Childermas Surprise: (Come One, Come All)

Seth nodded, expression on his face a strange blend of both pride and survivor's guilt.

"Honestly, we barely had time to coordinate either. It was my cabal and a few of the Bond Girls, and we could've seriously used some more backup from the Arrow." He kinda shrugged again "Shitty traffic probably saved your life".

What followed though was an actual smile "Never did figure who shut down the 7 line. We were flying by the seat of our pants then, and that was one of the few lucky breaks we got, so definitely kind of owe you guys one" his smile then turned into a bit of a smirk "you talk to the birthday nightmare fuel yet, or do we get to make pleasantries with him together?" Despite being on the list of folks receiving private invitations, even Seth wasn't exactly comfortable facing the Jack of Crows alone, and even with his boyfriend present, more revelers/targets/distractions were ALWAYS a good thing.

For Star, meeting the Jack-of-Crows was kind of like meeting Elvis! Except slightly more ****ed up. She had heard a little bit about him, bits and peices from diffrent sorces usually mentioned in hushed tones. Most of the time she wasn't paying attention so really all she knew is he was famous for one reason or another.

Passing her ice-cream sandwich to Squick, not having had time to finish it since she had been to busy people watching, she did the best hand flourish and curtsy possible. People in thrones were usually people who got curtsied to so the gesture made sense to. After this act she then raised a hand and waved furious with a little "Hello! Larabee Zue Star Sugarfoot at your service!"

And then The Stupid kicked in. Stars smiled doubled as she approched the Jack-of-Crows, getting uncomfortably close and watching him with great care, calculating, planning, putting more effort into her thoughts then she did into most. Finally, when she reached even with him she put her plans into action!

Hands wide, on an arched angle, Star managed to get them around Jack in such a manner so as not to bother his patchwork to much, dodge most of the chair, and not ruffle his wings! "Happy Birthday!" She said in a sing song voice!

The whole thing might be a very bad idea but it was a birthday and the onlythings Star knew about birthdays she had learned from TV and after school drama's!

Ilkin

Ilkin gave Spike a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Robert is the best horror set and prop maker because of his affiliation," the Acanthus said, smiling, "Anyone can learn to build movie sets, but Robert doesn't just build them. He knows fear. He understands it. And he is able to communicate that through his creations. His designs carry the subtle nuances and the power of emotion that make them that much more poignant."

The Mage grinned at Hammond, then looked at Spike. "Do you understand?" he asked.


Ben

Ben sniffed the cider, then stuck his snout in the pumpkin and cheerfully began lapping up the cider. A moment later, he'd grabbed the pumpkin with both forepaws and rolled onto his back, licking the walls of the pumpkin.

The bear pulled the pumpkin off his nose and stared at Erin for a second, then understanding slowly trickled into his eyes. He very neatly set the pumpkin down and rolled back to his feet, then sat back and held his mouth open expectantly, as if waiting for Erin to toss the cookie.

Unfortunately, his eyes were still a little glassy and his tongue was not quite in the right position. He also seemed to be grinning broadly, despite his ursine muzzle. Perhaps he was also a little bit drunk.


Bo

Bo craned his neck and looked around. "I take it you like Halloween, then?" he snickered. "I have several contacts in the changelings, I come to the Goblin Markets when I need things, but I'm not a fixture in Freehold society. Not in London and not yet, anyway." He brushed back his sleeves and fixed his hat, then looked around again. "I'm not sure what I did to merit a personal invitation, but I have done a job or two for the Jack and the Winter King."

"There's someone," he said, spying a man with deeply-tanned skin and sun-bleached hair. Donovan looked a bit different from his Mask. He had pointed ears, glowing eyes, and a lot more gold piercings. He also seemed somehow more handsome, but also more sinister. The Djinni was dressed to type, with a vest, loose baggy pants, headbands and assorted jewelry dangling from his sleek form.

"Mr. Paxton!," Bo smiled as he approached with Michael, "Good to see you again. Let me introduce Michael Oliver, my plus one for the night. Are you here to provide legal counsel for partygoers?" The immortal grinned, and looked at Michael. "Donovan and I have not exactly worked together on a major project, but we've consulted each other's expertise on all kinds of subjects recently. He and I have become well-acquainted over the past year or so." The Korean looked Donny up and down critically. "This is the first time I've seen you without the Mask, Pax. Impressive. Very impressive. One of these days, I really need to get a new Ensorcellment pledge."

"Ah, save it, pal -- just us doing what we do." Underwood waved it off. "You ever feel like talking it out, though, you know who to come to." He tapped his chest. "Court of Sorrow, brother. It's in the job description."

"Yeah, see, there you're on your own." The reporter barked a laugh. "Got that Band-Aid off good and quick. Left him up there with my local Autumn King, talking about...Autumn King stuff." He squinted at the gathering by the throne. "...That a squirrel?"

He shrugged, turning back to Seth and LeNoir. "Anyway, you head up there soon, and at least you'll have a good buffer. Our guy Herringbone's an eerie son-of-a-gun when he's on the clock, but you catch him over a whisky and soda, and he's a stand-up fellow just happens to run a museum of arcane talismans."

