welcome

[Celaeno]

So this was interesting. Anna was still getting used to the entire situation, in all its bizarre...glory. That was a word for it. The other words that sprang to mind were things she didn't feel like explaining to Nyx yet, although given the hybrid's propensity for rifling through her head out of idle curiosity, she wouldn't be surprised if Nyx had already memorized an impressive collection of swears. At any rate, she was turning out better than Anna hadn't expected, at least in some ways. Nyx was honestly friendly-in her own strange, alien way, and only to her, it seemed-and she hadn't attempted to remove the body parts of anymore lab techs.

I still think it could be prey. It moves enough like prey. Nyx twisted her head around awkwardly in a tilt, her blank eyes peering up at Anna as she sauntered alongside her down the Peregrine's hallway, towards the area that was serving as temporary barracks for the newly-Impressed. I will getting live food soon, won't I? I want to see my prey run and twitch, not simply lay there dead.

Anna sighed a little to herself. Nyx had focused in on the idea of living prey ever since she'd been introduced to Pepper and had to have it explained repeatedly that no, the dog was not edible, the dog was still not edible even if the edibility was asked about politely, if the dog is hiding under the bed you should leave her alone, and that the dog was also not a chair to sit on and proclaim superiority over. "When you're bigger. And a little less likely to be broken if your food kicks you."

Nyx twisted her head around the other way to look herself over-still all neck and tail for the most part, and alarmingly thin and bony-looking. Not that it seemed to affect her health or appetite any. That will be soon enough. I refuse to be afraid of mere prey. Her teeth clicked together sharply as her ears swiveled as best they could-the crest got in the way, really-in what Anna was picking up on as pleasure. I would like it to fight back.

"We're going to be talking a lot about what you can eat and what you can't. I can tell." It was a little like trying to stop puppy nibbling, if the puppy could question everything and had much more impressive teeth. "Let's get some food that doesn't fight for now. You need it." Anna continued down the hall, looking around every now and then to see who else might be out and about. Saying that the hybrids were intense in personality was something of an understatement, and she wanted to head off any squabbles before they started.

[Thessalian]

The Peregrine was a nerve-inducing place, at least for someone whose primary experience is acres of farmland and a small comfortable homestead, but Missandei had every reason to be there. There were cupcakes, after all - iced with bright colours and smiley faces, with a pot of klah and a bouquet of wildflowers. Rhaetia's idea, but Missandei had asked to do the delivering. She desperately wanted to get to know people and while the whole concept of toothy hybrids and an offworld vessel were a little unnerving, smiley-face cupcakes and hot drinks made a more than adequate shield, not to mention a conversational ice-breaker. A couple of the cupcakes were missing now, though - bribery of sorts to help the security people stop glaring at her like that.

The big question was, where to leave them? Someone had said something about kitchens, but kitchens were a little difficult to locate in the surroundings. Kitchens were supposed to be easy to find, by dint of smells and the sound of clattering pots, and she wasn't finding any of that, which left her standing in the middle of a corridor with her arms full of cupcake tray, trying to focus on the doors but ending up focusing on blank, bare walls and thinking that a nice little needlepoint just there might brighten the place up a bit, and...

She turned at the sound of footsteps and spotted Anna, and ... the ... rather fascinating if utterly unidentifiable creature at her heels. This must be one of the hybrids Rhaetia was talking about earlier. (Don't stare don't stare not polite don't stare...) So instead of staring - more out of fascination, at least, than fear or horror or anything - she nodded to the hybrid and then turned to Anna. "Oh, hello! I ... um ... was looking for the kitchens because Rhaetia made these cupcakes because she thought that people might want a bit of a treat after the hybrid hatching as a sort of a congratulations and maybe a Impression-day party or something along those lines anyway--" (because it wouldn't do, in the presence of one of the hybrids in question, to suggest that this was in any way a 'sorry if your hatching turned bloody' gesture) "--and I was hoping to find a kitchen or a dining room or something to put these so they'd be a surprise for people but I suppose it's not actually a surprise anymore since I've been spotted but it's probably for the best because with my luck I'd leave them on things that should never see crumbs and--"

Pause for breath. Sheepish smile. "Right, let me try that again, with less ramble. Hello, my name's Missandei and it's very nice to meet you. Would you like a cupcake?"

