Subject: "This is for her," Zevak said, showing Cara the bag.
Author:
Posted on: 2011-09-06 19:33:00 UTC
Clearly appreciating Cara's smile, he kept looking at her rather than at his feet as he added, "I made it."
Lheya, too, had seemed friendly enough as she nodded to Cara, and had got as far as "Things are-" before she saw and heard Artemis's latest demands, and her dark eyes went huge.
((Hi, guys! Just a couple of ground rules to keep things running smoothly:
1. When you join in, just add your response to the end of whatever the most recent post is, to keep just one string of sequential posts. That way it should be easier to keep track of what's going on and we can all respond to each other easier. When the string gets too long, we'll come back to the top and start a new one.
2. Don't worry about your characters being "late" if you can't get here straight away. This is the PPC and people live in their own time warps. :P Turn up whenever, we're in no rush.
3. Keep posts in the past tense. It's easier to read, and it'll make it much easier for me to put together if I think it'll make a good interlude.
4. No controlling other people's characters (unless you have explicit permission). (I did get kgarrett's permission to use Miriam in this post, by the way. :P )
5. And of course, OOC stuff gets marked somehow, but you all know that. ^_^ Here we go, then!))
Three people surveyed the Really Very Tiny Auditorium. It was covered with a rather odd mix of Potterverse- and Lord of the Rings-themed decorations, but then again, "odd" was a matter of perspective here. The birthday girl had picked them, after all, and it made perfect sense to a five-year-old to put the Great Hall of Hogwarts next to the Shire. The party snacks, which had been... er... obtained from outside sources, were set out on a number of trestle tables along one wall. There was a stereo set up for music in a corner out of the reach of grabbing little fingers, and a playpen in another corner for any particularly small children who might arrive.
"Well," Cara said, shaking back the cape of her Dunedain Ranger outfit, "I think it's looking like a success."
"I still think having William do the decorating was cheating," her partner pointed out. Miriam had elected to come dressed as Frodo, though she had decided not to wear any fake feet. The last thing she wanted was to have small children standing on them all day.
William, who had refused to wear a costume on the grounds that being a Potterverse native was enough (and had then been bullied by Cara into at least ironing his normally creased robes), just laughed. "If it means not having to watch you teeter around on ladders putting up the banners, it's worth it."
This was met by a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess so. Safer, at least." Miriam fiddled with the One Ring replica she was wearing, and then looked around again. "When is everyone arriving again?"
Cara shrugged. "I just said for people to turn up as and when they could make it. The important thing's having fun - isn't it, Steph?" She paused, and then looked round. "Steph?"
The little girl, wearing a bright red robe with the Gryffindor crest, was sitting on one of the Auditorium seats nearby, her head in a book. It had been Miriam's idea, to keep her distracted enough she wouldn't be getting in the way of the decorating or trying to steal bits of the food.
"Steph-anie," Cara half-sang, amused by the look of concentration on her daughter's face.
When this got no response, William took a more direct approach and headed over to pick the little girl up. "Hey, mischief, your mum's talking to you."
Stephanie squirmed a bit, but quickly dropped her book in favour of cuddles from her uncle as he carried her back to the others. "What's it?"
"I just wondered if you think we're ready, because people are going to start arriving soon." Cara gestured around at the Auditorium. "What do you think?"
There was a prolonged silence as both the question and the room were considered. "Yep!" Stephanie wriggled to get down, and William obliged with a chuckle. "Can I have a sausage roll now?"
Cara rolled her eyes. "Just one until everyone else gets here."
As the little girl dashed off to get her treat, William murmured, "It shouldn't be long, at least." He looked towards the door almost hopefully.
Cara couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the impressions Jake and Boston were trying. "You're not in the costume to be trying that," she pointed out to Jake, patting his shoulder. "I'll leave you two to chat, anyway." With that she kissed Jake's cheek again and slipped away.
