Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Swith Witherward]

He had a grin on his face. Like the same grin Spongebob gives when he knows something is up. Iin a chanting tune he said, "I know someone who's stressed out and that is you-u."

"If you were Superbia, I'd deck you in the hope that the squeak toy sound would bring me cheer," Charumati growled.

Levi had actually managed to cheer her with just the thought of shoving the demon's nose into his face. Charumati's frown crumbled at the edges and a playful snort escaped her. It wasn't the same as having Thriller there, but the humor was familiar and felt right.

"Alright Levi, let's put our best foot forward and attend this party."

[Germanic Templars]

He had a grin on his face. Like the same grin Spongebob gives when he knows something is up. Iin a chanting tune he said, "I know someone who's stressed out and that is you-u."

"If you were Superbia, I'd deck you in the hope that the squeak toy sound would bring me cheer," Charumati growled.

Levi had actually managed to cheer her with just the thought of shoving the demon's nose into his face. Charumati's frown crumbled at the edges and a playful snort escaped her. It wasn't the same as having Thriller there, but the humor was familiar and felt right.

"Alright Levi, let's put our best foot forward and attend this party."

"Sounds good to me. Just wonder what they'll think if we told them you-know-who is dead."

[Tiltjuice]

"Yes...Well, I suppose that enjoying the party would be best. There's no telling how much we'll wish that we did once it's all over," Ray gave a rather honest statement, and then chuckled for a brief moment before continuing.

"But yes, I didn't have this much fur. You can thank the raptors, because this isn't my original body at all. I kind of died," he sighed with a certain amount of nostalgia over the incident, which was rather ironic. "Would you believe me if I said I was crushed by a racehorse that fell from the sky?"

"Among this bunch? Yes. I'm not sure how many people have their original bodies anymore. Well, at least it wasn't a portable toilet," Luce offered.

"So . . ."

The conversation seemed to dull as Ray arrived, and being on the fast track to end up being about Tasia, Kei desperately wanted to change the topic. It wasn't that Tasia wasn't important, it was that they were at a damn dinner party.

"How about we discuss something else?"

"You have something in mind?" Dia rasped. "I don't, but I'm game to hear what's on yours. I'd offer to tell you more about what Luce was on about, but it's rather dull, really. Relationship drama. Not much to it that you couldn't get from a soap opera, and even more straightforward than that. He's just embarrassed because he's more uptight than the rest of us."

Hans was internally taken aback by the question. No one had ever asked it. To be sure, that's because he was never apart from the men. At least, not until the move to Bielefeld. He had been faceless Schutzstaffel and then faceless Khornate. Seen one, seen 'em all. He hadn't even been aware of using the phrasing when he'd invited Cuisine. How quickly the heart heals!

"My group," just saying the words caused a feeling of warmth to spread deep within him, "I suppose is a few of the cultists and the Conservators. I don't see any cultists, so we'll just join the time cops, if that's alright with you? Maybe we'll see if Dan will join us?"

"That's no problem with me," assured the chef. "Haven't had much time to socialize either, I suppose? Funny how people find similarities in the oddest places."

He took a sip from his drink (champagne). It's a shame this isn't a costume party, either. Otherwise, we could find Dan if he's around, mock up three fake guns, and be the Three Musketeers."

[Swith Witherward]

"Sounds good to me. Just wonder what they'll think if we told them you-know-who is dead."

Charumati's expression betrayed a trace of animosity. "Some of them do know."

Swith, heal me! Heal my lover! Bring back my friend. Fix this problem. Be there for me. Cheer me up!

None of them had come to Swith after Thriller left. None just knocked on her door to make sure she was emotionally okay. No, they knocked because they needed shit. None of the ones who knew of Thriller's death had even stopped by to offer their condolences. None had even asked why Thriller wasn't present at the last two gatherings. Not a one. Swith would have forgiven them, of course, Swith would have understood that they were busy with their lives and might not even have thought to ask about Thriller's absence at the Thanksgiving feast. Charumat wasn't Swith, however. She sat at that table and watched in stony silence as all Swith's "friends" stuffed their faces and laughed at each other's jokes. She'd not said a word, but she'd slowly died inside that night.

Her eyes settled on Levi. He'd come to tell her, at least. She didn't trust him, but he'd made the effort. Sapphire had as well.

"Perhaps they should be told," Charumati said to Levi. "But why? They aren't blind. The Templars are back and Thriller wasn't at any of the gatherings. Levi, tell me, what would they do other than offer shallow condolences while secretly wiping their brows in relief that it hadn't happened to them?"

