X-Men Game Tables
This area of the hall is decorated accordingly, plastic bats hanging from the ceiling and fake orange and yellow leaves strewn across the floor and tabletops, along with Jack-o-lanterns and tiny, floating, cloth ghosts. The tables are set up individually with and activities, those being a pumpkin carving contest; a table covered in sweets and snacks (green, orange, and white marshmallows, red and black Twizzlers, candy corn, M&Ms, pretzels, strawberry glaze, and several others) and paper plates, all used for making tasy, scary, gruesome creatures and monsters; a large pan filled with water and apples (along with a pot full of hot caramel for dipping if preferred), a la bobbing for apples; and lastly, a small stage set up for costume contest judging at the end of the party.
Monday, October 31st
The saucy pirate lass more commonly known as
Korvka strolled into the gaming area of the hall, looking around at the different tables to see what exactly she could figure out by the spread. The pumpkin carving table was the most obvious, but the apples in water befuddled her, as did the difference between
these sweets and those on the long dining tables. Of course, being the performance artist that she was, the stage interested her as well and, grabbing an apple (bypassing the caramel), Korvka walked up the short stair. Once on stage, she looked around, enjoying the new, taller vantage point as well as the memories a stage, no matter the size, evoked. Taking a bite of apple, she chewed thoughtfully, grinning every so often as she recalled concerts, competitions, and auditions. Finally, the swashbuckler sat on the edge of the stage, her feet dangling in their awesome folded brown boots, munching the fruit.
Stomping in from her place at the doorway of the room,
Flame kicked out two chairs from one of the tables, seating herself in one and putting her feet up on the other. Reaching out she pulled the bowl of table candy closer to her, removing her smoke from her lips long enough to start munching on the contents as she waited for Kaider to join her.
Kaider followed Flame after a moment with a punch mug and a plate. Ey saw Korvka and thought ey should probably give her a wave or something, but since eir hands were full, ey just nodded at the pirate. "Ah, I see we now have two plates. Or one plate and a bowl," ey said as ey set the plate down at Flame's table. Ey pulled a chair for emself, sat down and grabbed some candies as well. "This has all the makings of a horrible sugar rush, especially for some people..." ey said and munched on some. "Wait a minute... were there new people in there? It's hard to recognise everyone with all these costumes."
A rhythmic thumping sounded as
Korvka bounced one heel then the other off the front of the stage, contentedly eating her apple and wondering just what the hell was taking everyone so long to discover the rest of the party. She then figured that if she could eat sweets, she'd probably linger a bit longer at the candy tables and sighed, taking the last bite of her apple. She looked up when the clicking of Flame's spiked boots announced her arrival and immediately noticed her sour mood. Nodding in return to Kaider, Korvka hopped off the stage to land on her soft soled boots, making hardly a sound as she walked over to the table where Flame was smoking and stuffing her face while Kaider was trying to remember people. "The mansion is infested vith new kids. Don't feel so bad," she said, figuring that the three of them were on good enough terms not to bother with a 'hello.' Leaning against the table near to Flame, Korvka reached out and put a hand on her friend's scaly shoulder. "Hey vot happened to you? I thought ve ver all gung ho about the party favors," she asked, her brows furrowed in genuine concern.
Damn, a Russian, but at least not the male one. Glaring at Korvka over her shoulder, as if it was the girl's fault, as she replaced her smoke between her lips
Flame let out something close to a growl. "Your asshole of a brother is what happened. Apparently since we're not fucking anymore, he can't even look at me. Gone from bed-buddy to red scaled freak." She puffed angrily on her smoke, working her way through it faster than she intended. "I was going to try and be fucking civil tonight, try and talk it out so we could at least be friends, but guess he can't."
"Yeah, I was just wonderin'," said
Kaider casually in reply to Korvka. Ey then listened to what she said to Flame. "Party favors?" Ey looked a little surprisedly at Flame when she said she and Vlad weren't having sex anymore. Having no clue what had happened, ey thought to ask but Flame seemed rather angry, so ey didn't.
"I don't blame you,"
Korvka replied, looking to Kaider with a small nod. "Vith so much fresh meat, its hard to keep them straight." However, Flame's sudden rampage caught the Russian by surprise, and she had to smirk at her friend's take on the situation as she leaned against the table with the softness of her curving hip. "Don't vorry about him, he's as taken vith you as ever," she promised in a convincing voice, gripping Flame's shoulder more tightly before letting go and fluffing her corkscrew curls. "If he ignores you its because you hurt his feelings, so
use that to your advantage," she advised, leaning forward to place a single kiss on her friend's scaly cheek. For Korvka, a motion like this was tantamount to welcoming a person into the family, since she'd learned long ago that Americans didn't kiss or touch unless they were quite familiar. Remembering the well-placed hug that Flame had given her earlier, the Russian placed a hand on her hip to accentuate her hourglass, and smirked down at her less than enthused pals. "Indeed, party favors. Flame and I haff prepared a bit off fun, so ven you see us go for the pumpkin patch you had better make yourself scarce," she advised, giving Kaider a waggle of her eyebrows and waving the noxious smoke away from her.
Flame let out a sigh at Korvka's words. "That's what caused the fight in the first place, how 'taken' he is." However, her actions did cause her to smile, the kiss instantly warming her back up and replaced her scowl with a smile. "Thanks babe." The reminder of the party favours even caused a chuckle from her. "Oh yeah, living up to our baaaad reputation around here. Make sure to duck It." She gave another glance back to Korvka, one far more friendly than the last. "I decided on a target now, Vlad."
Korvka's smile turned sly indeed as Flame named her quarry, enjoying all too well the thought of Vlad and Dani, the happy fucking duet, covered with more trick than treat. She crossed her legs at the ankle and held onto the edge of the table, her arm stiff so that her shoulder lifted on one side. "Vell he's impossible to miss, but I think you're going to need more than von or two," she suggested, her eyes fixed on the other end of the party, where Vlad still was. She turned a grin to Flame until she caught a strong whiff of cigarette smoke and instantly grimaced, blowing it away from her with a steady stream of air. The Russian, having long ago accepted the consequences or befriending a smoker, said nothing, and indeed no longer harped at her older friend to kick the habit. Instead, remained silent and casually scooted a few extra inches away. Turning to face Kaider and Flame, the old married couple of the mansion, Korvka placed a hand flat on the table and stood heel-to-toe, lifting her hand to her hip as if she were a little bored. "So Kaider, vot are you? A punkrock doctor?" she asked, looking em up and down and coming up with no other conclusion.
"Uhh..."
Kaider was completely off the hook once Korvka offered her initial explanation. Even the later details didn't stir eir mind and ey couldn't figure out what they were talking about. "Should I ask what this is about?" ey commented. As Korvka started speculating about eir costume, ey offered a simple reply. "Yeah. I also figured I'd keep the style later, because... why not." Ey started thinking about the real reason why ey would keep the style and looked quite contemplative.
Raising a brow at Korvka's constant inching away,
Flame glanced down at the smoke between her lips, sighed, and took one more deep puff before putting it out on a thigh scale. Yes, she ignored constant complaints from others that she should stop, but it didn't mean she liked to make her friends uncomfortable about her addiction. Angling her head back so she was facing away from them both, she blew the last cloud of smoke out from her lips before resettling herself in her chair. "Oooh, wardrobe change huh? Nice?"
As Flame put out her cigarette,
Korvka reflexively smiled in genuine gratitude and took a step, sliding her hip along the table as she made up the ground she had given. "You're the best," she said with a little laugh and smiling at Flame. "In fact, you're probably my best friend here," she admitted, looking heavenward to try and think of anyone else she felt comfortable enough to just chill with. Light was fun but they were far from being close, though they were making progress, and despite how well she and Valerie got along, the two hadn't managed to make time to hang out with one another. "Off course, knowing your scaly ass for two years longer than the rest probably gives you a good headstart." She shrugged, and reached forward to scoot some of the things on Kaider's plate to the side, making room for her to place the apple core. "Its nothing bad," Korvka began in response to Kaider's curiosity, hugging her arms comfortably under her breasts as she stomped one of the fake autumn leaves strewn underfoot. "Ve brought balloons filled vith pumpkin guts and voter," she said, shrugging one shoulder as if it wasn't a big deal. Drumming her fingers once against her bicep, Korvka stared at the dining tables and started to smile distantly. "Trick or treat, bitch."
"Well, it can't be helped my scaly ass is so hot,"
Flame threw back with a smirk. "And keep going like that and I will have to switch from your brother to you. And," She continued. "'Bitch-ES', more than one target."
Kaider looked a little bewildered at what Korvka and Flame were planning to do. People's costumes and possibly the whole party getting ruined sounded no fun at all, and ey didn't wish it for anyone even though ey didn't care about the party. However, by now ey knew ey would just get told to jump into a lake if ey tried to prevent the two from this juvenile trick. "Yeah, ruinin' people's costumes doesn't sound bad," ey said in eir usual joykiller tone. "But if ye don't mind, balloon Light an' Shade, I'm pretty sure they need some coolin'. Just remember to surprise them." Ey sneered a bit and picked a couple of cookies from the plate ey had brought.
"Yeeeah... Light is a no-go area,"
Flame answered before Korvka could. "And to be honest, I don't want Shade pissed at me. He's seems like the one guy here who would seriously harm someone for making him angry. I donno what the hell he went through when taken, but he's not the kid he use to be." The idea of hitting Shade had also entered her mind earlier, but she was honestly worried he would try and cut a piece off her or Korvka if they nailed him. Not a problem for Flame, but for the Russian it would be. She then waved off Kaider's comment. "Hey, it's not like we're going with my first idea, of using food colour. Pumpkin bits and water will wash out."
Korvka smirked at Flame when she started displaying a bit more of the sass that the Russian had come to associate with the reptilian regenerator. "Bitches, yes," she replied with a nod at Flame's minor correction. Her scoff was rather audible when Kaider started raining on their parade, acting, as usual, as a total buzzkill. Now reminded why she and Kaider didn't hang out much, Korvka rolled her eyes, saying "oh please. Its Holloveen. Tricks are a part of the festivities." She was surprised however when Kaider suggested that they peg Light and Shade with goo-balloons and lifted both eyebrows as she regarded the doctor and eir now-impressive mohawk. She gave a half grin at Flame when she immediately crossed Light off the list of targets, and then listened to the rest of what she had to say about Shade when he had been Anton. Korvka didn't know him much, only passing him in the halls, but something
did seem a touch more sinister about him now, regardless of what his name had been. Then again, she hadn't given him much of a chance to begin with and could have been a raging prick the whole time for all she knew. She shrugged her shoulder. "Shade's tricky and clever and unafraid of pretty much anybody. If ve smear him, ve'll start some sort of vor vich vill only create more drama that I haff no interest in. Besides, you saw his shadow cloak, didn't you?" she asked, looking to both Flame and Kaider. "I doubt ve could land von anyvay," she said bitterly as she knew she was right.
Kaider looked even more bitter for a moment. "So being a bully is a sure way to get crossed off the hit list?" Rolling eir eyes, ey spoke eir next words with overly dramatic sarcasm. "VERY NICE." Then ey had a related idea. "Maybe I should give it a try," ey said without sarcasm and actually pondered it seriously. However, hearing about how Shade would allegedly be untouchable, Kaider just waved eir hand dismissively and grinned. "Pft, just turn up the disco ball so that there's more light."
Flame mimicked Korvka's eye roll, not that it was noticable, before shaking her head at Kaider. "I do love you It, but you are such a kill-joy sometimes. Get your panties out of a knot, it's not like you're one of our targets." Well... if ey kept it up, ey might be...
Kaider sighed and wondered how anyone could think that being mean to others was fun. At least one thing was clear: this would be the last party ey went to. Ey looked sadly at Flame, thinking about something.
"Oh PISS OFF, Kaider,"
Korvka snapped, her words sudden and heated as she turned a glower to the mohawked thing. "Light is my
friend. That's the difference. For fuck's sake, lighten up," she grumbled, tightening her arms over her chest so that her cleavage increased by a half inch or so. Her flaring temper settled after the necessary explosion, though she was still heavily irked by Kaider, so much so that she had to leave before ey pissed her off any more and the two of them got into another knock down, drag out brawl. She stood up from her lean against the table. "I'm out," she said, looking to Flame as she pushed a few corkscrew curls from her face. "The bag is in the pumpkin patch," she added, right before she gave Kaider one last look, and walked back into
X-Men Party Hall.
Flame let out another sigh at the reaction of her two friends as she carefully adjusts her ponytail. "I know you don't always approve of my fun Kaider, but sometimes you got to draw it back a little with who you are telling off," Poor Korvka, the girl just wanted some fun after the crap with Vlad and the mini-girls. Yet Flame did grin. "But not me, I know you love me forever and ever no matter what I do." With that, she jumped out of her seat to lean over the table to hug em tightly around the neck.
Kaider frowned at Korvka, though ey didn't really care for mood explosions. Ey wondered why she had suddenly ignored Shade and was more astonished at the claim of Light being her friend. Then again, if Korvka wanted to go down that path of thorns to the source of poison, it was her choice. "Yeah well, I kinda wish some people would respect MY way of having fun. Or the ways of others. I mean, what if that trick completely ruins someone's party? That would suck," ey said to Flame, though eir tone wasn't too serious because ey couldn't bring emself to care about the party. Ey smiled at Flame and then a little shocked as she hugged em. Kaider momentarily forgot what ey was thinking about. "Um..."
Damn, ey had to voice her doubts about the prank. "Yeah,"
Flame started as she let of go em and sat back down. "I hope no one cries. But Korvka needs this as an outlet, she hasn't had the best of times of late. This is... stress release, much like it is for me too."
Kaider didn't know what to reply at the moment, so ey just munched on some candy. "Mmmh... so, what now?"
"Well,"
Flame replied. "I guess we could try and mingle or some crap like that. Try and include the mass of new kids. Swear this school gets bigger by the day."
Kaider decided not to mention how big the school had been. "I don't know, I'm not really in a mingling state of mind. Probably the best I can hope for is not ruinin' the others' personal parties," ey said somewhat nonchalantly.
Shh Kaider, that would ruin the point of her comment. However
Flame did lift a brow at em. "Are you really just going to sulk the entire night at this table? Is there really nothing here that might be remotely fun for you?"
Kaider looked a little confused. "Sulk? No?" Ey looked around the tables and spotted one with some board from the lounge. "I guess playing a game would be good."
"Board games, really? For two players?"
Flame doubted her brow could get higher, so dropped the 'wtf' look she had aimed at Kaider. Board games at a party? Well, the party was for mainly younger kids. "Well, I suppose we could get a few set up for anyone who comes across, but I have a feeling most of them will be wanting the seats more to rest their feet from dancing than to play a game." However, she did push herself to her feet, after stealing a handful of whatever candy was in the bowl in front of her, munching on it as she paced over to the stack of games to sort through them.
"Yeah?"
Kaider looked confusedly at Flame again, not understanding her reaction. Ey got up as well, and when she explained some more, continued being confused. "Really? Wouldn't they too want to have fun while lettin' their feet rest?" ey said curiously, since ey thought that sitting with hurting feet while having nothing else to do wasn't very fun. "What do ye want to play?"
While she has played board games in the past with other members of the school, normally on boring, nothing else to do days or night, in general
Flame was not one for such entertainment. "I have no idea." She answered as she poked a nail tip at one of the boxes. "Don't generally consider board games a party type element. But then again, most the stuff I consider 'party' wouldn't be allowed in the school anyways."
Kaider snickered at Flame's last comment. "Yeah, tell me about it," ey said. "Well, there are the classics Dominoes an' Scrabble. We could play 'party Scrabble' so that ye get more points for party-related words."
Flame gave em a smile at the 'tell me about it' line, but had to laugh at eir choice. "Not excatly thrilling gaming choices there Kaider, and sadly we got no drinks to do a drinking game version, and I doubt any of the teachers would approve of a 'Strip-Scrabbl
e' verison being played." That and she really didn't have clothing to spare for that kind of game tonight.
"Well, ye know me, when would I ever be into something interesting," said Kaider with a chuckle. "But I'm all for playin' something less thrilling than a Danger Room session anyway." Ey picked up Scrabble and looked questioningly at Flame.
"Don't get me wrong or anything, DR sessions are a bitch. All the aches and pains afterwards, but they do get the blood pumping." Flame answered back as she retook her seat, steadily working on emptying the bowl of snacks in front of her. "And you are interesting, in your weird, techno-y, quiet way."
Kaider walked back to the table where Flame was, carrying the Scrabble box, and smiled at her. "Thanks..." Ey then opened the box, set up the board and pieces and took eir seven letters.
Korvka was pleased to see that the game tables were still deserted save for Flame and Kaider, whom she was willing to tolerate in order to see her scaly friend. Briefly, the pissy girl realized how big a pain in the ass it was to have to deal with people who irritated her off in order to hang out with her only 'close' friends in the mansion: Light and Flame. With a hand on her hip, Korvka entered their line of sight and approached with agitation in each of her steps. Ignoring the fact that Flame and Kaider were mid-conversation when she arrived, Korvka came to the table and leaned on it in between the familiar duo, looking first to the demon and then to the scientist. Taking a deep breath to keep from deflecting her anger about Vlad onto the innocent pair, Korvka let it out through her nose. "Vell, I haff learned an important lesson," she began, looking into the Scrabble board and picking up a handful of letters. "I can't dance for shit," she said, as she arranged the letters in her palm before lying the little squares on the table to spell C-U-N-T.