[Grayson]

A man has to do what a man has to do - and for Invictus Draco at that point, that meant lurching out of his quarters and going to find something to eat before duty. The scent of food drew him towards something that sounded like humans, but when the next door opened to reveal Anna and Nyx - and Missandei - Draco stopped dead, as expressionless as ever.

"Corporal." The sergeant's voice was just as deep and gravelly as might have been expected, and entirely formal. He nodded to Anna, and then again to Nyx, and finally to Missandei, his eyes flicking to her shoulder. A few moments passed before he refocused on her face and greeted her just as formally with, "Harper."

Not many people outside the Security team seemed to realise that the ex-marine had more than two braincells to rub together - or that he could understand words of more than three syllables. Or do anything other than stand around, move heavy things and look imposing, for that matter. Invictus Draco was quite happy to let that state of affairs continue, for the moment at least.

[Celaeno]

Nyx didn't so much as blink at the sight of someone standing in the hallway-it was a human, and thus of little interest to her. She only stopped because Anna did at the greeting, pausing at her side with a curious glance. Anna, meanwhile, was attempting to process all the talk that had suddenly come at her. With her mind still full of 'how do I prevent her from eating every small animal in sight', she was caught a little off-guard. But at least the pause and shorter greeting gave her brain time to catch up.

"-Hi. I'm Anna, and this is Nyx. Nice to meet you." Nyx was already moving forward, attracted by the smell of the cupcakes. "I'd like one-" Then Invictus came out of his quarters, distracting her yet again. "Sergeant," she said in greeting, then noticed that the hybrid was on the move before she could say much more. "Nyx, that isn't-"

The hybrid was continuing her investigation, rising up on her hindlegs and spreading out her wings a little to steady her balance as she tried to get a better look at the cupcakes. This is food? Meat would be better. She squinted a little, not able to make out much more than a vague shape and depending more on her nose than anything else. It also brought her own nightmarish head possibly uncomfortably close to Missandei's.

"It's not hybrid food." Anna moved to try and get Nyx to drop back down to all fours. "And try to stay down 'til I can find some kinda counterweight." She had the gut feeling that enormous crest plus spindly little body might cause some balance issues while Nyx was growing.

[giftwrapped]

"You know, Lizzie, I don't like you much," Jax informed the creature at his side, who gave him a dismissive snort in response and continued to quietly dig through the box of his belongings he had packed upon discovering he'd be moving out of his room for the duration of his new partner's growth. There wasn't much in it, enough clothes to last him the week or two he assumed it'd take to figure out permanent housing (he had heard the weyrling barracks when he asked around) and then a few half-empty bottles of liquor. The liquor was what the hybrid had been digging for, and she tugged a bottle out far-from-gingerly, making as if to toss it away before her handler grabbed it out of her mouth. Lizzie snarled in response.

It stinks like chemicals, you know, she snapped, baring her teeth at Jax. But if you want to poison yourself, that's fine. I'm no dragon and I don't need you to live.

"Passive-aggression doesn't become you, darling."

Not passive-aggression. Honesty. And the hybrid bared her teeth in an echo of a human grin, which made Jax even more uncomfortable. But he wasn't going to dwell on it for the time-being, because a sudden commotion in the hall outside attracted his attention. It didn't interest his hybrid in the slightest. Elizabeth glanced in the direction of the door, then gave another dismissive snort and scratched idly at her shoulder with one hind talon. A brief image of Nyx-and-Anna with the shadowy presence of two unidentified forms (she didn't care about other humans all that much, but these weren't ones she'd ever met anyway) floated through his mind. Jax set aside the alcohol and stood up.

"Come on, we'll go socialize."

No.

"You don't have a choice in the matter.

A low snarl, and the hybrid bared her teeth in a threat, momentarily inundating Jax with an image of Elizabeth-killing-Nyx that he stifled as quickly as she sent it. "That's not good manners," he remarked briskly, reaching down and taking one of Lizzie's headknobs. "You'll come along and you'll be pleasant."

A low snarl was his only answer, but the hybrid kept quiet, lurking behind his legs as he moved out into the hallway. "Anna," Jax said as lightly as he could, nodding to the woman. "Nyx," he added as an abrupt afterthought before turning to the other two visitors. "Draco and...I'm afraid I'm not sure we've met?" he finished, striding over to Missandei with an irritated hybrid in his wake. He helped himself to a cupcake, leaning around Nyx to grab it, and then gave the Harper girl his most dazzling smile. "I'm Jax, and this," he gestured to his hybrid, who was staring darkly at Nyx from behind her handler's legs, "is Elizabeth."

