Once Ev was settled down on her recliner with some fruit juice and made as comfortable as she could be, Katherine reached out and took Rayden by the hand. Leading him over to the tables that had been pushed into the center of the room, she handed him a scrub brush and a bucket of hot soapy water. The god of thunder and lightening looked at her with a questioning look. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked. Over in her recliner, Ev just about doubled over with a fit of giggles.

The look of pure mischief in Katherine’s eyes was plain to see as she took hold of the back of his hand and ducked it into the water. "You scrub!" she said with a chuckle. "I want these tables to shine!" Connor could not help but snort with laughter as he and various others in the crowded room watched with interest to see how Rayden would handle *manual* labor.

Rayden made a face as he considered the brush that was dripping soap suds onto the floor. "It would be a lot simpler if I take care of it my way!" He dropped the brush back into the bucket and started to raise his hands to *zap* the tables cleans but there was something in the look on Katherine’s face as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapping the floor that stopped him. He glanced over at his mate who was grinning broadly at him and shaking her head. Just then Connor came over and placed a hand on his neighbor’s shoulder, grinning broadly.

"Rayden, my friend, let me explain something about humans to you. Look around you. What do you see?" the Highlander said with a wicked grin on his face. Rayden looked around the room at all the people talking and laughing with each other as they worked on various projects around the coffee shop.

"A lot of people doing work I could do in just a flash if you would let me. It would save everyone a lot of effort." Rayden said, not understanding why it had to be done the *hard* way.

"You see, there are times when we need to put a little blood, sweat and tears into a project to make it seem that it is really ours. If we are just handed the completed project, it is just not the same. Katherine was ready to do this all on her own, but what you see happening here is not us handing her a finished project", Connor said. Rayden now looked thoroughly confused.

"It isn’t?? But isn’t that the idea of everyone helping out?" he asked.

"No, this is something very important to us humans. This is what used to be called a ‘barn raising’. It helps build a sense of community. People helping willingly a neighbor and having a good time while doing so. And in the process our new *neighbor*, Katherine, is made to feel that she is truly part of this community and that we all care about her."

Rayden considered this for a moment as he watched everyone working around him in the room. "I think I understand now, Connor. It still would be easier my way, but I see now why this is important now." He glanced over at Katherine who was now standing next to Ev, both of them smiling. With a slight shudder the god dipped his hand in the water once more and started to scrub the table accompanied by the almost hysterical giggles of his mate. Katherine nodded in approval and whispered "scrub harder" in his ear as she gave him a swat on his rear as she walked by. With a sassy wiggle of her own posterior she went on her way to finish what she had been working one. Rayden watched her walk away with a bemused smile on his face as he scrubbed the table with additional fervor, not noticing the flash of Toni’s camera as she recorded this moment on film.