(16 VE) Drink Table

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn took great pleasure in the news that Helen felt already like she'd been here a while. It was a genuine way of expressing how at home she felt here, and Evelynn was beginning to discover an almost maternal feeling towards the other Changelings in the Hold which led her to a quiet but burning desire to see them all safe and happy here. She found the maternalistic nature of her feelings amusing, seeing as how she was new herself and among the younger of the Changelings present (or at least, she looked such - it was difficult to say how old her fellows actually were). But that didn't change the fact that they were there.

The request that Evelynn talk about herself caused an amusingly confused expression to pass across her face, and she paused, completely uncertain about what exactly to say. "M-me?" she squeaked, blinking. "Uh. Well, I arrived here last Autumn, so I haven't been here too long. I'm a watchmaker and I invent pretty little clockwork things that I sell online." She paused, her spine straightening and a proud smile passing across her lips. "I'm almost able to give up the watch repair stuff and work on my inventions full time!"

"And, and you? What do you like to do? For fun, I mean."

[Lesingnon]

"And that still barely scratches the surface of the various Changelings that have drifted through here over the years. You'll meet a lot of good people if you stay here long enough." There's a shrug, and a playful grin as Rick returns to the bar, swapping out his empty glass for a fresh run. "And there are always a few of us vagabonds that they can never quite stop from drifting back to the place."

"Guess there are those of us who just miss Sacramento too much to stay away."

[Swami M]

"I was in Redding before I came here. Or near it, at least. And Redding is..." a total shithole snakepit full of angry rednecks, outlaw biker wannabes and high school drama queens. Alex manages to catch himself before letting go of that outburst and finishes the sentence more politely, if less honestly. "... dysfunctional. Very disorganized. But the 'monkey' I was talking about was not an Oath but the lack of one. I was here for almost two months with the whole 'we can't be absolutely sure he's not a criminal or a nutjob' cloud hanging over everything I do. And now that's finally done."

[unlimited sink]

Evelynn's charming discomfort at speaking about herself elicits a mixture of amusement and sympathy from Helen. So many of her fellow Lost find the prospect of calling attention to themselves painful. Helen can understand this hesitation, given the extreme suffering they all had suffered, but she found a measure of comfort in defying this urge, of speaking proudly and openly of her thoughts and desires. Of course, this is why she belongs to the Spring court. And why she thinks most Changelings, if they could only learn to freely express themselves, to value their own thoughts and desires, would belong to it as well.

Take, for instance, Evelynn's passion for her craft. It clearly drives her and Helen finds her excitement infectious. "How wonderful! I would love to see these inventions when you have the chance to show me." Her insistence is sincere. Helen is fascinated by time, and by the objects that measure it. Just as she's fascinated by books, which seem to bind up or slow down the passage of time. It's no coincidence both clocks and books figured heavily in her own durance--Helen prefers to celebrate what the Others had thought to ruin for her.

"You might say that I'm also interested in making objects that count time. But I make poems, machines made of language as a good man once called them. I like to think of them like that, as complex occasions of language, interlocking rhythms, sounds, patterns. It seems we're both tinkerers." A small chuckle. "Other than that, I work in book restoration on a free-lance basis."

[Mhairi Ankaa]

"Overwhelming is-ah right!" Mhairi squeaks. "But-uh yeah. Everyone's really nice and awesome and yeah!"

"I-ah don't know everyone in the-ah Leaden Mirror too-too well. But I-ah can point them out to you. I-ah think almost everyone is here." Mhairi sips at her drink as she moves closer to Jack. "Uh-here." she says pointing out the Ashen Courtiers.

"Over there, talking to the muscle-y Summer Ogress is Terri Nutkins . She used to live here before, but-she just-ah got back from-wherever she was."

"There's-ah there's Morgan the-uh raccoon-like Steepscrambler by the buffet, and with her is Ava Campbell . She's the new Autumn Queen. Morgan's uh-new Lady Scrivener, Umm...Nathan's not here I don't think..." Mhairi's fell-flame eyes scan about the room trying to find the absent Hunterheart. "Anyway...there's...no...Milo isn't here either...um.." Mhairi fought off her disappointment in not catching sight of the hansom Shadowsoul. "Oh and there's Rick! Who...is right here! Hi Rick!" Mhairi waves, a wide, if crooked smile on her face. "I am...sure you two have already met...since you both are standing here....uh..." Mhairi takes another sip of her drink.

"And with that bout of awkward...I should-ah stop by the-ah Booth o' Desires..."

Mhairi heads over to the Booth of Desires...

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn had to grin at Helen's insistence that she show off her inventions some time. With a pleased little dip of her head, she suggested, "Oh! Daisy suggested we all get together some time, to talk. Maybe for lunch. Maybe we should all take it as an opportunity to, um, show off."

Helen had only just mentioned her book restoration work (and Evelynn's expression had only just lit up with curiosity in response) when L'aire joined the conversation and asked Helen what she did. She figured it was best not to interrupt - that would be rude - and instead found herself ruminating on the way Helen had described poetry, as another way to measure time. With rhythms and tempo of sound and... And Evelynn completely lost herself in the concept of building poetry out of gears in some manner. Something beautiful and light and something that expressed a story or evoked an emotion in the way poetry could. She could imagine it, a series of little tableaus, ticking past with the passage of time as the gears turned...

[Lesingnon]

L'aire's mentions of roads brought a wry grin to Rick's face. "I suppose if there's one thing I've learned since my life was touched by fae magic is that roads always do seem to wind in interesting ways." A lesson that the Hedge, in particular, had a way of driving home again and again. "But at least it's seemed to take more good twists than bad over the past couple of years."

Then there was that rapid-fire burst of...not quite introductions, but close enough, from Mhairi. For Jack's benefit, it seemed. "You're looking to meet the rest of the Leaden Mirror, then?" He knew most of them, even if he had been a bit out of the loop lately.

[Swami M]

"No, nobody did anything wrong or tried to be mean to me. Quite the opposite, actually... I'm not trying to get anybody in trouble. It was just just normal caution... I'm still pretty new to all of this, but I've learned enough to know that Oaths exist for a reason. It was just frustrating, wanting to get more involved in things... to make myself useful... and people had to hold back because it was not one hundred percent safe. But now I don't have to worry about that. Hopefully I won't have worry about that again for a very long time."

Alex raises his glass slightly as if he were about to make a toast.

"Here's to a new home."