[zapdragon555]

It had taken some soft amount of insistence but in the end, Tenma had agreed to hold a pair of seats for them both in a tucked-away corner while Grimmer went to the owner of the place to chat about the security. Tenma was hard pressed to relax, but... the smells coming off of the food were divine, and it encouraged him to breathe deeply, to sigh out in contentment as he settled back against his chair. He'd placed his duffel bag on the adjacent one, and in the meantime... he reached sheepishly for what looked to be a hearty meat, potato and cabbage dish, tugging it closer to spoon some out onto his plate.

"Good news," Grimmer said softly as he approached, gently lifting Tenma's bag off of the chair and replacing it with himself. "The generous host of this gathering said we can take as much food as we like with us. I don't want to be greedy, but... given our money situation, I think we should take a few leftovers."

Tenma's eyes shone at that, taken aback by the kindness of strangers. He let out a soft, overwhelmed breath and nodded, forking a sliced potato and bringing it to his lips, feeling the heat of it before taking a bite. So warm... this place was truly a refuge from the freezing cold outside, which seemed to have come upon them so suddenly. "Delicious," he breathed, tucking in and eating more quickly. Grimmer looked on with a quiet love in his eyes, relieved to see the doctor taking care of himself for once. He had half a mind to see if this place had anywhere to freshen up, too... hotels were expensive, but... ahh. Something about gift horses and mouths... best not to. Instead, he began picking out some yummy-looking foods for himself, as well as keeping an eye out for what would keep the best in his bag, relatively hardy nonperishables and the like.

"I also let the owner know... a little about our situation." Grimmer stiffened as Tenma coughed in reply, beating his chest softly to help the food go down that had caught. Grimmer reached out on impulse and laid his hand to Tenma's shoulder, rubbing gently. "It's okay. No details... just... just that you're in some danger outside of your control, and to not let any uniformed officers inside. Breathe... you're safe."

Tenma's wild eyed expression softened, and to his credit, he did his best to listen to his friend. He drew in a deeper breath and looked down at his food, a tightness in his chest born from a mix of anxiety and gratitude. With another soft, silent nod, he tucked in again, intent on accepting this gift of a free meal to the fullest.

[Wyvern]

The black and red Serraptor went past the reception room and into the dining area. The bristles of Adriana's body were raised attentively as she searched around the series of tables for her partner’s whereabouts.

She felt at least one other person walk besides her and slightly brush against these bristles, but she didn’t flinch or move at all. Her focus was all about the series of seats that surrounded the antique wooden tables.


The Werecain had settled on a seat which back was facing away from a partially covered window, which had a series of curtains with complex, flowered patterns. Besides this window was a large fireplace whose heat was radiating and could be lightly felt by those who were sitting near it. Mir found the soft heat quite comfortable. And while waiting for her partner, she could look back and appreciate the beautiful garden from the window. She indeed glanced away and peered into the glass that was decorated with an elegant iron frame with swirls and shapes.

Adriana had no idea that her partner was distracted and not quite aware of her arrival.  She kept looking around, almost wanting to wave, but that may catch the wrong person’s attention. And speaking out loud to call for Mir directly, would most likely make it much, much worse.

“Damn... what should I do... Walk around and hope she sees me? Maybe?”

[Jaykobell]

But eventually, even someone as gluttonous as Clovis had to reach rock bottom. And this time was now, where the smaller priest started to slow down.

Sergio noticed Clovis looking particularly delighted. Maybe they could get some of it to go. It still seemed endless, so surely, they could afford to take some of it to go. "We could bring some of it back with us," Sergio offered, and he immediately saw that the idea pleased Clovis. "I would love to eat more later myself!"

[Adelie]

This Thanks for Life celebration was great. Best event ever, absolute show-stopper of an event, hope it happens again next year.

Well, she wouldn't actually know because she wasn't there. But as far as she was concerned, anything that could get her brother out of the house so she wouldn't have to deal with him moping over whatever his current cause for concern was - some celebrity crush he was obsessing over, some coffee that he'd actually spilled on his favorite shirt, some stupid thing some stupid classmate of his said recently - was the best thing that could happen to her. Seriously. That guy had taken the mood swing part of puberty very seriously, and then he had apparently never stopped going through puberty.

Maybe she'd put on a nice movie tonight. One of the sappy ones that she never got to watch because her brother would always plant himself firmly on the couch next to her, steal all her popcorn, and then rub snot on her shoulder while crying hysterically. Or she'd make herself a nice dinner and not worry about having to make a second portion. Yes, that would be nice.

[Kitsumi]

Although he wasn't exactly happy with his sister's answer, Sorin knew that there would be no further arguing with her. And honestly, it wasn't like he could blame her. He had come here knowing exactly what it was that Myrym intended on doing. It wasn't like he had ever had a problem with her thievery before, especially not when it benefited him. So why start complaining now?

"Fine, fine. Do whatever it is you feel like you must. In the meantime," he grinned, a slightly dreamy look overtaking his face. "I'll be actually enjoying myself."

The female returned his smile, although hers was perhaps a tad... darker. "Oh, trust me. I'll be enjoying myself as well. And we'll both enjoy the spoils of this job, I promise."

