All Hallow's Eve

[Nineteen]

Nineteen found herself stupidly excited for the Halloween party, even if it would probably be really lame. Apparently it was close to the holiday, something she hadn't celebrated in years, and the teachers were putting together a party for the Academy. It was hard to keep something like that a secret for long on a ship full of bored and restless teenagers -- one pumpkin ornament left out and the jig was up -- and so they'd all known for a few days now.

Though the teachers hadn't saw fit to provide costumes, a recent shipment of supplies had included a bunch of gaudy masquerade masks. They weren't frightful (at least unless you were afraid of feathers and sequins and bright colors), but they were better than nothing, Nineteen supposed. The box of them had been left out at the mess hall for the past few days, so that anyone could come and pick up whichever one they liked best. The idea was that you didn't know which mask anyone else was going to be wearing, but she doubted it would be difficult to tell anyone apart. There were that many people in the Academy as a whole to mistake someone for.

Nineteen continued to assemble the bit of a "costume" she'd put together, which mostly just included her mask and some clothes she'd dug up out of the communal storage area (there was actually a pretty decent selection of styles and sizes, which she guessed was part of the Academy planning ahead for all the different sorts of students in the future). The party -- which had been set up in one of the larger storage rooms and included a "balcony" level, as well as a couple smaller rooms connected to it -- had started thirty minutes ago, but Nineteen still had enough social etiquette to know that you were supposed to arrive "fashionably late" to these sorts of things.

[Jullian]

Jullian went to tasted the punch carefully. The last time he'd been to a costume party that he'd helped plan Kovu had accidentally spiked the punch. The night had actually turned out pretty well, at least the parts of it he could remember. He'd fallen asleep leaning against Kovu's shoulder at one point. He was pretty sure he'd been sitting on the ground at the edge of the dance floor but it had still been one of the most comfortable things he'd ever done. And then he'd ended the night in Tess' extra bed. That he didn't remember at all, someone had carried him there or at least helped him most of the way.

In the morning he'd woken up with a wicked headache, a very disgusting taste in his mouth and a surprising feeling of contentment. The bed he'd been in was warm even though he was all the way on one side of it. He had just gotten up and gotten breakfast and had never quite had the courage to ask anyone who had helped him home that night. Nothing had happened, he was sure of that, but it would have been nice to know and, at the time, it was just as nice to fantasize about who it could have been because he'd had no hope that it had been Kovu. He remembered how the other boy had looked at Aubrey and he had concluded he didn't have a chance.

Remembering the painful and yet somehow innocent and happy days in Los Angeles distracted him from his task and he was caught off guard when Matt walked up behind him in his golden mask. He was in jeans and a nice shirt and he still looked wonderful. Jules had always had a slight crush on Matt and he'd never bothered to hide it very well. The golden mask accented his light brown/golden hair and clear eyes very well and the simple but well made clothing showed off his form. Jules smiled because Jullian had helped dress him.

"You look great!" Jullian said, turning around and forgetting about the punch. "Compliments to your tailor." Matt just rolled his eyes and looked towards the door. Jullian continued to smile to himself as he walked over to stand next to him. "So you think they'll show?" he asked, adjusting his own sea blue mask. He'd chosen to go with one that only covered his right eye and the top of his cheek. His other eye was surrounded by an ornate design in blues and green with a bit of sparkly spread throughout it all. It looked like swirling waves and was reminiscent of feathers towards the edges and he'd stolen a feather from another mask and attached it to his own to complete the peacock theme he'd been going for.

To go with the mask and the face paint he'd chosen to wear a very tight blue t-shirt that clung to his thin frame and jeans that did the same but there was a blue scarf tied around his waist in a fashion reminiscent of belly dancers and he'd chosen to go barefoot. It was close enough to his morphing outfit that he'd been hoping to also make some sort of statement about morphing and the beautiful state between animal and human. Basically he'd had too much time on his hands and had gotten too into designing everyone's costume who had known to come to him. Then again, once upon a peaceful time, he'd dreamed of being a fashion designer. If this was as close as he could come for now he was glad enough to take the opportunity.

