Halloween Party! [set-up - Wednesday night]

[playboy_philanthropist]

Due to the hurricane, the set-up for the party was even more low-key than the last one. The food was more along the lines of store bought munchies, with the exception of Darcy's baked goods, than full out catering. The Halloween decorations were to a minimum, the spooky atmosphere accomplished more with lighting and some appropriately places holograms than actual cheesy things like cobwebs and bedsheet-ghosts. The bar was fully stocked, as always, and had two specialty cocktails for the evening.

When the surprise guests of honor had been there a bit, the cake and brownies with candles were brought out with a round of happy birthday that wasn't too earsplitting.

[Feel free to randomly tag in and have some fun! Also add any cool things you feel like would be at the party.]

Comments

[agent_barton]

Clint put on his cowboy hat, newly purchased from his trip down to Austin, and the boots he picked up there as well. That, with a big ass belt buckle and some chaps mysteriously left on his bed (by Natasha, no doubt) completed the least complicated Halloween costume Clint could come up with other than a SHIELD agent.

It was fun, looking at everyone in some sort of get-up. Walking toward Tony Stark in a similar cowboy garb, he laughed. "Guess it wasn't as original idea as I thought. Thanks for this," he said, nibbling on a brownie, looking around at everyone. "This is great. Love it."

[playboy_philanthropist]

"Hey, it was either this or a gangster and everyone is too used to seeing me in a pinstriped suit," Tony pointed out as he hooked his thumbs into the belt of his 'costume'. "I'll let you be the white hat though, especially since you have the badge and all."

He took a sip of his drink before he shrugged. "It's nothing, man. There will be some surprises tomorrow, just so you know. Try and still act surprised."

[agent_barton]

"Don't make me pull out my handcuffs, Stark," Clint grinned, clapping him on the back. "You know what happened to the junior agent that tried to surprise me once, right? You didn't hear that story?" Most SHIELD agents knew that Clint Barton wasn't the one to play a surprise joke on, at least not if you wanted to keep arrows out of your head.

"Poor guy, took him months to realize I really had been spooked and wasn't just out to get him."

[playboy_philanthropist]

"Oh, we're to the kinky part of the evening already? Excellent," Tony teased before he shook his head. "Nope. Haven't heard the story yet. I still maintain this isn't a full surprise considering you knew about the party, but hey, if you don't want surprise brownies, I can just take them all back." He took another sip before smiling. "Tomorrow's surprises are in the present category, not the actual surprise category."

[capsteve_rogers]

It was a little strange to be celebrating a holiday when a majority of the city was still without electric and many were dealing with property damage or, even worse, a loss of their homes. Steve had felt rather useless since the hurricane struck, since there wasn't much that could be done to prevent a natural disaster. All he'd been able to do was help in the aftermath, which didn't feel like much considering all that needed done.

Still, this wasn't a fancy party, and it was to celebrate two birthdays in addition to the holiday. He hadn't really dressed up all that much, though his costume did make him feel as if he'd stepped out of an old thirties gangster flick. All he needed was a Tommy gun, a cigarette, and a sneer and he could imitate Edward G. Robinson easily. Clint looked particularly good in his cowboy costume, but Steve knew he couldn't be free in his admiration or touch him the way he wanted because they were keeping their relationship private still.

Instead, he sipped a beer and watched people, enjoying the costumes and company as a welcome distraction from recent events.

[the_spy]

It had been a long damn day, and the last thing Nick had wanted to do was go home. But he couldn't very well preach about team unity and group dynamics and stay home when two of his agents were celebrating. Besides, wearing this pirate outfit wiped the slate clean between him and Coulson, and hopefully guaranteed his agent some prize from Stark.

Walking up to Captain Rogers, he pretended as if there wasn't a parrot on his shoulder. "Good evening, Captain."

[capsteve_rogers]

Steve looked up and grinned when he saw Fury. "I think Captain is more appropriate for you tonight, Sir," he pointed out. "At least, I assume you're a captain and not a pirate wench." He kept his expression earnest and sincere even as he teased. "Though I suppose one can never tell these days. A feisty lady pirate queen or a strong pirate king might very well want a wench with a parrot."