The door opened again, letting in a rather mixed group. The tallest was a solid, red-headed man in his thirties, who was practically being dragged by a boy of about five who could be none other than his son. On seeing the other children, Owen whooped, let go of his dad's hand and charged into the crowd, leaving Luke Celinus looking very relieved.
"For a minute I thought he was going to drag me into the middle of it," he commented to the blonde woman beside him. Vicky Hayles, an Intelligence Agent and Owen's mother, smiled faintly.
"Might do you some good," she replied before heading over to say hello to Cara and William and leave Stephanie's present on the designated chair, leaving Luke alone and very nervous-looking.
The last person to arrive was a petite, dark-haired woman just into her twenties. Freya Rowlands had taken full advantage of the come-in-costume suggestion, and was wearing a rather lovely Elven gown. Sidestepping small children, she made her way towards Terry, though she wasn't averse to chatting to anyone else on the way. DoSAT wasn't always the best place to socialise.
((OOC: Feel free to have anyone you like swarm, talk to or otherwise distract this bunch. :P ))
At the least, he had the ranger-ish clothing, and he'd got himself looking about as much the part as he could without breaking out a disguise generator. It wasn't perfect, of course, but a) it was still a decent attempt and b) this was a party for a five-year-old girl. Super details probably weren't needed, especially not enough to risk the hassle with the DIA. Outside of provably desperate in-mission circumstances, Upstairs really didn't like people disguising themselves as major canon characters.
All thoughts of avoiding impersonation charges fled his mind as he spotted Freya, though. Indeed, for a moment it looked like all thoughts full-stop had fled, as his jaw dropped slightly and his eyes glazed over. Then he endeavoured to free himself from the throng of children, gently removing one small boy from his shoulders, before striding over to meet Freya and pulling her into a firm embrace, grinning broadly. His body language was of someone who killed humanoid abominations that warped reality on a whim every day, and thus didn't care who saw him hug his girlfriend.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," he said, letting his eyes roam over the gown appreciatively. "Looking to surprise us, huh?"
Miri was at the snack table during all this, looking amused at the various partygoers' antics but also slightly unsure whether to join in, and where. She seemed to have instinctively slipped into the background, ready to slip back out if needed.
((OOC: We've not even got to the cake!))
Freya hugged back with a little smile. "Maybe a bit. Don't let me interrupt the fun, though, you seemed to be having fun before I got here." She gave the children gathering around them a smile.
Luke edged round the side of the room towards Boston, who seemed to be one of the few adults not fussing over small, easily-squashable-if-you-didn't-look-where-you-were-going people. "Always throws me just how busy these things get," he commented in a bid to strike up conversation.
(( As good a time to come in as any. {= ) ))
The latest arrivals had opted for a Potterverse look: green-eyed Jenni Robinson had on a Hogwarts robe with the particular comfortable look of having been used regularly in the past, and the two-year-old in her arms wore miniature versions of the trousers, shirt, and jumper from the movies. The jumper was edged in green and silver, but the little tie was red and gold. Henry liked red and green.
"Remember when we were here for your birthday?" Jenni was saying as they entered. She had made one concession to the movieverse with a blue and bronze tie visible at her neck, but the robe was plain bookverse black. "We had your friends here, and presents, and cake, and—"
"Cake?" Henry said, taking his thumb out of his mouth and looking up with interest. In his other arm, he clutched his favorite brown fire-lizard toy.
Jenni laughed. "Yes, someone has his priorities straight. But not yet. Look, there's your friend Artie! Let's go say hi."
Cara looked busy, and the birthday girl herself was occupied with a piggyback ride, so Jenni figured greetings beyond simple nodding and waving could wait while she got her kid settled in. Artemis's antics might have been the source of a few raised eyebrows, but Henry was a young wizard, after all, and wizard children tended to show an uncanny resilience to unwelcome changes to their personal space. Jenni didn't worry for him.
