A smug look came over his features. “ Really ssomeone askss you if you are going to exploit a kid and the firsst wordss out of your mouth are child porn? Can’t ssay I’m ssurprissed."

He shook his head at the woman, he still couldn’t help but admire her though, the fact she was sassy was definitely not the only reason that she was loved on tv. An eyebrow raised at her he decided to let some of his distaste for her simmer. “ Nah, itss sstill a month before I’m legal for that businesss. Jusst know I will find a way to give you hell if he comes back with sso much ass a sscratch on him. Treat him well.” And just like that he turned to leave. He couldn’t help but pounce on the chance to talk a bit of smack tot the woman, it just didn’t happen often enough in his opinion, at least not to her.

Venus Strolled across the gates with his and written invitation from Katrina in hand, he had a feeling he might need it. He hoped all the delectable x-men snd x-women would be here on pedestals for him to look over, select the choicest cut, would he have to pay extra for a date in uniform? He drew stares from several staff members and showed a couple his direct invite from Katrina. She seemed a good enough voucher to get him acceptance to stay but not enough to loose a few followers.

He supposed he did make work for the X's over the years. He pursed his lips and took a seat as he viewed the potential, he saw plenty of tasty morsels. though of the females only one was old enough, and if he wasn't mistaken that was Hymnal. now of the males there were many more dates to be had, though he wasn't sure who would pleased that he had paid for their time. perhaps the snake? He tapped his lip as he looked them over.

He glanced up Katrina and wiggled his fingers towards her and winked if he happened to catch her eye.

Time wore on and people moved around the room; they were all so intent on their own business that none of them gave Sam a second look. Watching people was always an interesting sport as they seemed to go from one set of emotions to the next so fast it was hard to keep track. Take the red head over there, he had been watching her because she had headed for Michael and as it turned out the boy was also kind of one of Sam’s adopted siblings.

She had been delighted to see the small boy but had quickly been distracted by an approaching teen. Which bothered Sam because now Michael had ended up all but abandoned in this sea of people. He pushed himself off the wall and prepared to make his way across to the boy, when something in Celeste’s behavior caught his eye.

She was on the phone to someone and the look she wore on her face did not bode well. He watched her for a while longer as she stood in front of her biding board and tried not to scream at people. He could almost hear the words she was holding in: “are you people so stupid you cannot see I’m the best catch here?”. He sighed, he had brought a bit of money just in case catastrophes needed to be averted but he figured he would let here squirm a little more first. With that decided he went off to find Michael.

The small boy had found himself both a seat and a drink, which was good but he was still looking around the room with those huge eyes of his. Sam made sure that his approach was not a stealthy one; it would not do to surprise the boy, and pulled up a seat.

“Hi Michael, how are you doing today?”

It was a nice and easy question so as not to put pressure on the child, because Sam knew all too well what happened when you put Michael under pressure.

Things seemed to be going well. It was almost too good to be true. People were mingling, smiling, whistling at each other, and writing on sheets. She was trying not to hover to see how much money the team was making, because she didn't want to scare away bidders.

It seemed like the whole town had shown up: all those efforts at advertising seemed to have worked. Even Venus, whom she had invited especially since she thought he'd get a kick out of it, had shown up with a smile and a wink in her direction. Katrina waved back at from across the room, then made her way around the room.

Aleksandr was practically sunning himself in the basking glow of his admirers and cat callers. That was good. Michael had a whole flock, too. He was so shy and cute, how could people not stop to admire him?

Slate was mingling like he was supposed to. Also good. Except... why was he letting Kaitlyn pet his ears? It took a moment of internal conflict, but Katrina decided that she had to be okay with this.

For the good of the team, she told herself.

Carrick had a mischievous look in his eye, like he wasn't thinking about mingling with guests so much as how to cause as much trouble as possible. Calley was skulking off in a corner and seemingly ignoring everyone. Celeste, the blonde girl in stunning silver looked a little upset about something and making phone calls. Katrina's event-coordinator-senses were tingling.

She slipped past Carrick on her way to the punch table and gave him a stern look and a whispered word as she passed, “Be good.” She didn't say 'or else', but the implication was there.