[Germanic Templars]

"Sounds good to me. Just wonder what they'll think if we told them you-know-who is dead."

Charumati's expression betrayed a trace of animosity. "Some of them do know."

Swith, heal me! Heal my lover! Bring back my friend. Fix this problem. Be there for me. Cheer me up!

None of them had come to Swith after Thriller left. None just knocked on her door to make sure she was emotionally okay. No, they knocked because they needed shit. None of the ones who knew of Thriller's death had even stopped by to offer their condolences. None had even asked why Thriller wasn't present at the last two gatherings. Not a one. Swith would have forgiven them, of course, Swith would have understood that they were busy with their lives and might not even have thought to ask about Thriller's absence at the Thanksgiving feast. Charumat wasn't Swith, however. She sat at that table and watched in stony silence as all Swith's "friends" stuffed their faces and laughed at each other's jokes. She'd not said a word, but she'd slowly died inside that night.

Her eyes settled on Levi. He'd come to tell her, at least. She didn't trust him, but he'd made the effort. Sapphire had as well.

"Perhaps they should be told," Charumati said to Levi. "But why? They aren't blind. The Templars are back and Thriller wasn't at any of the gatherings. Levi, tell me, what would they do other than offer shallow condolences while secretly wiping their brows in relief that it hadn't happened to them?"

"Well I just wanna see if the dinosaur gets pissed off at the fact that he never had the chance to kill him. Or at least sees how he reacts. Everyone else has their own things I guess." He shrugged, that was the best answer he could give at the moment.

[Swith Witherward]

"Well I just wanna see if the dinosaur gets pissed off at the fact that he never had the chance to kill him. Or at least sees how he reacts. Everyone else has their own things I guess." He shrugged, that was the best answer he could give at the moment.

A wry sneer flickered to Charumati's face and twisted into a pleasant smile. "By all means, knock yourself out."

What did she care if Levi used the death to get some jollies? She stepped through the gate and found a seat at an unoccupied table. It took much resolve to even be counted amongst the group, so distanced was she from them at the moment. In sharp contract to her emotionless demeanor, the twins frolicked on the raptor's lawn. They embodied joy, their laughter so similar to their father's. Atosh had won, but he wouldn't destroy her offspring. He wouldn't touch them. Not on her watch.

[The BranRiech]

"I'm game for whatever you'd like to discuss, but I'd rather not discuss any serious crap at a freaking dinner party." Kei rolled her eyes. She saw not the reason why they wanted to discuss those things. Hell, she could have cared less if they went and left the dinner party to talk about it, but at a place where everyone else wanted to have a good time, business seemed to have no place.

"Anything you want to do on the island coming up?"

[Tiltjuice]

"I'm game for whatever you'd like to discuss, but I'd rather not discuss any serious crap at a freaking dinner party." Kei rolled her eyes. She saw not the reason why they wanted to discuss those things. Hell, she could have cared less if they went and left the dinner party to talk about it, but at a place where everyone else wanted to have a good time, business seemed to have no place.

"Anything you want to do on the island coming up?"

"What's good here? I've not been to the island before."

[The BranRiech]

"What's good here? I've not been to the island before."

"Just remember it's the place where I met all the knuckleheads that live here. I arrived here, and these idiots are all over the dang beach. Well, I followed an old friend here, and ended up staying with her until I got my own place back at the apartment."

Kei then pointed to the abandoned house where the Monfroxian group once stayed. "Right over there. There's also an old base in the Volcano, used to be Branriechian, not anymore though. Uh . . . What else, there's basically a lot of trees as well, and water."

It was all Kei practically knew about the island as well. She never went exploring it too much.

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

"If everyone is here, I will allow appetizers. As Scarface brings the first entree." Neil announced as he saw seats fill up. He also waved to Charumati whom he still knew as Swith. On people's plates, they would find an appetizer of sorts that would proceed the first entree once finished. Of course teleportation and slight telepathic circuits made it possible with a kitchen in the past receiving orders and sending food.

"So why not your mother? Does she disapprove your behavior or something?" Gretta asked Torii, a bit confused.

"Wanna feed this bunny with us?" Jenny said to Siduer and Sydney as she opened the bag of vegetables for MB. "Maybe we can play cowboys and go on a waffalo drive!" Swift suggested enthusiastically.

"What a strange group we have here, I'm Jonathan Davenport. I just moved to Bielefeld from the Hamptons with my wife Caroline. It's so nice that we got a free vacation." Jonathan introduced himself to Bran.

