[Location - The Birdhouse - Open to ALL] [brief visual]

[smecker.livejournal.com]

Paul eyes the table full of food and the cheap plastic chairs he's got set up. There should be plenty-- if he runs out, he'll take it as a very good goddamn sign, because it means people showed up.

The food isn't anything too complex-- there's a big tossed salad, some lasagna, garlic bread (and room on the table for people to place their own additions, if they want). The point of this isn't to be gourmet: it's to get people here, to try and make everyone get onto the same page.

Paul pinches at the bridge of his nose. That may be too much to hope for. Same book, though. Same book would be nice. Reading out of the same encyclopedia which has some common rules about not screwing each other over in the face of dealing with a common enemy.

He reminds himself to be polite, to bite back on his natural bitchiness, or at least cloak it in socially-acceptable levels of sarcasm and humor. Then he picks up his tablet to broadcast a reminder to the city.

"Hey, Taxon: food's on. Come with your brains engaged."

It's a few minutes yet until noon. Paul has a seat in one of the chairs and leans his head back to stare at the ceiling, waiting for people to arrive.


[OOC STUFF! The Birdhouse layout is visible here. Since Paul lives in the building now, it does count as a private residence: if your character requires an invite to get in, they will find the way blocked unless someone invites them inside. If characters want to do that, either knowingly or unknowingly, that is cool OOCly, but I'd like a private PM first about it since it may all factor into things Paul does with the Birdhouse over time. I'm also totally down with playing out a vampire not being able to get in, and trying to have to cover that up if they want to.

EVERY CHARACTER IN TAXON is welcome in this thread, regardless of whether or not you have established CR, positive or negative, with Paul. Just post them arriving!

I'm going to put up a thread of placeholder for 'eating' versus 'Paul trying to get everyone to give introductions', in which people can go around the circle saying who they are, that sort of thing. All the threads I post will be taking place on the ground floor of the birdhouse-- if you want your character to explore, go for it! Just put in your subject line where they are poking around.

If anyone has any questions about layout or what characters would find, please feel free to ask me!]

Comments

[longaevus]

"Some certainly do. Others... often need to be seen to be believed." As sad as that was it was far too true - the beings of tales, myths and legends? Were far more real than many chose to believe.

"Xenobiology is only one of the areas that I'm familiar with. I specialise also in cryptozoology and teratology." Did that give Martha more of an indication as to what exactly it was Helen did?

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

"So ... mythical creatures? Only they're not mythical in your world." Martha took the information in her stride, impressed but not necessarily surprised. Someone the creatures she'd dealt with or at least heard of were the origins of common myths in her own world. "And I'm guessing that you're not talking about birth defects when you mentioned teratology."

[longaevus]

Helen was impressed at how well that she was taking it, although given the doctor's own areas she had expected it a little. Her later assumption though? Well done, Martha.

"Correct. My area is on a far broader scale than that." Non-human life forms (her abnormals), specifically. "I work more with it's 'other' meaning." More so its original Greek - teratose: meaning deformity; hideous creature; unknown being.

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

"It's all linked. Whether they're aliens or mythical creatures or something else, they're still unknown beings."

And they probably seemed deformed or hideous to people who didn't necessarily know any better.

[longaevus]

“Exactly; few understand it quite so well.” Although given that Martha was a xenobiologist herself it made sense that she would.

"How long have you worked in the area?"

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

"Since I got my license," she answered. "I was sort of ... thrown into it when I was a medical student. It was a bit unexpected, but I've never looked back."

She never would.

[longaevus]

"I know that feeling well." She'd half thrown herself into it along with her father's help.

"I'm told here that there are individuals other than human that are also here."

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

"Plenty," Martha confirmed with a nod, "Although a lot of them look human."

She thought of what the Doctor would have said about a statement like that and, with a half smile, corrected herself.

"Or we look like them. It depends on who you're talking to."

[longaevus]

Helen smiled at that, giving a nod of agreement. Although it would be slightly different in Martha's case, being aliens of other worlds also rather than just abnormals, it still held truth.

"Then we'd better be careful who we do speak with."