[Thessalian]

The hybrid - Nyx - seemed to be struggling a bit, and curious, which was a state with which Missandei, being rather short, was familiar. So she did something that, frankly, spoke of either complete lack of any clue about the potential dangers of hybrids or a distinct lack of survival instinct: she bent to give Nyx a better look at the cupcakes, thus putting her head rather closer to the hybrid's teeth than most people generally wanted to get. "They're vanilla," she explained, taking one to pass up in Anna's general direction. "I don't think that hybrids - or dragons or whers, for that matter - are really particularly keen on vanilla, unless of course they are, in which case help yourself, Nyx, and it's a pleasure to meet you and Anna both. And you too, Sergeant! Would you like a cupcake? There's plenty! Oh, and we have klah as well, though I'd need to find cups for that and I still don't know where the kitchens are so unless someone wanted to drink out of the pot, which would be kind of messy, the drinks will have to wait."

Once she was more or less sure that Nyx had seen all that she wanted to of the cupcakes, Missandei stood and looked around in time to spot Jax helping himself to one of the colourful smiley-face cakes. Which was all to the good, of course, and his smile got a smile in return. "Hi there! No, sorry, I arrived pretty recently and I'm still getting to know everyone. My name's Missandei. Nice to meet you, Jax and Elizabeth. Everyone's well, I hope?" She didn't say anything about the dark look Elizabeth was shooting Nyx; she'd seen enough sibling rivalry in her time to ignore it until or unless it got scuffly, at which point she could surely sidestep it.

[Azumi]

Kaylee had been excited....and downtrodden when she was told she'd have to move out of her room and into the weyrling barracks. The excitement laid in the meeting new people and have no experiences, and the downtrodden was from the fact that she rather liked her room. It was all happy and decorated with colors and ruffles and lights everywhere. It was normal, it was 'home' and it was comfortable. Not to mention that she had a hammock as a bed and that was AWESOME. Where was she going to put the hammock now? Maybe there was room somewhere...

Oh well. It was time to go a mingle with all the new hybridlings.

"Eugene, scootaloo now. We're gunna be late," Kaylee called merrily as walked, merely tipping her head back a little rather than looking over her shoulder.

Mmrffshf -- chirrk!

Well, that was certainly a new noise.

In a fluid motion, kaylee looked over her shoulder and spun around on her toe. The sight at the end of the hall was....well, adorable, for one, but also totally pathetic: Eugene stood in the middle of the narrow hall, the front of his body oddly bent forward and contorted as one corner of a crocheted blanket was caught about a headknob and the other half caught up under his feet. Needless to say, he was utterly bewildered as to why he couldn't move forward and why this soft blanket was attempting to consume his head, and thus he kept absolutely frozen. Was it mentioned that the blanket is rainbow? because it is.

And Luckily it was only Kaylee in the hall, since there were some definite emissions of fear-waves.

"Oh, you silly spacemonkey," Kaylee chortled, giving the poor creature a saddish smile as she shook her head. "I think you're missin' the point of our 'Security Blanket' idea."

Kaylee please help -- it's trying to eat me! Eugene chirrked again and tried to back-up, but his back foot was caught also and he only managed to land on his bottom. He attempted to emit another cry, but soon the blanket was removed from his head and he only saw the outline of His and smelled her smell.

I was only carrying it for you, and then it got everywhere, he said, bumping the mechanic's shoulder with his nose as she untangled his feet. Kaylee merely laughed and then straightened up, folding the blanket and holding it against her chest.

"Blankets can be tricky, but they're good protection aids. I'll hold it for now and you can have it when you need it, ok?" She watched Eugene nod and stand, moving close to her legs and then staring down the hall. "Let's scootaloo again, shall we?

And they were off to see the wizard, so to speak, again, with Kaylee bouncing with each step and the hybrid skittering gingerly, head down, behind her, preferring to peer from between her ankles.

Nyx-hall-scaryman--other man -- food?

The images jumbled around Kaylee's brain mere second before they rounded the corner and were upon the small group. She was elated, Eugene...not so much.

The mechanic's face lit up like a ball of sunshine and she hugged the rainbow crocheted blanket tighter to her chest, going up on tip-toes. Jax and Anna and, "Hello, Sergeant Draco, I havn't seen you in a while -- I heard there was a meetin' thing party, and -- OOH! Cupcakes!! It really is a party!" Mind. Blown.

