ic More Bright Lights and Good Cheer

[Heritage]

The Shrike

 

Gretchen chuckled and nodded in agreement with Rose. "Yeah. This is all still pretty new to me, too. My girlfriend practically begged me to come, and now that I'm here, all I want to do is leave. No offense."

 

Then mild-mannered reporter Danica Devons showed up, making Gretch feel even more uncomfortable, but at least she had a little history to draw upon. "Look at you, Dancia. Covering events all over the globe. It seems like it was just yesterday I saw you at the grand opening of Silberman's Books. And then after that, covering that awful earthquake in Sapporo. You certainly are the world traveler." It was often hard to read Gretch even without the mask, due to her rather flat tone and minimal facial expressions, but there might have been a hint of humor buried under there somewhere.

 

And then Bonfire showed up; where were all these people she knew coming from? The Shrike's shoulders drew just a hint closer together as a fourth person entered the conversation, which was just about her limit. "Hey there. it's Freedom's favorite redhead, doing what he does best. Mingling and radiating heat." Frankly, introductions and small talk were pretty much beyond her, so Gretch drained her drink and signaled a waiter with a wave of her hand; she needed more alcohol, stat!

 

Grimalkin

 

Lynn shook her head and sighed. "No, she's...skittish in crowds; I'll have to check on her soon. I'm the 'party animal' in our relationship, and now I'm starting to regret pushing her to come. And yes, it's all very new to her." Turning her focus back to Klara and shrugged. "Me, I've been doing this for decades, and sometimes I forget how overwhelming it can be when you're just starting out." Noting her three daughters, Lynn smiled. 'Your girls are beautiful."

Edited December 5, 2016 by Heritage

[Bisexuhell]

Rose smiled sympathetically at Gretchen. "That's alright. I'm not exactly in my element here either." She responded. But I'm not quite as nervous as you are, she noted to herself internally, and then noticed the extravagantly dressed.. smoke (?) approaching the three of them. Judging by the introduction he gave, he was expecting to make an impression, and given Rose's surprised look, he'd succeeded with at least one of the girls. "Name's Psy Strike. I like your look. I've no idea how you're not leaking out of it, however." She smiled once more, trying to remove the surprise at his entrance from her face. 

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Dancia Devons

 

“I like to think that the best reporters have a poetic heart, otherwise it’s just spewing out facts. And despite all my successes, thanks for the reminder...” she gave Strike a friendly smile “I’m still a fairly junior reporter, still I means I have plenty of room of my walls for those front page stories.” she grinned at her optimism

 

Bonfire was a welcome addition to their little group Dancia always enjoyed spending time with newer heroes getting to know them and helping when she could.

 

“You’ve managed to gain quite a reputation for yourself in  very short time, luckily the good beginning the overwhelm the bad press.” being in the media business she had a pretty good idea of things that happened in the city “I’m definitely off duty tonight but if you want to contact me at the Ledger I could definitely help you get some more exposure, the good kind that is, I still do most of my work with the website anyway. The offer goes out to all of you of cause.”

 

Even without powers she’d never really felt uncomfortable anywhere, but she could quite easily understand how all this could be overwhelming to most people

 

“If it help you always imagine everyone naked, after all everyone’s the same underneath.” cause in her case she didn’t have to imagine, not that she did that... often.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar

 

Corbin smiled as Mike and Alex made their way over, though he stepped  back just a bit as Mark commenced with the hugging. Part of him still felt a bit self-conscious about being part of the "second generation" of Young Freedom, and though they all generally worked together on the Liberty League these days, the less-than-normal situation of a big party like this seemed to stir up the uncertainty. 

 

He stamped down on that and reached out to shake Mike's hand first, and then Alex's. 

 

"Mike! Alex! Always a pleasure! Quo-Dis is floating about here somewhere. It's good to see you guys when we're just having fun! I think I heard Erin and Trevor mention swinging by but it was noncommittal, so who knows for sure. How have you two been doing?"

[trollthumper]

On 12/2/2016 at 5:35 PM, Raveled said:

"It's not quite rolling up in a limousine," she said as her date came around the other side of the car. "But I suppose I can overlook it tonight as long as you're here, too."

