Noel seemed to be having fun at the party all on her own. Given how much they enjoyed Devon's last private pool party encounter, Sveta knew that being in a crowd was not always easy for either of them. Even a small crowd, full of insiders.

>>"Sveta. Uh. I. Hi. It's been awhile. I guess you managed to get out and back around town."

Sveta chuckled at Noel's clear look at her chest. The dress was pretty daring, but she felt good about it.

"Yes, I'm out and about. And getting back into actually doing things for Haven." she smiled. She was proud of the progress, and Devon's trust.

>>"If I don't practice, I lose my skills. Haley said we need to generate some heat in here so hopefully we'll get some more dancers."

"Let me get a drink in first" Sveta grinned, snatching up a glass from the counter and returning to Noel. If she was gonna dance, she was not going to do it stone cold sober.

>>"So who do you know in here, exactly? Hadden, obviously. And me."

"Hadden and you" Sveta nodded, scanning the crowd "And Chief. And Nate. Nate helped me a lot with actually leaving the building." she smiled, then arched an eyebrow "Is that your guy over dere?"

Nate took thing in stride. Devon was not making a big deal about him and Quin, so Nate saw no reason to on his end. Taking things in stride also made for an apt summary of Nate and Quin, whose "casual relationship" often had a habit of just feeling like... well, a relationship. He took a seat next to her and his hand ended up resting at the small of her back like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Quin assured him that he did not keep her waiting. She knew how things still were for him adjusting to being the primary parent for Norah. "I wouldn't not show up after convincing you to come out. Think I would have missed how you look in that dress?" he asked with a grin, before looking back to Devon. "Or him in that suit? Not many men can work a look quite like him, tie or no tie."

In truth, Haven had a host of attractive members. Looking around the room, it was hard to deny. Hell, Jack was a physical mutant, but she had a strong muscular build that was hard not to admire. Indeed, they might have hosted one of the sexiest organizations in New York.

Nate looked around, realizing Quin already had a drink of her own. "Oh darn, I really should go grab myself something to drink. That's half the fun of company parties, right?" He begrudgingly stood from his seat. "Can I grab y'all anything?" Sure, Quin had a drink, but if they were going to be stuck at a party all night, he doubted it would be her last.

Handshake and pleasantries exchanged, Jack began the conversation. She noted how she used to work security for another club. One look at Jack was enough to convince anyone she could manage the job.

”Security f’r a club is its own animal. The right mix of alcohol an’ bad decisions can damn near start a riot.” Ranger drank from his beer before asking, ”How long y’ work security there? An’ How long y’ been runnin’ this club?”

He didn’t doubt Jack could run this place or that she could take out the trash when needed. The more he knew about her and how she ran the club the better he could manage the security teams in and around the club.

”Is there anythin’ y’ need from me security-wise? Either overt or covert t’ help manage the worst uh times.” Ranger asked. He didn’t want to iron out details now, but if she had anything pressing he could get it taken care of quickly or plan to come back to discuss more thoroughly. There were other people he had to meet that night and the mission always comes first.

Unless they played a country song. Noel was on the dance floor and he had on leather soled boots. Hell had frozen over that day so anything was possible… And he could always strong arm the DJ before the end of the night.

As they arrived at Club Inferno, Blaine acted every bit the gentleman his dress made him appear, holding the door open for her and then linking arms instead of holding her hand as was usual. Lee couldn’t help the happy smile on her face as she walked to the bar with him, glancing over every so often. She hadn’t been lying when she had said he looked damn good in that suit.

Though Blaine did surprise her when he ordered a bourbon instead of his typical beer. And though Lee would have loved to have been able to follow his lead, she settled for ordering herself a coke. Then she looked over at the man whose arm she was still holding to see Blaine smiling down at her.

But even with the alcohol he was sipping, Lee could feel the tenseness in the man standing beside her at the bar. Setting her glass down beside her, Lee placed her now free hand on Blaine’s upper arm. ”Relax hon,” Lee said looking up at him. ”Just try and relax and have fun. This is supposed to be a party, you know.”

Giving him an encouraging smile and squeeze of his arm, Lee turned her eyes to look around the club. There were people there, but because of the size the place appeared rather empty. And, Lee noticed, almost everyone was grouped up in pairs or threes talking, exactly as they were supposed to be since this was supposed to be a ‘meet the other members’ mission.

