2017.01.29: Fire in the Forge

Fire in the Forge
Torsten throws a party to open his new forge.
IC Date	January 29, 2017
IC Time	Early evening
Players	Marcel, Felix, Mae, Zeppelin, Amelia, Vanny, Amethyst, Daegan, Eric, Matthew, Torsten, Kumo, Justin, Amanda, Hamish, Mallory, Akecheta, and Wormwood
Location	Sleeping Dragon Forge
Spheres	All

BEGIN LOG

An hour to go before the big party and Torsten is running around the place still in his cutoff camo shorts and t-shirt. The tables have been set, chairs are out, but he wanted to make sure that the large, black banner hanging on the display wall wasn’t crooked. So there he stands, barefoot on a buffet table, using a broom handle to adjust the slouch of the cloth to center it along the rod.

The food hasn’t arrived yet, but nearly everything else is ready for things. A large wash tub at the end of what would be a buffet line waits ice and drinks.

There's some food! Amanda said she'd bring a few more rotisserie chickens, and that she does. Dressed in her UC Prospect hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans and immaculately white sneakers, she slips on in through the door carrying a few bags. "And the chicken has arrived." With some mac and cheese and mashed potatoes too! Who said matter mages weren't useful?

Daegan comes on by all by his lonesome with some booze to add to the collection. It's a Fianna throwing this thing, of course there will be booze. He smiles warmly, " Ello! Good evening. " He greets everyone in a friendly fashion when he comes in.

Arriving at the advertised location, and with an interest in forges and smithing fired up after visiting Kumo's workshop a while ago. Eric steps in. He's carrying a box of mead.. He found mead more fitting than mere wine for a place with such an name!. He knocks on the door before walking in "Good afternoon everyone! Where can I set this box of mead?"

The preparations for tonight's event are still underway. Torsten, the host, smiles to a few people as he rushes past them, still in his cutoffs and t-shirt. "Hey folks," he waves in passing and straightens a few things while passing back and forth from the Office to the front and back and forth to the utility room.

"Probably near the chickens." Amanda offers, grinning toothily as she sets up the various rotisserie chickens while setting out a bunch of sides like mac and cheese as well.

Heading inside a bit after the others is Justin. He has a push cart in his hands, filled with about five boxes of various beers and sodas. "Yo!" He calls out, wearing a black polo with a symbol of an iron on it, and a pair of loose fitted jeans. Wheeling it over to the refreshment table, he starts to unpack them with a clink of bottles from within.

Hey, it's partly in her line of work. Amethyst holds open the door for Justin with a foot, and follows him in. She heard about it by word of mouth, from a friend of a friend of a ... well, you know how gossip works. In she follows, four huge sheet-cake sized metal boxes in her arms, smelling heavily of delicious baked goods. Nevermind the fact that her tshirt says 'Screw being a princess, I want to be a Vampire when I grow up!', and has the Jolly Dragon logo on the back. Bright blue-green eyes survey the room as she manages -not- to collide with anyone and takes the shortest path to the nearest feast table that still has space.

Torsten emerges from the utility room, a pair of jeans over his shoulder and a black shirt tucked in one hand. With a wave and a smile, he wanders by Justin and asks him to hold the fort while he runs upstairs to grab a shower. "Be back down in a bit..."

After dumping off some bottles of whiskey, Daegan wanders around the place. He popped over before it was finished, but is checking out the finished project.

Eric nods "Very well then!" He proceeds to set them down next to the freshly arrived pieces of chicken and offers his hand as soon as they get free "Hello! Eric. Might as well start to introduce myself now that I am here." He grins and looks at the woman who just told him where to dump it.

At the half-hour mark, the folks who have prepared the meat begin emerging from the office in the back of the building with trolleys filled with aluminum trays filled with all kinds of barbecue. Pulled pork in a thick, savory sauce. Smoked, individual ribs, half-cobs of buttery corn and all of the fixings. The buffet tables start to get filled in short order. It takes only a few moments and then the drink buckets at the far end are filled with ice to chill the drinks as much as possible.

Zeppelin comes into the forge and it's a sleeping dragon forge so one should be all sparkles and love. Zeppelin skips into the area as her hazel eyes slide over the area trying to figure out where everything and everyone is. She's really looking for the forge owner. The tiny girl finds a place to tuck her coat, as it's warm in the forge area. Her t-shirt of the day is white with a LARGE bright GLITTER rainbow across the front. It reads: I bleed glitter. Of course, she's a little distracted by the food and also angles in that direction with a large smile on her lips.

Maybe she's arrived a tad early... Vanny steps halfway through the entrance to the forge, hesitating in the doorway. She scans the gathering looking for Amethyst, since Amethyst invited her. And by 'invited,' really, we're talking text bombing with 'C'mon! Party!' and 'C'mon! You know you want to!' and 'OMG PARTY. >:|' Repeatedly. And after all that, how could Vanny possibly /not/ show up to this? Spotting Amethyst, the empty-handed Vanny waves and steps the rest of the way through the doorway, pausing just out of the way to inhale a giant breath of the odor of delicious foods. She stands there frozen for a moment, eyes closed, absorbing the scents. Oh. So. Delicious. BBQ.

Torsten, the host, emerges from the shower in the apartment above and shouts down over the rails. "Ya'll dig in and I'll be down in a second..." Of course, he's wearing only a towel at the moment with wet hair and a naked chest, scrubbed pink to remove the faint splatter of paint.

"Gracias, bonita." Justin says to Amethyst as she holds the door open for him. Giving her shirt a glance over, he laughs at the wording. "You want to be a vampire when you grow up, huh?" Opening the boxes of booze and sodas, he starts putting the bottles out one by one on the table. "Interesting career choice. Sucking necks all day." He tips a wink to her.

It's been a fairly busy day, having had a meeting with her accountant for the handling of business taxes. That didn't stop Kumo from indulging in a talent she seldom gets to use... Cooking. Or is it baking? Slowly making her way through the door, Kumo has a heavy food warming bag slung across one shoulder. The growing crowd of guests and caterers swarm like so many busy bees, causing this arrival to make a steady approach to the buffet tables set to the right of the room. Watching Torsten briefly appear at the railing, she shakes her head as she puts her prize down upon the table.

Daegan looks to those here, " Ello. I'm Daegan. " He introduces himself as he comes back to the group around here since he did a lap to check it out. He looks to Zepp, remembering the girl. He offers her a little wave. The one friggin person he knows.

"TEASE!" That would be Amanda when she spies the shirtless Torsten and shakes her head once more. Glancing towards Eric, she nose wrinkles. "I swear, he's a huge cocktease. I mean he rejected this... this!" she says with a little harumph while motioning towards her hoodie clad form. "I swear, I'm pretty sure he's gay." she muses under her breath before glancing about as she spies Justin, giving that one a wave. "I brought chicken!"

Moonshine, whiskey, a light wheat beer and, finally just added to her availability list, mead is placed into several boxes and carried into the shop. "Torsten?" Mae calls out with knitted brows. She is beginning to think that this guy is a myth or something. She accidently bumps Zeppelin with her boxes. "Oh sorry," she says. "Oh... it's you. Huh? I should remember your name. Zelda... no, no, that's not it. Vera, nope." Damnit memory.

Amethyst glances up, and whistles lowly. "I think I overdressed," she murmurs to Vanny, with a wink. Boxes are opened - an angel food cake, a devil food cake, a huge box of chocolate chip cookies, and a box of the brightest rainbow cupcakes. Really, they're positively electric, airbrushed with food dye. She eyes Justin with a grin. "S'what Brandon said when he wanted to grow up. Free t-shirt's a free t-shirt. Already planning on NOT growing up, so moot point for me." She swipes a cookie and plants it in Vanny's hand, stuffing one of her own in her face.

Daegan overhears Amanda and both his eyebrows raise up and he chuckles, shaking his head as he decides its definitely time to start drinking. Yes, already. Don't judge him! He gets a shot of whiskey and a beer to nurse afterward.

Vanny edges closer to Amethyst and starts helping her unload the goodies, accepting the cookie in the end, "Why /THANK/ you!" she says, with dramatically and jokingly emphasized enthusiasm, "How did you know? It's all I ever wanted." It's a nice little crowd, and everyone seems to be in a good mood. When Amanda hollers out 'TEASE!' Vanny looks around to try and identify first the speaker and then the tease in question. She's unsuccessful in locating whoever did the yelling and thus is unsuccessful in finding the target of the yell, so she just shrugs and takes a bit of the cookie, "Quite a spread here," she mumbles out through a mouthful of yummy cookie.

Zeppelin angles over towards Amanda and pipes up, "Totally gay. He was telling me all about it as we were fucking. He was like I've never done this with a girl before." There is a pause and she smiles even more in the most adorable manner that exists. "I'm kidding. We weren't mattress mamboing at all, but if he turned you down; totes gay or blind. Maybe he's blind." She does allow a very loud WOLFWHISTLE at Torsten though. "You don't have to change!" Then she smiles a Daegan before Mae gets a super large smile from her. "MAE! Yo... MAE!" She'll try to wave her over. She grins to Amethyst too. "Heya, keeping it weird sistah." Then she blinks and smiles at Amanda. "I'm Zeppelin by and by."