Nataan felt himself beginning to be a little overwhelmed by the exponential growth the party seemed to be experiencing. He saw a few people he knew here and there in the irregular, constantly shifting groups; once he caught a glimpse of Imira in the midst of a mob of other children gleefully swarming the adults, getting rides on their shoulders and participation in whatever games sprang into their minds. Zevak had somehow got swept up in the tide, and was currently in hot pursuit of his hat, which had been snatched off his head and absconded with.
Spotting William, he wove his way carefully across and called a greeting, hoping he'd be able to get the wizard's attention without screaming, or jumping up and down and waving his arms. The general noise was starting to approach that level.
William looked up and gave the Bajorans a smile. "It's good to see you," he said as Nataan and Lheya finally got within earshot. "I know it's all in the interests of being fair and not singling children out for invites, but a more-the-merrier plan seems to cause a lot more chaos. Not that your two seem to mind."
Meanwhile, over at the playpen a rather tall, thin young woman had just settled her twin toddlers in. While the boy seemed content to sit and play with some of his toys, his sister was more interested in the other babies, and wandered over to Henry with a huge smile. "'lo!"
Nat Freidar of the DMS gave Jenni a smile and a nod as their children played. "Nice ta see 'em all gettin' along so well," she commented, her Welsh accent still very heavy even after three years in the PPC.
Henry looked momentarily as though he might protest being put down in the pen, but seemed to reconsider when the girl greeted him. He smiled hesitantly, and finally responded with a quiet "Hi." After another moment, he extended his plush toy toward her.
"Yeah." Jenni straightened up and nodded back to Nat, also smiling. "I don't get to watch them as much as I'd like, so I'm glad these gatherings are catching on. Those two yours, then?" She indicated the twins.
"Yeah, though ya wouldn't think I 'ad room for 'em both," Nat said wryly, indicating her skinny build as she bent to ruffle her son's light brown hair. "This's Anthony, an' that's Emily." She nodded to the little blonde girl, who was poking at Henry's plush toy curiously.
The Assassin straightened up again and held out her hand, giving Jenni a smile. "Don't think I've met ya before, though. Nat Freidar, DMS an' occasionally DoSAT."
... at Nat's remark. Having been a midwife in the past, she could well imagine what the thin agent must have gone through, and frankly admired her for it.
"Jenni Robinson, FicPsych," said she, shaking Nat's hand. "Pleased to meet you and yours. Mine's Henry—a rescue," she added, perhaps unnecessarily, since the black-haired two-year-old looked nothing like her apart from having green eyes.
Henry, meanwhile, found this business of sharing less entertaining than he'd hoped. He abruptly got up to seek greener pastures, taking his fire-lizard with him. Anthony seemed to have an interesting assortment, definitely worth investigating.
Nat gave Henry a little smile. "They're still our kids, an' we love 'em."
"Damn right," another similarly lanky Agent added, sneaking up behind her and wrapping hs arms round her waist. He smiled a bit sheepishly at Jenni. "Uh, hi."
"This's Zach," Nat said, leaning against him with a blissful smile that proclaimed their relationship louder than words. "'E's in Floaters."
Down in the playpen, Emily let out a decidedly vocal protest as her new toy was taken away, and she toddled after Henry in a bid to reclaim the plushie. Anthony, on the other hand, gave the incoming boy a sunny smile and held up one of the toys. "Play?"
Nataan smiled fondly. "Honestly, I'm glad there are enough other people here to give me a break. She's become even more of a handful lately."
Lheya's eyes had strayed to the playpen. "The little ones are so sweet," she murmured. "I've been helping with them sometimes. When their parents aren't there." A faint smile touched the corners of her lips as she saw the negotiations over the plushies. "I'm glad they're so well-cared for."
Jenni grinned at Zach, but didn't offer a hand, unwilling to disrupt the couple. No doubt their time for personal relationships was as limited as her own. "You're a lucky soul." She glanced down at Emily's shrill complaint, but since no one was actually crying she let it go for the moment and returned her attention to the adults. "Both of you are. Not too many of us hold onto a 'traditional' family and stay in the job, at least as far as I'm aware," she observed. "And in different departments, too. What's your secret?"
