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Super Heliodor
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While it was advertised as a party, Aelius hadn’t had high hopes for the festivities. In fact, he had 0 hopes for them because he had hoped that Albite would have let him stay home instead of being force out to socialize. Alas, he was not so lucky, and instead of arriving with the man, was sent ahead while Albite went and did whatever it was he needed to do before he also made an appearance. Great. Not only was Helio at the party but now he really felt like a boat with no oar.

But hey, atleast the place was decorated. Tacky, perhaps with all the mish-mashed decor, but decorated.

The food certainly smelled good. And from what he saw as he meandered into the gathering place, it looked appetizing. Whoever had taken the time to prepare all of this appeared to know their way around a kitchen well enough.

Still, good looking food or not, Helio was already tense and anxious about being there. People were already milling about and mingling and there were quite a few familiar faces. More than Helio wished to see, to be honest. Damn it, Albite. You could have at least come with me instead of sending me ahead. Jaw clenched he tried to avoid eye contact. Tama and Hestia were here, and were probably the safest to be around, but there was no desire to jump right on into the pool.

Eyes shifted to where, he assumed, the alcohol was. Lips pursed. That was practically jumping into the deep end.

So, the senshi found himself a quiet spot to lean against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the other party goers in an attempt to not look as tense as he felt.

Negaverse Super Niter of the Interstice

It took Niter several long nights of deliberation before he finally decided to go to the Negaverse Thanksgiving that Aqua had set up. He thought Aqua was fine, Aqua had even taught him how to teleport, but it was an event thing and there were going to be people there and Thanksgiving wasn't really something that his parents ever celebrated, so it wasn't much of a holiday to him. But it had warm, prepped food available for free for anyone who arrived, and Niter liked food. He especially liked food when he let his cupboards go bare and his sister didn't take pity on him and do his shopping for him.

So by the time the day came, Niter had eaten his last ramen packet that was sitting at the back of his pantry. He'd even gone through all the dried mushroom slices that his mom had made for him. He didn't even like mushrooms most of the time.

He was ravenous like a stray when he approached the table, assaulted by the overwhelming smells that had him nearly drooling on himself. Once it was his turn in line, he seized a warmed plate and piled it with just about every food that was available, from sweet potatoes (which he loved) to green bean casserole (which he didn't love but it had green stuff in it) and everything in between. Some of that food, especially the mashed potatoes, wanted to migrate to the end of the dish and fall off, but Niter kept it expertly barricaded in with a fork. He hadn't taken a bite yet, but he decided it was worth coming here.

But before he could sit down to stuff his face, there was one last thing to do — Niter crossed the room to where Aqua was sitting with a couple officers that he didn't recognize. It looked like Jet had somewhere else to be, so the only person Niter knew in the vicinity was Aqua. He had to use both hands for the plate, so once he approached Aqua, he bowed his head. "Thank you for the food," he said, not wanting to say any more to embarrass Aqua or assume any intention. Thanks said, he was off to find a place in the corner where he could inhale an impossible amount of food.

General King Jet
At drink table

“I bet we could take her down faster if we all worked together, Adonis. Hmm, maybe that’s too cliche and not as fun as a competition,” Jet frowned thoughtfully to himself as he approached the drinks where Arles and Alys were… doing their thing.

And harassing people, at least in the case of Arles, it seemed.

“You look well, Jadarite,” Jet greeted with a casual nod, certainly with no intention of keeping her there if she was ready to move on. “Glad you could make it,” he offered a smile to Adonis as well, but the pleasantness faded when his eyes moved to the youma.

“Stop being… whatever you’re being,” he sighed in heavy exasperation at his youma, who only responded with a grin that could be mistaken for a snarl with all the teeth being shown. Jet was not impressed and turned to Alys instead.

“Hey, could I get a couple glasses, please? Did you get anything yet, Adonis? Just ignore him, he hasn’t been properly socialized,” he frowned once more at Arles.

Youma Arles

“My dear Sovereign, I was merely doing my duty. There is no need for hostility,” he said with a clawed hand placed over his chest as though he took severe offense to the accusations.

“What happened to your championing of youma rights? Was that all for show? Are we merely to be used as pawns and servants? Tsk, I had higher hopes.”

Arles ended with a flourish of sorrowful and distressed gestures, and then went right back to grinning. Which Jet responded to with another grimace and roll of his eyes as he waited to make sure those who were still waiting for drinks got what they wanted.