 

Joe emerged from the other side, adjusting his tuxedo. "Yeah, shame about all the bookings," he said. "My cousin thought he could squeeze in a free ride, but then this bachelor party's ride blew two flat tires, one of them had his contact number..." He shrugged. "Can't blame the guy for making some extra cash at the holidays. Mind you, it means he probably need a big present from me..." 

 

He shrugged his shoulders in his jacket. The tux had actually been a purchase, as he'd managed to pick it up relatively cheap before Trevor and Erin's wedding. While he'd gone to holiday parties like this in his usual "dapper skin" duds, he felt the need to put on a special showing tonight. He was the veteran hero. He was an upstanding member of the Liberty League. And he was in love with a magnificent woman who was putting on one hell of a display, so he felt he should rise to the occasion.

 

He was still wearing his Docs, though. There were some things you just had to do.

 

Joe offered Asli his arms and led her up the stairs into the hall. "Here's to a great evening, and one hell of a show." 

 

[olopi]

Bonfire’s first reaction was a hearty chuckle. He did his best to stop himself, but he was feeling really good, and that meant he was enjoying his laughing more than he probably should’ve had. He took a sip from his drink, seemingly just pouring it into the smoke. The cloud’s edge seemed to extend just a bit, and, his mouth refreshed (even if he didn’t have an apparent one), he took it on to reply, one by one. He sounded quite excited actually, and still a bit high on laughter.

 

First, he addressed the Shrike, not only did he know her best, but she also seemed the least comfortable with how things were going. “You know it girl. Doing what I do best. Even though….” He looked around the room for just a second. “You’re the only person I can see right now that I actually know. I imagine if you’re here … Grim, is too, so make that two. Might have to introduce myself to a few people later on. “

 

Barely stopping, he flowed over to Rose’s question, his smoke head actually changing in shape into that of a very cartoon-y smiley face. “Oh, it’s all about control. Controlling some things, leaving others to act as they want and hoping for the right effect, giving them some restrictions in the process. Kind of like what we all do, eh?” His head returned to the shape it had been previously, and he took another sip.

 

“Oh, it’s a reputation alright. Let me tell you, AEGIS don’t mess around with their anti-meta gear. “ Most likely, he wasn’t entirely serious, chuckling a bit again. “An interesting offer. At the moment, I’m pretty good with my exposure, but I’m planning something, so I might take you up on that once I get around to working on it more concretely.” And then, he suddenly stopped, as if he’d hit a rock in his flow of speech. “Uh, I just realized, I had no idea what I would talk about once I got here. “

Edited December 7, 2016 by olopi

[Raveled]

Asli linked her arm through Joe's and allowed herself to be led up the walkway, flashing a smile at the security cameras as they passed. "Hopefully not too much of a show. I could use a chance to just stand around and look good in a dress." She ran a hand down her side, working out imaginary wrinkles in the fabric. "It's not often that I get to show off and wear makeup, after all."

 

There was a quick check at the door and then they were in the hall, with holiday decorations raising the cheer and people moving from conversation to conversation. Asli used her height to good advantage, doing her best to recognize individuals or couples. There was one pair she spotted easily, in complimenting outfits of gold and blue. Mark Lucas seemed an agreeable enough sort, but Asli didn't relish the notion of meeting Nina al-Darsah again. Instead, there seemed to be another group forming around a young woman in her own blue dress. "Let's go make some new acquaintances," she said, steering Joe over to Gretchen and Rose and Dancia.

[Heritage]

The Shrike

 

"I imagine people naked all the time. It's basically my standard operating procedure." Shrike said this with a straight face as she snagged a cosmopolitan off the waiter's tray, so it was hard to tell if she was joking or not. "Keep these coming," she said to the waiter as she swapped her empty glass for the cosmo. "Grim is looking amazing over there by the tall people."

 

"It's usually safest to talk shop. That way you avoid politics, religion and secret identities." She paused to take a big sip of her cosmo. "Several months ago, Starlight and myself wiped out a pack of vampires. It was bad enough they were blood-sucking fiends, but they were also in a band called 'Black Fang'. We saved humanity and the music industry at the same time."

 

At the sight of Asli and Joe's approach, the masked brunette actually smiled and bowed deeply. "DJ Eclectic. We meet again, for the first time. Ways and Means is an amazing album."

Edited December 8, 2016 by Heritage

[Tiffany Korta]

“When I first started the world was in a dark times and I was young enough to fired by the righteous indignation that something must be done. But such are things during wartime.” her grim face softened slightly “I’m a lot calmer now that i have my new home, maybe it’s because I’m now in my two hundreds!”

