What a difference a few years made. Natalie still didn't love a crowd of any kind, but she was much better at handling one these days without feeling like dropping all conversation and just walking away because she couldn't be bothered to care. It turned out small talk was much easier when you thought of it like it was PR. She was getting ever so good at playing roles like that.

She was also getting very good at mingling with a glass in her hand as if she was actually drinking from it. And as she excused herself from another mingly encounter with some charming parting words, a smile, and a little raise of her glass, she was more than a little tempted to ask Peter whether that counted as a life skill.

[ooc: NFB, and for Peter.]