Mutants & Masterminds: Divine Intervention - [Divine Intervention] Winter Wonderland

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline chuckled. He really was innocent at this, this flight-certified, wealthy find of hers. And a very small part of her couldn't bring herself to crush that quite out of hand, even aside from naked pragmatism.

The intervention of their host and his glittering circle of confirmed and suspected demi-gods, only reinforced that choice. She *did not* want to be drawn into their games, not outside of her own terms and a disposable alias or three.

"Well. That's certainly something," she commented to Slyvester, trailing the outside of the group towards the dancefloor, smile working overtime to cover her sudden tension, "How is it you know our host, the infamous Mr. Ryoke?"

[Sylvia Normanson]

"Puck and I have collaborated on a few personal projects together. We... actually work pretty well."

He started to actually look around. There was one face he started to suspect would show. But then got back on task. "I'm the more mechanically inclined of us, and Puck... Puck's got more of the digital ground covered."

He was quite proud of the holographic decorations. Enough not to bring up they were "just holograms". It was brilliant. He just wanted to figure out the projection medium.

"It's... not a easy task programming a civilian aircraft to be a VTOL. Because of that... I owe someone else my life."

Sly did his best to avoid the dance. He didn't want Puck paying more for insurance, particularly with all the seeming "beautiful people".

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Krysti-Lynn brought the Domino's Pizza-car to a sputtering stop in the parking lot. The small hatchback rocked a bit when her concentrated weight left the driver's seat as she climbed out of the car. Though she wasn't tired - she never was, at least physically - she sighed as she walked into the big chain pizzeria.

It was twenty minutes after her shift already and she was just returning from her last delivery - she still had turn in and log her receipts and cash-payments for deliveries. She still had some studying to do for college and she wanted to go scavenge a junk-yard for some scrap metal for an art project. She'd only taken the job as a pizza girl because it had been the first one to respond.

Why haven't I tried exotic dancing? It was good enough for mom, she thought with a pang of melancholy. But she knew why, it would bring up too many memories of her mother. And she wasn't naive - the other girls at the club had practically been like aunts to her, but this was New York, she certainly didn't expect the clubs or other dancers to have the same welcoming feeling as the club in Livingston, Montana.

She was still getting used to New York. It smelled, it was loud, her apartment was a quarter the size of her cabin back in Montana and utilities cost twice as much. And there were so many people, everywhere. Even the community college she was going to had more students than the entire population of Livingston. And on the whole, they were far more distant or just plain rude. Already, three times, guys had tried to mug her or worst - it had gone very poorly for them.

Sure, she was a friendly with a few people, if not sure she could call them friends quite yet, but still, she wasn't sure about New York...

"Hey, Matthew!" Krysti called out to the manager as she barged into the kitchen of Domino's Pizza. "I'm logging my receipts and till, then outta here. I got things to do."

"Krysti-Lynn, my favourite pizza girl!" Matthew roared cheerfully. Barely taller than Krysti, he must've weighed more than she did, and without any inhumanly dense muscle or bone to give him a build other than butterball. But he had a surprisingly deep and resonant voice. "I need a favour and you're the only one who can do it for me!"

"Matt, I told you, I'm not going on a date with you. You're not my type," Krysti-Lynn growled tiredly, counting out bills and receipts.

"No, no, not that... unless you've had a change of heart?" he said with a playful leer. "No, we just got a massive order for Hoetsu Ryoke over at Kyo Zon campus. I'd need to send two cars, and the boys, they just came on shift - if I send them, they'll linger, staring and gawking at all the rich and famous and divine. But you, you have that big pickup of yours and your shift, it's over. What do you say? I'll pay you an hour of over time and there'll probably be a big tip. The order has already been paid on a corporate account."

Krysti grunted, not looking from her counting and not really registering the name. "Is the order made already?"

"Yes, yes, just about."

"Dammit! 'Kay, fine. If you can load the order in my truck my the time I'm finished doing my counts, I'll do it. But you're paying me double time and covering gas."

"Agreed!" Matthew said quickly.

She glanced up briefly, fair brows lowering suspiciously under the brim of her blue-and-black Domino's cap. "Where'd you say it's going?"

"Erm, Westchester," Matthew admitted sheepishly.

"Double-damn!" she cursed. "Fine! Load it up quick, I'm almost done. Text me the address" She was still learning where things were in New York and the surrounding area. Thank the Gods for Google Maps, if not for anything else...

About five minutes later, Krysti-Lynn was stalking out of the pizzeria and over to her grey, worn, ten-year old F-350 Super Duty. A pair of cooks were just finishing loading her truck with the order and Krysti planted a foot on the rear wheel to peek over the side in the bed. She raised her brows and whistled in resignation at the number of blue warming bags. It was a huge order. It would probably take her over an hour to get there, off-load the order, and get back. Hope these aren't cheap-as-fuck corporate folks, otherwise, I'm gonna be pissed!

Krysti-Lynn started up her truck, listening to the familiar, faint rattle from the engine under the sound of heavy metal blaring from the radio. She plotted a course on TomTom, planted her Smartphone in the holder, then she was off, heading North towards Westchester. It wasn't long before TomTom began chiming at her for going over the speed limit, but it wasn't like it was by much. Only ten miles. Sometimes twenty.

A while later, she was pulling up to the former Fordham College campus, now the site of Kyo Zon, the uneven top of an unfinished skyscraper rising over the grounds. It was only as she was pulling up to the discreet guardpost by the front gates that she was getting an inkling where she had heard the name before.

"Hold-up, miss! You can't just drive up in here at the moment. There is a private function going on," the security guard warned. He was big and black, but not intimidating, and dressed rather well for a security guard.

Krysti rolled down her window and leaned out slightly, pointing at the logo on her blue-and-black cap. "Domino's pizza? I got a delivery for a Hoetsu Ryoke. Justa sec! I got an access number." Krysti reached back for her phone and checked the text, then read out the number. "We good?"

The secrity guard murmured into his radio, the nodded, flashing Krysti a professional grin, very white in his dark face. Krysti blinked in surprise, then self-recrimination. She'd overheard most of what he had said and the mention of 'Puck' finally clued her in. OMG! Puck?! That's pretty cool! I wonder who else is here?

"We're good miss. If you would, you can drive over to the main building. There's a service entrance over on the left-hand side. Please be careful driving, there's a fair number of people walking the grounds."

"Gotcha!" Krysti chirped, giving the guard a small salute and easing her truck in gear, then driving slowly as the looked around the grounds with curiosity. The rich or the important or the powerful didn't really impress her, but she was curious and she looked over there veritable Winter Wonderland.

It was soon obvious to Krysti the picturesque winter village and snow was fake, some sort of hologram, and she found that f'ing cool. She didn't know there was tech to do that over such a large area. She began to feel a little underdressed in her pizza girl uniform seeing all the women wondering around in evening gowns and heels and the guys in suits, but it hardly bothered her. She never wore dresses or heels anyway. She made a game of seeing how many of the people she could name from tabloids and the media - and even not all that interested in that stuff, she was surprised at how many she knew the name of. Huh...

Her big Ford pickup, with it's obvious wear and tear, drew it's own glances, but more seemed to take the incongruous sight in stride than she would have expected. The order really didn't seem to fit the event. It seemed more like what a group of gamers would order with an unlimited budget. Whatever. Rich people are eccentric, right?

She drove around side of the Skyscraper, found the service entrance, and debated leaving her truck in idle before shutting off the engine. She scooted around back, lowered the back of the bed of the truck, then deftly balanced up the eight extra-large pizzas in one hand, and the bags of 2L bottles of Coke and Fanta and 4-Packs of Monster in the other.

