The sun has long since gone down and yet the lights and music of the First Fairhaven Labor Celebration haven't lost any of their luminosity. Bright electric lamps illuminate what was supposed to be a dance floor but has now become more of a general mingling of mutants in varied states of dress. There have been a few moments when the K-9s or some other party has had to step in and break up an argument or admonish a pair for public indecency, but so far this party has been generally pleasant. The smell of grilled meat and strong drink waft through the air from the tables far from the stage. Seems that the refreshments have been restocked.

Giovanni Sabella, the man who bankrolled this event, now sits in a wooden chair beside the DJ booth with his lady friend, who has been introduced as the new Labor Secretary, Nora Kirk. The two seem to be having a pleasant chat with each other, regardless of the two guards that flank the politicians. It's at this slow point that the officers surrounding the party have opened the barricades to allow more people to file in.

A Human in rumpled clothes slips in, already working his way to the refreshments table, getting a plate of food and a drink to wash it down with. Mal steps off to the side, digging in happily as he looks around, content to eat his food and watch the festivities and people for the time being.

That human didn't come alone, though. An otter, clad only in his fur and a lovely blue bowtie around his neck is close behind. He loads a plate with a bit more food than his companion, owing to his rounded tummy; he's eating for two, after all. "Oh man, Mal... Isn't this fun! The lights, the music, the food! And the people! I'm glad you talked me into coming, Babe."

Colette happily wandered down the street, a slight skip in her step as she strolled into the event. A large woven basket hung from the woman's arm, the white cloth covering it hardly doing anything to mask the aroma of freshly-baked goods filling the space around her. Each guard Colette passed by was offered a muffin, a glazed croissant, a slice of cinnamon bread, all freshly-made and mouther-wateringly sweet.

"Please, take one, thank you for your work!" she'd say as she passed through the event, stopping everyone she passed by for a moment, "Freshly made just a bit ago, thank you for your work!"

Lilac slithers into the fifth street station, quite literally. The voluminous hybrid bovine-lamia powers herself forward with a sashaying of her hips, her long tail following in her wake. She's dressed for the occasion, in a long flowing blue dress that hugs her upper body and terminates about three feet past where her lower half begins. She stops to regard the attendants, panning left to right before settling on moving towards the refreshments. She smiles politely at the handful of guards and other attendants she meets, but it's the sight of Colette that stops her in her tracks. She reels her tail into a pile beneath her while watching the dutiful baker handing out her treats, smiling at her and waiting for her to walk near enough to chat. "That's a lovely thought, Miss. Now I feel a fool for not having brought a gift myself.."

The end of a particularly poor cover of Funky Town casts a sudden silence over the gathering as the lizard DJ fumbles for the next record. During the lack of music, the doberwoman Secretary Kirk slips rather conspicuously off the stage with one of the guards following her. It seems she's taking the time to mingle a bit herself. The feline baker with her basket of baked goods seems as good a candidate as any for her buttering up, so the secretary introduces herself with a strong handshake that doesn't allow room for a "no" answer. "How are you doing? Glad you could make it. So nice to meet a young entrepeneur." She rattles off in a confident voice.

Meanwhile, the two men that had slipped in to the refreshments table find it fully stocked. Grilled chicken, lemonade, beer, even barbecued pork are all on offer, free of charge courtesy of a rather harried-looking snow leopard taur.

"What, clearly I just came for the food," Mal teases, smirking as he looks over to Bleu. "I guess the rest of it is pretty good too, though; excellent music choices," he adds as he looks around at the other arrivals, eyeing the Serval with her baked goods, and blinking at the large bovine hybrid. "Oof..." he mumbles, glancing from Lilac's dress down to his wrinkled 'suit'. "Now I wish I'd at least ironed my clothes..."

The Human finishes off his food and disposes of the plate, taking a moment to thank the Feline Taur before turning to his Otter companion. "I suppose we ought to mingle..." Mal comments, holding his beverage in his hand as he, reluctantly, steps away from the refreshments and into the small crowd.

Bleu takes longer to eat, savoring the refreshments. He smiles at the leopard taur. "Mmm, it *is* pretty good, Love." He pauses to nuzzle the human playfully. "You look *fine*, Mal, trust me." The otter grins, finishing his food. "Mingle? I suppose we *could*. Maybe. I don't know anybody else here, though... Wait, is that lady giving out baked goods??"

