Geralt's cocked smile showed a flash of pearly white teeth at his partner's response. He shrugged ever-so-slightly, not allowing the action to break the grace of their movements as they continued to glide across the dance floor. "Am I that obvious?" he asked sarcastically. Geralt had never been a fan of flashy clothing, color-wise anyway. Many others who called themselves "magicians" had attempted to use bright and obnoxious fabrics in their suits to gain favor with audiences and set themselves a trade mark. He'd preferred to stick with black and white, sometimes gray. It wasn't like Geralt the Great to need that brand of misdirection anyway, his skill spoke for itself.

As he felt the song reaching its mid-point, he swept through a couple of more elaborate steps, putting their conversation on hold for the time being. Of course, Ivory was more than capable of keeping up, and if it hadn't been for the other pair on the floor, he may have tried even more daring maneuvers.

Once the song was nearing its final quarter, he returned them both to their original position to finish it out. Since Ivory had put distance between them, he had maintained it out of respect and had not attempted to pull her close again. Given the fact that this may be the only time he was ever able to be this close to the young woman, he'd decided not to look this particular gift-horse in the mouth.

After another moment of silence between them, he made eye contact once more, finding himself unable or unwilling to put his words through their usual filter before they escaped him. "I'm sure you're aware of this, but I'd been prepared for you to decline my request..." He span Ivory once more, slower and more gently this time, as the music called for. Then, once she was close to him again, he let himself show an unadulterated smile and added, "Though it may have pained you, I'm glad you accepted." And that was the Devil's honest truth.

Ivory couldn't help but let out a small scoff at his words. "No, not really." She responded. In a broad sense, the man was anything but obvious, considering he hid his intentions well. At least, what he wanted to hide. There were still some things she was trying to figure out.

The 'silence' that followed was welcomed, as Ivory just continued to dance. Focusing on the music alone made this experience not so bad. It was easier to enjoy when he wasn't trying to engage her in conversation. Things were easier this way, because she found that some things were harder for her to answer when she was trying not to be incredibly sarcastic toward him. She kept up with the steps and the manuvers he guided her into until they returned to their normal position.

She raised her eyebrows slightly at his words. They didn't sound arrogant.. or like he was pointing out the satisfaction he felt by her acceptance. His words.. actually sounded honest. It was this kind of thing that ended up catching her off guard with him. He couldn't possibly be this good at pretending...

Ivory found herself answering before she had really put thought into the meaning of her words.

"It wasn't that bad I guess.." She muttered, fully averting her gaze this time. It was easier for her to deal with his usual arrogant attitude than this weird side of him. "Well, it's your welcome party isn't it? just.. don't get used to it." She said, just as the song came to an end. Ivory had wasted no time in releasing his hand and stepping away from him, before quickly heading back toward the table to take a seat. Why did this feel like it was more exhausting than her performances? What a pain.

As Ivory's eyes searched for anything in the world she could focus on but his own face, Geralt felt that old familiar triumph surge through his veins. Something in him resisted the urge to feel victorious, however, as normally he would have reveled in being able to make any woman, and especially a woman like Ivory, react this way toward him. It wasn't necessarily embarrassment...well, not entirely. This was the first time he had seen the Vampiress off balance since the day that she and Lucien had knocked on his door. It was certainly interesting, and not something that he would forget any time soon. "I wouldn't dream of it," was all he said in answer, knowing that he only had seconds left to enjoy the proximity until the song was over.

As the song came to a close, he could already feel Ivory stiffening to pull away from him. She had not returned his eye contact since her last comment, and the second that the music stopped and silence once again filled the void, she had turned to take her leave. Normally, he would bow and thank the lady for the dance, but she had given him no time to do so. He watched her walk away, keeping his eyes and his light smile on her until she found her seat once more. Amused, he shook his head, before he made his way off of the floor and back to his drink.

Lucien had let go of Akane when the song ended, and glanced off to the side to see Ivory wasting no time in heading back toward the table. There had certainly been a good amount of dancing today.

Akane had began to head back to Cora, who had began rolling her chair in her direction. She stopped to fall into step with her, before they headed to where the others were, curious as to what they had been up to this whole time. On occasion she couldn't help but look down at Cora, a small smile tugging at her lips, before she looked away again. Even after having danced with Lucien she couldn't get the sensation of what it had felt like to dance with Cora out of her head. Maybe.. she'd be able to do that again.