[crow]

"Come on, Cal, before all the good seats are taken." Rory ran through the room, along the table behind the occupied seats, beelining for a spot. Callum followed behind, though at a slower pace. People couldn't see Rory now, so it would have seemed strange for him to run, though he didn't usually do it even when Rory had still been more... corporeal. There had, unfortunately, been the issue of the image he had to maintain.

Still, he couldn't hold back a laugh when he saw the seat Rory had chosen. Pies of every imaginable flavor lined this portion of the long table, and almost nothing else was within reach. Rory caught his eye and flashed a smile, like they were sharing a joke. And they were, weren't they?

"You can't even eat these anymore," Callum said, his voice pitched quiet so others couldn't hear. The general din of the rest of the room helped.

But Rory heard him. Rory always heard him. Shrugging, Rory said, "I can remember. And I can taste them, if you eat them."

[GrayGriffin]

"Hunting for secret passages, huh?" asked Tayne, now sitting down by the wall next to her brother. Her dress was probably going to get dirty, but she didn't mind.

"Uh-huh!" he said, pointing at the wall he'd come flying out of. "And it worked! I wonder if Twee-" He immediately clapped both his hands over his mouth.

"...Tweety's here too?" asked Tayne. "I thought I saw his parents around here."

"Well...he also snuck in. So please don't tell them?"

"They're probably going to find out anyways. But alright, I won't be the one to expose him."

"Thank you!" He hugged her, before sniffing. "Is that...sliced meat?"

"Yeah, figured I'd bring some home for you. But I guess you can also have some now." She opened the carry-out box, and Nikey immediately dove into it with gusto.

[SpringsSong]

"I take it that was not a fun story to hear," Lana said as she bit into a roll.

"No. He fell in battle to a Sith who crippled him slowly, drawing out his dependence on a move that allowed him to push past his physical limits, and when he was nearly at his limit... she blocked his connection to the Force, which left him vulnerable," Xyshari said softly. "And... that was taken advantage of."

"I'm so sorry, my love. I didn't mean--" Lana began, but Xyshari reached over and placed a finger over Lana's lips.

"It happened a long time ago, svetlobi. I have long since come to terms with it," Xyshari said. "Besides, like Loq, his spirit is never far from me."

[Kitsumi]

The siblings lapsed into silence as a couple of strangers joined them by the fire, not wanting their conversation to be overheard. Turning their focus instead to their food, it didn't take long for them to empty their plates. Myrym gave her brother a meaningful look, and he nodded somberly.

As soon as they parted ways, Sorin made a beeline towards the ballroom. He wasn't sure how many songs he had before his sister pulled him away, so he wanted to make the most of his time. Striding into the room, he immediately began looking around for any potential dance partners.

[Jaykobell]

Clovis was definitely down for that idea, but there was just a small problem. "We don't have any bags or containers," he pointed out to Sergio as he continued to force food into his mouth. "Hard to bring it back then."

Sergio agreed, his face turning to pensive concern, trying to problem-solve this issue. "You're not wrong," he admitted, and unfortunately, he didn't really have any solution to the problem.

Clovis didn't seem worried, in comparison. "Could ask the guy doing the feast. Ask for doggie bags to go."

[zapdragon555]

Satisfied with the state of the good doctor, Grimmer busied himself with filling his own plate with bread and cheese, a hearty helping of warm sliced turkey. As he spread butter over his bread, Grimmer glanced about the room, pleased to see that it was filling with other guests. A comfortably crowded room was nice. Plenty of spots to hide in case the owner couldn't conceivably prevent the cops from coming in. Grimmer was confident he could usher the both of them away carefully—he'd already scoped out some rather convenient escape routes while he'd been speaking to the owner, just in case.

"Ah, Dr. Tenma, look!" Grimmer mused, reaching across the table carefully to take a rather lonely-looking bottle of red wine, cradling the base of it in his palm and pointing to the label. "This is a very good year, by my memory. Would you have some?"

Tenma watched as his tall companion uncorked the bottle with the provided screw, and poured a responsible amount of wine into his glass. Tenma swallowed his bite of food, weighing the options. A quick getaway would mean he needed to be as sober as possible... but...

...but if the owner said this place was safe... maybe... "I'd love some," Tenma finally settled on, letting his shoulders droop gently, relaxing. The sound of wine leaving bottleneck was pleasant and rhythmic and Tenma reached for the glass as soon as it was ready for him, tipping it to his lips to sip slowly. Tart yet sweet, a hint of raspberry... it wasn't long before Tenma was far more at ease than before, with a faint red to his face as he nursed his wine and went for seconds. Grimmer half wondered if there was an inn close by, or even if this large mansion had any room to simply sleep off a bit of alcohol-induced fuzziness... he imagined Tenma would feel safer fully aware than the tiniest bit tipsy. Something to go check on soon, he thought, as cut another piece of turkey for himself.

[Adelie]

He had a stinking suspicion that he had been set up.

