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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.

Knowing Zodfang would probably launch into some hot-blooded boasting session at the slightest prompt, Marcus chose to answer Sara before the Ork could, ignoring Zodfang's disgruntled scowl. Of course, that was for naught as the Ork spoke anyway.

"Dat's right, ya grots! I'm Zodfang, da biggest an' baddest Ag-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Nice to meet you all, now that we're not beating each other senseless." Marcus cut the Ork off sharply, but in a way that seemed more out of jest than malice. Before either of them could say something else, Sara laughed, said that they should party, and grabbed Cassie and Nat, running off into the throng of other agents.

This just left Kelvin with Marcus and Zodfang, who looked awfully tempted to reach over and throttle the Elf.

"'E doesn't look 'ard 'nuff to be an Agent..." Zodfang mused, only for Marcus to roll his eyes in response.

"Leave the man alone, Zodfang. He's probably a rookie. Come on, let's go enjoy the party." Marcus said, but looking to Kelvin for a second before turning around to join the other partygoers. "Don't let this place break you, it's not as bad as they all say."

With that, he walked off, though Zodfang feinted at Kelvin for a second before laughing in his face and going off to bother somebody else.

"You, kiddo, are going straight back to our RC to sleep this off," Kumori growled at her partner. As amusing as watching Cassie make a fool of herself was, and it was very amusing indeed, she did not apprieciate her underage partner getting drunk.

"Don't worry, Mori-chan~" Georgia sang happily, "Purple-purple makes the bad-bad go bye-bye! Sayonara, Mura-mura-chan!"

Kumori smacked her around the back of the head, "Don't speak like that here, they'll think you're a fangirl! And what have you been drinking, that didn't sound like Sparrow at all!"

I got lots of socks, though; nice socks. And I got a lovely copy of Beowulf.
And chocolate...that's sort of PPC, right?

Sara stowed the chocolate in a pocket, smiling cheerfully. "'M Sara. My partner was also one of Cass's...victims...but I think it was good for him. This is Marcus and that's...well, I'm not actually quite sure," she finished, nodding towards Zodfang.

"C'mon, let's party. It's Christmas," Sara laughed, grabbing Cassie and Nat and propelling them before her into the festivities, winking at the others before disappearing into the throng of agents.

looked around sheepishly.

Kelvin attempted to hide behind Nat when the Ork grunted at him, but this move didn't work very well, as he still had several inches on her in height.

Nat turned to Sara and Marcus, looking slightly shamefaced. "I guess it's just leftover from the last mission, it was a bastard and we spent half of it trying to restrain her. Sorry about that." She ran one hand through her hair and eyed the chocolate Sara was waving. "Thanks, but I'm not a big fan of mint. I'm Nat, by the way." This last comment was to all three. She nudged Kelvin slightly and gave him a glance that said clearly, "For Eru's sake, just talk to them, they won't bite."

He edged from behind her, trying to make it look casual, and nodded at them faux-confidently. "I'm Celeb- Kelvin, sorry. I'm new here, so I don't know many people. Cassie introduced me to, um, Georgia and Kumori a while back, but-" He looked over at Cassie, but she was currently facing the opposite direction to them and trying to stop her face from going redder.

"Anyway," Nat cut in, "who are you lot, then?"

and stepped back to give her some room to move. When Nat rounded on Cassie, Marcus found himself sighing, advising the tall woman to be careful lest she knock Cassie out again. Unlike his Ork partner, he didn't find the random display of violence appropriate, or even amusing, actually quite pointless. As if purely to provide a contrast, the Elf agent with them glanced curiously at Zodfang, who immediately grunted threateningly at the Elf as if saying "what, you wanna fight?". Regardless, when Sara spoke, Marcus nodded in agreement, though a bit red as Cassie started to realise what she had done.

"There's really no reason to hit her, you know. Unless you just enjoy smacking people around. I mean, really, this is a party, it's natural people will get a bit tipsy, and it's not like she did anything serious. There's no reason for anyone to be fighting in here, we do that enough on missions!" Marcus paused to chuckle a little, then continued. "Let's just take it easy for once, okay? Actually, I don't think I even know who either you or the Elf are, mind an introduction since we've already seemed to have gotten off on a bad start? Name's Marcus."

Sara winced sympathetically as Nat unleashed her wrath upon Cassie. Suddenly, it didn't seem all that funny anymore. She allowed Marcus to help her up and patted Cass on the back.

"Hey, you were smashed. Stuff happens," she told the other girl, then rounded on Nat. "Can you save the violence for later? Please? Here, look, chocolate." Sara waved a mint-flavoured bar in front of Nat's face, ready to run at the first sign of Nat's temper flaring up again.

"Thank you," she said to Sara, before pouring the entire contents into Cassie's mouth and making sure she swallowed it.

The bespectacled Agent came round a few seconds later, looking far more sober. "What?" Her brain was trying to catch up, however, so she didn't sound all that coherent.

Kelvin looked nervously at the giant green... person... that had joined the minor scene of chaos. "I think she'll be all right now. Thanks for offering to help."

Nat waited until Cassie stopped blinking stupidly and focused on her, and then smacked her round the face. "You bloody-" *smack* "-stupid-" *smack* "-idiot!"

"Careful," said one of the others whom Nat didn't know yet. "You'll knock her out again."