Krysti-Lynn strutted up to the service entrance and carefully knocked by lightly kicking the door. Immediately, a member of the service staff opened the door and looked down at the Domino's Pizza girl, dressed in a cap, shirt, and light half-zipped jacket of Domino blue-black, snug pair of frayed jeans and beaten up cross-trainers.

She was a bit shorter than average, kinda chunky looking, and maybe a bit young for his tastes - maybe eighteen, but just as easily, sixteen or seventeen. But she had a very cute and sexy face with huge green eyes and an aggressively perky pair of great tits. And she was handling that high stack of pizzas with impressive nonchalance.

"We were expecting you, miss...?"

"I'm Krysti-Lynn," she offered with a casual grin. "Where do you want the stuff?"

"Of course you are," he muttered, then shot her a cool, tight smile. "There's a set of double-doors straight ahead through the kitchen. After that, cross the hall and to the left, you'll find the tables of food set up. We've set up another just for the order."

"Gotcha! Um, you think you can give me a hand with this? You guys ordered a lot and I don't want it to get cold."

I didn't! "Of course." The guy called over two more service staff, then stepped to the side to let Krysti pass him. As his eyes traveled down from the playful, bouncing blond pony-tail poking out of the back of her cap, he revised his opinion of her when he saw her amazing ass flexing under her pair of snug jeans. For an ass and rack like hers, he didn't care how much of a porker she was. "Hey! Aren't all those pizzas heavy?"

"Nah! Practice and," Krysti flashed a smirk over a broad shoulder, "I work out."

Puck! Puuucck! The pizzas are heeeeeere! Come tip the hot pizza girl. A good one. She made excellent time!

[Darrik Reynolds]

When the dance floor beckoned, and Moira made her breath-tickling challenge, Darrik's coy smiled deepened a little. Mmm, yes. Maia St. Croix was definitely a package from no matter what angle you looked. Mmmmmm, yes.

Thoughts were flitting through his head, wicked thing. Maia, beneath him, on top, from behind. Any of those were good - actually, all would be excellent. Darrik was pretty sure he'd be having Maia soon enough.

Just a bit of time, and effort. Ushered onto the dance floor, with a sweet 80s inspired tune to set the mood, Maia on his arm, Darrik lead her in the dance. And to be clear, he was not only a tremendously capable dancer - he set an energetic pace to match the music, without the least bit of concern.

Let the hunt begin.

[Maia]

It was a pleasant feeling to dancing with easily the most attractive man on the planet. It would be so utterly easy to find herself lost in his eyes, in the way he held her as they moved perfectly around the dance floor without equal. She matched him step for step without fail, and while his hands moved abit lower than she liked, she didn't edge them up right away, merely letting the momentum of the dance do the work for her.

After the first song, She smiled. "So, you've lead quite the interesting life Darrik. Linked to just about everyone who's anyone, phenomenally successful in every endeavor you undertake, every conquest, just a march of success."

"Does it bore you?"

[Shosuro Miren]

"Perfect timing," Moira said under her breath as Puck caught her arm. It was time to dance. An older tune from the 80s - she thought it was from the 80s? - flared to life. Good luck, Darrik, she thought. Though she knew it was more a skill with him. Though now it was time to get with the program.

She curtsied before the dance began, customary she thought at least. And then the dance began. She let him lead. "Thank you for this opportunity," she said in Greek. She had been brushing up on the language as a pet project with Darrik. Oh the words she learned from him. But that was another time.

"Χaρá μου, óμορφο," he replied easily, letting her take the lead without complaint. The song was the more recent Glee remix, which he appreciated. Sometimes it was quite useful to have an independent intelligence running all your electronics. Unless you wanted to work and they'd just discovered The Sims and had to tell you all about it. Then it was a little annoying.

He smiled at Moira and the amusing stray thoughts waltzing through his mind. "You are enjoying yourself, then?" he asked in English. "I must admit, I am a bit nervous to be 'flying solo' on an event like this for the first time."

Solo?

Turn of phrase, Xo. I just meant without my parents.

Ah, there it was, impressive too, Moira thought. She wasn't quite fluent in the language, but the thought came through. Maybe he could teach her more. Again, neither here nor there. She blushed at the compliment. Switching back to her native tongue also, "You do well for solo," Moira said comfortingly. Not being a trained dancer, she knew enough not to look silly. Puck wasn't bad himself. He was a bit of a jack of trades, she surmised.

"I'm pretty sure you could do well with a partner," she smiled leaving a pregnant pause, "I am talking about business, Hoetsu." She lightly laughed, "mixing a bit of business with pleasure wouldn't hurt one bit though."

"Puck, please. Only my parents call me Hoetsu - usually when I'm in trouble." His grin implied his parents called him by his proper name on a regular basis. "And as the name might imply, I always mix business with pleasure."

At her expected blank look, Puck eloborated, 'kyõ' is Japanese for pleasurable or delightful and 'ζων' is Greek for living. Pleasurable, delightful living. It's the only way to really do business, in my quite unhumble opinion on the matter."

"So," he pulled her in just a little bit closer while they dance, mingling body heat and skin contact, "are you looking to be a partner, Moira?"

This is going better than expected, Moira thought happily as the dancing got closer. "Yes, Puck. I think you would be one of my better partners," her voice teased his thoughts. Might as well sell it. "If it weren't for this little soiree, we could talk about it more. But I don't want to pull such a gracious host away from his guests."

Her voice was leading, She could care less about the dance or the people there. There was something on her mind other than having Puck wrapped up. She just had to get to that. Damn baser instincts. Concentrate. "It involves a big career move, you could say," she said trying to center the conversation.

Puck took the chance and leaned down to kiss her briefly just as the song ended. "Well then, we'll just have to make the time a little later tonight. To discuss....business."

Hard dri-

I'm well aware that you will pester me through the entire evening if I don't get you your hard drives. I'll do it as soon as I can get away for a moment and before any "business", Xo.

As long as you understand your priorities, Xo positively grinned in Puck's mind.

He hugged her close for one last moment before stepping away to see where the others had gone during the dancing. They were a bit more spread out now, as he'd kept Moira to himself for several songs, so that was to be expected. He was about to call over to Darrik to see about gathering a party to venture out and let the holographic winter wonderland dazzle them for a bit, but Xo cut back in with, Puck! Puuucck! The pizzas are heeeeeere! Come tip the hot pizza girl. A good one. She made excellent time!

A flash of annoyance overcame Puck's features for the briefest moment, as quickly hidden as it had appeared. Pizza? Seriously? Do you know how much- No, nevermind. You ordered for Sly. It makes sense.

He kissed Moira on the cheek and apologized, "A moment or two, please, my dear. It seems some additional provisions for the party have arrived and there is a driver to attend to. I will be back as quickly as I can, you have my word."

Jack of all trades indeed, Moira thought as Puck kissed her, or maybe that's just natural from Ecstasy. Her thoughts juggled the business proposal and what she would be wearing when she presented it. Most likely nothing. She nodded quietly with a soft caress of her hand on his cheek when he stepped back and told her of his duties. An unspoken promise. "Go do your thing, Puck."

Xo, you owe me so much for this pizza run right now, you know that?

She’ll still be there in five minutes. And probably tomorrow morning. I finished the eval on Sly, by the way.

….and?

Within acceptable risk parameters.

I’m willing to do it now, if you want, but I can’t be gone all that long without people noticing – and I don’t mean just Moira.

Yay! Okay, take care of the pizza, then maybe pull him aside in one of the empty rooms? Or just close off the room they put all the Domino’s in?