Colette's ears turned towards the Lami-ox a second before the rest of her followed, her grin turning somewhat bashful as her free arm came up to rub at the back of her head. "Nothin' to feel foolish over, no fret, it's a day to relax," she reassured, flipping the white cloth over to reveal the steadily-dwindling pile of sectioned treats. Her attention was quickly stolen away by Kirk, though, Colette quickly switching gears and responding to the greeting with a swift, firm handshake that belied her casual clothing. "Colette, owner of the Sliced Loaf. Couldn't do it alone, thanks for holding this event."

The basket was held up in offering towards both of the taller women for her to take their pick if desired, with the secretary's guard not being forgotten, either. "I wouldn't have the chance to give if everyone hadn't started working as hard as they have been. Just my way of showing gratitude."

Lilac edges closer, that tail of hers making for a short lived tripping hazard before she coils it back up again. She admires the tray of baked goods before turning her attention to regard the secretary. "The Sliced Loaf. I'm surprised I'd not heard of you before. These are quite high quality products you've got here miss. You should be proud! Not easy to make food with a real texture these days." She lifts herself up a bit higher, her tail impelling her up as she draws to her full height to regard the secretary again. "Lilac, a pleasure. I'm afraid Lady Lila is indisposed today, so she sent me in her stead to represent the folks over at the Mother's Milk. This is a delightful party you've got here!"

"Why thank you!" The labor secretary intones, proudly puffing out her chest. "Mister Sabella may claim the credit for this, but it was really my idea." The doberwoman grabs one of the offered baked goods, a hot cross bun, and takes an exploratory bite. Once she's politely swallowed it down, her stubbly little tail begins to wag excitedly. "Delicious! If this is the sort of thing our hard work has made possible, I think I can speak for everyone here in saying that we'd be delighted!"

As the other couple make their way through the crowd, they notice that many of the people are unfamiliar faces, perhaps from places like Cat Town or the Hare Village. One more obvious local is the pale-skinned fox-tailed man in the well-stitched Zephyr-logoed blazer, busy guzzling down a pint of ale.

Mal turns back to Bleu and grins. "I think I saw a muffin," he says to the Otter, almost walking backwards into the slithering Bovine. "Oh shit; sorry. If I said I didn't see you there, would you believe me?" the Human asks jokingly, looking up at Lilac with a grin.

The clumsy young man offers a hand to the Cow-Snake, smiling. "Name's Mal," he says, gently tugging the Otter off course from the baked goods. "And this is Bleu," he adds, before releasing his companion again, directing them to Colette. "Grab me a muffin, yeah?"

Bleu had been on a mission to get a sweet, yes. But then the otter finds himself diverted. He looks up at Lilac, nodding his head. "Oh, uh, hello Madam. I don't think we've met," he says, somewhat absently, as he returns to his previous objective. He slips away from Mal, weaving through a group of hares over toward Colette. "H-hello... My... That smells good... May I?"

Colette visibly perked as Lilac dropped the name of the local saloon, a sudden investment in her expression as she looked over the woman. She laughed lightly at Nora's words, her tail idly swishing behind her at the rain of complements.

"I grew up working with a wood oven, and the farmers at New Dawn have been more help than I could ever repay. Who knew old-fashioned parents would end up being just what I needed?" Colette spoke with a momentary smirk, pausing for just a moment as Bleu addressed her. "Of course!" she responded with a nod, holding the basket out a bit towards the otter. "Thanks for your hard work~"

Lilac blinks as Mal comes close, nearly bumping into her, and turns about herself to face him a bit better. she smiles warmly, a practiced and welcoming smile, honed by her years of work at the Mother's Milk. She takes the proffered hand and nods. "Lilac. A pleasure to meet you Mal. And you too, little one." That last comment directed with a smile at the little otter. The amazonian lamia returns her attention to Colette and the secretary. "Well, I for one welcome more food that isn't just nanite mush given interesting shapes." She finally reaches down to take a small cream cake, taking a very chaste bite of it to try it out. "Mmm.. delicious!"

The keening sound of audio feedback splits the air as a microphoned podium is set up on the stage, and with that, the secretary makes her goodbyes to the group and makes her way back up to her seat. The well-dressed husky stands and walks over to it, taking his place behind the podium and clearing his throat as the music abruptly ends. "My friends, colleagues, travelers. Thank you for being here tonight. And for those of you who've just arrived, welcome to the First Fairhaven Labor Celebration. I'm Giovanni Sabella, representative of the new unified government..." Sparse applause breaks out from the crowd. "With me today is a close friend, who I hope to work very closely with in the future, Miss Nora Kirk!" The doberwoman confidently strides up and takes her place at the suited husky's side.