Lieutenant Sodalite

Hearing a voice that was nearby Sodalite realized that a senshi was indeed addressing him. He gave a wry smile in response to the comment that she gave before chuckling, "It is unusual to invite people to a feast but then not engage with those that come. Or wish, perhaps secretly, that you don't actually want the company to come partake."

Pausing in his thoughts Sodalite glanced over at the speaker, who turned out to be a senshi, before he felt a moment of apprehension. It was obviously, even before her comment of making things not orders, that he'd worked out that she was of a higher rank than he was, but with the permission out in the open that he could ignore the query posed at him, Sodalite sighed.

"In all fairness I'm surprised by the expenditure. But that being said it definitely makes one feel welcome within this organization. Has anything been done like this before?"

It had only been a year since Sodalite had been brought into the Negaverse and never before had he seen an event quite like this.

Negaverse Eternal Adonis of Skin

"'Ey, you offering, Boss-man? Cuz I'll take it. Sounds like it turns a gamble into a guarantee." If the Negaverse were the House, then he'd rather the House always won. Teaming up with Jet? Sounded like a straight path to victory to him. "We can split the pot fifty-fifty, too." Not that money was really an issue after they started collecting paychecks.

Still, a little extra didn't hurt.

"Aw, don't be too hard on 'im," Adonis replied with a jerk of his head toward the youma. "He's trying his best! Right, Poochface? Gold stars all around." He'd have thrown an arm around the youma, but that was asking for his starseed to get eaten straight out of his chest. He beamed Arles a winning smile instead.

"'Sides, I can pour my own drinks. Been doin' it for years." He probably just needed permission to dispense his own alcohol.

To Jet, he quietly asked, "Youma have rights?"

Youma Rat King?

The rat resumed his scurrying, dodging feet and fallen food alike since it departed from Ethe's tail. He was successful for a while — he was getting used to this set of legs — until he nearly ran snout-first into another Mauvian. And Magnus did not look as aloof or as passively friendly as he did when the Rat King was first acquainted with him. He looked at him like he was something to chase down and demolish. The little rat froze.

It was the squeak from behind that motivated him to move again. He sprung up in the air, then shot off perpendicular to the Mauvian that worked under Tama. He maneuvered around the curve of Jet's boot where he paused and looked over the top of it, surveying the landscape.

Feet. Feet as far as the eye could see. And, there in the first few feet of the entrance, was a pair of youma rats. They looked like they had only just begun searching the Negaverse Thanksgiving affair, which meant that he still had time to worm his way out of this mess.

He dipped past Jet's boot and toward another table, hoping to lose the enemy surveillance party.

Hestia

Seeing Ethe dig in with relish, Hestia dismissed herself so as not to loom over them as they ate. Though...it was a rather interesting sight, and brought up a number of questions. But this was neither the time nor the place. Perhaps meeting with Ethe later would be a good idea, though. Getting to know another's preferences was always worthwhile, and maybe Ethe could benefit from being asked such questions, as new to this existence as they were.

Turning, she saw Niter, and was about to go say hello as a fun little surprise, but then the scurrying and near accidents of a rather large rat youma caught her eye. On the heels of helping Ethe, with accessibility for youma on the mind, the maid decided she would help the poor thing out.

Hestia tended to walk very lightly and keep a low presence, most especially on occasions such as this. So she didn't particularly intend to sneak up on the creature, it was just her habit. And she'd...dealt with rats before, so if the manner in which she picked it up seemed a little too fast and startling, well, she was simply very practiced.

Catching herself before she could neatly snap the rat youma's neck, Hestia smiled gently down at it, and asked, "Is there somewhere you'd like me to take you?" Oh, it may not be able to vocalize properly, right? "You can simply point, and I'll assist you."

General Jadarite

Jadarite stepped slightly to the side, so that she would not be in the way if someone else wanted to come request a drink, but she stayed listening attentively to the conversation. Jet was not a General-King who she was able to rub elbows with often, so while she had the chance she'd take it.

Not that she could say she knew much about Sylvite. A little pink thing. She knew that much, from events like this, but nothing more.

"Instead of taking bets, put the money on her head," said Jada, half-casual. She was making conversation, but as usual, she thought her idea was a good one.

The youma bickering went largely ignored.

"See who shows up with it, or which of you two can get there first. Collaborate if you want. That's probably the most effective." She tapped red fingernails on the glass."You could do it for the rest of the traitors, too. The other recent financial incentive seems to have people's spirits up."