"How are you feeling?" She asked her, considering she had done plenty of physical activity, more so than usual.. plus the alcohol. The kitsune still felt awfully light.. but in a good way.

Lucien headed back toward the table where Geralt now awaited, spotting another drink in the water. He picked it up, the smell of brandy hitting his nose. Ivory and Geralt's dance had gone decently well, it seemed, but he made no comment on it, instead, he decided to thank him for the secondary drink he had made him.

"Thank you." He told him. "I don't think I've made this one before." He commented, taking a glance at Geralt's own glass which was more than half way gone.

"Was the drink to your satisfaction?" He asked mostly for his own curiosity. He was confident in his own skill of course, but some people liked their drinks made in specific ways, some with more alcohol, some with less. He had a feeling Geralt was the type to like more when he had made his drink.

Cora had watched, delighted as the two couples danced. Though she was trying to give both pairs equal time, she found herself eyeing Akane more than the other three. She watched her face, her shoulders, her hands, her legs...as she twirled across the floor in Lucien's arms, and felt her heart almost glowing with happiness. It radiated from her like the rays of the sun, but there was nothing she could do in her slightly inebriated state to hold it back.

The mermaid's light mood was raining down on everyone this evening, even Illyana, who was focused intently on Geralt and Ivory's dance. For a moment, she had been afraid that The Magician had hypnotized or otherwise altered Ivory's state of mind, but as she searched the dhampir's face from afar, she saw no signs of this and felt no residual effects. Despite her worry, she felt the urge to smile as she caught sight of Lucien and Akane, noticing that everyone was smiling at some point during the dance, even if Ivory's was sarcastic more than anything else. No, maybe the dhampir had simply accepted his offer to show him that she was not so easily frightened. In any case, the song ended rather quickly, and Illyana watched as Ivory made her way rather quickly back to her seat.

She leaned forward, keeping her eyes on the young woman's face, but noticed nothing unusual aside from the unease in her eyes. This was unusual for the dhampir, but Illy knew not to point it out, that would only make it worse. Instead of engaging Ivory directly, the fortune teller looked over at Aurel and said, "I'm glad we skipped that one, it looked...complicated," loud enough for the other young woman to hear her. Distraction would be best for now, she knew that Ivory would tell her if she noticed or felt anything strange during her time of close proximity with the magician.

Cora had decided as the song came to a close to join the rest of the troupe at the table, and so began making her way there with Akane. To the kitsune's question, she smiled up at her, noting that the uneasiness from before had almost passed entirely and now felt like a tiny little seed in her stomach. "Oh, just fine," she nodded vigorously to accompany her answer. While she could tell that the drink was effecting her mind and body, she still felt as though she were in control of herself. "I might want another, actually..." she added, glancing back toward Geralt and Lucien as they stood by the drink table.

"Hm?" Geralt had been so fixated on his dance partner that he had not noticed when Lucien approached him. This lack of focus, his distraction, it was unlike him. It had been years since he had allowed himself to be so open, and then he had been living at the bottom of a bottle. While he'd decided to let the night take him where it would, he would not let even a second more of Lucien's company go to waste.

He looked back at the Frenchman, his eyes clarifying. "My apologies, patron, how rude of me. That is a German twist on a Sidecar, and this..." He picked up his glass and looked into it for a moment, letting that trademark smile spread its way across his face once more as his gaze sharpened. "Is magnifique. In fact..." he let his eyes flash to Lucien and kept them there as he downed the liquid in the glass and set it back down on the table, empty. "I'd love another," he finished, winking at the Frenchman, who now had his full attention as he leaned against the tall table on his elbow.

Akane followed Cora's gaze to Lucien and Geralt. "I'm sure he'd gladly make you another." She commented.

Aurel watched as Ivory had made her way back to the table. It was certainly odd for her to rush back like this, even if she had tried her best to be subtle. Briefly his eyes had gone to Geralt, but they found themselves back at Ivory as Illyana spoke up, clearly trying to divert the conversation in a different direction. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"It certainly did.. I don't think my feet could have survived such abuse." He said amusingly.

Ivory's eyes shifted to Illyana, her expression easing into amusement by her incredible terrible attempt to distract from what had just happened.

"Illy, you should let me teach you some steps sometime. Spare Aurel a little." She responded, eager to allow the conversation to move on. She hadn't even bothered to look toward Geralt and Lucien again. She had looked at Geralt enough tonight.