She looked down at Eugene, who was crouched so low to the ground behind her legs that he looked like nothing more than a huge lump of coal. He was terrified, but for the moment, Kaylee's utter enthusiasm over cupcakes was keeping his feelings in check. "Eugene, you must try a cupcake."

[Ferret]

"Well, this is something, isn't it? I've only been on the ship once and that was to the Touching. And now look. I'll have to live here for a few days at least." Taavi was chattering. This was pretty much the usual Taavetti, of course, but now there was a slightly frantic edge to it, almost manic. This was the voice of a man who was desperately fighting off silence.

Gustav said nothing in response.

"Still, it's good to go out and have new experiences, I suppose."

Gustav reiterated his earlier silence.

"And lots of new people, I suppose. I don't even know most of the people who Impressed today. Just Vityai, really."

Gustav blinked, long and slow. He had time to listen. He had all the time in the world.

"Andand..." it was at this point that Taavi realized that the only word he'd heard Gustav say----actually SAY----so far was his own name. "Not one for talking, are you?"

The terribling sniffed before rubbing his shoulder against Taavi's leg. It itched.

"...Right. Got it." Well, that was ok. Taavi liked people, he really did, even if Gustav considered them, more or less, to fall into two categories: Things to Eat and Things not to Eat. Taavetti himself, of course, was another 'thing' entirely. This simple system satisfied Gustav completely. Which reminded Taavi, he would need to convince Gustav that people were not, by any measure, 'things'.

But that would come later! First, there were cupcakes to eat. Flashing a wide smile at the other 'lucky' handlers, Taavi quickly accepted one of the cupcakes. Sure, it was offworlder tech----probably shot lasers or something if you ate it wrong-----but it smelled delicious. "Ohh, are we playing Greetings? I love this game. I'm Taavi----short for Taavetti, but I can appreciate it if you don't feel like using all those syllables----and this here is Gustav. Say hello to the nice people, Gustav."

Gustav, once again, repeated his silence.

"Life of the party, my Gus here."

[Nozomi]

Taavi went on ahead with his Gus. Vityai and Taravi took their time getting to the meet and greet, wandering slowly together with her against his legs, her wings angled to not bump against him. They stayed quiet as one of the upsides of having a bondmate that could absorb and amplify emotions was that when Vityai felt the calm contentment that he very much happened to feel at that moment, she felt it as well, and all was well.

Are we going in, Vityai? Taravi shivered with excitement. People! They were there and she could feel them. Her bondmates calm pleasure gave her the confidence she needed to lead the way inside, shivering once more. There were cupcakes and the meeting and greeting meant most people (save for a few choice clutchmates) were in a good mood! She kept near Vityai, calm and content and quiet. She didn't move away.

Vityai took a cupcake, his face twisted into something quite judgemental. He balanced the dessert on his palm, head cocked to the side to stare at it. "Who made this."

Maybe it's good. Though, like her owner, irritation trickled in, stopping only when he took a bite and it didn't taste like some overworlder hack just randomly threw ingredients together and hoped for the best. Grumpy old man, oh yes, but he at least enjoyed cupcakes.

And look. Taavi was talking. Something new and utterly different.

"I'm Vityai." Since people were apparently talking about things like names and the like. "This is Taravi. I don't know any of you."

I don't think you want to?

"Not a question." He blinked down at her, patted her head, and licked a bit of frosting from his fingers. Adult. Grumpy. Kind of an ass. Childish when it came to desserted icing to his hand. Oh well. "Taavi, why are you still talking? No one cares."

[Celaeno]

Nyx finally dropped back on all fours, looking satisfied at her investigation of the cupcakes. They were food that didn't bleed or make interesting noises or smell right, and thus they weren't anything to pay anymore attention to. The movement of other people and hybrids in the hall as the group grew into a proper party caught her attention however, twisting her head this way and that as she identified who was who, at least amongst the other terriblings.

"Jax," Anna said to the man as he joined them, casting a brief glance towards Elizabeth as she noticed how the hybrid was following her handler, then looked towards Nyx. Nyx seemed downright unconcerned by the glare being sent in her direction; rather than glaring back, she was arching her neck and tail briefly, then settling down to sit beside her, curling her tail around her forefeet and only twitch the end slightly.

Ignore her. She is no threat to either of us, not now or ever. Watching her will only convince her she's worth the effort.

