Ari grinned from ear to ear as she stepped back to give the owner (apparently named Aya, funny that) a turn at greeting Moon. Aidan didn't notice at first, lost in the bliss of his Auntie Moon's attention. After a quick and gentle tug of his scruff, however, he politely backed away and sat next to Ari.

They waited for greetings to be over, but at the emotional introduction of the weasels Ari began to feel quite awkward. She wasn't surprised, she knew Freddie and Moon were very close, but the scene had an intimate feel that made her think maybe she was intruding. She turned, promising herself she could catch up with Moon later, and went back to their table. Aidan followed, not understanding why they were leaving as he felt no sense of awkwardness, but not bothering to ask what was up. He was used to his adoptive mother's ways, and chalked it up to her usual shyness around too many people.

When they got to the table they had been sitting at, they both noticed a man () sitting at the sofa two tables down, getting his order taken. He must have come in during the chaos moments ago. Ari, still feeling awkward from just before, nodded stiffly with a polite smile and shuffled past him. Aidan rolled his eyes at her and watched the man curiously as they passed.

At their table, Ari sat at the end of Aidan's sofa, and he climbed up next to her, resting his talons in her lap and finally addressing their departure. "What was that about? We haven't seen Auntie Moon in a long time. Did you have to run away?"

Ari blushed bright enough to show through her fine fur and stammered out, "W-what are you talking about? I just thought they could use some privacy!" Aidan let out a huff and laid his head down, and they both pouted.

Donner and Kitcher excused themselves from Moon's presence so that she could find a table. The two youngsters returned to their booth, Donner scooted in close to Kitcher and tried to peer down her blouse, "Vat ist goink on mit your bewbs there? Vy ist das amulet do-ink dat glow thingie dat it does? Is it talking to you? Is it sendink a message? Ist der somebody here dat ist magical like? Vat?"

Kitcher swatted Donner's paw away from her breasts, "Donner! Really now, keep your paws to yourself at the table and in public. The humans will not understand your behavior and will think you crass for groping me in public. Yes, the amulet is glowing, and no, I don't know why. I felt an energy surge the instant Moon walked into the room, but it could also be that person over there on the sofa. I'm not too sure. Just please try not to get overly excited and make a ruckus. I saw your paw go to your sword. I'm not convinced that the amulet is giving us a warning. Let's just try to fit in this time, OK, my love?"

As Vin looked at the drinks menu he half-watched what was going on out of the corner of his eye, watching the sort-of awkward scene of what seemed like weasels kneeling at the feet of someone apparently powerful he guessed. "I wonder what's going on about over there..." he thought as he looked over the side of the menu that showed pastries. Vin put on a slight smile when the waitress () arrived, "Thanks, I'm doing well." He skimmed over the drinks side of the menu once again, "Would you recommend any Liquors on the menu here?" He asked the waitress.

Embarrassed and a bit shaken, though she would never admit it, Ari went to the bar for some of the "hard stuff." She was pleased to find Rumple Minze available, and was in fact very impressed by the bar's apparently extensive collection. She downed a shot, made a particularly funny face for a relatively tasty drink, and looked over some of the other options as she waited for that warm happy feeling to intensify. It was easier than making eye contact with anyone until her latest dose of liquid courage kicked in.

When Aidan realized what she was after, he rolled his eyes. She better not make herself sick. She didn't get out much lately except for work, but this was just silly. As for him, he was going off to socialize. It was somewhat difficult without his mom to translate, but even all grown up he was fairly skilled in pulling the "cute" card. Now, who to be his target... Honestly, he had at least met everyone in the bar except one loner at his own table.

He padded briskly over to the winged man (()), careful to keep his body language completely relaxed despite some excitement, since apparently being approached by a hulking mythical beast intimidated some people. Stopping just within arm's reach of the man he plopped down on his haunches, laid his wings and ear tufts back, and widened his eyes to be as big and pathetic as he could get them. "Pet meeee! Feed meeee!" he pleaded, more completing the spectacle for his own amusement than anything else. Very rarely did he come across beings with empathic or telepathic tendencies.

