[IC] Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: December 24th, 2020 - 5:10 P.M.

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Raynor Blake

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: Jack of All Trades (Unarmed Combat)

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Raynor smirked slightly for a moment, taking in Sparky's visage. He rather appreciated that outfit on her, but the smile on his face faded as she took the rum away from him. Yule was supposed to be a time of celebration, but it also served to remind him of the loss of his parents and home planet. He had been on Earth long enough to watch a few movies and he always related to Superman - easily the best person on the planet, but all alone without a family. "I think I'm entitled, Sparks," Raynor replied. He reached into the red sack beside him and pulled out another thing of rum, opening up the bottle and drinking straight from it. Thanks to his Asgardian physiology, it would take forever for any of this to get him inebriated.

He spotted Tempest enter the Common Room, noting that whereas Tinley had gone for a sophisticated take on Christmas, Tempest had gone for something more traditional. He raised a slight eyebrow, amused with the color she had dyed her hair. "I think she's copying Romanoff's look," he mused to Sparky, not wanting to get up off of the couch where he had plopped himself down. Raynor would drink for now and then once he had finally gotten intoxicated, he would drink and try to be festive as a way to honor his parents' memory. Cass' little laugh didn't escape his attention and Raynor raised his middle finger towards her. "Happy Yule, Reed!" he shouted.

It was only moments later that Harry came over and antagonized Raynor over the white monstrosity that was attached to his face. He set down his bottle of rum on the couch, before standing to his full height and he punched Harry across the face, sending the engineer stumbling backwards. "How's the jaw - stinging yet?"

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: Bonnie's Room -> the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Bonnie couldn't help but feel flustered as there was a knock at her door, followed by Flynn's voice. She hadn't felt this way since she had been in the academy and James had asked her to the Agents' Ball. Quickly looking in the mirror, she bit her lip slightly and took off the white cardigan, throwing it on the bed and exposing her shoulders. Clothing was supposed to communicate a message about your intentions... and Bonnie did really like Flynn, but more importantly she wanted to be more open with him. Her gift and purse in hand, she forced herself to smile in the mirror before she dashed on over to the door and opened it.

"Hey," she smiled. "You clean up nicely - I didn't know you even owned slacks," Bonnie teased. She was really glad Flynn had agreed to go to this party. While not everyone in the Secret Warriors celebrated Christmas, it definitely was the dominant holiday at this event regardless of what they called it. The party was on Christmas Eve, after all. She stepped outside of her room and closed the door behind her, setting her gift down on the ground for a moment as she grabbed her keys from her purse and locked up. "Shall we then?"

Once she got the nod from Flynn, Bonnie walked with him to the Common Room. It wasn't as intimate as the one they had at the Playground in Washington D.C., but their team was much more high profile now at S.H.I.E.L.D. - Tinley was even within Director Hill's Inner Circle after all. Stepping into the room, Bonnie's breath was taken away by all of the decorations. "Tinley, this place looks magical..." she complimented, before turning her gaze just in time to see Raynor deck Harry across the face. Wincing slightly, Bonnie tensed up slightly. "Really? Already with the drunken fighting? It's not even six yet!"

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Dominika Novikova

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Location: Outside the Hub -> the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Novikova smirked slightly, adjusting her rainbow fur jacket. Her entire color scheme was inspired by shades of pale blue that day, with the exception of the ruby red tinted glasses that she was forced to wear. The rainbow in the fur helped to tie it all together, one of the reasons why she had gone for that particular piece. "Deal, we can do it in one of the chemistry labs," Novikova agreed. That was definitely one way to get over all the angsty feelings of being back at S.H.I.E.L.D. after she was terminated.

"Want to make a bet? I bet that Cass will make it snow within the hour - loser has to chug from a bottle of vodka," Novikova suggested. It wasn't too long before they were inside the facility, Maria's badge giving them access, and they entered the Common Room. Novikova uneasily looked around, instantly not wanting to really be there. The entire shift to another reality had placed her back at S.H.I.E.L.D. with Maria, meaning that it must have been one of her deepest wishes - and everyone here who had experienced Wanda Maximoff's House of M must have figured that out.

Roman was then the last one to enter the room, carrying what suspiciously looked like a small dog carrier with a bow on top. The mystery was only furthered by the fact that the present was barking as he placed it underneath the Christmas tree. He then looked around the room awkwardly, not really sure what to do or where to go, before he went and stood in a corner by himself.

[BlueSky44]

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Theresa Sparks

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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"Ray, you really shouldn't be drinking so much... Yes, I know it'll take you a while to actually get drunk, but still... You shouldn't constantly be trying to get drunk or just sit there drinking the entire time..." Sparky said, shaking her head slightly. She didn't think that it was a good idea for him to just sit there acting drinking. It bugged her slightly, and she wasn't too sure if something else was going on, not really anyway. Was it really just because he was in a Santa costume or something?

She let out a sigh, when she heard Harry come over and start making a comment about the costume. The instant she heard his words, she knew that it was a mistake. Watching Raynor get up next to her and go and punch Harry in the face. Sure, she knew deep down that he probably deserved that, considering the fact that he had kind of antagonized Raynor, but she knew that it wasn't the best thing ever, and she stood up next to him, putting a hand on Raynor's shoulder. "Ray, calm down please..."

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Frederick Flynn

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Location:Bonnie's Room -> The Common Area - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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"Wow, so nice to me aren't you Bonnie?" Flynn said, giving her a bit of a smile. He had his own gift for the secret Santa in his hand. Sure, Christmas was something he didn't celebrate, but he might as well go along with it over all, since otherwise there would likely be one person who didn't end up with something. "Let's get going," he said to her, waiting for her to lock up the door to her room. Once she was ready to go, he walked with her to the Common Area.

