The Annual BPRD Christmas Party!

[Tabby Whitman-Foster]

"The mistletoe is all thanks to me and my trusty staple gun, Phia." Tabby cackled. "But Kasim and the his buddies did most of the other work. And the heavy lifting."

Terry and Thane arrived shortly after. "Hey guys! Merry Christmas!" She said, taking another picture. And then her camera was verbally assaulted. "Hey, this camera shall document the awesomeness of this party for years to come!" Tabby said in defense of her camera to Thane and Angel and, as if to prove a point, blinded everyone with another camera flash. She was about to say something more when Thane spoke.

>>"Ohh Taaa-bbeeee..."<<

Tabby followed his gaze to the mistletoe above them both. She and Thane were the first victims?! That was just...Not fair! "Ho shi--" She began but was silence when Thane kissed her cheek like a proper gentleman. Her cheeks turned the same color as her hair and dress. "Merry Christmas to you too, Thane." She said with a mischievous grin.

[Kasim Chionesu]

"One sparkling cider, coming up!" Kasim said jovially, pulling a bottle of sparkling apple cider from one of the mini-fridges and opening it. He took a clean flute from underneath the table as well and filled with with the fizzy drink. "Don't go too overboard on that, Sister." He said with a wink.

Kasim watched with a huge smile as Thane gave tabby a dose of her own mistletoe. "Not fair! You should have given ME the camera for that one, Tabby!"

At that moment, Terry arrived too. "Hi Terry." Kasim said. He didn't know the guy very well, but what better time to get acquainted than a Christmas party? "May I quench your thirst? How about you, Phia?"

[hb]

Hellboy wasn't one to dress up for celebrations. Ever. Most holidays had red in their color scheme anyway, and he was as red as anyone could get (actually, he could never find any celebratory clothes in his size). He didn't bother checking himself over in a mirror as he left his room; he looked the same has he did every day.

One of the suits bringing him his breakfast earlier that day had informed him that there was going to be a party later on that night, and so the kitchen staff wasn't going to be able to produce his multiple carts of food today. That made Hellboy angry because, well, he was going to have to leave his room if he wanted any food and he wasn't intending on going to the party anyway. But hey, there was going to be food and beer, so it couldn't be that bad.

The library wasn't too far from his room, so he made it in record time. A quick glance into the room caused Hellboy to let out a loud bark of laughter, which he bit back almost immediately.

The room looked ridiculous; the spray-on snow and window clings that covered Blue's tank clashed with the other decorations. The only sources of light in the room were the fireplace and the string lights that were wound tightly around the banister of the staircase, most likely to provide ambiance. And oh, Abe was going to have a fit when he saw all of the candles in such close proximity to his books.

"Abe is going to have a stroke," Hellboy murmured as he stalked into the room. A quick inspection show him what he was there for; the buffet table was tucked under the overhanging balcony to his left. After taking a mental inventory of the food, he decided that coming to the party was worth it. A whole buffet was better than lukewarm chicken noodle soup any day.

[fuzzy]

Terry decided that it would be rude to go to the bar before mixing amongst the other party-goers, so that's just what he did. He caught Phia's eye, and started walking over to her. He was forced to take a roundabout path through the dimly lit library in order to avoid as much of the mistletoe as he could. After waving to the newcomers, he approached Phia, her hand full of M&M's.

>>>"So, Terry," she said as he came closer, "How you holding up?"<<<

Terry reflexively touched his hat in greeting. "Not too bad, aside from being ambushed by Tabby and her camera." Terry sighed, gingerly fingering the rising bump on his forehead from his collision with the library door. Kasim, the acting bartender, greeted them and offered to get them something to drink. "Could I get a gin and tonic?" Terry asked, looking at the buffet tables and hoping fervently that he got there before Hellboy did. Terry watched the door as Kasim's dexterous fingers mixed the drink. "Thanks" Terry said as he accepted the proffered beverage. His sensitive ears picked up what sounded like a cut-off shout, and he looked toward the door. Red had arrived, and, as expected, he was staring at the food. In a much too jovial mood to get in between Hellboy and one of his life's most important pursuits, he stayed at the bar for a time, wanting chat with Kasim and others as they came into range.