In the pen, Henry smiled and waved at Anthony, but he'd set his sights on a set of rainbow-colored nesting cups that could probably be taken apart and put back together, or stacked up, or any number of other things. He plunked himself down and started in on them, overturning the set and shaking out the inside cups. Gotta love that clatter! This of course required both hands, so the fire-lizard rested beside him.
Zach chuckled as his girlfriend gave him a mildly rebuking prod. Nat rolled her eyes and looked back to Jenni. "'E's kind o' right, though. We both like our jobs, an' we've got plenty o' friends to 'elp out if we need it, an' we're not about ta let each other get away. At least I'm not, after all I've been through ta find 'im." Her expression clouded briefly, but the next moment her smile was back as Zach cuddled her closer. "We make it work."
Emily, meanwhile had determinedly made her way after Henry, and now bent to pick up the plush toy, grabbing hold of if tightly and and making off at remarkable speed for a seventeen-month-old toddler.
Over in a different area of the room, William chuckled. "It's a lot better than many of them would get otherwise," he agreed. "And it's very kind of you to help out with them like that. I know some of the children don't see their parents very often."
((Thanks to everyone for playing, it's been fun to hang around with you!))
The door to the Really Very Tiny Auditorium opened, and the first guests arrived.
Kieran had not really bothered to put on a costume for LOTR or Potterverse, either on himself or on Artemis, reasoning that his Redwall attire was close enough to the former just as Artie's World One clothes were to the latter. Muggles were part of Potterverse, weren't they? Lucifer the cat slunk along by his footpaws, glaring at anyone who bothered to give him a second glance.
The young fox's nose twitched at the smells from the snack table, and Artie scrambled up to perch on his shoulders. Black wings emerged from his shoulder blades and fluttered excitedly. "Food!" the two-year-old squealed eagerly. "Foodfoodfood!" He punctuated his observation by tugging on Kieran's ears.
"I see the food, Artie," Kieran murmured, before turning to the hosts with a bright smile and a wave of his paw. "Hi, everybeast! Happy birthday, Stephanie!"
The door to the Really Very Tiny Auditorium swung open again. A young Asian woman wearing a rumpled Slytherin uniform and a snaggle-toothed grin poked her head around the edge of the door.
"Sweet, we got here before all the nibbles got snatched up!" she said. "They've got mini-hot dogs and everything!"
"I am not very comfortable with this, Gremlin," came a muffled reply from the corridor behind her. "Aiden is far too young for such an event. He may become distressed."
Gremlin rolled her eyes as she pushed the door open all the way. "Honestly, you're a bigger baby than he is sometimes. He'll be fine. This is a good thing, Xerry! You're spending more time with Aiden and you'll be meeting with other parents! It's win-win, sweetheartless!"
After a few moments of hesitation, Xericka stepped into the auditorium. She had not changed out of her typical Organization coat, although she had wrapped a yellow and black Hufflepuff scarf around her neck as a nod to one-half of the themes. Aiden, dressed in a similarly-colored onesie, gurgled in her arms.
"Please try to enjoy yourself," Gremlin said. She put her hand on Xericka's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.
Xericka sighed. "I shall endeavor to do my best."
"Good!" Gremlin turned back to the rest of the room and waved in greetings. "Hey, everyone!"
Cara waved them in. "Come on in, there's plenty to go around." She headed over to Xericka and Gremlin with a broad smile. "Nice to see you - and isn't this young man cute?" She'd melted at Aiden's gurgling. "Hey there, gorgeous. Oh - and I did set up a playpen for any really little ones, if you were worried," she added to Xericka.
As Stephanie made a beeline for Kieran and Artie, William followed hurriedly to ensure there weren't any collisions. "Careful there," the wizard cautioned as Stephanie nearly skidded to a halt in front of the fox.
"Hey Kieran, guess what? It's my birthday!" She held her arms out for a hug; to Stephanie, hugs were the best way to greet her friends, but she'd at least learned by now not to do it without making sure the other person wouldn't object.
