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"Wow. You tried to hold her back? What'd she end up doing to the 'Sue?" On one hand, it could be something really terrible that would even scare her. On the other hand, it could be that due to Kelvin's rookie-ness, he was disgusted by something completely normal for the PPC. "If she did anything too bad, she would have gotten in trouble with the Flowers That Be, right?"

"Oh, yes. I don't know about settling in well, mind you, but it's been a very... typical.. introduction to the PPC, I've been told. Nat said I wasn't likely to see a mission quite so bad unless I got a Legendary Badfic. I think she was exaggerating a bit, though. I've heard about those, they do seem quite awful." He stopped, then grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, I didn't answer your question. The mission was, well, pretty unpleasant. Cassie was unimpressed, to say the least." He revealed a bruise on his arm and several fingernail marks. "Well, when I say unimpressed..." He shuddered and looked slightly sickened. "And I swear to Eru, I never want to see what she did to that Sue done to a living being again."

"So, you settling in well?" Kumori asked him, trying to make small talk. "You had a mission earlier right?" Quite honestly, small talk was not Kumori's strong suit. She remembered having the mission in question described to her by Kelvin and Nat when she first entered the party but she couldn't think of anything else to talk about.

...Yeah, though, you've got a point. Not much use teasing someone who doesn't even understand until the last moment. That sounds interesting, though, I'll drop by if I get the chance."

It wasn't until he'd finished talking that he'd noticed his throat was oddly dry. His mouth was drying up, too; when had he gotten this thirsty? He could really use a drink, preferably without alcohol.

"Um, can you excuse me for a second? I just ought to get a drink, absolutely parched. I'll be right back, either of you want anything?"

Once they had both answered him, Marcus headed off through the crowd to the drinks area.

Kelvin was trying to work out what they meant. "Teasing?"

Suddenly it hit him, and his face turned as red as Cassie's had been earlier. "Oh, no... you didn't seriously mean that..."

"He doesn't even get it, there's no point in teasing him." She took another sip of her drink. "And I doubt we'll run into each other, I meant it when I said I don't get out much. Feel free to drop by though, Georgia loves guests." Plus, the large concentration of plants tended to put people off visiting RC #3782 for some odd reason. Apparently she was unique in finding quiet plants a welcome respite.

...the 10's." Marcus said, noting the number Kumori said for her RC. Slightly frustrated by Kelvin's obliviousness, Marcus wasn't really bothering with the innuendo any longer. "Makes sense, I'd guess. That RC's nowhere near mine. Still, maybe we'll run into each other in the halls sometime if you ever leave it for a bit, heh."

Shrugging after he said this, Marcus addressed Kelvin. "Yeah, bet that was a hell of a shock for you, huh? Then again, I suppose that's what happens when you mix a drunk girl, an Elf, and some mistletoe."

He'd lied to himself, he couldn't really resist teasing the Elf a couple more times.

"Yes, I'm having fun. Or I was, until people started asking me if I was having fun, which I think is a bit odd. I mean, I'd assume it'd be obvious if I wasn't enjoying myself." He frowned slightly, totally oblivious to any innuendos they were making. After a moment he turned to Kumori. "And yes, we do have mistletoe in Middle-earth. We've just never used it for things like... kissing under." He turned pinker.

"Marcus Langston... Sounds a little familiar... But I don't think we've met either. I don't leave the RC much, apart from missions." Kumori shrugged. She vaguely remembered Georgia nattering on about a trial and a suspension a year ago but couldn't remember neough to comment on it. Oh, well. "I'm in number 3782, right next to Nat in number 10."

The Ex-Sue couldn't help but smirk at Kelvin and his obvious discomfort. "But this wasn't the kind of fun you were expecting though, huh, Kelvin? I didn't think they had mistletoe in Middle Earth."

Y'know, there's a gazebo right there. All we have to do is swap it out for the carnivorous one...

75% of the clothes I got were black.
Also a bed warmer. Which immediately made me think 'Great, now the Narrative Laws of Comedy are going to have even more reason to drag me out of bed.'

I like the loon thing. Very nice.

...of Kumori's name. However, he had enough tact to follow her request and not bring it up, as much as he was tempted to make a snarky comment. He found himself half-wondering what had possessed her parents to give her such an odd name, but no matter. He couldn't leave her hanging after requesting his name.

"Marcus Langston, also Department of Floaters. Odd, I don't think we've met before but I've been an agent for a long time. Ah well, Response Centre's 5593, it's a bit out of the way, that's probably why. Still, pleasure you meet you, Kumori, just hope next time it's not by literally running into you." Marcus smirked a little at the Elf after saying this, "Yeah, I bet you're having fun, eh?"

A wink and a quick nudge of the elbow were given to Kelvin, Marcus unable to resist teasing him a little. All in good fun, of course.

My name is Tasari/Glass/Tatharien and I read manga. I am a yaoi fan. I have an extensive collection of manga scans featuring males getting friendly and/or naked. My least favorite of these follow the seme/uke polarization trend very strongly. There are quite a few mangaka (and hence fanwriters, poorly informed about gay male relationships) that do this. This is a form of fetishization and no more accurate to most people's lives and experiences than most other fetishes are to everyday life. It is, however, a strong stereotype, though articulated differently in different regions. Unfortunately, one of the warning signs of poor writing is lack of research...

He felt a little annoyed at being discussed as if he wasn't there, but decided to let it go- they were more experienced, after all, and he certainly wasn't an authority on the way the PPC worked.