It’s half a plan, then.

Puck made his way to the side banquet room, slipping in as most of the wait staff that had helped unpack the truck made their own ways back into the main serving room or back to the ballroom itself. His eyes lit up at the absolute bombshell of a pizza girl standing near the exit, looking a bit lost and unsure if she should leave or wait for a tip. He sidled up with a mostly-just-friendly smiled.

“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble, bringing all this out,” he offered politely. “I know it’s a fair drive from the city. Would you like to stay for a bit? There’s dancing and even more food, and a whole Christmas village outside to play in, if you’d like.”

He pulled a wallet from his coat pocket as he spoke, thumbing through the bills until he had a handful of hundreds to pass over – more than the cost of the order itself, actually, but he was having a good night. Why shouldn’t everyone else?

“Here,” he passed the ‘tip’ over to the driver and tried his most winning smile, “and I mean it, about sticking around. There’ll be a toast later on and full light show with music and the whole deal. And dancing and socializing until then.” The grin turned flirtatious, but in a friendly, less-than-serious mode (and Kristi was an expert at the different shades of flirting from men at this point) and added, “I wouldn’t mind the chance to get to know you a bit better myself. Your name, at the very least?”

“Mine’s Puck, by the way.” He laughed at himself, “My mother would kick me for such ill manners, not starting with that.”

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Krysti's lips turned down in a faint frown, jade eyes growing hard in irritation as she watched Puck count out bills. But she casually relaxed when she realized he wasn't be a rich playboy taking pity on the help, but just have a great time and being generous. If he had been, she'd have stuffed his tip - okay, maybe only half of it - down his throat. Instead, she had rent in one run, almost.

Krysti ducked her head, flashing him a bright grin under the brim of her cap. "Wow! Thanks, dude," she said in gratitude as she took the impressive tip and wedged it into a pocket of her tight jeans. "This is... this is more than generous. It wasn't a bother. It was my last run and I'm getting double-time for it."

One side of her mobile lips quirked up in a small smirk, and she raised a brow, skeptical that Puck would actually want to know the Pizza girl better or want her attend his fancy corporate function. On the other hand, he was hardly the first guy to hit on her when she was delivering pizza, and he was far less scuzzy and pushy about it. Shit, seems like it works the other way 'round too - guys go for girls in uniform, even cruddy Pizza girl ones.

"I know who you are. I have a TV and see the tabloids at the grocery store," Krysti chortled, a soft, velvety rumble. "I'm Krysti-Lynn Magnussen. Pleased to meetcha, never 'spected I would when I moved out here to New York."

She stuck out a hand and gave Puck's a single, firm pump. Puck couldn't help but be aware of how solid the young woman felt, like she was carved from oak, cover in smooth, plush silk. "Thanks for the offer to stay, it really seems like you folk are having a good time, but I'd feel like such a dork, in my uniform, and I do have stuff I should be do-"

"Not a problem, Krysti-Lynn," Puck cut in smoothly with an impish, but not mocking, smile, "We have an extensive wardrobe here. I'm sure we can find you something so you fit right in."

"Whoa!" Krysti exclaimed, raising her hands to her shoulders, telling Puck to slow down. "No offense, but I never said nothing 'bout fitting in. I don't do dresses or heels or that other fancy stuff. I have another jacket in my truck. I just a shirt."

Puck laughed in high-spirits. "My fault, I didn't mean to presume. That's completely fine, Krysti. I'll get one of my own shirts." He waggled his brows at her in charming pleading. "Does this mean you'll stay? For a bit at least?"

Krysti couldn't help but chuckle. She was a stubborn girl, not that susceptible to the wiles of men (or women), but Puck seemed genuinely eager for her to stay. Weird but nice in a super-rich, super-famous guy, even if she wasn't willing dress up all fancy for it.

"Heh, yeah, I guess this means I'll linger and look around some," Krysti agreed. She had to admit, she was kinda curious about hob-nobbing with these well-off folks at one of their functions. "But, I gotta say, I hope you have a shirt that fits loosely on you. Cause, you ain't much taller than me, and, well..."

Krysti unzipped her Domino's jacket and shrugged out of it, pulled off her cap, then reached up with both hands to retie her blond hair back in a pony-tail. Thus revealing her shirt straining against the breadth of her powerful shoulders and thickly muscled arms that few women, and even few men, could match (at least, without chemical enhancement). Her prominent biceps bunched and flexed with the casual motion of her tying her hair, almost completely distracting from the rise and fall of her full bustline, but not entirely.

Done, she planted her hands on her hips, jacket over her forearm, a wry smirk on her face, her impressively muscled, yet undeniably feminine figure on display. She blatantly wasn't self-conscious about her physique, but she knew many men didn't like it or found it intimidating. "Y'know... boobs."

[Praxis]

"I say you look fine just the way you are. Let everyone else costume themselves. You don't need to change a thing"

It was hard to say how long exactly Praxis had been standing in the doorway, but he was certainly hard to miss in a building full of people dressed in tuxedos and evening wear. This was of course because of the fact that he was wearing dark, fitted jeans and a t-shirt, a blazer seemingly added as an afterthought and yet still worn like he was born to wear such things covered most of his tattoos save a few coming up the back of his neck.

From a physique perspective, the six foot Praxis was pound for pound a match for the new 'pizza girl', tone and definition equally matching mass and power that dwarfed that of most industrial machinery, much less was able to be produced by the human frame.

Some few minutes ago, after he had graciously dismissed the mortal woman that Puck had set him up with, one of his sources let him know that one of the more physically powerful Divines was en route. He hadn't been able to pin down who the Divine parent was, but he had narrowed it down to some of the more physically oriented. Gender didn't really mean anything in a world of shape changers, but he worked with what he had. He had known that she had gone into the civilian workforce shortly after the unfortunate business with her mortal mother but had not yet had the time to pay a visit. As he eventually would attempt to do with all young Divines, he had intended to visit and ensure that they were taken care of to the degree that they would be able to live well, if not extravagantly.

Let the mortals disregard their own kind and leave them in squalor, the Divine were better than that.

At least some of them were.

Praxis wore a warm and inviting smile on his face. He hadn't quite turned it up to the point where he was trying to be full blown Don Juan at all, but it was nothing if not disarming. "If anyone gives you trouble for it, just send them my direction"

[Shosuro Miren]

Puck started, nearly jumping out of his clothes when Praxis spoke up. The rest of the staff had cleared out while he'd been speaking with Kristi-Lynn and he'd thought they were alone. He quirked a brow at Kristi-Lynn, a bit surprised at Praxis' protective generosity, but putting two and six and four together to come up with an even dozen of why.

He mentally shrugged and said, "See, you're making friends already. I'll just pop upstairs and grab a shirt....uh, maybe one of my larger ones," he teased. "It may be a few minutes, though, there's something else I need to do while I'm up there. Shouldn't be more than a tick, though. Praxis, would you mind entertaining the enchanting young lady while I'm away?" Hey, if the son of Ares was going to take an interest in her, who was Puck to argue it? Besides, it looked like she could take care of herself easily enough.

He scooted out of the room, leaving the two alone together with the food. Once upstairs, he grabbed a shirt from his closet, one just amusing enough to pass muster both as not too fancy nor as totally boring for the evening. Then he scooped up the hard drives that had been taken to his rooms earlier, took the private elevator down to the sub basement, and found a couple open slots to add them into the mainframe.

You can do all the software-

Done. Heeeee! Wheeeee!

With supreme willpower, and because Xo had cameras all over the place, Puck managed not to roll his eyes. He did grin and tease, Enjoy your new toys.

