Well she got the boy laughing; that was a good sign at least her potential friend had a sense of humor. At least he wasn’t a total stiff. He also, not so discreetly, hit on her which she didn’t mind, she didn’t exactly return the feelings but she didn’t mind the compliment. It was certainly nice to get a compliment instead of the insults she would often get, so maybe this party wasn’t a total lost.

“Yeah I have crashed a few weddings before, but they were never quite as extravagant as this.” Emerald stated rather nonchalantly, it was true she had crashed a few weddings, but they were typically boring as all hell for the wolf girl.

Emerald took this moment to take in the newcomers scent smelling a clear scent of…both a male and a female. She arched a brow ever so slightly but figured no to question, perhaps he had a female roomy he was around all the time. When the girl came up soon after the young man introduced himself as Gawain made Emerald.

“the Names Emerald Lupin and it looks like you’re going to be talked to Gawain.” Emerald smiled considerably, wagging her tail back and forth.

Juka did an elaborate sort of bowing twirl as Jewel introduced him to her friend. He was, he decided, rather cute. Perhaps he would be interested in a little fun after the wedding party? Only one way to find out. "It is an absolute pleasure to meet you," Juka beamed. He winked sensually and moved closer, his body almost touching that of Shawn. "Any friend of my dear Jewels is, of course, a friend of mine." He licked his lips provocatively.

It seemed to Juka that there was no better time or place than at a wedding to meet up with someone else and have some fun. After all, what were weddings all about if not for love and joy, both physical and emotional? And if Juka hadn't yet found that special person to have an emotional love with, if he ever would, he saw no reason not to enjoy love of the other sort. No reason at all. For a moment he thought longingly of his lost Venus and wished his prince would show up here. He could think of nothing he would love more than another night of being Prince Venus' regal princess after the night of the wedding party. Well, perhaps including his new target, the cutie Shawn, in on their games an fun. Yes, Juka decided, that is exactly what he desired. And surely he must have his way because he was, after all, Juka Miami and who could possibly deny someone as beautiful and fabulous as himself?

"Hey, Meld." Shin nodded to the Metal Woman as she approached them both. Meld was another of Kasumi's friends. Shin hadn't expected her to come to the wedding, though. Then again, lots of people were here he had not expected to come. He smiled, all the same, then turned to the man he'd been speaking with prior.

>>"Really, your boss? Cool. Oh yeah, I'm Alchemist. Can you believe that I only found out Ghost's name today during the ceremony? I mean, I knew her as Ghost but not Maya."

"Same," Shin replied. "I guess it must be her legal name. I take it 'Alchemist' isn't yours? Nice to meet you."

Judging from the name, the man probably did something with metal manipulation, or lead into gold... perhaps he drew circles and summoned unholy abominations against God... no, wait. That was too anime, even for Shin.

The man took a few steps forward to tap the shoulder of a man Shin remembered in passing. The image came back to him of Kasumi's healer, the man who'd saved her life. Slate... hadn't Lee called him? Shin bowed his head and nodded to the man. Shin noted he was talking to another familiar face. A woman he’d tried setting up with classes some time back. Shin never found out how those went for her.

Beyond them, a big red dude loomed. Again, with the big red dudes. Was there a convention? Shin blinked several times when he saw a second guy who looked like Slate.

Strange….

>>"If you will excuse me, Alchemist, there is someone I must speak too."

And there Meld went. Shin waved a pastry puff at her departure. Just in time to miss Kasumi’s appearance, too. Shin turned towards her with a big smile.

“You look great.” And really, she did. He turned to Alchemist, slipping an oh-so-stealthy hand around Kasumi shoulder. “This is my girlfriend, Kasumi. Kasumi, this is Alchemist.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he spoke something into Kasumi’s ear. “And over there is Slate. He’s the one who healed you back at the brawl. We should go thank him for that later.” He turned his smirking face back towards Alchemist. Yeah, he was stealthy with his affections. Like an orange hunting vest.

((ooc: Calley and Katrina are still at the wedding, but splitting off to Mission! We’re not dead! for awhile. Totter-Ghosty may join us, if she wishes! (Though veering off from Katrina’s Guilt-Inducing Radius of Disapproval to talk to other people is also permitted.)