"Yeah, I've heard mutters about this for days," Matt said, turning to look down at him though there wasn't as much a difference in their heights as there used to be. "So much for keeping it a secret."

Jullian laughed and winked at Matt. Somehow wearing masks made one pay so much more attention to the eyes. "Nothing is better than an open secret." Jullian shrugged. "Though I swear, scout's honor, I don't know how they found out," he said, trying to look innocent.

[xander]

Xander ran through the halls with his hand against the wall laughing for no apparent reason. He was looking forward to a party without having to worry about being too loud or having the yeerks drop in. They still could but it seemed less likely, unless you counted Tess but that bird was okay by him. His hand dropped away from the wall as he turned down the corridor to the recruit’s rooms.

He glanced back over his shoulder toward Gage and smiled, “What’s taking you slowpoke?”

“Olli- olli, oxen free!” He yelled in his native American tone. Xander figured he’d take full advantage of the holiday and tell anyone that curious about the change he was going as an American. Costume didn’t go with it but he didn’t care, for him Halloween was a day to not wear a mask. Well, not the metaphoric kind.

He wasn’t even sure what he wore qualified as a costume. Not like the chick he saw walking through the halls earlier with the silver mask that covered the upper portion of her face and dark purple jacket that made her look well fit. Xander didn’t get a super good look at her but he knew she wasn’t a recruit or anything, thought perhaps a secret teacher. Worst case Gage had some one new to hit on.

His on the other hand was just composed of some of his favorite clothes, and a few he never really got to wear in England. Long sleeve knit of some type that was obnoxiously yellow under a black hooded vest, pair of comfortable jeans and orange high tops, again bright. The mask he picked out had a black and white pattern and he had slipped it on a black cap instead over his eyes. In an attempt to prove he wasn’t trying to be obstinate for once, he stole one of the girls pencil eyeliners and drew lines around one of his eyes like clockwork orange. He also did it cause he like the movie. Of course he now had to remember who the pencil originally belonged to.

“Wanna check and see who’s trying to avoid socializing?” He asked Gage as he walked up to one of the doors. Xander knocked twice and kicked the door he thought was Nineteen’s.

“Ya there Teeny-Bopper?”

[gabriel]

Gage walked behind Xander in a more moderate pace, completely fine with not running and being called a slow poke. He had never seen Xander so obviously excited about something but a party was nothing new to him and there was very little chance that he'd actually go home with anyone after this one so he wasn't too excited. The girls and the prospect of dancing to good music had always been the big pre-party excitement causers for him. Well, serious lack of girls and he had no idea who was DJing this school dance or if they'd be good so he wasn't prepared to jump up and down yet.

Gage had been intrigued by the idea of a masquerade. He'd been lucky enough to have been able to drag almost his entire wardrobe down to Antartica with him. Well maybe not his entire wardrobe but a good junk of it and he had hardly had the opportunity to wear any of it until now.

For tonight he'd chosen to go with a green theme accented by some golds and blues. His jeans were washed with a golden brown color and the creases were darker than the fake fade. The color in the jeans matched the threads of sparkly gold woven into his t-shirt which was mostly swirl of soft greens and blues. His friend had actually designed this t-shirt for him and it was in the style of graffiti art depicting an angel with its wings outstretched and coming in for a landing. The word 'Legend' was also written across the chest and sparkling blue and gold thread was also woven into that.

The t-shirt wasn't exceptionally tight but it fit him well and he wore a well fitting jacket over it. The jacket was black leather and was neutral enough that it didn't distract someone from the color scheme as a whole.

To top it all off he'd worn a forest green mask with gold glitter making swirl patterns on it. There had been a gold one but it had been completely covered in glitter and too gaudy for him. He'd felt like this one fit the outfit a little better and didn't make him look like a dork.

When he'd added the classic Nike running shoes with their immaculate white surface and the simple black swoosh on the side but golden soles which would accent the whole outfit if there was music worth dancing too and he got to pick his feet up off the floor he figured his outfit was perfect and complete.

Still, when Xe had shown up with the eyeliner, Gage had decided to use it too. He'd continued the swirl pattern on the left side of his face, turning it into a vine and leaf pattern instead. He'd left the right side blank, enjoying the asymmetry.