Sly now?

Lemme go give Kristi-Lynn her shirt, then we can get him some food and take him....where do you want to do this?

The holodeck?

Do you think he's really ready for that? It's not even finished yet, either.

If he can handle me he can handle us being Trek nerds. With lots of money. And very simplistic force field generators.

Okay....you're putting a lot of trust here. You know what would happen if any government got ahold of most of our personal R&D.

We'd kick their asses back into the Stone Age?

Your optimism in the face of logic is sometimes dizzying, Xo. He'd made it back up to the first floor while they were talking, his entire round-trip having taken less than ten minutes. He slipped back into the side banquet room, shirt in hand, and looked around to see if Kristi-Lynn and Praxis were still there or if they'd moved off to somewhere else more interesting.

Shirt for Kristi-Lynn

[Darrik Reynolds]

It was a pleasant feeling to dancing with easily the most attractive man on the planet. It would be so utterly easy to find herself lost in his eyes, in the way he held her as they moved perfectly around the dance floor without equal. She matched him step for step without fail, and while his hands moved abit lower than she liked, she didn't edge them up right away, merely letting the momentum of the dance do the work for her.

After the first song, She smiled. "So, you've lead quite the interesting life Darrik. Linked to just about everyone who's anyone, phenomenally successful in every endeavor you undertake, every conquest, just a march of success."

"Does it bore you?"

"Bore me?" Darrik smirked, as the music changed, and he still offered Maia his arm for another dance. "Why should it? Granted, I admit there's a certain thrill in being challenged - but that doesn't make me want it. Why complain about the world being your oyster for the taking?"

"And besides. As far as I'm concerned, fame, fortune and sensual excess never gets old." With the switch in dance, his arm sneaked its way around Maia's waist, with his body up closer.

A perfect mouth whispered huskily into Maia's ear. "Why turn down pleasure when it's offered? Much less call it boring? It's fun."

[Karren Gaunt]

Mentally noting Slyvester as a useful if slightly-vanilla future resource, Coraline disengaged from the conversation after it drifted into technical details, offering him a twirl on the dance floor. This wasn't her usual kind of scene, and she didn't dare relax into the beat. Heck, she had the wrong shoes for that... But, it was a good cover to kill some time.

Not *alot* of time as it turned out, the teenager about as acomplished at dancing as she was at electronics, moving about like a beached fish. It was all she could do to not chortle at him even as she moved, lips curling up at the corner at his deer in the headlight's determination to try.

When the song ran out though, she tilted a thumb towards the edge of the dance floor, voice soft and sympathetic, "Hey. I can take care of myself out here. No need to strain yourself trying to keep up out here. We can catch up later."

Slyvester, sweating and pink with embarassment nodded graditude, not quite meeting her eyes, and fled.

Coraline planted her hands on her hips, looking around for a next challenger. One emerged, and she accepted with a laugh and a smile, accepting the offer and turning her solo performance into a duet with the man, 'Paul' he had had introduced himself. Not that that mattered to the Scionette of Eris, the man expendable and no more important than anyone else here, just another mark too visible to tap, a competant body this time to complement her own presentation for a little while.

And so Coraline spun and moved with the music, one eye and one ear on the world around her, blue eyes twinkling until the music changed to something slower and she flashed a parting smile to Paul and excused herself again.

She could use a drink or three, seriously.

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly appreciated the polite benching as he took a seat near the spread, sighing in relief.

"If I would have kept that up... I would have hurt someone. What was I thinking?" He thought, cracking open a Monster and slowly enjoying it. He sort of regretted ruining Cora's time on the dance floor... He... yeah... he knew this was that awkward turtle moment.

He pulls out his smartphone and makes a note to look into dancing classes at some point. Not ballroom... that sort of dancing doesn't work in casual. Was this supposed to be casual dancing?

He runs the cold can on his cheeks hoping any blushing he had would be reduced.And hopes like hell that the night from here on he would... at the very least not look like a fish out of water.

Then he remembered being told by one of the people helping with the party that Pizza was offered in a side room..."I can smell it..." he whispered and made his B-Line.

When he arrived, he was in awe. "Well lookit you... you sexy thing..."

Nothing like someone who knows how to hand out calories.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

"If anyone gives you trouble for it, just send them my direction"

Krysti scrunched up her nose and snorted, folding her arms, biceps bulging to press into the sides of her jutting breasts. "If anyone gives me trouble, I'll take care of it myself."

The blonde had turned around more calmly than Puck had when Praxis had made his presence known, a hunter's keen senses warning her that someone was there. There was a stubborn set to the brawny girl's jaw, but her jade eyes glinted with intrigued curiosity. Praxis could tell the girl was terrible at dissembling, every feeling crossing her face, and he had a clear sense she would be less susceptible to his charm and wit than most.

"Thanks," Krysti said when Puck offered to get her shirt, giving him a nod, but not taking her eyes off Praxis.

As she regarded him silently, a deluge of emotions surged and roiled inside. Fake as it was, she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy watching the DWF, even dreamed about participating in it before. And this was Praxis - one hell of a showman. On the other hand, he was a really outspoken Divine Rights Activist. A scowl tightened her lips. She couldn't think about that without it sounding to her like he was condoning any Divine actions, and that, she didn't agree with. They should be held accountable to their actions too. Her rapist of a father - whoever he was, not that she gave a fuck - had no right to force himself on her mother.

On third hand, Praxis was a gorgeous man, and from what she had seen, she'd wouldn't have to worry about squishing him like a paper cup. And it had been a while since she had had a boyfriend to play with... Stop it! Stop it, Krysti! He's old enough to be your grandfather, or more, and he's probably no better than your father.

She forced the discomfited expression and scowl from her face, giving Praxis an awkward smile as she offered him a hand to shake. "It's a surprise and honour to meet you, Praxis, sir. Another person I never thought I'd meet. I'm Krysti-Lynn." She stepped back after shaking hands, her grin growing a bit more casual as she relaxed. "I just hafta ask, just how fake is the DWF, anyway?"

Praxis only had a few minutes to answer before Puck returned with the shirt. Plain black, she didn't get the reference written on it, but it looked good enough to her. "Thanks, Puck, this'll do perfectly."

Krysti turned her back on the two men and nonchalantly peeled off her blue-and-black Domino's shirt, giving them a good view of her broad, muscular back, tapering down to a near perfect-ass. And giving the just arriving pizza-addict a clear view of her full breasts filling a plain black bra and the small steel barbell piercing her navel, surrounded by exquisitely defined abdominal muscles.

"Well lookit you... you sexy thing..."

"Hey, dude! I... er... um..." A faintly nonplussed look crossed Krysti-Lynn's face when she realized the kinda geeky guy - about her own age, she guessed - meant the pizza, not her. She wasn't sure if she was insulted or not. "That's right. Domino's - we're the pizza delivery experts."

Shrugging, Krysti slipped on the shirt. It was tight across the shoulders and chest, rather loose around the waist. All-in-all it fit like how most of her shirts did. She gave Puck a thumb's up, then balled her shirt, jacket, and cap together. "Perfect. Now I'm officially off the clock. I'm gonna toss this in my truck and get my regular jacket, then got look around for a bit, 'kay? I'm sure you, like have a thousand people you have to talk to Puck." She nodded at Praxis and Sylvester, giving them a little wave. "Later guys, maybe I'll see you around campus, hey? Praxis. Guy"

Krysti-Lynn was hardly insulted not getting the other guy's name, few introduced themselves to the Pizza Girl... unless they were angling for something else. This was already, well, not the weirdest delivery she had made, but probably the best welcome she had gotten during one.

