"Pleasure to meet you, Maeve! I'm Anthony, of the musical Lively family." Anthony performed a theatrical bow. "Are there any party traditions i should be aware of -- snacks that should be observed rather than eaten, or ornament scavenger hunts, or..." He paused, struck by the idea. "Or could I start such an activity?"

"Pleasure to meet you as well!" Maeve said, returning the gesture. "I'm not the best at remembering traditions, as we are transplants here, but Kaelin is well versed in those sorts of things--or at least well enough versed to tell me when I'm wrong. But tell me, what do you like to play? I see you have your plus one over your shoulder."

"Left to my own devices I like a little bluegrass fiddling," Anthony answered. "But my violin and I are game to tackle any sort of tune. Once we even tried to mimic the music of the stars, which I admit was cheeky of us, but imagine if we had succeeded..." He smiled and shook his head. "What sort of music do you fancy?" 

Varna was a little worried. She couldn't find her notes about the party at the Mansion - all she was sure of, was that it would be today. But not the hour. She had made herself ready for "party business", and she could go now if it was a good idea. It could be about now, or perhaps in one or two hours.

Probably best to go now. Being an hour late would be worse.

When the Elf got closer to the Mansion, she drew a sigh of relief. There were only very few voices to be heard from behind the doors. Perhaps she was a little early? She certainly wasn't an hour late.

She went in and hung up her coat. Looking around her, she could see a few people - none of her best friends yet, but she wasn't sure how many she could even expect. Ditto Town had been less of a busy town lately. She could see it in her business as well. There weren't as many customers in her bookshop as there used to be.

But there were certainly people here that she had seen before, either as customers or just on other occasions. A girl who was talking to a musician - Varna went closer to them, but without interrupting.

Lupine was feeling much better than she had for a while, quite human in fact. Instead of swollen hairy paws she now had her own proper human hands once more & used them now to good effect. She'd cleaned up her wolf's lair as well as herself, and now she rummaged in her rucksack for the slinky uncrushable dress she'd packed, just in case she had an occasion to wear it. Lupine spread out her grandmother's antique lace-trimmed shawl, embroidered with flannel flowers, waratahs & wattle blooms, threw it over her attire, & wearing light sandals, now, she set off for the mansion where she'd heard that a party was to be. Not the wolf jamboree, this time. She'd donned some perfume as a precaution against any lurking doggish smell remaining from that raucous occasion on her thoroughly washed self. 

But as Lupine approached the mansion, where was the magnificent glass panelled door that she had seen previously? Wasn't that door a proper front door? No, where she expected it to be there was only blank wall. She walked around the mansion to find the front door, hearing voices inside. Would they accept her at the party, Lupine wondered? Did she look tidy enough? Or would she be considered a gate crasher, despite the paperwork in her purse? Was that formidable looking plain blank door the Mansion's actual front door? Or merely the tradesmen's entrance? And was she too late, already? Lupine rang the doorbell & waited, heart pounding, hoping optimistically everything would be okay. Céud Mile Fáílte (a hundred thousand welcomes) perhaps? Or maybe literally thrown to the wolves? Her heart sank. 

Would Cerberus recognise Lupine, now she had shed her wolfish alter-ego, she wondered? Despite the rosy perfume she had sprayed liberally on herself.  Lupine remembered the look of disgust on each of his three faces when at first, she had tentatively called him Fluffy, informing her then & there, what his name really was. Would he want to see her again? Though she had read a sort of "You are here" tour guide notice in the town square at Ditto Town, she didn't know where to get doggy treats as a polite peace offering, let alone anything else she might need.

Posted by: @mel

"What sort of music do you fancy?"

"It really depends on my mood, but right now I tend to lean toward music with a double bass drumbeat, though traditional folk music will always have a special place in my heart. I'd love to hear some of your bluegrass, sometime. What will you be playing tonight? --or is that a surprise?" Maeve asked Anthony, while she nodded and smiled at Varna as she hung up her coat.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Lupine rang the doorbell & waited

Maeve leaned back and popped the door open.

"Come in, come in!"

"Woof! Er, I meant 'thank you', " Lupine said, quietly walking inside. " You are... Maeve? Is Cerberus around, by the way?" she asked. "Let's get this over and done with", she thought, hoping for a proper introduction, when Lupine wasn't sure if she had pronounced Maeve's name right. 

For one moment -- a long one, but just the one -- Ian considered scooping up Noah, thrusting him into Lauren's arms, and intervening to find Mary himself. That, most likely, would not have ended well for anyone, so it was probably best that Lauren had stormed off deeper into the Mansion before he could act on it.

Instead, he turned to his honorary nephew. "Hmm. Do you see any snow around here, Noah?"

A pair of wide gray-green eyes met his, their expression happily more judgmental than concerned. "No," Noah said. He had already mastered the Winston art of implying you idiot by tone alone.

"Guess we'd better take our coats off, then," Ian said. He stood, and started gently tugging the boy back toward the coat room. "And -- great Scott, what happened to your mitten?"

Noah looked down at his bare hand, twisting it over like the mitten might still be on it but hiding somewhere. "Aun' Laur'n forgot," he said after a moment.

Ian winced. 

----

Not a second too soon, Princess Mirabelle discovered the kitchen. The kitchen staff had all departed -- no doubt serving Lord Montclement and his many guests in the ballroom. Still, she was careful to keep to the shadows, creeping close to the floor. 

Wait. Was that the smell of apple cider?

Mirabelle dared to sneak a whiff from the cauldron, softly bubbling over the hearth. The smell of hot, cinnamon-y apple cider flooded her nostrils. The last time she'd had apple cider was over a year ago, before Mom --

The door to the kitchen banged open, and Aunt Lauren stormed in. Mira jumped, nearly dropping the mug of apple cider she'd just picked up. 