William hovered nearby just to keep an eye on things, smiling faintly.
"Watching things pretty closely there, aren't you, Dad?" The young man who spoke, his appearance suggesting vague resemblances to both Remus Lupin and James Potter - the latter mostly for the untidiness of his hair - had filed in quietly, his manner self-effacing. Zach Marshall grinned suddenly, seriousness dissolving as he looked at William.
Tad Marshall stood nearby, and Michelle "Mishi" Sellers, who waved impishly at William. The young blonde witch had been as happy as the boys to be suddenly adopted by William in the course of his taking them under his wing, but had kept her own choice of surname on the grounds that she'd only just escaped the alliterative name she'd had in her native fic, and wasn't going to be Mishi Marshall now.
All three wore their old Hogwarts robes (Gryffindor for Tad and Mishi, and Ravenclaw for Zach) as a concession to the occasion.
OOC: For those not Cassie, don't look for these three on the PPC wiki, I haven't got around to putting them there yet. But they've been around quietly for a while now. ;)
"I was wondering when you'd make it." He gave all three of them a warm hug. "How have you been? You look very smart, I have to say." He kissed Mishi on the cheek. "Are you three hungry? You might want to grab some food before we get the locusts down on it."
"That does sound like a good idea," she said cheerfully.
Tad looked around, and failed to suppress his smile. "I'm guessing Steph picked the decorations. You don't normally see that kind of mix, except - Ow!" He rubbed his side, and gave Zach an affronted look.
Zach, who'd calmly elbowed him in the ribs, added, "It looks good, though."
He managed to keep a straight face as he added, "Yes, Steph picked them. You have to admire her eye for crossovers. Or fear it, either way is good."
Kieran stepped forward into the offered hug, or at least tried to. Artie immediately pounced from his shoulders, propelled himself forward with his wings, and glomped the birthday girl's face enthusiastically.
"Happy burfday!" he shrilled in her ear. With an air of long-suffering, Kieran set about prying his little almost-brother's arms from around Stephanie's head.
"Sorry, he's been excited since we found out about the party," he apologized, shooting a glare at Lucifer. The cat was sitting on the ground and rumbling like a small engine, his mismatched eyes staring up at the three children with obvious mirth.
It was rather muffled as Stephanie helped pry Artemis off her head, but given the way she was giggling it hadn't been too much of a shock. Once she could breathe properly again she gave both Kieran and Artie a gleeful hug. "C'mon, let's play!"
"They've got a special area for the little kids and everything. There's nothing to worry about."
"I suppose so," Xericka replied. A careful listener might have noticed a faint trace of her previous reluctance still lingering in that sentence.
Gremlin, it should be noted, was not the most careful of listeners. "Great! I'm going to go mingle us up some punch. Back in a blink!"
Xericka watched Gremlin bustle off towards the snack tables before returning her attention to Cara. "Thank you very much for the invitation," she said. "It was a welcome if unexpected offer."
...and a group of four more or less tumbled in, given its two larger members were busy trying to shepherd the two smaller ones. All had come attired for the occasion, and it was only at second glance that one would notice a few peculiarities. The thin, dark-haired girl at the back, in the costume of a Lórien elf, had ridges creasing her nose, a feature shared by the much smaller girl she was trying vainly to keep from taking the Really Very Tiny Auditorium by storm.
Her older brother, hampered by the presents he was carrying and the even smaller and serious-faced boy clinging to his sleeve, sighed. "Just let her go in, Lheya. There's more than enough people here to stop her from causing too much chaos."
"I'm not gonna cause chaos!" the little girl protested. "I'm just gonna see Stephanie! And Zevak has to give her his present!" She turned an impatient, expectant stare on the boy, who nodded hastily, and held up the miniature staff clutched in his free hand, from which hung a small silvery gift bag.
"We'll go together, then," her brother told her, and, as she promptly took the cue to run off ahead, nudged the shy, small version of Gandalf the Grey (whose colour, in fact, extended to his skin) into heading across the Auditorium to the birthday girl.