He stopped outside of Nineteen's door and leaned against the wall. "Why we stopping here first?" Gage asked.

[Nineteen]

Nineteen half laughed, half snarled when she heard the nickname. "Where're your fuckin' manners?!" She yelled back pulling up one of her dark gray, striped socks, and then the other. Her outfit was a hodge-podge of extremes. She'd found a bright yellow, breezy, summery dress and a pair of combat boots that fit, along with some odd socks and a pair of slightly worn leather gloves. The best find, however, had been the interesting necklace: it was made to look like a crow's skull or something, with the chain looped through the hollow eyes.

Basically, it was immensely cool.

She made sure her black lipstick wasn't completely smeared across her face (she hadn't put on any sort of makeup in probably half a decade, and even lipstick had seemed like a challenge), and then went for the door. The rooms were small, but at least she had her own: perhaps that was just because there were so few female recruits at the Academy. There were two beds in here, at least, though no one had ever been assigned to the room but her. Maybe that was just in case.

Plucking her mask off of the bed, Nineteen slipped it on before stopping just behind the door. "I don't have any candy for you brats!" She called back, laughing as she did it.

[berserker09]

When Paul heard there was going to be a Halloween Party, he had debated whether or not he would go. He was not really much of a party animal and usually volunteered to help out with the snack table or something to get out of actually doing any of the partying. It was pretty much a guaranteed no at home for any girl who came up to ask him to dance. Paul would be nice about it and think of a reasonable excuse to get out of it, but the girls were hurt just the same.

Paul had planned on going to this thing, but he still needed to get ready for it. He had found a black hoodie with a dragon on the front of it in the stuff that he had brought down with him. The dragon was gold, so he found a guy’s mask that matched it. Paul had decided that the mask plus the hood from the hoodie would be a “disguise” of sorts. He finished putting on his “costume” and left his room in time to hear Gage and Xander’s attempts to annoy Nineteen. He was really going to laugh when she beat the two of them up or something. Paul headed toward the party room and looked for where the food was. He always seemed to be hungry around here. Paul could put away enough food for a family of four and still keep going. Paul spotted the table with treats on it and headed over.

[Dean]

Dean stared down at the party from the terraces' stairwell, thinking about the events that had transpired in the past few hours. He had never been one for social gatherings, but he had come to try to clear his head, maybe try to get out of the emotional thicket he found himself in.

He was just so freaking confused. Dean had never began to imagine that the reason Seyia had called him to the Faction Leader Meeting was to give him command over a city. Not just that, but they were giving him some recruits to under his command. He could honestly say he didn't see that one coming.

Dean knew he was going to go back, but he had figured that he was going to have to pull another move like he did back in LA- ultimatums and threats be damned. But it seemed like Cassie and Seyia- Hell all the Faction Leaders- genuinely cared about his people, his fight.

Dean shook his head, thinking: Our fight. It's our fight now. You're not alone.

He sighed and bent over, picking his gas mask from where it sat against the railing of the balcony. As he put it on he slapped a name-tag sticker on his jacket that read "Hello I'm: An Innocent bystander"

Then he began to decend the stairway, leaving some of the worry behind him.

[gabriel]

Gage smiled when he saw Nineteen's costume. He hadn't quite decided to take her out of the options category and place her firmly in the friend one so he took a moment to admire it and how she looked in it. "You know," he said, looking over at Xander, "I think we look good. We should go rock this party." He turned away slightly as Paul passed by the door and waved a little. He liked the younger recruit and wanted to go catch up with him. Besides, he was still half convinced that Xander had a thing for Nineteen. He would have if he was in Xander's position so he waved at the two of them and followed Paul down the hall.

"Nineteen had no candy so I came to find some," he said, walking over to Paul and the refreshments table. He nodded at Jullian and Matt before looking at the punch. He did one more look around. "Cover me man," Gage said as he slipped a small bottle of Xander's home made alcohol and poured it in the punch as he pretended to get a glass. Xander and Nineteen had their own bottles to deliver. Just his wouldn't do much but together they'd spike the punch perfectly.

