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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."

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.

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."

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?"

... 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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

(( 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.

((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.

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.

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 ))

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?"

"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."

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.

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

"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!"

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.

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."