At the punch table, she slipped past the little crowd of Sams that Michael was gathering and helped herself to a drink. She may have stepped on Calley's foot on her way past.

“Quit moping, I've got a mission for you,” she whispered, “Something's up with blondie. Go talk to her, cheer her up or something, be charming. You can do that, right?” Nothing cheered up a girl like talking to a cat-boy, right?

Problems solved? Maybe. She'd keep an eye on them. Meanwhile, she had some people to talk to as well. She wanted to go around and greet the bidders and thank them for coming. Especially the ones that looked ready to donate to a good cause: Jorge, for example.

“Detective Cerventes,” she smiled at him over her little glass of punch, “I'm so glad you could make it today.”

"Frisbee team? What on earth is a Frisbee team?"

Thin air declined to answer, but apparently it was the sort of thing that did fund raising auctions. Fundraising auctions he had a feeling he aught to attend. Just something about the fact the flier had been stuck to his face when he woke up.

Subtle...

Cafas had broken out his church clothes. Holy jeans, St. Paul Saints t-shirt and an angelic expression as he wandered barefoot into the library. The object in his hand was slipped out of sight, and for safe measure welded into its current state and location. Looking around, under dressed wasn't the half of it. Cafas cherished this fact. He knew he would be. He knew people noticed. He had them fooled.

Now where am I meant to be making bids?

He presumed over at the table with the pictures and what not. They had both Calley and Slate up for grabs did they? Ooh and some pretty girls. He assumed that particular bid might land him in some hot water, potentially as a lobster. He made his way to the bidding table and examined the two cat boys. Identical twins, both with cat ears... lovely. How was he meant to distinguish? Oh right, the sarcasm. Slate had actually answered his questions. Cafas looked down at Calley's sheet. $16.28 from... Wait, from Kat? Maybe...

I. Am so confused.

Cafas stared down at the sheets, flicking between them. Had someone swapped them? His brain hurt trying to figure it out. He was sure Kat and Slate had been attached at the hip. It was hard not to hear all the rumours flying about. So... Cafas picked up a pen. He made his calculations, did his math, and jotted down $500 to beat $250 and $16.29 to beat $16.28. Calley would be happy with $500, maybe. He figured it was Calley, why would Kat not bid on Slate? Plus, the ears were clearly Calley ears.

They couldn't just make it easy.

With that done Cafas ducked into the crowd, passed a smile to Calley, who was talking to... He was sure he knew that young girl... Then made a sharp turn to sit himself down somewhere he could observe. If someone wanted to speak to him, they would.

Kaitlyn was mingling, or at least she might have been. Instead she was now talking to one of the other men who had been for sale, and Sledge had to frown. Being blackmailed by a preteen wasn’t his cup of tea (or coffee), but he was positive that she was too young to be doing such a thing. Getting her that flavored lip gloss had clearly been a bad idea. Perhaps now was a good time to have a little chat with his “niece”, find out what she was doing here, and ward away anyone who might be trying to impress her.

Freed from the confines of the stage Sledge made his way through the throng, offering his smile to the women who had showed up. He resisted the urge to see how well he was doing in the auction. Either he was doing well, which meant that he was going to be on a date with a stranger, or he was doing poorly, which would just be a hit to his ego. Also he was holding back on the flirting, at least until he talked to Kaitlyn.

That had been his attention before he spotted a familiar blonde. David’s grin turned a bit more honest, remembering that he had spent some time chatting her up in a club. Leaving her behind when he got in the taxi had been forgotten, since his last memory of her was her upset about something he said. Approaching her he asked “Right then?”

Slate just spoke directly into her mind. It took her a moment to decide whether this should relieve or terrify her. On the one hand, this was Slate; on the other hand, he had to have been hearing her thoughts just a second ago. She went with relieved. Terrified could make things messy.

Oh... sure... so, you really -are- telepathic? Why didn't you say anything when I asked if you were reading my mind, then? Kaitlyn sent these thoughts to him as she reached up to feel his ears, first poking one of them, then giving it a light scritch while she felt the part where cat-ear met human head. Then, grinning, she pinched the tips of both ears and lightly tugged at them. She couldn't help herself.

