---

"You know the voicy thing you do." Aliron said as he picked himself off the ground and rubbed his shoulders briefly to pretend it would make him warmer. It hadn't been this cold a few moments ago had it? He thought about her question for a second. The voices definatly had to be coming from her, where else could they be coming from? And they definatly had to be some sort of mind speaky thing. Did she not know she was doing it? No that didn't make any sense. "Yea that thought speak thingy." Aliron said confidently, answering his own mental question outloud. Speaking of voices he thought he distintivly heard someone cursing rather loudly above them. But there weren't any open windows or balconies or anything immediatly above, somebody yelling on the rooftops? Wierd. Plus there was one voice up there that sounded super evil, it was like her voice but definatly not hers. Were there more people like her? "Sorry for bugging you. But, uh, just for curiosity's sake, how do you do that thing? Are you like a magician? Ah- there I go again. You can leave if you want, I just wanted to know that I wasn't crazy." Aliron said sheepishly and looked down at his feet. Her hair was really pretty.

-

_{*silent screams of rage*}

Fortunately, Kha'Zix didn't seem to mean any harm and though his voice was slightly distorted, Xhen couldn't shake the feeling that she'd heard it before. It was made apparent that they'd all met up at the diner earlier. Maybe all these strange abilities has something to do with the diner? She shook her head. But I got this ability before even eating there. Xhen's head was jumbled with so many questions. It was all so surreal that she doubted any of what was happening was even reality.

Nova appeared to be intimidated by the purple monster, but she gently wrapped a hand around the girl's wrist. "It's alright. I don't think he's here to hurt us," she said calmly, lowering her friend's fist into a more neutral and friendly position. Suddenly, she heard a soft thud behind them and that same man she saw through the window earlier was standing there. By the way he looked, she could only guess that this guy was Ekko. "Hmm Nova you were right. We aren't the only ones..." Her mouth was agape and she was mumbling trying to grasp what exactly was going on. "Welcome to the club. Hey whaddya say we test out these powers? Maybe we're meant to be some kind of heroes or something," she suggested, looking at the gathering group of champions.

Noticing that the dragon got pretty upset about him arriving, Ben walked a bit more away from it.
As the girl with Vi's Gauntlets raised her fists and asked him "Friendly?" Ben answered her.
"Yes, I am friendly, even if my looks say the opposite.
As he said that he saw a dude who landed on the roof by rolling. Ben recognized him as Ekko - The Annoying Mid Laner.
When Ekko arrived, Ben's instinct screamed: Another prey!
Maybe it was just because Ekko was a bit more away from the group, or maybe because he was alone for a moment.

Just as he was thinking of ways to uncover some of the mysteries this situation had bringed??? up, Ahri came up with the idea of testing their powers. A slight breeze caught Ben as he got excited, he didnt even bother to pay attention to the snowstorm that was gathering, he didnt had to, he adapts to the situation.
"I think thats a great idea, but we cant be sure that everyone survivesss..in a fight" Ben relpied to Ahri in a bit more distorted voice, as he was letting some of his instincts kick in.
Maybe its not the best thing to do. But atleast they dont recognize me from the Diner Ben made a step back from the group, just in case anyone would be trigger happy.

Noelle was very defensive at the moment and for clear obvious reasons. She was attacked and while her lip had already somewhat healed up and didn’t bleed anymore, the blood still remained on her face. She instinctively reached and wiped it out with her hand, still looking at Alirom. She had no idea what to do with him, her mind was currently racing with trying to figure out how to proceed, but didn’t really have any answers.

“I’m not doing anything, you are the one hearing my thoughts somehow… I think…” She replied very quietly, the sound waves didn’t really spread too far, but still were quite high frequencies and probably enough to get any normal human to have at least pretty mean headache.

She then suddenly looked up, after being sure she heard something from up above, from the roof. Noelle had pretty good hearing as a singer. She had to hear the differences in even the most minute sounds so she certainly picked up something in the dead of night from up there.

