anyone, wasn't aware of what was going on around him, and definitely didn't truly feel comfortable with Evan and Reuben hanging out. Knowing how upset Evan's girlfriend was with Calista, it just made no sense as to why Reuben would even want to "rekindle" any sort of friendship with Evan.

When Reuben caught eye of Cordelia, a smile grew upon his face. He began to wave at the snake raevan, trying to get her attention. "Cordelia!" he called, walking up to her, his smile wide. "Hey! It's nice to see you again! I don't know if you remember me, I'm Reuben, from the Mystic Herb, you and your grandfather came to see me asking about any form of information about Ebony. Where is Adrian? I'd love to speak to him if poss-" then, it dawned on him. Ryder was just behind him, and he hadn't introduced anyone yet. "Oh, I'm so sorry, this is Evan, and this is Ryder, my charge. I know you're terribly busy, but congratulations on opening this new cafe! It's so exciting!"

Evan simply smiled and gave a slight wave when introduced, and Ryder gave a nod, but was still clearly uncomfortable being in such a crowded situation.

Reuben was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming Cordelia had been with them just now. His initial impression of this girl was quite the opposite. It had been what, eight or so months since the day they met, and she seemed to be quite different; very approachable and professional. Something must have changed, at least in Reuben's eyes. "I'd love for you to take us to him. This place is a lot bigger than I anticipated it to be. Congratulations on the grand opening by the way! This place looks amazing!"

Evan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it looks awesome in here. So chill," he spoke with a bright smile, looking about the room. Oh how he envied this place, especially in comparison to his current job in Aekea. This was a high quality place, not a slum like he had worked in for the past five years. He couldn't even imagine working in a place this nice.

Ryder floated behind silently still. Meeting Cordelia was the highlight of this drab trip. Though, he didn't even know what was going to come of that, since this place seemed so overwhelming. Oh how he wished he could just teleport home, or at least summon Alice. But his magic wouldn't work and hadn't been working properly for a while now. He just felt so helpless, and that feeling didn't leave when he went out to 'party' like his guardian wanted.

Reuben chuckled as the man ruffled his granddaughters hair. "Well, all the hard work truly shows," he began with a smile, listening to the man speak. "Oh, please call me Reuben. But yes, this is Ryder. And this is Evan, I hope it's alright that I invited him once I received the invitation?"

Evan waved and held out a hand, "Nice to meet you, sir! Quite the fine establishment you have here! I am really digging the look of this place. Also looks like you have your hands full here. Already quite busy. The buzz was perfect. I heard about the bar all the way in Aekea," Evan stated with a small chuckle as he placed his hands in his pockets.

Ryder just nodded and gave a half-assed smirk as he was introduced to yet another stranger. At least Reuben seemed to know these people, even if he was as lost as a stray puppy on the streets. When Cordelia nudged him quickly, he instantly pulled back; but when she spoke, he smiled as his eyes grew larger, "Yes please," the desperation in his soft voice ever apparent. He felt comfortable enough to leave Reuben's side if it was with Cordelia, a fellow raevan, at least Reuben couldn't say no.

Evan shook the man's hand, making the mental note that Cordelia would be to thank for that sort of outreach. "Well, let me just say, even from what little I've seen so far, this place definitely lives up to the hype," Evan stated, looking around quickly.

Both Reuben and Evan were enamored with the tech of this place. Everything seemed so futuristic in comparison to the grungy bar that Evan worked at and Reuben's holistic shop was nothing in comparison. "That's totally fine with me. I love tea, if you have something fruity."

Evan piped in shortly after, "Oh, yeah, a cream soda would be great. I'm not a drinker myself, honestly. I've been a bartender in Aekea for the past four or so years. I got over it very quickly when I started bartending."

Meanwhile, when Cordelia asked Ryder to follow, he slunk away quickly, eager to follow the fellow frei.