I am also guilty of using characters no one has seen in a published mission, nor on the Wiki... but they've had increasingly important and eventful lives in various RPs.
I will try and poke in more exposition if necessary, but hey, it's a little kid's birthday party - the fun is the important thing. And cake. :P
"Looks like I'd better go and be a good hostess," she said to Gremin and Xericka. "In any case, there's games, toys, snacks, the music - I made sure it's all decent for the kids - so just enjoy yourselves." She tickled Aiden under the chin with a soft smile and headed towards the Nataan family.
"Hi there," she offered once she was close enough, sidestepping the small Bajoran girl charging past her. "Good to see you again. How's things?" She gave them all a warm smile, aware that Lheya and Zevak in particular could get uncomfortable around others. "I like your costumes."
She glanced over towards William, who was still talking happily with his adoptive children. "I don't think you'll be distracting him for a while, but -"
There was a double squeal of excitement at the pitch only reachable by small children. It appeared that Imira and Stephanie had located each other. "Steph's nearby, if you wanted to say hello," Cara finished with a wry laugh.
Clearly appreciating Cara's smile, he kept looking at her rather than at his feet as he added, "I made it."
Lheya, too, had seemed friendly enough as she nodded to Cara, and had got as far as "Things are-" before she saw and heard Artemis's latest demands, and her dark eyes went huge.
Once he'd been successfully detached from Stephanie's head, Artie wriggled free of Kieran's grasp (well, okay, maybe he'd bitten his paw just a teeny little bit, but he didn't draw blood so it wasn't like Kieran was going to complain) and contented himself to hovering like an oversized hummingbird. "Wanna ssssnack!" he insisted, forked tongue darting from his mouth as he hissed.
Kieran smiled apologetically at Stephanie as he took his fluttering almost-brother's hand. "Well, it looks like it's food before pla-aaaaaaay!" Artemis promptly dragged him off to the tables, Lucifer trotting after them with his tail held high.
"Okay!" she called, quite happy to wander off with Imira and play.
Cara, meanwhile, had noticed where Lheya was looking. "Haven't you seen the boys around before? I'm sure they live in the Nursery," she said reassuringly. "They're lovely enough, anyway."
With that, she crouched down to Zevak's level, smiling. "You made it? That must have taken a lot of work, and I'm sure it's lovely. Why don't you put it over on that chair in the corner, so it'll be safe till she's ready to open it?" She indicated the chair in question.
Over near the snack table, William glanced over at Kieran and Artemis, ready to intervene if anything happened.
Before the door could open fully, a string of three children, two girls and a boy, tumbled into the room. The eldest, dressed as a very small, slightly darker version of Faramir, picked herself up, dusted herself off, and pulled the other two to their feet. "Come on!" she said, nearly picking up the youngest (who, aside from the thumb permanently wedged into his mouth, was dressed as a near-perfect replica of the Movieverse Legolas), and pulling her siblings toward the knot of children already in the room. "Fara, wait up!" cried Kinsey, the younger girl, picking up her elven skirt and running after her big sister and little brother.
A moment later, two adults and a teenager sidled in, obviously unsure whether they were going to be bowled down upon entry.
The teenager was the first to relax, running a hand over her expertly coiffed, platinum blonde hair, and straightening the collar on her suit jacket. "Well, this looks like it's going to be fun," Piper said, grinning back at the two adults before going to scout out the snack table, and go mingle with the other teenagers in the room.
Azrael carefully snicked the door closed behind her, and took her sleeping infant back from her partner, propping the baby on her shoulder with one arm, and making sure that her sword -- regulation on her Haradrim 'costume' -- was securely fastened into the scabbard. It wouldn't do to have some child or other getting ahold of it...
"Come on, let's go be social."
"You're sure this costume is appropriate?" asked Boston, fiddling with the high collar of his long black robes. "It still feels a little presumptuous."