Her blue hair was blowing in the wind, her hands placed on the floating music instrument. She feared what could be up there, but also felt curious… a little at least. Her natural instinct was to call out, but she knew if she tried, she would certainly wake up anyone around here and probably break quite a few windows.” I think there’s someone up there…” She quietly said, her fingers gently slipping across the cords of the etwahl. She was never a instrument player, but she seemed to know how to play with this one. She hand quickly moved across the instrument, using it to create the familiar melody of the main theme of League of Legends to try and catch the attention of anyone up there. ‘ What the hell am I even doing? I should just run home and hide, not attract anything scary!’ She cried in her mind, but couldn’t stop herself.

The most startling thing about the whole situation, was that the fire lady didn't actually seem that phased by the whole previously-being-on-fire thing. Her first impulse was apparently to refuse help after it had already been rendered.

Iris wasn't sure what she should have expected, but she wasn't really prepared for what she got. She'd expecting crying, or maybe some thanks, but instead the woman hid her hands as if she were afraid that Iris would make another dive at them with her coat, and told her to go away.
"Well gee, you're welcome!" she said, stepping down from the footstep and inspecting her jacket in the incandescent light of the apartment complex's street lamp. It seemed to have suffered no real damage from the ordeal, causing Iris to merely huff, rather than lash out in anger. Had she ruined her coat for an ungrateful girl, she woulda been... mad.

And then she heard a recognizable voice, and turned to see Claire. She put on her jacket against the sudden cold, and then remembered what she was here for when Claire asked about it. "This moron tried to run me over!" she remembered. She turned to the truck and yelled into the smashed window "Watch where you're driving, you drunk! You almost killed me!"

She turned away again, almost ready to go back to her business, until she caught sight of Claire's outfit, and it didn't really jive with the weather. "Dang it, put on some clothes, Claire. You're on shift tomorrow morning, and if you catch a cold, that'll be your own fault!"
@DFA@Kiroue

Nova tapped her fingers together, before lowering her hands with a smile. It all seemed pretty weird seeing everyone like this up here, somewhat coincidental? Maybe things were just setting up for something much larger. Maybe. She seemed a bit suspicious about it all, though didn't pay too much attention to everything out of her control. Of course the weird attracted the weird, that's to be expected. She did have quite a bit of fighting energy, cracking her knuckles per se, with the gauntlets on.

"If you wanna test these abilities out, let's see if there's anyone who's willing to fight us. We've got two junglers and three midlaners." The girl took a deep breath, then exhaling as she looked up at the sky. It seemed like it was getting a bit chillier, uncharacteristically for this time of year. Why in the hell was it getting cold? She took a deep breath, not being too bothered, though to be comfortable she had to take a few breaths.

Samantha almost groaned at the addition of another woman who came along. As she came close all of a sudden she could see frost spreading across the windshield of her white jeep, however, she didn't feel one bit cold. Even still, it was something she noted, but her attention was much more occupied with the lady who, now in the presence of Claire appeared very bossy and suddenly very angry.

In a violent and sudden action, the lady swung her head into the window and raged and yelled at her. The shock and randomness of this act of the woman yelling and calling her a drunk and insulting her caused Sam to widen her eyes and crane back. This shock was replaced quickly by anger. What the fuck? Why was this woman now yelling at her out of the blue? Man, and people said she had anger issues.

Sam was going to let it stubbornly slide, but then she noticed her starting to boss around Claire who had simply come out as a good samaritan. Her own eyes narrowed, very upset by the incredible rudeness of this lady who at one point had stood up for her this morning. As she stepped out of the Jeep and slammed the door shut, she told herself she wasn't looking for a fight. She just wanted to tell this woman to step off. "You know, for your information, I'm not drunk and I almost 'ran you over' because something really crazy happened that's none of your business." She paused. "Still, that's no excuse for you to harass me by yelling at me through a window that you broke and then boss the other woman around." The heat was rising, and any snow that was falling around her was turning to hot liquid, but she didn't notice. Before this situation got more heated (no pun intended) she started to walk away, but not before addressing Claire first. "Honestly, I feel so sorry that this bossy chick is your employer." With this she began to walk away, her arms around herself.

@DFA @Kiddo

"God, I need to stop these late night League binges!"