"I'll adapt." He joked in response, before glancing over toward the tree. "I'm going to step away for a little with my snakes.. I don't see that Ebony's returned yet.. So I'm going to go find him.." He said as he rose from his seat. Both women nodded, and he walked off toward the tree where a lot of his snakes lied in wait, and reached out his hand toward Bengal so he could slither onto him.

"Let's go find Ebony." He said.

The rat snake's scent wasn't too hard for him to catch, as it was something he was quite familiar with, and so with that they ventured into the forest. Part of Aurel had missed doing this too.. travelling through the woods with Lucien and Faolan.. camping.. Things had changed a lot since then.. even though now he did not need his two guardians to watch over him as he did things like this anymore.. sometimes.. he wished he still had them. He still wished Faolan was here.

He let out a sigh as he walked through the trees, and eventually found the black snake he was looking for. He was seemingly in progress of finishing his meal. At least relieved that he was okay, Aurel glanced around to make sure the surroundings were safe.

"We'll be heading toward shore, if you want to join us when you're done." He told the snake, before turning and heading toward there instead.

--

Lucien nodded. "Ah, I see." He said, before taking a sip of the drink, raising his eyebrows slightly. "It's sweet, but delightful." He commented, before giving Geralt a bit of an amused smile at he set his glass down and began preparing Geralt another drink.

"I'm glad you thought so." He said, pausing briefly. "I'll make myself one as well, I wouldn't want you to think that I'm unable to handle my alcohol." He half-joked as he began preparing two old fashioneds, spotting Aurel walking into the forest out of the corner of his eyes.

Illyana chuckled quietly, covering her mouth to hide her smile before replacing it against the side of her cup. She was glad that Aurel had jumped on the bandwagon to help her distract Ivory, even if it was obvious what she was trying to do. Even as a child, Illyana had never been good at subtlety.

"Oh..." she said in response to Ivory's comment, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I doubt I could keep up with someone of your talent. I prefer to watch anyway." She smiled again as she finished speaking, trying out all of the excuses that she could for the time being. Maybe one of them would stick?

She nodded to Aurel as he made his way off, knowing he could take care of himself as long as he had his snakes with him. Even though she felt that protective urge to go along, she knew that he would be fine. He was trained well.

Geralt watched Lucien's face as he sipped his own drink, glad to see that this one was being received with the same enthusiasm as the last. He bit his lip at the mention of the sweetness and felt his fist clench slightly as a wave of disappointment in himself passed over him. Lucien was far too polite to tell him when he didn't like something, he reasoned that this was as close as he would get to it. He felt his smile twitch as he struggled to maintain it. Geralt would be the first to admit that he was prideful, but he was also say that there were reasons for it. Unfortunately, it was harder for him to take criticism like this, especially from the object of his particular brand of affection.

"I am full of regret this evening, Lucien, I was all out of Cointreau. Hopefully the next drink I make you will be a testament to my skill and will not leave you wanting." He watched the Frenchman's hands as he made his own drink this time, taking note of how much whiskey he used. The Magician would not make the same mistake again.

Cora nodded to Akane as the two of them took their places at the table, herself at the end and Akane across from Illyana. She smiled at everyone in greeting, remembering her manners, then looked back over at Geralt and Lucien and called out to them in a clear voice, "Yoohoo!" she said, catching both of their attention by waving her hands, "Can I get another drink over here?" she smiled, but after a beat her cheeks redened once more and she added, "Please!?" rather forcefully, embarrassed that she had forgotten this pleasantry, especially when speaking toward Lucien. After another moment, she glanced around the table and said, "Oh, I'm sorry...would you all like anything?"

Illyana smiled sagely over at Cora, tilting her head slightly in amusement as she listened to the whole exchange. She shook her head at the question, "No, thank you. I'm just fine with water and juice." She took a sip of the juice she still grasped in her hands, studying Cora's body language to determine whether she should step in or not. It appeared the mermaid was fine, Geralt must have stayed his hand a little with her first drink. That, or she had a natural resistance to its effects. For now, it should be fine.

Geralt heard Cora's call clearly and knew exactly what she wanted before she finished asking. He flashed her a smile, then nodded and held up a finger to indicate that he had heard her. He then turned back to Lucien and grabbed a bottle of gin and a glass. "She is just a delight...where did you find such a unique and delicate creature?" he glanced at Lucien out of the corner of his eye as he began mixing the Bee's Knees for the girl.

