While Elizabeth continued to scold Selika, the other four members of the Pack that were present reached the group.
Katerina, the party's Gunner, was a tan, blonde, and buff catfolk woman, and preferred to let her guns do the talking. She nodded to Nickel and Will before wandering off to find somewhere to laze around until the party started.
The Wolf Pack's sub-tank, Jameson. An ashen-skinned elven man with light brown hair, he often found himself in a similar amount of trouble as Selika. Though, unlike Selika, he could usually get himself out of it. He stopped to say hello to the brothers, then moved into the display room.
Anton was the party's mage. A dark skinned human man with dwarven blood, he pretended to be straight-laced, but always seemed to get wrapped up in whatever trouble Jameson was. He wished Nickel a happy birthday and nodded to Will, before following after his partner-in-crime.
The last of the group was Rena, a red haired elven girl. The Pack's Crafter, she fought from the back of the party, and was responsible for the upkeep of gear and the crafting of consumable items. She stopped next to Elizabeth, glad to see one of three people Selika actually listened to.
Will nodded to each, smiling, before his features shifted into a slight frown. "Where are Marko and Rean?"
Nickel glanced around, having been absorbed in watching Selika get scolded. His brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed due to Selika, but both of them were absent.
Rena spoke up from Elizabeth's side. "You know how my sister is, she wanted to do one last check to make sure that Marko wouldn't have any permanent damage." She rolled her eyes. "That girl worries too much, she has First Circle healing magic. The only person who could have done a better job is Lady… Seria…" Her words trailed off. She glanced at Nickel, an apologetic expression on her downcast face. "Sorry, Nickel."
"It's alright, Rena" He smiled at her, though a hint of sadness crept into his voice. "It's good that Rean is taking her role seriously. I'm sure Mom would be proud."
The five of them stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes, Elizabeth having heard Rena's blunder, and now unwilling to continue scolding her trouble-making cousin.
Selika quickly took the chance to slink over to Nickel and wrap her arms around him. He returned her hug, though after a few seconds, Nickel had to signal Liz to save him.
It took about thirty seconds of struggling, but eventually everyone got back into their own bubbles of personal space.
—
It took around thirty minutes for most of the remaining guests to get to the manor. The members of the Coin Purse arrived first, either alone or with their partners.
They greeted Nickel as they did, before beginning the search for their wayward children. Just as it'd been a month since Nickel last saw the Pack, it'd been even longer for most of their parents.
Will, Liz, and Selika chose to remain with Nickel in the main hall, or been forced to, in Selika's case. Liz's mother Emilia stayed with them, catching up with her daughter and son-in-law, and not so subtly keeping an eye on their resident troublemaker.
The guests from the guild and the association arrived together shortly after.
Emma, a young, blonde rabbit-folk woman worked as a receptionist at the guild; Gerald, an older elven gentleman in charge of the purchase of monster parts there, more often than not covered in a not insignificant amount of blood as a result, though he'd cleaned up for the party; and Bea, a tall, dark-haired human woman, who worked as the handler for Nickel, the Wolf Pack, and the Coin Purse at the Awakened association.
When the members of the Coin Purse began to trickle back into the main hall, along with their children, Rena returned from where she'd wandered into the east kitchen. Yes, it's in the western wing of the manor, Nickel suspected this was his great-great-grandfather's doing as well.
Glancing around the room, a look of worry crossed on Rena's face. Making her way over to Liz's mother, she waited for her conversation to pause.
"Aunt Emilia, where are my parents?"
"Both your parents and Marko's stopped by The Den," Emilia smiled at Rena, "They should be here shortly."
Rena looked relieved. "Thank you, Auntie."
"Of course, Dear."
—
They arrived a few minutes later, at 1:30 on the dot. Nickel and Will let out twin sighs of relief. Any later and Kalvin would have started the party without them. When the old butler set a schedule, he kept to it, whether everyone was present or not.
After a quick round of hello's, Kalvin moved to stand beside Nickel, clapping his hands twice before he spoke.
"Now that everyone is here, we can begin. We are gathered today to celebrate the continued survival of Nicholas Silver, head of the Silver Adventurer Family, the son of Joseph and Seria Silver, may they maintain balance, wherever they are."
After mentioning Nickel's parents, Kalvin paused, and the partygoers bowed their heads, taking a moment to think of them.
Nickel felt a clashing sense of happiness and sadness. Everyone in this room had a relationship of some kind with his parents, whether as their friends and companions, nieces and nephews, or brothers and sisters. So while saddened by their absence, he was certainly glad in the knowledge that it wasn't only him that missed them.
After a moment passed, Kalvin raised his head. "Well, we aren't here to mourn today." His face broke into a bright smile, he spread his arms wide. "We are here to celebrate Master Nicholas."
Kalvin clapped his hands once again, and motioned to Leah, next to the east kitchen's doors. "Please bring in the refreshments, Leah."
The wolf-folk girl nodded and moved into the east kitchen. She returned back through the doors a few seconds later, pushing a cart covered in plates, followed by another maid pushing another cart, then another, and another. Ten carts in total were wheeled out before the doors to the kitchen closed.
The maids quickly moved the food to the tables set along the wall, then just as quickly wheeled the carts back into the kitchen. Leah, last in the line, paused by the door, bowed to Nickel, then pushed her cart into the kitchen as well.
Kavlin stepped back behind Nickel. After an awkward few seconds, Nickel staring at the guests, the guests staring at Nickel, Kalvin cleared his throat.
"AHEM!"
Nickel started, and looked back at Kalvin, who motioned with his head towards the tables. A look of understanding appeared on Nickel's face.
He turned to the guests.
"Let's eat!"
Will and Elizabeth both facepalmed. Kalvin closed his eyes, shaking his head, and the members of the Wolf Pack did their best not to break out into full blown laughter, though a few giggles made it through. The parents all looked at Nickel with varying degrees of endearment on their faces, his actions reminding them of Joseph.
With smiles on their faces, some larger than others, everyone went to eat.