Everyone except for one young woman who was sitting way off to the side by herself. ”You know,” Lee said, turning to look at Blaine once more. ”The sooner we meet everyone, the sooner we can head home.” Giving him a smile she was sure he’d understand, Lee grabbed her drink and started walking across the bar to the blond.

”Mind if we join you?” Lee asked as she came to a stop in front of the young woman, her arm still linked with Blaine’s. ”I’m Lee, this is Blaine.”

Sveta needed a drink, but Noel knew better than to imbibe. She'd sworn off all alcohol again and considered a tattoo to make that a permanent thing. Most days, she felt pretty confident in the journal she'd started here. There was some pride in the fact that she was tattoo free. Not even her name. But it had been a comfort when at least that had been there. Then again... it was always eerie to be surprised to see more tattoos than expected...

Her friend was back in a flash. No time for Noel to practice.

> "Hadden and you. And Chief. And Nate. Nate helped me a lot with actually leaving the building."

"Chief is the big guy at the bar who's... err... an uncooked lobster? Right?" Was that indelicate? He was literally a lobster. A big effing blue lobster. With maybe a little extra rainbow thrown in because X-genes? The inhuman mutants always sort of baffled Noel. Anthropomorphism was distracting at best, impairing at worst. Lord knew she had her own problems, but at least she got to attempt to hide them.

"I know Nate from long before Haven. He's like a brother mixed with a backup. I've got a lot of his memories." Which usually implied that she'd kissed him, but they never had. Noel made a mental note NOT to dig into Nate's memory again unless it was an emergency since "helping Sveta" sounded like it might entail something consenting adults did in their spare time.

And speaking of those she'd never kissed, Sveta noticed the little acknowledgments she and Michael gave to each other before moving on to their own things. They weren't the type to stay glued at the hip. They had more confidence in each other than that.

> "Is that your guy over dere?"

"Yeah. Apparently, we'd met a long time ago out in the field." Noel scanned the crowd, same as Sveta. "Otherwise I know Quin a bit from Nate's memory. And... that might be it." The blonde reminded her of someone a little, but since she couldn't trust her own memory there was no point in assigning knowledge where she couldn't confirm it.

>> ”Okay...Devon.”

A slight nod and the lift of a corner of his mouth answered her.

>> ”But you would have been in trouble if you’d told me I had to be here and then failed to show. I assume you had to wait on a sitter, so I’ll forgive your tardiness...maybe Devon will too.”

Devon chuckled lightly, shrugging his shoulders playfully at the comment. He watched the couple play at words, tease and taunt, assure and comfort. They were both charming people, and he was glad Nate had found someone else to soothe his need for companionship. Even Nate couldn't help but include Devon in the flirting.

>> "I wouldn't not show up after convincing you to come out. Think I would have missed how you look in that dress?" he asked with a grin, before looking back to Devon. "Or him in that suit? Not many men can work a look quite like him, tie or no tie."

"Stop stop, but thank you," he grinned too. Devon knew the compliment was well meant, but sometimes... No, he couldn't allow himself to start finding his friends disingenuous. It was friendly flirting and there was little behind it but well-meaning.  His own fatigue was no excuse.

>> "Can I grab y'all anything?"

Nate had started to stand but Devon had never sat. He waved his hand for the other man to desist. "No, no, you stay seated. I need to make the rounds. I'll send over your drinks from the bar. What would you like?"

He didn't take no for an answer, getting their orders, before leaving them with a slight bow of the head. "I'll send those right over," he smiled and off to the bar he went.

Celeste was busy typing away on her phone, sitting off in the corner. It seemed like most of the adults had congregated around the alcoholic section. Personally, she couldn't see the attraction to it. It didn't taste good, it made people make bad decisions, so on and so forth. In either case, she could understand why one might want to drown their sorrows in an alcoholic beverage and she truly wasn't one to judge. She'd probably be drinking it in a few years to, realistically.

As she stayed in her corner, she saw several other members enter. She knew Ranger, Devon of course. She then saw Nate, whom was the only reason she was with Haven. He recently recruited her and was setting her up for success with Haven and with certain political groups. It was a great decision and one she knew she wouldn't regret.