Artemis made a beeline for the plate full of sliced apples, much to Kieran's amusement. The young fox had noticed the sausage rolls and delighted in satisfying his inner carnivore. A recent visit to the OFUR had left him with a longing for something non-vegetarian. He watched Artemis carefully as the half-demon hovered by the fruit plate, and so he noticed when Artemis's eyes took on a devious gleam. A bowl of sweet and sour sauce sat by a platter of potstickers, not too far from the pitcher of fruit punch. They were remarkably the same color...
"Artie, don't," Kieran admonished him. "Come on. It's Stephanie's birthday."
"Stink eye" is generally a common phenomenon among young children. Considering Artie's parentage, Kieran shouldn't have been surprised that his almost-brother had such a natural death glare.
The Bajoran teenager seemed content to leave it at that, and waved to William when she caught his eye.
Zevak, however, made quite a face as he looked at the chair, as though he expected it to suddenly leap up and go galloping off. "What if someone sits on it?" He tugged nervously at the tip of his hat, which had flopped down between his eyes.
Behind him, Imira had invented a game that seemed largely to consist of dodging around the Auditorium's other occupants, which so far had claimed surprisingly few casualties.
"Besides, I'll be asking everyone else to put presents on it as well." Cara tugged Zevak's hat up a bit so he could see better. "There, that's better. You go ahead and do that, then."
She looked up as more people arrived, and straightened up. "I'd love to stay and chat a bit, but I think I should say hi to everyone at least. Feel free to mingle, I get the feeling we'll have a good number of others arriving soon enough." With a smile to the little family, Cara headed towards the door, casting a glance around for her daughter.
Stephanie was participating in the impromptu game of chase-each-other-around-the-adults (which seemed to be growing exponentially as more children arrived) quite happily, so Cara left it at that and joined Azrael and Boston, somehow managing not to step on any of the children in the process. "Good to see you. I like the outfits, too," she added, with a particularly impressed look at Az. "It's always nice to see people making the effort."
William, still hovering near the snack table to keep an eye on things, spotted Artie's expression and caught the little half-demon's eye, returning the stink-eye with an unruffled look that said clearly Don't get any ideas, young man.
After nodding to Cara as she left to greet the latest arrivals, Xericka made her way over to the area set aside for the youngest party attendees. She examined the small arrangement of toys with a careful eye as Aiden contentedly gummed the edge of her scarf.
"Perhaps the stuffed pastel blue ursine would be suitable," she muttered. She picked up the teddy bear and held it up in Aiden's line of sight. "Aiden, would you like to play with this child-friendly version of a bear?"
"Uflgm," Aiden replied as he reached out for the bear. Xericka handed it to him, whereupon he immediately began gumming it with no small amount of gusto.
~~~~~
Gremlin, meanwhile, had been contentedly scarfing down vol-au-vents with punch chasers when she suddenly found herself wading though a veritable sea of children. She put her hand over her punch to prevent any collision-induced spilling.
"Scuze me," Gremlin said as she tried to wind her way through the crowd of half-pints towards William's general location. "Pardon me. Comin' through!"
I know I'm among those responsible, but let's try to check for others posting so we can keep the posts in one sequence.
Also, feel free to talk to each other! I've only got a small number of Agents under my control here, they can't be everywhere at once. :P
She quickly dissembled. Well, its pure luck that Kinsey and Ori fit in Faras old Halloween costumes, And Ive been working on mine and Faras for a while, so She blushed, and nodded. Thank you Is there anywhere I can put Helena? she held out the now not-so-sleeping baby, who gurgled at being held out in the air, and blew a snot bubble.
"We set that up for the really little ones - no Nursery staff provided, though, so it's up to legal guardians to keep an eye on anyone they put in there," she added, quirking a smile. "It should be safe enough, though, it's cushioned and there's plenty of baby toys."