As Gregory hopped out of bed, his force actually launched him across his bedroom, soon bringing him face first into the floor Woah, why do I feel so light? Usually I can get out of bed like a normal human being, and not like a failed trapeze artist. Eh, probably just the sleep deprivation or something. Guess I can't tell my own strength while tired. Just another reason to go to sleep at a reasonable time!

Picking himself off the ground, Gregory almost again found himself launched by his own arms. Okay, something was off. Giving up on the mystery for now, Gregory began his morning routine. Since he worked nights, he had nowhere to be, so he could take all the time in the world. After a nice, long shower, He slipped into a loose pair of jeans and a red v-neck that was just a little too deep. He decided that the best way to shake off whatever was wrong with him would be a stack of delicious homemade pancakes. Heading into his apartment's small kitchen, he opened his fridge and found a bowl full of leftover pancake mix behind some beer bottles and a jar of pickles.

Sizzle!

15 fragrant minutes later, Gregory was chowing down on a stack of scrumptious pancakes. He was on his third when he was interrupted by a mysterious bell-like sound.

"Ooh-teh!"

"Gah! What was that?!" Looking around in confusion, Gregory took in a view of his kitchen, which looked just as it always had. Must have just been his imagination. Focusing his attention back on his meal, he was startled to find, instead of pancakes, a tiny golden man staring up at him. Startled putting it lightly, considering he almost flipped himself out of his chair.

"What the hell is that?" The little creature smiled at him, at least, the closest thing to a smile it could without a mouth, and began to float towards him. Looking at it more intently, Gregory noticed that it seemed to lack pupils and arms in addition to its lack of a mouth. In fact, it looked alarmingly like the Meeps Bard summons in League.

"Oh, now I get it! I'm hallucinating about League! Damn it, Frank must have left some of his 'special' pancake batter at my house again. Stupid druggie."

Making peace with the fact that he was hallucinating, Gregory concluded that he wasn't going to get anything productive done while tripping this hard. I mean, he didn't feel high, but the hallucinations were a sign something was wrong. So he couldn't work on any of his music writing, and he definitely couldn't play some league right now. He decided it would be best to just go back to bed and sleep it off. Before he headed back, he checked his mail. Mostly spam, a few bills, but also a small letter addressed to him. Throwing the other mail to the side to be forgotten, he ripped open the envelope, excited at what could be inside. He didn't get letters that often. Apparently he had been invited to a party at the Darkwell City Diner. He'd seen that place a couple times, but he'd never gone in. He always got his coffee from the Tea Leaf Cafe. They were small and charming, plus they had that cute barista. Guess there's a first time for everything. Plus, they were giving away a high-end gaming PC, which would help with recording for his music as a plus. As he finished reading the invitation, Lil' Greg drifting back into his vision, reminding him how badly he needed to sleep. He headed back to his bed, closed the curtains, and drifted back to sleep.

He'd wake up a few hours later to find Lil' Greg dancing around on his chest.

Claire shot a questioning look towards Iris and then shrugged before answering, "I'm pretty comfortable right now. But..." Her eyes turned to the fiery woman and Claire trotted forth, catching up to her and approaching from behind.
"Um, excuse me...I think it might've all been a misunderstanding and she didn't really know--eeek!" She softly tapped her on the shoulder, but pulled her hand back and clutched it as she felt her hand burning from the touch. The woman felt like a stove! Nobody got this hot even with an intense fever!
"W-why are you so hot!?" she exclaimed, glancing at the affected hand. It was slightly red. A thought arose in the back of her mind.
Is she like me?

As much as she wanted to, perhaps now wasn't really the best time to ask...

"Are they all here?"

The taste of tobacco poisoned his tongue as he took a long drag from his cigarette. As he stood there in the midst of the back room of the Darkwell City Diner, his sharp green eyes rested on the shorter woman with the contagious smile. Her eyes gleamed up at him in an excited fashion as she tapped her clipboard against his broad chest.

"'course they're all here!" her voice chimed as she looked down at the list of names on the clipboard. "Well... all except for one."

One? He couldn't help but feel a little frustrated with his partner. Even as he glared at her, his hand ruffling his hair in anxiety, she laughed nervously. "You said all of them would come," he grumbled.