Amelia had contacted her fellow Fianna about helping out in some way with the new Forge and that's why she was here at the gathering. The woman enters with a covered dish and watches where others are stashing them on tables. She follows suit after that, putting the dish down and giving a look around to those that are gathered and a nod of greeting, "Good evening." the Irish woman with the accent states as she takes a step back from the table.

Eric lets his hand drop as it seems the girl is not about to introduce herself yet. And looks up as he hears a voice calling down. *Ah. That must be Torsten* He thinks to himself. He looks back at the girl and grins at her remarks. He shrugs and winks "How rude!" He turns towards the incomers, trying to spot people he knows... And of course! Kumo is here! And hell that's Zeppelin.. No brony with her today it seems.. He starts to walk towards Kumo and then spots Vanny coming in as well. A big smile shows on his face.... He really did get to know some people here!

Now that all the food she brought is set up, Amanda quirks a brow towards Zeppelin. There's just a slow nod before she lets out an impish giggle. "Oh, well that's awfully sweet of you. Amanda. Amanda Pierce." she offers as an introduction before glancing about once more.

Turning away from the snack table, Vanny's eyes bounce over the crowd. Hey! Kumo! And also Eric! She smiles and waves at them in turn with her cookie hand, then brings the delicious little nugget back to nom again. "Alright. Thanks for dragging me out," she comments to Amethyst with a smirk.

Daegan shakes his head, "Mae. Hello, lady. I remember you from that halloween party me and Tabia were at. " He tips a bottle of beer to his lips, shaking his head to the subjects he overhears, glad to just stick to less gossipy shit.

Amethyst wriggles fingers and winks at Zeppelin. "Always, and you know it, sistah!" Amethyst eyes the crowd appraisingly, replying to Vanny, "Yep, there sure -is- quite a spread here," she murmurs, then blinks. "Of food. Totally of food. Yes. Huh? Oh you are -totally- welcome. I'm the /good/ kinda annoying," the slim brunette offers an unrepentant grin to Vanny.

Eric waves at Vanny and walks over to Kumo "How are you doing Kumo?" He smiles warmly "It's been a long time! I would love to make a roadtrip with you again."

"I wouldn't turn you down, Amanda." Justin smirks as he takes one of the bottles out of a box and cracks it open before taking a slug off it. To Amethyst, he says, "Not sure who Brandon is, but I definitely would not turn down a free shirt." Giving himself a stretch, he glances about the new arrivals, taking stock of familiar faces and those unknown.

Looking towards Justin, Amanda snickers softly. "I shall definitely keep that in mind. If I get drunk enough tonight, I might let you get to third base." she says with a shit eating grin before she glances about looking for something to drink, preferably of the alcoholic sort.

Marcel wanders in, glancing abut and checking his phone for a moment.

"I'm...doing fine, Eric." Kumo is slightly withdrawn, her purple eyes carefully observing the rambunctious enthusiasm of the guests around. She carefully pulls out two ceramic containers, one after another, to place them down on the buffet table. "I brought some sweet potato casserole, one with walnuts and the other without. You know, nut allergies..." The rampant flirtations are keeping her silent, despite her confident stance normally.

"Feh!" snorts Vanny through the last bite of cookie, and in Amethyst's general direction. Good kind of annoying, riiiight. But it did get her out of the house tonight; She'll just have to do some gaming another day. She waves to Eric again and sees him head over to Kumo. Huh. They must know each other. Small world. Vanny turns and surveys the crowd again, leaning against the table filled with food. "Well. I'm going to go mingle," she says, sort of to Ame, but sort of to herself, and she pushes off the table, brushing her fingers off on her jeans.

Lori leads Skye in by the hand, wandering clear of the entrance to look for friends or acquaintances.

Skye walks in with Lori, squeezing her hand nervously as she sees the crowd. She licks her lip and glances about uncertainly.

Amethyst chuckles. "Go for it," she grins. Meh, some people she knows, some people she doesn't, but Amethyst doesn't seem compelled to go join in on the rampant socializings. Instead, she snags a seat off to the side and pulls out her phone.

"Zeppelin!" Mae excalims. "That is such a pretty and unique name." Is does her best puppy eyes possible towards the ginger-haired girl. Then, to Daegan, "Oh right! I would shake your hand or hug you but my hands are full. Excuse me for one moment..." The Fianna moves to where the ice is and puts down her boxes and takes out the various bottles, jugs, and growlers filled with a type of Irish moonshine, beer, Irish whiskey, and mead. "Hey folks! All this is my homebrews. I've mild a few of them down for.. uh, those who might not be used to drinking. If you like them, please see me... I do have a license and sell this stuff." She pours herself a glass from the whiskey and on her way back to Daegan, she sees Marcel. "Hello!" she says with a friendly smile. Okay, this time she puts out some willpower to remember Marcel's name. It takes her awhile to remember and large crowds make her slightly nervous. "Have you met my friends Zeppelin and Daegan?"

Eric watches her setting down the ceramic containers and nods "That sounds delicious Kumo! I will sure try some of it!" He looks around himself and smiles "Yeah it is quite rowdy in here.." He winks at her "Glad to see you again." He softly taps her shoulder "Well I will be saying hello to a few other people I recognize here. But I do hope to talk to you again in a few!" He grins and starts to head over to Vanny.

"Hey, I woulda negotiated for second base, but if you're down for third, let's drink then. To bad decisions!" Justin says as he holds up a bottle to her in salute. Giving himself a pluck of his shirt to show off his work polo, he says, "I'm an employee now. Look at me going all legit and getting an actual paycheck." Taking another long sip of his bottle, he gives a quick swallow.

Marcel hears his name and turns and spots Mae. He smiles and heads over to the liquor section of the party. He chuckles a bit and nods his head "Zeppelin and I have crossed "swords" before." He regards Daegan "I did recieve your message, good to meet you in the flesh. I'm Marcel." he says and offer Daegan his hand for hte shaking.

"Eric!" Vanny says brightly to the new friend, "I didn't know you knew Kumo! Small world!" She smiles broadly, and extends a hand for him to shake, "Fancy seeing you here!"

Lori sees a couple of friends, a smile to Amethyst and then spotting Vanny, she works her way in that direction with Skye still in tow.

Daegan tips the bottle to his lips and smiles to Mae and then Marcel comes over and introduces himself, "Yes! Good to meetcha, man." He takes the man's hand and gives it a firm shake, "How's things been going? Glad to put a face to the name."

Eric smiles warmly at Vanny as she sees him come over "Hello Vanny! Good to see you again! And yes I know Kumo, she's been in my club as well. And we have had a lovely roadtrip to her house one time. She told me about her forge at home and well.. I just needed to see it!" He shakes her hand "Glad to see a few familiar faces here,"

There's a bit of a shy smile as Eric touches her shoulder and moves away. Kumo makes sure to stash the food carrying bag below the tables themselves, before placing the serving spoons next to the ceramic containers of marshmallow covered goodness. Drinks are being passed around, nods given to those who recognize Kumo as she carefully winds her way across the room towards the dormant Forge.

Torsten is dressed in a bit more formal attire than most have seen him in to date. He’s wearing jeans rather than his cutoff camo shorts, leather shoes to replace his forge boots and a black polo shirt with the logo of the forge embroidered over the heart. He welcomes any new faces, hugs any of the old ones and invites everyone to dig into the feast that’s been prepared along the display wall. He informs folks that the lighting of the forge will begin at moonrise.

http://imgur.com/Wi8kxHL

Amelia gives a look over when she notices her roommate wander in and there's a smile, but he's being called over to others so she takes a moment to just look over everyone quietly. Making sure she's not bumping into anyone or about to spill her drink. It's happened before.

Zeppelin tosses her arms around Mae once they are free of drinks. It's a full on, full body contact hug. She hops a few moments too while she does it. "MAEMAEMAE!" Then she releases her to snake some of the moonshine. "I've met Marcel. He would love his 'sword' to cross with me." She leers at him in an over-the-top fashion. "How ya doin'?" Then she winks and glances around. "Daegan and I met as well like one of my first days in town." She's all sorts of smiles and happiness. Her hazel eyes constantly glancing around as there are so many people. "Well.. this looks like a successful opening thing. I mean that's what it is, an opening right? I just heard free food and ignored the rest." She pauses for an actual breath now.

Skye bites her lip and follows in Lori's wake, glancing about at the people she passes, most of them people she doesn't recognize.

"Bad decisions!" Amanda beams as she offers a bow of her head, flashing her pearly whites to Justin. She nose wrinkles as she looks for a place to grab a drink and when she finds one, she lets it clink with Justin's. "And oooh, you're all official and stuff. Congrats!"

Daegan looks over Zeppelin and arches a brow to her overzealous nature and just chuckles, "Yes, I think I met you on one of the most intense weeks of my life. Sorry if I wasn't... super nice." He half apologizes to the girl.

Vanny is chatting pleasantly with Eric as Lori and Skye approach, and she just happens to glance over her shoulder and spot them. "OH! Hey Lori. Eric, have you met Lori?" Vanny bubbles one they're in earshot

Wormwood looks like he wanders in through the big warehouse doors from across the street. He's pretty surreptitious, managing to avoid any traffic blockages at the entrance and slink his way through the crowd over towards the table of free food. There, he finds a plate and begins stacking up bits of grilled meat on it. He doesn't look picky, because he picks one of everything, pausing to lick his fingers after getting some charcoal and grease on them, then resume taking things and putting them on his plate.