"Thought it would make the party a little more interesting," he said with a smile at Paul.

[Kovu]

Kovu ran his fingers through his hair and smiled into the mirror. Normally he hated dressing up in a costume, but this time was different, why? Mostly because he actually loooked good. He was going as a classic masquerade con-artist, the kind you would normally see in a play, and unexpectedly, or maybe not so unexpectedly, it suited him well.

He was wearing a dark pin-stripe suit and pants, it was darker than most suits of it's sort and the shimmering stripes gave it an elegant sheen. He had well polished shoes, and a gray tie with a gold pattern on it. His mask was shaped like an S and had a crystal design on it, the green crystals suited him, and they just plain looked good.

As an extra touch Kovu had colored the sides of his hair grey. He hadn't dyed it totally, just a few underlying hairs to give it a color. The grey hairs made him look older and definately completed the look. He looked like that boy your mother always warned you about, the one that would steal your wallet, your credit card, and your heart, and break them all.

He smirked and put on his mask, he held a kind of haugty aura as he paraded down the hall, he was a bit late for the preperation, but they hadn't put him in charge of anything, so it wasn't as if he was shirking his responsibilities. He walked in to see Gabriel, or Gage as people seemed to call him now, slip something into the punch.

Kovu's eyebrow raised, he edged closer, his mind darting back to Matt's party. He remembered that day quite clearly, for it's disasters, revelations, and begginnings. Hearing Gage speak Kovu whirled around "Yes it does add a whole new level of fun trust me on that one, just don't tell Seiya." Kovu leaned over, graabbed a small glass, and filled it with fluid. He took a sip and looked up. "Needs lemon, it'll help conceal it better." He then took off to find Jules without another word.

It wasn't hard, Jules was ornately dressed and kind of stood out. Kovu approached "I see you took out all the stops with your costume, but you have never been one to take costume parties lightly have you?" Kovu laughed and carried on a small conversation. He was a bit concerned about the punch, but thought, "Well it is a party for them, if they want to have a little fun with it who am I to interfere?" He would have to warn Jules though. Kovu remembered half-escorting half-carrying Jules to Tess's bedroom after he had basically crashed out on the dance floor, Jules shurely wouldn't want a repeat performance.

[berserker09]

Paul heard Gage say cover him, so he tried to conceal the fact that Gage was spiking the punch. He made a mental note not to drink it since he was not a huge fan of alcohol. He was not sure if they were going to get in trouble for this. Paul saw Kovu come over and started to get worried.

Paul's worries went away as Kovu told Gage to add lemon to mask it. Paul was so relieved to hear that. Paul grabbed some food and a water and turned to see who else had arrived. This was going to be one interesting party.

[xander]

Xander glanced over his shoulder at Gage and raised an eyebrow. True he planned to hassle all the recruits but he was totally up to go to met up with their coconspirator first. After all they needed Nineteen’s help.

“I haven’t had proper manner since I’ve been out of my parents striking distance,” Xander smiled, “and if you don’t have any treats you gonna get tricked young lady,”

He waved as Gage walked off with Paul. Xander wasn’t sure if he was if was just him but he thought Gage was acting a little strange lately. It wasn’t like he did it all the time, just enough to throw Xander off. If he took a stab in the dark, Xander figured it had to do with Gage’s theory regarding him maybe liking Nineteen. Girl was brilliant but he still barely knew her and could punch him throw the face.

“So you got the stuff or do we need to do a quick run around?” he asked with a tilted head.

[Jullian]

Jullian turned around when he heard Kovu's voice behind him. For a moment he had didn't say anything as he took in Kovu's costume. Kovu, maddeningly, had not only refused to let Jullian design his costume he'd also kept it a secret. Jullian had been wondering what he'd show up as for days. And now that he saw it he was glad Kovu hadn't told him. The surprise was so much better.

"You look wonderful Kovu," Jullian said looking him up and down once more and then settling for looking into his eyes. The green beads in the mask really accented his eyes and he found himself again wondering why masks made eyes look so alluring. "So I'm not the only one who pulled out all the stops for this costume party."