"Oh, believe me, I'm just getting started," she gritted back. Cassie scrambled away.

"Hey, hey, I didn't hurt anyone, right?" She rubbed her cheek ruefully. "Okay, I probably deserved that, but still. Perspective."

"I'll give you bloody perspective." Nat hauled her upright. "Do you have any idea what you've been up to these past few minutes?"

Cassie paused, then reddened, then looked at the people surrounding her and turned a rather vivid shade of beetroot. "Oh no... please tell me I didn't... God, I am so, so sorry..." She buried her face in her hands, trying to hide the fact that she resembled an explosion in a red paint factory.

Kelvin edged away a little and decided to look to one of the others to reply first.

Zodfang had been attracted by the noise and Nat forcing her way through the crowd, leaving the group of agents around the grog for the moment and following her. Due to his sheer size, he had an easier time of this than Nat, easily able to see over the heads of many of the agents, and helped even more by violently shoving any agent that got too close/in the way/he felt like shoving. When he got there, he was greeted by the sight of Sara sitting on a very unconscious Cassie, with Nat, Marcus, and an Elf agent he didn't know anything of standing around them.

"I think it's kind of self explanatory, Zodfang," said Marcus, before moving forward and squatting down behind Sara. "C'mon, I think Cass might need to go to Medical, or at least she'll need that Purple Stuff."

Having said that, Marcus hooked his arms under Sara's, getting a hold just below her chest if she didn't resist. Standing up, he'd take a few slow steps back, trying to drag Sara off of Cassie while Zodfang moved forward to pick Cassie up, though holding back on it for the moment.

"Think you can stand up if I let you go, or are you just gonna fall over again?" Marcus asked Sara.

Sara hauled herself up and staggered to the unconscious girl. She rummaged around in her pockets for a moment, producing a small bottle of Purple Stuff.

"H-h-here," she laughed, handing the bottle to Nat. She promptly sat down again, though her aim was a little off and she accidentally landed on Cassie, which set off a fresh laughing fit.

I think it's connected to the royal armouries museum, too. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll find its ISBN number and such.

Someone fairly tall and skinny, but with enough muscle to shove nearly everyone else out of her way. She brushed past Marcus and Sara, heading straight for Cassie, who was kissing the obviously bewildered Kelvin with more enthusiasm than she'd had at any other time this party.

Kelvin had no idea what to do. It hadn't been his idea, he would swear to that. And Cassie had come at him, he had no idea she was going to kiss him. But it was a tradition, she'd said so, and it wasn't polite to shove someone away, and it wasn't exactly unpleasant... but oh dear Eru Nat was coming towards them and she looked like she was about to rip someone apart. He hoped fervently it wasn't him.

Cassie had no idea what happened. One moment she was enjoying herself with a quick Christmas kiss (that had lasted well over twenty seconds already, but she had lost all time sense by now) and the next there was a sharp pain in her hair -her hair? - and she was lying on her back on the floor with Nat glaring down at her.

"All right, pal." The Welsh girl's voice was dangerously low. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Sitting up with all the drunken dignity she could muster, Cassie replied, "I was jus' show'n him 'bout kissing un'er the mistl-"

"Scaring the poor lad to death is what you were doing!" Nat hissed. "Just look at him!"

Cassie obediently tried to focus, but the alcohol caught up with her eyesight, and a moment later, her consciousness. She promptly passed out.

Nat threw up her hands in disgust. "Brillant. Anyone got any Purple Stuff?"

Despite saying this, Marcus was only slightly less amused than Sara was as he watched Cassie's display, taking his eyes off of her snogging the elf just long enough to take one of Sara's arms and try to pull her to her feet.

"I'm Marcus, by the way," he said, having not gotten the chance to introduce himself earlier. Meanwhile, the party continued around them, Agents dancing and bantering and drinking. Initial embarrassment aside, it seemed like going to the party had been the better idea after all. Still, it'd go on for a while yet he figured, so he might as well have fun and see how things happen.

As I've stated in a previous thread, I got Apple and Kiwi's Little Red's Fairy Tales SE from my parents for Chanukah. I guess that's PPCish.

~Zoe~

Lord of the Rings one (no name for it yet)

Tall glass
Two shots of Orc-draught
One shot of vodka
Add a few ice cubes and fill the glass with lemonade, then add a cherry on a stick.

She sat down on the floor, not trusting her legs to hold her up as she, for the second time that night, shook uncontrollably with mirth.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," she stuttered to Marcus between giggles. The other agent looked down at her bemusedly.

Cassie made a beeline for Kelvin. "'ello, darlin'," she slurred, giving him a hug. "How are you?"

"Um... I'm fine, thank you," he replied, trying to back away. However, he was already in a corner, and Cassie was approaching fast. "How- how are you, er, Cassie?"

"Jus' great," was the reply. She checked again, and yes, the Narrative Laws of Comedy were definitely on her side. "How's 'bout I show you 'nother Chris'mas tradition?"

Kelvin was about to say that she hadn't shown him any yet anyway, but gulped as she looked up at the plant hanging above their heads and smiled at him.

"Kissin' under the mistletoe," she added, and proceeded to show him exactly what that entailed.

"Nah, she's just hammered. Believe it or not, she's even more fun when she's not drunk. I'm Sara, by the way," she told Marcus, offering her hand for him to shake.