There is nothing here in this post. I just realised that I cannot role play because I don’t have permission. I feel like a fool.

...and a handful of Agents came in.

The first ones in were a trio of small kids. Emily and Anthony Homewood, a fair-haired human boy and girl about nine years old, were clearly twins and dressed as Luke and Leia Skywalker. They were holding the hands of a younger girl, who on first glance seemed to be about three or four years old. Fiona Talathion had glossy black hair, pale skin and slightly upswept ears, and was wearing a school uniform, complete with a satchel slung over her shoulders.

Just behind them came their parents. Nat Freidar wasn't keen on dressing up, so she'd come as an ordinary World One human, but her long-term boyfriend Zach Homewood had decided to stick with the family theme and sported a reasonable Obi-Wan Kenobi ensemble. Cassie Young had gone for an adult Queen Lucy the Valiant look, while her husband, Kelvin Talathion - in his usual hunting leathers - had claimed that people used his usual outfits as a costume anyway, so he technically was dressed up.

Trailing after them in a little group were a pair of teenagers and three adults. Stephanie Fielding, her long brown hair braided carefully, was doing a good impression of Katniss Everdeen, occasionally adjusting a silvery bow and quiver of arrows over her shoulder. Her best friend Owen Hayles, a bulky fourteen-year-old who seemed to be hitting a growth spurt, had painted a few scars across his face and used his red hair to his advantage to show up as Bill Weasley. They were deep in conversation and completely ignoring the adults, who were used to this by now.

Cara Fielding had gone for a complete change from her usual look and strongly resembled Magrat Garlick, down to the messy flower crown, while William Marshall resigned himself to a "movieverse" Auror outfit. They were both quite happy to chat to Owen's father, Luke Celinus, who was in his usual fallback costume of "pirate".

"They've really pushed things out this year, haven't they?" Zach observed, impressed, as he eyed the room's setup.

"Indeed," Kelvin replied, as everyone drifted off to enjoy the party. "It feels like it's been years since we saw a real PPC party."

[Feel free to accost any of the people mentioned here!]

"You say that every year, and yet you still come, don't you?" Tom grinned. "I guess it's not so bad."

Thoth grimaced. "The event is tolerable. However, I believe my costume was a tactical error."

"Hey," said Tom, adjusting his cloak. "I said you should go as Alphonse. I even had some extra cardboard after cutting my prosthetics. It could've been a great partner costume!" He gestured at Thoth with his cardboard-covered hand. "For once, this wasn't my fault. Why'd you pick that anyways? Seems unlike you."

Thoth grunted. "No time. This was the best I could get on short notice."

Despite whatever protests Thoth may have to contrary, his costume was a totally acceptable Conan. He'd even managed to get a pretty reasonable sword and belt for it, and the long hair was convincing enough to make people swear it was real (which it was—he'd spent quite a lot of time making that work, but it had at least got him back into practice with biomancy). The effect was only slightly ruined by the metal jacks covering his flesh.

"...You're just uncomfortable showing this much skin in public, aren't you?" Tom said, grinning.

"..."

"That really is it, isn't it? Well then. Embarrassed, or paranoid?"

"Not. Another. Word."

The young man fussed with the baseball cap he was wearing, still not entirely used to the feeling.

"I am not entirely sure, but it's certainly possible," his slightly older partner replied. He seemed much more relaxed, although he was glancing every now and then at the red armband on his left arm with letters S.E.E.S. emblazoned on it, making sure it hadn't fallen off.

"At least my hair is behaving," he said, reaching up and brushing his hand against the side of his head. It was still odd to feel it cut so short, but at least it wasn't regrowing like it normally would. Shaking himself slightly, he looked around the room, managing to avoid being too distracted by the fact that his partner looked remarkably good with blue hair. "Do you see anyone we know?"

"Not at the moment," his partner replied, before frowning slightly. "It is... disconcerting not being able to notice what I usually would."

"Hey, now," the young man said, elbowing his partner and then grinning at him. "I'm dealing with actually worrying about paper cuts, you can take off your glasses for the sake of the costume."

"That is fair," he said, then joined his partner in surveying the crowd. "Let us see if we can find someone."