"Well, that can be solved rather easily, can't it?" the brown-haired woman's smile became unnerving as she tapped the sniper rifle against the wall. "One dose of this will knock a full grown man out cold for hours ."

He ground his teeth against each other, the taste of tobacco only becoming stronger as his teeth sunk into the cheap cigarette. Even though he didn't want any attention drawn to them, he knew that it would have to be done. "Can I trust you to keep this on down low?" he asked her.

The woman giggled again, raising a hand up to her head in a mock salute. "You know me," she flashed her teeth at him. "He won't know I'm there until it's too late."

"Very well," he forced himself to relax as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. "Is the punch ready?"

"Sir, yes sir!" she piped. "Just make sure to just give 'em one cup. Any more and I'm not sure they'll wake up at all, heh!"

The anxiety came back as he tossed another glare at her. "Just go do your job, and I'll do mine."

"Yessir!"

---

She hoped that she would win the PC.

Even after all that had happened the night before, even as she looked down at her hands and was relieved that her fingers were just fingers and not claws, it was the first thought that came through her mind. Whitney forced herself to relax as she walked down the street, her hand clasped on her purse as she looked down at the melting snow. She still couldn't believe what had happened last night; she had the powers of Aurelion Sol, and she could even turn into that huge dragon thing! Not only that, but there were indeed others like her. Ahri, Kha'zix, Vi, Ekko... and someone else who caused a snowstorm. In July.

She shook her head, looking up at the sun. What did all of this mean? Was the government going to come after them? All of them? And what was that shadow monster thing? Whitney couldn't piece it all together, but she sure hoped that it would all be settled soon.

Whitney glanced up at the diner. Surprisingly, there was no traffic bustling about the vicinity of the diner itself. Usually people would be going there for lunch at this hour, especially since the diner had wonderful specials for people who wanted to dine there at noon. As she studied the area, she noted that the ends of the street had been barred with yellow fences emblazoned with the sign of a car and a strike going through it. Was the anniversary of their little town requiring such a large space? Maybe one of those fun little fairs would pass through and they would be able to win other prizes.

She smiled as she walked up to the doors, pushing inside and enjoying the cold air within the conditioned dining room. As she looked about, however, she realized that nearly all of the seats had been taken, save for the ones located all the way in the back. Did she sleep in? "Sorry I'm late!" Whitney called loudly as she rushed up to the closest available chair. She didn't even see who she was sitting with-- she didn't even care. It was better to sit with someone than not sit with anyone at all. "Sure looks like someone turned up the air conditioner more than they were supposed to, eh?"

Whitney laughed as she hinted at the snow that was melting on almost every street corner. She clasped her hands in front of her, noticing that a man was passing out drinks to the attendees of the party. The reddish color of the fruit punch that he served them caught her eye. It looked really tasty... but before she could even think about taking a sip of that refreshing drink, she caught sight of the man's face as he approached her. "Mr. Ravello?" she smiled as he placed a cup in front of her hands, her eyes watching his face. She thought that he would have looked happy to see her, but instead, he turned away from her as soon as she called out his name. Whitney frowned. Maybe he was shy? It made no sense to her why he should be... he was apparently holding this celebration for them, after all.

 
@rivaan
@Kiddo
@Kit N Kat
@Kimchi
@Eklispe
@Kiroue
@Hillan
@DFA
@Gikel
@Brasslazer

Noelle had naturally also received the letter about the celebration and it’s prize. As someone who worked two jobs and barely met the two ends, she naturally couldn’t really afford such computer on her own. The one she used was old, second hand and it barely ran her favorite game to pass the times: League of Legends. Granted with everything that happened in the previous day, she felt completely unable to even bring herself to play the game right now. Her turning into Sona out of nowhere, spooked her to no end.

Now at this celebration, she find herself a nice place at the furthest back, keeping low profile, just enjoying the liveliness around. She naturally couldn’t speak… mostly. She could, but that posed the danger of sending everyone into the hospital for she still had no idea why some were affected so much by her ‘talk’ while others only heard the words.