Krysti swaggered back to her truck parked outside the service entrance - nobody had said anything, so she left it parked there - tossed her uniform behind the driver's seat and pulled out her jacket. A beautiful, comfortably worn black, leather jacket that fell to her hips. It was genuine manticore leather - she'd hunted down the beast herself. A clothier the girls at the club knew had fashioned it for her and she loved it.

With a jaunty spring to her step and a sprightly grin on her lips, Krysti-Lynn sauntered off to explore this artificial but still enthralling Winter Wonderland. Her jade green eyes gleamed, daring anyone to question her right to be there.

[Sylvia Normanson]

"Was I thinking out loud, again?" Sly said to the others in the room.

"I was talking about the Pizza... this spread... all this meat!"

He takes a slice and starts his attack.

"Oh, Hi. Name's Sylvester. Sly to Puck and a good friend... and my Aunt and Uncle..."

And to my mum... He thought but then stops himself before he enters pure funk mode. No one loves a buzzkill. "Heh... campus... sort of feels like school right now...." He mused before continuing his meal. Someone knew his favorite toppings.

[Shosuro Miren]

Puck could feel Sly's slippery slide into a somber mood and stepped in. "Hey, actually, Sly, I have a friend that would like to meet you. Why don't we pack some of this up and head over to where he is?"

Sly gave a mouth-full-pizza reply that Puck assumed was a yes and the two loaded up some handy trays with slices of pizza, bits of the other sundries that were ordered, and carefully cradles several 4-packs Monster over the free parts of their arms. "Okay, this way...."

Ready, Xo?

Heeee!

He led them through a back hall, past some staff that was learning not to be surprised at anything Puck did during an event he was hosting, and into a service elevator that had no button to open it. It swooshed open in electronic efficiency once Puck came close enough. The ride down was a short one - Sly could only finish off his piece of pizza and give Puck a curious look while they descended; once they exited into a an ultra-modern Platinum LEED Certified hallway (which mostly meant that suddenly felt like they were walking down a sunlight hallway at noon), Puck just shook his head as Sly started to ask exactly where they were going. "Just trust me. Best he introduces himself and then we can answer questions."

Two more hallways and they entered a large empty room. The walls were pocked with odd holes at even intervals and the sound echoed as they made their way inside. If there was someone there, they were hiding in the shadows at the corners of the room. Puck turned a little too quickly to face Sly and his tray began to slide off his arms; a man appeared at his side, and a simple wooden table behind him.

"Careful!" the newcomer exclaimed as he grabbed the tray and deftly slid it on to the table. He also disarmed Puck of his 4-packs, then turned to Sly. "Here, would you like some help with that?"

The materialized man, dressed in a Halo 4 t-shirt and bluejeans, smiled nervously at Sly and stepped towards him, hands out to help him unload his own tray onto the similarly materialized table. "Um, hello. Sorry, this my first time meeting someone other than Puck. I mean, really meeting, not just over the 'net."

"Smooth, Xo," Puck teased, but had that same nervous grin as this 'Xo', watching for Sly's reaction. "Like velvet."

Xotiko Yosei

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly grinned. "So you like... live here? Thought I had a pretty interesting home... Although it seems rather barren in here."

"Pizza?" Sly asks, pointing to his tray. One of Sly's notorious kindnesses is to offer one of his own slices of pizza... odd, but semi effective. "And soooo nice meeting you, by the way, Xo. That last session we had yesterday was a ... thing of beauty." He said with a grin.

"Didn't think you kept gamer nerds as your only company, Puck. Is he like us?" Sly said with a playful smile. "You probably get bored hearing Xo talk about level strats and what the best sensitivity is to use on a controller."

[Shosuro Miren]

Puck gave Sly a bemused grin and shook his head, motioning for Xo to take the floor and explain. Xo unburdened Sly of his tray, setting it next to Puck's on the table. "Uh, Puck taught me how to play. He's pretty good, but he likes figuring out how to mod things more than playing co-op."

The AI glanced over at Puck for help, but the human just shrugged and leaned against the table. "I'd just say it, Xo. He's not one to pick up on subtleties. Think of it as a compliment to how far you've come with the projectors."

Xo nodded. "Thank you for the offer, Sly, but the thing is, I can't have a piece of pizza. Not with this interface at least, and I can't taste things anyways. I mean, I can tell you the composition of the slice and give you an opinon on how well it was made - and the pizza girl really was cute - but I can't eat it. And I don't use a controller, I just interface with the software directly. I'm...I'm," Everything had come out in a rush before and now he was faltering. Suddenly he blinked out of sight, then slowly flickered back in, keeping his framerate slow enough for Sly to really see the illusion for what it was, even when he was back at full holographic power. "I'm not human. I'm...more than a computer. A person, but electronic. An emergent sentient being created from programming code, computer hardware, and some - as of today, at least - unique quirk of existence."

The cat was truly out of the bag now and both waited again, one with baited breath and the other nervous logic chains, to see what Sly would do.

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly pulls out his Medical Wand and looked him over... wandering around the holographic form of Xo with one part amazement and one part inventor's curiosity. "Who am I kidding, the projectors are obvious... I wouldn't find a pulse if I tried."

"Well, unless this is the most elaborate punking I have ever experienced... What's the projection medium? The type of processors being used I mean this level of quality would need a supercomputer to achieve! I mean those trees and lights and the cute christmas display... well done by the way... was a decent use of holographic technology but this..." He said like an exited schoolboy...

He places his hand on the hologram, seeing his hand stop on the shoulder... "Okay... hardlight... But I... this is... Ohhh this is genius! And so are you, Xo." Sly said, smiling. "My first meeting with a sentient program! Outstanding! Do you prefer male or female forms and do you have a preferred gender assignment?"

[Shosuro Miren]

The projection actually blushed. "Th-thanks, Sly. And I'm a guy." He shrugged, "I mean, I'm not male, but I'm a guy. However that works. We still don't know what tripped me over from a complex logic machine into a person, but whatever happened, I came out as identifying as a man."

"Much of the complex down here is actually devoted to Xo's mainframe, including a new couple of solid-state hard drives just put in tonight," Puck added while he snagged a one of the subs he'd brought down for himself. It looked almost comical: dressed and coifed so upscale, but eating a Domino's hot sub.

Xo eyed the Medical Wand curiously, "What's that? It looks...interesting." He reached up and ran his fingertips along the device, senses other than nerve endings picking over the particulars of it with lightening-fast intensity. "And the holograms, yeah, that's me. Once we got the projectors set up...well, they're all over the land now and it's not that hard once I got the hang of it. I'm glad you enjoy it. I know it's not a night of Halo or inventing things, but we wanted it to be fun, for everyone."

Plush chairs appeared around the table, along with a large section of padded carpeting and a few stylish lamps to be a recognizable light source. They were in a wall-less dining room now, seated comfortably and talking as if they'd been friends like this for years.

[Praxis]

"If anyone gives me trouble, I'll take care of it myself."

The girl was definitely a child of one of the more impetuous gods. Wasn't Ares, Praxis had been in the know for every one of Ares' children that had been born in the past century and a half. Otherwise, the war god of impulsive violence would have been the first guess. More than likely wasn't Zeus, as his relationship with the God of Thunder was such that he would typically find out such things. Of course it wasn't like Zeus wasn't the type to play his cards close to the chest.

Poseidon maybe? The Horse Lord was one of the more physically powerful gods and was by definition temperamental. That said, the standoffish sort of DIY mindset certainly seemed in character for Hades. It was an interesting mystery. Either way, this wasn't going to be an exercise in civil discourse.