She saw a woman and a man coming towards her and she nearly gulped. She knew of them, but she had never actually met them. It was nice to finally put a face to their name. They had came as a couple - they truly were an adorable couple. She smiled as they approached and as Lee asked if they could join her. Celeste stood up to be respectful and nodded, "Of course, definitely!" She nearly beamed. "I'm Celestina, you can call me Celeste though. It's nice to meet you both! Enjoying the party-mission?"

She noticed that Lee wasn't drinking an alcoholic drink and mentally felt like giving her a high fiving her, but knew that would probably be rude. Or disrespectful to the guy who was drinking a drink. Or whatever. Maybe Celeste was just bitter that she wasn't 21 yet. Heck, would this guy even card her? She wondered for only a moment.

Honestly, Blaine didn't like parties or social situations unless he was working the door or security. That way, he was there, but he had a job to do. When he was a part of it, he just...tended to gravitate towards the bar. He nursed his bourbon as Lee spoke. "I know...I'm trying. Normally when I'm at one of these things, I'm at work. I don't know what the hell to do since I'm not here to card people or crack skulls," he muttered, looking over at Lee with a 'fish out of water' expression.

Meet everyone. Then head home. That was the best idea of the night. Aside from making out in the corner the whole time, but he didn't think that would make a very good impression, and he and Lee were supposed to be involved in the group and not just each other, right? So he let Lee lead the way, as always, and he let her do the talking first as they made their way to a...young woman. From what he could tell, she was fake ID young, though she wasn't drinking. That was good. He took another swig of bourbon, mostly to remind himself that he wasn't working.

For someone with the confidence and swagger that Blaine carried, it was worth noting that he usually let Lee lead the way and do the talking. Part of it was the gentleman in him, and he knew that Lee was better in social situations. You don't let a guy who's never flown before pilot a commercial airliner, after all. He nodded his greeting to Celeste.

"Nice to meet you too. To be honest? I'd enjoy it better if I was just the bouncer," he said quietly, shrugging lightly. "Social situations aren't really my forte." He grew silent after that, unsure of what to say. He thought about telling his MMA story. Would this setting be appropriate for his MMA story?

He didn't know, so for the most part he stayed quiet.

Quin took a moment and simply basked in the glow of the compliments. They were delightful.

Maybe work parties weren’t so bad after all...if one worked for a young, wealthy entrepreneur with strong aesthetics and an open bar. It also helped that Nate was there. As usual his presence made Quin feel more confident and somehow more...buttoned down? It was safe to socialize with him there...and how long had it been since they’d dressed up or done something nice? The answer stretched into years...things had been so easily casual since they’d reconnected that the effort of getting fancy hadn’t seemed worth it.

Nate seemed to echo Quin’s sentiment about Devon’s suit and she wanted to comment on the fact that not everyone could pull something like that off without looking silly or costumed. The redhead didn’t know much about fashion, but she knew there was a whole ‘nother level calle ‘high fashion’ that she didn’t dare touch. Devon’s outfit had to fall somewhere in that category…

The boss man demurred when Nate made his compliment, and Quin decided that further gushing might be considered laying it on too thick.

Nate mentioned getting a drink and asked if she or Devon wanted anything. Looking down at her near empty glass, Quin was getting ready to accept when Devon took care of things for them. She could have one more, the heels weren’t that hard to walk in. Watching the head of Haven retreat towards the bar, Quin smiled slightly and shook her head.

”He’s something else, isn’t he? I still can’t believe he remembered who I was. Does he know everyone like that?” Even after working as an investigator for Haven for several months, Quin still didn’t know exactly what it was Nate did every day beyond his normal administrative duties, but she knew he worked closely with the upper echelon of the organization.

”To be honest though, I’m shocked how poorly I am remembering everyone. I mean, I know Michael…” she said, nodding in the guy’s diretion and wondering if anyone here knew him as anything other than, “The Ranger.” “...and I know you, and I sort of know Noel...but beyond that I’m drawing a bit of a blank.”

Quin smiled at Nate as the drinks arrived, ”What do I need to know?”