Micahel laughed at Bo's question. "Of course. I love Halloween. My first one with the Pack, I dressed up as a sheep," he answered, grinning. The Pack had found it extremely amusing, and they'd all gone out together - trick or treating, then hitting a bar, then out for a hunt. It had been a great night. "I always get dressed up. But this isn't Halloween," he said, smiling as he glanced down at his own clothing. "I had no idea that costumes were an option." He wasn't sure how he'd have dressed if he had known. Maybe, instead of his dark clothes making him look like a ghost, he could have dressed up as one - a sheet with eye holes cut out. On second thought, maybe not...

He'd been about to ask what kind of jobs Bo had done when the immortal hailed someone. A man came over, and Michael wasn't sure if he was wearing a costume or not. Either way, it suited him - the vest showed off his body, and the jewelley (which would have looked cheap and tacky on anyone else) enhanced his appeal. "Nice to meet you, Mister Paxton," Michael said with a wide smile, extending his hand to be shaken. He wondered what kind of supernatural this man was. Michael's money was on changeling of some kind. As Bo described their work together, Michael found himself interested in the exact nature of it. "Really? That sounds fascinating. Are all these consulatations leading up to a major project, then? Or are they just lots of little ones?"

"Impressive. The gentle giant, I see. You are curious, but I shouldn't be surprised that you show up at Jack's."

Not that Daphne couldn't do similar. Currently, though, the branches at her back were the dull brown of winter, not a leaf on them.

Daphne was not charmed enough to ignore this statement, however. Her eyebrow lifted and she glanced between the two Russian-sounding changelings. "Was it his choice?" she asked, suddenly solemn. It fell so flat, it might have been lost on the crowd...

If so, Daphne contented herself with watching the "bear," whatever he was.

Seth smiled "I may just take you up on that. Counseling for folks in our line of work, not actually out there. I'll look you up"

"Sounds good". Seth said with a shrug, before turning to LeNoir "Ready to get this out of the way?" He said, indicating that it was probably best they go greet the birthday boy now. Before he did something either terrifying, soul rending, or just bizarre. Possibly all three.

Lauren

"Bought advice is notoriously unreliable as well." Othello said with a sniff. He smiled suddenly. "But friendly advice..."

"I cannot, in full honesty, recommend myself as a friend. I am very troublesome." Othello admitted, sticking out his hat, clad in the white, fingerless glove and the small claws for Lauren to shake. "But I am very useful."


Daphne, Erin, Ben

"Of course not." Sergei said dully, shrugging. The question of Durance was a sensitive one, and not one that the changelings here, it seemed, felt comfortable talking about.

Sergei's Manipulation+Subterfuge


Seth, Underwood

"Not to interrupt anything." LeNoir said after listening to Underwood and Seth talk for a time. He reached down to scratch Xicohtencatl between the ears, which caused the great jaguar to make some deep, rumbling sound in its chest. Not quite a purr, in the sense of a cat, but a grumble of contentment.

"He can wait, I think he's busy just now." LeNoir said, looking out across the room. The Jack-of-Crows was indeed, 'busy', at the moment.


Ilkin

"Uh. Sort of." Spike said, glancing at Ilkin. "Make really scary movies so that people don't go poking around with, like, animal testing or genetics or any of that stuff. Okay, got that. But, uh, question, Mr. Clements."

"If Mr. Hammond's got a secret reason, do you?" Spike said, looking at Ilkin curiously. On occasion, if only by accident, Spike asked insightful questions.


Star

The Jack-of-Crows allowed himself to be hugged. He was a tall man, and while hardly muscular, he was neither as bony and angular as his scarecrow appearance would suggest. The Jack-of-Crows was a monster, but he was also just a tall man of flesh and blood, even if his skin was patched in places, the patches the consistency of rags and burlap.

"Thank you, you foolish girl." The Jack-of-Crow said, smiling at Star as he pulled back. It was a sinister, saucy smile, a smile that hinted at a whole world of danger that lay just beyond the edges of the possible. After all, who knew what might happen, out there beyond the possible. It may kill you. Or you may enjoy it. "I'll call you Mary Jane, for she was my favorite."

"Tell me." The Jack-of-Crows said with a soft voice, reaching out to put his fingers around Star's jaw, long fingers like those of a musician, delicate and slender. He smirked at her. "Are you my present?"

"Huh?" Seth said, a delightful statement encompassing a great deal of shades of confusion. He looked down at the box in his hands, then at what was going on over by the Birthday Nightmare Fuel Unleaded. "Oh...yeeeeah. We're going to stay over here where we can at least pretend we're safe for the time being."

That it was also a great spot to view what happened perhaps went without saying.

Lauren grinned. "I dunno, I'm pretty troublesome, too." She shook the offered hand. "Useful how? I'm a photographer, myself." She plucked a business card out of the tiny handbag she was carrying and held it out to Othello. "A lot of people consider that pretty useless, but they're ignorant," she said with a shrug.