 

Looking over at her daughters at Lynn’s comment Klara couldn’t help but smile, lifting her mood completely.

 

“Aye that they are, luckily they get only their height from me all the best stuff they get from Tracy.” she gave her wife a loving hug to emphasise the point.

[Bisexuhell]

Rose couldn't help but giggle at Bonfire playing around with his smoke, and then listened to the conversation as it continued, and felt a little more out of place than when she started. Everyone else had stories, or a reputation, or something to their name. She had a faded costume from a heroine that nobody knew. Still, she wasn't about to be a downer on a good party. "Yikes. Guess it was a good 'fang' you showed up when you did." She had to resist giving a smug grin as she made her awful pun, just before two newcomers showed up. "Welcome to the party. This little corner seems to be quite popular all of a sudden. Is it because of how well dressed I am?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Beth Walton-Wright excused herself to put the kids down for a nap - Nina took the opportunity to follow her along, asking something about what kind of support the League offered families like hers, leaving Mark alone with the rest of the party. Carefully cupping the empty glass in his hand, Mark made the rounds with the faces old and new, either shaking hands or introducing himself. Pressing the flesh at parties was second nature by now, right down to producing the odd Christmas toy for the few kids still running around what was after all a family gathering. And wasn't that a thought. "Joe, Asli, glad you could make it," he said warmly as he made his introductions. "and everyone else! Looks like this is going to be a real party." 

[angrydurf]

Mike took Corbins hand with a friendly smile, "Good to see you away from a catastrophe."  he greeted warmly, "Yea they might be a little high profile to show up to this kinda event without blowing the lid on the whole secret ID thing."  he noted with a shrug of agreement.  Not that his paper thin secret ID was much safer given circumstances.  

 

Turning as Joe and Asli arrived he warmly welcomed them as well following Marks lead in the socializing if a bit less gracefully.  "Glad you could make it."  he agreed only pausing slightly at the semi-inadvertent repetition of Marks greeting.  "Looks to be quite the turnout."  the last he spared only a quick nervous look to Alex over, crowds were not the easiest for baseless as his fears might be in this room more than most.

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

Lynn cocked her head slightly at the realization that that Klara and Tracy had somehow...no, she didn't want to think about kids again for a long time; she wasn't even sure if Gretch liked kids very much. Still, good to know that the two women had found a way to do it, most likely through magic; certainly motherhood seemed to suit them.

 

But she could certainly talk about the calming eftects of time. "I used to be such a little hothead! It wasn't until I was in my fifties that I began to develop some perspective; family life helped a lot, of course, but a lot of it was just time, y'know? The wisdom of accrued age."

 

Speaking of her lady love, she spared Gretch a quick glance, and was horrified to see her notoriously crowd-averse girlfriend surrounded by people!

 

Omigod, are you okay? I didn't mean to abandon you!

 

I'm okay. I discovered this new thing called 'alcohol'? And it seems to be helping.

 

Okay, well...don't get too s###-faced, okay? If it gets too bad, set off a flare and I'll come get you; we can leave whenever you want. And don't worry about flying, I can always tuck you away in the Vault and fly us both home.

 

Okay. Thanks for checking on me.

 

Always. Love you!

 

You, too. 

[alderwitch]

Alex's sunny smile gentled as she turned it on Corbin, "It also makes an excellent excuse to avoid crowds," she added about their absent team mates, her hazel eyes twinkling with good humor. "It's a sentiment I can understand. I don't actually like big parties all that much. They're so noisy." She tipped her head to the side and it was fairly likely the potent psychic wasn't talking about the sound level. She patted Mike's arm absently, her gaze still on Corbin and without missing a beat in the normal conversation, there was a light touch on Mark's brain that was undoubtably familiar. It was Alex's polite psychic knock.

 

Is it something you want to talk about? Alex wanted to know, her question a mere whisper in the back of Mark's brain. There was none of that slight unfocused look in Mike's eyes so Mark could be fairly positive that it was just Alex pestering him. Mike might no longer mouth the words but his 'telepathy face' was still patently obvious to the people who knew him well.