Lee smiled when Blaine told her that he was trying. She knew that he was, he’d definitely made the effort with his clothing, dressing up much more than she’d ever seen him do before, even for when they had gone out on dates. He was trying, which was good, but he was still extremely tense and uncomfortable. ”I doubt there’d be any heads to crack here tonight, even if you were working,” Lee said. ”Just act like it’s a slow night. I’ve seen you stand there and just talk to people at the bar.”

Giving Blaine an encouraging smile, Lee led him across the bar. The girl looked surprised at first when they got to her table, but that was quickly covered over with a smile as she stood up. Smiling in return, Lee finally let go of Blaine’s arm and took a seat at the table as the girl introduced herself.

”It’s not bad,” Lee said, then shook her head at Blaine, though she had a smile on her face. ”I prefer it when you’re not working.”

Turning her eyes back to Celeste, Lee regarded the young woman for a moment. Lee couldn’t help but think that she was quite young. But then again, Slate had been quite young, too. ”And you? How are you enjoying the party sitting all the way over here?”

Taking stick of whom they knew, Sveta realized that she had a lot of catching up to do as a new member of Haven. She was curious about most of them too. Did Devon pick all of them up like he did with her, or did Haven actually do some official hiring occasionally?...

>>"Chief is the big guy at the bar who's... err... an uncooked lobster? Right?"

"Mantis shrimp" Sveta chuckled. It was a fun thing to pronounce, and a whole lot more badass than lobster. She had looked it up. "And Jack's a she."

>>"I know Nate from long before Haven. He's like a brother mixed with a backup. I've got a lot of his memories."

Sveta arched an eyebrow. Nate was like a brother mixed with a backup to a lot of people. He was just that good at it. Sveta was not surprised that Noel trusted him. She was a little bit surprised about the implied kissing... And talking about kissing, she was intrigued to see Noel's assumed boyfriend walk in. He looked nice.

>>"Yeah. Apparently, we'd met a long time ago out in the field. Otherwise I know Quin a bit from Nate's memory. And... that might be it."

"Apparently you met?" Sveta arched an eyebrow "My powers are f*** but sometimes I don't envy you. You want to introduce me, or what?" she grinned. If she was going to meet new people tonight, might as well start with the one she was curious about.

Nate felt surprisingly comfortable in the party setting, and he was sure part of that came from being surrounded by people he trusted and cared about. He might not have known everyone in Haven, but he could look in most directions and find familiar faces. Good friends. Best friends. And Quin, whatever role she was taking in his life.

Nate was ready to grab a drink, but Devon did not give him an option. He would consider resisting, but he was not going to complain about being left with Quin. ”Go be a social butterfly then. I won’t say no to a Jack and Coke.”

Left alone with his favorite redhead, Quin had nothing but good things to say about Devon. The Founder was definitely something special. ”He’s a natural at this. He cares about people. He was actually the councilor I was meeting with after my release.” It was crazy to think of how far things had come from there. ”I wouldn’t have brought you into all this if I didn’t have a lot of trust in the man at the top."

Quin was still adjusting to the world of Haven, and Nate wanted to take it upon himself to make her feel like she belonged. He slid scooted his chair over so he was sitting beside Quin and he placed his hand at the small of her back. ”Well, I know some better than others—it’s a big organization and all— but I can give you the rundown.”

Nate pointed to the two women in the club he was probably closest to after Quin. ”You already pretty much know Noel. I don’t break out the phrase ‘best friend’ often, but she’s it. The blonde woman she’s talking to is Svetlana. I work with her pretty closely. If you ever need to trust someone in a pinch, I vouch for her.”

Subtly guiding Quin by moving the hand on her back and the hand he gestured with, they switched focus to a group of three, including one of the youngest members in attendance. ”The pair are Lee and Blaine. They’re new, so I’ve only seen their names in documents, but from what I understand, they’re a package deal.” Between those two, Noel and Michael, and potentially Nate and Quin, Haven could probably double as a dating service.

”The young woman they’re talking to is Celestina. She’s a recent Mansion graduate and we have her set up with an internship in one of the local political offices. That girl’ll do great things.” Nate was confident about that fact; he’d be hard-pressed to find a pupil he was prouder of than Celeste.

