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{ Full Title: [PD] Everything Plus the Kitchen Sink (Cascade/Meadow/Alexis/Sasha/Lilly/Honey/Myrrh/Endymion/Margarita/Terpsichore) }


As the trio of pokémon-turned-children cut their way along the more scenic route toward their destination, there seemed to be a slight tenseness in the air. While it was quite generous of Meadow to invite the group to a friendly get-together over dinner, there were just some things that had not been ironed out yet. None of them had ever been invited into someone else's home, and for most of them, had rarely even set foot in a regular humanesque building at all. Margarita's personality quirks were another note to be concerned about, especially should she find the need to chuck any objects at acquaintances with pending friendships. Terpsichore didn't like to make enemies, and Endymion didn't like to be embarrassed, but Margarita didn't seem to see anything wrong with the scenario.

Fiddling with her natural cowlick in a vain attempt to get it to lay flat, Terpsichore eyed the shorter violet child warily. The grimer was broadly grinning -- almost too innocently -- clutching her friend the salt shaker close to her. "Did you really have to bring that thing?" she grumped, stressed.

"Of course! Didn't the nice lady invite all of us? Why would I leave Paprika home, all by her lonesome?" the banded girl chirped, perplexed.

The shroomish glowered, "'Paprika' isn't sentient; I'm pretty sure she just meant--"

"Just let it go, Terp. It's not like things can be undone," Endymion warned, closing the argument before it escalated to irritating levels.

The brunette's eyebrows knit in worry, but she conceded. This was suppose to be fun, so she was going to need to loosen up. Besides, the scyther was the most tense out of all of them, and Terpsichore had promised Meadow to keep an eye on things, become the better adult of a situation. How could she do that if she were stirring up even more apprehension. She flashed a grin back to the boy, who promptly turned away, thinking she was going to try to mimic him again. She giggled, trying to stay true to giving the atmosphere a more light-hearted air. It was a bit awkward; she still had a ways to go to learn.

"There it is!" Margarita exclaimed with a start, pointing toward the front door. After a moment, she glanced back to Endymion to silently ask for directive, for she was not a hundred percent positive that she was correct in her assumptions.

The boy focused on it, dipping his head into a slight nod, "I think you're right. Let's go see--"

"ME FIRST!" Margarita cheered, rushing off before caution dug too far into her conscious. She knocked on the door a couple of times in rapid succession before noticing the button for the doorbell. Her grin only broadened -- buttons! So much fun! She pressed it a few times as well, bouncing in place as she did so before Terpsichore, coming up from behind, yanked her hand away from the bell with a warning stare.

Endymion snorted at the reaction, but as disconcerted as he was with this introduction, he could at least say that he was expecting it. "At least I warned her..." he sighed.

While her wrist had been restrained so as not to try ringing the doorbell like a madman any longer, Margarita refrained from moving out of the way, holding her stead expectantly. In fact, she was practically bouncing on her heels in place, something that caused Terpsichore to snicker in reaction to as she released her grip. After a second, the shroomish wished she had held on a bit longer, for the exclamation of surprised caused the grimer-girl to hop even further in reaction. "Waah!" she jolted, tossing some salt at the assailants as a reactionary counter-defense. Wide-eyed, her eyes lowered to the salt shaker in her hands, "Paprika!"

"Margarita!" Terpsichore exclaimed, shocked.

"It wasn't me!" the lavender child hastily corrected. Her eyes fell back on Lexi and Sasha, and a broad grin found its way back onto her face in no time flat, "Heeey, you didn't melt!" No, she didn't expect that they would have... but she kind of wanted to know if anyone actually would, one of these days.

The shroomish almost planted a palm to her own forehead at that, but offered a sheepish smile instead, "Erm... sorry about that; that's Margarita. It's great to see you again! Recognize me?" Her frilled ears flitted slightly as her smile grew more perky, but she inched a bit closer to Endymion, should the scyther try to bolt. Last she heard, he wasn't on the best of terms with these two...

However, he didn't seem to recognize the two teens, at least at first. Endymion had jumped at their quick appearance in the doorway, paired with Margarita's own counterattack, but he froze in place instead. It was partly due to the fact that he didn't see the place as being threatening that his 'flight' response was disabled. I warned Meadow that she was a handful... he had to keep reminding himself, in an effort not to panic at the grimer's immense lack of tact.