"There is so much to be grateful for today. In the past, before the nanite age, the first day of May was celebrated in many nations as a day for those who work the hardest to make our society run. You. You the workers, who toil so restlessly to build our houses, fix our roads, heal our sick and bake our food. Without labor none of this..." The husky holds his arms outstretched. "...Would be possible. So today we designate as a day of rest and celebration of all the work that will secure a future for us, and for the city yet to come!"

Mal chit-chats with Lilac for a moment longer, leaning over to snag himself a muffin from Colette with a wide smile and wink, before stepping away to stand beside Bleu, quietly munching on his little bakery treat as Sabella steps onto the stage and begins his speech.

The Human leans over to the Otter beside him, muttering to Bleu with a smirk as he watches the stage. Mal holds the muffin with his teeth as the speech seems to end, clapping professional-like for the Husky and Doberwoman.

Bleu seeks out a cinnamon roll in the basket, and is delighted when he finds one. "Thank you, Ma'am. This smells divine!" The otter sniffs the roll, and then bites into it with an "Mmmm..." He leans against his human, eating his roll happily, as Giovanni speaks. When Mal leans over, Bleu nearly chokes, and has to bite his lower lip not to laugh out loud. Quickly swallowing his bite, he quickly mutters back just as quietly.

Colette continued to split her attention between the growing group, beaming at yet more complements. "I'm glad to be able to provide for someone from the saloon," the serval said to Lilac with a wide grin, "I was helped out by you all more than I could ever repay back when I first arrived at Fairhaven. Still, I'd like a chance to give back at least a bit to everyone there now that I'm able."

Attention was brought to the stage as Nora moved away, Colette politely waiting for the speech to die down before raising her arms as best she could to clap for the two.

Lilac blinks at Colette's words. She was about to inquire further when all the focus shifts to the podium. She simply smiles and politely claps for Giovanni's words, before turning back to the small group near her. "A day of rest.. what a peculiar thought, isn't it? Dedicating one whole day to not doing much, in order to celebrate doing so much otherwise. I suppose it makes sense.."

The speech continues after Giovanni takes a pause to allow for the scattered applause and murmurings. "But it's not just the hard work itself that we're celebrating. Today we are reaping all the rewards of your grit and determination. To that effect, Secretary Kirk?" With a flourish of his paw-like hand, Sabella cedes the stage as the pantsuited, pointy-eared canine takes his place and waves regally to the crowd.

"Yes, thank you, Mister Sabella. Today is not just a day of celebration, it's a day for new beginnings. Before P-day I was an organizer for the Screen Actor's Guild in Los Angeles, and I hope that I can carry this experience with me to my newly appointed role as your Secretary of Labor..." "Bullshit!"

Shocked expressions blanket the crowd and all eyes turn to the source of the outburst, the inebriated kemonomini in the fancy blazer, as Kirk cocks her brow curiously, almost amused by it. "How the hell's a glorified secretary for a union of preening Hollywood elites gonna know shit about managing labor!" Before long two of the K9s from outside the barricade are moving toward the man, though his rambling continues unchallenged. "And it's not the working class that you should be thanking, it's us! The people who even gave you sorry bunch jobs in the first pla..." His rant is thankfully silenced by a flick to the microphone from the doberwoman that sends a squeal through the stage's loudspeakers, and his ears fold back in pain from the harsh whine.

Mal has been quietly munching on his muffin, and he finishes it just as the drunken, fox-tailed man starts ranting. The Human's brow furrows as he turns to look at the Zephyr executive, brushing his hands off on one another. "Right..." he mutters, shaking his hand. Figures it'd be a Zephyr employee to speak up...

Mal shakes his head and turns back to the stage, rolling his eyes to his companion. The Human grins wide as the Kenonomini's rant is cut short by the microphone, and he audibly chuckles.

Bleu is still eating his cinnamon roll. He's still pretty hungry; being pregnant will do that. He leans on Mal, watching Miss Kirk as she starts to speak. "I went to Hollywood, once," he murmurs quietly to his companion, before his attention is diverted to the foxy heckler. There's always a party pooper. He looks up at Mal with a sigh, then covers his sensitive ears. That whine is painful for the otter, too.

Colette's ears pin against her head at the sound, a wince flashing through her expression before she shakes her head free of it. She nibbled at her lower lip, looking between the three around her, up to the stage, to the guards, then to the obviously drunken man. "One moment. . ." she murmurs, her hair trailing behind her as she moves towards the other Kemonomimi. The white cloth was repurposed stacked with a few hastily chosen treats, then wrapped and tied by the time she came in front of the man.

"

"The machine needs parts, just as parts need a machine," Colette spoke quietly. She held a wide smile; confident, practiced, but an obvious front to anyone practiced. The white, food-filled cloth was held out to the man, her other arm propping the half-empty baset into his vision as a hint to what was being given. "Thank you for your hard work."