As the toadstool floated up the stairs and over to the window, the sight she spoke of was truly magical. He couldn't believe that this was a real place. Not even his imagination could bring him here. He took in the sights, the glistening, sunkissed water of the ocean, the isle was definitely beautiful.

"Wow..." the word escaped his lips and nothing but silence followed. That was, until Cordelia spoke.

"You write songs?" he questioned her, curiously, looking at her before following her eyes back to the scene in front of them. It truly was beautiful.

The two men sat at the bar and smiled, waiting for the cream soda and tea to arrive. In exquisite fashion, the old man set the drinks down and the two younger men were quite impressed. "Wow, Adrian, this tea is amazing, thank you!" the tarotist proclaimed. The cream soda was equally so, and Evan smiled as he sipped.

But then the question arose. Both Reuben and Evan's eyes widened at the thought. Evan could potentially work in an environment like this? With an AI system so clean and precise? That would be a dream. "I...I would actually really love to apply. Do you guys have applications here or online? I'll fill one out right now!"

Reuben glanced over at Evan with furrowed brows. Why was he so quick to jump on a chance to work here? And without even a second thought. What about the bar he'd been working at for years? Not even thinking he'd be missed, or? Reuben prodded Evan under the table and whispered quietly, "What about your job? You live in Aekea, this would be so far away from your home. Are you...sure?"

Evan looked at his friend and smiled. "Reu, I've been wanting to get out of that hole for years now. Tips haven't been great and the regulars are always unruly and don't listen to me anymore. Plus, with all the troubles that have been happening at home, this could be the best thing to ever happen to me,"

Reuben took a deep breath. This man spending so much time with another raevan family wasn't his...favorite idea if he were being honest with himself. But he took another sip of his tea and left it alone. It wasn't his decision, and if Evan felt the need to work alongside Adrian to better enhance his life, so be it.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Ryder continued to take in the sight while Cordelia explained her use of the violin. An instrument? One thing Ryder wasn't super aware of was music. Sure he had listened to some now and again on his phone, or when he and Reuben were in the car (if he wasn't listening to NPR). "I-I'm sure you're a fine singer," he began, blushing when he was asked about his hobbies. He hadn't ever really been questioned like that before. What were his hobbies? The frei took a moment to think about the answer to her question. "I...like to practice magic in my free time. Oh! And reading books. I do love to read books."

As the AI popped up, explained the goings on in Evan’s background, and popped away to get Cordelia, everything happened so fast. Reuben’s jaw dropped at the thought of Evan’s criminal past. It was clear as day on the bartender’s face that he was slightly embarrassed at the announcement of said past.

Evan stood a moment and said, “S-sure. I know that you’re super busy, but can we talk more privately for the interview?”

Reuben’s brows furrowed. Why didn’t he want to talk in front of him? Now he had so many questions. Was he hiding more? Or did he just want to explain his past? Either way, Reuben stood as well. “It’s fine. I’ll just go check out the rest of the place. Good luck on the interview,” he said with obvious attitude.

Evan glanced at Reuben as he began to walk away and rolled his eyes. His friend sure was a dramatic sort. “Okay,” he began by sitting back down. “I just want you to know that those charges are in my past and they’ve been haunting me ever since they occurred. But I don’t like to talk about it much.”

Meanwhile, Ryder chuckled at Cordelia’s explanation of her singing. It was a fascinating visual to say the least. Upon her question, he nodded. “Our type of magic,” the frei began. “I have been having a rough time lately with magic, but typically I can actually make imaginings visible. Reuben has this crystal ball at home and I can show my imaginings in it like a movie. I can also grow mushrooms. But...like I said, my magic hasn’t been working all that well lately.”

When Nigel appeared to tell Cordelia of the readied orders, Ryder nodded. He definitely wanted to stay up here away from the larger crowd that was no doubt building downstairs. “Take your time,” he said as she rushed off. After all, he enjoyed the alone time with the setting sun. It was a beautiful sight to see.