Walking into the room, he looked around, seeing that just about everyone else was there for the most part, aside from maybe a few stragglers. Looking over, he managed to hold back the laughter at seeing Raynor in a Santa suit, especially considering it appeared that Harry already had made a comment. Which then resulted in him getting a punch in the face. It looked like Sparks was trying to calm the situation down though. "...Is it really that surprising that Raynor would be the one to throw the first punch? Let's be honest here." he said to Bonnie.

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Fransisco
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra looked over and smiled seeing Niah coming into the room and gave her a wave and then walked over towards her and gave Niah a friendly hug. "How are you doing Niah?" Cass asked her, before going over and setting her secret santa's present down under the tree, looking over at Raynor. Rolling her eyes towards him when he gave her the finger she really didn't see what Sparks liked in him but it was really her choice. When she heard Bonnie's voice she waved over towards her friend and saw Flynn was next to her as well, happy to see she was dating again.

As she looked over to the corner of the room as Roman came in with what sounded like a dog in a crate for whoever he was giving it to would certainly be interesting. And then Oliver coming in one of the newest members of the team who she really hadn't had the time to get to know yet. "It's nice to meet you." Cassandra said extending a hand towards Oliver, when she heard a yelp in pain as Raynor ended up punching Harry wincing slightly.

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Maria Smith

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Maria smirked towards Novikova gently holding her girlfriend's hand. "Sounds good to me then we can play doctor in there then." Maria teased playfully as she entered the Hub building showing her SHIELD ID which allowed the two of them in. She walked down the hallway and then entered the commons area where most of the team was at right now. Though she pretty much saw them every day at this point, though she didn't live on base like the others did which was also a good change as well. "Sounds like a good bet to me then." Maria said to Novikova as she stood next to Novi eyeing everyone else in the room.

Maria winced slightly when she watched Raynor punching Harry across the face, she wasn't sure what made him do it in the first place and looked towards her girlfriend. "Want to bet Raynor punching someone else again before the end of the party?" Maria whispered to Novi and then waved towards the others. "Good to see you all again." Maria said, eyeing both Mathew and Oliver who were the newest editions to the team and nodded towards them and then went to set her presents under the tree.

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Harry McCormick

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Harry looked towards Raynor as he got up and walked over towards him, and yelped in pain as he got punched in the jaw causing him to stumble backwards. He rubbed his jaw slightly and looked up at Raynor for a moment, thinking of so many ways he could get back at him maybe locking him in one of the portable containment units they had around. Before grumbling something under his breath and then walked over towards the bar.

Harry started to order himself a drink and then looked at everyone who was now coming in seeing that Maria and Novi were the last two to come in by the looks of it. He leaned back a little bit as he rubbed his jaw and started to check and see if there was any kind of blood, though he knew that it would probably bruise pretty badly as well.

[FantasyChic]

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Tinley Abercrombie

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Tinley gave a warm smile as everyone came in, some complimenting her work, some on other's appearances. Overall, she felt it was a merry environment. "Thank you Agent Moss, Agent Chase. I worked really hard on everything. There's an open bar so enjoy yourselves there but don't go too crazy, though it seems some have pre-gamed as it were." She glanced at Raynor just in time to deck Harry, who made a simple comment. "No, no! No drama here, not today. We need a day to rewind from everything that happened with Ultron. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas or any holiday, this is a time to be appreciative of everyone here. We are a team, please, if only for today, act like one."

She sighed. "Sorry, didn't mean to make a speech. Please, everyone. Enjoy yourselves. Food and drink, games, presents under the tree. We'll do the Secret Santa draw in a bit." Tinley went over to the bar, ordering a glass of wine. She hated this time of year for this very reason. In-fighting between people who should be close. Not friends per se, she knew not everyone in her team liked the others, but surely there was something there. They beat Ultron! That had to count for something.

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Tempest Renroir

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Tempest hugged Cass back before she played with her hair. "Thanks, everyone! I wanted to do something nice for the holidays and I've been meaning to change it." She watched as everyone arrived, happy to see them all in the same room. As Tinley spoke, Raynor decked Harry. Tempest began to charge towards Harry to help him up before Tinley spoke up, chastising Raynor and going on a small rant. It was understandable too, Tinley had a point.

Harry got up and mumbled off. She stood there, not knowing what to do. "She's right, let's a party! Who's up for a game? We can do Never Have I Ever or perhaps Two Truths and a Lie? Something to open us up a bit more maybe?" Tempest decided she would take over as co-hostess with Tinley so the girl can have a day for herself to relax. Tempest was Ms. Christmas. She loved this time of year and she would not see someone not enjoying themselves during this time.

[Kirah]

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🔬Niah Bautista🔬

Location: The Hub - The common room
Skills: N/A

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"I'm doing okay." Niah said as she hugged Cass. "Things are a bit more...controlled in the lab, but I do miss you all." That wasn't the whole truth, but she did miss the team. It felt like a huge piece of who she had become was in this room. Odd. She smiled at Bonnie, and tried to ignore Flynn at her side. She had been successful in getting them back together, well really she hadn't done much just nudged Bonnie toward Flynn. Goose had been pushier then her. What made Niah happy was Bonnie's smile.