The first, and most convincing piece of evidence to support this conclusion was that he was only here for this event on invitation of his no-good, meddling excuse for a brother - not that either of them particularly wanted to acknowledge their blood relation to each other. Nothing particularly enjoyable had ever come from listening to that guy's recommendations. He'd like to say that nothing good ever came of it, either, but he had to begrudgingly admit that the bastard had a near-prophetic ability to predict critical events and then manipulate the correct people into being in the right situation at the right time. That was why he'd given this whole 'show up to a mansion and eat free food' thing a chance, after all.

The second piece of evidence is that that guy had been particularly elusive about exactly what he was supposed to do at this party or who he was supposed to meet. He was supposed to meet someone, at least. He'd been given a short list of features to look out for that were completely useless out of context - an orange shirt, a purple-and-white tartan scarf, and a peacock feather keychain. The only thing he could conclude from that was that whoever he was supposed to meet had terrible fashion sense. Most notably, he hadn't been provided anything that could tell him the gender of whoever he was going to meet.

The last piece of evidence was the particularly suspicious 'have fun' and winky face he'd been texted right after he'd stepped foot into the mansion. Right on schedule. If he wasn't used to that guy's preternatural sense of timing, he'd have suspected he was being spied on.

Either way, though, the evidence was clear. He was clearly being set up on a date.

[crow]

"Can you now," Callum said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Rory simply inclined his head to one side. Maybe he had missed the implications, or maybe they just didn't faze him.

But something else caught his attention. Callum watched Rory's eyes slide away from him and towards something behind him, on the other end of the room. "Oh," he said, "I think your friend is in trouble."

Callum turned to look, and it didn't take him long to spot Bran being accosted by a woman, who seemed to be growing more interested in him by the minute.

[Kitsumi]

Time suddenly seemed to pass by so much more quickly in a blur of activity for the two siblings. Sorin was in the arms of a stranger, spinning and laughing and flirting as he had the chance to show off his fancy footwork. Myrym, on the other hand, sought to avoid being noticed, slinking from one room to another, sticking to the shadows as she tried to find items that were small but valuable.

Both of their hearts were pounding by the time they finally left the building. With full bellies and adrenaline pumping through their veins, it was quite possibly the best evening that the two had shared in quite some time.

[zapdragon555]

The crowd was beginning to thin. Tenma had stopped after two glasses of wine, and Grimmer was glad for the man's judgement—for if Tenma hadn't pushed his glass away, Grimmer would have had to gently tell him that enough was probably enough, for the sake of not waking up with a terrible headache later. Grimmer had been glad, too, to see some other guests of the place filling bags or tupperware containers with leftovers to take home... it made him feel a tad less guilty, standing up and starting to make space in his large shoulderbag for some provisions they could safely take.

Tenma was starting to droop, looking utterly sleepy, a rare sight. The man was usually so wired for danger, always vigilant even in situations Grimmer felt were safe... but he hoped it would be a thing that would stop, one day. This... this was a nice look, he decided, the sight of the doctor with eyes half shut, cheek smushed onto his palm, elbow propped on the table. A nicer sight if he were in a proper bed, but seeing him get any amount of peaceful rest was gentle on the taller man's heart. He kept watch, observing as various guests started to take their leave, thanking the owner for hosting such a wonderful event. Ahh... well... it was now or never. With a careful stand and a gentle touch to Tenma's upper back, Grimmer went towards the owner with intent to ask a question.

... ... ...

"Dr. Tenma... wake up, now. Rise and shine," Grimmer whispered gently, a soft jostle to Tenma's shoulder rousing the man, some dark hair pressed to his cheek and eyes bleary.

"Hmn? What—I fell asleep," he said it with more horror than looked possible for someone so drowsy, whispered gravely, like something terrible could have happened. Grimmer gave a soft, lopsided smile, slightly humored, mostly empathetic. "Sorry... we're leaving?"

"Actually," Grimmer said, taking a step back to let Tenma stand and stretch, a soft wince in the taller man's face to hear the poor doctor's spine crack. "The owner's generosity goes a bit further. For those who don't have anywhere to go for the night, there are some spare bedrooms. Apparently this place is very big!" Grimmer chirped, like there wasn't an enormously tall ceiling above them, and dozens of huge tables about. Tenma blanched slightly at the idea of troubling the host, looking slightly mortified. Grimmer softened and reached out to hold and squeeze Tenma's arm, a bracing motion. "We aren't the only ones... an elderly man is staying the night because of the ice on the sidewalks, and I believe a small family without a home, too. We should save our money that we would've otherwise spent on the inn... don't you think?"

Tenma blinked, his mind finally waking up. He glanced at what looked to be said family, a pair of women who seemed to be the guardians of a young boy, all headed towards the back door of the great hall, seemingly further into the mansion. Tenma's gaze softened, and he let out a small hum in thought, nodding and gently clapping his hand over the one that squeezed his arm. "Alright. You... asked him? You did... while I was sleeping. Mm... well," Tenma put away that small spark of guilt and shouldered his own bag, then looked up, a faint smile tugging his mouth. "I'm sure it will be nicer than the hotel."

"Or dustier," Grimmer mused, and smiled widely at Tenma's small sputter over how his friend could be so rude. "I'm only saying that often times it's hard to clean such a big home!"