[Wyvern]

The Battlefield Werecain closed their eyes and smiled, a happy squeal coming off from the wolf as they gently bumped their head against their companion’s shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that, Adriana.” They wagged their tails, “You know, the mansion behind the vineyard?” Stepping forward eargely, they circled around their partner. “They are having a grand dinner inside. I bet the food will be amazing!”




Adriana, the Chaos Serraptor, shook their head in response, but didn’t say much at all.

They weren’t as talkative nor visibly excited in comparison to their partner. Even so, the Werecain typically wasn’t much of a conversationalist to begin with. Clearly, their excitement over having a date after a long time had them all worked up. Adriana was rather more focused on the beauty of the autumn scenery around them.

“Yes, I hope so too, babe.” The Serraptor replied calmly, holding onto their flowers tightly.

Adriana wanted to try out the food for sure, but sought to enjoy the surroundings at her pace. She hoped that they had some time before having to enter the mansion for the grand dining event.

[Kitsumi]

"Noooo, do you really have to do that here?" Sorin whined. "I don't want to get kicked out before I've had the chance to have some fun. Can't you just keep your sticky fingers in your pockets for a little while? Look, there's music. And food!"

For a moment, Myrym considered it. In the end, as always, her baby brother's wishes came before hers. "Well, I've never been one to turn down a free meal. We'll eat, and you can have your fun while I case the place. Happy?"

"I'm absolutely elated!" Hooking his arm through his sister's, Sorin began pulling her towards the table of food.

[Adelie]

When she'd received the invitation a few days ago, she'd almost thought it a prank. It was the name, really. Who sends a Thanks for Life celebration card to someone whose job dealt almost exclusively with the dead?

Actually, she knew exactly who would. Which didn't help the celebration's case at all - she had received any number of 'helpful' event invitations and tips and whatnot from her meddling idiot of a cousin, and not a single one of them had panned out to be anything more than another opportunity to embarrass herself in front of the public eye. He had airily told her she should get out more; she thought he should get out of her life instead.

Maybe it had been productive, though. She had instead spent a few days researching the origin of this so-called Thanks for Life celebration, discovering that it was apparently a long-held local tradition involving the anniversary of a battle against rogue Turkezillas. This party itself seemed to be held intermittently across the years, but there was no sign of it being anything more than an innocent gathering. Perhaps for once, she could go somewhere and relax.

[zapdragon555]

Sliding into a chair as quietly as possible, Someone carefully helped the little kiwi off their shoulder and onto the table, minding the bulk of their banjo as they tried to hook it gently over the back of the chair. Ahh... the lights were a bit overwhelming. They were thankful at least for the shade of their hat, which for now they kept on, that is... until leaning forward to peer at some of the food out on the tables nearly earned them a torched hat brim, leaning so far over a candle. Ah!

They hurriedly patted down their hat and sheepishly removed it, hair a mess and made messier by their fingers as they ruffled it up. The little kiwi, meanwhile, had found a bowl of fruits, and was eagerly pulling a few out with her long beak. "Well... I suppose we're meant to make ourselves at home," Someone murmured, reaching for a small, hand-sized loaf of bread and tearing it in half, smiling small as they stuffed their mouth with the soft bread inside.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Ren was soon happily munching away at the gorgeous food, though he was careful to keep hold of a napkin lest he spill some. He moved to the corner of the room with his plate, and a beautiful cornucopia arrangement caught his eye; he peered closer at it, to try and see what was holding it up.

"Do be careful - it doesn't take much to knock them down" said a voice beside him, and Ren startled, almost dropping his plate.

[GrayGriffin]

Tweety hadn't quite been invited to this dinner, but he hadn't been explicitly not invited either. So he was hanging out in Piyo form, where he'd be harder to spot, fluttering around and checking out just what rich people dinners looked like. He occasionally caught a glimpse of what looked like his parents' dishes, even though he was pretty sure they'd been invited as general guests. Just like them to go ahead and cook for everyone anyways, though.

[SpringsSong]

"No, I know better than to question whether or not you'll do something that you've said you'll do, svetlobi," Xyshari said with a chuckle as she leaned over to give her wife a light kiss on the cheek. "I've never had reason to doubt that you would follow through on something - you've more than proven yourself in all the years we've been together."

"I feel like everything I've done has been making up for that one incident on Rishi," Lana said with a frown. "But, let's not dwell on the past. Shall we see what kind of food there is to eat?"

[Kitsumi]

The woman continued to grumble for a moment, but fell silent the moment the aroma of food reached her nose. A life of constant travel meant that she and Sorin didn't always have time for a fresh, hot meal. Living on dried meats, fruits, and other travel-safe foods got old quickly. The spread of food before her was a feast the likes of which she hadn't seen in quite some time. "Maybe it won't be so bad to stick around for a while..." she mused.

Beside her, Sorin chuckled. Grabbing two plates, he took one and passed the other to her. "Let's load up on food and then we can go look for a place to sit."

[Jaykobell]

Clovis hesitated before answering Sergio. To be honest, this place...was nice. And he would much prefer staying outside, in the light breeze, watching the leaves fall. It was peaceful, and worthy of a painting. Still...the food was tempting. "Hm, sure," he eventually agreed. They could eat, and then they could come back outside to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Glad to see him on board, Sergio made his way towards the mansion. It was rare for Clovis to agree so peacefully to a suggestion. They better make it inside before he changed his mind!