Taking up her set of letters Flame began to move them between each other, trying to luck onto a word. Spelling wasn't her strongest suit, but hey, she could spend the time annoying Kaider with misspelt ones. Well, at least until Korvka came along. She sent a smile to the Russian. "Hey Sunshine, came back to join the loner table?" Raising her brows at the word the girl spelt she chuckled. "See? Now this is how to play Scrabble without booze or stripping." Aiming it towards Kaider before returning her attention to Korvka. "What's up babe?"
Kaider was a little surprised to see Korvka again. Thinking about why she could be coming back was even more confusing so ey just ignored the issue. Ey sighed when she couldn't keep any of her gratuitous swearing to herself. Kaider turned the board at Korvka and wrote down the score for her, after which ey took a short moment to think. Ey then put in eir own word that sadly didn't get much points since building off from a four-letter-word didn't get em near to the high-score tiles.
"You know me, I can't resist the outcasts," Korvka droned in response to Flame, running her finger in a little cirle on the tabletop as she examined the rest of the letters in her palm. She turned her eyes upon Kaider for a moment, as if testing the waters to see if the two of them could at least make nice. As ey witheld any biting remark, she too swallowed her ego and visibly relaxed from the tense posture she'd assumed on her deliberate stride away from the dance floor. Considering Flame's question, Korvka's eyes slid over to the mad scientist. Ey was known to be a Vlad-lover, and technically, what had happened? The big goon had complimented her and she poured acid all over him; at least that's the way he would tell the story later. There was no way to explain in detail without incurring more innane psychobabble from Kaider so Korvka edited her encounter to "Just had a run-in vith Vlad." She laughed and shrugged her shoulder, rolling her eyes to conceal her deeper hurt under the usual mask of indifference. Once Kaider started playing off her word, Korvka arched a brow. "I didn't know ve ver actually playing, but votever," she said, scooting out a chair to sit in a triangle with the other two. Grabbing a letter rack, she picked up squares until she had 7 and then leaned on her hand, looking bored.
Suddenly, and near the corner of the game tables area, a mass of blackness rose up from the floor up to the height of a person, clearly Shade's shadow porting skill. After a second, the black shape opened up to reveal Light and Shade inside it, wearing the darkness like a cloak as he nibbled the side of his lover's neck, trying to tickle her.
"Apparently so, since we're being sticks-in-the-mud and not interacting with anyone. Although, not really my choice of people," At least not tonight for Flame. "You know," She said to the other girl, still pushing around her letters in hope to create a longer word, but settling for a rather short one. "We should have just ditched tonight and gone out drinking or to a club instead. After all, it's the one night a year I can get away walking around like this in public."
Kaider glanced at Light and Shade when they arrived, but turned back to Flame. "Huh, ye're right," ey commented.
C-R-E-D-I-T. Korvka played off her first word, using the T to spell the letter vertically and pick up a triple letter score. She grinned at Flame and even managed to share a bit of her marginally improved mood with Kaider as ey was looking at something behind Korvka. Turning her head to see what had caught eir attention, the tell-tale shadowy portal formed and soon enough, Light and Shade had joined them. However, the arrival of the couple did nothing more than distract the Russian for a moment, after which she turned back to the game board as if nothing had happened at all. To Flame's passing suggestion, Korvka looked up thoughtfully, her sentiments spoken first by Kaider. "I haff a bit off vodka left... ve could haff our fun and then take off," she said, suddenly remembering the money that Light had given her earlier in the day. It was certainly enough to have a good time on this strange American holiday. She looked to Flame and then Kaider, wondering if ey had any objections since Korvka considered em rather a killjoy.
"I thought it was 'credit crunch', not 'credit cunt'." Flame smiled at her own bad joke and she picked extra letters to work with. "And it's a start. No way I want to waste tonight stuck here. The world must know my beauty, if even for a night."
Kaider concentrated on finding a good word and didn't react when Korvka started talking about vodka. Ey thought she wanted to know whether ey would like to drink too, though again ey had no idea why she would ask em that. "I'd rather not drink," ey said. After another longish moment, ey played a word right next to Korvka's so that no new places opened.
Light rose up from the floor, along with Shade, inside his shadow portal, laughing out loud as he nipped at and tickled her neck. "Shade!" she hissed, trying to push him away from her now that she was safely back on solid ground, "Stop that!" She was totally ignorant, for the moment, of the other three students enjoying a game of Scrabble. Holding up her hand, she put it close to Shade's face, bits of electricity sparking from her fingertips and jumping onto his skin, trying to get the boy to back off, and threatening to send a full shock to his face.
"I'm feeling rebellious," Korvka added to Flame's initial remark, the birth of a smirk on her face. At the loud reprimand from Light to Shade, her head cocked a bit to the side to see what the problem was but she returned her attention to the game when she realized it was just the couple being, well, themselves. Picking up the squares she needed in order to maintain the obligatory 7 on her rack, the pirate looked over to the stage and then turned back to the board thoughtfully. "Looks like a costume contest or something? Vy else vood there be a stage," she mused, shrugging one shoulder as fiddled with the letters to try and make a word more impressive than 'own.' "Let's do it then, ven they're all on stage..."
"What?" asked Shade as Light called out his name, laughing and trying to push him away. "Can't a guy get an innocent drink?" he asked once more as he chuckled himself and went back to his assault, holding Light tightly as he nibbled the side of her neck relentlessly. His shadowy cloak now unwrapping itself from around their bodies, revealing the girl's white dress in stark contrast with what shade was wearing. When she finally brought her hand up, however, he felt the small, hot snaps of electricity against his skin and jumped back a bit. "Ouch!" he said as he looked at her with one eyebrow raised, as if amused by her reaction. "Ok.. I got it, I got it.." sighed the boy, sliding his hands, which were behind Light's waist, down almost to her butt and pulling her a bit towards him. The boy grinned, giving a short glance at the people playing, just to check that the others were not staring and rolling their eyes, as they seemed to do with any display of affection as he added; "Now I know that next time I go for your neck...". Before he finished his sentence, however, he looked straight into Light's green eyes and leaned in to give her a soft, loving kiss. "... I'll have to bind your hands, first." he finally concluded with a mischievous smile. Before giving her time to reply, however, Shade pretended he had not said anything and turned to look at the stage. "When do you reckon the little costume competition will start?" he asked, ruing the idea of a bunch of kids coming over to that area to ruin their 'alone' time.
"Hmmm," Flame hummed out as she placed down her next word. "Yeah, that could lead to a Carrie-like situation, minus the red paint." She was starting to go off the idea of hitting the younger girls, not wanting to upset them (but still get Vlad). However, she was doing this to make Korvka feel better, so she was along for the ride. "I guess we could just hit and run and get the hell out of here once we do."
"Nothing is ever 'innocent' with you," Light replied to Shade's question in between laughs and letting out a small squeak when he went after her neck again, shrugging her shoulders up to try to cover her neck and trying to push the boy away, still holding her sparking hand up threateningly. Finally, the boy backed off from his attack, and Light visibly relaxed, keeping her hand close to his face for just a second until she thought Shade wouldn't move in for the attack again, then she totally let her guard down, allowing herself to pulled against her lover. Smiling, the girl wrapped her arms around Shade's neck again, pushing her body completely against his, and couldn't help but send a quick look over her shoulder at the others just as Shade did, her smile fading into an almost disgusted look at the sight of Flame and Kaider. However, Shade's voice brought her attention back to him, and her expression immediately went back to a smile as she focused her gaze on him once more. "Oh?" she started to say in response to his statement before the boy kissed her, cutting both of them off. Light closed her eyes, tightening her grip on Shade for just a second before he, too soon, pulled away, and hearing the second half of his statement, the girl smirked and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted once more by Shade. "Dunno," she replied, raising her eyebrows at the boy, "Why, you wanna join?" Gently, the girl rested her head on his shoulder, letting her hands hold lightly to his shoulders while she softly nuzzled his neck and pressed her lips against his skin. "You'd be the most impressive," she continued to say, interrupting her own words with another kiss to his neck, "handsome," another kiss, "incredible thing on that stage." Light was being much sweeter than was normal for her, and she was totally aware, but she wanted Shade too much at that point and, honestly, didn't give a rat's ass about anything else.
Kaider thought that right now, the most interesting thing ey could focus on was thinking up long words that ey could put on the board, provided that eir places weren't ruined.
"Carrie?" Korvka asked, drumming her fingers in succession as she waited for the time to strike. Detecting a bit of hesitance from Flame now that the stage was set and the players need only move into their places, Korvka creased her brows momentarily before raising them and sighing. The last thing she needed was for an accomplice to jump ship but she had to admit that, indeed, she was about to martyr Daniela and the other girls. Her attack was too obvious, too focused to be anything other than bullying... After a moment of thought with her eyes looking beyond the letters before her, Korvka blinked. "There are some that haff more voter than guts. Ve can splash each other if you're so concerned. I mean, everything vill vosh clean," she defended, wondering why she felt the need to justify this tiny bit of revenge. "Besides, Holloveen is the time for pranks. Its not like I filled them vith acid so ve all can just chill out now," she said, looking to Kaider and then Flame. She leaned back in her chair and adjusted the brown leather tricorn on her head, crimson plume gliding through the air. "It's simple, ve grab a handful off balloons and peg the people on stage and then leave the bag open for any others who vont in on it. Everyvon gets to play a part and ve don't look like bitter pricks."
Shade looked at his lover with a raised eyebrow as she suggested he participated in the upcoming costume competition. At first he thought she was only kidding, but then she began to talk as she went for the boy's neck this time. "... are you going to try to tickle me now?" joked Shade for a second before he felt Light's warm breath over the side of his neck, followed by a small burst of pleasure coming from the woman's electrified lips touching his skin. As the girl kept kissing him, Shade tilted his head slightly to give her more space, his eyes closing as he inadvertedly let out a sigh. The two were being rather uncharacteristic and loving, for a second, the thought rushed through the boy's head that he should at least try to hide the fact he truly cared for Light right now. After all, there were three people he regarded almost as enemies sitting a few dozen feet away and Shade was not one to bare his emotions in a public setting. Still, he was unable to resist Light as her breath climbed up his neck, holding her tightly with one hand around her waist, he brought the other one to her chin and pulled her face towards him. After gazing at her eyes for a second, the boy pushed his lips fiercely against Light's, not bothering to even disguise it with his cape anymore, Flame, Kaider and Korvka could roll their eyes until they saw the inside of their skulls for all he cared. The boy pushed even further, making the kiss more passionate and forcing Light's back to arch back while he held her waist pulled against his body. "I wouldn't want you on that stage." he finally whispered, looking at her like a predator looking at his dinner, with a grin on his mouth, "I don't want anyone but me to enjoy you." he then clarified.
"Yeah, Carrie, a movie. Girl gets covered with red paint or blood at the prom, uses her mind powers to kill those did it to her." Flame summed up the movie more or less. "But hey, we're in this together," She continued as Korvka gave the options. "Start it together, burn together." Finishing it with a grin to try and reassure her friend.
Korvka cursed her sharp, trained ears as she heard the tell-tale signs of lip-smacking coming from the corner where she knew Light and Shade to be. Honestly, the nerve of him to comment on her boobs when he spent all morning cheating and all night sliming his way back into Light's good graces... Clearing her throat to refocus herself on the riveting game of Scrabble, the Russian looked over at Flame and offered a small nod. "Ve had better be. Vot fun is it to be the von asshole at the party?" she asked somewhat dramatically, using pomp and circumstance to keep her thoughts above the surface of the dark, churning swirl. Her eyes then turned to Kaider and she patted em on the hand. "Don't vorry, you don't haff to answer that." Smirking slightly, she resettled into her chair and removed her hat. A shake of her head sent the gold hoops swinging in the voluminous cocoa curls, but her eyes were fixed on the telepath's new and improved mohawk. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her and she leaned forward on her elbows as she studied closer the cut of Kaider's hair. "I like the mohawk," she complimented in a voice that was too distracted to be anything but true. "It makes me rethink my style too," she said, returning to her seat and looking down as she placed Q-U-I-C-K on the board.
Kaider just ignored whatever non-essential ey heard. Ey had no idea what to reply to Korvka; one moment she was cursing at em or being mean at em and now apparently complimenting em. At least ey could come up with something to reply. "Um... okay," ey said after Korvka said she might change her style. Ey was miffed that ey couldn't put eir great 7-letter word anywhere, so ey settled for building off of Korvka's Q so that ey got the points for it as well.
Flame was making an effort not to pay any attention to said 'lip-smacking' from the couple. If it had been Vlad and her, she would not have cared if others saw them going at it in the corner, not that that was a concern any more... So, leave those two to it, yippy do da day for them, she had Scrabble and friends, and later booze. "Well, no fun for either of us to be the only assholes at the party, but if we could peg it on someone else to be said asshole, that would be funnier."
Oblivious to her strange moodiness regarding the telepath, Korvka took a last, lingering look at eir stylish mohawk. She knew Kaider well enough now to know that ey didn't have a lot to say unless it was pretty well spelled out for em so she elaborated. "Da, its about time I got a style off my own," she commented casually, noticing how ey played off her Q to ruin her second chance at using it. M-E-N-I-A-L came next for her, but she was hardly thinking about the letters as she thought about Light, someone she considered to have a well defined style. And, now that she thought of it, Shana too. The twins might be at each other's throats most of the time but the familiar tie of personal expression was apparently a family trait. Looking up from the board, Korvka stared at Flame with the makings of a sly grin on her face. "Somevon else to take the fall," she said in an agreeable tone, wondering just who she'd pin it on. She then shook her head, "bah, I'm not sneaky enough to frame somevon. I voodn't know ver to begin..." Her eyes suddenly drifted over to Light and Shade and she then knew who she could ask about doing something devious. The gaze was cold and calculating as she wrestled with her feelings about the latter of the two - she and Shade got along about as well as oil and water but he had clear strengths. Of course, why he would help her was a riddle Korvka was sure had no answer: it didn't benefit him so there would be no assistance. Then again, perhaps his love of tricks would play to her favor... Korvka's brown eyes turned back to the Scrabble board and she looked at the mess of words that had become her party and she'd had enough. Suddenly, she stood. What was life without a bit of risk? "I'll be back," she explained as she stepped away from the table and towards the canoodling couple in the corner. She approached with her arms crossed, unintentional body language that belied her facial calm. Once she was in their presence she looked at Light first and then Shade before returning her eyes to her slim friend. Grinning a little, she nodded towards the costume and said "Looks great." Then after a smooth inhale, she continued. "But as much as it pains me to admit, I actually came here to ask your boyfriend a bit off advice," she said, looking at last to Shade.
"No," Light whispered back to Shade in response to his question, moving her hand up from his shoulder to hold the back of his neck and she pushed her lips more fervently against his skin, letting each soft kiss linger for a few seconds. Maybe the two were being a little too lovey-dovey in front of all the other students, but just like Shade, the girl didn't give a damn. Honestly, she didn't care too much about the whole party or costume competition, either. Sure, it gave her an excuse to dress up and show off a little, and even have a drink or two, but it wasn't like she really wanted to be with anyone at that party that she couldn't be with at any other time, namely Shade. As the boy pulled her face up to meet his, Light returned his gaze, unblinking, then closed her eyes immediately when his lips pressed against hers. The girl tilted her head a little as she kissed him, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other around his waist, holding herself close to him as he pushed her backwards, her leg lifting a little through the thigh-high hem of her dress and wrapping lightly around Shade's to keep her balance. Finally, the boy broke the kiss, and Light grinned at his rather possessive statement, wrapping her arms tighter around him and pushing her chest against his as she demanded, "Forget the party, and the stage, and take me back to my room and enjoy me, then." Before Light could push her lips against Shade's once more, she heard footsteps moving across the floor and in their direction, and, lowering her leg, she turned to see Korvka approaching the two. "Maybe later, then." With a smirk, the girl loosed her grip on Shade, though she left one arm around his waist and rested a hand on his chest, and cocked her head a little at the Russian's compliment. "Thanks. Yours is rather good, too, for last minute thrift store shopping." Then, at the brunette's second comment, Light raised her eyebrows, responding with, "Be my guest," as she took a step back, away from her lover. "He doesn't need me to translate. Gonna grab some more punch," she added, finally looking up at Shade before she turned and promptly headed over to X-Men Party Hall.
Shade had been waiting for Light to offer him the option to simply ditch the party, take her up to the room, tear that wedding dress off and have his way with her. The boy wrapped his arm around the girl's waist even tighter as she spoke, moving his free hand down to her leg as her knee poked out from under her dress. the boy reached out with the tips of his fingers, as far apart as he could keep them as he placed his hand on the girl's outer thigh, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin on his fingertips. Suddenly, however, just when he was ready to oblige his lover and port them both up to the bedroom, his attention was diverted by Korvka suddenly appearing next to them. The boy remained quiet in sullen frustration as the two girls exchanged pleasantries and then, just as Light was about to leave he reached out and brushed the tips of his fingers against the girl's as she left. As he watched Light leave, the boy began speaking to Korvka, "Whatever lack of subtlety may accost you, you have a penchant for cockblocking me." he said without even looking at her. Once Light was by the food tables and obscured from Shade's silvery eyes by the other people there, he finally turned to the Russian. "So... I'm guessing it's in my best interest to help you out..." obviously pointing out her friendship with Light. "What can I do for you?