Among the newest wave of arrivals, which included Kyran the Hammer and Terry Collins from the DMS Mossflower Division, was a large, white haired man, being half-dragged into the Auditorium by Jacob Sullivan of the DIA. He hadn't dressed up ("I'm not making an idiot of myself by dressing in some silly costume!"), but at least he'd decided to come along, and that's what mattered to Jacob. If you asked him, his older brother didn't spend nearly enough time out of the RC these days.
"To see you swamped by little kids?" Jacob offered a cheerful little grin as he stepped round one of the children who'd arrived by now. "Five's sake, you've been way too grumpy lately, Roger. It's not good for anybody, and I miss my big brother actually smiling now and then."
Roger rolled his eyes, but at least he looked a little amused. That was a start. The older Sullivan had joined the PPC three years before Jacob, and with everything the two of them had been through since he probably had the right to occasional grumpiness, but he couldn't help being concerned now and then. Roger soon went off to mingle, though, leaving Jacob to smooth down his uniform - he'd come right off shift without time to change, so he planned on saying he'd dressed up as a Muggle or wizard in disguise - and look round, heading over to Cara with a broad grin when he spotted her by the playpen.
"Cara, hey!" He weaved round kids and adults alike, waving to the Assassin once he had her attention. "Looks like you've got things to a good start; sorry I couldn't be here earlier, TL had me on guard duty up at the Lichen's office. How're you and the birthday girl doing?"
With a squeal of excitement, Stephanie led her friends in mobbing the adults she knew for hugs, piggyback rides and general entertainment. Terry took it in stride and nearly vanished under a pile of children who he good-naturedly allowed to climb all over him. Roger, on the other hand, looked rather taken aback by the pleading looks directed at him, but eventually gave in as well.
Cara looked over at the chaos and laughed as she reached out to give Jacob a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek. "We're doing just fine, thanks. Don't worry about being late, we're only just getting started. It's nice of you to turn up at all - not exactly the kind of thing you'd usually expect professional security to be hanging around, after all, even off-duty."
As Stephanie insistently coaxed a piggyback out of Roger, her mother decided that things were still under control for the moment and turned back to Jacob, Azrael and Boston. "Oh, do you all know each other? Jake, Az, Boston, meet each other." It was a lazy introduction, accompanied by a grin.
The deathly glare vanished in an instant, to be replaced by such an innocent smile that he had to have been up to no good. Abandoning any plans he might have had for the snack table, he fluttered to the floor and toddled off to the play pen. Kieran and Lucifer followed him dutifully until he flung himself in among the toys.
"Well, he certainly looks happy," Kieran remarked to the cat. His optimistic statement was duly ignored, and Lucifer slunk into the play pen with an air of bored curiosity... only to realize he was now surrounded by small children. He bristled and went still, as though hoping they wouldn't see him if he didn't move.
Artemis, in the meantime, had found a large stuffed mouse and was cheerfully shredding its ears with his teeth.
Az nodded to Jacob, held out her infant by way of explanation, and headed in the direction of the playpen, pulling the hood on Helenas Adorable Elephant Onesie and tying it securely before putting her into the playpen. Helena proceeded to crawl away, and try to chew on the tail of the cat who had appeared in the playpen. Sue babies, remarked Az, shaking her head, and flashing a rueful grin at the young man standing near her. She had only been surprised for a moment when the Nursery had messaged her to tell her that the premature SueSpawn she had brought in had crawled out of the incubator and begun trying to get at the other babies.
Boston, meanwhile, bowed, and extended a hand to Jake. How very Nice to meet you, he said, in a not-too-bad imitation of Alan Rickmans portrayal of Severus Snape. He had spent the past three days studying the character, after his partner had informed him that she was going to get him in costume one way or another, so he may as well enjoy it.
Jacob shook the offered hand with a grin and a bow of his own. "Sorry to say I'm not much good at impressions myself," he said. The Christopher Lee/Saruman voice he had affected wasn't horrible per se, but it certainly left something to be desired. "Don't think I've seen you around. How've you been finding life in HQ?"
Roger, meanwhile, was trying to look dignified while giving a five-year-old a piggyback ride. It wasn't working very well.
