As promised, Fairen planned out a dinner event with the House Staff. Seated at the far end of the table, Marquis Fairen is positioned in a somewhat large table. It seems the staff are still setting the table though, placing large plates of food in a neat arrangement for everyone. Plates, civilware and glasses are also still being set out.

The silverware was much more civilized than the young woman that's taking her place at the table right now. At least Elloise had put in an last minute effort to tidy up. She offers Fairen a small, hopeful smile.

Still as sick as before, Arcadia shuffles down the stairs with a foggy weight to her otherwise peppy step. She sneezes into a tissue, which she hands off to some disgusted servant on her way to the dining table. "G'evening, Uncle Fairen, Elly." She greets both of them with a congested voice, and then flops into a chair beside Elloise, looking haggard. "Ngguhh..." Then, she brightens up, eyes wandering the table. "Is there cheese?"

"Hey Elly." Fairen greets with a soft smile as she arrives, inclining his head at her. Then he looks over at Cady as she arrives a few paces behind her, wrinkling his nose at her. "Yes. Goat cheese and Lycene bread." He says, peeking up for a servant who should be carrying the tray... Ah, there he is. A servant approaches the table and sets out a few bowls of goat cheese, followed by another servant who sets out a plate of bread sticks. "Elly, you don't have any sort of medicine for poor Cady here?"

Synder The Wolfhound arrives, following Barric.

Elloise's eyes go dinner plate wide, gray eyes startlingly clear as she pins her sister with a look. By which we mean it's a LOOK. A concerned, worried look. A thoughtful look follows it. "You do not want to eat cheese if you have that kind of stuffiness, Cady." Speaking the voice of reason like she's learning to be a wait -- she IS learning to be a physician. "I do have something. I'll need to make a tea of it." With a quick bit of energy she is hopping out of her seat and padding thatway toward the kitchens with Arcadia's tissue servant in tow.

Arcadia sniffles and snuffles, a drool of snot dripping down to her upper lip and then disappearing back up into her nostril. She perks up on the ends of her chair, leaning up an over the table to grab at the bowl of cheese -- but then she freezes at Elly's warning. "Huh? Why not?" Slowly, she returns to her seat, now looking the goat cheese over with a suspicious look. "I love cheese," she explains with a frown. "... I'm not drinking one of Elloise's concoctions, I'm already sick enough!" Her voice squeaks with alarm.

"Really?" Fairen replies with curiosity as Elly provides the warning about cheese being bad for stuffiness, arching his brow up with interest at that. As Cady returns the cheese though, of course he leans forward and secures the plate, stealing a few pieces away and setting them on his own plate. Just in time too, as a servant carries out a plate of roast duck. "You're drinking the tea, Cady." He answers as he begins to pile food on his plate. "She knows what she is doing."

Cora is late, poor Barric had been a proper gentleman and waited and Cora had done her best to flutter eyelashes and all that girly stuff. Sadly she lacks practice. Still she takes his arm and even stops panting like a mad thing as they step inside. Apparently her guards today aren't the usual as she managed to outrun this set. Poor things. "Sorry sorry I got wrapped up in a thing and well..." she tries her most charming smile on her Leary family, does it work? Lets find out!

Elloise returns with the servant who is the one that's been tasked to hold the steaming mug of tea. "That wasn't made by me, Arcadia. If, you know, that matters any to you. But I'm learning how to make similar blends. That should help eliminate some of the congestion. Sweetened with honey to cover up the licorice-root. There's also angelica root, magnolia flower, and several other things in there. Anything rich like cheese or milk is bad for the humors and a snotty nose." She lets the servant pass the tea over to Arcadia as she literally hops back up into her seat and reaches for a breadstick.

"A thing? How intriguingly vague." Barric tells Coraline with a playful smile and a shake of his head before he offers a polite wave to the others of the family who have shown up before them. "Good evening and well met everyone." He looks around and says, "Well, it seems like the guest list is always changing. I think I know a third of you." He chuckles softly, "I am Prince Barric Grayson, and on the off chance you don't know her, though everyone seems to... This is Princess Coraline Thrax. Who is I gather related in some fashion to this branch of Grayson Fealty already." He smiles wryly.