Kaider wasn't interested in whatever Korvka could possibly have to say to Shade. "I think it's yer turn," ey said to Flame. "Have five e's in there?"
Flame brought her focus back from watching Korvka prance off to sort whatever out with Shade, to Kaider. "Ehh, I hate spelling games. I'm not good at them. Should have grabbed Pictionary or something instead." She said as she laid out another word, not expect her score to be that high by the end of the game.
Kaider actually did have five e's now. "Well, if we play through this quickly, we can play Pictionary too," ey said with a small smile and got rid of some e's by putting "melee" on the board. Then it was Korvka's turn, but they would have to wait for her now.
Though Korvka watched Light and Shade's tangle of limbs with seemingly little interest, she took immediate notice of the possessive posture they assumed. Mostly, she was happy that the concerns Light had shared with her were put to rest, but a different, more practical side of her immediately wondered how long the snake would be able to stay away from someone as tempting and devious as Camille. The way Korvka saw it, those two were a match made in hell. She half expected Dracula to hiss at her for having interrupted the relatively secluded rendezvous with his 'lady fair' but quickly hiked her brows in pleasant surprise as Light skated off to the refreshments, leaving Korvka to speak with Shade. The two rarely spent time alone, only when Light left the room for short stints, and, as happened all those other times, the Russian girl was on edge. As much as she wished it weren't so, Shade prickled the hairs on the back of her neck. Her initial assumption that he was purely evil was being challenged somewhat thanks to her slowly budding companionship with Light, but nothing could assuage the feeling in her gut that reminded her to be wary. Her arms remained folded over her chest as he decidedly avoided her gaze and yet spoke to her, causing her to roll her eyes. Like she enjoyed speaking with him... Upon hearing that she had just squashed another attempt on his part to ensnare Light into bed, a smug smirk tugged up the corner of one lip and she leaned her weight on one leg, letting the other bend casually, though she tapped it, a nervous habit. When he finally tore his hungry eyes away from the Bride of Frankenstein and deigned to look at her, Korvka was waiting for him, lips pursed, eyebrows lifted. This was not a proud moment; humbling herself to ask Shade advice while he treated her like some sort of mongrel unworthy of even the basest of courtesies... However, when he nonchalantly told her he'd help, her eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline, her brown eyes going wide for a moment in a portrait of shock. That was certainly unexpected. Closing her eyes, she gathered her thoughts and then opened them after a deep inhale. "I haff a small trick planned for tonight," she said, looking over her shoulder to the small pumpkin patch near the refreshment stand and continued "but I'm new to being a prick and thought I'd ask the biggest von I know." Finally, she looked at him with an expression that was, for once, free of hate or fear or suspicion. "I brought voter balloons vith pumpkin guts inside and haff a few targets in mind but don't feel like martyring them or bringing too much trouble to myself..." she said in a leading tone, drawing a circle with her hand to indicate that now was the time for Shade to be forthcoming with his thoughts.
"How the hell do you know when this game is finished anyways?" Flame asked as she pulled a smoke from her carton, lighting it with a flick of her lighter. She was sure one day she would have to cut out parts of her lungs to escape cancer in them or some other smoking related disease, but considering that was no trouble for her, she gave little care for what they were doing to her body. "Is it when we run out of letters or some crap like that?" Not bothering to wait for Korvka, since this game was hardly a serious one for her, Flame placed her new tiles on the board.
"That's awfully devious and underhanded of you." replied Shade, lifting an eyebrow and looking at Korvka as she explained her ploy. Oddly enough, while the boy's words seemed reproachful, his tone was actually complimentary. "So basically you don't want anyone to know you did the deed..." added the boy as he leaned back against the nearby wall, letting his cloak wrap around himself as it flapped along a non-existent wind. "And you don't want the victims to look like.. well.. victims." he added, stroking his chin between his index finger and thumb as the cogs in his mind started to move. "The former is actually much easier than the latter." shrugged Shade as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean.. you have superpowers, for god's sake... just wrap a vine holding the gloves along the ceiling, it should be disguised by the lights that have been set up for the party, you can drop the payload on top of the unsuspecting victims and quickly pull the vine back." spoke the boy as he pointed up with his finger, as if he was tracing the route on the wall and ceiling that the purposed vine was supposed to follow. "As for the second one, I can only see two solutions.. one is to target someone who is generally disliked... " he began to say rising an eyebrow, knowing an assault on Light or himself might be well received, but also that they were too dangerous to be targeted by anyone with any trace of intelligence. "Or make it so your victims did something to 'have it coming to them', some sort of.. poetic justice." the faux vampire finally concluded, crossing his arms while keeping one of his hands out and gesturing with it. "Easier said than done, though."
"Yeah," replied Kaider. Ey was about to comment that they should wait for Korvka, but at the moment ey didn't particularly like her too much, so ey let Flame go on. Ey sighed at the thought of Korvka flipping out because her turn (or several) would be missed. Ey had a bunch of cheap letters that still wouldn't form a long enough word, so ey just played a few of them on the board.
To Shade’s unexpected compliment, Korvka‘s face displayed surprise. Her eyebrows quirked up just a bit and her face drew back, totally blindsided to hear something less than disdainful pour from his trap. She was not foolish enough to think that this changed anything between them, but it was enough of a signal to indicate that Shade was at least willing to assist her in this instance. Slightly more at ease now, she listened to his assessment of her dilemma and nodded at his conclusions with her arms folded loosely over her chest. “Yes.” As he explained using the vine to drop the party favors from above, Korvka’s head lifted to behold the stage and the steel lighting that had been erected. Now that things were down to business, she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “You’re right, that’s perfect,” in a soft voice filled with menace, the birth of an evil smirk on her face. They wouldn’t see it coming until it was too late, and then that usurping little shrimp and her annoying lesbian lover would finally get a tiny bit of sweet revenge. And Vlad, he’d get the most of it, him and his little perfect ‘sister.‘ Lowering her gaze as Shade continued about how to make her targets appear less like victims of Halloween terrorism, Korvka’s scowl returned and she tightened her arms over her chest as she thought of Daniela and Shana and Vlad. “Tch, everyvon loffs these bitches. Little miss sunshines, the lot off them,” she growled, her brown eyes smoldering as her simmer started to reach a slow boil. “Everyvon is going to think, ‘oh, poor them! Who vood do such an awful thing?’” she said in a mocking voice, pressing her hand against her chest as she impersonated with hatred the way she assumed the mansion would feel about her little trick. She finally looked to Shade and, seeing as how she was there to conduct business, decided to humble herself one last time. “I’m open to suggestions,” she said, swallowing just enough of her pride to ask his help for the second time that night.
"How thrilling." Flame's clearly meaning it was anything but. Putting out another word she gave a sigh and glanced over towards Korvka. She really wanted to get this show on the road so they could get out of here and go and do something really fun, preferably with alcohol and real partying. Taking a moment to aim Flame threw a scrabble piece at Korvka's head.
"The answer is awfully simple." shrugged Shade with the slightest disdain, as if he was explaining the most basic of concepts. "You can kill two birds with one stone easily and drive a wedge between them. If you have a target you can't make unsympathetic, then frame for it another target you can't make unsympathetic." added finally the boy as wisps of shadow danced gleefully around him and a malicious grin grew on his face. "You simply frame someone you don't like for the attack on someone else you don't like."
Despite the irritated sigh that shot through Korvka's mouth, she was actually listening quite carefully. She tended to get like this when she didn't enjoy her teacher but, all things considered, Shade was helping her, something she never thought would happen. It seemed being friends with Light came with certain perks. When the Scrabble piece bounced off her hair, she whipped her head back to see what it was, only noticing what the small projectile was when she looked down to see a "G" square on the floor. Looking to Flame she held up her index finger emphatically and then turned back to Shade. She let her arms drop from across her chest to sit on her hips as she listened until the very end, wondering who she'd pin it on. Mihir came to mind but he;d already seen the balloons, and Kaider had already heard the plot. "Damn," she muttered, cursing herself for having spoken about the ploy to anyone at all. Then again, pinning it on Kaider began to look more and more appealing the longer she thought about it. But there was Flame to consider. She probably wouldn't let Kaider take the fall. "Drive them apart..." she mused, looking heavenward as she thought of who to frame. Obviously she would have to choose her target carefully based on what results she wanted: if she framed Vlad then he and Dani would be pulled apart, which was her initial desire, but in order to truly twist a knife in Dani's back, framing Shana would be the most painful. Smirking just slightly, she agreed with herself on trying to frame Shana, and then turned back to Shade."Ok, I understand the theory, but how do you frame somevon? That's vy I came over here in the first place. I don't know ver to begin," she said with a sigh as she leaned against the wall to survey the stage better, keeping a few feet from Shade while remaining close enough to hear any of what he had to say. Under her brown brows, she glared a bit at the stage as she contemplated how to make it look like the one girl who liked Dani best would bother dumping pumpkin guts on her. "Goddamnit," she grumbled, mostly under her breath. "This evil shit doesn't come easy."
Whining at Korvka's lack of movement back to the table Flame gave a yell to her. "Hurry upppp! I wanna to go drinking already damnit!" Tonight was not a night to waste at the mansion, it was a night to make the most of having an in built costume thanks to her genetics. Looking back down at her tiles she debating if to throw more of them at the Russian... or maybe the board itself...
Shade was quickly growing weary of the conversation, to the point where he didn't notice the small plastic square hitting Korvka. He just wanted to be with Light again, maybe even finish what they had started before Korvka's interruption. "Simple, really..." he said, looking at Light all the way by the buffet tables, speaking to Daniela, for some reason. "Physical evidence speak louder than both words and actions, you just plant some." said the boy, adding emphasis on the 'plant' as he spoke, not even looking at Korvka anymore. "I reckon the rooms must be empty right now... no witnesses to see some gutless pumpkins and half a pack of water balloons being snuck under someone's bed."
As Shade finished, a plan was already forming. "Thanks" Korvka said reflexively, too caught up in her own thought process to appreciate his play on words or hear her scaled friend. Turning from the silver-eyed boy in his vampiric garb, the pirate returned to the table where Flame was apparently waiting impatiently in front of the most boring party game ever made. Grabbing her tricorn from the tabletop, Korvka situated it on her head and then looked to Flame, otherwise ignoring Kaider. Her motions were casual, as if she weren't in a hurry, though she indeed was. Shade was right to an extent, but with mutants like Jean and the Professor, physical evidence could easily be overruled by a simple search of the mind. "Vot?" she asked about the restless look on Flame's face, narrowing her brows. Then, she rolled her eyes and smirked a little. "Don't vorry, fiend. I'll get you your fix. Come on, the vodka is in my room," she said with a nod towards the exit, idly plucking a corkscrew curl so that it bounced a few times before sighing and feeling impatient herself. To ensure that Kaider didn't want to tag along, the Russian looked at em and said "ve'll be back. I'd offer you some booze but figured I'd save my breath," she said while posturing herself closer to the party hall where they could exit.
Kaider wasn't too glad about Flame throwing the pieces around and went to fetch the letter just before Korvka stopped talking with Shade. Ey put the piece back in its pouch and listened to what Korvka said. "Oh. Yeah, not really a fan of the hard stuff... But I think I'll come up with ye an' head to my room, it's not like I'd have anything to do here." Ey then put the game pieces back away in their box – provided no one had any objections about it.
"Booze!" Flame cried as she jumped out of her seat, more than done with the boring game they had started. Wait... this could be improved. Heading back the few steps she took towards the exit Flame snatched up the last of the candy left on the table. "And sugar!" Ignoring Korvka's cold shoulder to Kaider she stepped over to em and planted a kiss on eir cheek, "Aw, wish you had more fun Kaider, what parties are suppose to be about after all." Before following at Korvka to X-Men Party Hall.
Korvka entered X-Men Party Hall with Flame.
Kaider was a little surprised that the two were so eager to leave eir company that they couldn't wait for em to be done with packing the game. Ey decided to take along a plate of food now that Flame and Korvka were already gone. More fun, Flame had said. Kaider thought that having some more fun was a little hard when most seemed to only get pissed at eir ideas of fun and insisted on ruining the whole party for everyone except the resident assholes, it seemed. Ey considered going around and shouting to everyone what two were going to do now that they were gone and ey wouldn't have to deal with their crap. Then it dawned on em that they had left before doing their incredibly juvenile trick, so apparently they had given it up anyway. Ey was still thinking when ey finished transferring candy from the bowl to eir plate and continued as ey walked to X-Men Party Hall.
Some time after Korvka and the misfits left the area, Light came back from the party hall, carrying two glasses of punch. She sauntered over to Shade, stopping just in front of him and holding out the glass she'd poured for him. "These are still a little plain," she explained, obviously hinting that the drinks needed some added alcohol. "Have fun?" she then questioned sarcastically with a smirk plastered on her face, knowing full well the distaste her friend and boyfriend had for each other.
"Hello, my love." replied Shade, a grin growing on his face as his lover approached seductively. The boy immediately straightened out and pushed his chest out, almost swelling up at the sight of Light, approaching him. Gently, he reached out and took the cup the girl offered. "Would you like me to make it.. not plain?" he asked with mischievous look on his face. "I reckon we have some more alcohol in the room.. if you want to go up with me and get it?" he finally added. Once Light asked if he had fun, obviously referring to his little chat with Korvka, his expression hardened for a second as he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yes, it was quite the shindig." he said sarcastically. "It's funny to see someone try so hard to do something that should come so naturally." he grinned after he took a sip of his punch. "I missed you, though."
Justin was smiling as he led Endelyn onto the party floor. He scanned the area taking in the bobbing apple game, the jack-0-lanterns, and the stage. He turned back to her his eyes glowing with excitement. "So what would you like to try?"
Still not being used to the whole Halloween scenario, Endelyn looked at all the games with much confusion. She looked at Justin and noticed his excitement, and felt a little of it rubbing off on her. "Ah, er. Well, I'm not really sure. What do you enjoy the most?" she asked.
"Have you ever bobbed for apples?" Justin pranced up to the tank and scanned the water. "You simply try to grab an apple using only your teeth. Just gotta be careful about your makeup and such." He waved his arm as if presenting a prize then quickly pointed over his shoulder to the pumpkins. "Or we could carve faces into the pumpkins for decoration!"
Noticing Shade perfecting his posture as she approached, Light couldn't help but smile and let out a silent giggle, and as he took his own cup of punch from her, she placed her free hand on his waist, moving close enough to him so that her chest barely touched his. "That would be delightful," she answered to his initial question, looking up at him as he continued to speak, then taking one small step forward, and pressing her body more firmly against his, she simply smiled, albeit a bit seductively, her gestures and body language answering his second question. Grinning when the boy went on about how hard Korvka was trying, Light wrapped her arm loosely around his waist, holding him close and continually making advances toward him. "Knowing Korvka despises every bit of you, yet she wanted to talk to you, I'd have to assume she's up to something no good?" she questioned, running her fingertips lightly along the boy's spine. "And you can't blame her, not everyone is as delightfully cold-hearted and evil as you, my count." Finally, when Shade admitted that he'd missed Light, she pulled him tightly against her, as much as she could, anyways, and pushed herself up on her toes, closing her eyes brushing her lips very lightly, and slowly against his. "I can say the same. I also miss having you in my bed and unclothed." Pausing, Lightly tilted her head to the side and smiled innocently. "So how about we go get that extra flavor for the drinks?"
As a song was ending on the dance floor, the loud music was cut short and the room's intercom buzzed to life and a quick announcement was made by Jean: "Attention students, in ten minutes, the costume contest will begin. If you are interested in participating, please make your way to the stage near the games now. Three winners will be chosen by the teaching staff and will receive prizes according to their placement, either first, second, or third. If you are not interested in participating, you are also most welcome to watch. Thank you." Once the announcement was over, the loud music began playing once more.
Endelyn followed Justin over to the tank and looked in as he explained the strange game to her, then looked over at the pumpkins he pointed at. "Carving them?" she questioned, then shrugged. "Sounds interesting, you choose." she smiled, then looked up at the ceiling when the announcement was made. She looked at Justin. "Are contests normal for Halloween too?" she asked.
Justin tapped his chin in thought for a moment as he phrased his answer. "Well depending on if you are at a party like this or a public carnival or something along those lines, yes its not uncommon." He took a second look at the pumpkins honestly wanting to give it a try, but then turned back to Endelyn. "You should enter, you honestly look like a princess."
Shade loved feeling his lover's body pushed against him, the warmth of her skin radiated through the delicate fabric of her wedding dress and into Shade on the spots where they were touching. Slowly, the young man's hands slithered behind Light's back, one of them, holding a punch cup, rested against Light's lower back, right over her behind. The other one slowly moved up, caressing the girl's skin through the open back of her dress, focusing particularly on the area around her shoulderblade. "You seem to have an uncanny ability to read people, my love." replied Shade when Light took a gander at Korvka's intentions. "Indeed, the little troll is planning a bit of kid's play." he replied, quickly made quiet by Light's fingers moving up his spine, which sent a small electric current into his back and made him stick out his chest and pull his shoulders back. Before he could fully recover, the boy felt Light's lips brushing against his, and was unable to contain himself, just after the young woman was done talking, he yanked her a bit forward and kissed her passionately, letting his fingertips run along her jawline as he tugged lightly on her bottom lip. "Soon, my love. I do want to see how Gimli's little gander turns out." he grinned. "Oh, we seem to have plowed through the vodka...but.. I do think I have a small bottle of rum somewhere here, if you're interested."
