"Oh.  Right.  Yes, of course!!!"  You idiot how often do you get to ~teleport~.

Jamie grins, offering his hand this time, "Just across the room? I could drop you near some new people, maybe." 

"That would be amazing."  Tim takes it, preparing himself to be cast through the void.

Jamie closes his eyes and then- they're across the room, near the speaker Zei was standing next to however long ago that was, though there's a completely different crowd here, now.

The sudden change of location is somewhat jarring for those unused to it, everything from different scents to a slightly different plane to stand on leaving them feeling just a bit off. Jamie, though used to it, still bounces briefly on his toes before giving Tim's hand a squeeze and letting go. 

"Et voila!" 

There's a purplehaired teenager leaning against the wall fairly close to the speaker, watching people; she turns to look curiously when they appear.

Tim is an esper, with esper coordination.  He's also quite used to remaining on his feet while a grown-ass adult man attempts to put him on the floor.  He's fine.  Little bit of sway, a tightened grip on Jamie's hand for a second and -

"That was so weird.  And cool.  You've got a really useful power, Jamie."  Didn't have to think about something that was nice and true this time, progress!

"Thanks! I think it suits me, even if strength buffs would be better for dungeoning," he looks around, taking in the scenery and its occupants with a glance, "See anyone you haven't met around here?" 

"Oh, there's a - " cute "- girl over there I haven't.  With the purple hair.  Let's go see if she's willing to bump fists."  Tim takes a breath and settles his posture.  Chest slightly forward, shoulders back.  Long strides and a small smile.  He should be doing a bigger smile but even Tim knows you can't make a smile look friendly by practicing it in the mirror.

"Hello, ma'am.  Would you like to test for compatibility?"  This is easy, you knew it would be easy, you were stupid to be stressed about it.

Continued Elsewhere

Sara is here with a Goal and has no desire to socialize with anyone who doesn't meet it.

 It's been a whole year and a half and she still doesn't have a partner that's more than 'decently' compatible. Her skills are valuable - literally - and this is what is funding her education. She could get loans or grants from the government, but she'd have to pay one back and for the other she'd have to justify her architectural studies as related to her power, which. Well, they're not un-related. 

But it would be a ridiculous amount of hassle, where if she could just get a more compatible partner she could take more survey requests and pay for it herself. 

So here she is, making the rounds, making perfunctory conversation, and shaking hands (or bumping fists, which seems to be rising in popularity over the course of the night). She's met a few fine matches, equal to or worse than Luc, and one girl who made her feel like her skin was crawling. One man was a little better than Luc is, but lives in Minneapolis so it's probably not worth pursuing. 

It's looking like this might be another bust. Really, how is 'claustrophobia and hyperventilation' this hard to find a match for?!

Here's yet another face in the sea of faces, who also doesn't seem to be expecting much, nibbling on fancy crackers. "Heyo, fistbump?"

"Sure."

Sara applies her fist to bumping. 

Oh! 

That's good. That's really good. 

"Wow, okay." 

"Holy shit that's really strong. Way more even than the guy, uh, who I thought was good compatibility. Wow. Um."

...Swiiitch to handhold? She makes a tiny motion towards that effect, a tad hesitantly.

"...I've got telekinesis. Um, Wendy."

Handhold! Sara has a little bit of backlash, but she's been being fairly diligent about meeting up with Luc for guiding, so it's not much.

[cont here]

Ophira is trying to Circulate. She's tapped fingers with a few espers, avoided the guy who was looking at her weird, and talked to recruiters from some of the agencies Argent had mentioned looked promising.

(They all feel too big. Which makes sense; Argent hadn't really been looking at whatever agencies are local, here.)

Now she's sampling the cheeses thoughtfully.

Here is a man wearing all black semi-formal and a resting bitchface. He approaches the table and stares intently at the cheese, searching out and snagging a number of several specific types for his napkin. 

She considers moving out of the way of a cheese he seems to be going for, but -- he reminds her a bit of Day, so -- she scoops it up and offers it instead.

His hand pauses, and his eyes dart to hers. 

"...thanks." Onto the napkin it goes. 

Yeah. She's not going to try to talk unless he starts it; if he's anything like Day he won't want to. But she gives him a quick acknowledging smile.

(She looks young, like she can't possibly be an adult. She might just be young looking, but probably she's a new awakener. Especially if you're paying enough attention to notice the brace on her right forearm.)

Staring at the cheeses continues.

He is... going to need help with this.

He looks at the purple-haired girl.

"You know which one of these is havarti?" 

She doesn't know the names of half of these, but she's tasted most of them by now. "What does it taste like?"

"I don't know. She just told me names." 

Hmmm. Well, she can list the ones she does know, which may help narrow it down.

It does, actually. It leaves him with three options, and one of them smells like it would probably set off Lyra's gag reflex. He just puts both on the napkin and hopes she doesn't comment.

"...Zei, by the way." Does she want a handshake? He will extend his hand. "Thanks."