"I've been having... fun, yes," he replied, turning a little pink.

Kumori muttered dryly, reflecting on the fact that her and Kelvin's situations weren't that different. "Nat and Cassie just recruited him apparently, Georgia told me all about it. You having fun, Kelvin?" She grinned suddenly. "Suprise kisses aside?" Kumori suddenly realised that she hadn't introduced herself to the stranger yet. "By the way, I'm Kumori Tenki, Department of Floaters. Don't comment on the name if you understand Japanese, don't ask if you don't. You are?"

"Yeah, I should have, I just looked away for a second and there you were."

It would apparently be left at that, as Kumori's glare softened and she greeted Kelvin. Kelvin made his own reply, telling Kumori about how he had met Marcus and was learning things about the PPC, and at that time Marcus noticed that Georgia had apparently left. Having assumed that Kumori probably noticed it already, Marcus thought he'd wait a second to say anything.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a rookie it seems, though I dunno how many missions he's had. Was just telling him about how HQ isn't as bad a place as everyone says."

He gestured towards the man he'd just been following. "I met Marcus, and he's been telling me a few things about the PPC that I didn't know."

He glanced at Georgia, who was rapidly vanishing into the crowd, but decided not to mention anything, and waited to see if he should stay with Kumori, or Marcus, or leave the area quickly.

The green haired woman spun around to glare at the man who'd bumped into her. "Watch where you're going!" She was fine, of course, and the stranger did seem appropriately apologetic but it was the principle of the thing. People who bumped into her got told off, no excuses. Her glare softened when she noticed the elf behind Marcus. "Oh, hello, Kelvin. You lose the girls, then?"

Georgia had long since taken advantage of this distraction and sprinted away from her older partner, determined to lose her in the crowd. If she was extermely lucky, Kelvin and Marcus would be enough of a distraction that Kumori would forget about her and her inebriation for at least another half hour.

Zach found himself nearly speechless as he was guided by the tall Elf. He felt downright oafish next to her, though he knew it was due to her Elvish grace and the other nifty things that Tolkien had done with that particular race.

"I really don't dance..." he mumbled, blushing redder, ironically enough feeling just like Cassie.

...his way through the crowd, dancing with a few people and exchanging idle banter with others, especially old friends (and one or two former partners) who he ran into. Once he had given himself time to unwind, he was really starting to enjoy himself, though unlike many others in the room he hadn't sampled any holiday "spirit", having had a strong distaste for alcohol ever since he ended up rat-arse drunk on the floor of HQ and drafted in as an Agent. He was having fun, though, and he supposed that was what mattered.

He hadn't known Kelvin was following him, though, so the Elf's voice grabbed his attention as he continued to walk, trying to focus on not plowing through people while answering the nervous Elf's rapid-fire questions.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I did. It's just that the PPC has a tendency to drive its Agents batshit crazy after a while, y'know? Some dangerously so, but we usually put them in FicPsych or just kick 'em out. Um...that's pretty much what they do say, mostly the 'all PPCers are nuts' thing and that HQ and Upstairs are out to get us. It's not that bad, really, eventually you even get used to having to kill Sues all the time."

He kept walking after saying this, drawing his attention away from Kelvin for a second, but seemed to remember something and thought better of it. "Oh, and sorry about Zodfang. He's an Ork, they're all like that, and I don't think he can really help it. It's what happens when you put someone from Warha-oh, sorry!"

He had been cut off, and then apologised, because just as he had started to finish explaining Zodfang's situation, he ran straight into agent Kumori, staggering back and shaking his head after firing off an apology. The agent he ran into didn't seem to be in any bad shape from it, but he thought he should say something.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention. You're all right, I'd assume?"

Nat stepped forwards. "Hello. I'm Nat. Cassie apologises for her behaviour earlier. She was very drunk, but she's sobered up now."

Cassie nodded, face flaming again. She stepped up to join Nat. "So... er... wanna dance? With both of us, I mean, not just me, I don't wanna get you on your own... oh God, I didn't mean it like that, I'm sure you're really nice, really, but I didn't mean to do that earlier, you were just in the right place at the right time, dammit I didn't mean that like that-" Nat cut her babbling off by covering her mouth gently.

"Sorry," she said to Zach. "As you can see, she's feeling a bit silly about what happened. Dance?" She tugged him towards the dance floor. Cassie trailed behind, feeling like a prize idiot.

"Be right back."

She disappeared into the crowd, returning moments later dragging a protesting Zach. She shoved him towards Nat and Cassie.

"Help him have fun, will you?" she asked, then disappeared again. Zach stood where she had left him, blushing bright red and glancing warily at Cassie.

"Um...hi."

as Zodfang lunged towards him, then breathed a sigh of relief as the... whatever he was... walked off. He looked around for a moment, trying to spot someone he knew, then gave up and hurried after Marcus.

"Um, I'm sorry, did you say 'don't let this place break you'? Why would it? And what do they all say about it being bad?"

***

Meanwhile, Nat and Cassie were mumbling apologies at each other and not making eye contact.

"S'ry got drunk."

"S'ry hit you."

"Won't do 't again."

"Good."

They looked at each other and grinned, tension gone.

"Party?" Cassie asked. Nat nodded.

"Party."

They joined Sara, both looking as though the whole thing had never happened. Except, of course, for the spreading bruise on Cassie's left cheekbone.