Finally, they ended up at the most vibrant member of the evening’s festivities. ”You know The Ranger, but the colorful shelled-woman he’s speaking to is Jack. She’s part of the security team and worked security at the Mansion.” Almost throwing Nate out on is ass on his first day back. ”Jack’s good people. Really, we have a lot of good people here.”

Nate turned back to Quin, grinning. ”It’s a unique bunch, but I think you’ll fit in fine. How’re you holding up?” With everything on his plate, Nate didn’t get to spend nearly as much time as he wanted with Quin. He would, of course, ignore for the moment what was implied by that desire to spend most of his time with her.

>> ”Security f’r a club is its own animal. The right mix of alcohol an’ bad decisions can damn near start a riot.”

The prawn rumbled a laugh of affirmation. Wasn't that the truth. She sipped her mixed whiskey drink. She wasn't sure what to say beyond that, besides that Michael's interpretation was accurate.

>> ”How long y’ work security there? An’ How long y’ been runnin’ this club?”

"Security sore six years, or close to it," the prawn clicked, "Running here sore... al-nost a year I sink."

She'd given notice at Chrysalis back before... times-that-won't-be-named... and that had gone down in June of last year. Had it really almost been a year. She blew a lost whistle, in spite of herself.

>> ”Is there anythin’ y’ need from me security-wise? Either overt or covert t’ help manage the worst uh times.”

Straight to business. Jack could talk business.

"Since it's so exclusi'e, hasn't had duh usual clu' dra=na y'see around," Jack murmured, "I sink... jus' 'ein' around sore iss sings go sou-s is e-nuss. Just kee' doin' what'cha 'een doin'."

Honestly, the trouble in this place was fairly few and far between. Since everyone was either high-profile or members of Inferno, they were less likely to cause scenes... except... those who were more likely to cause scenes. The prawn let her gaze slide around the room and, at a reasonable distance, saw Nate gesturing towards her, pointing Jack out to a redhead woman. The prawn gave a casual salute of acknowledgement to one of very few of the other familiar faces at the gathering.

“Good evening, Selene,” Devon smiled at the bar tendress behind the counter.

“Black Magic, Mr. Hadden?” she asked with a wry grin.

Devon’s eyebrows flared as his eyes widened, “Oh no. As delicious and tempting as that was, I don’t think my head could take it tonight.” He chuckled as she shrugged a coy shoulder. He pointed to Quin and Nate as he ordered their drinks, “…but I need to decide what I want. Gin and tonic, maybe.”

“Of course sir,” she seemed to chant the words.

While she concocted their potions Devon withdrew his phone. Scrolling through his contacts, he tapped a message to a gentleman he hadn’t seen yet: Artair Hawke .

~Hey. Hope you’re coming to the ‘mission.’ If you’re prepared for a drink at the Inferno, you’re ready. Have a good night if you’re busy.~

Slipping the phone away he smiled down the bar at the Ranger and Jack. Selene cast the gin into his hands, but he refrained from sipping just yet. Instead he let an appraising glance roam over the Inferno and a proud smile.

Security for six and at Inferno for almost a year. ”So we rode in here near ‘bout the same time.” It was weird to think that come May he’d have been with Haven a year. Which, while being great for his business, was somewhere Ranger felt he could do good the only way he knew how. By getting his hands dirty.

As for what Jack needed from him, it seemed he was already providing sufficient security. Inferno wasn’t just some random club, its exclusivity was already a wall of protection. And depending on who was working security on any given night, a handful of people can handle anything. And if the worst happened, Ranger likely wouldn’t be far away. He did live at Haven afterall.

”Tha’s good. Though, if y’ find y’ need anythin’ jus’ let me know ‘r jus’ let one of my guys know, an’ they’ll pass it on t’ me. In a pinch, my number should be ‘round here somewhere.”

Ranger took a drink of his beer and heard one of the bartenders say under his breath, "I can't imagine what this would look like written down" Ranger gave the man a sideways look and he quickly made his way off to busy himself somewhere else. Ranger smiled at the reaction.

A quick scan of the club showed most people were in clumps. Three here, three there. He was in one of the pairings. Jack was keeping up her end of the conversation, but Ranger could tell she wasn’t a social butterfly by any stretch. He knew he needed to go meet more of the other’s he didn’t know but butting into another conversation could wait a beer.