Ivory let out a small chuckle. "Don't sell yourself short, I don't expect you to be able to do a back-flip in a day. I can be a merciful teacher, promise." She teased a little, before looking over at Cora and Akane as they joined them at the table.

"If you're going to keep drinking, you should try eating a little more. I'm alright though, water's fine for me." She said.

As Ivory had said that, Akane reached out for another plate and put on a few more sandwiches for Cora to eat and placed the plate in front of her with a smile.

"Can I have another as well Geralt?" She called out to the man.

Lucien glanced at Geralt as he spoke and shook his head as he placed the drinks into the water that had been replaced by colder water throughout their dance.

"Oh, I did not mean to make you think I did not like it, I was just surprised. I like both sweet and strong drinks, so please do not worry about that. Sometimes it's nicer to make your way up to the strong ones. We have plenty of the evening ahead of us after all." He attempted to reassure him, since it hadn't been his intention. In his eyes it was better to hold back a little when one was unsure of how much alcohol one could handle.

Golden eyes trailed over to Illyana and the others as Cora called out for another drink. He let out a small hum at Geralt's question. Cora's story was complicated, but the mermaid was different than Ivory.. if Geralt happened to ask her.. he was sure the mermaid would give him a very blatant answer.

"Hmm.. well, if you were to ask Cora that question, I'm certain she would tell you I found her in the middle of a field... which is accurate." He said. That was all he was really willing to share on that matter.

"Oh!" Cora exclaimed, raising her eyebrows as Akane placed the plate full of sandwiches in front of her. "You're right," she said, smiling at everyone before taking a fist-sized bite out of one of the morsels. She was rather hungry anyway.

Illyana turned her attention back to Ivory as Cora heeded her advice, glad that this reminder had been spoke aloud. "Just because you can," she said to the dhampir playfully, "Doesn't mean you should." Even with the best of teachers, Illyana doubted she would ever get the steps right. Not only did she not believe that she was capable, she simply wasn't interested. Besides, the troupe had enough dancers as it was.

"Coming right up, meine flamme!" Geralt called back to Akane as he picked up another glass and effortlessly transferred the bottle of gin to begin filling it.

He shook his head at Lucien's explanation, though he didn't take his eyes off of the task at hand. "Of course, of course, chef. I would think your palette would be nothing but sophisticated. One day I will gather the proper ingredients for another German Sidecar." He paused momentarily as he squeezed a bit of fresh lemon over the girl's drinks, "Or, just a particularly exquisite bottle of Asbach Uralt, for sipping." He winked at Lucien as he finished the drinks, but paused as he listened to the explanation about Cora.

He hummed in response, nodding sagely, "Interesting, given her...nature," he looked over at the girl who was stuffing her face with sandwiches, quite unceremoniously. "Maybe I'll ask her about it sometime. She can't blame me, I've never seen anything like her before." This was true of many of the members of Cirque D'étoiles, but Geralt could say with certainty that he was most interested in Cora's origins, mostly because he had not even known of the existence of her kind before her reveal earlier in the day and had never fathomed that mermaids, or sirens, were real. If Angels and Devils were real, The Magician supposed it could be true of nearly anything he could imagine.

Ivory's smile widened at Illyana's comment. "Oh yes, you'd know all about that. Just because you can stay up reading doesn't mean you should." She retorted, knowing quite well Illy would have no intention of wanting to learn to dance, but decided she had wanted to tease her about it anyway. It provided her with a sufficient distraction.

"Thank you!" Akane responded, before reaching out and grabbing a sandwich to eat for herself.

Lucien's smile widened at Geralt's words. "Then, I'll look forward to it, either of those options is fine with me." He said, simply watching the man make the drinks. He wasn't surprised that he fount his answer intriguing, but it was the truth. Part of him worried about what Geralt's prying might do but.. Cora was hardly ever alone, and she didn't really.. talk about everything else, so he didn't really think that Geralt would get too much information out of her, aside from maybe where she was actually from.

"Neither had I. It's quite intriguing to figure out what the world has up it's sleeve isn't it?" He asked.

--

Aurel approached the shore of the lake, which was further away and more surrounded by trees than where the others had set up. It was peaceful like this... For a while he just looked out into the water.

"Do you misss this?" Bengal asked, causing him to glance down at the snake on his arm.