Niah saw Raynor deck Harry's "halls". She may not be a fighter, but at least she wasn't an asshole. Yeah, she didn't miss the whole team. "Oh hello, you're new. My name is Doctor Niah Bautista, please call me Niah." She said offering her hand to Oliver and looking past him to see Matthew, another new face. She then looked toward Tinley. "It is all very lovely. Thank you for this. I'd be interested in playing a game, Tempest."

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Matthew Moss

Location: The common room
Skills: N/A

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Matthew winced as Raynor decked Harry, that looked painful. He took a small deep breath and joined the room stepping away from the bar. He took a sip of the rum and coke he had ordered. Matthew raised his glass as Tinley mentioned the bar being open. It could be a good holiday party. He'd remember not to joke with Santa for fear of getting punched though. Not that Matthew couldn't take a punch, probably a bit better than the engineer. He just didn't see a point in fighting with someone he was supposed to work with. That might be fun to reconcile at a later date.

"And I am Agent Matthew Moss." Matthew said extending his hand to Niah after her and Oliver exchanged pleasantries. Niah shook his hand with a smile. "You'll have to forgive me Renroir. I'm afraid I'm at a disadvantage I've never played these games. What are they?" He really hadn't played them. His youth hadn't been particularly inclusive either pre-transition or post. And he wasn't American. So his experience with "classic party games" so to speak was limited. Though he was particularly good at charades if you asked him.

[Natsu]

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Oliver Sullivan

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Location: Common Room
Skills: N/A

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A look of shock crossed Oliver's face at the sequence of events that just unfolded in front of him. After chugging straight from a bottle of what he could only assume was some kind of liquor, Santa Claus proceeded to deck somebody in the face. Letting out a nervous laugh, he took a few steps back away from the man. He turned his attention to Tinley, and nodded. He was determined to have fun here, even if it killed him, which, it seemed it might at this point. The idea of an open bar sounded nice to him though, a drink seemed like something he'd be needing later on tonight.

Turning his attention to those who introduced themselves to him, he smiled back and said, "It's nice to meet all of you, I'm Agent Oliver Sulivan, but you can all call me Oliver." Looking back over at Raynor nervously, he asked, "Does that happen a lot?" with an uncertain tone in his voice, "and if so, how do I make sure it doesn't happen to me?" He then looked at Tempest specifically, being reminded by her suggestions of college ice breakers, he thought they sounded a bit funny. Still, it's be fun. "I'd play a game, yeah." He agreed. That sounded like just the way to get some alcohol in his body, and get to know everybody at the same time.

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: December 24th, 2020 - 5:20 P.M.

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Raynor Blake

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Raynor felt Sparky place her hand on his shoulder and he forced himself to try to relax slightly. He knew rationally that Harry hadn't done anything to him and that no one in the room knew why the damned mistletoe was bothering him so much, mostly since he hadn't said a word. Harry didn't even fight back, leaving Raynor slightly disappointed. He could have used a good brawl. "Sorry, Abercrombie," he apologized, but he didn't mean it. "Happy Yule, everyone," he then added, forcing a smile onto his face. "I've been told you sit on Santa's lap to make a wish so... I guess if you really want to sit in my lap, be my guest."

He then sat back down on the couch, taking a slight breath. Raynor was considering burning up the mistletoe with a blast from his powers, but it wouldn't really change the anger he was feeling. The reminder of his parents' tragic deaths had already come - even without the annoying little plant there, it wasn't going to leave his mind for a little while. The public shaming of playing Santa didn't help matters either. However, his eyes darted over towards the tree, seeing the presents that he was supposed to hand out and he heard a clear set of barks. "... Did someone lose a dog?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do Midgardians here give dogs as gifts?" he then asked Sparky, having never really celebrated the holiday season this way before.

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: Perception, Emergency First Aid

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Bonnie shook her head slightly. "Well if it wasn't him, it probably would have been you," she teased. She knew that Flynn could have a bit of a fiery temper and he was terrible when it came to taking orders. Bonnie was good friends with Tinley and she sometimes had to wonder how Tinley hadn't completely snapped at Flynn and lost her mind with some of the things he did. The fight had at least been broken up, thanks to Tinley's reminder that this was supposed to be a party, with Harry and Raynor going their separate ways. "I'm going to go check on Harry," she told Flynn, before heading on over to the bar.

Harry had always been there for her, helping her through the darkest times in her life and the very least she could do would be to check that he was okay. "Hey, let me have a look?" Bonnie asked Harry, noting that he was rubbing his jaw slightly. She scanned his face for a moment, relieved to see that there wasn't any bleeding from Raynor's punch. Asgardians were known for their strength, so either Harry had been lucky or Raynor had pulled his punch slightly. "Put some ice on it, it'll keep the swelling down - I think you'll likely just get a nasty bruise in the morning." She gave him a slight smile. "Do you want to go play the game with the others? I haven't played since I was at the academy."

She then heard the barking coming from the gift pile and instantly, Bonnie was severely concerned. "...Who would be so irresponsible as to give a poor animal as a Christmas gift?" she asked incredulously. So many animals were given as presents on Christmas and then taken to the shelter the next day - it was cruel.

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Dominika Novikova

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Novikova snickered at her girlfriend's comment. "You think he'd stop at punching only one more person?" she whispered back. However, Tinley's comment about them all being a team smarted - Novikova wasn't a part of that team anymore. She had been fired, terminated, dismissed - and from what she knew, Tinley hadn't said a word in her favor. Novikova couldn't help but glare slightly in the direction of the bar, wanting to call out the hypocrisy but she decided instead to take the passive aggressive approach. She didn't feel like getting into a physical fight with someone who could control minds on Christmas Eve anyways.