"People aren't too hard to read sometimes," Light explained as she wrapped her arms tightly around Shade, "especially when avoid their brother like the plague and scowl at the sight of him. Or stop at nothing to steal a man's attention away from his woman." The girl smiled up at her lover as he told Korvka's intentions, her fingers trickling slowly up and down the length of the boy's spine. After she had suggested going to retrieve the Vodka, Shade's kiss took her a bit by surprise, and she closed her eyes, melting into the touch and feel of Shade's lips on hers and his hands on her back. When he pulled away, she looked up at him with a grin, wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned against him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "I think I'd like to see that too," she said, closing her eyes and nearly nuzzling his neck, then perked up when Shade mentioned the rum. "Interested, definitely," she responded with a smirk, holding up her glass of punch, which she'd been careful not to spill, with one arm still wrapped around the boy.
Heels clicking and hips swaying, Camille came from the party hall and approached Light and Shade, though her eyes were locked on Shade's, and greeted the two with an overly cheery, "Heya! How're things going?" It was fairly obvious that her words were directly solely towards Shade, but she gave a smile, almost sinister, to Light as she stopped near the two. "You should enter the contest. Your costume is really awesome!" she suggested, her eyes fixed on Shade once more as she spoke, ignoring the fact that his girlfriend was there and practically glued to him.
When Justin suggested that Endelyn herself should enter the contest, her face flushed red with embarassment, and fear of being in front of so many people. "O-oh, well... I-I'm not really good with big crowds..." she admitted, the blush still on her cheeks. "L-lets carve those pumpkins!"
"oh.. ok." Justin fumbled as he followed her to the pumpkins. He picked up a carving knife with the relative skill of a chef and tried to pick out a nice pumpkin that didn't seem to young to where it would be tough or to old to where the skin had started to get soft. "I mean I'm sure you would do great in the contest if you were up for it." He lifted one up studying it extensively before approving it with a nod.
Addy appeared from across the room, slowly crutching her way to the stage. She tried to ignore the other people in the area, mostly because Shade and Light had been stuck to each other all night and she didn't much like Camille. Justin and Endelyn seemed to be having a good time together, and Addy didn't want to be a third wheel. She made her way over to the stage, but found that getting up the stairs to the stage area was harder than she thought. With an angry sigh, she threw her crutches down and finally gave into the idea of using her hands to help her up. She stayed crouched down to make it onto the stage, her cast hindering her only slightly. Once she made it to the center of the stage, she sat down and stared accusingly at the cast.
Vlad came from the party hall, doing his best not to carry the baggage of his conversation with Flame into this new, fresh, drama-free area. He saw Justin and Endelyn but had no desire to try and be sociable with anyone at the current moment. His grey eyes then settled on Addy as she glared at her broken leg in it's constricting cast and instantly could sympathize. His wounds weren't visible but he was pretty sure he'd been cut to ribbons. Walking over to the furry blue teenager, Vlad easily lifted himself up onto the stage to sit next to her, holding his hands in his lap as he looked at the party and the people in the distance on the floor and at the tables. "Vy the long face?" he asked sincerely, hoping to keep all eyes off his pain by helping someone else with theirs.
Looking up from her leg, Addy saw Vlad sit down next to her. She really did enjoy Vlad's company, but right now she felt like a nuisance teenage girl. This broken leg had ruined her usually chipper demeanor, turning her into this sour sort of person. That, and the person she really liked didn't see her like that because she was too young. And she was pretty sure he like someone else. But Addy had never before had to deal with these sort of emotions. Her life had been simple up until she reached the mansion. Looking up at Vlad, Addy did her best not to cry. "I'm thinking about leaving the school," she said completely serious. "Not sure where I would go, but there has to be someplace safe where I can learn proper social interaction."
Vlad sat beside her, listening but looking straight ahead into the distance as he nodded and 'hmmm'-ed. Every now and then he ventured a sidelong glance at her, but otherwise he gave her plenty of space to wear her emotions without trying to hold them in for his sake. Besides, he didn't want his own face to look grumpy and sad either. "Vot makes you think you can't learn to be social here?" he asked, adding a little peripheral look before he put his hands on his knees, his posture slouching a little bit. "That cast vill come off soon enough, and then you can go more places and do more things. And, if you're really that serious about it, tolk to the Professor. I'm sure he can come up vith all sorts off good ideas."
"It's not the cast, it's me." Addy hated admitting this fact, but she had never had the normal social interaction other people usually did at young ages. "I'm not good at dealing with people. Or with my own feelings towards them." She looked at her hands, clenching and unclenching them. "I can't tell the difference between people just being nice and people being friendly. And I'm bad at telling people how I feel because I don't really know myself." Addy shook her head and leaned back on her hands.
"No, it's not." Vlad's voice was a touch sterner than usual and he turned his head to see her so that his point would drive home. "It just takes practice. You belong here. The whole point of this place is to bring mutants together and offer sanctuary. I don't know ver else you think you'd be so accepted," he said, gently this time so that it didn't seem like he was yelling at someone who was already feeling bad. He patted her back then, his hands mostly hovering so that he didn't knock the small girl off the stage and onto her broken leg. "Your problem sounds a bit specific," he said, stretching his hands over his head and groaning at the movement as the mix of pain and relief surged up his spine. "If you vont you can practice on me. Who do you need to say something to?" he pressed, dropping his hands to his knees.
Addy listened to what he was saying. Right up until he offered to let her practice on him. Her face froze, her mortification at the idea of telling him anything about her feelings complete. As far as she knew, no one could tell that she had a crush on anyone, except for mind readers. But was it really a crush at all? Or did she just want to be friends? "Uh...no one in particular," she lied. Very badly. Did it just get warmer in here? Addy's face felt like it was on fire. Surely Vlad could feel how warm it suddenly got. Maybe she could 'port to the Antarctic. Surely it would be cooler there. What she didn't realize was that her sudden mixed emotions played themselves out in her eyes, and anyone paying close attention would be able to read her like a book.
Endelyn nodded to Justin and watched him a moment, listening to him talk. Her face started to turn back to it's normal color as she picked up one of the knives and watched it crack under her mutant powers. The metal wasn't the mix she needed. She shook her head with slight dissapointment and took out her own knife. It would have to be good enough to carve pumpkins. She couldn't help but chuckle. She looked at him. "You know...? I have an idea... I'll go up if you come with me." she said.
Despite his usual ability to read others like a book, Vlad's slight melancholy had stripped him of his keen senses, causing him to mistake Addy's reaction to mean that she was not in the mood to share. He caught her lie and furious blush but assumed that he had simply been out of line to question her so personally when she was clearly in distress. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he apologized, scratching the back of his neck as he felt suddenly sheepish. First he'd fucked up with Flame and now he was botching things with Addy. However, he was not so easily dissuaded, and looked over to her with a kind smile. "Vell, I haff faith that you'll get the hang off it soon. Maybe it's just the leg that's got you down?" he asked in a leading tone, looking gently over at her.
With her head down, Addy mumbled something just loud enough for Vlad to hear. "This is my first school dance and I didn't even get a slow dance." It might not make sense to many others, but Addy realized Vlad might understand. Her leg kept her from partying like she wanted to. It kept her from being able to do what she wanted. She hadn't had a dance partner, hadn't been able to really hang out with her friends, and hadn't been able to make it back and forth from the candy table with any real candy. That was a big part of her downer mood right then.
"Oh," Vlad returned as he heard what was dragging her good time through the mud. The thought hadn't occurred to him, but it made sense enough that a fifteen year old girl might have delusions of grandeur concerning her first dance. He sighed. "I can relate," he confessed, casting a look over to the party hall where he could just make out Flame standing alone by the tables, right where he'd left her. His gut twisted into a knot and he looked away. "I got shot down like a plane in Vorld Vor Two," he said, insinuating just a hair of humor so that he didn't have the time to dwell on how much he was hurting and how little he currently thought of himself. "Vell, I know it's not ideal, he began, sliding off the stage to land on his feet, the ground trembling as it received him. "But I could alvays stand in for your dreamboat," he offered. "You can stand on my feet if you haff to, it'll be like the ultimate older brother experience," he said with a smile that was only a few watts lower than his usual. "Vot do you say - vont to dance?" he asked, actively ignoring how extending his hand to her reminded him of Flame and how she'd rejected him flat.
Had it been possible, Addy would have blushed even more. As it was, she just nodded and took Vlad's hand, accepting his help to get her up off the stage. She looked up at him and smiled, standing as straight as she could so she didn't seem so short as his dance partner. She gnawed on her lower lip as she tried to situate her leg so standing wouldn't be so difficult. Finally, her good foot hit the ground and she pulled herself up, glad that her upper body strength allowed her to do so on her own. Granted, she did use Vlad's arm for leverage. On her feet once more, she looked towards the empty dance floor and frowned. "No one else is dancing," she said quietly. "But I still want to dance with you."
"Um, what?" Justin asked surprised enough at the knife shattering that he dropped his point first into the pumpkin then the double whammy of her wanting him to join her on stage? His usual ticked kicked in as he ran his hand through is hair. "Me up there? I mean its just some ketchup and markers, your like a beautiful princess." He stumbled through his words as his mind slowly caught up. He looked around to see if there were other in the competition but his eye seemed to stay on the outline of Vlad towering over poor addy in her cast, but it seemed they were enjoying themselves so his spirits raised a little from the sight. "Well, ok i guess ill accompany you."
Shade's darkened cape served as quick and inconspicuous way to shadow-port different objects from his room to the Party Hall, be it booze or anything else. As Light stated her interest in rum and nuzzled him, the boy stopped for a second, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his and her breath caressing his neck for a split second. Then, he immediately reached into his cape and began to look for the small rum flask he'd left laying on his bed for such a situation. Soon, though, him and Light were interrupted once more. It seemed fate would not have it so the boy could get any time alone with his lover that night. "Ah.. Hello" he said simply to Camille as she approached them, wearing little more than a piece of tartan fabric. The boy tried the best he could to feign a total lack of interest on Camille's half exposed body, though, a fact made much easier by Light's curves pressing seductively against his side. "Don't know if that is much my kind of thing." said Shade courteously to Camille as he flashed a quick, conspiratorial grin to Light. "Too much exposure up there, some people don't have a problem with that though." he added in his usually detached, whisper-like voice.
Vlad remained still while Addy eased herself off the stage to land rather lightly, cast considering, on her feet again. He threw his hand towards the dance floor in a dismissive manner when she said no one else was dancing. "Who cares? Let's go," he said, picking up Addy beneath the armpits and setting her on his large , facing her outwards so she could see. He then held onto both hands and walked the both of them over to X-Men Dance Floor.
Closing her eyes as she rested against Shade's shoulder, Light held her cup of punch out expectantly, waiting for the rum Shade had offered, but none came. At the horribly annoying sound of Camille's voice, Light opened her eyes, a scowl immediately present on her features, and the young woman had to resist throwing her plastic cup's contents right in the brunette school girl's face. As Camille addressed Shade, and Shade spoke back, Light remained silent, pleased that he was declining her suggestion to go up on stage. Still, she wasn't thrilled about either of them being anywhere near Camille, much less talking to her, and she knew getting away immediately was the best thing she could do then. "Actually, we're going to go have a dance. I'm sure you'll be fine with the exposure up there," Light finally said to Camille just as Shade stopped speaking, almost interrupting him, quite obviously hinting at the revealing costume the woman was wearing, and her other daily choice of . Then, without hesitation, Light slipped her fingers between Shade's, an uncommon gesture for her, and began walking off to x-Men Dance Floor, tugging her boyfriend along with her.
Before Camille could respond to Shade's answer, Light had spoken up and began dragging the boy off. The black-headed girl's comment towards her choice of dress didn't escape her, and she simply crossed her arms and smirked. "No point in hiding what God gave me to show off, honey," she called back after Light, then to add insult, quite literally, to injury, she added, "It's just a shame you aren't as blessed. Then you wouldn't have to worry so much about keeping that man of yours." She wasn't sure if Light had heard what she'd said, so she simply turned away from the two and headed over to a table near the stage, pulling out a seat and placing herself in it.
Shade was rather surprised by Light sudden desire to hit the dance floor. In a strangely fitting moment, all of the sudden as if by some deux ex machina resource, the music stopped and a romantic, slow song began playing instead. Not about to deny some close contact with Light, specially not that she was feeling jealous and clingy, the boy gave Camille a toothy grin. "Enjoy your exposure, then, I'm sure Light will be cheering for you." he said rather sardonically to Camille as he let himself be dragged to the x-Men Dance Floor.
Endelyn smiled happily, since he agreed. "Excellent! Then I won't feel as akward. I hate being in crowds, let alone having everyone stare at me while I'm up there. It'll be a lot easier with you there with me." she babbled, and laughed lightly. "Thank you."
"Its honestly not a problem." Justin beamed. He bowed a bit and adopted a slight yet obviously fake British accent as he offer her his hand. "If her majesty would kindly lead the way."
As Valerie wandered over from X-Men Party Hall proper, she took a gradual, sweeping look of the games area, picked-up a red Twizzler from one of the dishes and bit into its end, despite the candy's intended craft purposes. She looked in Endelyn and Justin's direction only long enough to see the young man bow to the black-haired girl, and she smiled fondly at the exchange. Camille was sitting here, too, by herself. That seemed strange since the older girl was rather friendly. Val hovered a moment longer over the secondary feast of edibles before acknowledging the school girl, first smiling, then speaking. 'Hey there! Going to enter?'
Endelyn blushed at him calling her 'her majesty', but none the less she took his hand. "I would hardly be considered royalty, a peasent in disguise is more what it would be." she said as she started to walk to the stage, which was pretty much right in front of them. She didn't see anyone there as of yet.
"Well those rich in spirit can hardly be poor." Justin smiled as he tried his best to elegantly steady her hand as if she were of royal descent. "Im sure Princess Endelyn will perform ever so well in this competition of beauty and attire." He pretended to rearrange a monocle while he spoke with his faux accent. "But i must ask your highness, how does one acquire a zombie butler?"
Camille gave one last huff in response to Shade's final comment before he let himself be dragged off by his clingy girlfriend. Retreating to her chair, the woman slouched over, fuming as she let her chin rest in her palm, her eyes locked on the boy she was after seemingly having the time of his life on the dance floor. "He doesn't know what he's missing out on," she muttered quietly to herself, her foot wiggling out of irritation. She almost didn't respond when the blond girl came to speak to her, but she pulled herself out of her thoughts to answer Valerie, once more feigning a cheery and friendly attitude. "Oh, yes, I am! How about you? Your costume is absolutely adorable!" she complimented the girl with a friendly smile, sitting up straighter as she spoke.
Dragging her friend behind her by the wrist, Shana came from the party hall, a huge smile on her face, and headed right over to one of the tables covered in candy intended for some sort of craft. "I figure we have a few minutes to kill," she said as she began picking through the assortment of candy, pulling out a handful of Skittle. "Why not pig out?" she added with a goofy smile after tossing the handful of candies into her mouth.
After being dragged around for a few seconds, Daniela seemed to be following her roommate out of poor inertia, noticing some of the halloween costumes she had not seen before, somehow. When Shana suddenly stopped by the table, Daniela kept going on for a bit, haplessly walking into the blonde girl's shoulder, stumbling forward for a second as she blurted out an embarassed "Sorry!" and immediately stepped back, red as a tomato and letting out a smile at her roommate's comment. "I can't have too much sweet." the girl added with an apologetic grin, waving her hand a bit. "Hey guys." she said to Endelyn and Justin, whom she might have met before but honestly didn't quite remember, and of course, to Valerie, who was a good friend of hers. "Are you planning on entering the contest too?"
Endelyn couldn't help but to let out a laugh at how Justin was acting. "I'm not quite sure, luck perhaps?" she answered, putting a hand over her mouth as she tried to stop her laughing, which was quite hard to do. Endelyn looked over as she was addressed and smiled, recognising Daniela almost instantly. "Hello there!" she greeted back, and chuckled. "Yes, we are. It should be interesting."
'Thanks! Yours is cute, too,' Valerie chirped, responding perhaps a bit too quickly to Camille. It was really a fib, since the blonde wasn't really into the sexy schoolgirl look, but if the older girl was confident enough to wear it, then why shouldn't she? She fidgeted a moment with the remaining Twizzler in her hands, tying the shiny red candy into a knot. 'Should be starting any minute,' she commented, off-handedly but with a touch of hope and anticipation, and glanced at her wrist; she shook her head a bit, as if she forgot that she wasn't wearing a watch. Smiling as always, she then looked from Camille to Daniela and Shana, and nodded her confirmation that she was, indeed, entering the contest. 'Just the four of us, maybe,' she said, then added, 'Or... six...' with a glance of acknowledgement to Endelyn and Justin, though they seemed to both be off in their own little world.