She now was even given a glass of punch which looked very tasty and smelled quite sweet. Noelle took a sip of it and the sweetness filled her mouth. It made her smile so she quickly continued drinking it.’ Wait… why is the celebration prize a gaming computer…’ She thought wondering.

She didn’t have an answer, but a little after she finished her glass, Noelle felt something happening. She felt weak and dizzy also sleepy. Her vision blurred! She had gone through similar thing in the past when the crazy stalker fan actually drugged her out of nowhere and abducted her! Her mind filled with horror, but she couldn’t fight her body as she fell unconscious, slumming in her chair.

---

“Garrett, you again?” Clarice asked as she entered the interrogation room. The tall police officer seemed both pleasantly surprised and mildly annoyed at seeing the younger man. She walked over to the chair by the table in the middle of the interrogation room and sat down, face to face with Garrett who was on the other side of a table.

The black haired woman tapped the table with her index finger a few times, before pulling a small folder and opening it.” Seriously, this is the fourth time this month we take you in for interrogation. What did you do this time?” She asked, knowing full well that the younger man probably hadn’t really done anything wrong besides looking like he was about to kill someone.” An old lady had called us because she saw and I quote here ‘ a suspicious individual with eyes of a killer’.” She said and closed the folder, looking at him and reaching over to undo his handcuffs that held him to the table.

“ Seriously, didn’t I already tell you to stop glaring at people?” She asking him, with angry voice.” Also, get a girlfriend already to keep you in check. My colleagues started making rumors about me being in relationship with you because of all the time I would vouch and go around actually gathering evidence you didn’t really do anything!”

As Gregory entered the party, he could feel Lil' Greg squirming around in his breast pocket

Safe to say, Gregory had been having a rough time since Lil' Greg had shown up. Once the tiny apparition had been happily frolicking around his apartment for a full 24 hours, he started to think that it might be more than a hallucination. This suspicion was confirmed when, while on a trip to his local grocery store, a child who's mother was far too busy on the phone asked him "where he got that cool little toy." Since then, he had accepted that Lil' Greg was somehow real, although exactly how he didn't know, and that other people could see him. He had managed to... "train" Lil' Greg to obey his commands, mainly for the purpose of staying hidden around normal people. Even then, he was constantly nervous that people would find out this new dirty little secret of his.

Gregory took his seat quickly, opting for one in the far back. Normally, he would have been socializing, maybe even flirting with the others party guests, but right now he just wanted to get through this as soon as possible to avoid any incidents with Lil' Greg. The only real reason he came to the party was for the PC, as well as the fact that he was almost broke and any free food was welcome. Speaking of which, why was a celebration for the 100th anniversary of the city giving away a high-end PC? Most people were fine with a Macbook that they could google stuff on, the only people needing a PC like that being either gamers or video producers. If the city really wanted an expensive prize, they could have just given away a car or something.

Gregory's train of thought was derailed when a black-haired girl sat down next to him, cracking a joke about air conditioning, chuckling to herself. Startled by the forward greeting and still nervous about Lil' Greg, Gregory could only stutter out a response and a little laugh of his own. "Y-yeah, right? Maybe those gl-global warming deniers are on to s-something." God, he sounded dumb. Why should he be nervous? Lil' Greg seemed content enough in his pocket, and any incidents would probably be covered up by the excitement of the party. Regaining his composure, he extended his hand towards the friendly looking girl. "Hi, name's Gregory, or Greg if you're in a hurry."

Out of the corner of his eye, Gregory noticed a man putting down a small cup in front of him, some sort of punch. It was red like most punches, and had a pleasant aroma wafting off of it. Looked good, but he wasn't quite thirsty. Maybe once he got something to ease his hunger.

---

Aliron rubbed his eyes and looked around. Wow the place had filled up a lot since he'd gone to sleep. Plus he was pretty sure it was colder. The voices had been surprisingly quiet when he'd gone to sleep a few hours ago, but now they were back again in full force. He got up and yawned loudly, then proceeded to enter the building, his faithful suitcase rolling behind him. Looking around he saw several people that had been in the restaurant yesterday. Or was it yesterday? Earlier in any case. Then, his eyes lit on voices lady! He'd never gotten her name, or given her his now that he thought about it. Or had he? Though she had left kind of suddenly last night. Aliron eagerly moved towards the back and took a seat next to her, accepting some punch from someone on the way over, "Hey, I'm Aliron, I never asked for your name did I?" He asked her and waited patiently for a response.