[Torsiedelle]

"Hmm!?", Torii snapped back to reality; she was caught up in her own thoughts. "Does my mother disapprove?"

It was a good question. It was also one that Torii could answer. "She doesn't approve at all, really. She's one of those super fancy mothers who wants us to be exactly like her. I grew up with my dad, and I like girls, so I'm not exactly a clone of the woman, and the only time we really talked, it was really awkward. I mean, I want to be my mama's girl, but she wants me to have a boyfriend, and speak properly, and wear fancy dresses, and do all this stuff that I just don't feel comfortable doing. It's a pain in the ass."

It felt nice to say that. Torii only ever said it around Katya, or to her diary, but there was something about talking to another person that just felt so good, like a giant weight was just lifted. Maybe talking more could really help her out.

[New Aksarben]

Namal sat down nearby the three people he knew in some way from the apartment, Bran, Tieria, and Myra. It seemed like shortly after Bran's family joined them, so he gave a small wave to the other humans. The Khydir looked around to see if there was any interesting people wandernig around.. One of them looked much like one of the Narrid, but with only one pair of legs. Which was a bit weird to Namal, as he was used to seeing creatures with fur and several legs, not just two. The khydir decided he should try and go find out if this was another 'alien' as humans called them. Or at least why he looked so furry.

"What are dinosaurs?" HE asked when that was brought up. He had never heard that word before, so he guessed it must be from a human language of some kind. As he asked he looked over towards the scaly things who seemed to be the hosts, guessing those were the 'raptors' that the others kept referring too. Another human asked if they were really dinosaurs, so he guessed those must be the creatures over there. But what were they? They resembled the Khydir in several ways, so maybe they were 'aliens' as well? Or maybe they were something from Earth that he had just never heard about. Either could be possible.

---

The garish green halo atop the hood of Deader's robes - or was that just a messy fold-over? - bobbed up and down lightly. It gave the eerie impression that it had a mind of its own and was jittering with amusement.

"Atomic kittens. They come," non-sequitured Deader, in a sudden tone of hammered-iron that spoke of doom and fudge. "Be warned, and fare ye well..."

The strange being drifted off in the direction of the raptors' mansion, trusting that curiosity would cause Sig to trail in his wake. He seemed like an academic sort of prince, one of the scholar-princes that someone would expect to find in long and fantastical stories.

"What are you talking about, Deader? What is this about Kittens? And what does 'Ato-mike' mean? I have never heard that word before....." Sigtrygg indeed did follow after the strange thing, curious to figure out just what it is and to learn about that strange building it was heading towards. It looked quite familiar, but he definitely new it did not belong here.

'Wait..... Is that the raptor's house? Why is it going to them?' Sigtrygg could not read English, thus all the fliers scattered around him were just gibberish. Nothing more in his mind. He could recognize a few symbols vaguely, but not very many of them. "Why are you going to the raptor house, Deader?"

[Germanic Templars]

As soon as his optics narrowed in onto Neil, Levi made a B-line for him. While on his way, he gave a small wave of his arm over his head in hopes to get the raptor's attention.

[Giovenith]

Giovenith finally came to an empty table, chose a seat, and spent some time merely enjoying the fancy display of the table itself. Everything was so clean, folded, and shiny during dinner parties. Like many lovely things, you desperately wanted to dig into the work, but also almost to keep it prim and perfect.

"... DIG IN!" cheered Giovenith to herself, popping up from her kneeling position by the table as if it were a surprise. Yummy time! The girl dug into the food that had previously been laid out, at first munching without care, but then realizing that it was probably best to act fancy at a fancy occasion, and adjusting her behavior accordingly.

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

"Ah formalities, they are quite the pain but add to the credibility. Taking things slow is a good idea...much better than an elaborate ruse." Gretta agreed as she nibbled on some deli meat for an appetizer.

Neil noticed Levi coming over and sighed briefly. He pushed up his mouth into a smile and greeted him. "Aren't you that dark clone of my rival, Levi was it?" he asked unsure because of gaps in his memory.

Before Gio, Scarface set down an extra platter of appetizers in the center of the table for all of the guests.

[The BranRiech]

"What a strange group we have here, I'm Jonathan Davenport. I just moved to Bielefeld from the Hamptons with my wife Caroline. It's so nice that we got a free vacation." Jonathan introduced himself to Bran.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jonathan." Bran smiled dopily, totally not recognizing the two former friends that were speaking to him. "You have a very beautiful wife." He complimented, while taking a quick bite of his food.