"I don't doubt that you could put any trouble that could find you very much in their place, I'm just offering the name recognition. You are of course free to do whatever you like"

"It's a surprise and honour to meet you, Praxis, sir. Another person I never thought I'd meet. I'm Krysti-Lynn."

She stepped back after shaking hands, her grin growing a bit more casual as she relaxed.

"I just hafta ask, just how fake is the DWF, anyway?"

"Please, no sir. Good to meet you as well. As far as the 'legitimacy' of DWF is concerned, there are some things that are scripted, I won't lie. Not as many as you would think though. Frankly most of the pulling blows and staged spots are designed to keep what would be fatal or crippling actions even for one of the divine from ending their career or their life."

After a short interaction with some of the others in the area, Praxis chose to accompany Krysti on her wander through the halls. He noticed in her general inability to disguise her emotions or reactions, that she was essentially daring someone to tell her that she couldn't go where she wanted to.

Not Ares. Mostly certain.

After a couple minutes of wandering, they had found themselves relatively distant from most other people. Not completely separate from the crowds, but far enough to have some modicum of privacy.

"So, Krysti-Lynn. Do you prefer Krysti or Krysti-Lynn?"

He gave her time to answer before continuing.

"I couldn't help but notice the conflicted look on your face when we met back there. If I can ask, what was it about? I would ask if we had met in the past and if I had made some sort of bad impression but I tend to remember most faces."

He walked quietly on, and paused as the situation demanded. At this time the demeanor had shifted slightly. Here was not Praxis, the entertainment icon and spokesman for the Divine. Here was Kal Eason, Calixtus, son of Ares, and possessed of genuine concern for the well being of those like him.

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly smiled, taking a seat. "Actually it's one of two gadgets I got. First is my medical wand." He holds it up for both Xo and Puck to see. "I can use it to knit together wounds, fix broken bones, repair burns... it's pretty cool."

He pulls out the other wand he had in a second pocket. "The other is my Electro-Wave controller. It controls electromagnetic force. It can also detect life-signs as well."

He sets it and the other wand on the table. "Right now the EWC I use as a defensive tool. The Electromagnetic pulse I can fire from it packs a bit of a whallop."

What was useful was the electromag-wand glowed blue on it's lights, and the medical glowed green. "To be honest..." He leans back in his seat. "...I'm not shocked or anything I'm talking to a AI."

"In fact, Xo, I am very much comfortable with machines." He says with his mind to Xo.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

"Krysti's fine," she said with distractedly with a wave of her hand. Her mouth pulled back in a grimace, the tip of her tongue poking between her lips, at the taste of the hors d'oeuvres she had just finished. Yuck! Goat cheese tastes like ass. "And no, we've never met."

In a mercurial change of mood, her previously sassy and confident demeanor was gone. She shot Praxis a hooded look from the corner of her eye as she wiped her hands clean of fancy-rich-people food crumbs, then sighed as she leaned against a floor-to-ceiling window. There was a melancholy set to her shoulders as she looked out at the snow-covered village that appeared as if had been pulled right out of a Christmas card. It reminded her of home. It still hurt. There were the girls at the club - they were like aunts, of a sort, or maybe older sisters - but with the loss of her mother, she had lost half her entire family. There was only her left.

"It doesn't have anything to do with you, Praxis. Not really. I don't want to get into it." Her cute face set into an obstinate frown that Praxis wasn't sure he could pry open with a prybar and godly strength, yet she turned to look up at him, her eyes hard and bright as the purest jade.

"You do all that Divine Rights stuff, right? How far do you think those rights should go?" She sounded very young at that moment, the hurt obvious in her voice, along with an old and lingering fury. it was clear she heard it too and hated it. "And how do you make a god pay when he's stepped over the fucking line? When he claimed a right that wasn't his?"

[Maia]

"When everything's easy, it makes the success mean less." She smiled as they danced. It would be oh so easy... but that's not what she wanted really. "As much fun as would be had, that's not my way."

She smiled her own voice dropping to a near husky purr. "It most certainly wouldn't be boring, but sometimes, people just aren't ready." She looked into his eyes, and there seemed to be a brief flash of lightning in her own, not in a threatening manner, but more an excited one. "Yet."

She hoped he'd take the hint, and respect her wishes, knowing from reputation, he could probably have her regardless if he truly desired her. Still in a way this was a test for them both, her resolve, his character. She hadn't intended it that way, or even to be in this situation, but this was the hand the fates dealt them both.

[Praxis]

"You do all the Divine Rights stuff, right? How far do you think those rights should go? And how do you make a god pay when he's stepped over the fucking line? When he claimed a right that wasn't his?"

Ah, this was at the center of it. Praxis realized suddenly what the concern was. She had likely seen bits and pieces of his more historic public maneuvering and wasn't sure what to make of it. Being raised by mortals who no doubt didn't quite get what he was talking about probably didn't help the case.

Praxis paused for a time, watching the hurt and anger boil up inside Krysti as she spoke and asked her questions. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she had been hurt, possibly even before her heritage manifested. Either that or she had a more tragic origin story than the average Divine, and that is saying something.

Praxis would be slow and thoughtful as he answered her questions, this was the most important part, can't go scaring off the new Divines with the full weight of their legacy. Most new people just couldn't handle it. Here went nothing...

"The rights that I advocate for are tricky, to tell you the truth. And as odd as it sounds, they go as far as they have to. I know that sounds like a cop-out and a non answer, but it is accurate. The complications of our condition make it so there are certain mortal rules and mores of mortal that simply do not apply to us anymore."

He paused and looked around until he spotted Darrik dancing with his lovely new friend.

"An example. Those two over there, the beautiful people dancing and whispering sweet nothings to each other. They are, at furthest, cousins. And yet, they share a bond that no mortal can understand, similarities that no other being has, and an ability to be themselves around each other that simply cannot be matched by mortal companionship."

"Mortal society would condemn their relationship based on familial ties. The majority of mortals would sanction their companionship and call it wrong and improper. I call the fact that they would be vilified for loving each other wrong and improper."

Praxis looked back to Krysti, who was visibly pondering and attempting to work out her conflicts.

"How would you feel, Krysti, if you were told that at no point in your unknowably long life would you ever be able to have a lover who you would not have to hold yourself back around out of fear of breaking them? That to a degree is what Divines who find each other have to go through. That is what I fight against."

Praxis held the moment for a time, giving all of this time to soak in.

[Aphrodite Pandemos]

Moira felt a bit parched after that. Sure, she could go very long times without needing to drink, a gift from her father's constitution, but she did enjoy the taste and something wet on her throat.Now all she needed to do was find the wet bar. Not that hard to do. A pretty young girl with dark skin called out like a beacon in the sea of lighter faces. Of course she was beautiful. Moira had not seen anyone below a seven that night.

"I'll have an spiced eggnog please," she smiled to the bartender, "two please." After the bartender was done, she walked over to Cora.and offered her one of the eggnogs. "Hi, how are you this evening?"

[Karren Gaunt]

"Fine. Thanks for asking," Coraline answered after a pause to run her eyes up and Moira, deciding to accept the drink and give up picking out her own for the moment, an evaluating smile on her lips. One of her host's aparent circle of confidants. Tread carefully and try to not end up *too* heads over heels for her. Good as she was with her own emotioncrafting, she was far from immune to it.

She took a sip of the stuff. Not bad.

"This is a very nice party, after all. I'm Coraline Boehm, although you can call me 'trouble', too," she continued, allowing herself a small honesty in insurance against the chance this one was a better judge of character than Slyvester, "So what brings you over here from your glittering friends, Ms. Nameless?"