"I do but.. I like what we're doing now too.." He said, before beginning to walk along the rocky shore again. His eyes trailed across the floor, on the look out for any interesting shaped rocks that he could get for Ivory, knowing she liked to utilize things like that for some of the things she put together. On occasion he'd pick some up that had caught his eye and would hold them in his arms as he continued along his path. Eventually Ebony had joined them, having finished with his meal.

"Did you find something good?" Aurel asked as he knelt down to pick the snake up.

"Yess.. it was satisfactory." Ebony responded, causing the man to chuckle.

"I'm glad you were all able to enjoy a successful hunt." He said as he began to venture back toward where the others were set up.

Illyana snorted a little at Ivory's comment, unable to hold back this sudden outburst. Of course, the dhampir wasn't wrong, but Illyana had not been expecting a retort of this caliber. "Hey," she said after she had finished giggling, keeping her tone light, "I thought we were on the same page with that..." After a beat, she broke out into full-fledged, though quiet laughter, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she succumbed to it.

It was rare that Illy could be caught laughing this way, and seeing it made Cora's jaw drop. Of course, she'd swallowed the bit of sandwich that was still in her mouth beforehand, but she looked over at Akane slowly and then back at Illyana. After a moment of just watching, a smile spread across the mermaid's face and slowly she began to mimic the diviner in her glee. The laughing increased in intensity and Cora joined right along with it.

"Mmm." Geralt nodded at Lucien's comment, sucking a bit of lemon off of his finger, "Oh, to undress the world...wouldn't that be something?" he smiled devilishly at the Nephilim for a moment, at least until the sound of laughter broke through the intensity of the moment. He glanced over his shoulder at the table, which had just erupted into a torrent of raucous laughter. He raised both eyebrows in interest, then looked back at Lucien, "It appears we're missing something quite hilarious over there. Should we join them?" Normally, Geralt would want to prolong his alone time with the Ringleader as much as possible, but he found his good mood to be allowing some deviance from his standard motivation.

Ivory's smile widened into a grin as Illyana began to laugh, and she couldn't help but follow suit. It wasn't common for her to let loose like this, so she didn't see the harm in doing the same. It wasn't often Illyana made a joke.

"Hah! Nice one." She said, before beginning to laugh with her.

Akane shared Cora's surprise in Illyana's outburst of laughter, but she had joined in with the others, enjoying the lightened mood they had come upon.

Lucien raised a slight eyebrow at Geralt's comment. "Yes.. I suppose it would." He said, before following Geralt's gaze to the table. A more gentle smile tugged at the Ringleader's lips at this. It wasn't often he saw Illyana laughing like this. He was truly glad that this night had done what it was supposed to.

"Yes, I say we should." He said, before he picked up the two glasses from the water and motioned toward the table. "After you." He said.

It was around that time that Aurel had returned from his venturing in the forest. He had set the two snakes down to allow them to go to the tree he had pulled Bengal from, before he headed over to the table, to which the mood was quite light.

"Seems that I missed something funny while I was gone." He said with a small smile, causing everyone to burst out into laughter again.

Illyana continued to laugh, and the act even intensified as more joined in. The "joke" she had made, if it could even be called that, hadn't even been clever, but for some reason it had really set her off. She supposed she was due for a good laugh, she had hardly found much reason to in the last few months, so she let it take her until she felt moisture gathering at the corners of her eyes.

Cora continued to laugh, but allowed the music of her giggle to die down with the rest as everyone slowly caught their breath. She looked around the table at everyone's smiling faces and was so glad to see them like this. It reminded her of home, and that made her even more happy.

Just as everyone had finally quieted to a couple of spaced-out chuckles, Aurel walked up and started the whole thing again. This time it was Cora who began laughing at his comment, only because he really had missed nothing at all. Illyana, upon seeing the mermaid's face light up once more, could not hold back from breaking out into rib-aching giggles once more and soon the whole table was laughing again.

It was then that Geralt and Lucien arrived, drinks in hand. The Magician paused for a moment to look around the table, and although the laughter had once again begun to subside at his presence, his arrival did not cause it to silence completely. He made his way to Cora and Akane and set their drinks in front of them, then waited for Lucien to sit before he took a chair himself.

As quiet once again settled over the troupe, the Magician couldn't help but comment, "Look here, Lucien, it seems that everyone had been having a grand old time without us. We must do something to fix that..." He took a sip of his own drink as he noted the cup of juice that Illyana was grasping between her pale hands.

