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"Here, allow me." Sam generously topped off his glass, so that champagne was pretty much foaming off the glass. She was smiling, but in that dangerous way that suggested someone would be sleeping in the children's playground, and it most definitely wasn't her. "Let's try promising as in something for me to sell my clients with. Unfortunately our last meeting, where you came, pulled out a diagram, and said 'It works' didn't quite sell as well as it hoped, so I guess you could say funding was cut much shorter than expected, and if I cannot get my vacation to the Maldives and a matching Prada bag for my new dress," Sam very, very tightly gripped Lucky's arm with her free hand, "perhaps Argus funding may just be cut off entirely. Just maybe."

Jordan led Ro inside, his eyes flicking over the people gathered in the room to see who was there and who wasn't. A bit of a crowd, but not too bad. "Looks like the junior squad's all in here," he said. He wondered sometimes what it would have been like to be raised on the island from childhood, knowing from your earliest days that there were people like you. It was idle speculation. The younger children were a recent thing, he'd been told.

He spotted Robert near the dessert table with 'Mona in tow, as usual, and considered heading over to harass his friend; then he noticed Mimsy looking somewhat flustered nearby and decided against it. He'd give the big guy a little longer to finish being awkward. Maybe tonight Robert would manage to get some words out.

"There's got to be a cheese plate around here somewhere," he said to Ro. "Anything you want? The kitchens really outdid themselves, look at all this stuff."

"Oh, thank... you..." Lucky had finally noticed the look on her face, about when the champagne froth began to spill over the edge of the glass and onto his hand. He continued to stand there and look very unsure of what to do with himself as Sam prowled closer.

Oh, right. The meeting. He'd thought it went rather well. It was usually a good sign when people didn't ask any questions -

But it really wasn't the clients he was concerned about right now.

"You make a very convincing argument," he intoned painfully as she held his arm hostage, though he still smiled in a way that suggested it was more of a cry for help to outsiders now. "How hard can it really be write a surveillance program for the Argus? It'll probably just take a week - ow, ow, ow - a few days -"

"I'll see to it that he practices all night sir," Corbin assured with a smug grin. "I will also guarantee that he will get to bed early." Corbin felt so clever with the word games. His head turned to his training partner and the grin finally turned less menacing, "Speaking of; are you done eating?"

Good job, Morris. She thought it sounded nice. That meant he was totally on target with being the right kind of guy to ask her out, and he was damn proud of that. After all, he thought she really deserved the right kind of guy - and if he wasn't it, he didn't want to muddy up her life with his presence. But maybe he was. Just maybe. It was worth a shot.

She had an exception, and she looked a little like she was trying to be cute about it, which meant it was probably going to be some kind of joke. So he turned Ramona around, but kept her in one arm, cuddling her close and eyeing the ninja band around her head. Did Allan just induct her into some sort of weird japanese cult? Maybe he should just..

Mimsy's exception wasn't something he expected, but it was a perfect joke for the moment. After all, they did definitely live in a world of monsters. Robert gave her a goofy smile, slightly dazed by just how clever she really was, before he laughed and shook Ramona like a milkshake.

"You hear that, squirt? She says she don't want no monster like you! YOU'RE FIRED!"

"I DON'T CARE DADDY I'M A GREMLIN NINJA JUJU MASTER OF THE KOOKOOGOO VILLAGE I DON'T NEED YOU-" This response was louder than it needed to be, and she squirmed violently as she screamed it. He let her go if only to keep her from accidentally falling out of his arms, which were just high enough to cause injury. She fled, squealing with delight, and flopped down against Allan's back. "THANK YOU GREMLIN NINJA MASTER I WILL NOT FAIL YOU."

Loudness ran in the family.

Robert tried not to feel abandoned, and chuckled with embarrassment, returning to Mimsy with a weak smile. "Yeah.. gotta watch out for those gremlins. Human kids are where it's at, huh." He leaned in, and in a very serious whisper tried to explain. "She's an angel, really, you know that right?"

If Mimsy really didn't like Ramona.. this situation had just ended before it could begin.

"Nah," Robert drawled out, his voice dripping with pride. "Just an angel." He was watching her, even as she climbed all over Allan for attention, and burst the man's eardrums with her booming voice. He felt Mimsy's hand on her shoulder, but his gaze wouldn't deter from watching Ramona in that moment; even as Mimsy echoed a sentiment he was already well aware of.

"Yeah." Robert breathed out happily. "She is pretty exceptional." Ramona was his life, and it had taken so much to get him to even consider thinking about things like asking a woman out; no, it had taken Ramona. If she hadn't been filled with some airy notion that her father needed something other than her to keep him happy..

"Kids grow up too fast, you know." Robert's proud smile had faded in lieu of something far more melancholy. "I feel like just yesterday she fit in my hand. And now she's just.. so.."

Perfect.

Mimsy might have felt embarrassed to ask a question that sounded like it could have been taken in terrible, wonderful ways, but she couldn't have accounted for just how focused Robert was on his daughter at that moment. He took her words at face value, and turned back to her, his eyes widening in surprise. "You mean, other than Ramona?" He asked, his voice rising slightly with anxiety. "Well, I mean, you, I guess. Or, no - I mean, that was.. the whole.. point.. I was asking if you wanted to.. you know, New Years, and all, and people usually have dates to this thing which was why I was asking if you wanted to be mine aaaaand I'm just gonna shut up now."

Their expressions, and the color of their skin matched nicely.

"Enjoy it while you can Mister." Billie was loading her plate. She was definitely hungry but had been playing around with the idea of a diet. It wasn't as easy to stay thin as it used to be, but throwing caution to the wind (it was a holiday) she just went ahead and took whatever she wanted. "Cause when this dress comes off.. it's straight into the sweat pants!" She teased him but winked.

Having a plate full of food made the night just a bit better and after Warden had his she navigated the crowd to find them a table. Each setting had a new years hat (with glitter) and a noisemaker. Already she could hear a few of the smaller kids honking and tooting somewhere to their left. She couldn't help watching them, her heart giving a small pang with the continued reality she'd never have one of her own. One that was truly theirs. Her eyes dragged back to Warden when he joined her at the table.

"So.. have you gotten the retirement talk yet?" They were up their in 'hunter-years' and fieldwork was starting to be discouraged for them. She'd already been approached about working with bonded hunters with healing abilities, to teach them and guide them. "Maybe we could think about it..? Vacation?"

"Do they?" Ramona was never that small when Mimsy knew her, as far as she could remember, but she had certainly seemed to grow quickly. There was an inevitable height in her future, she thought. "Well...you could always have more! Not to...not for the sake of replacing her, of course, but to repeat the experience. As frequently as you would like to, I imagine! I mean...if it were me, that's what..."

A little mental reminder in Clerise's voice prompted her to remember to be considerate of what he'd said, which included lots of time between now and thinking about having children together, was the gentle nudge she needed to get back on track.

"Oh! Really?" She peeked through her fingers and moved her hand away from her eyes, tentatively touching her cheek instead. "I...I didn't want to assume, but--"

She giggled again.

"Well. 'Be mine' is for a different holiday, silly. But I will be anyway." With a smile, she extended a nervous hand towards him, barely managing to prevent her fingers from shaking.