Vin waited for the waitress to answer his question at his table (()). As he waited he was surprised to find the gryphon walk over to his table (()), pleading for attention with it's giant eyes, but didn't show it as he gave a small smile. Unfazed by the fact that a giant creature so rare to Subeta is sitting in front of him, he scratched the large bird-lion just above it's beak and between it's eyes as he smiled at the needy mythical creature in front of him. "I'm afraid I don't have any food for you, big one." He told the beast in front of him, waiting for it's reaction that he can actually speak telepathically, as very few people on Subeta or anywhere else could speak telepathically.

Aidan barely got a chance to note how talented the man (()) was with his hands, starting immediately to purr and close his eyes in bliss, when he was surprised out of it by hearing a silent voice in his own mind. His eyes shot back open and his ear feathers swung to attention, alert and very curious. "Oh, you can hear me? And even speak back! That's interesting. Don't worry about food, I already ate. I always like more pets though!" Placing a taloned foot on the couch, he asked, "My name is Aidan, may I sit with you?"

Ari's own large ears twitched all the way at the bar, and she looked around in confusion. It was faint, but for a moment she thought she'd heard a mental voice other than Aidan's. But that was silly. She'd run into what, two or three beings she could hear in all of Subeta? She shrugged it off, only to hear Aidan definitely start to ramble. She turned to see what was going on, to find him at a strangers table, which irked her a bit. Really though, his possible tendency to be overly-friendly when she wanted to keep to themselves wasn't important when faced with the question of why he would be talking to a being. Unless said being could understand him. She had to admit that was interesting.

Casting a glance back, considering another shot, she told herself she really should give it a few minutes for the first one to kick in. Curiosity and logic would win over shyness today, it seemed. She left a tip on the bar and walked up to the table, standing behind Aidan and giving Aya (()) a small wave. "Hello again. Aidan? Er, did you make a friend?" She tried not to cringe outwardly at how strange she must sound, but how does one broach the topic of who may or may not be able to converse with their minds? She was mostly successful in hiding her distress, but her ears were low and her small wings were tense and close to her body, her arms crossed without realizing in front of her.

((Mini edit - added a few words.))

Aya had been distracted tending the fire and finally managed to answer ( ) Vin's question. "We have some mighty fine ale, or if you prefer stronger drink, I just got in a cask of aged Whisky from Veta. Very strong, with a good flavor. And burn I might add."

She smiled and pulled a honey and nut biscuit from her pocket and gently held it out to Aiden. "Sorry for eyeing you suspiciously earlier, I'm J-Meneb, so some magical creatures don't take well to me. I hope all is forgiven?"

Vin took his hand away from the Gryphon's face (()) and leaned back against the sofa. "I get that... well, not a lot. But anyways, yes you may sit with me. If it's okay with your... owner...? Over there." He said telepathically, not even needing to look at Ari over at the bar. As she approached the table he gave her a small friendly smile, the cambion not wanting to give off the impression of being a creep, though he could practically feel the tension radiating off of her. He offered his hand, "Hey, I'm Vin, and you must be...?" He asked her out loud.

Aidan gently took the offered biscuit from the woman (()), and nodded enthusiastically. "All's well that ends in treats, I say." In response to Vin's mental message, he let out a silent peal of laughter as he climbed onto the couch, resting with a foreleg lightly pressed against Vin (()) as if they were good friends. "Oh jeez, you better hope she didn't hear you call her that."

Ari looked at them, very confused. Hesitantly she reached out and took the man, Vin's, hand. "Oh, uh, hi. Ari. Er, call me what?" At this point she was too flustered to even try to be subtle, and anyway, she was sure now she had "heard" him earlier.

Aidan's eyes twinkled as he said, "Don't worry about it, just a misunderstanding. You should come sit too, and we can all get acquainted. This guy can hear me, and he can talk the way I do too! Didn't you hear him?"

"I- I thought so. It wasn't as clear as you, Aidan, especially across the room." Speaking to Vin now, she said, "I hope we're not imposing. Aidan can be... forward. But if it's alright, it might be nice to talk a little. It's so rare to find people who hear him."

((edit - messed up the ping. I might need sleep. xP)) ((Second edit to respond to Glitter.))

Vin kept on the small smile on his face. "It's not a problem, really. I actually needed to exercise my telepathy, as you know there's not many people on Subeta that can talk via the mind, except for, y'know... Shinwa and Maleria," He told the woman (()), "but I don't think they're the kind of people that would want to chat." He shrugged, "I could probably chat for a bit while I wait on my food and drink." he leaned forward and braced his arms against the table. "So, what do you wanna talk about?"