Also: 500 posts! Yay!))

The crowd began to drift, as crowds do; the Order’s three members (and former members) congregated, as did most of the X-leaders (and the cops). The bride and groom, polite hosts, moved to mingle with those who seemed to need it.

Also, Katrina pounced Calley. Slate felt little pity for his brother. This was a clear case of getting what one deserved.

Right, Slate?

...What?

Nothin’, nothin’.

...In other matters, he seemed to be getting absorbed into a group, as well. It was curious, actually; social gatherings seemed to function somewhat like multi-cellular organisms. There might be no cell with a clear idea of what it was constructing: somehow, however, shapes began to form out of their whole.

>> "Hi Slate, I’m hoping since this isn't a business setting that I'm not rubbing wrong on formalities. How are you doing?"

“Hello, Kitra.” He greeted the red headed illustrator back, with an amiable nod of his head. “I have been well. And yourself?” He continued his path, though he tried to match his steps to the young woman’s, to make it clear he was not trying to separate himself from her. He merely wished to get a drink. Also, to look at the cake. He had read quite a lot about them in preparation for today. They were far more impressive in person than in books. Very tall. Very—was that a very small horn, on the plastic groom’s head?

He blinked and turned, as a someone tapped his shoulder. The teenager’s face was familiar; one of the people Calley had pointed out to them, during his dubiously productive survey of the crowd.

>> "So, how long you guys looking at staying for?'"

Slate’s head tilted slightly to the side. Another blink, of baby blue eyes. “Ah!” He finally said, with a nod. “You are the one who molested my brother with your finger, are you not? Alchemist, correct?” Completely undisturbed by his own words, Slate offered his hand. “I am Slate.”

From the corner of his vision, something attracted his attention: a wolf tail. Hmm. He followed it up to an Emerald. The sight of her left a vague sense of distaste in his mouth: he remembered that they had met once, and not particularly gotten along well; her undervaluing of the lives of herself, humans, and mutants had been quite distasteful to him. That was before he had become the Kabal’s Leader, though; before he had ordered deaths, and before he had become a Colombian drug lord. Also: before he had gone to Hell. His moral high ground had been somewhat soaked with blood, since that conversation. He turned back to Kitra and Alch—

The large glint of a knife was fairly distracting, as well.

“Miss,” Slate interrupted, pitching his voice to the girl threatening the cake, “it is traditional for the bride and groom to cut the first piece. Only then may the guests eat. I suggest you wait.”

He did not question the large knife. This was a mutant wedding. That made it really quite irrelevant.

“Then, food it is, Squirtle.” Alexandra replied with a small laugh as they continued their walk toward the food tables. Approaching Alison, she smiled at the woman. She was aware that she was Streak’s sister and they’ve met once… kind of. “Hello.” Alexandra greeted, while accepting the glass of champagne Dom offered. “In honor of the lovely bride and groom.” Alexandra added with a smile as she rose the glass into the air for a moment, before taking a sip.

And… speaking of Streak. Blue eyes caught the scene that was developing not far from them. Streak, Jewel and some girl she didn’t know. At least, at first she thought it was a girl but when she looked again she realized that it was actually a man dressed as a girl. Oh boy. He was hitting on Streak. The champagne in her mouth was just about to be spitted out at seeing this. Fortunately, she kept herself in control until she managed to swallow the bubbly liquid, and then, laughter left her lips.

Blue eyes traveled back to Alison and Dom. “Speaking of your brother. Apparently he’s so hot that not even the men can’t stay away from him.” Still laughing, she turned her attention back to the scene that was unfolding, curious to see Streak’s answer.

And then she caught the glimpse of something shiny. Blue eyes traveled to the spot to discover a rather large knife in the hands of a girl, ready to slice trough the wedding cake. No, no, no. Jeez, what was it with teens nowadays? Also, there was a Slate over there (or at least, she thought that from the two she had seen, this one resembled Slate better and she did want to find out if she was correct in her assumption), which quickly made her make a decision quickly. “Dom, Alison, excuse me for a moment. I need to take care of something.”

With a slight nod, the molecule manipulator moved away from her companions and quickly walked over to the young Asian girl and Slate. A hand extended slightly toward the girl as a stern look was planted upon her face. “Okay, miss. Hand over the knife.”