[Avenger Assembled]

Nina's face flashed in Mark's mind, clear as a bell, before Mark's thoughts came back. Better not. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone. Mark's thoughts were usually clear as a bell and unambiguous - but now they were stumbling over each other in a way his words almost never did. "I like parties," Mark was saying out loud, "you just have to get out there and be yourself, and then everyone will appreciate you." He smiled a dazzling smile, suggesting that people usually did appreciate him, and he couldn't understand anyone who didn't. "Plus the food at League stuff is always good - and locally grown whenever they can, too!" 

[Tiffany Korta]

Voin Zhenshchin

 

Klara looked back and forward between Lynn and Gretchen as realization quickly dawned on her, though no words had been exchanged she recognized those looks very well.

 

“Oh so you are a couple as well as partners.” she beamed at the realization ignoring the gentle elbow to the ribs by her own partner.

 

“Sorry sometimes she forget how polite company works and speaks her mind, you should have seen her at teacher-parent conferences.”Tracy explained slightly apologetically

 

“In her culture they’re open to just about avery kind of relationships, it was quite an eye opener when I got to visit. For three generations her family has been totally female, they wanted to completely engineer my kids but I just wanted a but of randomness. I think they worked out okay don’t you?”

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Dancia Devons

 

Dancia gave a little sideways glance as she watched Strike down another drink, she could understand the nerves even if she’d never felt them herself. And it would be difficult if not impossible for her to get drunk, despite several very valiant attempts over the years.

 

“I hope you not planning to drink and fly, or teleport or however you plan getting home. Luckily no one’s around who could report any drunken antics you might get yourself into!”

 

Though she made a mental note to keep an eye out and make sure they got home safely and mostly embarrassment free.

 

“And it’s a horrible tease to swap stories when I can’t make any notes.” there was a humorous tone to the statement however “Unless you all want to hear my funny photocopier stories.”

[olopi]

Bonfire continued to be pretty upbeat, as various other people made their way towards the little group that had been created.  He laughed a bit, then addressed Psy Strike’s remark, sounding as cheerful as ever.

 

“I think it’s all of us. We’re just a really attractive and attracting crowd. That, or they just want in on all the drinks we’re hoarding for ourselves.”

 

He laughed some more, before turning towards the newer arrivals. There, he did his best to look more serious, still cheerful but in a more calculated manner. Just for the greeting, it made for a better first impression. First “actually talking to this person” impression at least.

 

“Welcome to our little corner of the party.”

 

And then, he reversed to his more natural tone. “I’ll agree with the Shrike on that one. I’m not much of a hip-hop person, but even I can appreciate a good album.” He went to shake hands with the two, and just finished when Edge and somebody else approached. “Oh, you can say that again. This is gonna be a fun evening. Cool to meet you here. “

 

From there, he let the others take over the conversation, as his eyes went around the group, and the room as a whole, observing the various attendees some more. One of the benefits of not having a head, nobody could tell what you were looking at.

Edited December 13, 2016 by olopi

[KnightDisciple]

On 12/9/2016 at 11:35 PM, angrydurf said:

Mike took Corbins hand with a friendly smile, "Good to see you away from a catastrophe."  he greeted warmly, "Yea they might be a little high profile to show up to this kinda event without blowing the lid on the whole secret ID thing."  he noted with a shrug of agreement.  Not that his paper thin secret ID was much safer given circumstances.  

 

Turning as Joe and Asli arrived he warmly welcomed them as well following Marks lead in the socializing if a bit less gracefully.  "Glad you could make it."  he agreed only pausing slightly at the semi-inadvertent repetition of Marks greeting.  "Looks to be quite the turnout."  the last he spared only a quick nervous look to Alex over, crowds were not the easiest for baseless as his fears might be in this room more than most.

 

On 12/10/2016 at 10:37 PM, alderwitch said:

Alex's sunny smile gentled as she turned it on Corbin, "It also makes an excellent excuse to avoid crowds," she added about their absent team mates, her hazel eyes twinkling with good humor. "It's a sentiment I can understand. I don't actually like big parties all that much. They're so noisy." She tipped her head to the side and it was fairly likely the potent psychic wasn't talking about the sound level. She patted Mike's arm absently, her gaze still on Corbin and without missing a beat in the normal conversation, there was a light touch on Mark's brain that was undoubtably familiar. It was Alex's polite psychic knock.