These are so cute... When this thought crossed her mind, she had temporarily forgotten that Slate would hear it. She deftly put her hands back by her sides, blushing a little. Umm... I didn't... I mean... well, they're real. You're a telepath and you can have cat ears too. That's cool.

Aleksandr was reveling in the encouraging reactions his compliment were getting out of the young gargoyle girl, as well as the compliments he was getting in return. He lived for these kinds of social interactions. Of course, he didn't mean anything by his flattery, nor was he trying to win Gina over as anything more than a friend, he just enjoyed fluffing his ego and other's. Getting a friend out of it was just a bonus.

He certainly didn't miss the wolf whistle that was sent his way as he exchanged words with his lovely companion. He wasn't so sure where the call had originated from, but he'd never give up such an opportunity to grin like a fool and shift his bulk around so his scales moved and caught whatever lighting they could. They gleamed rather nicely in the right kind of light. Whoever it was that had given the call had a good eye.

His attention turned away from the crowd and back to the young woman before him as she shyly answered the questions he'd posed about a potential suitor. Was that a blush he saw creeping onto her cheeks? How charming, and terribly encouraging. It was a shame some of the younger gentlemen hadn't approached such a lovely young lady.

However, that may just be because she hadn't mingled enough just yet. "Not knowing anyone is perfect reason to be mingling with young men," he replied, his grin still in place coupled with a wink. "Is terribly selfish of me to spend your time. I am stealing you from the other suitors. For you, will be a cinch to be getting many bids."

It was really not easy for him to sit still with a puzzle that he knew how to solve already, but he had a cup In his hands now. Very, very gingerly, he moved the cup to the front of him. Putting it on a seat hadn’t worked. He was afraid that if he bumped the chair, it would all fall on him. He took in a breath, keeping very focused on the stability of the liquid he didn’t want.

Looking up, he relaxed to see a familiar face. Sam came over to him in that happy, relaxed way that Michael had begun to kind of like. He looked Sam up and down quickly, and then looked at the cup again. As Sam pulled a seat around, Michael blushed a little bit from the attention. People kept talking to him, and it was actually pretty cool. Except for the scary people, like that lady. That lady wasn’t very nice, and he didn’t want her to get him a drink again.

Michael looked at the cup of liquid, and before Sam could say anything, he held it out insistently. He wanted it to go away now…all done. He did not want anymore, and it might spill. Though he wanted it to go away quickly, he moved the cup slowly. No getting things on the pretty outfit. It was one of the rules he’d been given. Along with no messing up his hair. Kat did it for him really well, and he didn’t know how to fix it.

“I..I don’t know what people are doing really.” He looked embarrassed. “B-but…Kat said that I had to be good and not ignore people even if they aren’t very good people.” He looked around at all the people in the room, looking up with soft, unsure eyes. Everything was going on at once in here, and so many people were talking with each other. There were lots of people he didn’t know, but they looked okay, at least.

>> "Not knowing anyone is perfect reason to be mingling with young men."

In any other situation, Gina would've been more than willing to mingle with young men, but for the express purpose of hopefully being bid on for a date? Farewell, courage, it was nice knowing you! Hello, self-consciousness. Gina shifted, her lips thinning in uncertainty, and she gave an uncertain, "I guess."

Guys were okay as long as they were just guys that were friends. Going on dates was an entirely different animal.

>> "Is terribly selfish of me to spend your time. I am stealing you from the other suitors. For you, will be a cinch to be getting many bids."

In other words, 'Have at the "suitors", young padawan. No hanging around Aleksandr for protection'.

"Okay," Gina sighed, nodding her head resolutely. She'd go fraternize with the enemy... no, that wasn't right... she'd go mingle with the potential dates. That was better. This wasn't war. This was fun. Right.

"I'm going to go talk to some guys," Gina announced to Aleksandr, sighing loudly, "Wish me luck."