[nuala]

[/i] would happen tonight to make things crazy - after all, she remembered Abe telling her about some Christmas traditions that were, needless to say, interesting... Like this one about this plant called 'mistletoe'... Hmm.

After he told her that she looked lovely, she smiled to him, giving a bow of her head in thanks. "Thank you, Abraham." She said in response, finally deciding that it was time to get that garland off of him. Moving around him a bit, she reached forward with her slender, pale hands and managed to get it untangled from around his waist - which was a bit of an awkward move, but she did it anyways - and finaly, she unwrapped it so it was completely off of him. "Is that better?" She asked with a smile, holding it before him as she came to stand in front of him once again.

Now, what she was going to do with it, she wasn't sure. She could not just get rid of it, so in a quick movement, she took it, and wrapped it around her arm, so it spiraled up it. It was gold in coor, so it went well with the red and white of her dress, and of course, the golden tint to her hair. It was a bit uncomfortable, but hey, more Christmas spirit, right?

Once that was done with, she linked her arm with Abraham's, and looked up at him with anticipation. "Shall we?" [/size][/color][/ul]

[brennalarose]

"Ah, Tabby's just being cheerful," said Phia, "A rum and coke, please, Kasim. Easy on the rum."

"Hey, Hellboy!" Phia called. She would have gone over to say hello, but he seemed to be on a mission and Phia knew better than to get between a guy and his chow.

[Kasim Chionesu]

Kasim tried to do a few tricks with the bottles of alcohol as he poured them. All he ended up accomplishing was looking a bit like a foot when the bottle of gin fell and landed on his toe, causing him to bite his tongue to prevent himself from crying out. He picked up the unbroken bottle (thankfully) and poured Terry's drink, followed by Phia's. Then, to add garish festivity, he took two little plastic stirrers in the shape of candy cane and plunked them in the glass tumblers.

"Gin and tonic and rum and coke." Kasim said as professionally as he could. "Don't go too overboard, guys. I swore to Abe I wouldn't let anything too obscene happen to his tank or tyhe books." Upon Hellboy's arrival, Kasim reached for the mini-fridge stocked with nothing but Tecate Light. He tried to catch the demon's eye and when he did, Kasim held up a six pack and jiggled it temptingly at Hellboy.

[brennalarose]

"Damage a book in a drunken stupor?" Phia was appalled at the thought. "Not on my life! I swear on my mother's grave, I'll be as sober as a preacher's wife on a Sunday." She took a sip. "Thanks. I needed this.

[Frankie Guidicini]

Frankie looked hard in the mirror at her apparel and appearance. She had pulled her chestnut hair back into a messy bun that was apparently 'in' right now according to some of the female agents. Frankie wondered fleetingly if messy hairstyles were 'in' because people were lazy. Back when she was young, messy hair would never do. Her gown was a lighter blue, but not much lighter than navy blue. It was the brightest color she ever wore, if only for Christmas. The gown was floor length with sleeves reaching to her wrist. The neckline of the dress showed just a glimpse of her collar bone. This was as revealing as Frankie ever dared dress. The only jewelry was, of course, her wedding band.

Frankie halted at the door to her room, wondering if she really wanted to go to the Christmas Party. There were tons of new agents, and she didn't really know if she wanted to spend God knew how many hours in the library with a bunch of newbies. The lure of the open bar was a bit too strong though, so Frankie turned the knob and went out into the hallway, heading for the library.

Many, many people were already there, and Frankie eyed the dreaded mistletoe but saw that no persons were on the second level. She hurried and received a drink from Kasim before retreating to the second level to sit in one of the armchairs up there until she found a reason to join those below.

[loki]

In Thane's humble opinion, this party was off to a great start, even if there were random camera flashes screwing up his vision. Great food, great atmosphere, great company, and he just got to randomly kiss a pretty girl without getting slapped - what could be better?
All smiles and springy steps with bells a-jingling, the were-hawk sauntered by the bar;"Hey Kasim! You got any Blue or Moosehead in that little fridge of wonders?"