Eric turns around and looks at presumably Lori and shakes his head "No I have not." A warm smile shows and he extends his hand in greeting "Good evening m'lady. The name's Eric."

Marcel's grasp is also firm, he then reaches for a bottle, "Getting everything unpacked and figuring out my social life here. So far all good experiences. I think this move here, might be a very good thing for me afterall." he says with a smile that is somewhat mischievous. He opens the bottle spotting Amelia he raises his bottle to her. "Hey Roomie!" he mouths, if she looks in time. He laughs to Zeppelin "I've been fine. You? " he responds though her little remark he narrows his eyes slightly "Oh Darling, you may be a little over confident in your buckles and swashing abilities." he chides right back. Holding up his bottle for a bottle clank.

Lori says to Eric, "Hi!" with a grin, shaking his hand with her free hand. "Nice to meet you." Then to Vanny, "I brought a date! This is Skye." she says to both Eric and Vanny.

While the party continues but the actual ceremony is a bit distant, the staff of the forge pass out large, wooden, tongue depressors and fine-pointed markers. Guests are invited to write down a wish or a goal they would like to achieve in the coming year on the wood and hold it until later. It can be anything from people wanting to lose weight, get a job, remove an obstacle or even just meet someone special. The idea is that the first fire of a forge is a special event and that first fire needs a lot of good luck poured into it to help it keep going.

http://imgur.com/fIAjA13

"Thanks babe. I kinda like this being official thing. That and I can crash upstairs if I need to and raid the fridge." Justin takes another long slug of his beer. Gulping it down, he leans against the booze table, swishing the rest about. He lifts a hand to Torsten to give a bit of a wave, followed by a tilt of his chin upwards.

Skye smiles at Eric and lifts her hand in greeting, including Vanny as well. She starts as she's introduced as a date, blushing slightly. "Oh, hello there, Eric, Vanny."

Eric turns towards Lori her companion and with the same warm smile "Good evening, Eric. With whom might I have the pleasure?" Ever being the gentle person that he is.

Does this count as fashionably late? Felix saunters in like it just might, glancing around approvingly at the place -- and the people, as well. There's a friendly grin for anyone whose eye he catches, though it widens further when he notices Mae and Zeppelin, and he strolls in their general direction.

Amethyst picks herself up off her wallflower perch, and tucks her phone away. Whatever she was tapping away about seems to be resolved, for now. She, too, grabs a plate and loads up on food. Especially -those ribs-. Yum. Wormwood gets a smirk from the girl. "Don't forget dessert." Indeed, Amethyst -probably- brought the delicious cakes, cookies, and rainbow cupcakes. Nom.

Daegan looks between Zepp and Marcel, eyebrow raising as he decided to just keep his mouth shut and drink his beer.

Mae beams cheerfully as she introduces Marcel to Daegan. She should give herself a pat on the back but that would look weird. When Zeppelin hugs her, she continues grinning, "Wooho," Mae says to Zeppelin's innuendo. The Fianna is distracted by the music playing. "Oh I like this music." she says out loud. She doesn't appear to be in any hurry to the food, choosing to linger and chat with those around her. She then looks at the wooden tongue depressor and the fine-pointed markers. "Do what?" she ask the staff handing them out. Well, okay."

Did someone say the exciting and ritualistic lighting of a fire? Look it's someone that may or may not be a fire fighter! Blaze comes wandering in looking among the crowd with some interest. For the moment she's just making her way around the room, pausing to collect some BBQ, before moving on to look at all the equipment and the forge setup itself.

"So nice to meet you!" Vanny bubbles at Skye, completely missing the blush, because Vanny's a little bit oblivious that way. "I didn't know you were coming," she says to Lori, "But then, I didn't know /I/ was coming until a little while ago either." She waves a hand at the crowd, "Amethyst is around here /somewhere/."

"That's actually not that bad, and you can totally see Torsten shirtless more all the time." A lascivious grin curls onto her lips before she lets out another hearty laugh. Amanda takes a swig of her beer as she starts getting some food, cause that's what she's here for afterall. "Oh, I may need your help on something. The people who owned this building before are really weird."

Claudia enters the warm forge cautiously. There are a lot of people here, and she has an instinct to climb the wall and watch them all, rather than actually talk to them. She scans the crowd for someone she knows. She walks up behind Eric and taps his back before darting back into the crowd.

Amelia does catch Marcel's mouthed words and there's a smile to him as she gives him a wave and raises her bottle in salute in return. She gives a look to the door to the new entrants and she seems to be taking a quiet moment to catalogue faces.

Zeppelin beams at Daegan. "It happens." Then she laughs at Marcel's words and that smile grows a bit more. "Oh babydoll, I would /wreck/ you for others. I mean you just couldn't keep up." She winks towards him a bit to that. She's handed things and looks confused for a moment. Then there is Felix. If Zeppelin was smiling before, she's all up on the sun for radiance for him. She grabs up another moonshine and moves over to him. The drink is tucked into his hand as she leans right in against him and hugs him much the same way she hugged Mae. "You missed me. You are welcome to have my company." Her voice drops a bit to Felix ear as she wiggles her brows and indicates his drink.

Zeppelin mutters to Felix, "... many fucking... However, Mae brought moonshine... I'm... be... table... few... them. You'll... my hair... later and... home,..."

Lori greets Eric, "Lori," giving her name making sure to smile. She says, "I'll have to say hello to Amethyst when I get a chance." she says, "Has everyone gotten some food yet, how is it?" she starts looking towards the tables laid out.

"Yeah, definitely. Torsten and I plan on chilling out naked for the most part upstairs while eating hot wings and watching Gilmore Girls. It's kinda like our thing. It's even in the employee handbook." Justin bumps his shoulder against Amanda's in a playful manner. "So, whatcha need help with? Plumbing or electrical?"

Skye smiles at Vanny, nodding her head. "It's nice to meet you, too." She murmurs, looking a bit intimidated by the crowd. Sh lets Lori talk to her friends as she glances about.

Upon the mentioning of 'Moon Rise' for the initiation of the main event, Kumo pulls out her phone to type in when that would be tonight. The cacophony of voices cheering and sharing in revelry swirl behind her, ignored as her particular bent of interest is indulged. Waxing Crescent, 7:17 PM PST. That gives her...a little over two hours to mingle. Curiously, she takes a little time to examine the Forge whilst the crowd is distracted.

Wormwood focuses on eating barbecue instead of socializing. He pulls the meat from the bone of some ribs, nibbling at the remainder until the bone is almost clean, and then moving on to some corn. Amethyst gets a glance, briefly, in between all of the fooding. "I didn't." He tells her, picking up a brownie and looking at her, as if to say: 'Is this better?' then taking a bite of it before putting it back on his plate. He picks up a rainbow cupcake, too, saving that for latr, and he continues moving on down the line of food.

At being tapped on his back Eric turns around "Hel..lo.." A bit of confusion shows on his face but he shrugs and turns back "Shall we go and get one of those self made drinks that woman was talking about? Maybe Kumo will want some as well?"

Daegan looks at the marker and the piece of wood and thinks for a long moment before scribbling something on the wood and shoving the piece of wood in his back pocket, sticking out there. He gives back the marker and crosses his arm over his chest, pretty much keeping to his damn self.

A carved bowl of stone is hung by a chain over the fire box at the forge. The bowl is a bit of Norse art with dragon heads rising out of both sides by which the chain is attached. Within the bowl a single, bright flame burns within a nest of hot coals and a bit of tinder. Torsten asks that if people want to examine the bowl that's fine but they should in no way touch the chain or the coals as the fire was specially prepared for tonight's event.

http://imgur.com/fIAjA13

Marcel grins to Daegan "Just a game we play." he mentions explaining. He motions towards Amelia "That's my room mate, Amelia. She's good people, not bad in a pillow fight either." he says with a smile. He looks to Mae "You been well?" he picks up a marker and looks at it. "This must be for whomever passes out." He grins and does a theatrical mwuhahahaha laugh.

"Neither, we'll talk about it when there aren't as many people around." Amanda offers before she ooohs. "And next time you hang around naked, I want it on Instagram." A beat. "Or maybe a Snapchat. You have the Snapchat spectacles? I could get you one."

"Totally," Amethyst notes with satisfaction to Wormwood. Something in the crowd catches her attention, and she glances over in Amanda's direction with a searching look.. but whatever it was, it was brief, and she can't quite place it. Huh. Welp, ribs on the plate, she steals a cupcake of her own, too, and heads to a quiet corner to eat and people-watch.

Felix returns Zeppelin's hug, sweeping her up off the ground and giving her a twirl before he sets her back on her feet and takes hold of the bottle she hands him instead. "Deeply, an' you're too kind," he replies to her, in a remarkably smooth and pleasant baritone, the grin brighter for her. Her murmur gets a soft chuckle, and he glances around again, then murmurs something back. "...an' Mae brews the best shit, so yeah, you're doomed," he continues to Zeppelin, though he gives the other redhead a grin and a quick, friendly squeeze around the shoulders as he compliments her art.