[Aphrodite Pandemos]

"Oh, apologies, forgive me this indiscretion," she said with a curtsy, "I'm Moira Eason." Unlike her father, her fame wasn't much as known. Model and small time actress could only get you so far name wise. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Trouble, huh, Moira thought with a smile as she took a drink, I wonder what you can do. She analyzed Cora descreetly as they talked. Puck surrounds himself with an awfully beautiful crowd. I wouldn't be surpised if they all were Divine. If only I didn't have business tonight I'd see what this one was up to later on.

"Well, everyone sort of scattered after the dancing ended," she chuckled, "having things to do people to see. Me, I'm just a friend of a guest." She pointed to Darrik, "him, over there." Darrik was busy trying to net his prey, so she wasn't going to wave him over. "Darrik and I go way back. 'Puck', on the other hand, I have the honor of meeting tonight." She nodded and took another drink. "How about you," she asked. "Your divine radiance shows through,"she said with a warm compliment, "How did you get here... Well, besides the obvious."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

"How would you feel, Krysti, if you were told that at no point in your unknowably long life would you ever be able to have a lover who you would not have to hold yourself back around out of fear of breaking them? That to a degree is what Divines who find each other have to go through. That is what I fight against."

"If I loved him, I wouldn't mind and it wouldn't matter," Krysti muttered softly, her lips twisted crookedly as she glanced at the dancing pair Praxis had nodded at. They didn't look like cousins to her.

The woman was very tall and slender, with legs up to the ceiling, nearly as beautiful as a nymph. The guy, hells, it was Darrik Reynolds! Despite herself, she felt herself stiffen as a pang of arousal flashed through her. He probably hadn't even been born, just congealed into existence on the set of a porn movie. Yowza! What kind of corporate party is this? With All these Divine-blooded here too.

If they were cousins or whatever, well... it was kind of icky to her, but as long as they were consenting... meh, she didn't care much. Guess Praxis knows or at least suspects I'm of Divine descent too. I wonder if he knows or can find out who my father is... Not that I care.

Krysti peeled her eyes of the sensual son of Aphrodite, leaning back against the window, one hand on a cocked hip as she looked up at Praxis. A dimple bloomed in her cheek as she gave him a tight, complicated look that said she understood what he was saying, yet that he hadn't really answered what she meant by her questions.

"That isn't what I meant. What.. what about a Godblood who kills a person, just because he felt insulted, or was irritated, or even just by accident? What if he sees a woman and decides he wants her and won't take no for an answer?"

She tried to be casual in alluding to her real meaning, but Praxis could see the brawny and busty blonde tense up again, corded muscle rippling in her thick forearms. She shifted her feet and a barely detectable tremor vibrated through the ground. She tried to downplay her interest, but hearing Praxis' answer was really important to her.

"And through trickery or force, he takes her against her will." Her green eyes glistened, blazing with barely suppressed fury. Praxis may have been a media icon and she just a nobody, but that wouldn't curtail her tongue. "What about her rights? Do you condone any action a Divine decides to take against a.. a mortal?"

Her mother had never said who her father was, had never mentioned the details of how she was conceived, other than saying Krysti was the only good thing to come about through a bad time. But Krysti had pieced some things together. Some of her mother's fellow dancers had said things when they though she couldn't hear. And she never really slept much - she had heard her mom mutter in her sleep when having nightmares.

She had never met her father, didn't even know who he was, but she knew she hated him, for raping her mother. And due to her untimely death, her mother would never know just how grateful she was, how blessed she felt, that her mortal mother had been unrestrained in her love for her demigod daughter despite the ugly circumstances giving rise to her conception.

[Darrik Reynolds]

"Yet." Darrik repeated. Apparently, tonight would not be such a night. A shame, though there was the consolation that pleasures with Maia were undoubtedly possible in the future. And her words were definitive enough.

Yes, Darrik could nip and wear away her doubts given time and pressing effort, but it seemed a bit dubious of nature. And there were always plenty more fish in the sea, as the cliche went. He shrugged and his hands moved up a little. "Your viewpoint, I suppose. Can't say I agree, but c'est la vie."

[Maia]

"Thank you Darrik." She smiled, as the song continued, and their dancing didn't go unnoticed. "I knew you were a gentleman who'd respect a woman's wishes." She leaned into him. "Raises my opinion of you a good bit higher than it already was."

[Karren Gaunt]

"Oh, apologies, forgive me this indiscretion," she said with a curtsy, "I'm Moira Eason." Unlike her father, her fame wasn't much as known. Model and small time actress could only get you so far name wise. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Trouble, huh, Moira thought with a smile as she took a drink, I wonder what you can do. She analyzed Cora descreetly as they talked. Puck surrounds himself with an awfully beautiful crowd. I wouldn't be surpised if they all were Divine. If only I didn't have business tonight I'd see what this one was up to later on.

"Well, everyone sort of scattered after the dancing ended," she chuckled, "having things to do people to see. Me, I'm just a friend of a guest." She pointed to Darrik, "him, over there." Darrik was busy trying to net his prey, so she wasn't going to wave him over. "Darrik and I go way back. 'Puck', on the other hand, I have the honor of meeting tonight." She nodded and took another drink. "How about you," she asked. "Your divine radiance shows through,"she said with a warm compliment, "How did you get here... Well, besides the obvious."

"Me? Divine? Was it that obvious?" rebounded the Scionette of Eris in mock surprise, laughing as she swirled her drink in her free hand before becoming abruptly more serious, "I just have a friend of a friend of a friend who aparently knows Mr. Ryuke well enough to get me an invite. Told me showing up would do me some good, and that hasn't proved a lie yet so far."

She knocked back a good gulp of the eggnog, covering a pausing her thoughts with a swallow, "I normally try not to get involved in the affairs of the Gods and the God-Blooded. It makes an already unpredictable existence even more unpredictable. A little bit of chaos is fun. Too much? Then I have to clean up other's people's messes just to lay my head down at night, and who wants that?"

[Praxis]

Praxis could see plainly that Krysti was incredibly upset about something in her past. If he had to guess, he would say that her coming to be wasn't exactly a warm and delightful circumstance. It was an unfortunate reality among the Divine that their legacy was not one of social niceties but of decadence and those who can having their way with those who can't help it.

It was the way of things when dealing with gods, but not everyone could understand that. Particularly when dealing with those who were, at least at the moment, only semi divine and had to straddle the line between mortal and immortal.

"I can see that this is a very personal topic for you. I cannot condone the actions that you have described just now. We are not mortal, and the similarities between our kind and humankind grow less significant daily. That said, we still live among them and speaking as a child of Ares, quite possibly the most headstrong, brutal, and might-makes-right oriented of the gods, I can say with some authority that the time of just being able to take whatever you want because you can, whether it is a life or worse, is long gone."

"My primary goal is to see that the rights and complexities of our kind are given as much consideration and seen with as much validity as that of the mortals. I am not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that we be immune to the repercussions of actions that do harm, whether against a mortal or one of our own."

Praxis reached out and put a hand capable of crumpling a subway train like so much paper on her shoulder gently, feeling her muscles ripple with barely contained rage at the things going through her head. At this point Praxis foresaw her doing one of two things. The first possibility was that the hand on her shoulder and the friendly presence was going to calm her down to the point that she wasn't causing miniature earthquakes with her foot. The second of course being that she was going to lash out at him. If unexpected, that would likely be quite damaging, but this close, he was likely one of the few people within a several mile radius that could take such a blow and shrug it off.