Arcadia just kinda squints and watches Barric as he introduces her cousin to her. She is, also, looking quite ill, stricken by some winter cold. She shrugs. "Mff, hi Cora, nice to meet you, Prince Barric," she says through a mouthful of goat cheese. Which, yes, she's eating. "I'm the only one in the world who likes licorice-root," she complains to Elloise with the utmost nonchalance, her nose going to sniff at the tea before trying a delicate sip. "Yuch," is her reaction, though she doesn't really seem to mind it. She takes another sip, and then inspects the assortment of foods before her.

"Cousin Cora, hi-hello-how're you? That's a very pretty ring that you have and it's an excellent example of an opal, too. Very fine example. Especially with that play-of-color and did you know that's all dependent on the internal structure of the gemstone. It's all VERY fascinating." Elloise starts to murmur even softer as she goes off on a tangent, eventually coming back around to greet Barric. "Hello, your Highness. Prince Grayson. Are you Coraline's intended? You'll likely be our cousin to. I'm Elloise. That's Arcadia. We're Leary cousins and also cousins to Fairen. It's nice to meet you."

When Coraline and Barric arrive, with Cora giving an explanation for the very slight tardiness, and Barric... Introducing... His... Cousin... To this group? Fairen wrinkles his nose up at the couple, with mild amusement, but waves them inside and gestures for seats at the table. "Hello, your Highness, Cora. How are you two this evening?" He asks as he starts to dig into his plate, eating with careful, deliberate nibbles. Then he looks between Cady and Elly, observing them interact with a deepened grin of amusement.

Cora gives Barric a look of amusement, "I do not know everybody! But I do know everyone here. And the Learys are my father's family that is how we are all cousins." She grins at Elly and Cady, "Hi Cady, Hi Elly! Hi Fairen." she nods fascinated at Elly's words, "It was a gift from someone who is a very dear friend. But that is very interesting, I know nothing about stones."

Arcadia glances over to her sister, blinking at her a little during that long-winded reaction to Cora's ring. She inspects it as well. "Pretty," she compliments, in much simpler terms than Elly. Her fingertips tap out a restless and rhythmless tune against the edge of the table, feet kicking with idle energy as she snatches out a chunk of bread and places it on her plate. "What's that?" she asks, pointing a little finger at the mutton. "Eagle?"

"Never can tell." Barric says with a wry chuckle, "I would not claim to know all of my family at all. There's just far to many of us." He walks with Coraline over towards the table with the food stuff but he gives Arcadia a concerned look, "I hope you get to feeling better soon." He helps Coraline get seated and then seats himself after adjusting his swords so he can do so comfortably. "Other than it being Winter, and thus cold, icy, and dreary... everything is excellent." He answers Fairen then looks at Arcadia again, "Eagle?" He asks curiously, "You eat a lot of Eagle around here?"

"No. Rat." Fairen teases towards Cady, wrinkling his nose up at her with a wide grin. "I'm kidding, of course. You should try a slice though." Then he looks over to Barric and Coraline as they sit down, chuckling at Barric's question. "No no. Definitely not. And as far as Cora knowing her family is concerned... Leary is a whole different subject." Another tease, the edges of his lips curling into a faint grin.

"No, we don't. That's our house sigil," Elloise informs Barric, rather matter-of-factly around a full mouthful of food. Very similarly to her (younger, taller) sister there's also an abundance of energy sort of simmering at the surface of the (shorter, older) sibling that's held at bay by the barest memory of dinner etiquette. Still, beneath the table she is swinging her dangling feet to and fro to thunk against the legs of her own chair, smiling and pleased.

"Ooooh," Arcadia says, eyes lighting up with curisoity at the idea of tasting rat. "Oh," she murmurs, the spirit of adventure drooping out of her when Fairen reveals that he's joking. She cuts herself out a slice anyway, and tries a bite.