 

Is it something you want to talk about? Alex wanted to know, her question a mere whisper in the back of Mark's brain. There was none of that slight unfocused look in Mike's eyes so Mark could be fairly positive that it was just Alex pestering him. Mike might no longer mouth the words but his 'telepathy face' was still patently obvious to the people who knew him well.

Cobalt Templar

 

Corbin chuckled at Mike's comment.

 

"That's why regular hang-outs are important; it means we don't have a panic reaction just by seeing each other. Though as far as secret ID goes, if they really wanted to be here, I'm sure Trevor could get them in, and they'd have masks."

 

All things considered, it was a safe bet. As Joe and Asil walked over, Corbin smiled again and offered to shake their hands.

 

"This party keeps getting more exciting! Nice to see both of you. We were just discussing the lack of a couple of our friends, Joe, and I was opining they'd be able to get in if they wanted, so they must just want to stay in and do nothing tonight. Which, can't wholly blame them for."

[trollthumper]

Joe made the rounds alongside Asli. "Good to see you again," he said to Shrike, taking care to observe the decorum of names, code names, and so forth. "I liked the whole Thanksgiving get together. We should try that again. I mean, I don't wanna impose, but, whatever works best for you guys." 

 

He soon drifted over towards the rest of the Liberty League. "I'm glad we could make it out, too. And Alex, uh, I'll try to keep the noise down." He tapped at his forehead with a knowing wink. "Then again, some people would say this is a bit quiet by default, but screw 'em." He turned to Corbin. "As for, uh, absent friends... those two don't really get as much time to themselves as they deserve. Let 'em stay in and not worry about anything. Best Christmas present we could probably give 'em." 

[tv50watcher]

I'm late I'm late I'm late! John thought as he flew through the sky.  It was impossible not to hear about this party, and since it was an invitation to anyone who has saved the city, and a good way to meet some more legendary heroes, John knew he had to come to this party, unknown nobody or not.  He admitted he at first didn't know how he would show up, whether he should show up as The Gargoyle or not, but with a paper bag over his head or something.  He had heard about it only a week ago and had decided after seeing how Claremont is, a gargoyle probably wouldn't be too out of place... He looked down and noticed a lot of people going in in fancy dresses and suits and gulped.  His Gargoyle form never kept clothes very well except for the new loincloth he discovered he could do pretty recently, luckily also sealed in the bottom.  Basically underwear dressed up as a loincloth.  Had a pretty nice look, but most movements... his muscles destroyed most clothes he tried putting on after transforming.  He had decided probably best to look stupid than underclothed and threw on the Claremont Academy uniform, which did allow for huge transformations like his gargoyle form.  It looked so bad though.

 

I look like a giant banana flying through the sky.  Need to remember to ask around for possibly some place that works with these 'more molecules' to make me a suit that looks more gargoyle, less banana. And with that thought, he lands down by the side entrance, hesitating at the door.  Was he really among the heroes having a fun time in there?  Most of them were probably old friends, unwilling to socialize with a pure brute like him.  Maybe it would be better to just fight crime again tonight so the veterans could have their fun for tonight?  Then he remembered them saying the heroes inside could take it easy this one night regardless, and just pushed the door open to go in quickly.  He walked in and saw so many people, some tall, some shorter, some skinny and some big and brawny.  There was one who caught his eye though in particular, the guy who appeared to be made of smoke.  Surely he could fit in around that guy, feeling as out of place as he possibly could, knowing no one here.  He squared up his shoulders and just let the confidence he normally has ooze out of him, despite feeling a bit out of his element.

 

"Hey there, I'm Gargoyle, what's your guy's names?"  He asked the smoke guy, unsure how else to start a conversation.  He looked at the others and motioned to indicate he was trying to ask them all.

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

The changeling laughed. "I'd say they turned out amazing! My kids are way too good looking, too; lots of trouble when they got to high school age, let me tell you." She switched to kvelling in classic Jewish mother mode."Ruthie in particular knew how to work a pair of pointed ears, so there was always some poor broken-hearted boy hanging around the house, asking if she was home. Zach was much shyer, though his grades were always good- "

 

The Shrike

 

Everyone was very nice, and much prettier and better at talking than she was, and Gretchen was about to lose it. Just as she finished her second cosmo (her third drink overall), a gargoyle showed up, which any other day would have been amazing, but right now was too much overload. She addressed the group with a smile as fragile as cracked glass.