Felix mutters to Zeppelin, "... yeah, but: daaaamn."

"Felix," Mae says with a smile. Now, there is a name she remembers. She takes a moment to write something down on the tongue depressor and sticks it with the pen into her pocket. "Life is always busy but things have been great. Ah I will have to meet your roommate." As a simple waltz begins, Mae claps her heels together to resist dancing like she can reenact the 1920's better than anyone in this room. She takes a sip of her whiskey. "If Zeppelin is doomed, I will take responsibility for her." Back to Marcel, "Please try something of mine."

Lori says to Skye, "Let's go to the ribs..." she grins, offering her hand again to stay together in a crowd. She works her way through the people to have a look at the food.

Skye nods her head, taking Lori's hand gratefully as they wander through the crowd. "YEah.. I'm a little hungry." She says, continuing to rubberneck at the people.

Eric smiles at Vanny "I will see if Kumo is up for something to drink. See you in a bit!" He tries to get back to Kumo, nodding to people along the way.

Blaze is standing in front of the stone bowl. Examining it and the fire within some interest. She doesn't touch anything, as that has been requested by the host, but there is some intense interest.

"I don't have either." Justin laughs as he hooks an arm about the shoulders of Amanda, passing her a fresh bottle once he eyes the label she has in her hand. "But, yeah, we'll talk later then and you can give me the head's up on what you need worked on." Tilting his chin to Felix, he grins, "Hey, F-Bomb. Whaddup bro?" He calls over as he lifts his bottle in his direction.

Zeppelin is spun round like a record or something yo. There is a squeak to that as she finds her feet again. She happily bounces over to Mae with Felix and the others gathered there. "I told Felix he has to hold my hair back, it's like fucking friend code or some shit." She does lower her brows and look around. "Lilah got stuck at work again?" There is a hurt look that is completely feigned at Marcel. "We are just playing a game? I thought you loved me. You said you never did that before and you'd respect me in the morning." She does lift a bottle in wave towards Amelia. Then back to Marcel. "Although, I suppose it's fair you lied to me. I mean, I said I knew your name." Zeppelin winks to the man before smiling at Mae and taking a long drink of the alcohol. Her eyes slide to Wormwood because he's near the food. Her one true love (the food). "HEEEY! Husband!" She waves at the man and offers another comment to Felix. Her hazel eyes slide up and down Justin with open appraisal.

Zeppelin mutters to Felix, "... is... a... lover.... he's... is..."

Torsten walks over to stand before the forge and calls everyone’s attention for a moment. He calls to someone to turn down the background music a little while he’s talking so that everyone can hear him and takes a breath; clearly not used to speaking in front of this many people. Dressed in his black polo, he cuts a rather professional-looking figure or as much as he can considering that he’s starting out a new business again.

”I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. I hope that you are enjoying the food and the company here. To give you a little backstory about the forge, I wanted to explain how the Sleepy Dragon Forge got started.” He takes a breath and takes a quick sip of his beer for courage before he speaks. “When I first came to Prospect, I had left a lot of trouble in my past and I was looking for a fresh start. I was only here for a few months and that trouble came back to find me - like a bloodhound or debt collectors.” The smith pauses for a few seconds in the hopes that his small joke will earn some laughter. “My master, the one who taught me to be a Smith had put out a call that I couldn’t refuse. He lives close to Anchorage, so that meant that I had one hell of a time just getting up to him. And when i did, things uh... blew up. Call it Irish luck or whatever, but that kind of set me back a bit. I didn’t know who I was any more. So I came back here and tried to insert myself back into that old life, but it just didn’t fit. So I left again, hoping to find myself somewhere out there on the road.”

As the smith gives a little history on the place, two of the staff who have volunteered to help with the food bring out new trays of meat and veggies to the buffet table, freshen the ice in the big tub of drinks and take away any visible trash. They wander back into the office which seems to be the staging area for tonight’s event.

Eric stops walking and looks at Torsten, waiting for what will happen next. Listening to his story. And nods.

Marcel smiles to Mae " I thought you would never ask." He smiles "I've heard of your brewing. I will wholly expect my hangover to be epic." he grins fondly. He then glances to Amelia, checking up on his roomie. Then is distracted by Zeppelin and chuckles "Not really. You would do anything to get invited wouldn't you?" he says and then quiets down for his host.

Kumo notices as Blaze approaches, and is about to say something until Torsten pulls her attention. History is such a crucial part of Humanity, so much having been lost in the War. She listens respectfully, eyes catching Eric's approach and gives him a nod before training her eyes on the blacksmith once more.

"Well connect after this, no worries." Amanda says with a silly little smile, taking the freshly opened bottle. Now she's doublefisting! It looks like she's going to say more until Torsten speaks and she simply nods, going quiet.

Amethyst listens intently, offering curious looks to the bowl of fire while Torsten speaks. By the expression on her face, she -adores- it. The fire, that is. Strange girl and her love for burning things. A small smile and wave is offered to Blaze whilst Ame eats. "Hey."

Felix tilts his head down to listen to Zeppelin's murmur again, and lifts a brow, glancing at her sidelong before he murmurs something very brief back. "An' yeah, she was scheduled, didn't feel like tradin' shifts with someone, so..." A small shrug. What can ya do? Justin's voice catches his attention, and he glances over to the guy, grinning again and lifting his own bottle in return. "Justin! Evenin'," he greets, then quiets down to listen to the smith begin his speech.

Felix mutters to Zeppelin, "Bull-fuckin'-shit."

Vanny has been content to just watch the crowd, waiting for the cluster of people gathering food to thin before she tries to get any herself. She's not starving or anything anyhow. Plus, there was a cookie a little while ago. She pays rapt attention to Torsten as he goes through his speech, realizing he's the owner/operator/whathaveyou of the forge, and is being respectful while he speaks.

Claudia makes her way around the crowd, snagging herself a cupcake. She takes a small bite and swallows. She eyes it warily. She continues walking, cupcake in hand.

Amelia was slowly making her way over to the other Fianna, it was a bit of a big party so she wasn't rushing. She stops to look at something though, her sapphire gaze focusing on the area around the bowl. After a moment she gives a look over to Marcel and smiles, "I'm not holding your hair if you throw up." the Irish accented voice states before focusing back where she was before.

Lori pauses to listen to the speech, and then keeps the line moving by adding to her plate. She keeps adding a little bit of everything until there's barely room on her plate.

The smith takes a momentary pause to drain a bit from his beer before he continues. "And it lead me back here. With some money that I had inherited from my Master, I decided to build a new forge and start over again. So, after a lot of cleanup work and a bit of masonry," he turns to show off the new forge stack behind him in a vague impersonation of Vanna White,"...I created the Sleepy Dragon Forge." He pauses to let out a breath and then continues to explain why he chose the name. "Honestly, after creating the Black Stag, I wasn't sure if I could pull a forge together again. It's a lot of work. But there was just something that was gnawing at me that said to do it. So I thought...what to call the place? And then I had the idea," he puts a hand beside his mouth and stage whispers to the side as though it were a joke, "...or just happened to see a movie about a dragon and a ring...and it kind of hit me. Through all of the mythologies, dragons were seen as the protectors of great treasure. It was always the hero who had to make his way to the dragon to find some great treasure or powerful weapon so that he could go off and slay a princess or rescue a monster."

Someone in the crowd lets out a snicker and he looks confused for a second until he realizes what he's said. "Hang on. Strike that. Reverse it." His face flushes a bit at the embarrassment but he carries on with another sip of his beer. "So, it just sort of occurred to me that the forge should be made in honor of that legacy."

Skye drifts along with Lori, adding to her plate and filling it up. She's a college student after all. She purses her lips, lookign to see if she recognizes anyone else here.

Hamish steps in with Carver and takes a minute to look around the crowded atmosphere and sniff the air, "Yup, this is definitely the right place." he informs his companion, and brazenly wanders in to gander at foods and strangers alike.

Wormwood sets down his plate and finds a napkin to wipe his sloppy hands. He's just found the beer when Zeppelin bounces by him. He glances up and over, his brows lift, and he glances towards the rainbow cupcakes. "I think these are yours." He says, pointing. "And our marriage is still open." Then he pops the top off of a beer and stuffs some bread in his mouth.

Marcel laughs a bit to Amelia, "Gee thanks, love you to." he chides. "Well I ain't holding your hair back either." he chuckles. "Glad you made it out though, see peoples... outside of work and computer.... and they have ...." he hands her a bottle of Mae's brew. "Good booze." he states . He looks to Amelia then in the direction she looks. "S'up Roomie?"

Eric nods at the story and smiles. He proceeds to head over to Kumo nodding to her and stopping close by her while awaiting the end of Torstens story before saying anything.

Zeppelin beams at Marcel. "Almost everything. I mean we don't know each other enough for butt stuff... yet." Then she smiles at Amelia and offers her hand. "I'm Zeppelin. Marcel said I can come to all your parties. All of them. As his guest." She studies Wormwood and the cupcakes. Then she shakes her head. "We talking about this, Woody, we aren't open. Why do you keep breaking my heart?" However, the former towel boy is now speaking. So she listens to him as she moves to lean against Felix a bit. There is a large shit-eating grin to his comment.