((OOC: I'm just gonna place this conversation in the time after Aya (()) takes Revon's order :P))

((That's a good idea, I didn't even think about how continuing might make things confusing. Sorry!))

Ari nodded shyly and sat on Aidan's other side, absentmindedly resting an arm on his back and scratching between his wings. Her other arm lay in her lap, curling to hug her waist. "Well, I suppose anything you can tell us about telepathy would be nice. I found Aidan as an egg, so a lot about his race is a mystery, including their abilities." Turning to the griffin, she asked, "Do you have any specific questions?"

The griffin had no issue diving right in. "What are you? You don't smell human. Are you from Subeta? Can all your people use telepathy? We met someone once from Terra who could hear me. She was more of an empath, though, I guess. Is that normal, can you talk to empaths? Can you make anyone hear you? I can't. It's sorta just normal talking for me, and people who can hear that stuff normally can hear me. Except mom, she says she couldn't before I hatched. She says-"

"Whoa, slow down, Aidan! Give him a chance to answer." And adding to Vin, Not that you have to. Some of that may have been too personal, I'm sorry."

((Fffu- Forgot to ping. ))

Aya brought Vin his drink and made sure Ari and Aiden looked comfortable, then hustled over to to see how the weasels were doing. They seemed to be deep in conversation so she merely refilled their drinks and stoked the fire once more.

She noticed, with a frown, that the bar was letting in a chill. Although the more she thought about it, the less she felt it was a natural coldness. She shivered and looked around the cozy establishment, wondering if anyone else had felt the sudden burst of icy air.

Shaking her head she threw another large log on the fire and pushed it around the coals until it ignited. A gust of wind made the fire flare and she screamed, seeing a face in the flame. She dropped the fire poker and stumbled away from the hearth.

Vin nodded in thanks for his liquor to the waitress (()) and took a small sip of it. He then turned back to Ari and Aiden (()). "Basically, to me speech has two modes, physical and mental." He tapped the side of his head at the word 'mental'. "It's like switching gears on an automatic car. When you want to, your mind automatically switches, and there you have it. Only certain people are born this way. This is the case with Aiden here." Vin gestured to the gryphon. "Of course, through training others can-" He stopped and his eyes narrowed as he felt a cold breeze waft in the normally warm establishment. "Somethings wro-" One again he was cut off with a loud shriek, as he turned to see the waitress stumble away from the hearth.

Aya tried to collect herself and swore an oath to one of her patron goddesses. The fire seemed to settle some, but what she had seen disturbed her deeply and the cold she had felt earlier seemed to settle in her bones. She replaced the fire poker and shivered once more, hoping she was just tired and not actually sensing true peril.

Ari didn't take any notice of the chill in the air, never thinking it could be anything unnatural. It was a bad habit, with no excuse considering the events of her life these past several years. Aidan was feeling uneasy, and his hackles started to rise.

Ari was busy paying close attention to Vin (()), but his attempted warning wasn't in time to prepare her for Aya's (()) scream. She jumped nearly out of her skin, tucking her ears and wings that had finally started to relax back against her. Aidan lurched forward and, being sandwiched between Ari and Vin, he didn't have a better path past the table than right over it, which left him half standing on it. His wings flared out protectively, and he didn't make a move to relax them or fall back into his seat even after Aya seemed to calm down. Not only did he still feel a strange tension in the room, which truly could be just everyone else's shock, but he was still waiting to see what the cause of it all was.

Ari was able to stammer out the question, "Wha- what was that about?" Aidan's reaction was definitely taking her from surprise to actual fear. It was strange to see him act serious.

Vin, still sitting in an upright position, looking over to where all the commotion stared and furrowed his brow as his hand rested on his katana at his side. He proceeded to leave the sofa the other two were sitting at (()) and walked over towards the fireplace. He took his hand away from his katana and placed it on the waitress' (()) shoulder. He could feel her shuddering. "Are you alright?" He asked the waitress, things clearly not alright.

(OOC , , Here's the year round bar!))

((OOC: , I'm sorry to say this, but this hasn't had a post for long over 2 months, so it can probably be considered dead))