"I'm Bran. My family's over there." He nodded, pointing to the table next to theirs.

[Torsiedelle]

"Ooooh, appetizers!"

Torii was kind of hungry, and didn't mind digging into the food. She didn't even care what it was.

And then she said back to Gretta: "Yea, I guess. Rome wasn't built in a day....still, it's annoying. I don't know, I'll see about it."

"God, take things slow? She can't even go five minutes without talking about us getting married; I don't think taking it slow is an option...."

"I wonder what's holding up everybody. Goddamn, things are always so slow around here." , Torii thought to herself some more. Where were her friends?


Meanwhile, Katya took a seat at the far end of the table, carefully, and making room for her bloated belly. She really felt insecure, like her bikini made her vulnerable for once. Even though she hasn't grown that much, it was obvious that she was carrying, and that bathing voice in the back of her head was concerned that she was fat, or unattractive, but it wasn't like anyone was saying anything.....

Maybe eating would take her mind off of the subject.

[Giovenith]

"Ah formalities, they are quite the pain but add to the credibility. Taking things slow is a good idea...much better than an elaborate ruse." Gretta agreed as she nibbled on some deli meat for an appetizer.

Neil noticed Levi coming over and sighed briefly. He pushed up his mouth into a smile and greeted him. "Aren't you that dark clone of my rival, Levi was it?" he asked unsure because of gaps in his memory.

Before Gio, Scarface set down an extra platter of appetizers in the center of the table for all of the guests.

"Thank you so much, Mister Scarface!" thanked Giovenith with a tender perk, and moving around to get a better reach of the place. "I'm sure they're really, super good! I've heard you're pretty great at these things."

[Germanic Templars]

Neil noticed Levi coming over and sighed briefly. He pushed up his mouth into a smile and greeted him. "Aren't you that dark clone of my rival, Levi was it?" he asked unsure because of gaps in his memory.

"Dark is a loose term.. I would more say.... negative version, anti, if you must add. Insane, if you wish want to add onto the truth." He replied with a grin. He continued on , "So, heard the news about Thriller? "

[Tiltjuice]

"What's good here? I've not been to the island before."

"Just remember it's the place where I met all the knuckleheads that live here. I arrived here, and these idiots are all over the dang beach. Well, I followed an old friend here, and ended up staying with her until I got my own place back at the apartment."

Kei then pointed to the abandoned house where the Monfroxian group once stayed. "Right over there. There's also an old base in the Volcano, used to be Branriechian, not anymore though. Uh . . . What else, there's basically a lot of trees as well, and water."

It was all Kei practically knew about the island as well. She never went exploring it too much.

Dia glanced up toward where the volcano seemed to push against the sky. "Think we could go for a tour in there? We like it warm, you know. Hopefully the volcano is still active...but even if it isn't, exploring abandoned buildings always makes for a fun time. Chrys and I did urban exploring a lot. Sometimes we'd make a game out of splitting up and seeing who could find and scare the other first."

The garish green halo atop the hood of Deader's robes - or was that just a messy fold-over? - bobbed up and down lightly. It gave the eerie impression that it had a mind of its own and was jittering with amusement.

"Atomic kittens. They come," non-sequitured Deader, in a sudden tone of hammered-iron that spoke of doom and fudge. "Be warned, and fare ye well..."

The strange being drifted off in the direction of the raptors' mansion, trusting that curiosity would cause Sig to trail in his wake. He seemed like an academic sort of prince, one of the scholar-princes that someone would expect to find in long and fantastical stories.

"What are you talking about, Deader? What is this about Kittens? And what does 'Ato-mike' mean? I have never heard that word before....." Sigtrygg indeed did follow after the strange thing, curious to figure out just what it is and to learn about that strange building it was heading towards. It looked quite familiar, but he definitely new it did not belong here.

'Wait..... Is that the raptor's house? Why is it going to them?' Sigtrygg could not read English, thus all the fliers scattered around him were just gibberish. Nothing more in his mind. He could recognize a few symbols vaguely, but not very many of them. "Why are you going to the raptor house, Deader?"

The figure turned about slowly, and held out a piece of paper mangled by an obsidian blade.

"We are invited, it seems, for a great feast."

[Swith Witherward]

"If everyone is here, I will allow appetizers. As Scarface brings the first entree." Neil announced as he saw seats fill up. He also waved to Charumati whom he still knew as Swith. On people's plates, they would find an appetizer of sorts that would proceed the first entree once finished. Of course teleportation and slight telepathic circuits made it possible with a kitchen in the past receiving orders and sending food.