[Stray]

(( Too late to jump in? ))
Sable was walking down the hallway, dressed in his usual attire of boot-cut jeans and a black slim-fitting long sleeved shirt. His boots silent against the floor as usual, he glanced around. He had heard something about a party and was curious. He hadn’t been to a real party when he was in France, only to drag his roommates home afterward when they called him completely drunk.

He liked to think that he had grown out of things like this, parties and the like. When he was a kid in New York, house parties were always an option if you didn’t want to go home. Even if you didn’t drink then it was like the emotion of carefree joy was infectious. Of course so were the fights but you learned pretty fast. At least as long as no one brought weapons, Sable resisted the urge to rub at his upper arm where a gash stretched along the bicep. Instead of rubbing at his wound he brought a hand up to comb his fingers through his white-blond hair. He glanced down the hallway seeing the entrance to one of the other storage rooms open. Walking towards it he heard talking and laughing and he faltered for a minute, a few steps away from the open doorway. A wave of wary focus rose through Sable as he stared at the entrance quietly.

‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ He thought before sighing and going to walk into the room, seeing the decorations and the people already there. Gage, Xander and Nineteen were already by the table where a glass of fruit punch sat. Not thinking anything of it he glanced around at the other people who were already there. Kovu, Jullian, Matt and Paul were there already too. At least he thought they were, Masks and costumes were worn. A slight glance revealed their identity mostly though, Sable was good at memorizing body-types and other things that could identify someone.

His face still blank and expressionless he walked to the table where there was food and other things set on it and he reached for some chips, not because he was hungry. But because they were there and it was a familiar gesture. Maybe it was obvious but Sable didn’t think to dress up for this, then again he wasn’t really planning on attending the party. Subconsciously though, he was like everyone else and had been kind of anticipating a break from doing the usual boring things. Even if he wanted to be somewhat business like and professional he was still a kid too.

[Admin]

Seiya walked out onto the balcony as Dean started to descend to the party. He was dressed up for the occasion, or at least as dressed up as his comfort level would allow. He'd put on a gray jacket with a high collar and a cut that fit his slim but fit body almost too well with pants to match.

He came to stand at the railing of the balcony, his boots hitting the material of the bladeship's hull with a familiar, soft sound that was half tap and half thud. His arms were held behind him and his spine was ramrod straight as he gazed down at the young people from behind his silver mask. It was a simple and austere piece. It fit the rest of his outfit and his own sense of simplistic aestheticism.

"Are you a swan?" He turned as he heard the voice behind him, slightly startled. He wasn't used to being snuck up on and there weren't many that could pull it off. Cassie was one of the few.

He smiled, only one side of his mouth curling in an expression of surprise, pleasure and a hint of sarcasm as he responded, "Are you dressed as a certain dinosaur?" The comment was said in such a polite and level tone that it was all too easy to miss the joke in it. Most people thought he didn't have a sense of humor and for the most part they were right. Cassie, after all these years, picked up on the little bit of humor that he managed to squeeze out every once and awhile.

"No," she said, coming to stand next to him. "I just like purple, always have." Seiya nodded, turning to once again gaze at the small army below him. He watched as the white haired boy made his way through the crowd and over to the table and tried not to wonder where all these young people would be in a few months.

"It was good of you to suggest this for them," Seiya finally said, broaching the comfortable silence that had fallen. "They've been working hard."

Cassie turned to look at him out of the corner of her eye as she heard the stubborn note of pride under Seiya's usual calm tone. She highly doubted that he'd made any friends down here. To call him standoffish was an understatement. It had taken her months to even get to know him enough to call him a friend. When she'd assigned him this duty she'd hated herself a little, knowing she was sending him down to the end of the world and cutting him off from the difficult but comfortable familiarity he had managed to obtain with the older animorphs in New York.

If only she had the luxury of worrying about the happiness of every person under her command. She'd done her best with a few of them, sending Matt and Jullian down here with the small amount of family they'd managed to make for themselves including each other, but in Seiya's case there hadn't been anyone to send. And she'd needed his skills and his dedication working on this more than she needed it in New York.