Daegan listens to Torsten speak, quiet and respectful as he talks to this large group of people. He bites his bottom lip before finishing his drink.

After the last words from Torsten, Vanny starts to drift back toward the food tables now that it's a /little/ less crowded over there. Squeezing into the group, she finds a plate and grabs a few things, including ribs and some sweet potato stuff and another of those cookies. Slowly but surely she makes her way down the line, eventually reaching the end of the food laden tables. Turning with a full plate, Vanny looks around for a good spot to park her butt and have some noms, discovering a spot near the wall out of the way.

Felix lifts a brow just fractionally and leans to murmur something softly to Mae. He mutters to Mae, "... wrong,... were..."

"So, since I was going with the mythic theme for the forge, I decided to keep the design and the tech as old school as I could. Coal fired with a hand-cranked, double bellows. That also meant that I couldn't just light it with a zippo. I decided to go out into the woods and find a tree that had been struck by lightning and grab some branches and things off of it. And, with flint and steel, I called up a small spark which will live here for as long as I can maintain the place." The smith shifts his weight from one foot to the other, taking a step or two back so that people can see the stone bowl lamp hanging over the fire box as he speaks. "Once I got the fire going, I scooped some coals into this lamp which I would LOVE to claim was passed down from master to apprentice since the Vikings days...but I found it on Ebay and it just looked too friggen cool to pass up." He pauses again to allow the crowd to laugh at the comment before adding. "And it's been hanging here since last night - fed small sticks and pine cones throughout the day to keep it going until now."

Lori leads Skye back towars people she knows, and approaches Vanny. "Can we sit with you?" she asks, still eyeing hungrily the mass of food on her own plate.

Claudia pulls out her phone to swipe off a quick text.

Eric nods, amazed at the story. A big smile still on his face. He softly mutters "I love it..."

Akecheta roars up on his harley and parks killing the engine putting down the kickstand and climbing off. He takes a deep breath and walks in he remains silent after entering and just observes for a moment.

Amelia lets her gaze drift back to Marcel and there's a bit of a chuckle from the Irish woman, "You won't have to. I'm not drinking anymore this evening." she tells him. There's a bit of a shake of her head at the next offered drink, "I have court in the morning. Don't need to drink more than that." she tells him. Then there's a look to Zeppelin and a smile as she takes her hand and gives it a shake, "Nice to meet you, I'm Amelia Stoker. Sadly I don't throw any parties." she laughs softly at that. Then there's a look back to Marcel, "It's going alright. Might head out in a few." she states.

Blaze looks over listening to Torsten before looking back to the little flame within the bowl. She might be blocking some peoples view. But doesn't seem to be all that concerned. "Ahh, I knew you seemed familiar." she comments. Not to Torsten but perhaps to the flame itself.

That last bit pulls a bit of a chuckle from Kumo, bringing forth memories of the last time she had to go hunting for lightning blasted oak... She frowns, the horrors she saw being nothing to laugh at before she's distracted by Eric's comforting presence. Giving Eric a small smile, she enjoys the fact that he savors the story behind every little detail.

"Only the best hangover," Mae grins. "Promise, we shall be singing all of the best Irish drinking songs by the end of the night." A sip of her whiskey is taken. "Hello," Mae says to Amelia. "I don't think we've met... I am Mae McBrayer." To anyone listening, "I brought my housebrews... whiskey, moonshine, wheat beer, and mead on the table - Enjoy!" All of it is on the table in bottles, jugs, growlers, and etc.. She listens to Torsten and encouraging claps her hands.

As if on cue, at the end of Torsten's story, his simple watch starts to beep to signal the start of moonrise and the moment has come to light the forge's fire. With a mount of marble-sized hunks of coal spread around the blowhole of the fire box, he takes a handful of dry pine needles creates a mound at the center. Then he takes a bundle of the lightning-splintered wood and forms it into a teepee over the needles so that the fire will catch quickly. "In the uh...inspiration, the dragon was called Smaug, the Cheapest and Greatest of Calamities. Well, my dragon isn't that big, nor it that mean, so I shall call him Scorch."

Once things are ready, he pulls the lamp bowl down from the chain and carefully scoops out the coals into an open section of the teepee of sticks with the care as though he were removing a baby bird from its nest. Once the fire has been moved from place to place, he hangs to bowl back upon the chains to keep it safe. The fire grows slowly, without the need of the bellows. And as it does, the music seems to have started up once more but it's no longer the smooth jazz that it was earlier. It now sounds more modern-ish; something a bit more...metallic?

http://youtu.be/2SoXxnlCUqk

Hamish isn't shy, nor is he watching his figure, and finds his way to the line at the food tables. Smiling with pleasure, he loads a plate while shuffling along, getting some of this and some of that and some of that other stuff, making a plate worthy of not having to go through all this trouble again for at least... fifteen or so minutes, probably. Unless he up and drops it or something. Could happen.

Amethyst nods. "Yup. But, it's got a good home now, yeah? No touching, right?" -Just- in case Blaze needs an extra reminder. The girl makes record time inhaling her food. Ame spots a familiar face in the milling crowd, and waves to Carver, with a smile. Even if he doesn't notice her, no big deal. Free food, shiny fire. Amethyst is pretty damn content for the time being.

Eric smiles, clearly impressed at Kumo and then claps his hands in applause as he looks back to the fire as it starts to burn "Amazing.." he looks back at Kumo "Did this go the same for you as well?"

Skye looks a bit uncertain as Lori leaves. She bites her lip and then shrugs, settling down at the lounge, nodding politely at Vanny as she does so.

Marcel nods his head "Alright. You sure... it is home brewed? you know you wanna." he offers the bottle again. "come on roomie, one night of debauchery won't kill you. " he chides, then finally gives up. "Text me so I know you made it back alright pretty please, with whiskey on top?" He just chuckles at Zeppelin. "well every party needs a table dancing girl."

Carver's limping in with Hamish, leaning on his cane. He's dull-eyed and the hook for a hand that he has makes a clumsy little wave. "Can't exactly fucking miss it, can you?" He lets Hamish go eat, though, and just takes the place in. Especially the floor. And the drains. "'D make a nice abattoir," he remarks to no one in particular, before dipping his head toward the wave.

Claudia sees the forge grow brighter and feels a greater urge to be a fly on the wall, literally. She takes her weird cupcake and goes home, waving to all that she passes on the way out.

Wormwood leaves piles of bones on his plate...there were no survivors. He leaves the plate on a table and goes to collect a new one. That's when he runs into Hamish. He turns his head to the side, noticing the man, and then offering a tilt of his head. "Hey." He says, before going back to stacking a second plate with food. He has an open beer held in one fist as he moves along the table, and he pauses every now and then to take a swig from it.

As the chorus of the song first starts to whisper the word 'thunder', Torsten reaches over for the wooden swing-arm of the bellows and offers a slow and steady pull to give the fire some extra fuel. Steadily, the fire continues to grow and he pushes some of the coal into the blaze to replace the wood that's turning to cinders. As he does, the flame starts to change and takes on an orange-red glow, the pumping of the bellows starting to sound less 'wooshy' and more like the purr of some great cat. Each downward stroke of the swing arm is echoed by another purr.

By the time the song has reached the chorus, the fire is nearly a foot tall, bright and roaring with each breath of the bellows. "Earlier tonight," Torsten starts speaking again once the fire is fully roaring, "we passed out the tongue depressors and markers so that you could write down a wish or a goal for the coming year. Now that the forge fire is up and roaring, I would invite those of you who wrote something to come up and feed Scorch. He's a hungry little dragon.

Zeppelin smiles at Marcel. "I take that as an invite you know. So when I hear about your parties, I'm crashing them like a boss. Everyone heard you needed me." There is a bright smile to that as she tips her head a bit to look around. Her eyes fall on Carver and his hook for a hand. Sure, it's rude to stare, but it's hard to look away too. Then she gives her attention to Torsten. There is a hipcheck to Felix as she leans a bit against Mae for a few seconds. "Amelia, we are going to be besties soon. I'll drag you out with me, you'll keep me out of courts. It's like OhTeePea.

Amelia gives a smile to Mae, "Nice to meet you, Mae. I'm Amelia Stoker." she offers. "I don't get out for social gatherings a lot, so I've missed some of the family that's moved into town over the last few years." she admits. "Changing that slowly though." she admits as she looks around to the other party goers and then back to the group she's talking to. There's a look to Marcel and a bit of a smile, "You know I'm not a party girl." she chuckles softly. Then she looks down at the stick she'd written her wish on and starts to move towards the fully roaring fire, "Guess we should give this a try..." she murmurs to herself.

Daegan takes his tongue depressor with his wish written on it out of his back pocket. He walks up to the roaring fire and feeds Scorch. Maybe his wish will actually come true.

Becoming enthralled, amethyst colored eyes take in the firey spark as it sputters and flares to life. Kumo blinks, having almost forgotten about the offering ritual in all the noise. "Hmmm? Oh no, Eric. It was nothing like this." There was no crowd when she made her creative space burn. Pulling out the tongue depressor out of her back pocket, she moves forward to feed it to the fire. Kumo holds it a little longer than she should, flames almost licking at her fingertips before it's released into it's jaws.