Which didn't come. Was she ignoring him? She looked like she was sleeping. Aliron leaned closer and whispered in a friendly fashion, "That's your cue to give me your name." No response. Aliron poked her in the arm cautiously. Was she dead? Aliron looked around awkwardly. Well, this was weird. He sat there nervously and took a sip from his cup, only to immediately backwash it. Whoa! He'd taken spiked drinks at way to many parties not to recognize it. Still, even though he'd barely taken a sip he was feeling drowsy. Dang that was some strong stuff. He looked at the voices lady's empty cup. Well that explained that. Aliron carefully leaned back in his seat limply and lowered his eyelids, every now and then opening them for a peek. Gods he was sleepy. Not that sleepy though. He kept awake by counting odd numbers in his head. Maybe this was some physcho kidnapping deal. If he stayed awake he might be able to save the day or something. 1, 3, 5, 7...

Entering the party at the diner with an energetic feeling, Ben walked up to table where he saw a blue haired girl and a dude sitting next to her. "Hey, is this the place where you can win a PC?" He asked the guy as he looked at them and noticed that the girl is pretty much knocked out from her drink. Why cant they just smoke some herb? He thought to himself as he was approached by a guy who passed him a glass of punch. Thinking its alright, while waiting for an answer, Ben took a sip from it, just from taste Ben knew its not just a drink. But since he's used to all kinds of thing he sipped from it til it was empty anyway. Not feeling much effect, he started looking if he could get another cup of dat magik.

Looking back at the guy Ben noticed that he wasn't the type to hold himself together while on drugz. Leaning a little bit over the table and reaching for the cup with punch in it he said: "I suppose you wont need that much. he smiled as he was slightly feeling the effects. Pouring some punch from the guy's cup into his own Ben checked around to see if there is anyone he had already seen.

@Eklispe@rivaan

He started off the day rather normally. He got up, got into the shower, and got a coffee at a little run-down cafe not far from home. Garrett didn't expect that one little look aimed towards a loud old lady would land him in the back of a police cruiser. They kept saying that he had the look of a killer, and that was when they brought him to... a familiar face that chilled him to the bone.

"You know I didn't even do anything wrong," Garrett grumbled as he glowered at Clarice, narrowing his eyes lightly. He was quite pissed that he wasn't even able to finish his coffee before the police slammed him to the ground. "I'm starting to think that you like seeing me in handcuffs."

Luckily, Clarice was nice enough to come over to his side and undo the bounds that tied him to the table. Grumbling a few things under his breath as he rubbed his wrists, Garrett sent one of his ice-cold glares towards the female police officer. He opened his mouth to speak in a matter-of-fact tone, crossing his arms. "Stop telling me to get a girlfriend. Last thing I need is some lady to whine to me about how she deserves more love 'cause she gives me a good rub every now and then."

@rivaan

Nova got here a bit ago, sitting in one of the booths somewhat drowsy. Last night was just a bit of a long night for her, going on a bit of a spree of gaming, trying to climb the ranks in both CSGO and League. Somewhat painful, she knew, but it wasn't all to bad. She did take a few sips from the punch, hoping it would wake her up a bit, although it didn't seem to help. The only thing that kept her awake was the ride here on her bike, though even then, she was tired. Her helmet was sitting next to her as she tried to keep herself awake through music, staring down at her phone.

'God I should stop doing that to myself... At least I didn't derank...'

Alexis came in here all for the computer, she figured that would put her ahead by quite a bit, and help her with her streams. Might be able to get some more money because of it all. So of course, you get free food and the chance to get a very, very good computer. How could she resist? A free computer chance, and she gets to see some people around here. Maybe some more gamers would show up, good place to meet people. She recognized some people around here, though at the moment she was too tired to speak up. Drinking a bit more of the punch, she put her head down on the table in front of her, staring down at her phone as she flickered in and out of consciousness.