Either way, there was a young and emotionally boiling godling child standing in front of him and the best thing for her would be someone nearby who knew exactly was going through. After all, he had been the child of violence, so he knew a few things about the subject.

[Aphrodite Pandemos]

"So we're both here on second hand relations," Moira said with an infectious laugh as Cora drank her eggnog. She finished hers and set the glass down. "Oh, chaos isn't all that bad if you know how to control it. Take that woman over there."

One of the servants, keeping out of sight, stood by an entrance. Moira beckoned her with a come hither finger. The woman seemed hypnotized to do what she said. "M'lady," Moira said gently as the helpless woman was captivated by her, "You seem to be doing some fine work tonight. But you need some free time. Tell you what. I hear that young gentleman over there," Moira motioned over to one of the corner dwelling divines. "Well he needs some special service. I bet if you asked him real nicely you could get him he'd even take you home. You want that. Go give it a try. Don't take no for an answer."

The woman went to do as she was told. Moira winked to Cora, "See, harmless Chaos. Nothing bad can come of this. And if it does it's easy to clean up."

[Shosuro Miren]

How...? When Xo blinks in surprise, it's not the eyes on his avatar that blink - the entire projection freezes up as he tries to figure out what just happened. Puck, he's talking to me!

Puck did blink with just his eyelids. I rather thought that was the point...?

No, like how we talk, only....he doesn't have an implant...one of the wands, maybe....

Xo, you're muttering. In my head. While he have a guest. Puck sighed as his creation continued to stay sidetracked over Sly's manifested ability and smiled as his friend. "Sorry about this, but I think you startled Xo. You're talking to him..." he arched a brow at Sly and prompted, "without talking? He's wondering if one of your wands allows you to do this."

He said nothing of his own apparent ability to communicate silently with the AI. Turnabout was fair play and Sly could ask - once he'd answered Puck's question so Xo could stop the computer equivalent of freaking out.

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly blinked. "No I... I've been able to do this for a while... It really started going after mum died, but I think I've used it a few times after puberty kicked in."

He sighed. "I'm sorry to have scared anyone, particularly you, Xo."

Sly starts to have another slice. "If anything, that was just a outward broadcast. I can't really crack programs or anything with this talent. Only speak to and understand machines... Unless that is more of a lack of practice than actual limits on my power..."

"...not that I want to hack the mind and soul of one of my favorite gaming partners."

[Shosuro Miren]

Xo's avatar did blink this time, and then he smiled, all youthful exuberance. "Cool! Can I send to you? I mean, can you pick up on transmissions? And sorry about that. Not much startles me, so I guess I'm not all that good at dealing with it. Y'know, like Puck resisting temptation."

"Hey!" Puck flicked a bit of his sandwich at Xo in protest; the gooey chunk of bread and meat passed through Xo and the chair he was sitting on. The AI grabbed a napkin from the table, reached through the chair to pick up the offending bit of food, and materialized a convenient trash can to use for the moment, then sat back down with a nonplussed look.

"See what I mean? No impulse control. Honestly." He tried to hold the serious expression, but eventually broke down into a chuckle.

Puck shook his head and then shrugged. "It's true." He waited a heartbeat, then gently pushed, "So, is that something you inherited from from your father?"

He knew a bit about Sly's mother, more than enough to know she was just a woman or a deity very dedicated to living a mortal life, but Sly never spoke of his father, so he was taking a chance. He'd suspected that Sly might be mortal+ while they were working on the Anywhere-Yacht, but his friend hadn't seemed to want to talk about and Puck hadn't seen a reason to push it. Telepathically communicating Puck's AI "child" was a line passed, though. Xo's observations aside, Puck did have a care for those he considered his. It wasn't a hard push on the matter, but it was a push.

[Sylvia Normanson]

"He... spilled the beans after my mum died. Played this whole charade he was dead and all just to keep out of my life... then NOW he gets interested now that my Mother's dead. Bah... said she loved her dearly... Really?"

He sighed. "Then he claims he's Hephaestus... Vulcan himself, Puck! It's crazy. I mean... I just don't know what to believe anymore other than what's in front of me."

"Then again, you're a piece of work, Puck... I mean this tech? This AI... You're like what... forty years... sixty years ahead the curve? You have Kurzweil's singularity right here staring at us."

He started getting exhilirated. "Wow... Wouldn't it be funny if you had some divine blood in ya? Then again let me guess, if you did they dumped you to the curb too."

[Shosuro Miren]

Puck shrugged elegantly. "I rather doubt it. No offense, Xo, but I think he's more just a quirk of something than anything I did. We've tried over and over to make it happen again, but it just hasn't. Xo's more special himself than I am."

There was a hitch in Puck's tone, the longing any orphan or adopted child has when they dream of who their real parents are as a child. He'd given up years ago thinking they were anything more than a pair of people, or maybe just a woman, that hadn't wanted him. "I'm pretty hot, I know-" Xo rolled his eyes, but Puck kept going, "but that's as much the clothes and hundred dollar manicures as anything else. I can't do anything like...that..." He motioned towards Sly's head, indicating his friend's newly shown connection to machinery. "I can talk to Xo, but that's an implant he designed. He's the reason this place is so advanced-"

"Puck." Xo's tone was firm and Sly could tell this was a well-trod conversation. "I can do things faster, but you're the genius. I'm just good programming. And don't interrupt me. The probability that you're Divine is small, but it is for anyone. I can run the numbers again, but you know we always just hit a wall of probability. Your mother could be any number of people, and if she doesn't have an electronic file on her somewhere, I can't even put her in the pool of possibilities. The real question, the one we always dance around, is: does it matter? You have parents that raised you, that love you even if they're annoyed or a bit embarrassed by you right now." Xo's hologram seemed to pause and take a breath in, "Did you know that your father is still putting money in your trust? Every month. More, since your fight." Another heartbeat pause, "He's worried about you, and that means he loves you as much as any biological father could. And your mother is here, tonight. She's still outside, just walking around and marveling at everything you've done."

Puck swallowed, looking a bit pale and shocked. "I...I didn't know that," he said softly. He looked somber now, an unaccustomed look for the young billionaire.

Xo let the heavy atmosphere sit for a moment, then clapped his hands together and declared, "No more maudlining. And yes, I just made up a word. It's English. Deal. Tonight is a party and it's high time the two of you get back to it. Sly, you need to get laid. That's official Puck prognosis. And then we'll play celebratory Halo 4 tomorrow and beat the pants off of anyone that challenges us. Puck, go upstairs. Talk to your mother. Entertain your guests. Imagine what we'll wow the world with through Kyo Zon. Have fun."

And I'll be here the whole time. You're never alone anymore, remember that.

"Oh," he held up a hand and turned back to Sly and grinned, "and we need to finish the Anywhere-Yacht so she and the three of us can got explore the ocean floor somewhere interesting. If we discover a new species, we get to name it!"

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly grinned. "Looking foreward to that. Also, I did bring a raincoat for later..." He said, pointing to his pocket. Referring to a condom in the wallet... "

"But if someone shows up that I hope does... I think it'll be me and her if it goes that far."

He blushed.

[Shosuro Miren]

Puck nearly choked at the 'raincoat' reference, but his head whipped up from coughing when Sly intimated that he had his eye on a woman. "Oh?"

Xo shooed both of them towards the door, "Talk about it in the elevator. You both have a part to attend to."

Once they were ensconced in the moving room, Puck pressed again. "So, how did you two meet? What does she look like? Is she like us? I mean, into computers and stuff." Almost as an afterthought he added, "What's her name?"