And with that, the gargoyle girl slipped into the crowd, meandering slowly, eyes scoping about for not only familiar faces, but for wandering glances that were trying to make eye contact with her. If some guy met her eyes and Gina didn't know them, she'd go talk to them, her nerves permitting.

Jorge had continued to stroll through the library, not really catching the eye of anyone who was partaking in the festivities. He recognized quite a few people and there were others that he simple had no idea who they were: the snake man he had never met but he had seen around the mansion and he seemed to having Gina’s full attention and calming her nervousness which was good, the X-Men Team Leader was walking about, even that woman was Wolf News was here speaking with another young man. So far so good and thankfully there had been no fights ramble rousing as of just yet.

He smirked a little as he turned away and spied the rest of the people mingling and talking amongst themselves, mingling with other people, laughing and joking about. In turning, he caught a glance at Carrick who seemed to be inching towards him, hand reaching out as if to pick a certain pocket.

Jorge arched a brow, grinned as he opened his leather jacket to show that he had his wallet safely inside of a pocket that was pressed against his chest, instead of the back of his jeans.

He grinned and mouthed Nice try before he turned and caught a glimpse of blonde hair. He knew all too well to which head it was attached to…

>> “Detective Cerventes…I'm so glad you could make it today.”

The detective nodded to her with a smile.

“Well anything for a good cause,” he confirmed.

In all honesty he really did like the girl, especially after the Hawaii mission. She had shown herself to be strong and level-headed to the point that his respect for her did grow. But that did not mean that he forgot she stole his stapler. So while he respected the girl, he did keep an eye on her, just in case…

He then nodded to the rest of the library and to the gather of patrons. “You have quite a turnout. You and the team should be raking the money in.”

He was not moping, ergo, he could not quit it. But his ears could swish forwards at the words 'mission' and 'for you.'

"Roger that, Frisbee Commander," the white-eared cat boy said, patiently gritting his teeth as Katrina's heel unfortunately came to rest in the dead center of his own innocent foot.

Besides, he'd just seen a head of pink hair stroll past the bidding tables. Not that Calley cared, but he thought it was about time to leave his perfectly comfortable wall and stroll that way, as well. With a casual glance down in passing—

--with a smile that did not twitch convulsively before settling into its habitual location on his lips—

...Five hundred.

From Cafas? Ah. Congratulations.

...Yeah, Slate. Thanks.

--the cat boy crossed the floor, voyaging past red muscle men and over snake tails. His quest ended in a low bow, gallantly swept before a most deserving young woman.

"My lady," whatzherface. Selena? Celine? Celeste! "Celeste. I fear you hold the room in awe—how else could it be that you are standing alone? You, with golden hair and silver raiment? You must permit me the pleasure of correcting this atrocity."

The white-eared cat boy swept her hand up to his lips, delivering the lightest of kisses.

"If I may be so bold," he finished, blue eyes twinkling.

This was Calley, not moping.

From her vulgar throne, a simple metal chair, she watched her station impatiently. She could not understand how she had received no bids. It was unforgivable. In absence of another culprit, she decided to throw cold stares of contempt to her lonely station, loaded with so much hatred that it would not be surprising for the station burst into flames. Excess of hatred, the doctor would say while checking the smoldering corpse. Fortunately spontaneous combustion was not in her list of powers.
She was so focused on her staring contest with the poor inanimate object, that she never noticed the boy cat approaching until it was too late. His claws closed around her delicate hands with such speed that she could not react. Paralyzed with fear, the girl could only watch. Silent horror reflected in her eyes. Just to contribute to her growing panic state, the intruder kissed her hand, giving ample time to check his cat ears very clearly. There was no doubt. They were real ears. Cat ears. Hairy. Would he has fleas? Just thinking about it, she felt attacked by imaginary fleas. Itching all over her body. To resist the urge to scratch. took all her willpower. It was not ladylike.