He was about to push past it and introduce himself instead, but it was then that he took a closer look at Sasha. One didn't tend to forget a strange hybridized poké-child when they had been literally stuck to one another upon last meeting, even if it did seem as though she grew... and evolved. "Y-You!?" he took an uneasy step back in surprise, but Terp caught him by the sleeve. He bit down harshly on his lip and hissed quietly, "You have got to be kidding me..." It was probably fortunate that he had not yet recognized the more confident form of Alexis through the tension, or terror might have taken the place of the initial shock. It's possible I won't be linked to being the same scyther, he attempted a swift assurance, fidgeting slightly, I wasn't changed back then, and... and a scyther isn't too unusual a pokémon, right?

Terpsichore pulled at his shirt, trying to get him to move in closer, "Endy, say hi."

The scyther stumbled slightly, mentally cursing to himself; there went that possibility. "Ah... h-hi, Sasha," he offered. His nervousness grew as he took another look at the one who had first opened the door, and took a gamble he didn't really want an affirmative on, "And... Lexi?"

"Paprika!" Margarita exclaimed suddenly, holding the salt shaker up in introduction. Everyone else was saying names, so why not?

Fumbling with the salt shaker, Margarita was caught by surprise by the questions raised by the vibrant blue teenager. A grin split across her face as Sasha seemed to go along with the fact that Paprika might be more than she let on. Holding the container of salt up, the grimer replied excitedly, "Salt is a code name, her real name is Paprika! People only know her by Salt because that's the name that everyone fears; she's a super spy!" She said it so matter-of-factly, Terpsichore rolled her eyes at the statements that she had heard weeks prior, but the young shroomish was beginning to see the entertainment value of the story. The grimer-girl stood more firmly upright, a stern expression on her face as she continued, "Sudden Assault with Lethal Technology. See? Nobody's gonna mess with her when everyone knows her by that name! Paprika doesn't sound as intimidating, does it?" She giggled, eager to relay all this information about an individual that was supposedly very secretive about identity.

Terpsichore probably could not have looked happier if she tried -- she had been a little nervous about not being recognized! She really did like this bunch, and didn't want there to be such a rut in the way of friendship. "Yeah, this is new!" the girl agreed, tugging at the frills around a wrist that was not there a week ago, "It happened soon after I met you guys. You must be good luck!" She had, after all, always wanted to be human -- just like the trio of girls she had been acquainted with! It didn't matter that it was most assuredly coincidence.

Endymion, however, had thought of the transformation more negatively than his counterpart, and his eyes darted away at the mention of it. He stood out even more than he had before, so how was this better? Did Meadow know all along who he was and that he had known both Lexi and Sasha? He wasn't sure what he was supposed to really say, or think... other than the terror he usually felt around Lexi, but then he would have much preferred to lose that feeling as well.

"It's nice to meet you, too!" Margarita piped in, though anything she may have said further was swiftly silenced by the tongue planted on her skin. Terpsichore and Endymion looked on in horror, but the grimer only watched, curious, "What's that supposed to test? If I'm going to explode? If I'd taste good next to a helping of french fries?" She hadn't heard of this old wives' tale! Was it like the salting one at all?

It took a bit of effort, but Terpsichore turned back to Lexi at the explanation of Sasha's licks. Puzzled, she frowned, "That's not just Sasha's way of saying hello?" She had thought it was a custom... whoops!

"If she tastes anything as bad as she smells..." Endy commented absently, with a bit of a wince. Margarita had been taking care of her innate ability to stink, at least, but that didn't mean it got rid of it completely, in certain cases. Despite being told that Sasha didn't tend to lick an individual more than once, Endy made a mental note to avoid her anyway, just in case.

Following inside, it was only Terpsichore who was in the dark about who was going to be there, at least as far as anyone she already knew. Endymion's surprise left his fear momentarily to the side, "...Cascade?" Wait, did that mean the person she had wanted to talk to about their past was here?

Margarita gaped and bounced a bit in place, just inside the door, "Oh! Myrrh-Myrrh is here?" Woah, she actually knew someone here? Really? She was a mite bit skeptical, "Floaty haunted rock-ghost?" The word 'spiritomb' was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't remember the exact term.

The shroomish-girl watched the interactions, slightly amused and just a little baffled how they knew so many of the individuals in the house. She had been pretty sure that neither one of her teammates got out much... one was barred from going herself, while the other tended to bar himself. Turning to the two that entered the room with such haste, Terpsichore smiled and extended a hand in greeting, "Hi there, my name's Terpsichore!"