"Oh, thank you!" Akane had said to Geralt as he placed the drink in front of her.

Lucien let out a chuckle as they had arrived at the table. "It seems so. I hope you don't all mind if we crash the party?" He said as he took a seat across from Ivory, and slid Geralt's glass to the empty space beside him.

Akane's smile widened. "Oh no, of course not! The more the merrier." She said happily, glad that the groups had finally come together.

Even Ivory could not complain of the fact that Geralt had joined them. The mood was too bright for her to be concerned by his presence at this point.

Aurel had let himself get carried off with the laughter on the table as he took his seat once more between Illyana and Ivory. He hadn't wasted too much time in turning to the dhampir, and extending his handful of interesting looking rocks.

"I found these along the shore of the lake further into the forest. Do you want them?" He asked her.

Ivory glanced down at the rocks, and her expression had brightened as her blue eyes glazed over the unique looking rocks he had brought her.

"Oh yes! Definitely, thank you, Aurel." She said with a smile as she took them from his hands and set them down on the table to examine them more closely. There were a couple that even had a shininess to them. She could certainly make use of them for something.

Even Illyana's good mood could not be negatively impacted by Geralt's presence, it wasn't worth it. Though the laughter had died down and eventually her smile faded, a sparkle remained in her eyes as she looked across at the two men that had joined them. Looking at Lucien, but addressing both of them, she said, "Of course not, you'd have to be uninvited to crash a party, after all."

"You are very welcome, my dear." Geralt smiled over at Akane and Cora as well, as he mouth was full and she could not issue a proper thank you at the moment. Then his eyes flashed to Illyana and he was quite surprised to see that her expression had not soured at his presence. Ivory's either, for that matter. This told him that there had to be something bigger at work than just a good mood...but it was best not to dwell on it now. He'd thought it would take much longer for either of the two to accept that he was among them now, but maybe this had been just the ticket for it.

He chuckled lightly and took a sip of his drink, nodding as he set it down, "Exactly right, and it is my welcome party, or so I was told. I'm glad to see everyone in such high spirits, even if you're not partaking of any." He swirled the dark amber liquid in his glass and took another small sip as he watched Aurel's exchange with Ivory.

He couldn't help but tilt his head at this, seeing the way her eyes lit up and how intensely she was studying the stones...well, it was not anything close to what he'd expected of her. She really was like no other woman he'd ever known...

"More tools for your plan for world domination, I imagine?" he asked playfully, watching as she picked some rocks up and looked at them more closely. He knew that the young woman was handy, especially if she had come up with the idea for Cora's tank, but he had no earthly idea of what these stones could be useful for.

"Thank you, Geralt!" Cora shouted a little too loudly as she lifted the glass to take a sip, "It's yummy!" she said, licking the liquid from her lips.

Geralt looked back over at her and let out a short but loud ha. "You too are welcome, tautropfen."

Ivory didn't look up from her inspection of the rocks she had been given at Geralt's comment. "It'll take more than just this to take over the world." She said, turning the rock she held slightly as it reflected a bit of the light. These were quite a good find.

Lucien let out a small chuckle at Ivory's comment. She was too into looking at the stones she had acquired to seemingly mind the fact that Geralt was there, that was good. He was at least glad some of them were growing a bit more comfortable with him.

"Speaking of which, we are due for a toast aren't we? Now that we are all together." He said as he turned to the man beside him.

"A toast for our very succesful night, and to welcome Geralt to Cirque D'étoiles as our magicien." He said, lifting his glass and extending it toward the center of the table. "Cheers." He called out.

Akane was quick to raise her glass and tap it to Lucien's excitement glistening in her eyes. "Kampai!" She said with a wide smile. "Welcome!"

Despite only having juice, Aurel lifted his glass and did the same. "Prost." He said in German.

Ivory finally glanced up from her rocks, giving a small pause, before she set down the one she was holding to lift her glass of water. She supposed it was only polite to do so. "Cheers." She said simply and lightly tapped the glass.

Geralt laughed aloud at Ivory's reply, and the smile that lit his face remained for the rest of the evening. At Lucien's suggestion, he raised his eyebrows and glanced over at the man. He opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't bring himself to do so. He did quite enjoy being the center of attention anyway.

The Magician rose his glass with the rest and smiled around at everyone, lingering especially on Aurel, before offering his own "Prost."

"Cheers." Illyana joined the group, raising her nearly empty glass of juice and offering a small smile to the table.