"Of course you didn't do. Otherwise, I wouldn't be taking off the cuffs." Clarice replied with a smirk, sitting back in her chair, tapping the table with her index finger a few times again, before raising an eyebrow at Garrett's comment." Buddy, I'm a cop, of course I like to see you in cuffs. It stirrs my inner dominatrix." She said with a laugh, finding it funny.

When he continued talking, Clarice reached over the table lightning fast and finger flicked him in the forehead. She also put quite the strenght in that flick." Mind your language, Garrett. You are still in an official public building. There are at least some limitations you should abide by, morally if nothign else!" She stated with slight notes of anger in her voice.

"Also now come with me, I'm about done with my shift. I'm going to go get a coffee from a nearby coffee shop. You might as well follow because I'm going to also buy you one if you do." She stated, gesturing him to follow her, clearly showing that she wasn't really going to take no for an answer on this one." This way if nothing else, you won't get called out again by the old ladies whom you glare at~" She whistled, stopping by him as if waiting something.

For a few moments she waited, before she cought, nudging him with her elbow." Be a gentlemen..." She added, still waiting for him to offer her a hand to walk. Mind you she didn't really want that per say, but Clarice knew it would irk Garrett to no end. Also if he did deny, she would just pest him even more anyway~

Iris tugged the lapels of her jacket tighter, unconsciously rubbing the crease to sharpen it as she glanced around the diner. She didn't understand why they had to host parties where they couldn't even field their own waiters and food, but her father told her that that was why she would never do as well in the business as he did. "Free advertising and a few hours rent? What's not to like?" he'd said. Well, it was the standing around in formal attire, merely being present for a meeting or ceremony or... whatever this thing was tonight, that was not to like. She honestly could not care less.

But, her duties were what they were, and as little as she liked to think about it, she needed the money from her allowance, and that money now constrained her to such boring tasks as these. "Character building" tasks, apparently, and "getting your face out there," though personally she would have preferred to keep her face in.

Her father would hear nothing of it, though. Her whole life was already planned for her, from the very moment that she was born, or maybe after that, when her parents found out that they would be unable to produce more heirs. Her destiny was to go to college, get straight As, find an equally-intelligent young man, marry him, and then come back to take over the shop for her father.

Someone thrust something into her hand, and startled Iris from her thoughts, bringing her back into the bright scene of gamers thronging about their diner, waiting anxiously for the door prize drawing. She stared at her hand before closing it around the cup and nodding at the steward. A discount... they'd have to apply a discount to the rent if the customer would also hire on their wait staff. It irked her to have strangers serving in her diner. She now had one of those dump clear plastic cups, the sort that were designed both for holding liquid and for holding cookies or whatever, and so were good at neither, and it was filled about halfway with a red punch.

One thing that her father had managed to pass onto her, partly through genetics (if such a thing were possible) and partly through a large variety of foods, was an understanding and appreciation of good food and drink. This, she could tell just by sniffing it, was not going to be good drink. It smelled cheap, with too strong a fragrance: the sort of drink that would not go well with anything but the blandest of foods. Still, she took a small sip into her mouth, swishing it around her mouth once before actually drinking it. Well, whatever its faults, she could feel the rasp and burn of a strong alcohol, and that she could at least appreciate. Sure, a small cup of the stuff wasn't going to have any noticeable effect on her mass, but the principle of the matter was the important part. If she could have this little rebellion on this most boring of assignments, she was going to have it!

Claire could feel the excited buzz in the air that morning. There was a drawing to be held soon that would give away a gaming computer. She nerded out earlier inspected the build of the PC, especially obsessing over the GPU and it's virtual reality capabilities. Claire made sure to enter herself in for the drawing.
Right now, she was in the process of going around from table to table and giving out complimentary chocolate chip cookies from a silver platter. She approached a certain booth where a redhead seemed to slouch and fight a uphill battle with drowsiness. A rather formidable foe from the looks of it.
She gently shook her shoulder and leaned in.
"Excuse me there...everything okay? How about a warm cookie for you? They just came out of the oven just a few minutes ago, and there's nothing better than a free cookie. You totally look like you might need one right about now..."

@Kit N Kat