Still, if he hadn't made any friends he'd at least come to care for those in his charge. She'd seen that the night before when he'd argued with more passion than she'd thought him capable of for such small things like vacations, wages and some sort of reliable communication system so that animorphs all over the globe could keep in contact with their comrades and friends in other cities. For someone who rarely deigned to engage in simple human connection Seiya understood it well enough to know that the army they were trying to form would need it.

"Are you going to stand up here all night," she asked, taking hold of his arm. Only a slight tensing of the muscles under her hand gave away the fact that she'd surprised him again. "Come on," she said, beginning to pull him down the stairs. He hesitated slightly, betraying his unease, before falling in gracefully beside her and walking down the stairs.

When they'd reached the main floor Cassie let go of his arm and for a moment he seemed at a loss. She had been going to catch up with Matt but as she watched him come to a halt in the middle of the floor she realized the moment she turned away Seiya would no doubt find a way to, politely, leave. So she grabbed his arm again instead and walked towards the snack table, seeing a crowd gathered around it.

She hadn't met many of the new recruits yet and she certainly hadn't talked to them at length so when she came up behind them she introduced herself. "Hello all of you. Cassie," she said while putting a hand to her chest before pouring herself a glass of the punch.

[Nineteen]

Through the cracked door, Nineteen grinned. In a lowered voice she said, "Hey now, I said I didn't have any candy, not that I didn't have any treats." She let the door open further, and went back over to her desk. Roughly pulling open the main drawer, she pulled out a medium-sized black purse. It clinked suspiciously as she slung it over her shoulder. Of course she was planning on ditching it the first chance she got, but for now, it would inconspicuously house their booze: at least as long as she didn't jostle it enough that the two bottles of vodka inside clanked against each other.

"Let's go then," she gestured towards the door. Before they got out of the room though, she handed him one of the bottles. "So you're not left outta the fun. You go last -- I'm sure Gage's already added his. I'll go next. Don't wanna do it all at once... idea is that by the time you put yours in, they're already tipsy enough that they barely notice." Smirking fiendishly, Nineteen set off to where the party was being held.

Despite her desire to mock most cheesy, sentimental gestures, Nineteen was a bit taken aback by how thoughtfully organized the party was when they got there. The decorations were actually impressively well done, given the constraints. Then again, it was her first holiday celebration in half and decade, so that probably played a role. The music in the background was an interesting choice: someone had found one of those CDs they sold with a bunch of silly Halloween music and sound-effects on it. She supposed that it beat the alternative: the most recent music available was still years old by now, and no one needed a reminder that pop culture had been just one more casualty in this war.

Everyone seemed to be meeting around the snack table, which was at the other end of the long table where the punch was already placed. Nineteen quickly recognized the teachers and the other recruits she'd met, though there were one or two other people she couldn't place. They all seemed to be absorbed in conversation with each other...

...which made it a perfect time to apply her alcohol to the punch. Well, not perfect maybe, but it would certainly be bold. They likely wouldn't notice because they were talking, but their close physical proximity would make it even bolder. Nineteen wasn't sure who she was trying to impress, but if she had to say, it would probably have been Xander, and by extension, Gage. They'd all seemed to be locked in a friendly battle to one-up each other ever since they started hanging out together.

So, Nineteen feigned pouring herself a drink as she poured in her bottle. She struck up idle small talk with Xander as she did it, turning just so that her back would cover what her hands were doing to most of the other end of the table, without looking too suspicious. Despite feeling giddy and jittery inside (more of a good feeling than a nervous one), her hands didn't shake. Nineteen might have had been great in the common sense department, but she more than made up for it in nerves.

When she'd finished dumping the vodka in, she quickly put the empty bottle back in her purse, which she'd laid on the other side of the punch bowl. It only required a quick zip-up, and she was finished. Looking up, she noticed that a lot of attention seemed to be focused on the woman she didn't recognize. She seemed too old to be a recruit. A teacher maybe?

"So Xander, why don't you pour us each a nice plastic cup of that punch, huh?" She didn't really look over at him much when she said it though, still trying to place the other woman in purple.