[Adelie]

She'd been so excited when she'd first heard about the Thanks for Life celebration. It was about the spirit of things, really. Fighting a desperate battle for life against giant killer birds as a small killer bird? That was a statement David vs. Goliath fight if she'd ever heard of one, and she definitely wanted a piece of that. It would look good on her resume. Or something.

Unfortunately, after telling all her coworkers about this cool new enterprise she was involved in and all the cool things she was planning to do during her mission and how cool it was, one of them had carefully taken her aside and explained to her that this whole thing was called a 'celebration' because it was a celebration of victory. That's right. The Turkezillas were already defeated. There was no grand battle, no danger for her to gawk at. The closest she was going to come to any of that was probably just an elaborate dinner ceremony and some decorations.

She'd be disappointed, of course. But she was a valued employee, after all, and if she'd committed to her job, she was going to live up to that.

[Wyvern]

The front of the mansion was decorated with pumpkins and large flower pots and vases, filled with gorgeous flora colored in both soft and vibrant tones of the fall season. The surrounding gardens also doubled as the vineyards, a strong aroma of fresh grapes overtaking the area on top of the floral decorations. A large wooden sign propped up in front of a massive doorway signaled the way for invitees to come inside into the dining room. The text displayed on the sign was elegantly handwritten and in a bright red color. Few would come by and stop for brief moments to admite the beautiful entrance to the mansion, before quickly glancing at the sign and prompting their way into the building.

Adriana was rather slowly approaching the front of the mansion grounds, her red eyes focused on the vineyards around the area. She occasionally turned her head slightly to her side to see an eager Werecain padding onward at a faster pace than hers.

“Mir, I need a small favour.” The Serraptor approached the canine, and spoke up with a soft, low voice. “Could you... maybe take up a pair of seats for the two of us?”

The ochre-green lupine gave a gentle nod without hesitation. “Y-yes! I don’t mind, if you’d prefer to wait outside for a little bit.” They would reach forward to press their snout gently against Adriana’s scaly visage, before making their own way inside the mansion, beyond the huge doors that were held wide open.

[crow]

Callum's eyes widened in exaggerated surprise. "Whoa, didn't expect you to be so honest. No offense, but you didn't seem the type." Then he smiled again, gently, with just the slightest hint of pity. "Though I guess it's easier when someone else calls you out on it first, huh?"

Lyra was right; it was unsettling to deal with another wild card. He almost felt a little sorry for having assessed her like one of his cases before. There was something about how familiar it felt -- like he could half guess what Callum might try next. He didn't like the idea that the wild cards were all so similar under the hood, the same cogs with a different coat of paint. "If you're trying to annoy me into leaving, it's not going to work." Bran's tone stayed light, mild and friendly and unbothered. He smiled at Callum, and Callum smiled back. They stood there for a moment, smiling pleasantly at one another. It was only years of practice, and the advice of a very concerned dentist some three or four years ago, that kept Bran from grinding his teeth.

"Alright then," said Callum. "If I can't get rid of you, I guess you might as well come. You don't mind if we have a third wheel, do you, Rory? Apparently he just can't stand to be left out."

Callum was good, Bran would give him that. He sounded oh so contrite, so very disappointed. And he spoke to his ghost as naturally as if the other boy was still alive, rather than some lingering presence only four people could see.

[crow]

Rory.

That was the name of the boy who died at the research facility. In a sense, he was also technically Callum's first victim, though in his case there had been nothing for him to come back to once he was freed. The two of them had been close for a long time. Even Bran could sense it. Though he supposed things wouldn't have gone the way they did otherwise.

Rory was a thin wisp of a boy, with smiling green eyes and a dreamy look. When he shook his head, his ginger hair tumbled in messy waves about his face. "I don't mind," he said. The way he spoke made Bran wonder if there was anything he did mind.

The smile Callum wore now was the real thing, warm and indulgent. "Then let's go." Without any further word to Bran, Callum walked up to the house, Rory drifting along at his side -- and then in front of him, an apparition running ahead and turning back to urge Callum to follow.

Bran frowned, but walked up at a slight distance from his charge.

[GrayGriffin]

Tayne sighed to herself as she stood on the side of the gathering, observing everyone else quietly. She'd gotten herself some wine and meat, and was slowly sipping and nibbling. She wished she could have brought Nikey, but she'd been told she had to come alone. Quite frankly, it was pretty boring without him or anyone else from home here with her.

Taking another nibble, she noticed that there were fresh scalloped potatoes being brought out. Well, those were certainly tasty. She moved to grab some more-maybe she could save some to bring home later too.

[SpringsSong]

The two women made their way into the dining hall to see what sort of food was on offer for the event. Xyshari could tell most of what the food was before they ever reached the dining room; that was one of the advantages - or disadvantages, depending on how you looked at it - of having an enhanced sense of smell.

"Well, whatever it is that they have available to eat, it all smells divine," Xyshari said. Lana nodded in agreement.

"It definitely does," she said. "Shall we?"