Streak was definitely surprised by this... guys? advance. He was a little to close for someone that he was just being introduced to. He took a step back to get some distance. "Nice to meet you Juka." This guys advance's and suggestions didn't go unnoticed by the clearly uncomfortable silver manipulator. Streak had done a lot and been through a lot. But this situation right here, made him very uncomfortable. A feeling he wasn't used to feeling and something that he didn't get very often. Deciding that it might be easier to get used to this person if he ignored him a little Streak started talking to Lily. "You'd be surprised what you can do with this room." Now as for Juka, he hoped that he would be able to keep him at at least an arms distance away.

"So if yall've grown up together why haven't I seen you around here Juka before?" Streak asked trying to be polite and get over the creepy feeling that was running down his spine. Streak couldn't help but notice the way that Jewel had introduced Juka. There was something there that he could only assume was perhaps more than friendship. A feeling of being a third wheel came over him and he wondered what he Lily actually thought of him. If she was more interested in Juka then why was she leading him on. Another thought crept into his mind soon after the last one had left. What if Juka was just a friend that Lily was interested in setting up someone with. Would that make me the person that she was setting up? Or does this chance encounter just make me a casualty of something else they were planning together? Streak wasn't sure which was the case and he wasn't sure which one would come to fruition. Well some things were under his control and he determined which ones would happen and which ones wouldn't. He would just have to make sure to not accept any drinks from Juka for the time being.

Lily's lips parted slightly and her eyes widened in disbelief. What Juka did was a huge breach of etiquette. Not to mention it was a huge breach of... pretty much everything else too.
Note to self. Have some girl talk with Juka later on.
Lily stifled a giggle as she glanced at Shawn. Poor guy. She had to realize now and again that 1) she had no idea what her 'childhood friend' was capable of, and 2) her limit of dealing with Juka's weirdness was miles above the average human. Three, Shawn looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Nice. Lily was ready within seconds to deal with the situation. The bright smile was back on her face too.
"So if yall've grown up together why haven't I seen you around here Juka before?"
"Oh, I haven't seen him for quite a while either. We didn't even know about each others powers." she told Shawn as she gracefully moved to his side. Smiling at Juka, she added "You can't imagine how surprised I was when he dropped in to visit."
Wearing skirts.
Juka was a guy (or at least he used to be one), but he sure did seem to have some feminine instincts. Lily really hoped he'd pick up on the message she was trying to give him, body language and all. Just to be on the safe side, she put a hand on Shawn's arm. She could feel he tensed up (a Juka in the personal space does that to guys), and her hand slid down his arm till her fingers found his. She was still smiling at her childhood friend.
"And how come you were invited? Where did you meet Ghost?"

The Sanctuary was emptier than usual. Wherever these people went to do their dirty deeds it wasn't there. Roland was unsure if they even slept there. Perhaps it was a training center and base of operations. No more, no less. Helping himself to look in unlocked doors, he found a discarded invitation. A wedding. At the Danger Room of the Mansion. All were invited. How nice of them. A hop and a skip to a safe house and he was in tailored tux and on his way.

Just for funzies, he pulled up in the BMW Z3 that he had arrived in as Jordan Hornbuckle. He was no longer the man nor even resembled him, so it was more of a personal thrill than anything else. No valet, just a bunch of cars. With a chirp of the alarm, he made his way into the hallowed halls he had stalked in silence. Apparently the service had already started once he got to the Danger Room, so rather than appear fashionably late and generally unknown, he thought it best to take a look around. When would he get such a sterling opportunity?

Most things were locked up with keypads, but even the general layout was more than enough for his memory. he might be sent here again on official business. He walked the halls with a face of wonder, worn in case he was spotted. Just a well wisher, lost on his way to the ceremony. The library brought his memories of Nehanda and her own tour she had given him. The grounds were quiet. Everyone was downstairs. Offices were locked and while it would be easy to pilfer, Roland chose to get to the mingling. Returning to the illusory reception, he found all sorts of faces to look upon. Miss Duskmoor was dressed to the nines as was everyone.