Lilac closes her eyes at the sudden sharp noise, a split second before she covers her ears reflexively. Her half-eaten cream pastry splats sadly against the floor, forgotten thanks to the startling shock. "Ah!" She winces, before uncovering her ears and looking around. She peers at the drunken man, frowning. "Now, that's.. that's just rude!" She quirks a brow at Colette's words, and nods slowly. "The young miss speaks the truth, here." She looks up at the podium, and smiles. "I'm certain Kirk will make an excellent Secretary of Labor, and all of us will help as best as we can. Won't we now?" The unspoken question, of course, is 'what is a secretary of labor?'. The post P-day born bovine lamia has no idea, but it has to be a good thing, right?

With the offer of baked goods and the kind words from the two ladies, the fox-eared man seems to have had his anger thoroughly defused. "Oh, uh... thanks." He awkwardly mutters as he takes the peace offering in an outstretched hand. Seeing the opportunity, the secretary quickly seizes it. "You see? It makes no sense to argue about who does more for our city. The only thing that really matters is doing what we can, for everyone we can, and helping each other out." Her words elicit more murmuring from the crowd, at least half of whom are just thankful for the reprieve from the noise.

"But you're right. As my loudmouthed friend here stated... We do owe our thanks also to the resources of those groups who paved the way for this future we're building. But I'm sure your bosses wouldn't approve of you being so belligerent at this social gathering. Please, take a seat, sir." Though he appears a bit annoyed at being so condescended to, the man does as he's told and staggers his way past the two officers to a plastic chair, to which Kirk offers a smile. "Well, that took a bit of the wind out of my sails, didn't it?" Scattered nervous laughter. "Anyway, I've been up here long enough. Enjoy the rest of the night." And as the sounds of Take My Breath Away blare over the speakers, she turns on her heels and struts back to join Sabella off to the side, her little stub of a tail wagging the whole way.

Mal joins in with the laughing, mostly out of obligation, before clapping at the end of the speech. "Lovely speech. Good use of the drunk, too," he comments to Bleu, grinning as he looks around the festival, rubbing his hands together as he ponders his next move...could go after another baked good...

Bleu is impressed with how well that turned out. The otter chuckles quietly, and claps, as well. "I'm interested to see what they have in mind," he replies quietly, "I'd love for this town to finally return to normal after so long." He knows his next move: another plate of food. Otter is hungry. With another nod to the leopard taur server, he loads up.

Colette held her smile a bit longer, waiting until the speech finishes completely to finally breath out. Her hands clutch at the hem of her sweatr, forefingers and thumbs rubbing the fabric as she took a few moments to herself. "Well, that went better than expected. . ."

Lilac smiles warmly at Colette, nodding. "Very well, I would say. You have a touch for this." She wiggles her nose thoughtfully. "Mmm.. I may have to drop by your bakery for a chat one of these days, miss. I'm sure we have quite a lot to discuss." She turns to the side to check up on Mal and Bleu, before looking back at the podium. "The thought is intriguing though. I wonder how many of the businesses will take up on this idea of a day of rest."

As the night rolls on and the food and music begin to peter out, many of the partygoers begin to go their separate ways. Groups of people all split off in their own directions, and the snow leopardtaur, after she finally serves Bleu his barbecue sandwich, calls it a night and begins to pack up. There's still quite a few people hanging around, though neither the two politicians nor the fox-eared man are anywhere to be seen. And the DJ plays one last slow song, Every Breath You Take, to end things off.

Mal breaks out into a grin as the song starts to play, tapping his foot to the beat. "Ahh, 'Every Breath You Take'," he says to no one in particular, snapping his fingers as he tries to remember... "The Police; that's it, yeah!" The Human hums along as he makes his way through the crowd, watching out for Bleu as he mingles amongst people, eventually finding his way back to Colette and Lilac. "Did you make these?" Mal asks the Serval artisan, pointing to the basket. "Because that muffin was amazing; I can't remember the last time I had actual food. Kudos to you, miss."

Bleu is busy devouring his sandwich. "Mmm, yum, yes." He wanders back over toward Mal, looking up at the human. He doesn't really remember a group called 'The Police,' oh well. The song is nice enough; he taps his foot. "Yes, yes, good baking! That cinnamon roll was heavenly! I haven't eaten one in ages."

"I'm used to dealing with much worse," Colette responded, giving a smile that quickly turned into a bit of nervous laugher. "Well, used to be. Maybe I'm getting too soft?" She laughed again, pausing for a moment to take a breath. "I'd like that. Please, feel free to come by whenever. Ah, it's off of Fourth, just a block East from the Zephyr building."