[the_spy]

"My wench is over there," Fury pointed at Coulson in his red and black frilly dress. "I gotta say, its amazing the lengths a man will go to over his private obsessions." Seeing as the man in front of him was part of said obsession, Fury didn't say more about that.

"You do the gangster look well, though from what Agent Barton wrote, you were quite the actor during your mission to Dubai. He seemed very impressed," Fury said, looking around the room, "as did your friend Marko."

Open

[natashka]

Natasha had gone as Marilyn Monroe, her red hair tucked under the tell tale blond wig and wearing the classic white dress. After the cake was brought out, Natasha grabbed the karaoke mic. Smirking at Clint, she got on top of the coffee table before launching into a raspy, bluesy version of "Happy Birthday Mister President" followed by a parody of "Diamonds are a girls best friend" as "Weapons are a girls best friend".

Giving Clint a kiss when she was done, she sauntered off to the bar to get herself another drink and to observe the room.

Re: Open

[doctor_banner]

Bruce hadn't celebrated Halloween in longer than he could remember, and hadn't worn a costume for the holiday since he was in college or high school. But he had a tux in his closet, and an ad for the new James Bond movie had given him the idea.

He approached the bar and leaned against it. "Nice performance, Marilyn."

[natashka]

Natasha blushed. She didn't often sing in public, but this was Clint, so everything was allowed.

"Thank you, Mister Bond," Natasha teased with a smirk. "I do private performances as well. If you're interested.."

[doctor_banner]

"I'm very interested," he murmured as he got his drink. It hardly seemed right to be James Bond without the martini. Shaken, not stirred. He sipped the drink slowly and moved in close to Natasha. "Maybe an encore later?" he murmured, his lips brushing her ear.

[maria_hill]

There were reasons that Maria generally trusted her gut. Tonight, she'd been tired from dealing with post-Sandy bullshit, though, and she'd given in to Clint's nudging to show up for the stupid party that Stark was throwing. She didn't do costumes unless it was necessary for work, so she was just wearing normal clothes. If anyone bothered questioning her, she'd just explain that she was dressed up as a civilian, so it was all good.

Well, it had been good until there'd been singing and cake and uncomfortable celebration of a day that she generally ignored and wished wasn't even on a calendar. Sure, it was her birthday, but it hadn't ever been something commemorated in positive ways. Hell, Michael hadn't even told her it was her birthday until she'd been old enough to realize she'd never had a birthday, and he'd always made it clear that it was a day to remember her mother's death instead of celebrating her birth. Of course, her father was an asshole, and Maria knew she should celebrate just to rebel against that fucked up childhood, but old habits and all that.

Right now, she was studying the exits and trying to figure out the best strategy to get out of here before anyone approached her and actually said the three horrible words of happy birthday Maria. She grimaced at the thought before taking a gulp of her wine and edging her way towards the exit closest to the elevator.

[playboy_philanthropist]

Habit had Tony keeping a general eye on the entire party. It was a habit that was hard to break, at least without a good deal of alcohol. Especially at a small party. Seeing a very familiar expression on Maria's face, he grabbed a slice of cake and headed over to her.

"You have to at least have a piece of cake before you sneak out," he said as he held the plate out towards her. "A Darcy original, so you know it's going to be good."

[maria_hill]

Maria looked up and rolled her eyes. Trust Stark to catch her before she could make a break for it. Then, to top it off, he was using cake as a bribe. "I might be on a diet," she pointed out, arching a brow as she looked at the cake then back at him. "In which case, you'd be guilty of aiding and abetting in the violation of diet goals." She reached for the plate and sighed. "I'm leaving after I eat this. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture and all that shit, but I think this is more Barton's thing than mine."

[playboy_philanthropist]

"I stand by the fact that all diets, resolutions, whatever, are put on pause on your birthday," Tony pointed out before shrugging. "Plus, I am always guilty of being a bad influence, so not much of a threat. But if you're really that heart broken, I can play drill master tomorrow and yell at you to work off all the calories."