"So why not your mother? Does she disapprove your behavior or something?" Gretta asked Torii, a bit confused.

"Wanna feed this bunny with us?" Jenny said to Siduer and Sydney as she opened the bag of vegetables for MB. "Maybe we can play cowboys and go on a waffalo drive!" Swift suggested enthusiastically.

"What a strange group we have here, I'm Jonathan Davenport. I just moved to Bielefeld from the Hamptons with my wife Caroline. It's so nice that we got a free vacation." Jonathan introduced himself to Bran.

"Yep!" Siduer nodded, "He's a cute bunny. What's a waffalo?"

"What a strange group we have here, I'm Jonathan Davenport. I just moved to Bielefeld from the Hamptons with my wife Caroline. It's so nice that we got a free vacation." Jonathan introduced himself to Bran.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jonathan." Bran smiled dopily, totally not recognizing the two former friends that were speaking to him. "You have a very beautiful wife." He complimented, while taking a quick bite of his food.

"I'm Bran. My family's over there." He nodded, pointing to the table next to theirs.

"Thank you, Bran," Caroline blushed.

She cast an appraising eye towards where Bran had gestured, and she smiled at Rachelle and Rylli, offered a quick wave to them. "Your family is beautiful as well, Bran. Is this sort of gathering usual? Dinosaurs and metal men and rabbits?"

[Swith Witherward]

"That's no problem with me," assured the chef. "Haven't had much time to socialize either, I suppose? Funny how people find similarities in the oddest places."

He took a sip from his drink (champagne). It's a shame this isn't a costume party, either. Otherwise, we could find Dan if he's around, mock up three fake guns, and be the Three Musketeers."

"Would you like to be a costume party?" Hans' eyes had a mischievous gleam. A costume would be a valid excuse for getting out of his uniform for a time, and as long as he returned to it... well, what would it hurt?

His imagination took hold. There was an old trunk in the Compound that was rumored to have things left over from prior Zalgofests, and if there wasn't a Musketeer costume there would be plenty of pirate costu-

His eyes settled on Chrys and he abandoned the ridiculous plan. She was sitting with Blossom and looking somewhat on edge. He nudged Cuisine with an elbow and nodded in her direction.

"Chrys. A good friend. Let's join her?"

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

"Rome wasn't built in a day, but it sure burned down in one. All that lovely fire." Gretta commented to Torii, "Time is slowing down, notice how some days blend into each other? NVE is trying to find out why perceptions are not matching the measurements." she added with another nibble at the deli meat.

"They are..." Scarface simply replied to Gio with his deep booming voice.

"No I haven't, I heard he went off to fight wars that have not yet happened. My contacts have gone silent. Please inform me of how my nemesis, your better side, is doing." Neil asked Levi with genuine interest but not quite concealed contempt.

"The waffalos are where waffle meat comes from. Dad says that there are some in con-ser-vat-ory eight." Robert explained to Siduer.

"The pleasure is mine to meet you. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Jonathan replied to Bran after Caroline asked her question to him.

[The BranRiech]

"Oh, I'm certainly game for that. We can sit up in our imposing Volcano fortress, scaring any foolish mortals that happen to stumble in." Kei chuckled, joking in quite the imposing voice. "Nah, but the hide and seek thing does sound pretty fun. There's a huge runway carved into the side of the volcano as well, like a giant cave, where huge ass planes would come in." She explained.

"It's basically a huge bunker."

--

"Well, yeah. I'd say gatherings like this are quite common. We all live together at the apartment, and you guys being here, I assume you know the apartment by now." Bran explained, wiping his mouth from the food that once inhabited it, or at least the food that didn't make it very far. "Ugh, excuse me. Sorry about that. But me? Well, my story's a long one, and confusing at some point or the other, but in nutshell? I'm a mechanic from an Eastern European Communist nation, served in the Air Force."

At Caroline's comment, he blushed. "T-thanks."

[Swith Witherward]

"The waffalos are where waffle meat comes from. Dad says that there are some in con-ser-vat-ory eight." Robert explained to Siduer.

"The pleasure is mine to meet you. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Jonathan replied to Bran after Caroline asked her question to him.

Siduer's eyes widened. "Really? What do they look like?"

He hadn't forgotten that time his sister and he accidentally set giant waterbears on the world, or the time his father turned into a spider... but he didn't want to think about his dad, mostly because he was dead and never coming back. Siduer shook off the knowledge and pretended it wasn't so.

"Can we see them? It's better than grown ups parties."