"Thaaanks!" Camille replied to Valerie's compliment in her usual overly cheery and fake tone, her eyes squinting with her forced smile as she nodded in agreement with the blond. As Daniela and Shana approached, she eyed them silently, then offered a smile and a friendly "Hey there!" after Daniela had already spoken to Endelyn and Valerie, but not her, making herself known among the newcomers. "Oh, you're going to enter?" she asked, directing her question at both Daniela and Shana. "Your costumes are wonderful, I bet you'd do great!"
If there was one thing that Daniela could always make Shana do without fail and without even trying, it was laughing. As her roommated ran smack into her shoulder, Shana stumbled a little from the blow but immediately caught her balance and laughed aloud at her friend. "You know, you're adorable sometimes, Dani," she said to the raven-haired girl, then making a slightly disappointed face, she rolled her eyes at the girl. "Whatever, sweets every once in a while aren't bad," she replied with a tiny grin. "At least have a chocolate bar or something." Shana stopped speaking when she finally, thanks to Dani's greetings, noticed the others around. "Oh, hey," she said to Endelyn and Justin, also unsure if she'd met the two. "Hey, Val!" she added with a tiny wave to her friend. "Oh, yeah, we're both entering!" she said cheerily in response to Camille's question, picking up a few marshmallows from the nearby table and popping one into her mouth. "How about you guys?" she questioned the others around.
"I wouldnt call it luck," Justin managed before Shana addressed them. He quickly waved his hands in front of his chest with a nervous smile. "Oh no, Im here as collateral so miss Endelyn will actually enter. My costume was a last minute throw together unlike you guys." He stopped momentarily as he noticed just how much effort the others had put into to it compared to his markers and torn shirt.
Mihir walked over, sitting at the pumpkin table. He traced lines on the pumpkin, burning a design into the smooth surface under his finger. It took him a moment to realize that he was tracing the design of a genie lamp on the small pumpkin, and he smiled to himself. Maybe hanging out with Val had been good for him. At least he wasn't thinking about other people who had definite control issues.
"I think the costume contest will start in a sec." replied Daniela as a general answer to everyone as she indulged Shana and stole a little bit of her roommate's chocolate. "Honestly tho, I think everyone started thinking about their costumes this morning at the earliest." she added with a snicker, a bit shy around all these people she didn't know. "I was lucky I was able to find all the stuff I needed in such short notice." continued the raven haired girl, smiling a bit; "...even some stuff I never thought about." she continued, making her tiny plastic owl wiggle a bit atop the broom she was carrying.
'Mmm-hmm!' Valerie affirmed with a nod to Shana, of her intent to enter into the costume contest. She had a mouth full of Twizzler and the dancer was too keen on manners to otherwise open her mouth to answer. After swallowing the candy and taking a sip of water, Val nodded to Daniela and looked to Justin, who had just down played his ensemble. 'Sometimes the best costumes are the result of desperation.' She paused, realizing that might have sounded insulting. 'I mean, not that anyone here looks desperate, everyone looks great, but, you know, you just have to get creative when you don't have much to start with,' she finished with a short flutter of a laugh. The blonde cleared her throat, and glanced off to the dance floor, catching sight of Mihir. She offered her former dance partner a smile then looked past him to the two very different couples occupying the dancing area.
Endelyn scrunched a little closer to Justin when everyone started talking amongst themselves. She had never been really good in large crowds, and this was exactly what she feared with the contest. She found herself holding onto Justin's arm, and she blushed and let go. "S-sorry."
Instead of letting Endelyn move away Justin took a step toward her, his arm gently putting pressure on hers keeping them in place. He took a quick note of her reaction and figured out the problem pretty fast. She had seemed a little shy on the dance floor as well so he was starting to guess she was a small group type person. "What did you say was wrong with your earlier?" he asked, his voice raising slightly at the end to carry emphasis. He lead her to a near by chair that was apart from the group and the bent down to appear as if he was fiddling with one of the heels.
As the focus of the conversation continued to lead in a direction away from her, Camille silently stood from her spot, and spotting Mihir near the other end of the stage, she made her way there without a word to the others. As she reached the side of the stage closest to the pumpkin-carving table, the girl hoisted herself up onto the stage and plopped down, legs crossed, giving those who might look closely somewhat of a view. "What's eatin' you, kid?" she asked, resting her hand in her chin and leaning forward, waiting for Mihir's response with a convincingly sweet smile.
"Awesome, then we'll have some real competition!" Shana said with a smile to the others as they confirmed their entry into the competition. "Hey!" she scolded jokingly when Daniela took a piece of her chocolate, giving the girl a light pat on the head before turning back to the others. "Oh! I think the contest is starting now. People seem to be moving this way." Pausing, the girl looked around, mumbling something about 'signing up' before her eye caught something, and giving a proud 'Aha!', the girl made her way over to a table to the side of the stage where a sheet of paper and a few pens laid. Picking up a pen, the girl signed her name in the first blank space, then turned to the others and waved them over, calling out, "Hey, we gotta sign up here!"
Light came from the dance floor after her dance with Shade was over, and making sure that the local slut was as far away from both her and Shade as possible, the girl picked a seat at a table, close to where the others were gathered, and placed herself in it, waiting for her lover to arrive and wondering what Korvka might have up her sleeve.
An instant after Light made her way to the table area from the X-Men Dance Floor, Shade followed, walking next to her until he got to the table and sitting on the seat adjacent to Light's. "I was saying that if you were to join too, it might spice things up." he said, concluding the idea he had started earlier as he looked at Light with a mischievous grin. Then, almost as an afterthought, her seemed to notice the rest of the people at the tables that seemed to be getting ready to enter the competition. "Oh, don't we have some nice costumes here." he grinned, feigning an innocent look on his face as his cold, silvery grey eyes moved over the lot. "Those are really cute costumes." he added, looking at Shana, Daniela and Valerie. On the other hand, he seemed to regard Endelyn and Justin as little more than set dressings, either not having met them before, or in any case, not remembering them. Knowing that the situation between Camille and Light was volatile, he also chose not to compliment the former.
The moment Shade walked in, Daniela tensed up and she seemed to shrink a bit inside her costume, going quiet immediately. As Shade ran his cold gaze along the group that had gathered for the costume, the girl could feel the glacial stare almost going through her for a second. A few months ago, this would've completely disarmed her, but luckily, she had her best friend with her right now. Turning to Shana, she nudged her shyly with the tip of her index finger. "Uhm.. how about we go get on stage?" she said in a tiny voice, half wondering when the actual contest was going to start.
Addy had let go of Vlad's arm and limped forward, finally crouching down to use her hands as well. It wasn't as unnatural looking for her to do as for others. She made it to the table and signed her name before pulling herself up to the stage to stand in a crouch until the contest started. She gave Vlad a smile and wave, waiting to see if he would come up to the stage as well. So far, tonight hadn't gone as planned, but the big Russian had made it infinitely better.
Vlad escorted Addy in from the dance floor by holding his arm out for her to use as she needed. His eyes traveled down to make sure she had both crutches, since he distinctly remembered having kicked one of them to the furthest reaches of the dance floor. However, seeing that she was indeed quite all right, Vlad held still until she had removed herself from his person and then cast a wide gaze around the place to see who all was planning to enter. Mihir was flanked by Camille, who seemed to prefer the company of males if Vlad's memory served correct. Light and Shade were present, and he waved a little at the former with a half grin on his face. "Daniela!" he called, his face lighting as if he'd just spotted a fleck of gold in his sieve. He raised a hand and walked over towards her, his green skin and bolts surging towards the sign-up sheet. "Hey Shana!" he greeted as well, beaming at the girl as he saw the paper and the pencils. "So you decided to enter?" he asked Daniela, making sure his voice wasn't too loud just in case she wasn't entering the contest and was merely joining Shana as she did. "Ooh, write me down too - I'd probably break the lead," he said to Shana, who was the only person with a pen in her hand.
Mihir looked up as Camille sat down nearby, wanting to know who was approaching. Upon seeing the one face that was worse than being cornered by Korvka, he actually rolled his eyes. "Nothing," he said coldly. "We are at the top of the food chain on this continent." He put his hand flat against the lamp design on the pumpkin and fried it, burning through the pumpkin in places. The lamp was no longer visible at all.
Once again, the music coming from the dance floor was interrupted and Jean's voice projected over the speakers, "Okay, students, the costume contest is about to begin. If you plan on joining, please make your way to the stage and sign your name. Everyone will be allowed one vote, and we will call everyone up to the stage when the votes have been tallied to announce the winners. Just write on paper the name of the person, or the costume if you are not familiar with the person's name, whose costume you think is best. You have ten minutes." As Jean's voice disappeared, the music returned once more. Then, without warning, several blank pieces of paper and pencils began appearing at each of the tables where the students sat, leaving behind a trail of blue smoke, obviously Nightcrawler's doing.
Endelyn looked confused as Justin brought her over to the table. "My shoe..?" she questioned. When she sat down and he started to fiddle around with her ankle, she looked down at it herself. "There seems to be nothing wrong with it." she said, then it hit her. She smacked her forehead. "Right..." she figured it out that he realised she hated big groups, and she blushed. "Sorry.. you didn't have to take me away, you seemed to be having fun talking to everyone." she said softly. She looked up as the announcement was made. She looked at the stage. "We'll have to go back and sign our names, since we never got a chance to." she said.
'Sign-up?' Valerie asked, even though Shana had just made the announcement and found the sheet, 'Very official!' Without further ado, she tagged along to sign herself up, too, but not before casting a brief glance and welcoming smile to the couples that had trickled over to the stage's area from the dance floor. The girl signed her first name in a decorative, girly script as Shana announced the costume contest protocol to the room, and was about to lay the pen down when Vlad asked about getting himself signed-up. 'I gotcha,' Val said with a smile since she had the paper before her, and likewise inscribed his name upon it. She then perked an ear to Jean's announcement, but a look of surprise still lightly graced her features when she saw that the tables each had paper and pencils with which one could cast her or his vote, when they had, just a moment ago, been empty.
With a hop Justin was up again. The air beside him shimmered as he bowed and stepped to the right vanishing then wiping back into sight beside the table. He looked back at Endelyn before brushing his hair to the side with a quick hand swipe and bent down to sign them both up for the competition staying true to his word. He laid the pen back down with a sigh his eyes still focused on the table. Why am i getting close to these people? They are just going to disappear, just like the others.... whats wrong with me? He portaled back the with a small back step right onto the stage beside his new 'friend' tough his eyes seemed to be a thousand miles away.
Camille watched Mihir destroy one of the pumpkins in his little fit of meaningless anger with a raised eyebrow, not even bothering to laugh at his sardonic attempt at humor in response to her question. For a second, her eyes glanced over in the direction of Light and Shade, and locked on the boy for several seconds before returning back to Mihir. Sitting up, Camille breathed in deep, and after letting it out slowly, commented, "Obviously something's got your panties in a wad."
Watching Shade and Light approach, Shana offered the boy a tiny wave an a half smile. Knowing now how different he was from before, and Light's influence over him, the girl wasn't sure anymore if they were still even friends, but she offered courtesy anyways. Feeling Daniela nudge her a bit, Shana looked to her best friend and gave her a tiny grin. "Yeah, let's go," she said, understanding now that her friend didn't exactly enjoy being around Shade, but still unsure as to why. "You know he'll still be able to see you up there, right?" she questioned, the last part of her sentence cut off by Vlad's approach and greeting. Before she could reply to the Russian at his request to put his name down on the contest sign-up sheet, Valerie intercepted and jotted his name down instead. Leaning over again after Justin has signed up as well, she scribbled Dani's name down to save her the trouble. "Alright, then, shall we go on stage?" Shana questioned with a bright smile, hooking her arms through Daniela's and Vlad's.
As Shade took his seat beside her and hinted at her joining the costume competition, Light let out a short laugh without even so much as a glance at Shade. Neither did she utter a word in response as she let her eyes wander around the area near the stage, scanning uncaringly over the girls' costumes when Shade complimented them and keeping a watch on Camille just in case she made a move. She noted to herself the fact that Shade chose not to compliment the woman's costume, but knowing men and the fact that Shade was a man, she knew what he thought about it and couldn't keep herself from commenting. "Hate to admit, but I think slutzilla's got the hottest one here," she said with a scowl on her face, trying to poke at Shade's opinion of the outfit and at the same time remembering the 'surprise' she'd had in store for Shade later and how it had now practically been ruined by the brunette's choice of costume. Catching Vlad's wave, Light acknowledged him with a smirk, watching him only until he made his way to Daniela and Shana, then turned her gaze toward Camille once more, intentionally keeping her eyes off Shade simply to see if she could get a reaction out of him.
Endelyn brushed out her dresses' ruffles and fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. She stepped closer to Justin once he came back up on the stage. She looked up to say something, but she lost her train of thought when she saw the look on his face. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, the concern written all over her face.
"No everythings fine." Justin responded his voice obviously flat and void of thought. He absently placed a hand on her shoulder for support without realizing it. These people are nice but i can let them in. Its only a matter of time before either i gone or them. Whats the point?
Daniela was a bit surprised by the sudden influx of people into the tables area, growing a bit shyer and quieter each time a new person walked in, feeling a bit boxed in by the crowd. Her expression changed, however, when Vlad suddenly drew her attention, shouting out to her rather boisterously. "H..hey Vlad!" she replied with a grin after being startled like a baby deer for a second. "Would you believe that, ME on stage making a food out of myself." she said with a small, nervous laugh. Still, as opposed to a second ago, she felt rather safe flanked by her best friend and the big, older brother-like figure. "You're entering too, right?" she said as Shana signed in both of their names. "Cmon then!" she added, tugging on the boy's sleeve as Shana hooked her arms with both of theirs, however, Vlad was much like the proverbial unmovable object and she was unable to make him budge a single inch with her tugging. With a small laugh, she let go, knowing he'd go on his own.
As more people made their way to the tables area,Shade noticed Vlad and Shana greeting him. To Vlad, Shade simply gave a glance and a slight nod as an acknowledgment. To Shana, however, he smiled lightly and waved back, trying to at least conserve some of her previous alter-ego's relationship with the blonde girl, knowing it might come in handy sometime. "It seems everyone is singing up now." he muttered to Light while his eyes darted around trying to locate Korvka, wondering if she was going to go through with her little prank or chicken out instead. "Now now girls, don't fight." he said once Light and Camille began their little exchange. Then, noticing Light seemed to be categorically ignoring him, he scooted his chair close to her and hugged her from behind, crossing his arms around her stomach. "At least not until I can get some mud and a kiddie pool." he added with a mischievous grin, making his joke mostly to Light's ears and risking getting electrocuted.
"Thanks, Val," Vlad said with a beaming grin on his green, sutured face. Her sunny disposition was easy to smile around, especially when he was working so hard to conceal any traces of painful drama that might ruin his night and someone else's. With a purposeful cheer, he watched as Justin and Endelyn mosied elsewhere, casting a curious look at the present company to see who may have scared them off. Shrugging, he caught the tail end replies to his nonverbal greeting from both Light and Shade and then settled his eyes back down to the ladies about him: Daniela, Valerie, and Shana. The latter was positively radiating her typical energy, like a steam engine with no tracks to traverse. Her eyes shone brightly up at him as she stood in the middle of Frankenstein and the wee-little-witch, urging them to the stage. Looking over to Valerie, Vlad grinned and offered his other arm by bending it so that the chain could continue. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he called jovially as he felt the minuscule tug from Daniela, playfully baring his teeth at the adorable black-haired girl as she let go of his sleeve. Turning his gaze back to Val, he flapped his arm slightly as a means to hasten her.
Despite his hand being on her shoulder for comfort, Endelyn started to panic at how Justin was acting. "Did I say something to upset you?" she asked, then started to look around at the food tables for something in particular. "Aaah... there's none there! I-I'm sorry if I said something to offend you!"
Her attention having drifted off elsewhere, it took Valerie a moment to realize that she was being beckoned by Vlad. 'Oh! Coming!' she exclaimed with a light but joyful laugh, then quickly stepped forward to link her slender arm with the Russian's proffered and substantially meatier appendage. 'Off to the Emerald City?' she commented, managing a lop-sided, fond smile, the genie peeked around the front of Frankenstein's monster to the witch and the zombie-hunter, fancying that the four of them were like some strange, alternate-universe characters from The Wizard of Oz.
The distress in Endelyn's voice ripped Justin from his trance. He shook his head to discharge the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind. "Oh no, no, its ok. You didn't do anything." He gave her a firm but reassuring squeeze before he managed a warm smile down at her in hopes to dispel the bad atmosphere. He noticed her gaze and followed it to the table. "What are you looking for?"