Anna cast another cautious glance towards Elizabeth though before her attention went to the issue of klah. "Klah sounds good, but I'm not sure if we have cups anywhere besides the dining hall. Honestly, alcohol'd probably be even better...but not exactly a good idea." Drinking as a form of dealing with the situation would have to wait, as much as she was sure they could use it. Her attention went to Kaylee as the other woman spoke, and she smiled a little. "I don't think anybody was planning on a party, but I guess if it helps everyone get settled..." One shoulder rose and fell in a shrug.

Nyx crouched for a moment, eyeing Eugene as best she could-which wasn't very well, but she could at least make out a general terribling-shaped lump. Sitting back up, she idly commented, How long will it be before Gustav steps on him, do you think?

"Be nice, Nyx."

It's a reasonable question. Gustav may not even notice. The hybrid glanced over to her said brother, looking him over. One sibling that just sat in silence, rather than glaring or cowering. She could approve of that.

[Thessalian]

".........I care." Missandei addressed Vityai's comment first, though it was pointed in Taavi's direction at least a little. "And Rhaetia made them, over in the Weyr kitchens; I just helped her ice them because there were a terrible lot of them and I was exploring at the time so it would've been impolite not to help." Her way of saying, 'don't worry; this wasn't the work of some backwoods Pernese amateur' without even broadly hinting at an accusation of Vityai's being mean.

Then she turned a little more of her attention to Taavi with a sheepish grin. "Oh, I know what you mean all too well; with a name like Missandei, it's hard not to. I go by Missa or Missy to my friends, so honestly, take your pick. And it's wonderful to meet you all. Kaylee, I love your blanket; no one in my family ever got the hang of crochet so I have a quilt instead. Erm, is Eugene alright?" For the most part, Missandei does not seem put off, shocked or frightened of the strange hybrids. Fascinated, yes, and concerned for Eugene in his lump-o-nerves state behind Kaylee, but not afraid.

"And I suppose we could move to the dining hall, if we wanted cups and to continue the Greetings and Hatching party in a bit more comfort; I mean, I was looking for the dining hall or the kitchens or someplace but I have to admit that this is a great deal more fun, random party in the random corridor, but anyway, I suppose if someone would be willing to hold the tray for a moment and point me in the right direction for a place where I could find cups, I could find them and bring some back so we can continue with the lovely impromptu hall-party..."

[Grayson]

"Jax," Draco rumbled in curt reply to Jax; either he didn't like the man much, or he wasn't really given to conversation, particularly at this hour of the morning. Possibly both. And then, similarly, "Frye."

His focus returned to Missandei, and he pointed towards another door off the hallway. "That way, first right. Cups, tables, chairs." Not many in the small off-duty room, but some. He took another moment to look around at all the new arrivals, nodding formally to each - handlers and hybrids both - and introduced himself to the lot in one go. "Invictus Draco. Sergeant, Security."

That said, he reached for a cupcake, then remembered to say a polite, "Thank you," to the bearer.

[Cherie]

There were some fairly remarkable things that could be done when one had a hybrid hatchling who was capable of porting things about; generally, these things involved wildly waving one's hands in an attempt to convince said hybrid that no, really, that particular implement was off limits to testing. "... No, I don't think we can port David," Maggie said, shaking her head, a wry smile on her lips. "It's a bit different, you know, 'porting people about. Not like the dress you sent who knows where." The dress, in point of fact, that was the only dress Maggie happened to own. ... Err. Have owned. Past tense, and all of that. She still had no idea what happened to things that Kali ported, but it wasn't worth fussing over. She hadn't been all that attached to the dratted thing anyway.

Oh yes, of course... you'll get so much more done with David around. Kali said, her tone almost perfectly neutral, as usual. It was odd, hearing a voice so devoid of inflection, and yet Maggie thought that she could pick up faint derision from her bonded; then again, that was probably emotional, not something to be detected in said hybrid's 'voice'. He must be the pride of Gallifrey-- oh wait, there's nothing there anymore, is there? Such a shame to be pride of nothing.

Already, Maggie was fairly sure that Kali shared Grace's disapproval for David-- no, scratch that, she was sure that the hybrid did not approve-- coupled with what would surely be a budding antagonism toward the Doctor. That, of course, was highly inconvenient, given that David was one of her closest friends. Yet at the same time, it was interesting that Kali was capable of developing such fully formed opinions based solely on what she had found in Maggie's thoughts, in Maggie's memories.