"Now I am just curious if it tastes like chicken." Barric says playfully but he starts to make a plate for himself. "It's kind of like a yarn puzzle, trying to figure out where people are related to whom. I wouldn't be surprise if Coraline and I are like fifth cousins twice removed or some such." He grins at the thought, "And yes," He finally answers Elloise, "Cora and I are going to be married, eventually. The treaties are already signed and in place, now it's just waiting for the date and venue." He considers, "I imagine they might want to wait for the weather to break so as to not have people attending a double wedding between four royals in the rain and mud."

Fairen chuckles at Cady, then closes his mouth around his fork as he takes a bite of the goat cheese. When he has finished chewing and swallowing, he looks back over at Barric and nods his head at him. "Not to mention a double wedding in and of itself is difficult enough to plan. Especially depending on how.... Picky some people can be. Cora, on the other hand, I would suspect would be okay with a wedding in the rain and mud." He teases towards Coraline, giving her a playful wink.

"A winter wedding wouldn't be so bad, but, the weather would be dreary. It's true. A spring wedding - now, that would be even nicer. Ground thaws, flowers bloom, trees are all green again. Rich with symbolism." Elloise sighs over her glass of cider, taking a very small sip of it.

"See for me, I wouldn't mind a winter wedding either." Barric says with a shrug, "Means the anniverssary's always fall when it's nice to be inside by the fire anyways." He chuckles, "But I can't even begin to imagine what this weather is like for Prince Gareth. He already needs a cane at the best of times." He looks at Elloise and smiles, "I can almost guarantee it'll be a Spring wedding, or a Summer wedding. One or the other."

"Oh!" Something Elloise says has Arcadia excited, and her eyes swing on over to her sibling, her hand also reaching aside to tug gently at her sleeve. "That reminds me! I need your help. I'm going to plan a party, I'm calling it the 'Winter Garden Masquerade'!" A beaming smile sparkles out of the youngest Leary. "But I need you to do your science stuff, and help me figure out how to keep the garden warm so people can wear their nice, revealing clothes." Her eyes drop back down to her plate then, which is currently just meat and cheese. She pokes at it, not eating much.

"I wonder if Redrain nobility do their weddings in the winter season." Fairen muses aloud, taking another bite of his food. Just then, a servant arrives with the final compliment to the meal: A tray with a couple of bottles of Leaholdt Dreamwine, and a few bowls of sugar. The servant moves around the table, arranging the bottles around the table, each one with a bowl of sugar placed next to it. Dreamwine, being something most of the Learies know to be a rare, expensive beverage that is known to induce lucid dreams with just one glass. It is also a drink that really needs at least a spoonful of sugar in it, if not two. As a bottle is placed out in front of him, Fairen smiles and begins to pour himself a glass, sugar added for flavor.

"Braziers, Arcadia, filled and lit. Spaced evenly apart in and around the garden would warm the air significantly, and they would add to the ambiance with their light. I think that even, hmm, I could treat the dried wood with some of my --" Elloise wiggles her fingers to denote her 'science stuff' "To make the fires spark with different colors, hm." She reaches out toward one of the sugar bowls, stealing a cube or three.

"Sounds like an interesting idea." Barric says to Arcadia, "If you plan on having it during winter better get it prepped soon since winter will be over before we know it. Then all the Redrains will be complaining about the heat again." He smiles wryly at that. He also does not partake of the dreamwine but smiles a thank you never the less instead sticking with more traditional fare. "Those different colored fires sound interesting as well. Are you an alchemist Elloise?" He asks curiously.

The fact that Fairen sips slowly on his Dreamwine is just a tribute to how slow of an eater and drinker he is. But nevertheless, he sips on his dreamwine and continues to dive into his plate. "I think it's a wonderful idea, really." He adds with a soft smile. "In fact, I wonder if you could add something to make the fire either blue, or perhaps green?" He asks towards Elly, then looks over at Cady for a moment.

"Mmhm, I am your Highness. Not well-versed, yet, but well on my way. It will require a little bit of experimentation, I think, but I am confident that I can find something that would make Arcadia's event a little extra special. Cousin Fairen's likely more knowledgeable, about well -- almost everything -- he'll help me." She glances aside, "Won't you, cousin Fairen?" Elloise settles back in her seat, offering a dimpled smile around the table as she prepares her own very small glass of Dreamwine.