Mira was dressed as a witch. She looked quite like a stereotypical witch anyway, so hadn't had to spend too much time finding a costume: a cheap black dress and the hat Kat had used for her own costume last year. A golden eagle (her "familiar", or so she said) was perched on her shoulder.

Edward couldn't be bothered to find a decent costume, so was simply dressed as himself. "Why are we here?" he muttered. "We're the most anti-social people in HQ - "

"That's hardly accurate," said Mira, "from what I have seen of this place so far. And it could be useful to get to know people. But..."

The eagle squawked.

"Yes, Alma, did you want me to call you?"

The eagle nodded its head.

"She says we should try and be more social," translated Mira, who had cast a temporary translation spell for the party.

"I don't care," snapped Edward. "Shall we... go and sit down?"

"We may as well."

"I can't do this," Zaphoriel declared, gripping his plastic pitchfork tighter. He squeezed his eyes shut, hiding the blue goat-eye contact lenses he'd put in, and shook his head. The devil's-horn headband slipped, threatening to slide off. "People are going to get the wrong ideas, Faust—they'll believe you're the angel in this... blasphemous partnership, and then where will I be?!"

((...And because a picture is worth a thousand words, Zaphoriel is absolutely wearing one of those cheesy Halloween costumes, tail not shown. :P))

The "robot" was about the height of your average human male. He seemed to be made out of cardboard with a snack display painted onto his torso. His "human" friend was about 8 feet tall and boxy looking. His suit looked like it was made out of wrapping paper and his round head was frozen in a creepy wide smile, featured a pair of large unblinking eyes and seemed to have the same consistency of paper mache.

"Dressing up as each other was a good idea." The 'robot' said as he surveyed the room, eyes finally resting on the booze table.

"I am very grateful they have accommodated the larger body types here." The "robot's" friend piped up, also eyeing the drink table. Giving each other knowing nod they quickly made their way to the alcoholic beverages. The "robot" got himself a red solo cup of import beer from a small keg and was quickly followed by the "human" who decided to just take the whole keg. Standing with their drinks, they looked out at all manner of strange guests currently present.

Off to the side, near the entrance of the quiet room, stood a bald and rather alien looking woman, nursing a can of beer. Her skin seemed to be a normal shade at a distance but upon closer inspection one could tell it had a slight purple tint to it. She eyed the rest of the party with her smart, yellow eyes.

A teenage girl with antlers, dressed up as Toriel, lounged in the quiet room, crocheting something and snacking on a stack of cookies she'd picked up from the snack bar.

A pair of elven women were also sitting in the quiet room, arm in arm, chatting softly. One, a smallish wood elf, was in knight armor, while the other, a tall high elf with dark hair and an androgynous frame, wore a long purple princess gown.

Over in the main room, a half-elf dressed as a satyr leaned on the wall near the tables, with a little elven girl in a valkyrie costume bouncing around at her side.

Three women sat around a table, all dressed in Obligatory Ridiculous Sexy Costumes. They were a high elf, a wood elf, and a human, dressed as an eggplant, a squeegee, and a tennis racket, respectively.

A tiefling and a human danced together, dressed up as an old married couple. The tiefling wore a nightgown and had curlers in her voluminous green hair, while the human had pinned her hair back to look short and worn a bathrobe and fake glasses.

Someone unrecognizable behind their tree costume stood somewhat awkwardly in the corner, trying not to poke anyone with their branches with little success.

An elf wearing butterfly wings stood frozen in the doorway, unsure what to do.

A dark-haired man - on closer examination, he had cat eyes, so probably a witcher - danced with wild abandon, dressed up as Nasuverse's interpretation of Cu Chulainn.

Two winged twentysomething women, both dressed as birds, were methodically sampling all the appetizers.

A brother and sister in ornate robes, wearing beaked masks of woven straw but not dressed up as anything in particular, observed quietly from the drinks table, somehow still standing up perfectly straight after a worrying amount of brandy.

Someone who'd just draped a bedsheet over their head, without even cutting any eyeholes, and called it a day picked their way through the crowd with perhaps a bit more confidence than might be expected from someone who couldn't see.

((Apologies for dumping my Entire Enormous Roster on the thread, but I couldn't pick ^^;))