Aunt Lauren stared at her. "Mary Louisa Gardiner --" she might be Mom's sister, but she sounded like Dad did when he was too angry to yell, "what in the mountains are you up to?"

Part of Mira wanted to ask why she was so angry -- nobody was making Aunt Lauren keep Mira here. If looking after Mira was such a bother, why didn't she just send her home? The desire for self-preservation was stronger than the desire to yell, though, so Mira offered an apologetic smile. "Drinking hot cider?"

Posted by: @wren

"What will you be playing tonight? --or is that a surprise?"

"I'd thought some holiday music--carols and so on," said Anthony. The entry was filling with people. He nodded to the bookstore owner, as well as the woman in an elaborate shawl who seemed to be focused on some quest of her own. "But you know how parties like this go," he remarked to Maeve. "Things have a way of happening that you never expect!"

As if to punctuate the point, there was some sort of ruckus down the hall. Perhaps in the kitchen? Anthony shrugged. He didn't think it had anything to do with him, but if it did he'd be wrangled into it soon enough. Probably time to move into the next room, he thought, and picked a set of doors.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

"Woof! Er, I meant 'thank you', " Lupine said, quietly walking inside. " You are... Maeve? Is Cerberus around, by the way?"

"You have sharp ears," Maeve chuckled. "Indeed, I am, and this is Anthony Lively, and I believe the Lady Varna. I don't know about Cerberus, but Delia tends to be the one who knows about those sorts of oddities. She is a ghost wrangler, after all."

She looked around at the others and realized the hall was starting to be a little squished.

"Shall we move into the main room? I'm sure there's some hot beverages available," she said, following Anthony's lead.

~~

Kaelin inspected the decorations and snacks table, her spirits slightly deflated at the lack of people her age. A shout or two from the kitchen, however, caused her to perk up her ears, and she trotted over to the doorway, trying to peek in and see what was happening without being spotted. Her sister had said something about spying in keyholes once...maybe she could do that? 

She bent forward to inspect the doorknob, which, unfortunately, did not have a keyhole, since it was an inside door that led from one public space to another, but she was going to give it a good look, anyway.

"You have sharp ears," Maeve chuckled. "Indeed, I am, and this is Anthony Lively, and I believe the Lady Varna. I don't know about Cerberus, but Delia tends to be the one who knows about those sorts of oddities. She is a ghost wrangler, after all."

"Ah, is that why nobody seems to notice Cerberus" Lupine said to Maeve. "But I do, & I particularly wanted to have a chat with him. I don't think he would be at all pleased with me as I met him, or someone like who I think he is, before I came here.  Maybe I should have a chat with Delia, then, if she could help me out?"

Lupine recognised Varna but not Anthony Lively, who, along with Maeve, now ushered them into the Mansion's main room. She looked around at the tables, laden with refreshments, & started to feel really hungry for proper human food. What sort of music would we be getting, she wondered? And if she could sing to it?

"I don't see why not," Maeve said, looking around the room to make sure Kaelin was somewhere nearby and not causing too much havoc, "for all her sarcasm and toughness, Delia's pretty helpful, and sometimes scarily resourceful. I guess that comes with jumping back and forth between realms, though."

At this point, Maeve caught sight of Kaelin fussing with the kitchen doorknob, but decided her current conversation was more interesting than saving her sister from the consequences of her own actions, so turned back to Lupine and the others.

"Tea cake, anyone?"

Lupine had found somewhere to sit down, where she drifted into a reverie for a while. She thought she heard someone say something, like "Tea cake, anyone?" Who was it? The lady called Maeve? There was also someone called Kaelin, who seemed to be related to Maeve. 

Lupine suddenly became more alert, her ears pricked up and she scanned the room. There were other people there, and she had to be very polite and well-mannered. Lupine remembered happily wolfing down a tea cake literally made with green tea as part of the ingredients, which was a vivid green colour when sliced up. But what sort of tea cake was this one being served?

Looking at the Tea Cake, she shook herself slightly, saying very politely "Yes, please, just a little slice for me", then wondered if she should help herself, or wait until the plate was passed around, and everyone had been served. Even in wolf packs or lion prides she remembered, there is an order of precedence with the adult males being served first at a feast. 

Posted by: @wren

"Tea cake, anyone?"

"Not for me, thank you," said Anthony. "Those ginger cookies look delicious, though." 

He filled a little plate with gingerbread, ginger snaps, and what looked like chocolate chip cookies -- but with ginger chips instead of chocolate. Then he selected some cheese and crackers, turning the whole thing into a sort of small tower which would shortly be nibbled into ruins. 

There was a stage at one end of the room, festive with greenery and ribbons, but the lights were low. Anthony wandered over, shrugged his violin case off his shoulder and onto the edge of the stage, and hunted down a set of light switches. 

No other musicians had made an appearance so Anthony set up a single light for center stage, pulled up a tall stool and a music stand (to hold his snack) and tuned up.

Then he began to play. He started off slow and contemplative with What Child is This? so that introductions and conversations would continue, but if it looked like his audience was in a singing or dancing mood he'd give them something a little more... Lively.

Maeve cut several slices of the soft breaded cake and handed them out. A quick sniff revealed to her that it was some sort of spice cake--perhaps with orange in it?--but whatever it was, it smelled delicious. She snagged a fork and napkin and began to wander the room and picked up a cup of cider, listening as Anthony's soft playing filled the room.

It did seem like a very peaceful celebration, she thought, settling into a chair by the fire.