By now, Light had figured out that Shade kept some of his relationships with people in the mansion to use to his own advantage (which she hoped wasn't the case with herself), and so his acknowledgement to Shana was a small annoyance compared to his occasional flirtatious attitude towards Camille. Ignoring her boyfriend's response to her obnoxious sister, Light kept her eyes trained on Camille, and for a split second she caught the woman's gaze locked on Shade. Ignoring Shade's observation about the contest, Light continued glaring at the brunette who seemed to go back to whoring herself out to the rest of the boys in the mansion. Finally when Shade moved up behind her and put his arms around her, Light replied to his comment about fighting, without looking at him, "Not making any promises." Then, just as she began to relax, only very slightly, under his touch, the next word's out of the boy's mouth made the girl stiffen up, and without thinking twice, the girl acted on her earlier wish from that morning when she'd caught him with Camille in his room and reached behind her with one hand, grabbing Shade's nose firmly and sending a stout shock into his face, aiming for his sinus cavities. Showing no remorse, Light stood from her chair, straightening out her dress, and informed her lover coldly, "I'm going on stage. The least you could do is vote for me instead of her." Wanting nothing more than to beat Camille out in the competition, whether she earned first place or not, Light made her way up to the sign-up sheet, signed her name, and immediately began making her way toward the stage. On her way, she glanced around, looking for whatever Korvka was planning to pull, and not spotting anything on the nearby, she let her eyes wander off the the side of the stage closest to the dance floor. Spotting Korvka, she smirked and stepped up onto the stage, making sure to stand as far away as possible from where Camille was seated, then simply leaned against a nearby speakerbox, waiting for any sign of Korvka's prank or the contest to start.
As Valerie approached with her Wizard of Oz joke, Shana at first glanced from side to side to look at her surrounding friends, then gave a cheerful laugh at the idea of them being characters from the film. "Never thought of it like that. Guess it's safe to say Vlad is the tin man," she joked, nudging the big man with her elbow as she began moving forward towards the stage with the rest of them.
"Bananas." Endelyn answered simply. "My experiences with trying to make people happy have brought me to the conclusion that bananas are the happiness fruit." she said, as if it made all the sense in the world.
"To be honest, Vlad strikes me more as the Lion... or a mix between Toto and Chewbacca." smiled Daniela, butting into the conversation between Val and her roommate as the three girls walked to the stage, flanking the large boy. They seemed much like the little birds that hang out on the backs of elephants or hippos, chirping around the young man's lumbering movements. Finally the girl got on stage and ended up standing to Justin's left who seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with Endelyn. Shuffling a bit, the girl fixed up her hat and straightened the tiny plastic owl on top of her broom. "So.. are people voting right now?" she whispered to whoever took the place left of hers on stage.
In the meantime, Shade had certainly expected Light to retaliate in some way to his snide comments, but figured she'd shock his hands or reply with a quip of her own, not shock his nose. For a bit, the boy leaned back and brought his hands to his temple, looking much like someone with brain freeze as Light made her way to the stage. After a few seconds, he recovered but kept two fingers pushed against the side of his forehead, as if trying to alleviate the throbbing pain. "I guess if you play with a black widow, you can get stung." he muttered under his breath, mostly to himself. "Who else would I vote for?" he then asked Light, who was a few feet away already, and then followed her dilligently with his icy cold stare as she made her way to the stage.
As the girls around him all shared in some kind of jest that went entirely over his head, Vlad just lifted a dark black brow and quirked up the side of his mouth in a stunted grin. "Aaaaaaand the foreigner has no idea vot is going on," he said as he tried to keep up with the pace of the conversation that had taken a sudden turn and left him in the proverbial dust. Despite his unfamiliarity with the movie, he was acquainted with a Russian adaptation of the novel and immediately caught up with the ladies when he put together the Tin Man and the Iron Lumberjack he recalled from his bedtime stories. "OH, Magic Land," he said, nodding as they all started to move together towards the stage like a surge of friendliness, grinning down to Shana as she elbowed him in the side. "Hey now," he said, looking over to Daniela as she likened him to any number of large, hairy beasts. "I shaved!" he said, jutting out his chin jokingly to force her to see that, indeed, there was no hair there as there had been that morning. They climbed the stairs to the stage with minimal difficulty somehow, and Vlad let his arms drop to look around and see what the view from the stage was like. As Dani chirped her little question, Vlad looked around at the rest of the people gathering. "I don't see anyvon really voting," he answered, scanning around until his eyes fell on Light, who looked even less enthused than normal, which was indeed saying something. Taking a few steps, he crossed over to her and stood a little distance away to keep from rushing the girl. "Hey," he greeted, a thumb hanging casually from his trouser pocket. "Ve should stand together. Ve kind off complete each other's costumes - better chance off victory," he suggested.
"Ill take your word for it." Justin actually laughed as she calmly explained the magical properties of bananas on mood, but not in a harmful but a cute chuckle. he glanced over at Daniela as she took her place beside him, hmm a witch with broom and everything. Everyone here has a better costume. I just hope Endelyn does well. His eyes scanned the room again taking i the other students. "Where did you learn that about bananas?" he asked from the corner of his mouth.
Producing an airy, blythe laugh in response to Shana, Daniela and Vlad's different takes on her Oz comment, Valerie proceeded onward to the stage and carefully up the stairs, along with her chain of friends, her bubblegum pink heels click-clacking the entire way. Val scooted a little further back onto the stage, getting well out of the way of the stairs so she didn't block anyone's access, thus putting her just out of earshot of Daniela's whispered question. She did look back over to the other girls she'd come up with, however, and smiled, then allowed her attention to drift over the rest of the contestants, of which their were few. She emitted another little laugh, seeing Vlad settle-in next to Light, who was, for the evening, his complement. 'Might be more people on stage than there are to vote,' she observed aloud as she looked over those remaining at the tables.
Endelyn giggled, but it was more out of slight embarassment. "Well, it was when Addy was having a horrid morning. It cheered her up, and everyone likes bananas, so I assumed that they are the fruit of happiness." she said, nodding her head.
"Cant argue with that logic." Justin laughed with full spirit this time now that Endelyn had pulled him through his little cloud that had been dragging him down. He noticed the slight rosy shade of her cheeks for a moment during the giggle causing him to smile in response. "So what do you think of everyone else's costumes? Vlad makes a convincing Frankenstein, his size makes the costume spot on."
Endelyn looked down the line and smiled lightly. "He does, I have to agree with that. I do adore Daniela's costume, she did very well on it." she said and leaned forward a little more. "Light's costume looks lovely as well."
Justin nodded in acceptance as she made her way through her list of finely dressed mutants. He had to agree they had all put a lot of effort into their costumes unlike himself. "Yeah but you look amazing yourself miss Endelyn."
Getting no response from Mihir, Camille rolled her eyes, growing tired of trying to win his trust. "See you, then. I'm off to the contest," she said as she swung her legs up onto the stage, careless about whether she showed anything in her short skirt. "Vote for me," she added with a wink, then stood and walked over to a spot in the center of the stage, standing directly between Justin and Endelyn, and locking her eyes on Shade and offering him a rather seductive smile.
"The lion didn't have any courage, though. That's definitely not Vlad!" Shana commented back to her roommate before giving a giggle at the girl's next choice of words. "Maybe that, yeah," she agreed, then simply laughed again when the big Russian poked his chin out to prove he had shaved. However, when the man stopped next to Light, Shana's mood dampened just a little, but she did her best not to let it show through. Taking the empty spot next to Daniela, she perked up when she asked about the voting. "Yeah, I think so, she answered, squinting out into the darkness, past the blinding stage lights, to see if she could tell for sure. Looking up at Vlad when he answered too, the girl added, "Or maybe they already did? Or haven't yet?... Dunno."
Light simply stood by, watching contestants step up onto the stage and waiting on Korvka to do whatever she planned on doing, but making a point not to look at Shade. She did however, keep her eyes on Camille, who was not making a point to disguise her staring at the boy. Suddenly, when Vlad approached, the girl's attention was torn away from the brunette and she looked up at the huge Russian man. Instead of greeting him back, Light simply raised an eyebrow in response. Then after hearing his suggestion that they stand together, the girl smirked. "All right," she complied simply and held out her hand gingerly, waiting for the man to take it and lead her more towards the center of the stage and away from the speaker box, knowing full well that the action might anger Shade, and intending to do so after the crap he'd put her through with Camille that day and the past few weeks.
As Korvka loosened her grip on the vines that were holding several balloons full of water and pumpkin guts, out of seemingly nowhere, to the audience and contestants, all of the balloons fell simultaneously, bursting on the heads of Shana, Daniela, Vlad, Camille, and Justin, splashing some more of the oozy mess on Endelyn, Addy and Light, and a little on Valerie, who was situated mostly out of the way of the attack.
Vlad took Light's hand gently, holding it as she were made of eggshells and would break at the slightest wrong move. He knew, of course, that her touch could very well electrocute a man even of his durability, but her physical power was minimal, so he treated her gingerly. Her hand looked especially small in the middle of his monstrous green mitt, but he grinned nevertheless as she agreed to go with him. He was beginning to lead her towards the middle of the stage, where their costumes could be graded together, but before he'd taken a full step, a loud SPLAT sounded as from above, a hoard of something wet burst directly over his head. In a matter of seconds, he went from Frankenstein's Monster to a gruesome, orange-innard covered thing. His hair was completely plastered with pumpkin seeds, one of the bolts knocked from the side of his neck onto the floor thanks to velocity, and he was sufficiently drenched from his head to his hips. Despite the fine quality of the makeup he'd purchased, the water ran lines through it, streaking and ruining any chance he had of winning the contest now. Confusion was the first emotion that ran through him, followed shortly by anger. He swiped his hand over his face to clear the pumpkin guts from his eyes and looked above, squinting in the lights but otherwise finding nothing. "Vot the hell?" he grumbled sharply as he looked over and noticed that almost everyone on stage had been hit with the same bursting projectiles as him.
Endelyn had blushed at Justin's words and was about to say something, but the splashing of pumpkin innards all over herself and the others stopped her. She flinched at first when it hit her, then looked up at where the balloons came from. "..." she said nothing as she wiped pumpkin off her face and tried to save the dress. "I will have to wash this for Addy.." she said sadly. It wasn't even Endelyn's dress, so she felt bad that something so cruel had to happen to the blue gown. Her face showed no emotion however, only her words. "That was a cruel trick to pull..." she said softly, her eyes dark.
Daniela had been rather distracted by the conversations around her and looking closely at the other's costumes. It's true that she had been reticent at first and was still not entirely comfortable with being up on stage, specially in a corset, but she was slowly becoming used to the fact. A grin grew on her face as Vlad and Shana went along with her jokes about the boy, glad she had not offended him in any way. Soon, she opened her mouth to interject again when she felt something heavy strike the top of her witch's hat. Luckily for her, the wings of the hat kept the guts from the exploding balloon from hitting her head directly, but the heavy water and pumpkin innards weighed down on it, pulling it over Daniela's eyes right before the balloon's contents fell off the side of the hat and slushed the entire side of her body. "Eww! What is this?!" said the girl, blinded by the hat, and trying to keep her now wet and slippery broom from sliding out of her hand. An instant too late, the girl's shield reflex flared up, a luminescent sphere blinking in and out of existence around her as she tried to pull her hat up, causing the rest of the load of pumpkin guts to fall down her exposed back, the coldness hitting her the skin of her shoulder blade making her jump up and let out a little squeal.
When Light and Vlad held hands and headed for center stage, Shade's overconfident smile faded for a split second as the boy raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly what Light intended, but what pissed him off the most was that she could get to him like this even if he knew. Had it not been for the fact he was expecting Korvka's prank, he might've turned his eyes away from the stage to keep Light from getting the satisfaction of seeing him twitch. When he noticed Korvka scurrying off to the side, he figured she was about to set things in motion and he prepared himself, sending a small shadow slithering towards the stage, jumping from under one table to the next to remain untarnished by the bright disco lights of the party. Finally, as the balloons fell, the boy realized Korvka's joke had been rather well orchestrated, after all, his cocky grin reappearing in his face. Had he not been forewarned, the joke would've surely caught him off guard too, with a small flick of his wrist he sent his shadow between Vlad and Light, trying to cover his woman from collateral damage while 'accidentally' knocking her hand out of Vlad's, just before his puppet shadow dissipated under the bright lights of the room. He coupled this with an even bigger grin and a small, obliging nod towards the bridal gown clad girl.
Thanks to the firm grip of her Russian friend, Flame entered the table area in time to see the initial aftermaths of the prank. Unable to stop a bark of laughter, she clamped her free hand over her mouth to prevent anything else coming out. Well if they didn't all look like drown rats who had rolled through a pumpkin patch. "Oh dear, guess this is a 'trick' side to the night." She said, trying to keep her grin from being more than that of an audience to the prank, rather than involved.
With her hand firmly around Flame's, Korvka approached the game area, keeping a firm eye out for anyone who had been splattered needlessly: chiefly Light and Valerie, the only two people on stage she didn't care to exact squishy, squishy revenge upon. Having been elsewhere while Shade's guards went up to protect Light, Korvka was pleasantly surprised (and a bit relieved) to see that the tall, black-haired girl had not been too much a victim, despite her close proximity to Vlad, who was drenched. It was also clear that Valerie hadn't gotten too terribly splashed either, which made the Russian feel quite good. In fact, she had never felt better - this was exactly the sort of thing she'd needed in order to put a smile on her sour disposition. The pride and satisfaction she felt swelled ten times upon seeing the reaction of her worthless brother and his running face paint. With mirth in her light brown eyes, Korvka observed Daniela and Shana - the former having been protected by her hat, it seemed (since Korvka missed the impulsive shield the girl erected) but the damage had been done and the squeal she gave out was more appreciated than any classical music Korvka had ever heard. It took a great amount of effort not to appear smarmy with herself, especially after it went so well. Looking over to Flame, Korvka started to snicker softly, as if to herself, and then, upon looking at the gooey contestants, started to laugh harder. "Ahhh, sveet satisfaction," she said softly so that only Flame could hear her. "Vot happened?" she asked, looking up to Light and Valerie with a considerably smaller smile, so that she did not appear too pleased with the outcome.
Unaware of what was about to befall those on stage, Valerie stood in a relaxed contrapposto with one hand on her hip. As she peered past the stage lights and out into the audience, what little there was, anyway, she felt something hit her shoulder. She gasped, surprised, and glanced down to see the glob of pumpkin innards just as it started to slide its way down her bare, slender arm. 'Eww!' she half-squealed at first, 'Where did that come from...' she trailed off, mystified that this even happened, and her nose wrinkled. She hastily wiped first at the side of her face, which had received a couple little flecks of goo, and finally took notice by way of glancing sideways that some of her fellow contestants were far worse-off than she was. 'What ...like, what just happened?! What is this stuff?' she asked, though upon closer inspection, she could see that it appeared to be goopy, fibrous and contained seeds, like the inside of a pumpkin. The genie stood there a beat before she realized that Korvka had approached the stage. 'I... I don't know what just happened. Some sort of... prank? ...or something,' she said with a shake of her head and a shrug, her make-upped facial features contorted by confusion and trying to figure it all out. 'Did you see anything?' she asked of Korvka, carefully flicking/sliding the chunk of pumpkin from her shoulder off and onto the stage floor.
Ever the drama queen, when the orange sludge fell down on top of the brunette girl standing center stage and attempting to be flirtatious with the shadow-controlling man she was after, Camille's mouth dropped open and she emitted a rater loud and dramatic gasp as her shoulders tensed up from the wet, cold feeling. "What... is...THIS?!" she cried out angrily, still standing in disbelief, slime dripping from her head and shoulders and running down her face, ruining her perfect makeup and costume. Reaching up, she wiped the goo from her eyes and looked around, now noticing the other contestants were drenched as well. When she spotted Korvka moving over to the stage by Light, who appeared to be completely unscathed from whatever prank had just been pulled, Camille's eyes immediately darted to Shade, and she caught his little smile and nod towards his girlfriend. Camille growled loudly and did not hesitate in stomping over to the stage, answering Korvka's question before she'd even reached Light's side. "Oh, I know exactly what happened," she stated as she shoved Vlad aside, speaking loud enough for everyone in the game tables area to hear. "This bitch," she continued, pointing her pumpkin covered finger at Light, "who, might I mention, shocked the shit out of me this morning for NO reason, came up with some prank to soak all of these contestants!" She looked around for a second, then held her hand out towards all the others who were covered. "Think about it, why is she the only one on stage who has nothing on her?" For a second, her eyes darted over toward Shade again, and she sent him a menacing glare, but made no mention of him, who she suspected of being in on whatever plot she thought Light had come up with.
When the pumpkin guts and water-filled balloon hit her head, Shana jumped and shrieked, mostly shocked by the cold feeling and heavy impact on her head. "Oh my god!" she cried out, reaching up to wipe the stuff from her face. "What the hell is this stuff?!" she asked, looking at the orange slime in her hands. "Pumpkin?!" However, before she could make much more of a scene, Camille marched right past her and over to Light, and Shana watched with wide eyes. "Wait... what?" she asked as the brunette woman accused her twin sister of pulling this prank. "What's going on?"