"He's not useless, you know," Maggie said conversationally, patting her hybrid absently. "Curious, yes... enthusiastic, yes... but not useless. You'll see." Yes, we can certainly make use of him. Oh dear. That was a bit foreboding, wasn't it? For science. Always for science. It was always for science, and a smile tugged at Maggie's lips. Never mind that the hybrid was suggesting teleporting one of her best friends; what was important was why she thought they ought to do that. "We can run other tests, you know." And we will, as soon as we're done with--

Kali, and therefore Maggie, stopped dead still in her tracks. "What is it? Kali?"

Are those cupcakes? Maybe your humans are good for something after all... then again, probably not.

Glancing about the room, Maggie took stock of the situation. "Yes, they do in fact appear to be cupcakes. I say, they do look lovely." A thought that was echoed by the otherwise disinterested presence in the back of the Anthropologist's mind. "Delicious, in fact. Shall we go have a look?" A closer look? We'll have to. Hmmn. How did one explain that one's hatchling was more interested in baked goods than in the people carrying them? 'Don't mind the largeish black not-dragon, she just wants your pastries'? Considering Alex's introduction to the Weyr, Maggie was not entirely certainly how the cupcake bearer would respond. "Erm, best not to crowd her, Kals," she suggested, as Kali approached Missandei with purpose.

"Er. Hello. I think we're after the cupcakes." Why a hybrid wanted those, and not a nice side of wherry, well, that Maggie couldn't explain. But wasn't it fascinating? "Nice to see you all." Of course it was. It was always nice to make new friends, and see old ones. At a certain point, she was going to have to explain why exactly hybrids who could cause things to disappear probably weren't welcome in laboratories, and she was fairly sure that that wasn't going to go over well. She'd been avoiding the issue, and cupcakes provided a welcome (convenient) distraction. Even so, with or without cupcakes, the subject threatened to tug her hybrid's attention right back.

It had not escaped Maggie's notice that Kali was not at all intimidated by the presence of Nyx or any of the others. No doubt she had a similar general feeling of disdain for the dramatics that a number of her clutchmates had insisted upon engaging it as she did for Maggie's own memories of David's shenanigans. They were, by in large, a waste of her time. Cupcakes, Maggie. Right, yes. Focus was important here. Armed with the pack of cigarettes that had taken up all but permanent residence in her front pocket, her labcoat, and a handful of notes (tucked away beneath said labcoat, somewhere), she was prepared for just about anything. Except, of course, anything the hybrids chose to throw at her. "What remarkable companions you all have," she said cheerfully, a pen tucked behind her right ear.

Her mood was not at all dampened by the presence of the sleek, sarcastic hybrid that had taken up residence in her mind. If anything, it was encouraged by it. "May I extend my congratulations, all around?" Although with some of them, it might as well have been condolences... and now she knew that she was channeling Kali, a thought which was met with an edge of approval. Channeling her erstwhile companion was exactly what she ought to be doing. They'd get ever so much more done that way. Oh yes-- no. Not just yet. Bloody hell, Maggie thought to herself, shaking her head absently. Wouldn't this be interesting?

[Dragonfire]

There are many people just down the corridor, Yautme announced, suddenly, as Samus was finishing putting the last of her few personal possessions into their new configuration. There hadn't truly been much to move - some clothes, a few books, a handful of trinkets. Her armour would stay in the security locker; with the hatching done with, she couldn't foresee needing it for at least a few months. Some of my siblings. They were talking about 'cupcakes'. Are those something we can hunt?

Yautme had been making noises about making his 'first hunt'. Samus had so far been ignoring him.

She carefully placed the last feather into place on the small altar, and then looked over her shoulder at him. "You know this how?" He stayed silent for a moment longer than he should've. "...What did I say about cloaking, Yautme?" She turned around fully, raising an eyebrow at him.

You will put a harness of jingling bells on me if I do not stay put, Yautme answered, resignedly. I heard noises. I thought best to investigate. And since Nyx had been out there, he privately thought he was quite right to.

"And that is fine, but you will tell me before you investigate, and we will go together." Samus had a feeling that she would be having to give this speech at least a couple of more times before the message fully sunk in. At least the others could see their hatchlings wandering off to get into trouble.

Yautme's mandibles twitched. There are noises outside. Can we investigate? And hunt 'cupcakes'?