Nika had come in just in time for the lighting of the forge and she remains there beside the door just watching for a time. Perhaps it was the music that captured her in the moment, but as the fire grows, she finds herself taking a look around at some of the others, listening to snippets of the conversation around. Table dancing girl? The redhead gets a brief once over, lips quirking in amusement. With the person on the cane, she steps aside to allow them to pass, but mostly she listens for now, without getting involved.

Amethyst indeed has a stick. She might have written on it in her own purple Sharpie, too. In the stick goes, without too much fanfare. Just a blush on her cheeks. Might be the heat. Might not.

Picking through her food slowly, Vanny somehow manages to eat the ribs semi-neatly. But... She forgot a napkin. Holding her plate with one greasy, sauced up hand, she holds the other hand in front of her, fingers splayed out, looking around for someplace that has a pile of napkins. She looks down at her jeans. Back to her hand. Then, with a shrug - laundry tomorrow anyway - she wipes her greasy hand on the jeans. She resumes eating, taking a plastic spoon to the sweet potato casserole stuff. Somehow she remembered to grab a spoon, but /not/ a napkin. Oh, silly Vanny.

Eric follows suit as Kumo goes and throws the tongue depressor in the hungry fires. And smiles as he does so... Admiring the beauty of the forge's fire for a second before nodding to Torsten and moving back with a grin on his face.

Marcel shakes his head to Amelia "You've just forgotten how." he accuses her, but let's it drop. He looks to Mae and Daegan, "She would be the adultier adult apparently." He chuckles a bit to Zeppelin "well you are that easy then?" he chides. seeming to enjoy their little game.

Blaze pauses and her head swivels looking at Amethyst "If I place you in a small box and feed you from time to time while making you perform services and tricks for me.. Will you feel I have provided you a good home?" she straightens looking for the wooden tongue depressor with interest and pondering it while watching the fire and people's actions near it.

Mae nods eagerly at Marcel, "Yes." She takes a sip from her own whiskey. "This is pretty weak. I have some batches that are stronger, just ask Zeppelin." She then looks towards Felix briefly and places her arms around his shoulders. She briefly looks to Carver and raises her eyebrows briefly before turning back to the others. She just gives a light shake of her head although doesn't say anything out loud.

Hamish somehow manages to get a piece of pie to stay on top of his Plate Of Everything, at which point he notices some Wormwood there, and gives the man a smile. "Hey there!" he greets in a ridiculously friendly sort of way, and since hands are far too busy to do any sort of greeting procedure, he settles with a plate bump. It's like a fist bump, but not. Also he gets the hell out of the way so other ravenous beasts can get food, and like the nice guy he is, offers Carver some of his Everything when he no longer runs the risk of being stepped on. Akecheta smiles watching for a moment he circles around and finds a good spot to lean. He nods to Torsten by way of greeting but remains quiet still for a while.

Carver gives Nika a nod, too, and then Wormwood gets a "Hey," before he snorts, no humor to the sound and admits, "I dunno your name." He waves off the offered food, though, because maybe he is watching his figure. It gets a vacant look. "More for you." Half of his attention is on the forge owner, though, no wish of his own.

"Isn't that what a 9-5 cubicle job is?" Amethyst jokes back lightly. "So ask it if it is happy here." She disposes of her dishes and works on a cupcake as she wanders back beside Blaze. Rainbow frosting is licked off fingertips in turn. Nom, nom, nom, cupcakes.

Vanny finishes up the last of her food and takes the paper plate to the trashcan to dispose of it. She watches as folks toss bits of things into the forge, and nudges someone nearby who points her at a pile of not-yet-used tongue depressors and markers. Scribbling a few quick words on it she steps quickly in line and tosses it into the forge when her turn comes up. She gazes for a moment, marveling at the release of the chemical potential energy stored in the tongue depressor, then steps out of the way, heading slowly back toward... Cupcakes....

Skye slips out for some fresh air after she finishes her plate of ribs.

While he's got the fire hot and there's some small stock nearby, Torsten quickly starts to apply his skill by knocking out some small trinkets that the guests can take home with them. The flat stock is given one tap to put a curve on one side, another to accent it on the other. He takes a punch and pops a small hole towards the base and uses a cold-chisel stuck in the pritchel hole on the anvil to sever the design from the rest of the stock. Once cooled in the quenching bucket, the small item is revealed to be a dragon's tooth made out of raw iron. With the whole at the base, it could be worn as a necklace or carried on a keychain. Each guest is given one before they leave.

http://imgur.com/kNCeTGl

Listening to the myriad of conversations around her, Kumo finally releases the inner sensation of sanctity that she was holding on to. "Come on, Eric. Let's get me something to drink..." Her arm goes around his shoulders, smile coming to life as if on cue for socializing. Apparently, her own interpersonal skills still need work.

Eric looks at Kumo and nods "Yes let's do that! I am very curious about the stuff that woman made! Love to try out new things to drink." He grins and he also wraps an arm around her, but at his's is around her waist. A grin shows as they head towards the drinks!!

"More for me!" Hamish agrees, and then adds a cheer of, "Hooray for fire!" for the forge lighting and its big bellowing flame of foot tall fieriness. No tongue depressors for him, though, the last thing he'd want is a depressed tongue, like that time he had to eat bland soup. Worst day ever. "I wish I could do stuff like that," he notes to no one in particular while watching Torsten beat his metal, euphemism not intended. "But then I remember I'm lazy and feel better about not knowing."

A smile accompanies the return nod to Carver, but Nika remains on the sidelines, mostly watching or observing, perhaps listening to some of the random conversations. Watching the fire, the owner and the happenings there, she accepts the gift with a gracious smile, "Thank you," she offers with it gently cupped in her hand.

Malakai, a fellow wearing a hideous pale chartreuse corduroy-fronted suit vest with a silken black back, enters with a battered sticker covered guitar case on his back. Kai rarely wears a t-shirt under his vest and this leaves the tattoos across his biceps on clear display. The tattoos are bands of Arabic writing and strange symbols forgotten by the modern world. He has these markings on both arms. A bronze pocket watch chain can be seen dangling from his vest pocket. He has a cordial grin on as he makes his way into the party with a roving gaze at the space and the people present.

Vanny returns to her spot out of the way, running a finger through the icing and popping it into her mouth. The flavor of smokey BBQ grease and sweet icing are complimentary, and Vanny's eyebrows both raise. What a lovely surprise! She repeats the process a few times, switching to a new greasy finger when the BBQ deliciousness has all wiped off. Finally, with most of the icing consumed, she moves on to nibbling at the cake part. Nom nom nom. All socializing is forgotten in favor of tasty treats.

"Thank you all for coming. Please help yourself to any of the food as you head home and don't forget to take one of the business cards on your way out." Torsten takes a moment to scoop some of the coal fragments still red from the fire into the stone dragon bowl and hang it up above the firebox. On top of the coals he adds smalls livers of hard wood and such to smoulder and keep the flame alive - thus ensuring that the fire is maintained.

Wormwood hangs out near Carver and Hamish, right next to the food. He piles on stacks of hot roasted meat, licking his fingers and stripping bones. He occasionally supplements the meat with cupcakes or cheese tater tots...things that will likely guarantee him an early death from high cholesterol, or the rot of several of his teeth. He's long since finished his beer, but keeps the empty bottle held in one hand. "Dragons and fire, what an interesting place for this to be." He comments aloud to nobody in particular. "I woulda gotten one of the little popsickle sticks and put 'consume the world with fire' but I feel like that is just a pipe-dream." He glances over towards Carver, before offering the hook-handed man a rainbow colored cupcake.

Felix leans into Mae's arm friendly-like, squishing Zeppelin between them in retaliation for that hipcheck. Or something like that. He drops an arm around her shoulders, then, and shakes his head, giving the short girl a disapproving look. "No crashin' parties an' dancin' on tables, young lady. Not alone, anyhow. I'll come chaperone," he says, the grin escaping again, and looks over to Marcel and Amelia. Okay, possibly slightly more to Amelia. "Ain't had the pleasure of meetin' y'all, yet," he says to them, "Felix. Are you a lawyer, or are you just gonna reform Z's wicked ways?"

Once the stick has been dropped in the fire there's a bit of a look to the flames before Amelia turns to head back to where Marcel and others are standing. "We'll see what they think of the wish." she chuckles as she takes a sip of her drink.

Zeppelin smiles at Marcel. It's a wicked sort of smile before she takes another drink. "One, yes, Mae can brew shit that will knock you into next year. Literally, I drank some and then the year changed. Bitch knows her brew." There is a grin to Mae to that one. Then she smiles at Amelia again before looking at Felix. There is a loft of her brows to him in a question to his silence. Although, her attention flows back to Marcel. "As to being easy, you'll have to find out and don't slut shame." Her lips curve up to show they are just kidding around. Then there is a squish of her tiny form. Tinygirl is more slender now. A squeak comes from the girl. "He said I was invited, I'm not crashing and you definitely can't crash this one. I'll tell you why later." She looks at Felix and slides her eyes to Amelia and back. There is a chuckle and a shake of her head towards the man.

The cupcake consumed, Vanny licks her fingers one last time and then, resigned that her jeans are a napkin now, wipes her hand there. She pulls out her phone and shoots off a quick text, looks over the crowd one last time, then heads toward the exit. It was a fun night, great food, nice people... But there's a long week ahead of her on campus, and it's probably a good idea to go ahead and squeak on out of here earlier than later.