Light smirked as she began to follow Vlad to the middle of the stage, still resisting looking at Shade, who she knew was watching her every move at that moment. Suddenly, she felt her hand knocked out of Vlad's and a black wall went up between the two for a split second. Missing the impact of the balloons with all the other contestants, Light only felt a small splash of a few drops of yellow water on her forearm before the wall disappeared and she got a god look at the pumpkin-soaked giant Russian man standing in from of her. Eyes going wide with surprise, she looked around at the rest o the students, all who were freaking out, then looked out at Shade, knowing them that the black wall was one of his shadows. The girl smiled back to him, sending him a wink as a thanks for the gesture while she wiped away what little juices made it to her arm. She appreciated that even after ignoring him and shocking his face, the boy was still willing to protect her, if even from a tiny bit of pumpkin slime, but on the other hand, that meant she had to return the favor at some point. Hearing Korvka arrive and ask what had happened, Light shifted her focus to the Russian girl, answering, "I'm not su--" when she was interrupted by Camille's yelling. Light's eyebrows lifted for a moment when the girl claimed she knew what had happened, wondering how exactly the woman knew that Korvka had pulled the prank. However, when she extended her finger towards Light and referred to her as 'that bitch', Light let out a disbelieving laugh. "... You think I did this?" she questioned the woman, trying to hold back her anger and keep her cool so that Camille might make a fool of herself when Light proved her wrong. "Why would I even want to? And I didn't get hit because my boyfriend has incredible reflexes and eyes like a hawk." She glanced back at Shade again and rolled her eyes, then added a bit more sternly, "And I shocked you because you can't seem to learn your place."
Korvka shook her head as Valerie asked her if she'd been witness to anything from her better vantage point. "No," she lied sincerely, shaking her head with a rueful expression, her brown eyes limned with sympathy for the genie. "I vos going to grab my bag ven I heard the impact so I came over to see," she explained, offering a little 'wish I could help more' shrug. The shrill shriek that Camille emitted was, by far, the single most satisfying cry of the night and certainly fit the Halloween theme. Turning from Val, Korvka watched as the makeup started to run down the older girl's face, making her look like even more of a slut now that the vast amounts of makeup were starting to run down her cheeks. However, as Camille's outburst began, Korvka felt the pit of her stomach give out at first, and then laughed once as the woman incorrectly placed blame on Light. After the conversation Korvka had with the Bride of Frankenstein earlier that day over the subject of Shade, Light, and Camille, she was beginning to see more and more of the war between the two, though she listened with her arms folded over her chest and her eyes rolling heavenward. Glad that Light was able to keep the blame from her without throwing Korvka under the bus, the Russian pirate merely watched the aftermath, truly inspired that a bit of prank was able to bring this much entertainment. Her eyes skated over to Daniela and Vlad, making sure to greedily absorb their expressions and the state of their costumes before returning to the bickering females once they'd stopped. "You could be just as guilty. You're only mad that Light didn't get hit, not because you're now dressed like a diseased hooker," Korvka offered, stabbing her gaze over to Camille in clear defense of her friend. "Besides, it seems like a qvick fix to get to the bottom," she suggested coolly, shrugging one shoulder slightly as she approached the stage. "Whoever did it had to leave evidence in their room. Pumpkins are messy," she said needlessly, smirking slightly as she ran her fingertip across a pile of pumpkin goop that was on the stage.
Raising her hands and placing her fingers to create a square, as if she was composing a picture or photo, Flame commented to Korvka as she focused on Camille's ruined appearance. "And here I thought tonight couldn't get any better." True, she felt a little bad for the younger girls, but god, it felt so good to see this bitch get thrown out of her comfort zone. She was also grateful Shade was so fast off the bat to save a second possibly hissy fit from Light. Flame would rather the girl not having a go at Korvka just because of her bad placement during the prank. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Her own snide grin aimed at Camille.
Addy had been standing to the side when the balloons had fallen. Because of her placement, most of the goop landed on her legs, and unfortunately for her, her cast. She stared for a solid minute as the wet stuff sat on the white plaster and everyone else reacted until finally she looked up at the rest. As far as she could tell, everyone on the stage had gotten hit. Having been near to tears most of the day, Addy stiffened and looked down at herself, wiping as much goo off her dress as she could. She would be fine, so long as no one realized that she had been hit and offered her any help. Picking up her crutches, she slowly inched off the stage, sitting at a table to start wiping off her cast the best she could.
Having a good idea of what happened, and who was responsible, Mihir just shook his head, watching as everyone reacted. He would have laughed, but the pumpkin smell, which wasn't pleasant at all, was wafting in his direction. Instead he just smirked and watched as Korvka approached. He stood and turned, wanting to be away from the drama, and went to X-Men Party Hall, heading for the door.
Daniela was still considerably addled by the feeling of cold, watery pumpkin guts sliding down her back and into her corset. "Wait, what?" added the girl, looking around rather confused as accusations began flying around, it was true that Light was intact but Vlad, standing next to her, was entirely soaked. This meant that Light being untarnished could not be due to careful planning, but some really quirky physics. "Guys... c'mon, let's not start..." the girl began to say, taking off her hat and letting some guts slide off the side of it and hit the floor while she tried to fish some pumpkin out of the back of her corset, arching her back helplessly as she reached with her hand. Suddenly, the argument got more heated with Korvka interjecting, Daniela edged away from the fight, feeling entirely uncomfortable as the wet cloth around her corset clung to her skin, and hid a bit behind her room mate, who was worse off than she was. "This sucks.. uh?" she asked, trying to pick some of the pumpkin guts off the blonde girl's shoulder.
Shade's grin grew a bit bigger as Light acknowledged his help as well as letting go of Vlad's hand, who now stood besides her covered in plant guts and runny green make up, looking much like a half-breed between the Swamp Monster and a mossy rock. Korvka sure strut in, with the impeccable timing of car pile-in, with an ill-disguised grin on her face as if she was wearing an 'I did it' sign. However, it seemed the others were entirely unaware of her ploy and he wasn't about to rat her out... for now. Shade quietly stood up and walked towards the stage, "Way to end a Halloween party eh?" he thought as everyone expressed discomfort and anger. "Might want to end this before mutant powers and guts end up flying all across the room." he added, knowing somewhere either Jean or the Professor would be peaking into his thoughts. Soon, the boy was forced to snap out of his musings by Camille and Korvka shrieking at each other, watching them argue, he leaned back on the edge of the stage, right below Light and tossed his head back, running his eyes along the line of wet, slime covered girls (and Vlad and Justin) until he got to Light. "Somehow I wish I had let you get wet and slimy." he grinned, categorically ignoring the fighting women. "I also wish you would've worn a shorter skirt tonight." he added with a mischievous tone in his voice to point out he was obviously kidding... about that last part at least.
Endelyn turned to Justin and forced a smile. It wasn't his fault they were now both covered in pumpkin. "I'll see you later... I need to get this dress cleaned. Thank you for the... well, almost perfect night." she said, and with that, she silently hopped off the stage and started to walk to the X-men party hall. Her face clearly showed that she was angry and annoyed, and it was best that no one tried to talk to her with her in this state.
Justin had been in a state of shock since the concoction of pumpkin had rained down over his head on stage. His mind had raced back to that day in the woods, he had not been able to do anything to save his friends and only he had been left. The sudden surprise tripped his mind into a state of self protection. He was no longer standing on stage but standing by the tree at gun point his hands in the air shaking, he was afraid guilty unsure of what to do. He vaguely heard Endelyn leave and managed to say "Wait can i help?" but she was already gone and he wasn't really there either. He didn't even care that he now donned a coat of pumpkin guts, he simply walked off the stage like the zombie he was dressed as towards X-men party hall.
"ENOUGH." Vlad's voice barked suddenly over the bickering of the ladies, echoing thrice over to scold them again and again. The ordinarily calm, happy-go-lucky Russian man wore an expression that was completely devoid of the warmth that he usually doled out freely. The harsh, masculine lines of his face were enhanced by the lack of smile that only the running makeup and dripping pumpkin guts served to lighten. His eyes were shut tightly, partially to keep the green paint from getting into them, and also to keep himself from exploding with anger that few at the mansion knew him capable of. Lifting his hands, he irritably swiped his thumbs over his eyelids and then flung the goop away from him, not currently worried about who might be splattered. When he looked down and saw Flame there, apparently amused by the whole situation and making merry of their suffering, the severity of his glare intensified. His grey eyes burned with dark fire from beneath his black eyebrows, a brooding, smoldering anger. He turned his gaze then to his sister as she came in, again, to make everything worse, as per usual. It didn't take him long to suspect her of the deed - pumpkin guts? Really? It had her written all over it, especially with that smug look of the cat who ate the canary that was painted all over her face. The prank was underhanded and passive-aggressive which certainly fit her mood as of late. Her cold shoulder, the snarky comments, the intentional barbs... Still, he wasn't about to out her. They were siblings after all, and without any proof, he was sure he'd only make the situation worse. Without saying another word, the thunderstorm of foul energy that Vlad had become stormed down the steps and across the floor, making sure to avoid anyone there in case he bowled them over without even flinching. The heavy rumble in his angered steps rolled throughout the floor on his way to X-Men Party Hall, all the while flinging goo from his jacket and limbs.
With everyone's craziness, Addy just couldn't take much more. Anger flashed momentarily in her eyes and she BAMFed up to Dormitory 398, content to just let her anger simmer as she tried to clean the orange stain on her cast.
As the scene before her quickly deteriorated into a cacophony of heated words, Valerie stood meekly off to the side, wishing that she could say the right thing to ameliorate the situation. However, a handful of people had left already, quite quickly, some fuming far more than others, so remaining silent, she went to the edge of the stage, daintily lowered herself to a seated position, and slid off the platform and onto the floor of the game area. Val made her way to the closest table and smiled weakly at Addy as she carefully cleaned her cast off, then visibly started as the girl disappeared. The blonde retrieved a wad of napkins, carefully wiped herself clean of the pumpkin guts, then headed back to the stage to offer some to Daniela and Shana. 'It's not much, but...' she said, trailing off before punctuating the few words with a half-shrug.
Appalled at the students leaving the area, Camille wondered why they weren't trying to figure out who instigated the prank that upset them all and ruined their night. Her attention turning to Korvka, the girl initially laughed when the Russian accused her this time, realizing that her sudden appearance and defense of Light just in time had to mean she was somehow involved too. However, the curly-headed girl's next comment threw Camille off, and her expression turned sour. Vlad's loud exit caused her to jump a little, but that didn't stop her next words. "Better a diseased hooker than a fatass pirate slob," the girl replied a second after Korvka finished speaking, then added in reference to Flame, "and your tranny friend there can keep her crocodile face out of this." The brunette reached up and swiped a huge blob of pumpkin guts from her own head, holding it in her hand rather than tossing it away. "So I'm guessing one of you," she began to say, looking between Korvka and Light, "planted some empty pumpkins in my room to frame me because you hate me so much and can't stand the fact I'm prettier and better built than the both of you? And tat your men prefer me over you. Is that it?" She looked back down to her hand, squishing the slime in between her fingers. "You girls are terrible at plotting things and getting away with it, you know? And yes, I am a little upset that miss power pole there doesn't have a thing on her." Without missing a beat, Camille reached up with her other hand and scooped some more goop off her shoulders, then began walking towards Light as she concluded, "But this might help." Even with the risk of shock, Camille reached out and slopped both hands of pumpkin guts onto Light's face, slowly running her palms down her neck and across her chest and bridal gown, and after wiping off her hands on the girl's shoulders, she took a step back, satisfied with her work.
Light simply stood back as Korvka and Flame stepped into the argument, appreciating the retaliation in her defense, even if she didn't care much for the latter of the two. However, when Korvka made the point that the evidence would be left in someone's room, Light silently cursed. The Russian walks up to the stage seconds after the attack with the smuggest grin, then suddenly knows who caused the prank and where the evidence was left? Smart, Korvka. Luckily, though, there weren't many students left to witness the accusation, and so less people to realize who the prankster was. As soon as Vlad left, loudly, and the insults began flying, and feeling that Camille had gotten her just desserts for the night, Light began kneeling down, resting her hand on Shade's shoulder so that she could use him as support to jump off the stage and land safely. "We'll see about the short skirt when we get back to my room," she replied to him quietly. Before she could make her escape, though, the brunette woman began going on about her preference to fuck every man in the mansion, taken or not, and knowing the comment was directed at her, Light stood straight, facing Camille with her arms crossed. "If he preferred you, he would have fucked you a long time ago, you sassy little whore," she said as she simply stood there, even as Camille approached her. "Nobody likes you and nobody wants you here, Camille, so why don't you go bac--" she started to say before pumpkin was smeared across her face and chest, getting into her mouth and staining her dress, and to add insult to injury, Camille even wiped her hands off on the girl. Shocked, Light stood silent and still for a moment, letting what had happened sink in and her anger take over. Reaching up, she calmly wiped the pumpkin from her eyes and spit out what she could, then amended herself calmly, "Actually, I think I'll make you leave, myself." With a step towards Camille, Light's hand ignited in a small field of electricity, noticeable to anyone within a close vicinity, and she reached out for Camille, aiming for the girl's neck, but happy to grab whatever she could get.
Shana wasn't a fan of fights or arguments, and so she simply stood by quietly, her shoulders tensing up with each angry word thrown around, and jumping a little when Vlad's voice boomed across the hall just before he left. Still, the girls continued arguing, ignoring Vlad's demand, and Shana simply turned away from the fight, facing her friend instead. "Thanks," she muttered as her roommate helped her wipe off the goop from her shoulders, and then suddenly all the guts and slime disappeared, sinking into her skin. With a rippling movement down her shoulders and arms, the orange color moved to the blonde girl's fingertips, and shaking her hands, she flung the goo out of her body and onto the floor. "This stuff stinks... wish you had used your shield before it hit you," she said to Daniela, sticking her bat under her arm and reaching up to now help her friend get cleaned up. "Oh... hey, thanks, Val," she said when the other blonde approached, and she knelt down on the stage and took the napkins from her. With her good mood ruined for the night, along with everyone else's, Shana grew silent as she helped Dani out. Still, the arguing and name-calling grew louder, and becoming frustrated, Shana turned to the other girls, beginning to say, "Would you all just stop-" but was interrupted by her own gasp at the sight of Camille rubbing pumpkin guts all down her sister's face. "Camille!" she shrieked as she stomped over to where she and Light were, taking her bat into her hand again, and noticing her sister's hand ignited with sparks of electricity, Shana reached out and shoved Light's arm away from Camille. feeling part of the shock from the girl's hand, she jerked her own arm back, waving her hand in the air to alleviate the pain and sudden numbness. "Both of you, stop!"
Daniela simply stood there, stunned as the fight began to spiral out of control, "Ah.. forgot you could do tha-" began to say Daniela while Shana shook off the remaining pumpkin guts using her power, but was soon interrupted by the argument going on downstage between Camille and Light. "H-hey guys!" she simply managed to say, not sure what to add after that. As Shana took off, the girl let out a little yelp at Light's display of powers, following after her roommate. "Someone is gonna get hurt!" she called out while Shana did, in fact, get slightly hurt.
Shade was, for the most part, content to watch the cat fight unfold, since he seemed to be the only guy remaining in the room (though Korvka and Flame were debatable), however, things seemed to be quickly escalating and could be getting out of hand. With a grin, the boy helped Light get off stage, being careful to avoid any pumpkin guts that might get on the girl's costume. His efforts would prove futile, though, for as soon as Light got off the stafe, Camille came after and slimed her dress. "Crap." muttered to himself Shade, not because of Light's costume, but since he knew his girlfriend was not about to take that. Soon sparks flew from Light's hand and Shana got in the way. Almost instinctively, Shade stepped forward as well, looking to get between Light and Camille, he tried to simply stand in front of Light, with her back turned towards her so she couldn't reach Camille if she tried. "You ok?" he asked Shana as he stared down the short haired woman. "I think we all ought to just get out of here and try to figure out this pumpkin deal tomorrow." he hissed in an absolutely authoritative manner, grabbing the hand Light had kept down and pulling her a bit towards him, as if indicating her to follow, forceful but not violent.
The stage side shimmered, but was largely ignored due to the much more attention grabbing spectacle, as Justin stepped right from the wall and onto the floor next to the spark flying stare down. "Well i guess i didn't have to ask who was involved like i was planning." His right metal plated glove already tugged into to place just fro good measure. He had intended to port down and get to the bottom of things himself, after all who ever was responsible had made the only friends who hadn't been abducted extremely upset, but he apparently wasn't needed. "I think ill just stand by in case things get out of hand..." He mumbled more to himself than anyone else.
Perhaps the incessant barbs from Shade had helped Korvka more than she knew, but when Camille piece the puzzle together, the Russian found herself unnervingly indifferent. She wondered just what sort of punishment would come from being found out, and realized that she didn't care. They wouldn't send her away over a silly prank. What could they do, make her clean the X-Jet? Force her to train in the Danger Room with Wolverine for weeks on end? Worth it to watch Camille, Vlad, Daniela, and Shana all get what they had coming. All of the plotting, all of the sneaking, it wasn't her style. Sure, she had taken the advice from Shade, who was obviously the prince of underhanded deeds but Korvka wasn't the sneaking type. She just didn't have it in her, obviously. She didn't have to reveal her hand as having a more sinister root than a simple Halloween trick. As Camille went to further insult her by calling her a fatass, an insult she'd heard more often than any other caused Korvka to start laughing. It was a cold, bitter laugh, one that held no sign of warmth or mirth whatsoever. "Oh please, don't call me fat! I von't know how to heal my poor, tender soul if you say that," she mocked, holding her hand over her heart in scorn. Her brown eyes looked a bit too delighted at all the hate a few balloons had caused, glimmering with a sort of dark pleasure that she had never known before. Being mean was more fun than trying to be nice when there was no one worth being nice too. "You found me out," she said honestly, holding her arms out as if she were a criminal who'd been cornered. Saying nothing else, Korvka watched through slitted eyes as Camille stomped over to Light and slopped pumpkin goo all down her front. Without hesitating, the Russian surged at Camille as she stood there after her pumpkin attack and threw a haymaker the way that Vlad had taught her when she was younger. All along her knuckles she had grown long cactus spikes, tipped with the quickest toxin she knew how to make, enough to make the girl's cheek itch and sting for a day or two if the punch connected. However, she was also dangerously close to Light's electricity, and was promptly zapped as well, letting out a loud Russian expletive after her swing was through, shaking her hand the same way Shana was.