"Yes, Never Have I Ever, let's do it," Novikova said eagerly. She wanted to down shots of vodka right now, until the sting of the comment would inevitably fade away. It would also be much easier to be here if she was wasted - in that regard, she was in complete agreement with Raynor. The blonde Sci-Tech alum, Bonnie, had come on over and taken a seat in the middle of the room. Various couches and chairs were arranged in a circle, ideal for them to play the drinking game.

"What are the rules?" Raynor asked, sitting up slightly.

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Fransisco
Skills: N/A

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Cass smiled at Tempest and messed her hair a little bit in a friendly way. "Well you look cuter as a redhead." She said it more as a compliment, as she heard some barking she turned and looked over at the crate by the Christmas tree. She hadn't really grown up with any kind of pets since her family wasnt that well off when she was younger. She hoped that whoever got the puppy would actually be able to take care of it. She looked at both Mathew and Oliver smiling at the two of them and nodded, it was good to see some new people on the team as well as the old faces to.

"I'm Cassandra Reed, it's nice to meet the two of you." She introduced herself, while smiling when Niah hugged her, before actually going out in the field she did spend a small time in the lab as well. "We certainly do miss you Niah." Cass said, even though they had seen each other in the different reality that Wanda had conjured up for all of them. And then mentioning of some drinking games to break the ice was a good idea as well. "I'd certainly be down for either." Cass said smiling watching as Bonnie went over to tend to Harry, as she went to get herself a drink and went to sit in the little circle.

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Maria Smith

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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"Probably not." Maria said laughing slightly as she looked at the crate for a moment and then over towards Novi. "I say we liberate the puppy yeah?" Maria said, she always did love animals growing up and she did spend a lot of her younger life growing up and tending to some animals as well. She looked towards Tinley as she made her little speech about not attacking each other she could get on board with it, while looking over at Novi. Seeing her girlfriend giving a slight glare towards her, and gently rested a hand on her shoulder Novi did want to get some drinks in. "Lets play a few rounds and then we can sneak off." She said to her girlfriend.

Maria grabbed herself a drink and went to sit down while looking over at Raynor and Mathew, surprised they didn't know the rules at all. "Well to play Never Have I Ever its a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they haven’t done. Other players who have done said thing respond by taking a drink." Maria said, while looking over at everyone. "So for example, Never Have I Ever, had sex in a friend's room without them knowing." Maria said as she grabbed her glass and took a drink from it.

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Harry McCormick

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Harry looked over towards Raynor once more as he took a slight drink as Bonnie came over to look him over and gave her a slight smile letting his friend tend to his jaw. It still certainly hurt a little bit but the drink did numb the pain a little bit as Tempest suggested doing some drinking games. "I don't mind joining in." Harry said, as he got up and grabbed his drink as well and made his way over to the chairs and sat down.

He looked towards Maria as she explained the rules of the game, he had played some in his younger years as he leaned back a little bit and gave an example. Though he wasnt going to get to personal like she was and he wouldn't have done it either to a friend with her example either but just leaned back while looking over at everyone else.

[BlueSky44]

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Theresa Sparks

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Sparky let out a little bit of a sigh, looking at Raynor and the comments he was making. He really needed to not be rude to people at the moment, it honestly got a little bit tiring for her to have to constantly try and stop him from picking fights with people. There wasn't much she could do about it though, at least at the moment he seemed to be calming down and wasn't picking any more fights with people. "Really Ray?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him slightly, but saying nothing else about it.

She sat back down on the couch next to Raynor, when Tempest suggested playing a game, and other people seemed to like the idea of playing Never Have I Ever. Sparky had never really been interested in playing any sort of game like that, one of the main reasons being she never really had anyone to play it with growing up. Raynor seemed interested in playing a game though, and she couldn't help but be slightly glad about that. At least it would stop him from hopefully causing too much trouble.

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Frederick Flynn

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Location:The Common Area - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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"Hey! I know better then to actually pick fights at any sort of party! Unless drinking is involved and usually I would have had way too much to get to that point," Flynn said with an eye roll towards Bonnie. He did know better then to pick fights with people randomly at any sort of party. Unless of course they started the fight or something, then he'd probably jump into the fight and defend people, but that was about all he would do. In his opinion Raynor needed to calm down a little bit.

Hearing the idea of playing Never Have I Ever being proposed, he looked around at the group, as a few people seemed to jump in at the chance to play it. He'd played it a few times with friends back in high school, usually at some party that tended to involve alcohol one way or another. "Sure, I'll play, sounds like fun, it's been a while since I've played that game," he said, giving Bonnie a bit of a smile before he looked back at the rest of the group.

[FantasyChic]

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Tinley Abercrombie and Tempest Renroir

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Tempest, ever the eager gamer, squealed in delight as everyone decided to join. Well, not everyone, but most. Tinley looked at her team, deciding that she would not join their game. Maybe they were mad at her? Could she blame them really? Maria had explained it nicely. "Yes, as Maria said, you drink if you have done what was said. So Maria's example could be our first one. So everyone drink up if you slept in your friend's room without them knowing." Tempest, herself, took a swig, for those that noticed.

Tinley's thoughts raced around, wondering how much of these things she would have done. She wasn't a wild child by any stretch. She had some bumps in her youth, as did every kid, but for most of her life, she would consider herself well-bred and above such things. Did that make her boring? Perhaps she needed to loosen up a bit.

Once done, Tempest continued. "Ok I'll go next. Never have I ever sent a naked picture of myself to someone." And in reality, she hadn't. She had never been much interested in relationships. She was always so busy. Sure there were cute guys online, but could one ever trust those online, considering how easy it was to lie?