"Please," Barric says to Elloise with a smile, "Just Barric is fine. There's no need for titles amongst family, and I will be your Cousin by marriage soon enough." He continues to work on his meal as he listens to the back and forth about colors of fires and who knows what. Then a thought occurrs, "And white, if you could make a fire pure white then it would be like burning snow which would be rather intriguing."

"Mmm. See, you've actually got me beat when it comes to alchemy." Fairen replies towards Elly, wrinkling his nose up at her, and then giving off a soft chuckle. "But yes, I would love to help you. In fact, -you- will have to help me design the layout of the greenhouse laboratory before the spring and summer seasons return to us. That way, our staff can get to work on putting it together right away." Then he looks over at Barric with a nod. "That would be. I was thinking along the lines of doing a green fire, granting we can do that, as sort of... Just something to go with an event happening in Leary House. But that's a really good idea. If we could figure out how to do blue and white fires, spread them out in the garden... Now -that- would be an exciting event. Sort of an... End of winter masquerade."

"Oh, I ... I do?" With a lilting note of surprise from Elloise, as she blinks in gentle confusion at her brilliant cousin. Allowing the fact to fully sink in and be absorbed. She blinks, flushing a pleased-as-ever pink and she ducks her head into her small glass of Dreamwine. "I would be delighted to help you, cousin. I think we can make blue - white - and green. Maybe other colors, maybe. I just need time to tinker." She nods, dark curls bouncing with the bob of head, "Just Barric. Very similar to Just Lou. I understand."

Sonnet, a silver tabby kitten arrives, following Tomwell.

Cora listened to the fascinating discourse, not having much she could add really, "I love the idea of the different colored fire, you could put neat screens up as well to keep clothing from being caught alight. And they could make interesting dancing shadows of many and varied colors."

Sonnet, a silver tabby kitten leaves, following Tomwell.

"If you cut shapes in the screens, you could actually have the fires casting colored light shapes." Barric nods towards what Coraline says, "If you put the screen on say... hanging by a chain or twine or something it could even spin and cast those shapes all over the party to add even more thematic element to it." He offers, Elloise gets a faint eye-twitch though at actually calling him 'Just Barric' though.

"Oh yes. In fact, I would venture to say you are the Lead Leary Expert on Alchemical Subjects." Fairen compliments with a wide smile, taking another slow sip of his dreamwine. "In fact..." He pauses to think on that for a moment. "We could use that as a sort of event to subliminally advertise Dreamwine. I can almost guarantee you that most citizens who have never visited Leaholdt don't have a clue what it is, let alone have ever tasted it. But I also think just white and blue fires would do." Then he pauses, smiling and looking between Cady and Elly. "Let me know what you two come up with. But from the sounds of it, I may increase your budget to one hundred thousand silver for this event, not including the fee for the Whisper to plan it. That is, if you two can get a really memorable idea going."

"Oh, what lovely ideas cousin Cora --" and Elloise seems to completely miss that she's made Barric twitch, but she blinks back at the Grayson prince and fidgets in place with a small, anxious smile. "Sorry, allow me to correct myself. Barric." She chews on her lower lip a moment, offering, "Cousin Barric?" With a hitch of her shoulders, "Certainly, cousin Fairen. I will help Arcadia in the, er, more technical bits of the decorating. But as far as the finer details of event-planning... no thank you." She murmurs and takes another sip of her Dreamwine.

Elloise slowly drains her glass of Dreamwine, smiling a little more slowly as her eyelids start to droop. "Oh, I forget how little I need before I feel like a slug." Confessed, sheepishly.

"Barric." Barric says with a smile, "Even 'Cousin' is a title in it's way." He chuckles, "Looks like you could use some sleep Elloise." He notes conversationally, "I try not to drink or eat anything that alters my mind to much. Even alcohol I don't like to get completely drunk." He smiles wryly, "Maybe that will change some when I don't have to worry about disgracing Elvesbane with my actions."