He raised an eyebrow. "How can it be made to be more your type of thing?" he asked curiously. "Trying to be better about spreading the love. Aside from just making sure the bar is properly stocked with everything."

[agentdarcy]

After smuggling the brownies and cake from her own kitchen to the common area, Darcy got herself a well-earned beer and some snacks. She had gotten a little stir crazy working from home, and with class cancelled due to the hurricane she had made a couple of big batches of muffins and then pulled on her rain boots and ventured out. She'd dropped them at the local fire and police stations and gone on her way, glad she'd walked when she saw the gridlock.

She smoothed the apron of her costume and settled on a bar stool, crossing her legs and admiring her brand new knee boots.

[agentphilcoulson]

"Agent Lewis," Coulson said with a smile.

He spoke to her as though he was wearing his standard MiB suit, despite the fact that he was dressed as a pirate wench to match Fury's costume. He'd shaved his legs and his chest for the occasion - it was nothing that wouldn't grow back - and he did have shapely legs. It was amazing what a corset would do for your figure. For his part, he was glad that the costume covered the scars on his body.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

[agentdarcy]

Darcy looked up and smiled broadly when Coulson approached. "Agent Coulson," she said with a nod. She tilted her head, taking in the scanty costume and fishnets, and raised an eyebrow at the thigh-high boots. "Great costume, sir."

She had to admire any man who could walk in heels that high. "Sure thing. Tony said something about specialty cocktails, but I'm kind of afraid to ask," she smirked.

[agentphilcoulson]

"It got the Director here in a pirate costume and got me a Captain America First Issue comic, so it's worth it. Although I do think you pull off your boots better," Phil said with a smile as he found a pitcher of premixed cocktail and poured two glasses.

"To your continued baking success."

[lt_col_rhodes]

"Werwolf?" Rhodey asked the non-costumed lady who seemed intent on exiting just as he was entering the party dressed as Prince Naveen. He'd even shelled out for a ukelele hanging from one of the loops on the belt although heaven help anyone who asked him to play. He did singing, not instrumental. He had the presents in a pocket for once the birthday party stuff kicked in. Some kind of spa thing that the women on base swore by. They swore that the place did manicures that could last an eight hour dogfight and a gift certificate for petsmart. Now he just had to get the courage to give them to the birthday folks.

He recognized her from around though. "Darcy right? Nice boots."

[agentdarcy]

"Er, waitress, actually." Darcy smoothed the red apron over her yellow and red uniform dress. The Mistress of Baked Goods would require too much explanation, she'd decided. She smiled and glanced down at her boots. "Thanks. I like them."

Darcy eyed the ukulele. "So... you're a musician?"

[the_spy]

After Tony Stark's flurry of mission requests, Nick wanted to be sure to make contact with him at the party. That, and thank him for the invitation.

Something about Stark didn't sit well with his parrot, and Nick wondered if that was some kind of warning. Animals were supposed to be good judges of people, after all. "Shh, it's okay," he told her, offering the bird another seed while he walked toward Tony. "You the good guy or the bad guy tonight?"

[playboy_philanthropist]

"Bad guy," Tony said with a wide grin. "But I can always go and steal Clint's badge and turn the tables. But then that means I'd have to be all law enforcement on you, Mr. Big Bad Pirate. Nice costume, by the way. The real parrot and wench are a nice touch. Although if either shits in the tower, you're cleaning it up."

[the_spy]

Fury snorted. "I've had quite enough of Barton being a bad guy this year, thank you very much. I'm much more comfortable brawling with you, Stark." But it wasn't even that anymore, not since he'd admitted Stark into his organization, albeit via The Avengers, which was still tenuous and fluid.

Looking down at this costume, he gave Tony a wide smile. "I thought it was an excellent idea when Coulson suggested this. And when he showed his own outfit, then I couldn't not do it, you know?" Offering his parrot another seed, he glanced around the room. "Speaking of shitting in the tower, what is this I hear about dogs? Someone told me that you guys all have alien mutts running around here."