The bride and groom. What an interesting pair. The unicorn man that he had seen with Iris at Melissa's request. Vega Altair, the cute little bookshop owner. They were both pale and white and looked as much father and daughter as man and wife. With a stiff whiskey down the gullet and a fresh one for sipping, he made his pleasant smiles, mostly at unattached women, as he made a beeline for the person he really wanted to see. In a luxurious gown reminiscent of a temperate Greek island, he put his eyes all over Circe. The dress she had barely worn in Colombia was more his taste, but she could wear a trash bag and make it hot.

If anyone else was speaking to her, he ignored them. It was a greater thrill than the car. Standing so close to the woman who he had held a gun at not so long ago, close enough to touch. New face and clean American accent prepared, he made his move. " Hello there. Could you use a drink or a refresh?"

Callie stood around by herself, feeling rather stupid in her old prom dress (which she hadn't wanted to bring, by the way, but Jonathan had more or less forced her to take it by the simple yet effective method of putting it back in her trunk whenever she took it out, until she caved). She had, to her surprise, been invited to a wedding even though she did not know the bride or the groom or... well, anyone. Okay, so she did know Lily, a bit, since they were sharing rooms, and Streak had introduced her to this new school. But apart from that, she didn't know anyone.

She pondered going over to stand around pointlessly close to Lily and try to look like she fitted in, but she was speaking to Streak and some guy who had gayness - or at least someting - coming off him like so much radiation. Jonathan would have loved his clothes, she thought a bit acidly to herself, before she pushed both the thought of her brother and the notion of approaching them just yet away from her mind. Instead she looked around for a wall to act as support for.

She noticed a brown-haired girl in a green dress who was about Lily's age, and who looked just as out-of-place and awkward as she felt, and decided to lurk along with her. When she got closer she noticed, a bit too late, that she was accompanied (Or was she? It was hard to decide.) by a guy who was... uh, red, and a woman who seemed to be part machine, and for a moment she pondered doing a u-turn and removing herself from the strange people. But if she was going to live in a mutat school, she berated herself, she would just have to deal, right? Besides, she was a bloody freak too, so.

At least the girl in the green dress looked reasonably normal.

She positioned herself a bit away from her, and for a moment stared out over the milling people and gathered some courage. Then she turned her head so that she could see the girl better, pushing up her glasses as they slipped down her nose for the fifty-eight time, and spoke.

"Hi. Uhm... I don't really know anyone here, and you looked somewhat lost too, so I thought I'd say... uh, 'hi'. Which I already did, obviously." She blushed and grimaced apologetically. "Sorry, I'm a disaster at making small-talk. Or any kind of talk, really,"

Ted was a little nervous going to this wedding. Not only did he not know the people that were getting married but he was also very young and wasn’t even sure if he was allowed into the Danger Room by himself. Of course he wouldn’t be by himself because there would be a lot of people there for the wedding. After deciding that since, whomever Maya and Sebastian were and had taken the time to invite someone so young and unfamiliar to them that he might as well attend. There was no reason for him not to; after all that’s where mostly everyone was going to be and what better ways to meet people than in a friendly and loving environment like a wedding. His suit was something that he’d been given by his grandparents before he moved to this school. They wanted to make sure that he had at least one good set of clothes in case he went to something formal. He didn't think they planned for him to be going to any weddings but why not. It was a formal event after all.

When he finally showed up he only managed to catch the tail end of the wedding. Not wanting to intrude he stood in the back and applauded as the bride and groom left the altar. Soon the room changed into a beautiful outdoor reception. Soon after it started to change people started mingling. They mingled faster than Ted could realize that he was standing there looking stupid. Teddy hadn’t been in the Danger Room before and seeing it change from a wedding ceremony to a reception left him standing there awestruck. People moved around him like he wasn’t even there and when he finally realized that he was staring like an idiot, he started to look for someone that he might know. Considering the fact that there were so many people here, he doubted that he would find anyone that he might know here. Teddy, surprisingly quick, noticed someone that he’d met. Although he didn’t recognize anyone that she was with he figured that she might be able to introduce him.

Ted made his way through the crowd of people meandering between the food lines and their seats to make his way over to Twyla. Feeling a little shy at first, especially when he saw the girl with a wolf’s tail, he cautiously made his way to her table. Ted had gotten just close enough to hear their names. Since there was a lull in their conversation he decided now was a good time to make his presence known. “Hi Twyla. I hope I’m not interrupting anything…Mind if I join you?” he said looking at the empty seat that was still available there.