How did it happen? Was it her fault? Or he had used some kind of feline ninjutsu? She doubted for a second but the answer was there. Clear as water. "It was pure negligence." She repeated again and again. Without wanting to give credit to the stranger for his smooth running and accurate strike. Or his sweet words that uttered only truths. "If not for the ears..." said a little voice in her head. And another one silenced it quickly. "Speak softly but carry a big stick." Surely it was all a trap.
When she finally regained her composure, she took her hand away as quickly as possible and gently deposited them on her lap, a gesture of protection. Her left hand shielding her right hand. The kissed hand. As if the place where his lips had touched her skin was fatally wounded.
Instead of resorting to a severe but righteous whip of her hand, she chose to direct all her anger in a blaze of words. Soft words but spoken almost in a shriek. Bad for sensitive ears. "Don´t you dare to touch me again with your dirty lips." The queen paused in her speech. Took air and asked with new energy. "How much did you bid on me to have these privileges?" Her eyes constantly stabbed him, while her voice shrill kept that rage that can tear ears and concrete alike.

Aleksandr gave a gentler, hopefully encouraging smile to Gina as she reluctantly agreed that she could do a little mingling with someone other than the snake man. Not that he was trying to get rid of her or anything. On the contrary, he quite enjoyed the young woman's company. However, from what he'd read, the whole point of the auction was to try and raise some money for a frisbee team that Kat was a part of on the Mansion grounds. She wouldn't be gaining any bids from the eligible bachelors milling about the room if she tried to seclude herself. He was sure she'd get a few good bids at least. He'd be shocked otherwise.

Speaking of which, he should probably start making his rounds around the room as well. He didn't necessarily have to speak to anyone, but he loved being seen. There was little doubt that he didn't stand out in a crowd as it was, but why deprive anyone of a closer look? They couldn't possibly see the exquisite shine and color of his scales properly from so far away could they? Of course not. He would remedy that right away.

Sam did not get an answer to his question right away as Michael seemed in the middle of a dilemma. So the illusion mutant waited patiently until the small boy worked out how to deal with whatever was bothering him. During this time he swept the room with his gaze once more and noted that Celeste was still sat on her own on the stage. Her expression was no one of haughty superiority. He sighed, what was he going to do with that girl?

In the mean time Michael had come up with a solution and was now holding out his plastic cup with a look in his eyes that read: “please take this”. Well there was no point in arguing, so Sam took the cup off Michael only to then realize that it was still half full of juice. Great. He was going to have to find a table to put this on if he did not want to be carrying it around for most of the afternoon. He did not however let his displeasure wipe away his smile.

“I..I don’t know what people are doing really. B-but…Kat said that I had to be good and not ignore people even if they aren’t very good people.”

Michael’s words made Sam just a little bit angry. How could Kat, whom he had seen around but never actually met, throw Michael into something like this and then leave him on his own to deal with it? Did she not understand how fragile the child was? And what did she mean by “not very good people”? He looked across the room at the blond and made a mental note to speak to her about this later. Now all he had to do was find a way to explain the situation to the boy in a way that did not make it sound scary.

“Well, today is to help Kat get some money for some sports…” trying to explain Ultimate Frisbee might just be a bit much right now, although Sam was probably one of the only people outside the team that he played it before “by making new friends. You see people give money so that they can have special time to make friends.”

He hoped his explanation made sense to the boy, and while he let Michael digest what had just been said he turned his attention back to Celeste. As it turned out she was just being approached by one of the two boys with the cat ears. Sam did not know which was which as he had never been introduced but whoever he was he was either brave or stupid.

After watching the scene, Sam decided that he was probably brave and now he was going to live to regret that. The boy had been the very embodiment of chivalry, everything that Celeste dreamed of and everything that Sam had failed to provide. He must however have said something wrong because the look that Celeste was wearing now was shooting daggers at him. Why was it teenage girls were never happy? This boy had been really nice and was busy getting torn apart and he had been rude and annoying but somehow she had decided she quite liked him. There was no sense in it.

He decided to give Celeste a bit more time to stew before going over there and turned his attention back to Michael. It was when he looked at the boys face that he remembered the comment about “not very good people” and he decided that a warning was in order.

“Michael, you see that girl over there with the yellow hair and the silver dress? Well she is one of those not very nice people; she is not very good at being friendly. So If you do not want to get yelled at please do not go and speak with her.”