[Kirah]

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🔬Niah Bautista🔬

Location: The Hub - The common room
Skills: N/A

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"Nice to meet you Oliver, you won't see much of me. I'm no longer on the team. I requested being put in a lab for a while. As for Raynor, that's mostly par for the course. He's hot-headed." Not that he was the only one on the team who was that way. Oliver seemed nice and it was likely he would learn quickly that the team had a whole host of issues. A lot of those were trust issues.

Niah had no desire to sit on Raynor's lap, no matter if it was good luck or not. She did look over at the tree and the barking gift. That wasn't normal, especially for a Secret Santa type situation. Since she though Roman had dropped off the gift she really hoped it was actually a robot.

Niah didn't drink, for either 'never have I ever'. The only sort of serious relationship she had had was with Antonie... She let that thought trail away not wanting to dwell on it. Especially since it was Christmas. Niah did smile at Tinley though as neither took a drink.

Niah then edged her way over to Bonnie. "I have something for you later." She whispered in her friend's ear and held up the bag in her hand. "But I'd like to give it to you in private since you're the only person I got a present for outside of secret Santa gifts."

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Matthew Moss

Location: The common room
Skills: N/A

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Matthew was concerned about the barking package under the tree and wondered why Roman stood so awkwardly in the corner. If he wanted to be part of the team wasn't the best way to participate in team-building exercises just like this one. "I've never given a pet, though my parents did give me one when I was a kid. But I had asked for it. It seems like an awkward gift to give. Especially for a secret Santa." Matthew said, mostly responding to Raynor.

"Thank you, Agent Smith." Matthew said to Maria when she explained the game. He could tell she was surprised that he didn't know the rules but thankful she didn't ask him why he didn't. Matthew didn't drink for the first round, but he took a sip for the second with a small grimace. His ex-fiance. But he had been so happy with his body and the t-shots had begun changing things. It was a photo from a happy simple time.

[Natsu]

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Oliver Sullivan

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Location: Common Room
Skills: N/A

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As conversation went around him, Oliver made his way over to the open bar to fix himself a drink so he could play. Fixing himself a scotch on the rocks, he returned to the group, soon enough to clearly not drink at Maria's turn. That was indeed, outside of the scope of things he'd done. He turned a little red at Tempest though, and nonchalantly, took a sip. Quickly distracting himself, he nodded at Niah, "Well, I hope you find joy in the new year." He smiled at her. It was a shame they wouldn't get to know each other, but such was life. He'd put together that Raynor was a hot head though, not many people could punch somebody in the face practically unprovoked and not be. He'd know to choose his words carefully around him.

Looking around the group, he figured he may as well go, and said, "Never have I ever thrown up from drinking too much." He said, taking a drink as he did. That was one thing he was lucky enough to have missed out on. Not that he didn't drink, that was evidenced enough from him partaking in this, he'd just always stopped before it became too much. He considered himself lucky for that, he'd seen many people go through that, and the hangovers that follow, and that was something he never wanted to experience. He looked around at the group, and was interested to see who might've. At this point, he was essentially building up a profile of all these people, knowing what all he could about his new teammates could be very important, depending on the type of work he'd be doing. The more data one has, of course, the better predictive models they can build.

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: December 24th, 2020 - 5:30 P.M.

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Merry fucking Christmas from the other guy in the red suit!

What's that? You thought I just took over things in X-Men? HA! I've become a world wide sensation, an orgasmic prince of storytelling, comedy, and crime. I even worked on Frozen 2 - yeah, let's just say that little sweet innocent Anna isn't as innocent as she wants you to think... And damn, Kristoff is flex-i-ble! Like damn! I'm not really sure if reindeers are better than people!

But my newfound success and fame aside, I'm doing bigger and better things now than temporarily running an update or two when that annoying GM in X-Men is busy (psst, Blue, I love you boo... I'm totally not winking now either. Or crossing my fingers behind my back). I decided that the next thing worthy of my talents was to take over an entire fucking storyline. And with my jovial manner and love of the yuletide season, what better than to take the pesky little S.H.I.E.L.D. monkeys through a Christmas extravaganza?

It's got heart, it's got pop culture references, hell if I can convince Parker it'll even have true loves kiss! And if we end up with some extra time, I'm catfishing Wolverine - he thinks I'm Jean Grey and that I am H.O.T. for him - so I guess you guys can join in!

Now where were we? Oh right, the agents had decided to play just about the most boring drinking game they could come up with - there's no stripping involved, it's a tragedy, a real crime against humanity, I'm sure the Geneva Convention outlawed it. Some of those gifts people brought were real interesting too... Do I spy a wedding ring in the pile?

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Dominika Novikova, Bonnie Chase, and Raynor Blake

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Novikova groaned as Maria started off the game. "I feel targeted already," she told her girlfriend - well, fiancée really. They had gotten engaged during the entire House of M fiasco. She raised her glass and took a drink, enjoying the burning sensation of the vodka as it trickled down her throat. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Raynor took a drink to that question as well, nursing a bottle of rum. And Bonnie, Little Miss Perfect, just sat there patiently waiting for the next question to be posed.

"Really? You never had sex in a friend's room, Sparks? You sure about that?" Raynor teased slightly. The game was helping slightly to take his mind off of his parents' tragic fates. He didn't drink for Tempest's turn, the one detailing sending nude photos to someone - neither did Novikova or Bonnie. Novikova had never been much interested in sending nudes, preferring to see the naked physique in person... and Bonnie just wasn't into that sort of thing at all. It wasn't her area of interest.