 

"I'm sorry, I need a break now." Then she turned to the new arrival and sighed. "I'm the Shrike, and you are super-cool." She offered him a sweet smile, then abruptly pulled up her hood and vanished from sight, the power of her Ring floating her up towards the high ceiling as she reached out to Lynn.

 

Help. Please help.

 

What is it, are you okay?

 

Too many people. I'm pulling a reverse Graduate.

 

Pulling a 'reverse'...are you floating by ceiling?

 

Yep. Invisible. Come get me. Also a bit drunk.

 

I'm on my way; you'll have to guide me, though.

 

Grimalkin

 

The charming fae suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and cocked her head like she'd heard something, and her face looked striken. "I'm sorry, Gretchen needs me; please excuse me." There was a 'whump' as Grim collapsed in on herself, shrinking down to her pixie form, which darted up towards the ceiling in search of her overwhelmed girlfriend.

 

When she found her, she returned to normal size and erased herself with glamour, and held Gretch quietly as the young barista shook with a mixture of nerves and embarrassment.

 

I'm sorry. I know you really wanted to come to this.

 

You don't need to apologize for anything; if anything, I should apologize to you for pushing you to come along.

 

If I could just...one or two people, I'm good. I don't actually hate people, you know.

 

I know.

 

Everyone is staring at me 

 

We're both invisible, hon; nobody's staring at us.

 

Oh, right. I forgot.

 

And even if they were, f### 'em; f### 'em all. We can have our own party up here.

 

'Dancing on the Ceiling'. Like Lionel Ritchie.

 

Exactly; we're exactly like Lionel Ritchie right now.

 

For now, the two lovers were content to float near the ceiling, invisible and slowly spinning to music only they could here.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Heritage

[alderwitch]

Alex's assent was as silent as her entry to Mark's brain had been, never betrayed by her attention wavering from the people actually talking. But for Alex, telepathy was as natural - perhaps more natural - than speech. She didn't miss a beat in laughing lightly at Joe's offer, "No, no, I'm fine, really. It's always nice to be among friends, old and new," she assured him even as Mark was left with the sensation that Alex was there should he change his mind. 

 

"No, I have no doubt they could manage to make an appearance without betraying their identities - in many ways - I just meant that it provides an excellent excuse to avoid it." Alex's hazel eyes crinkled at the corner and she turned her attention around the room briefly before catching the two relative new-comers. Giving Mike's arm a light nudge and directed his attention in Gargoyle's way as he spoke up.

[angrydurf]

Mike smiled wide, "You're right of course."  he agreed with the others that Travis and Erin deserved a night of rest where they could find it.  At Alexs nudge he looked over at the imposing frame of the 'gargoyle' that had arrived and blinked once or twice as he filed that away under the firm middle of strange things he'd seen in his lifetime.  He made a quiet excuse about refreshing drinks and took the long way round to do what mingling he could manage eventually drifting past the newcomer to offer a friendly smile and a hand as he balanced his and Alexs cups in the other.  "Pleasure to meet you Gargoyle."  he greeted in a friendly tone and took in the telltale colors of his high school alma mater, "Mike Harris."  he introduced in kind and leaned in conspiratorially, "And don't let the RA's catch you sneaking back in after the shindig they'll plop you in detention for a week no matter how good your reason."

 

He added a calm collective "hello" to the others in the small circle and a quick wave, "Hows everyones evening?"  he was going to have to master small talk eventually might as well do it with training wheels at a supers gala.

[trollthumper]

Joe turned his eyes towards the walking masonry, wondering where he might have come from... until he saw the familiar blue and yellow of Claremont, and heard the clear nervousness on the kid's voice. A few years ago, I might've been quaking in my boots, coming to a shindig like this. With that somewhat subtle body language he had mastered after months with Asli - you needed a way to signal while maintaining stealth in the field, as well of a way of saying you needed to get out of this party now - he gestured over towards The Gargoyle. Then, after taking a second to establish they were on the same page, Joe headed over to join Alex and Mike in talking to the kid. 

 

"Glad to see you made it out," he said, extending his hand to The Gargoyle. "Name's Joe." He hadn't heard Mike give his trade name - then again, Mike didn't really wear a mask, so he was still somewhat unsure on protocol tonight. But trade names could come later if requested. "Welcome to the weird and wild world of superhero Christmas parties. How you liking it so far?"