Heavier footsteps then caught his keen hearing and his head swiveled automatically in the direction of the library's entrance: Ol' Red had arrived.
"Uh, hold that thought, brother," Thane muttered, skipping back to the buffet table. He returned a beat later with a plate plied high with three rare steaks and half a rack of ribs; not a speck of vegetable matter could be seen on the hawk's plate.
"Phew! Ok, just wanted to make sure I got what I wanted before Ol' Red got into the food. Now beer me up, brother."
He gave a wink in Phia's direction.

[Kasim Chionesu]

"Lemme check..." Kasim began to rustle around in the mini-fridge as Thane left. Kasim watched as he went and began to load up some food and smiled, shaking his head in a good-natured way. Frankie stopped by to get a beverage before retreating to the second level, and by the time Thane returned with his plate of food, Kasim was in the mini-fridges once again.

"You're in luck!" Kasim declared from under the table, and he pulled out a bottle of Moosehead before prying the cap off. "I think a small fortune was spent on all this alcohol. Dear lord!" Kasim eyed the plate of food Thane returned with, arching his eyebrow slightly. "You trying to go head to head with HB?"

[fuzzy]

Terry briefly considered exactly how much food Hellboy would eat, and how much food there was. In his mind's eye, he saw an empty table, and him standing next to it, very hungry. Thane came back to the bar, his plate loaded with very rare meat, Terry's mouth started watering.

"Hey, Kasim, keep this safe for me" He gestured to his drink, "I've gotta get some food before HB gets there." His earlier resolution not to get between Hellboy and food forgotten in the face of his one true love, meat. Veritably flying towards the buffet tables, he was off. Grabbing a plate, he found the rarest pieces of steak he could, and piled them on it. He was pretty sure that two of them were still bleeding, and the other looked like it just stopped mooing a few minutes ago.

He brought his plate back to the bar, and let out a contented sigh, his mouth half full of partially eaten steak. "Aah...'aat's be'er..."

[hb]

Hellboy's gaze was torn away from the food when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. That led his eyes toward the bar, where a suit was tempting him with a full six pack of Tecate Light. The man looked familiar... What was his name? Kasey?

Hellboy didn't dwell on it too long; an entire pack of beer was awaiting him! He expertly wove his way through the new library furniture to the bar.

"Heeeeeeeey," Hellboy greeted warmly. He clapped the bartender on the back with his left arm and took the alcohol with his right. Kasim! That was the man's name! "How're you tonight, Kasim?" He wasted no time; digging into the beers, that is.

Some of the newer recruits had spotted him when he first entered and had already taken advantage of the ample supply of the buffet. Hellboy eyed them as they came back, their plates piled high. One in particular, the one with wings, seemed to had the most food of the two. He seemed to be a bit protective of his plate, and Hellboy had half a mind to grab one of his slabs of meat, just to spite the kid.

[Kasim Chionesu]

Kasim couldn't help but grin at the sudden exodus of a few people to get food once Hellboy arrived, and he pulled the alcoholic-drinks back, guarding them to the best of his ability. He didn't think anyone would slip roofies in them...But you never knew in the Bureau...Kasim chuckled to himself.

>>"Heeeeeeeey, "How're you tonight, Kasim?"<<

Kasim's knees quaked a bit even though Red had clapped him on the back with his left hand and not his right hand of stone. Kasim grined once more. "I'm doing well, thanks Hellboy. And you? I'm enjoying a position of power tonight for I...control the alcohol. But we have plenty of Tecate for you, so don't worry."

[Tabby Whitman-Foster]

Tabby watched everyone, amused, and snapped a few more pictures. She scrolled through them, thinking, "Man, I could totally spam places with these in the future..." She grinned to herself before slipping the camera onto her wrist and joining the growing crowd at the make-shift bar in time to hear Kasim saying they had plenty of Tecate Light.

"Do ya now?" Tabby asked, her blue eyes glinting with mischief. "Hey Red...I bet I could drink more than you." A grin slowly possessed her face before she added, "And anyone else for that matter."