"Aww, Niah you shouldn't have," Bonnie whispered back, giving her friend a quick hug. She then patted the seat next to her. "But I got you something too," she then whispered again with a slight smirk. Bonnie wasn't about to be outdone or out surprised, after all - she was too competitive for that.

With Oliver's turn, both Novikova and Raynor took a drink but once more Bonnie didn't. She was feeling a little bit self conscious, seeing how wild everyone else present was. She never had been much of a party girl. "Alright, my turn," Bonnie began, before she got an evil grin on her face. "Never have I ever remembered an alternate reality," she said, certain that she would pretty much get everyone in the room - with the exception of Matt and Oliver.

"Oh fuck you, blondie!" Novikova complained. Her power revolved around seeing alternate lives - if Novikova hadn't felt targeted before, she certainly did now. She didn't even bother to just take a drink, instead downing two shots for good measure. Raynor came from an alternate reality, but he also remembered the Ultron timeline so he rolled his eyes and took a chug of his rum as well.

"Watch out, Chase, I'll get you," Raynor warned, chuckling lightheartedly. "Never have I ever... slept with Flynn!"

Meanwhile, Tinley would hear soft thumps coming from the ceiling - it easily could have been her imagination, they were so faint it was hard to tell if they were real or not. Maybe it was just a mild symptom of PTSD, after everything she had been through... was her mind looking for trouble now on Christmas Eve?

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Fransisco
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra looked towards Tempest at her turn and awkwardly took a drink, though it was only once and it was when she was just finishing her time at MIT. She looked at everyone who was there, and noticed that Tinley wasn't joining in and got up and made her way over towards her friend and gave her a slight nudge. With her drink in the other hand, Tinley was her friend also the leader of the team as well and wanted to check in on her as well. "Is everything alright Tinley?" Cass asked her while, she didn't drink at Oliver's turn she occasionally did drink but not to the point where she would end up getting drunk.

"It's nice seeing everyone together again." She said looking at Niah, Harry and Novikova since the three of them ended up leaving the team for different reasons. When Bonnie's turn did come up she took a drink, remembering the whole House of M world that Wanda did make though she didn't remember the Ultron timeline which was probably a good thing as well.

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Maria Smith

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Maria looked over at Novikova when she whispered to her giving her a slight smile and reached over to hold her hand. "Well it's not to late to sneak out for a little bit." Maria whispered back to her giving her a playful little nudge, when Tempest's turn came up she didn't take a drink she did have standards after all as well. Maria leaned back as she watched everyone else and surprised when Cass did take a drink at Tempest's turn. She did also take a drink at Oliver's turn she had drank to much at some parties to the point she ended up getting very drunk.

Maria looked at Mathew and gave him a friendly smile and nodded. "Just call me Maria, I hate being called by my last name sometimes unless we are on duty." She said towards him, and motioned for him to take a seat. At Bonnie's turn she shook her head slightly and took a drink as well, remembering the whole House of M thing, the only good thing that came out of it was when Novikova proposed to her,

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Harry McCormick

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Harry didn't drink at Tempest's turn he really wasn't into the whole sending nudes to someone at all really, he knew that Bonnie didn't do that either as well. He did drink though to Oliver's turn since he had gotten drunk a few times in the past, mostly at family functions that he was actually able to. Harry didn't drink at Bonnie's turn since he didn't remember the Ultron timeline or the House of M one either that some of the others mentioned.

Harry thought for a moment and then smiled a little bit. "Never have I ever set something on fire." Harry said while looking over towards Flynn for a moment, he pretty much loses his shirts all the time whenever he uses his powers. He noticed that Tinley didn't join in wondering what was up, but decided to not jump in seeing Cassandra walking over to her.

[BlueSky44]

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Theresa Sparks and Frederick Flynn

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Sparky just rolled her eyes slightly at Raynor's words. She didn't really know what to say to that one, "Wow Ray, so nice to me aren't you?" she said to him shaking her head ever so slightly. This was definitely getting a bit out of hand with the reactions everyone else was saying to certain things and what other questions were being posed. Sparky giggled a little bit, but for the most part, she didn't have to drink. None of the questions really caused her to need to drink anything.

"...Can't believe some of things questions, I kind of feel a bit targeted here," Flynn said, but unlike just about everyone else, he did take a shot (having decided to do shots of Fireball Whiskey) to the question that Tempest had said. He had still been in school when he had done that, and looking back now he kind of thought it was dumb and weird. Unfortunately for him (or a good thing depending on how much someone wanted to get drunk) to Oliver's question about drinking, and yet again to Bonnie's thing, since unfortunately for him, he remembered two alternate realities. Hearing what Raynor had said, Flynn leaned over slightly to look at him, "Wrong reality dude," he muttered under his breath so that only Raynor could really hear him. He rolled his eyes again at Harry this time, before he took another shot to the whole fire thing.

She had been staying relatively quiet for the most part, she let out a bit of a sigh as she ended up taking a sip of her drink to when Harry had mentioned setting something on fire. It had been an accident way back when she was in school. She had been messing with something in a lab, she didn't even remember what exactly it had been now that she thought about it, and the next thing she knew something was on fire and the fire alarm was blaring. "Ok, I'll take a turn... Never have I ever gone skinny dipping," she said with a shrug.

"Wow, now I'm definitely feeling targeted," Flynn said, shaking his head as he took another shot. This was getting a bit ridiculous in his mind, but now he was realizing just how many dumb things he had done in his life. "Alright, time to see about getting a few of you to start drinking... Never have I ever attended Sci-Tech," Flynn said, looking at everyone else around him, knowing he'd get a few people with that one. Sparky was silent, as she just took a drink for that one.