Margarita blinked at Alexis' retorting acronym, confused at first before her eyes grew steadily wider alongside her grin. Ooooh, she got it! Margarita might not have fully understood the gravity of the title, but she understood it well enough. "Ha! Well that's a bit harder to remember, isn't it?" she giggled. She liked these people already; they were clever! Not only that, but quick, and the grimer couldn't help but make a request to such a degree, "Do me next, do me!" It didn't seem to register to the girl that her name was a little on the long side.

Terpsichore tilted her head when Alexis explained that another of her roommates came to terms with the transformation a bit slower than the rest. Sure, she'd run into a few that took to the changes a little more hesitantly -- Endymion being a prime example, of course -- but she never truly understood it most of the time. "Was her previous form better at doing things than it is now?" she considered aloud. The shroomish girl couldn't get enough of these hands, and this height, it was so helpful!

Margarita seemed to pout at bit at Sasha's reaction to licking her, releasing a bit of a huff. Her other two teammates were still shocked enough into silence that, with the blue hybrid's tongue-tied nature, it was remarkably quiet as compared to before. "So..." she tried to draw the conclusions herself, "...I take it that's a 'no' for the side of fries?" Well at least she could take solace in the fact that she wouldn't turn out like Hansel and Gretel.


Once they were inside, Terpsichore was brimming with eager happiness, as she was quick to respond with; she couldn't seem to wipe the grin off her face if she wanted to. Endymion hesitated at being addressed directly, making it difficult not to blank out on the details when put into the spotlight, especially when the subject was about himself. "I kind of just... found it. It didn't seem like anything special at the time..." he tried to explain, wondering if she was singling him out because she knew he was scared. He still hadn't quite grasped the fact that Lexi could only really read strong emotions, not thoughts themselves, and due to this was more than a little apprehensive. He had thought that star had been radioactive, for Pete's sake! He wasn't going to say that out loud, but how much did she really know?

Before he really got the chance to say anything more than a very vague, skirted response, Sasha's grip tore any flimsy thoughts from his head. Terpsichore shrieked at the sudden occurrence, but was quick to laugh it off once she realized what was happening, hugging at the arm that had wrapped its way around her. "It's been too long!" the shroomish piped with a laugh; they were still just as much fun as she remembered!

Currently unpreoccupied with Sasha's bear hug, Margarita gave Cascade her full attention, "Hi! I'm Margarita and this is Paprika. And that's Terpsy." She already seemed to know Endy, so there was no use to introduce him. Terpsichore offered an awkward wave under the hybrid-girl's arm before she had released the shroomish. Blinking as though bewildered, the grimer-child chirped a quick, "Wow, you're pretty!" 'Elegant' probably would have been the closer word she had been wanting to use, but Margarita wasn't much for a wide vocabulary today.

Her attention whipped back to Lexi once she had confirmed Margarita's suspicions. Without a second thought on the matter, and no matter to whether they'd even recognize one another, her insistence was strong, "Can we wake her up? She'd be up for a party, wouldn't she?" What would happen if she spooked a ghost awake by screaming, "BOO!" anyway?

Restraightening out her posture, Terpsichore giggled at Lilly and Honey's excitement, as though it were mirroring how she was feeling on the inside. Wow, everyone here was so friendly; it was a nice change of pace! "You've really heard a lot about me?" she asked, flattered. Well, if they knew so much about her, then she was going to have to get started getting to know them! Peeking out from her hair at the hair-ruffling with a laugh, she reverted back to the dramatic tone that she had used when she had first encountered Meadow, Alexis, and Sasha in town, "You guys are just the sweetest. Coming from you, I think I can safely say that that is of the highest standard of compliment!" The admiration she was feeling for this whole family unit was evident in her glowing expression.

"I'm Margarita!" the grimer confirmed loudly. She was so excited and she barely had any idea as to why, or what she could do with all this excitement-induced excess energy.

Endymion nodded to the two teens that just arrived, as way of a small wave that didn't require the use of his blades to accomplish. However, once he heard Meadow call out from the other room, he realized he had a temporary means of escape at his disposal. To prevent a claustrophobic panic attack, it was the better option, and he offered Cascade a sheepish smile as way of apology; they'd have to catch up later. "I think I'm going to go see if she needs any... help with that," he stated quietly, inching out of the room and into the kitchen.

Once he got there, though, he wasn't quite sure how to react, and the indecisiveness combined with the wavering apprehension left its mark in his lingering silence. He could say something about how busy it had gotten suddenly, offer to help, question whether she knew all along that he knew half those people already (and was similarly scared of some of them)... say hi? With a sigh, he ended up saying the first thing that came to mind, "...I think Sasha tweaked one of my wings." Or, you know... he could just say none of the above, since he seemed to be pretty good at beating around the bush.