Blaze slowly scratches at the wooden tongue depressor carving something into it before tossing it to the fire. For those very perceptive the stick was already bursting into flames as it left her hand. She looks at Torsten nodding at him before she starts to make her way towards the exit.

Amelia gives a look to Felix and offers a smile as she offers her hand, "I'm Amelia Stoker. I'm a criminal defense attorney. Not sure I can keep people out of trouble before they get into though." the Irish woman chuckles to that. "Marcel is my roommate for now. Until he finds another place or something." she states as she gives a look over the others.

Carver stares at the rainbow cupcake, funny eyes almost managing to focus on the thing. "Guess I gotta eat one of these things," he remarks, taking it in his good hand, his cheap cane dangling from his wrist by a braided strap. Walmart chic. It'll likely be the only thing he eats, though.

Finished with the ritual, or ceremony as some might call it, Torsten gives the bellows a quick pump to keep the fires going - even though he has a part of the flame somewhere safe. Glancing to a nearby table, he pulls a chair over beside the forge and takes a seat so that folks can come say hello. Attempting to catch the eye of anyone he might know, he makes the universal sign-language gesture for 'drink please' with a tipping up of his hand near his mouth.

Malakai makes his way to the food tables and he just offers a small nod to the people gathered there as he grabbed a plate for himself and started to pile on the eats. He is quiet, apparently not having anyone to meet or friends to greet, he just moves through the scene and looks around belatedly at the festivities as he started to shovel food in his mouth.

"You know what? I shouldn't be drinking tonight." Kumo removes her arm from Eric's shoulders before claiming the iron dragon's tooth and business card that Torsten offers. "Thank you for allowing us to take part in this." She gives Torsten a wry grin and a nod, before turning back to Eric. "I'm going home, but I'll come visit you sometime, alright?" There's something off in her expression, the mask of enjoyment not quite meeting her eyes before she kisses his cheek. Pushing past him, she winds her way through the throng and out the door. Without the food warming bag under the table.

Amethyst mehs. The slim brunette stands, and approaches Torsten for her shiny bit of awesome. She murmurs something at him, before offering a sunny smile and heading out towards the door.

"Yeah, but... Pipe dreams are the sorts of things you go for, right?" Hamish offers to Wormwood with a bright-side sort of smile and shrug. "Good for you!" He congratulates Carver's finally eating something by whacking him soundly on the back right when he's trying to bite it, although hopefully he doesn't cause him to choke to death. Something catches his ear though and he skirts around Gimpy McHookhand to go bother Mae. "I hear on the conversational grapevine that you made and brought drinks?" he asks the red head with interest.

Akecheta makes his way towards Torsten. "Hell of a party you've got going here brother. Its looking damn good, perhaps someday Ill do something like this at the Saloon."

Ame nods at Torsten, with a smile, and slips out the door.

Daegan grabs some mead and heads to Torston, offering it to him, not seeming like he is ready to go just yet. He just watches people come and go and mingle, pretty introverted himself.

Eric looks surprised at this sudden turn of events... And after a moment he slowly nods "You.. Sure?.." He looks her over a bit of concern shows on his face "Yeah.. I will like it if you'd come by again.." He fishes something out of his suit and hands it to Kumo "Here's my number Kumo. I do not remember if I gave it already.. But call or text me if something is amiss." He looks at her and smiles gently.

She'd wandered into the place completely by accident. Or at least that's the sort of impression she apparently wanted to give. Wandering up to the long tables of food, Mallory was wearing a black turtleneck, black pea coat, black jeans and black converse. A messenger bag slung across her chest. She looked like a beatnik terrorist from the late sixties. Complete with oversized black sunglasses. Staring at the food, it apparently didn't interest her. Instead she appeared to be looking for something more beverage oriented... And alcoholic. Glancing about the place, only vaguely attempting to fit in, she picked up a plate, put a single piece of something covered in cheese on it, she just let it sit there. It seemed an adequate prop for her for the moment.

The trinket is collected, accepted, a smile in response, "Thank you," and with that murmured again, Nika passes by the food in favor of going for the door. Without too many familiar faces in the room she quietly makes her way out, business card collected.

Wormwood finishes eating, setting his plate aside on the edge of a table near a trash can as he watches Hamish go down the line. He leaves it littered with bones and crust, but no genuine meat or edible things in the wasteland of paper and wax. He licks his fingers and tilts his beer bottle upside down over his mouth, emptying it of the last dregs. He then glances to Carver, watching how the man with the hook hand will eat a cupcake with perverse curiosity. His bald eyebrows lift. Then he sighs. He glances down, and scuffs a foot on the floor.

Mae finds herself at the bottom of her drink so she goes to find more available and to check on how much of her homebrews are left. She catches sight of Torsten and his hand gesturing. However, she is stopped by Hamish, sorry Torsten. "Yes, I do... a few. An Irish whiskey, Irish moonshine, mead and a light wheat beer. It's become more than a hobby. The yeast culture is very old in my beers... from Prohibition-era or before."She nibbles on her lip briefly. "I do sell my stock occasionally if you are interested."

Wormwood mutters to Carver, "... you... could do to... in... thought? This... once... a lifetime... be..."

Daegan walks over to grab a spot to sit down off to the side. He isn't used to big crowds and grabs another beer and shot of whiskey on the way to said seat.

"Defense attorney? That's my favourite kinda lawyer," Felix says to Amelia, with a slightly teasing smile, "Though, no offense, I still hope I don't ever gotta look you up at work." He switches his bottle to the other hand and accepts her hand, meeting her eyes as he shakes it, "Nice meetin' you." He looks to her roommate, then, "An' you. Marcel, then?" Hamish gets a glance as he addresses Mae, but the redheaded guy's attention moves to Zeppelin. "I'm pretty sure they ain't made the party I couldn't crash if I =really= put my mind to it. Though okay, I reckon gettin' invited might make it trickier." He has a drink from his bottle, and glances consideringly at the food tables -- hasn't hit them yet, after all.

Eric waves Kumo goodbye as she leaves and heads over to the place were drinks are to be held! He arrives and looks the selection over and as he does so he spots the mead. He grabs one of the bottles and fills him a cup of it "Let's see how this tastes." A smile shows and he tries the drink.

Akecheta once close to Torsten he looks around the room a broad smile on his face. "So wow you go yourself a big ol' gathering of a shindig here right now dont you man?"

Malakai slips his guitar case off his back and the battered ol' rig has stickers on it naming place everywhere from Jacksonville, FL to Oran, Algeria. He finds a place to lean up against some piece of furniture or another as he slowly worked his way through the food piled on his plate.

Torsten is content to sit near the forge, giving the bellows an occasional pump to keep the fire alive but not roaring as he sips on the bit of mead that Daegan brought him. Those who come up and thank him for the dragon tooth, he smiles and urges them to take a business card from the buffet table before they leave. "Thanks for coming..." he calls to one person or another as they head out.

Marcel bobs his head "That I am." he finishes his mead. "Mae, toss me one!" he laughs a bit. Besides what better compliment than to have another.

Amelia looks to Marcel and smiles, "I know. It's not like I said you didn't." she chuckles. She then gives Felix a firm handshake, she's used to the gesture in her line of work, "Well, if you ever need to look me up at work, feel free to. I help out a lot of our community." she states with a smile. There's something that catches her eyes and she looks to Agnes as the woman wanders in. She's not sure how many others can see her though.

"Well /I'm/ invited..." Zeppelin offers in a teasing manner to Felix. "Come On, let's go get food. I let people go first and consider the rest of it mine." She's all of 4'8, but there is a feeling that she would eat everything if given the chance. It's all that high energy she's burning through. There is a large smile towards Amelia. "He's probably going to need your services, except he manages to talk himself out of all sorts of trouble." She reaches up to squish Felix' cheeks together. "It's the adorable squishy face he has." Marcel is given a bright smile. "Who are you again? I seem to have forgotten."

"I was wondering about that," Carver admits to Wormwood, in response to whatever the guy said to him. "Still took the cupcake, though." It's not really hard for him to eat it. He splits the hook into two so it's thinner, peels the cupcake paper with it, licks off whatever rainbow icing had gotten on, and eats. It's not the most graceful, but he doesn't drop it or anything. Hamish is given a glance when he goes to bother the booze lady.

Hamish won't stop Mae entirely, and falls into step with her so she can get to Torsten AND tell him about her delicious brews. "I would be most interested, yes, and intend to try everything you've brought. For educated buying purposes, that is." And when she's delivered to Torsten safe and sound, he just strikes up conversation there with *that* guy as well. "This is your forge? I saw you fiddling with the fire thingie and beating on metal, so I'm assuming it must be. Very nice, love what you've done with the place." he compliments with a smile.

Torsten smiles to Hamish as the man walks up. "Yup, I'm the Smith here. Thanks - it was easier than the last place that I converted but still took a while to get a real forge put in place." Offering his hand to the man he offers something closer to a 'forearm' handshake than a palm-to-palm thing. He's old school like that. "Name's Torsten."