"Kampai!" Cora echoed, a little later and louder than the rest, and smashed her glass against Akane's hard enough that a little of her drink dribbled down the side of it and onto her fingers. She didn't seem to notice, or didn't care, because she let her own grin wash over the entirety of the gathering.

After all had sipped from their glasses, Geralt and Cora a little more than the others, they set their glasses down. "Thank you all, very much," Geralt began, "I feel truly embraced by you, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us." He glanced around the table, but let his eyes linger on Lucien for a moment.

After a pause, he clapped his hands loudly, "Well," he said, "I'd say about now is as good a time as any for a game of cards, eh?" He looked around expectantly, hoping to pass a bit more time before the party ended.

Akane let out a small giggle after everyone was done with their cheers before she took a sip of her drink, along with the others. Her tails swished from side to side in happiness, she quite enjoyed having everyone gathered together like this.

Lucien's smile widened, nodding in agreement at Geralt's words before raising an eyebrow at his next suggestion.

"Why of course, I don't mind. I heard you all got to play previously, I suppose I'll have a chance to match my pokerface to yours." He said as he took another sip of his drink, gently setting down his glass. It wasn't often that they all got to enjoy downtime like this, as the others were sometimes off doing their own thing, and Lucien was busy with the technical side of things of his job. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

As Geralt pulled out his deck of cards, once everyone had been dealt their hand, they all began to play. While they were clearly enjoying themselves, it seemed the alcohol was getting to both Cora and Akane, as they weren't being as careful in their game or in their expressions. Ivory and Aurel on the other hand were focused, the dhampir on trying to win and Aurel on trying to put everything he had been taught into practice. Luck seemed to favor Ivory this night, as she had taken the win, much to her satisfaction. Lucien and Geralt had held a hand of equal value, but it had not been high enough to beat her numbers. Considering the lack of an actual finish to the previous game they had, this left the dhampir quite satisfied.

Once the night had passed them by and it was time for the party to finally come to an end, everyone went off to their individual trailers after the clean up was done. The snakes had decided to stay outside, but Aurel had left the window open for them in case they wanted to return to the trailer, and everyone had eventually settled. Everyone except for Ivory, at least, and Cora who had decided to spend her night in the lake.

Currently she sat on her desk, separating the rocks she had been given by type with others that she had, so it would be easier for her to find a specific one she wanted for an artistic project she wanted to try. It was certainly a good way for her to pass the time.

Though Geralt had been slightly annoyed that he was not able to win the game in front of Lucien, he could not help but continue to be impressed by Ivory. At least the win had gone to someone he respected, anyway. Akane and Cora were definitely feeling the effects of the liquor, but no one seemed worried about this so he didn't feel the need to comment. As long as everyone was having fun and could remember his welcome party as an overall success, he was satisfied.

Illyana had consented to playing cards, but was less interested in actually winning, so she was knocked out of the game pretty early on. Though she disapproved of Akane and Cora's drinking, the mermaid's infectious happiness was definitely having an impact on her, especially given her proximity and how sensitive she was to the auras and psychic energy of others. Under normal circumstances, she would distance herself from this influence, but she was among friends, for the most part, and felt relatively safe.

Once the game was done and Cora had said her goodnights, she made her way back to the lake, reminding herself to find some other neat things for Ivory and hand them over in the morning.

Geralt parted ways with everyone as well, dispensing pleasantries, but lingering especially on Lucien. If he had known the man a little longer, he would have suggested a night cap in his trailer, but thought better of it. He may actually even sleep this evening if he didn't tarry too long. He gathered his belongings and spirited them away, and as he made his way to his trailer he stopped when he noticed a large brilliantly white feather on the ground. Knowing where it had come from, he crouched to retrieve it and smiled before tucking it into his vest pocket.

Illyana had other plans, however, and the card game had reminded her of something she had been meaning to ask Ivory about. Once she was sure everyone, especially Geralt, had settled in for the evening, she left her trailer and approached Ivory's. She knocked quietly, knowing that the dhampir was still awake.

Ivory glanced toward her door as she heard the knock, and closed the chest she had been separating the rocks in as she rose from her desk to head over toward the door. She raised her eyebrows slightly upon seeing Illy, but was quick to step aside to let her in and close the door behind her. She hadn't really been expecting her visit, considering she along with the others had given a goodnight.

"Everything alright?" She asked, motioning for her to take a seat on the table, following suit.