Camille had been expecting some sort of retaliation from Light but not from Korvka, who took a swing at her just as she stepped back away from Light's outreaching hand. She moved out of the line of the full punch, but two of the poisoned spikes on Korvka's knuckles caught the skin on her cheek, slicing the flesh in two thin, short lines on her cheekbone. Staggering backwards and wincing just a bit, Camille reached up to her face with one hand, dabbing her fingers on her now stinging skin, then putting them in front of her face to examine the blood that was already forming from the wounds. "You bitch..." she muttered to Korvka, "I wasn't expecting that. Maybe I should slime you too..." Noticing Shade making his way between herself and Light, Camille turned her attention to him, smirking and tilting her head to the side. "Aww, you're protecting me from her? Not that I need it, but that's so sweet of you Shade," she cooed, taking a step forward and planting her lips firmly on the boy's cheek in a short peck, opening her eyes to look behind him at Light menacingly. "I agree, we should take the night to calm down and discuss things tomorrow," she said, now walking past Shade and stopping beside Light. "And about that fucking your boyfriend thing?" she questioned, leaning in so she Light could hear her loud and clear. "We already did. And that little birthmark of his, you know, the one on his hip, right next to his dick? It's adorable, isn't it?" With those last words, Camille gave Light a tiny wave and began to walk off, letting her words sting.
Everything seemed to happen at once when Shana knocked Light's hand out of the way, almost throwing her off balance, when Korvka took a swing at Camille, catching her right on the cheek, and when Shade stepped in front of her to keep her from going at Camille. Still boiling with anger, Light managed to keep her calm, staring at the back of Shade's head. As the boy grabbed her hand and held onto it tightly, Light tensed up, ordering, "Get out of my way, Shade." Her boyfriend didn't budge and she was forced to stand in one spot, breathing shallow and quickly, and fuming. Every word Camille said only made her more irate, drowning out anything Shade had said, and if her face was able to turn red, it surely was. Then, as if to top things off, she saw from behind Shade's shoulder Camille lean forward and plant a kiss on his cheek, even making a point to look straight into Light's eyes when she did so. Eyes growing wide, Light clenched her teeth, her free hand beginning to teem with electric sparks once more, and her eyes followed Camille with a death stare as she began to walk past Shade and around to her. As Camille began to speak again, Light's breath caught in her throat, unable to believe the girl. "You lying bitch.." she whispered as the girl claimed she'd slept with Shade, but when Camille mentioned the birth mark, Light's heart skipped several beats and her jaw nearly dropped. She watched silently for a few seconds as the brunette began walking away, then wordlessly, she let her arms flare up in electricity, instantaneously numbing Shade's hand so that she could pull away, and when she did, she gave him the hardest smack across the face she could muster. Turning immediately to Shane, Light snatched the cricket bat out of her hand and followed after Camille, walking right past her before turning around to face her. In the blink of an eye, Light had raised the bat over her shoulder and swung out towards Camille with full force, hitting her square in the face and knocking her to the ground. Light clenched the handle of the bat tightly, beginning to ready herself for one more swing while Camille was on the ground, but she hesitated, having spotted Xavier and Jean swiftly making their ways towards to scene. Growling, she threw the bat down onto Camille, warning her, "Next time, I will kill you," before she began to walk away, but stopping, she turned back towards Shade and added, "Nevermind. There won't be a next time." And with that, the sparking, slimed up bride of Frankenstein quickly made her way towards X-Men Party Hall.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Hand is just numb," Shana replied to Shade, still trying to shake her hand enough to bring feeling back into it. She, too, tried her best to stand in the way of Light and Camille, but choosing to keep silent as things continued unfolding. She glance once at Dani, worry on her face, silently pleading for Dani to do something, cast a shield around Light, Camille, something. Unfortunately, things happened too quickly, and everything resulted in Camille taking a blow to the face from the bat Light stole from Shana, despite her shocked protests. "Light!" she called out after the girl as she stormed off, leaving Camille lying on the floor. Running over to the brunette on the floor, she knelt down, looking for any signs of blood or broken bones, and asked, "Are you ok?" Looking up again, she saw the professor and Jean making their way toward her, and she waved them down, directing them to Camille in case they'd missed something.
Xavier, apparently coming from somewhere on the dance floor, rolled up in his wheelchair, Jean following behind him, both with looks of concern on their face. "What is going on here?" the professor demanded, looking between Shade, Korvka, Shana, Valerie, Flame and Daniela and spotting Light walking off.
"Do it then, see vot happens," Korvka encouraged darkly, feeling amped up from the physical act of aggression. Despite missing, the satisfaction of having made Camille bleed was enough to put a devilish smile on the Russian's face. She'd been wanting to hit her for ages, and one simply wasn't enough. She knew, knew that she could lay the twig out flat and pummel her into hamburger. Ready to send a handful of projectile cactus spikes into Camille's injured, bleeding face to finish the job and make it swell so much that she couldn't talk, Korvka tried to flick away the pain in her hand when the scene dissolved utterly. "Damn," she breathed disappointedly as the rivalry between the Light and Camille took a nosedive towards fatal. Of course, the two of them hissing at each other like a pair of adders during mating season drew more attention than the prank had in the first place and she groaned as Xavier and Jean made their way to the scene. Glancing over at Camille as she lay on the ground with no more interest than one would offer a blade of grass, Korvka shrugged a single shoulder and looked back to the professor. "Girl fight."
Valerie cast a lopsided smile as she handed the napkins off but it was soon replaced by a look of shock as Camille attacked Light and vice-versa. The dancer backed away from the stage as the situation only continued to escalate, with Shana and then Daniela rushing into the fray. Naturally, it came as a great surprise to the blonde as Korvka dramatically confirmed Camille's accusations before going viciously on the offensive. In agreeance with Shade's suggestion, Val continued to tentatively back away; while she didn't want to just abandon everyone, she certainly didn't want to hang around any longer than she had to. Things would be better in the morning, right? As she distanced herself, she became less aware of the full spectrum of events that transpired. However, an unabashed gasp escaped her mouth when Light grabbed the bat from her sister and took aim at Camille. Well, that was more than enough, and Val started to slip away from her awkward, lingering spot in the periphery. She paused, however, hearing Xavier's voice. Though she had nothing to do with the evening's events, there was a hesitant shame at having witnessed everything, evident as her eyes flickered toward, then were averted from, Jean and the Professor. Her breath hitched a little when Korvka gave her terse reply, and she raked her teeth over her bottom lip, hoping that maybe someone else might speak-up.
Things had gone far off the left field, far more than Shade liked, since he was not comfortable when he couldn't pull the strings and control the situation as if the others were puppets. When Camille mentioned the birth mark she had managed to spot that morning and used it against the pair, the boy knew shit was about to hit the proverbial fan, but before he could do damage control, he felt an electric shock on his hand which forced him to pull back. Soon after, this was followed by a powerful slap. Shade knew he could've dodged the blow, but he figured doing that would just make things worse. "Light, wait!" he called out after the young woman stuck Camille, but she stormed out nonetheless. It was probably the first time anyone in the mansion had seen Shade actually be pissed. Immediately, shadows spewed forth from the point where he was standing just like a droplet of ink spreads out when dropped in water. "Move." he commanded simply to Shana and Korvka, who were near Camille with a grave sounding hiss. "Well played, I must say." he added, taking one step towards Camille, shadows climbing onto chairs and tables around the group as if someone was painting everything in the room pitch black. Categorically ignoring Xavier, Shade took another spot forward, his eyes growing as black as the floor of the room was now.
Daniela, unlike the others in the mansion, HAD seen Shade truly angry before. In fact, these outbursts were the reason why she feared the man so much, and he was much more prone to them several years ago. Everything that had just happened had left the girl in a sort of daze, she felt angry and sad and felt like she'd cry any minute now. She mostly wanted to ask Korvka why she'd do something like that, but she couldn't at the time, since something far more dangerous was happening right in front of her. For all he cared, if Korvka wouldn't step away, Shade could rip her and Camille to shreds, but Shana was there too. Arming herself with courage, Daniela quickly ran downstage, standing right in front of Camille and Shana, she planted her big blue eyes on Shade. Trying to contain a helpless quiver, the girl flashed a reflective shield around her and the other two women which flickered in and out of existence. "That's far enough." she said, her voice cracking a bit but still determined and firm.
"Psht... whatever." replied Shade looking down at the group of women right before turning towards Xavier and Jean, as if reassessing the situation now that they were there. "You need to put some order in your house, Charlie, girlies here have been bad." he said mockingly right before he fell through the floor, teleporting out of the room and letting the mass of darkness that had crept up every wall and over the floor dissipate like a flame, suddenly snuffed.
As much as she was part of the original prank, Flame couldn't help but feel like just a spectator to the events that happened after it, as hell broke loose. Camille's remarks towards her was nothing new, not that they still didn't sting, but she got it most of her life, so was well use to dealing with them. The girl's remarks to Korvka, and surprisingly Light, annoyed her though, and a number of snark replies were ready on the tip of her tongue before the punches began. While she was not fast enough to catch Korvka on her first hit, she threw her arms around the girl and pulled her back towards her. "Calm down," She whispered in the Russian's ear. "No reason to dig this hole deeper, we can take it out later on Danger Room simulations of her. Shake it off for now." Flame even held her tongue as Xavier appeared. Normally tempted to act the typical smart-ass she was, tensions had just turned too high. The whole idea of the prank was to help Korvka with her anger towards the girls and her brother, not start a power slinging match. "Maybe it's time to call it a night and let tempers cool." She spoke to all present, gently trying to shove Korvka towards the door.
See he was no where close to being needed and the problem was being taken care of Justin silently backed away from the drama that was ensuing in front of him. Sex accusations, cheating, bitch slaps, a bat, and the room being consumed by shadows. "So... yeah leaving." He mumbled, his hand touching the wall behind him as he disappeared into the shimmering circle to Dormitory 365
Totally unexpecting of the swing Light dealt her, Camille took the full blow square in the face, being knocked backwards and onto the floor. She lay still for a second before coughing and attempting to sit up, bringing her hand up to her face to mask the blood that was beginning to drip down her face. "Fucking bitch," the girl muttered, pulling her hand away to see just how bad she was bleeding when a shadow seemed to be cast over her. Looking up, she spotted Shade, and for a brief moment, fear passed through her at seeing the blackness of his eyes. She didn't even have time to speak to him, aside from smirking a little, before Daniela made her way over and ran him off, letting Camille relax as Shade left the room. Looking to Shana, she put her hand up to her nose again, cupping it beneath the pouring blood and wincing in pain. "I'll be ok... probably need to go see Hank," she replied to Shana, attempting to stand up.
Xavier gave Korvka a slightly skeptical look in response to her answer for his question, but his eyes shot to Shade as he began to approach Camille and the shadows spread across the floor. "Shade," he said sternly, beginning to barely probe the boy's mind while Jean readied herself to stop him, but Daniela got in the way, just in time it seemed, and Xavier and Jean backed down, letting the girl handle it quite successfully. He simply watched Shade as the boy warned him to keep his students under control and left, then rolled his chair over to Camille, who seemed to be doing okay aside from a broken nose. He then looked to Shana and Flame, the two students out of the group who had been there the longest. "Tell me what happened," he demanded before cutting his eyes to Valerie, sensing some nervousness from the girl. "Valerie, could you tell me what you saw?"
Shana watched as Shade approached, shadows swimming around him, black as night, and for the first time in her life, she actually felt afraid of the boy, her old friend. "Ant--Shade..." she said shakily, beginning to back up out of the way, when Daniela rushed over and stood between her and Camille, and Shade. As she convinced the boy to leave, Shana forced herself to relax a little, then looked to Xavier when he addressed her. "I... uhm... I didn't see..." she started to say, unsure exactly what to tell him, though surely he already knew. She did see what happened, but she didn't want to rat out her sister, and the other to blame was lying on the floor, bleeding and in pain. Looking to Camille when she attempted to stand, Shana put her arm under the woman's and began helping her up, intending to take her straight to the infirmary.
Daniela seemed to have been holding her breath until the second Shade finally left the room. Once he was gone, the young woman let out a sigh of relief and immediately noticed Shana, standing behind her, trying to help out Camille. Since the professor had spoken to Valerie and not them, she figured they were free to go. "We should take her to the infirmary." said the raven haired girl, her costume now sticky from drying pumpkin guts. "And then we ought to take showers." she sighed, giving Korvka a swift glare before he tried to help Camille as well and lead her and her roommate towards the door that lead to the complex hallway.
Korvka stepped to the side as Shade barked at her to move, thoroughly creeped out by his powers, and irritated with how the night had suddenly become all about him and his girlfriends. When he left, her shoulders visibly relaxed, but the cold, dead expression on her face was enough to keep anyone from getting near. Anyone except Flame, that is, whom the Russian shrugged herself away from once she was certain she could control herself without hitting anyone else, though that was, really, all she felt like doing. As Shana went to tend to the whore, Korvka just glanced and then smirked ruthlessly at Daniela as she shot her a scathing glare. Good. Let the hate be mutual; let them all know now the ugliness inside. "Good idea," she said darkly in reply to Flame's suggestion. Looking over to her scaly friend, Korvka squeezed her hand, glad that she had at least one person in the mansion she could trust, and then let her fingers slide away as she began to exit. Ignoring Professor X and the silent sentinel of Ms. Grey, Korvka pushed her way out of the game tables area, making sure to shoot Camille a satisfied sneer on her way to X-Men Party Hall.
With a growing sense of dread in her expression, Valerie watched as Shade's power manifested itself in the room, and it wasn't until several seconds had passed after the older student's departure that she even considered opening her mouth. 'Well...' she hesitantly started when Xavier asked her what she'd witnessed, '...I didn't really see anything, really, initially. I was up on stage, the prank was pulled, and...' Perhaps conveniently leaving-out the part regarding who pulled the prank, she glanced around in turn to those who remained, her hand reaching up to gently touch the tip of her nose when she saw Camille's bloodied face, as if she could feel the other girl's pain. Clearing her throat, she continued, like the good little stool pigeon that she was, 'There were... accusations, and an argument. Light hit... ' she said with another pained glance at Camille, '...and...that's about it...I guess.' Saying nothing else, Val's brow furrowed in concern as Korvka remained largely quiet, then took her leave at Flame's suggestion.
Having watched her friend leave Flame turned her sight onto the fallen Camille. When did the mansion get so hard to live in? They had lost so many in the abduction, Shade in his return was not the same (and for the worse if the little power display was something to go by), and new faces were causing tension and clashing with everyone. Joy, fricking joy. Clearly anger was not the way to deal with the rather slutty problem in front of her, Flame would have to decide on a different route to deal with Camille, one that didn't involve clawing her face off, as tempted as she was. Retrieving a smoke from her packet and placing it between her lips, Flame left it unlit as she rolled her shoulders, shrugging off the left over tension of the night. "I would offer to help clean up, but I know we have tiny little elf like minions who do that at night when all of us sleep. Very Willy Wonka like in fact. So, I'll just take my tranny, crocodile-face self up to bed I think." She aimed a grin at Camille, sure her sharpened teeth were clearly visible, as she left for X-Men Party Hall.
Xavier sighed as he listened to Valerie's shortened story, shaking his head as Korvka and Flame left the room, too. "There's nothing I can do about this tonight. If any of you see anything else going on, report to me immediately. Otherwise, I want the four of you to meet me in my office after classes tomorrow. I'll call Light, Shade, Korvka, and Flame as well." With a nod to everyone, he added, "Goodnight girls," before he and Jean vacated the area.
Shana nodded to Xavier, giving him a "Yes, sir" in response to his requests, then continued helping Camille up, making sure the woman wouldn't fall over in case she was dizzy, and led her over to X-Men Party Hall, giving one last wave to Valerie and a "Night!"
Camille was quiet, simply holding her hand under her nose as Shana and Daniela both helped her up and trying not to get blood everywhere, heading alongside the two to X-Men Party Hall.
Valerie looked thoroughly crestfallen, and just stood there a shocked moment when Xavier said he'd like to see her, along with the others, in his office the next day. She had never gotten detention, nonetheless been called into the principal's office in all her years of school. Still, she also mustered a little, 'Yes, sir.' Suppressing a disappointed sigh, she gave Shana and Daniela a little wave-- she would offer to help with Camille, but it looked like they had the situation under control-- and headed out to the X-Men Party Hall.
After Valerie vacated the area, Daniela and Shana helped to carry Camille to the Infirmary, where Hank gave her a quick fix for her broken and bleeding nose. Afterwards, the three returned to their rooms, cleaning up and heading to bed.
From here, you can move on to either X-Men Dance Floor or X-Men Party Hall.
X-Men Rules * X-Men Characters * Start X-Men
Stumble!