[FantasyChic]

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Tinley Abercrombie and Tempest Renroir

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Location: The Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Tinley nodded, forcing a smile on her face. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I have this party to oversee. Enjoy yourself." She downed the rest of her drink before setting the glass down, aware that she probably should not be drinking too heavily in her state. It made her self-conscious. The others were seemingly enjoying themselves though, Tempest taking the lead on a party game was a stroke of genius on her part.

The game was heating up as people fired off prompt after prompt. Tempest drank when applicable. "Hey, that's the spirit of the game. The point is to try to get people to drink so using underhanded methods is well within her rights. Kudos Bonnie." She raised her glass up.

Even the new guys were getting into the swing of things. Tempest could hold her alcohol well enough, but she did remember times when she drank to excess and the wonderful, glorious moments before she had to release it all back. So she drank again, aware of the irony. "I don't know about everyone else, but I am feeling slightly tingly now. We can continue the game if you want, but perhaps food is in order now? I know I have some munchies." She made her way over to the spread, helping herself to some of the cookies and so on provided.

Tinley was about to refill her glass when she heard a thumping noise above. She glanced up, aware that she knows she heard that sound, but perhaps it was nothing. Her mind had been playing tricks on her recently, plus the stress of the party hadn't aided in her overall mental health. But she also knew in her gut when something felt off. And this felt...off. She set her glass down. If it WAS something, she would be prepared. This definitely would not be Santa Claus.

[Natsu]

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Oliver Sullivan

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Location: Common Room
Skills: Perception, stealth.

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Oliver gave a quizzical look over to Bonnie as he obviously didn't drink. "I'm sorry what?" He asked, looking around the room as several people drank to that. He'd yet to be briefed on the particulars of what this unit had been through, but that sounded terribly interesting. "You can't just drop a bomb like that and not say anything else, somebody spill." That sounded out of scope for them by a long shot, so this caught his interest for sure. He quietly took a sip, and then another at Harry's turn. It wasn't that he meant to set things on fire, it was just part of the creative process sometimes.

Looking over at Tinley, he nodded. Food sounded good right now, unpacking all his stuff didn't leave much time to eat, so he was on an empty stomach. That, combined with the fact that he wasn't much of a drinker, and was a major lightweight, meant he was starting to feel his drink a little bit. That being said, he did see that Tinley semed off. This confused him for a moment, before he understood why. There were thumps coming from the roof. Placing his drink down for a moment, he gave her a careful look. He wasn't daft by any stretch of the imagination, and that was a sound that they definitely shouldn't be hearing.

Not wanting to break rank, in case there was something bad about to happen, he switched to a more professional demeanour. With grace inherited from his people's endless years of oppressing the masses of the world, he approached Tinley, and quietly asked, "I heard that too, anything I should do, team leader?" He wanted to make it clear he was asking her as his superior, looking for direction. He wanted to imagine that nothing bad would happen, given the holiday, but the universe rarely acted according to anybody's schedule.

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: December 24th, 2020 - 5:40 P.M.

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Bonnie rolled her eyes slightly at Raynor, not taking a drink despite his obvious attempt to target her. Sure, she was pretty certain that Flynn wanted to take their relationship to that level already but Bonnie wasn't ready yet. She had only slept with one other guy before and that had been her deceased husband. As much as she wanted to move forward, there were moments when it was difficult to do so. However at Harry's never have I ever set something on fire, Bonnie did take a swig of her drink. Sci-Tech could get crazy at times. Both Raynor and Novikova also took a drink, with Raynor hardly feeling the alcohol and Novikova enjoying the slight buzz several shots of vodka had provided her.

"Of course you've gone skinny dipping," Bonnie chided, shaking her head slightly at Flynn with a smile. He was such a stereotype at times - especially with all of the things he ended up drinking to in this party game. She didn't take a drink, though Novikova did. She had gone skinny dipping once as a dare in college. Raynor drank as well, having unintentionally gone skinny dipping a few times in his youth when his cousin stole his clothes down at the waterfalls.

"So I need to take you skinny dipping, then?" Raynor whispered in Sparky's ear. "Could be fun, just you, me, and the water..." he teased her. "I bet it'd be even more fun than when we did it in the conference room on the Bus." He smirked a little bit, remembering how angry Fury and the others had been when they found out about that. It was a bit of a point of pride for Raynor.

"Wow, so creative Flynn," Novikova said, shaking her head as she took another shot. Her head was definitely beginning to feel a little mushy and she giggled slightly, unable to help herself. Bonnie had to take a drink as well, still feeling clear headed since she was taking relative small sips rather than full shots each time. She wanted to keep her wits about her at the party.

Roman was still standing off by himself in the corner, just staring at everyone - it was a bit creepy.

Bonnie did grin slightly at Oliver's obvious shock and confusion. "This group has been through quite a lot... Let's see. In one version of history, we stopped an evil robot from destroying the human race. And then just about a week ago, a bunch of the group also stopped the Scarlet Witch from making Magneto king of the world, more or less." She didn't remember either reality, though Bonnie had been told by Niah about her sacrifice in the Age of Ultron timeline. She couldn't help but wonder where she had been in the House of M reality, a world created to grant everyone's wildest wishes... One where mutants were supreme over humans.

"It's probably Belsnickel," Novikova called out, seeing Oliver get up to talk to Tinley and having heard the same thumps. "Here to judge if you're impish or admirable..." she mused, before taking another shot of vodka and then breathing out heavily. It burned her throat a bit each time it went down, but it felt wonderful all the same.