"I =am= pretty adorable," Felix allows modestly. Through Zeppelin-squished cheeks. The grin arguably makes a better showing for the claim when she lets them go. "An' thanks," he says to Amelia, then pauses, "Maybe I oughta get your number, just in case. Be prepared, right?" It's innocent enough that for just a moment one could almost believe he actually belonged in that Boy Scout shirt he's wearing under the leather jacket. Food can wait just a moment longer, right? Zeppelin probably can't eat it all by then!

Malakai eats his plate and cleans up after himself before slipping out the way he had come in and never uttered a word to anyone during his visit. Strange... fellow…

Daegan watches Hamish and Torsten as he sucks down a shot and then drinks another beer. He lets his eyes go over the people sticking around.

As Eric takes a sip of the mead and swirls it through his mouth he nods and swallows in appraisal "Very good indeed!" He savors the taste and takes along a beer as well for when the mead is finished. He looks around to see if he spots any other familiar faces. He spots Zeppelin, busy talking to one or the other... And then he spots that man again.. Her brony husband. Immediately a shiver runs over his spine and he shakes it off.. The man has a strange effect on him indeed... Annoying.. He turns around stealing a glance to him before walking away towards the smith.

"What is it with you and girl's numbers? She'll send it to /Lilah/." Zeppelin offers at Felix as she shakes her head to him a bit. Then there is a longing look at the food, but he's not moving yet. Longing. Her eyes stray to Marcel with a loft of her brow.

Amelia gives a chuckle to Zeppelin, "Let's hope he doesn't. People that can talk themselves out of trouble are usually good to have around." she admits. Then there's a look back to Felix and a smile as she slips a card case out of her jacket pocket and one of the cards inside is handed over to him, "The work number is there." she tells him with a little nod. "You guys go get food. It was nice to meet you." she adds to Zeppelin and Felix.

Once she realizes liquor is available, Mallory arranges for two shots of whatever she can find, along with a beer. A careful glance is made across the room as she downs one shot and then the other. Trying to see if smoking is in fact also acceptable at this location, or christ even vaping, the lowest form of smoking. She orders a third shot and carries it back over to the tables. Ending up a few feet away from Wormwood and his crew. Her plate long since abandoned like an annoying child. Downing her shot she places the glass on the nearest available surface and starts sipping at her beer. Adjusting an earpiece screwed in to her left ear, which is connected to a cord which runs to her bag. Addressing no one in particular she clears her throat. "What the fuck is this place."

Hamish makes sure his fingers are wiped soundly on a napkin held by his plate hand and returns the old school shake with Torsten, "James, pleasure to meet you, Torsten." he introduces himself. It's not a lie, it's just Americanized is all. "Hi, James." he extends that one to Mae as we get a proper circle jerk err handshake going on over here. He checks his watch real quick to make sure he's not missing any of his favorite shows and.. Jesus, where the hell did his food go! He eyes his plate mournfully.

Wormwood hunts down, and finally finds some napkins. He makes a messy ruin of them while cleaning his hands...and still doesn't seem to be able to get his hands completely clean at that. He glances back over to Carver, and shrugs his shoulders. "It's not something I'd do in public. Well...usually." He comments absently. He watches the man eat the cupcake, then follows Carver's glance to Hamish. "He's an amicable critter, isn't he?" He comments as he watches Hamish and Mae talk for a bit, then says. "Okay...that's enough cheery bullshit and free food for me. All outta free food." He then dusts his hands together, and steps away from the table. He slowly weaves his way through the crowd, offering nods and glances towards people he knows, and not seeming to super care about the people he doesn't.

Torsten welcomes Hamish to the forge and hopes that he was able to get his fill of the barbecue. They had for food to make twice this number stuffed so there should be plenty to go around.

"Even the =cops= let you call a =lawyer=, Z," Felix says, shaking his head at her right back, and accepts the card, glancing over it and then slipping it into his back pocket. "Thanks," he says, giving Amelia another smile, "an' absolutely -- nice meetin' you." He looks back to Zeppelin, then, and tilts his head toward the food. "A'ight, let's go eat the man outta forge an' home," he says, and starts strolling that way. With her, ideally.

"He's a total fucking weirdo," Carver figures, looking back at Hamish, as he tries to eat up his rainbow cupcake. As for Mallory, he explains, simply, pointing his prosthetic arm at Torsten, "He makes metals into goods."

Wormwood vanishes once he manages to slip far enough away to no longer be observed. Seems he's good at doing that.

Akecheta nods as he makes to stand up. "Sure I gotcha." He says standing up.

"That's why I'm not a cop." Zeppelin winks. "At least this one is of age." She shakes her head a bit to that as she moves towards the food. Her eyes slide over all the offerings. The wonderful, wonderful free food. "This right here is why I like openings and parties. Free food and booze." She looks over at her friend. "You are okay too, also we need to drink more. I haven't been on a table and you haven't had to carry me home." There is a pause. "You know, I don't think I've seen Rebecca since she walked me home on New Years. My singing must really be that bad."

Hamish the total fuckin weirdo says, "Pardon me, there's a terrible crisis happening." to Torsten and Mae and whoever else, and leaves them. As much as he likes being social, he likes the food laden tables even more. Especially the dessert table, which he promptly raids for sweet treats. A bottle of something Mae made is also found, and he tries that out. "Oh sweet suds yes." He apparently approves! Wandering back towards Carver, he offers him more things he'll likely turn down and asks, "I suppose we oughta drive places and not be fashionably late, huh?"

Eric reaches the place where Torsten sits, accompanied by the woman who delivered much of the booze and another young man. He nods a greeting to all and awaits a moment of silence as to not interject any conversation "A wonderful place this is Torsten! I loved it how you lit the forge. And I am glad to have been a witness of it!" He extends his hand to introduce himself (will do the classic way if Torsten does that one.) "The name is Eric. Owner of Club Extacy. It is quite a new place in the city as well. And I would love to invite you over when you have a bit of time to spare." He smiles warmly and after the introduction He nods again towards the woman "I love the mead you have supplied for the event!"

"Nice to meet you, James and Torsten." the red head replies. "Excuse me, I think I will try some of that food you had catered. Enjoy the homebrews." Mae walks back towards Zeppelin and Felix. "How does it look?"

Amelia gives a look around and then back to Marcel, "I'm going to head out, I'll give a text if anything happens on the way home. Don't drink too much." she teases her fellow Fianna. Then she settles a wrapped box down on the table and gives a nod to the others before heading out of the forge to head home.

Daegan finishes his beer and then heads over to Torsten, "I'm gonna head out. Gotta go get Ava. Thanks for the invite. Love the new place... We will have to have a couple of brews and order chinese food like old times. Text me or something."

Marcel nods his head " Alright, drive safe. " he looks almost like he's gonna cry "I would never drink tooooooooooooooo much."

Marcel pouty faces at his roomie

"THAT'S why you're not a cop? I thought it was the height requirement. An' you bein' a decent person," Felix says to Zeppelin, wide suprised eyes and everything, and then a wicked grin, "Mostly." He surveys the offerings as well, and releases the girl's shoulders so he has a hand for a plate, and for piling it with various food. "You ain't wrong, we definitely need to drink more. Ain't even done a duet yet," he tells her, glancing over his shoulder at Mae's approach, "At this rate we'll never find out if you're just that bad. Looks pretty damn good, Mae. Grab a plate."

Mae gets a text message on her phone and scowls. "Looks like I am taking food to go," she says sadly. She fills up a plate really high with everything that looks good. How that limber Fianna eats everything who can tell.

Carver finds a place to put the cupcake wrapper, and grunts at the weirdo, giving him a nod. "Yeah, I ain't usually the fashionably late kind, when I can help it." To the forgemaster, he says, "Anyway, we're neighbors now. 'Ll bring you a cake. Fuck, 'll even sriracha in it." And then he's limping for the door.

Marcel wanders off carrying two bottles, one in each hand.

Hamish needs just one more bottle of, okay maybe just TWO more bottles of mead, and like.. half of that pie and six of those cupcakes. OKAY! Ready to go. He falls in with Carver and flees the forge before anyone can figure out he should probably be murdered immediately.

After introducing himself Eric accepts his gift from Torsten and nods "Thank you for this lovely evening Torsten. I will be around another time to look at your stock and see what your specialities are!" He nods and turns around. Taking just one piece of sparerib with him and a few napkins. He waves a salute at Torsten before leaving.

Zeppelin smiles to this as she watches the others file out. So if she's not stopped, she's sweeping the food into containers she can find and indicating Mae's drinks towards Felix. "Grab those." Then a bright, angelic smile towards Torsten. "Thank you for the party. I'll swing by later to catch up. We'll get out of you hair though."

Felix gathers a good selection of food and makes a brief detour to give their host a greeting and his compliments among all the other well-wishers, and to pick up one of the tokens. And as they're kicked out, he swings by the tables again to gather up rather more of the food, and of Mae's drinks as well -- wouldn't want all those leftovers to go to waste, after all! Since Zeppelin's got the food mostly handled, he does indeed focus on the drinks, and has one in hand as he waves farewell to their host. "G'night, thanks for havin' us!" he calls, and then it's woosh, out into the night.

Torsten waves to the last few people who are heading out and then looks at all of the food they have left. "That...is tomorrow's problem."