"You don't hunt cupcakes," Samus said, with only a little bit of a weary sigh as she moved out the door, her hybrid trailing just a step behind.

Then what good are they?

She didn't bother to answer that one, even as she caught up to the impromptu gathering and snagged a cake for herself from the tray Missandei was holding. Greetings, was it? "Good day." And for the benefit of the girl she didn't recognise - most everyone else was at least a little familiar - "...Call me Samus. This is Yautme."

Yautme sat heavily beside Samus's feet, shot a little glare at Nyx, and proceeded to soundly ignore her, grunting a greeting to the rest of his hatchmates.

"...This is going to be a very full hallway," Samus observed, taking quick stock of the assembled humans-and-hybrids. "The sergeant is correct. Why don't you lead, miss?" she noted to Missandei, with a nod of her head in the direction of the off-duty room. Move the food, and the crowd would follow, theoretically.

[Azumi]

Kaylee was halfway through peeling the baking cup off of her cupcake when she glanced up and wrinkled her brows a little at Vityai. "Hey now, this ain't no time to --" she broke off suddenly when Missandei commented on the situation herself. With a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, though not really formed on her lips, she nodded her head sagely at the cupcake-bearer, "what she said. Now have a cupcake, you'll feel better. Shiny?" The last part was muffled a little, as it was then that the confectionery dessert was shoved into her mouth.

And it was amazing. So amazing. SO SO SO amazing. SO AMAZING IN FACT, that Eugene felt a wash of AMAZING fall over him, all warm and such, and for a moment he thought the blanket had dropped onto his body. Confused, and curious, he dared to lift his head and disrupt his rock interpretation and look about. But there was no blanket... It was still in Kaylee's arms, and instead he watched a couple crumbs fall from her food-thing and hit the floor at her shoe.

Getting over her first-bite euphoria of cupcakeness, the mechanic finally registered that Missandei had said more words, and that such words were directed at her and her bonded. "Oh!" she exclaimed, a sheepish smile popping onto her face as she tried to cover her mouth. Her arms were slightly...shortened, though, thanks to holding the blanket in...comment? topic. "Thank you! Eugene found a whole box of 'em that I had forgotten about. Made 'em on the way over to Pern -- if ya got some yarn, I could make you one, or show you?" she offered, bouncing up onto the balls of her feet. The prospect of making gifts suddenly excited her.

When she landed firmly back on the ground, though, she looked down at Eugene. There she offered a soft smile, and he looked up and krrred? in slight confusion, crumbs falling this time on his nose. "Oooh, he's just a baby. Don't understand that we ain't all gunna attack him like some rabid space monkeys." She gave a sidelong glance at Missandei and chuckled, breaking off a piece of cupcake and holding it down towards the swirled terribling.

What is it? he questioned, despite the fact that it smelled delicious.

"Cake, silly pants. it'll make you happy -- Oh, hello!"

Eugene tipped his head backwards and tried to look down the hall. He had sensed others coming, but...well, cupcake in face. While he wasn't affraid of Yautme, he remembered the hybrid's fierce abilities, and thus he found himself scooting closer into Kaylee's legs. And there was also Kali....who....Yanno, Eugene had no idea what to think of Kali.

"Maggie! And a person I don't think I've met! I'm Kaylee, this is Eugene -- yes," so many fragmented sentences! "it's definitely getting crowded, but hall parties are --"

Kaylee definitely didn't get to finish her thought, as suddenly a new voice rose above the others and the mechanic saw a new head of red hair approaching from down the hall.

"What Samus said sounds like a pretty good idea; apparently when there's a little gathering, everyone prefers to do it where they aren't supposed to." Ah, Grace. ...Always the one to comment on things in a slightly harsher tone. Though, actually, the botanist's voice wasn't angry in any way -- that much was obvious -- and any potential annoyance was off-set by a smirk that sat on her face.

That... had to be good, right? Smirks were like smiles? Kaylee at least hoped so.

"Hullo, Doctor Grace! We were just about to change locations... shiny?"

"Shiny, miss Frye," Grace replied, though her tone definitely didn't match up to Kaylee's sugary one. The scientist looked down at Eugene, who was owlishly peering up at her, and then she looked to each present bonded in the tiny area. With her hands behind her back, she looked like she was about to make some bigger announcement, but none came and eventually she just widened her eyes and blinked, silently saying, " Well, what are you idiots waiting for? Go!"