Raynor turned his head quizzically at Novikova. "I thought it was naughty or nice?" he asked, having only a rudimentary knowledge of Christmas traditions. Despite living on Earth for a while, it was easy for the alien to avoid learning certain aspects of culture if he wanted to. He finished his bottle of rum, having drained the entire thing, and he set it down with a slight sigh. He wished there were some proper Asgardian ale here, something that would actually give him a slight buzz but fate was not on his side.

But it seemed fate did have something else in mind. There was a loud crash as a man in a red suit and a santa hat fell through the roof, two swords strapped to his back and bananas in his holsters where guns should have been. The comical figure winced at the pain in his knees from the superhero landing, but it was worth it. He looked so cool! "Ho, ho, ho!" Deadpool greeted with a wave. "Merry fucking Christmas, boys and girls! I'm sorry to interrupt this little fluff storyline you all have going on, but I think we have more interesting things we can do for the audience rather than wondering when Bonnie and Magneto Jr. over there are finally going to play hide the zucchini!"

"...Deadpool. Long time no see."

[Kirah]

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🔬Niah Bautista🔬

Location: The Hub - The common room
Skills: N/A

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Oh, there was some drinking to be had this round Niah thought as she took two sips and then a smaller third one at the mention of alternate worlds and timelines. Then a drink at the mention of setting stuff of fire. She fondly remembered the experiment gone wrong in her high school chem lab. She had gotten into a lot of trouble over that, but at least the building hadn't burned down. She skipped sipping at the skinny dipping one from Sparky but rolled her eyes at Flynn's as she took a sip. She was not taking one for each class she had been in.

"I know one that'll get a few of us. Never have I ever almost died." Niah said taking a drink. She smiled at Tempest, thankful for her having saved her life. Though of course, that hadn't been the only close call for the forensic scientist. "And with that I'm going to eat some food before this gets too my head too much. Espeically after Bonnie's." Niah went over to the spread of food and nodded at Roman. She was glad he was on the team again, but she didn't understand why he wasn't participating at all. "Come on Roman you've got to drink for the Ultron thing at least." She told him as she served herself a bit of food.

There was a loud crash and a guy in a red suit was standing there. She blinked confused. That wasn't Santa that was for certain. And Raynor called him Deadpool?

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Matthew Moss

Location: The common room
Skills: N/A

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"Good to know, Maria." Matt said to Maria. He felt it would be weird to say sorry so he didn't, but made a mental note so he wouldn't call her by her last name again.

Matt didn't drink at the alternate reality comment, but he did for skinny dipping and lighting stuff on fire. Remembering a few bonfires that got out of hand. He also didn't drink for the Sci-tech mention, but he did for Niah's almost dead. It hadn't been that bad, but it was a close enough call. And of course, the whole mist thing could have killed him. Not everyone survived the process.

He hadn't done a 'never have I ever' yet either and was trying to come up with a good one that he suspected most of the crew would have done. Before he could though a dude dressed as Santa came tumbling down the chimney. He blinked a bit confused. Matt knew this team had seen some crazy stuff, hell that was why he had requested to be on their team. This was weird for certain.

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Fransisco
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra looked at Tinley when she answered, she wasn't sure what was going on with her at the moment, she just assumed that it was having the role of being the teams leader. "Doesn't mean that you can join in and have a little bit of fun with the party that you set up." She said, while looking at everyone else she was about to answer Oliver's question when her friend Bonnie stepped in and answered for her. "Yeah the whole House of M reality was a little bit to weird honestly." Cass said and then gestured towards Flynn. "He was one of Magneto's kids." She said.

Oliver asked Tinley what was the sound, though she didn't hear anything at all as far as she could tell. Until she heard a crashing sound and then stared at the Merc With A Mouth standing before them. She looked towards the others for a moment and then over towards Tinley whether or not she should attack him or not. "Did you happen to invite him or something?" Cassandra finally asked, and stared at him when he mentioned Bonnie and Flynn.

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Maria Smith

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Maria looked at Sparky when she mentioned about skinny dipping which made her blush slightly and started to take another drink as well, having gone to a few high school and college parties she did do that. Seeing that Novikova took a drink at that to made her smile a little bit and nudged her a little bit. She didn't drink at Harry's turn she had never set anything on fire, as she leaned back a little bit she was starting to get hungry.

She thought about drinking, she hadn't really been nearly killed though she did get hit in the gut when they were fighting against Magneto in the House of M reality. That's when she heard a crashing sound and she quickly stood up turning to look at Deadpool who decided to make an appearance. "How did he even get in here?" She asked, knowing that this was a secured base and they would need some kind of key card to actually get into the building itself.

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Harry McCormick

Location: The Hub, the Commons - San Francisco
Skills: N/A

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Harry didn't drink at any of the new turns that the others made, he had never gone skinny dipping before seeing as some of the other members of the team did. He leaned back a little bit and watched the others as they all took a few more turns, as Oliver asked something from Tinley. Though he didn't hear anything at all but he was enjoying the party, when Tempest mentioned food though he was pretty hungry now at this point. "Food sounds good right about now." Harry said as he got up and made his way over towards the food.

When he heard something and then Deadpool in a Santa outfit came out, he jumped back a little bit he wasn't sure why or how he even got into the building itself in the first place. Harry looked at Bonnie and Flynn when Deadpool decided to make a little jab at them, though he really wasn't sure if attacking would be a good idea or not right now either.