This would make three weddings that Lee had been to in her life. The first, she had been young, probably about 7 or 8, and didn't remember much of anything about it. Other than the fact that it was fun. The second had been her own, which had been anything but traditional, what with eloping in Las Vegas on Boxing Day.

This would be three, and from everything that Lee could tell, it was about as normal and traditional as a wedding taking place at the Mansion could possibly be. At least that had been what she had inferred from the invitation she and Tarin had received, which had led Lee to go shopping. She hadn't had a clue what she was going to get until she was actually paying for the dress. A long, red dress, quite definitely not her normal style, but that Lee had decided would work perfectly after trying it on on a whim.

Once they had gotten there, everything had gone quickly, though. She and Tarin had found seats, not yet mingling though she recognized a large number of the guests. Then, almost before she knew it, though definitely not as quickly as it had seemed her own wedding had gone, the ceremony was over.

And people were starting to mill around now as the scene around them changed. Lee saw Sebastian and Maya, groom and bride, starting to make rounds greeting people, and Lee was again glad that she and Tarin had gotten married the way they had; she would not have been able to do this on her own wedding day. Slate was heading over to get something to eat or drink while Calley was getting pounced on by a teenaged girl. Or, at least Lee was pretty sure she had gotten the names right...

Sam and Shin were there somewhere, too. Or at least Lee saw them, somewhere. For the time being, however, Lee just stood there with Tarin. "I'm so glad we just went to Vegas," she said, smiling over (she was wearing heels under her dress, so was essentially eye level) with her husband.

Juka pouted unhappily as he came to the realization that his advances were not welcome. It wasn't that it was unusual for him to be rebuffed; many people didn't really understand him and, in his opinion, just didn't know how to have a good time. That, and they weren't nearly open minded enough. Juka may have been utterly lacking in common sense of any sort and he may have been a horrible flirt and an attention whore of the worst sort, but damn it, he knew how to have a good time and he understood the merits of trying something new. Why couldn't others just let go once and a while and realize that life was for living, not for constantly worrying about what others thought of you? Wouldn't the world be a better place for it? Or if not the world than at least the people who embraced his unique ideal.

Juka being Juka, however, he didn't let his disappointment last for long. Shawn obviously didn't know a good thing when he had one and it was clearly his loss not Juka's. And, having decided that he simply must have some fun tonight he glanced around to find another target of his affections. Surely someone simply must see how fabulous Juka was and would be willing to treat him as the royalty he so clearly was?

And then, after some very determined searching of the crowd, Juka spotted her. There was just something about her with her shoulder length brown hair and amazing red dress. She was, Juka decided, exactly the type of woman he was looking fur and surely she knew the merits of having a good time? He hadn't yet met her, of course, had never seen her around but that was most certainly about to change. "If you will excuse me, my dear Jewel, but I believe is see another goddess searching for her god." He smiled at his friend, eyes slightly dreamy and distant, and departed with a purpose towards the red dressed stranger.

Walking up to the dieific stranger Juka bowed in the most regal fashion before her. "Oh my beautiful goddess, you simply must do me the pleasure of telling me your name. I am Juka Miami and it would be my absolute pleasure to serve your every need and desire." He remained on one knee before him, until she bid him to rise to his feet.

There was one thing Tarin realized while he watched Ghost and Sebastian get married. He was thrilled that he and Lee had chosen to elope. Sure Ghost looked beautiful in that white dress, and Sebastian cut a fine figure in a tux as well…but his and Lee’s wedding had just been…right. Lee wouldn’t have looked right in the white wedding dress, not that she hadn’t deserved it or wouldn’t have looked beautiful. Tarin had a feeling Lee would have looked beautiful in a burlap sack standing at that alter in Vegas…it just wouldn’t have been…Lee. He’d worn a tux, and nothing about that would have changed…but there were so many people here. Just having Josh and Rachel there had definitely been the way to go, they’d only had to stay at the reception for like 10 minutes. Ghost and Sebastian were going to be there all night partying.