The serval's attention was split as Mal approached, and she quickly gave a happy nod. "I did! T'be honest, I'm just a bit spooked with the idea of getting weird tech stitched into me. Plus, I already now how ta do everything this way. I just wish ingredients were easier to get a hold of. . . But hey, here's hoping everything gets a bit easier as time goes on?" Colette canted her head a bit. "Ah, I'm Colette, by the way! I don't think I got your name before?"

Lilac quirks a brow at the mention of 'the police'. She peers around, and sure enough there are quite a few members of the K-9 around. She shrugs lightly. This Mal's a weird fella. She glances about the room some more before slowly slithering over towards the 'tauric server. She picks a small sandwich for herself, giving the 'taur a polite smile and a wink, before returning back to the small group that gathered around Colette.

After the tauric cat slips Lilac a prepared sandwich, she begins to head out into the chill of the night. So few people remain now. The police that dot the perimeter. A few people still enjoying their night. And the DJ, who shrinks his turntable down to pocket size in a nanite cloud and slips it into his pocket before slinking off his own way too. The sudden silence is deafening, only the faint voices of the stragglers and the hum of the electric lights remaining.

Mal blinks between Bleu and Lilac. "...How do you guys not know about the Police? They were a band, back before P-Day. They made this song," he says, trying to explain before shaking his head. "N-nevermind," he mutters.

The Human offers his hand to Colette, giving her a smile. "Mal. It's a lot easier to remember," he says, "Nice to meetcha, Colette. I keep telling myself I'm going to get back into cooking, but here we are," he adds, his tone joking. Mal looks around and hmms softly. All this talk of business does have him thinking, though...

Bleu sticks closer to his companion, taking notice as the crowd disperses. The party is definitely winding down. "I was more into the Beatles, dear," he says to human, looking up at Mal again, then back to Colette. "Your baking is really quite good, Ma'am. I'll be sure to check out your bakery sometime." The otter smiles toothily.

Colette laughed a bit, a shrug of her shoulders accenting a little smirk. "Well, I could say something like 'at least that gives you more incentive to have lunch out?'" She laughed again, scratching the back of her head. "To be honest, though, I don't blame people for not. I was just raised to be stubborn is all, and food's really the only thing I'm any good at. But ah, I still have some of these left over. . ." Colette raised the basket in emphasis, glancing around the three. "I wouldn't want them to go bad, and it seems like everyone's about done here. . . Would you all like to take the rest with you?"

Lilac smiles at Colette for her kind offer. "Thank you, but I feel I must pass on it. I shouldn't be eating too much, myself... but they were quite delicious!" She looks at the others, smiling warmly at Mal in particular. "I suppose we're all done. I will be seeing you around, hm? Especially yourself, Miss Colette. Don't hesitate to drop by the Mother's Milk one of these days! I'll give you the grand tour." She finishes her farewells with a polite wave, and turns to sashay away in her serpentine fashion, taking a circuitous route to say hello to a few more familiar faces before finally exiting the premises.

Mal stretches and looks at Bleu, then the dispersing crowd. "I'd love to stay and chat, but it seems the party's over," he says, tipping a nonexistent hat to Colette and Lilac. "And I'm sure Bleu's itching to get home, as well," the Human adds, smirking and slipping an arm around the Otter. "I'll definitely have to stop by your bakery sometime," he says to the baker, reaching over to grab a few baked treats for the road. "I'll see you around sometime, yeah?"

Bleu leans against his boyfriend, smiling. "It was a lovely party, though. We'll definitely come by your bakery, Ma'am." The otter grabs a couple muffins for the road, and smiles. "Thanks again for the treats. They're really good." He looks up at Mal. "Shall we, dear? I'm feeling a bit tired. Goodnight, Miss Colette."

Colette waved Lilac off as she left, grinning as the two grabbed some of the remaining pastries. "Of course, please feel free to stop by! Have a wonderful night!"

The serval held a small smile, looking around the dispersing crowd. She wandered slowly away from the cleaned-up space, a skip coming back to her step and a twitch in her ears.

As the intersection grows quiet once again, the lights turn themselves off with a dull flicker. Tomorrow everyone will go back to their business, working hard to make this city run. Tomorrow all the businessmen and the politicians will be making deals and kissing asses, and the world will just move on. But the event seemed to be a success at least, and so the First Labor Celebration, or Laborfest, as it would come to be known, set itself up as a staple of the recovered Fairhaven for a long time yet to come. One day of rest in a year of constant work. Still, it's nice to be appreciated.