Tarin had seen all kinds of things since the wedding had started and ended. Faces he was pleased to see, and faces he wasn’t so pleased to see. This was not going to be a night where he got grumpy though even if Sam asked Lee to dance. At the thought, Tarin’s eyes drifted to his wife and his cheeks actually colored. When Lee had said she was wearing a long dress to the wedding he’d been surprised. Lee hardly ever wore anything that came past her knee unless she was wearing jeans. Especially when they were dressing up. It had also been odd how protective she’d been of the thing besides telling him it was red so they didn’t end up clashing. When he’d seen her in that thing, though. Tarin had nearly swallowed his tongue and declared that they were going to no wedding that night. Lee had grabbed her coat and purse and walked out the door, though…then had to come back and yell at him to get a move on.

So here they were, and Tarin tore his eyes away from his wife with visible effort…he knew there were private rooms in this school somewhere. Maybe once the reception got into full swing and people started getting liquored up, he and Lee could sneak off somewhere…

Lee interrupted his daydream a few moments later and Tarin had to clear his throat and tug at the buttoned neck of his button-up shirt before he answered. They’d gotten up at some point too and Lee was looking him in the eyes. He never would understand how she handled those heels she wore all the time. Oh, she was expecting a comment.

“Oh me too darlin’.” he said, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek, “Then again I’m biased…I got to have the most beautiful bride in the world walk down the aisle to me. I can’t imagine having had to deal with all these people. I couldn’t talk to Rachel let alone anyone else.

OOC: Hoping that this will turn out of, couldn't sleep and this is gonna take forever to type, plus praying it will make sense. *crikes fingers* here goes nothing!

IC:Kitra smiled, "I'm doing fine, and how is busi...." She trailed off as Slate had turned to give the most akward greeting ever to the young teen that had tapped his shoulder. Kitra couldn't help but do a mental facepalm, 'Oh geez, these are the few and far between times that he reminds me of Calley.' Then, before she could even introduce herself, the second to worst thing happened, someone was threatening the cake with a large knife. Knife aside though, that young lady was still threatening the bride and groom's beautiful wedding cake, now that just wouldn't do. Nor could Kitra let her boss be one of the few to say anything. "Miss, he's right please don't cut that cake. That is most definetely the bride and grooms job."

As she was speaking her hand had moved into her bag and touched her black velvet covered sketchbook. Images rushed by her and there were a few that she grinned upon and one that stopped her in her tracks for a few precious moments. 'I drew something that girlyish?? It was a shield, pink with white bunnies and a big purple heart in the middle. It wasn't that big but it was big enough to stop the knife if need be. Also to appear was nylon rope, padded with cloth.

These both appeared near the girl threatening the cake, the shield appearing near the knife ready to counter any attacks on the cake, the ropes close to her arms ready to wrap around them if need be. *OOC: The shield and ropes act only to Kitra's willpower * "It would be really nice if you backed away from the cake, I mean there's plenty of other food to till the cake is cut by Ghost and Sebestian", Kitra kept her tone nice and level, calm and soothing. The last thing she wanted was for the cake to be ruined, not a nice thing to happen at anyone's wedding. Not at all.

AHEM! Kitra isnt trying to confinscate the knife at all just protecting the cake.

>>“Miss,” Slate interrupted, pitching his voice to the girl threatening the cake, “it is traditional for the bride and groom to cut the first piece. Only then may the guests eat. I suggest you wait.”<<

Hmph. That second, all hopes of sweet sugary goodness came crashing down over the girl's head. She hated that word...wait. She couldn't wait! She wanted cake now, not later. If the bride and groom weren't so slow...where was a time manipulator when you needed one? She slowly looked up at the man speaking to her and a innocent grin melted across her face as she withdrew the blade from the cake's surface before she could make the a cut. Seconds later she was approached by another person, this time a young woman who was trying to confiscate her knife.

"Second amendment of this country gives me the right to keep and bear arms. I don't know if that includes knives, but I'm thinking it does. So...I think I'll just keep it for self defense. Never know when someone will get rowdy and try to attack me. What if zombies pop up and starts infecting everyone? This is my only way of defense besides invisible jello, I've got nothing else, sister! Look at me. I'm too cute too die." she explained and shifted her eyes back over to Slate. "Wouldn't you agree?" she winked.