8027/Surprise Party! (part 5)

Surprise Party! (part 5)
Date of Scene:	24 June 2019
Location:	Clint and Skye's, Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Lions, and Tigers and.. Wait. No. Cake, and Presents, and Song! oh my. Steve and Skye's friends shower them with thoughtful gifts. Including two oranges. Maybe there's something about that in the box Skye gave Steve..
Cast of Characters:	Darcy Lewis, Nightcrawler, Winter Soldier, War Machine, Cyclops, Hawkeye (Barton), Quake, Daredevil, Karen Page, Captain America

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Darcy Lewis has posed:
SHIELD 4th of July / Steve&Skye's Birthday Party. Clint's got the meats and veggies grilled and the platters of hot grilled things are making their way in from the backyard patio to rest along side the numerous other snacks on the food table. The bowl of glowing green salsa is nearing the bottom, though a fresh bag of chips to eat it with has ninja'd its way onto the table. The cakes were delivered, three of them, but Darcy kept them boxed up until it was TIME TO HAVE CAKE, so they've been a surprise. Over the in house surround system, Postmodern Jukebox have been belting out modern day classics in 1940s styles.

There are various sitting areas set up through the house where guests can retreat to with a drink when they need a few moments, while guests continue to come and go from the main part of the house with lively discussions about all manner of topics. There are signed stategically placed. The front door's says: Just come on in! Another with a birthday present tells everyone where gifts should go. The one by the stairs directs guests to the bathroom, and another near the kitchen says May's Fortess - Enter at Your Own Risk. (This sign might be new, and to those who know Darcy, it's DEFINITELY her handwriting. We don't ask when she managed the sign, but poof. New signage!)

Speaking of Darcy, she's helping ferrying grilled stuff from the backyard patio.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Stuck to the ceiling, his tie tucked to keep from hanging down in his face, Kurt has found how to avoid having to weave around people, and snag a burger when Darcy passes, his tail moving down like a frog's tongue to nab one. Having sent out invites to at least one other mutant as he moves to find a place to enjoy his upside down meal, considering his next move here while more food and drink are hauled about.

Winter Soldier has posed:
So, Buck was out for a while - having a dog to walk is a perfect excuse when you need to decompress from a gathering of people. But he's coming back in now - he's got a big German Shepherd on a leash, wearing a service dog's vest. Barnes looks much more relaxed, as if the respite had fended off a potential meltdown. What he's missed, however, is the arrival of some of the mutants. So Kurt being stuck to the ceiling is greeted with a faintly puzzled frown, before he looks to some of his fellow agents. Are they seeing this?

War Machine has posed:
Rhodes makes his way back into the room. Completely shirtless. His overly well toned muscles clear and brightly visible for all to see. For a man who's one of the older well looks to be one of the older people at the party he's still got it going on. Man's worked up a bit of a sweat as he comes back in looking not too out of breath sticking that pistol of his right back into the conealed holster on his backside. He's got a few actually thinking about it.

     Still he makes his way over to where the borrowed shirt had been left his chest covered in old scars and battle wounds along with a few new bandages that have been applied and he doesn't look in the best of moods.

     Taking the towel he cleans himself dry taking a long pause before downing an entire bottle of cheep booze to try and take the edge off a bit.

     Shortly behind comes a rather sad looking Lila who has that puppydog look her goggles held down in one hand as she sort of shrinks down with her toolkit left open a bit. She just finds a spot and plops down to start tearing apart her watch to make a few improvements.

     "Skye. Good news." Rhodes speaking as he dries himself off the rest of the way. "Your toilet is back to normal, and I'm pretty sure doesn't want to take over the world anymore." In a deadpan tone that again hides if he's joking or not. The expression on his face isn't exactly amused.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott stands making small talk with a middle aged man who does something in adminstrative something. His glasses simplify the job of making him look engaged and social, so you would think he wanted to be there if you did not know him. He is wearing a black suit and dress shoes with a white shirt, top button undone. Scott laughs on cue and nods sagely. He glances up at Kurt at one point and scowls. Then laughs again.

"I'm just going to grab a drink," he says with a smile and excuses himself. The smile fades to something more serious and tired looking. He walks over to grab a beer.

"The cake better be soon," he mutters to Kurt in passing.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Between rounds of grilling Clint comes in from the patio wiping his hands on his apron. "Wait? What about the toilet?" he asks Rhodey having missed the adventures of the past little while attending to the grill.

That's when he spots Kurt, jumping a little in surprise, "Whoa guy on the ceiling!" he exclaims before he recovers his wits. "Wow, did not think you looked like that under your costume, Spidey, still nice you could come," he jokes extending a hand up to Kurt. "Clint Barton," he says in introduction.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Gaze flicking to Scott, Kurt frowns a little, confused, "Try to enjoy yourself, Scott. It's a party." and then Clint is upon him, head tilting to one side, "OH! No! I am not Spider-Man, no. My name is Kurt - I am a consultant regarding mutant affairs in Shield, ja?" he smiles, "You must be Skye's husband ja?"
    The Bavarian looks to one side and then back to the archer, "She's pretty as she is sweet, you're a lucky man Mein Freund." he tips a wink, "Good burger by the way." his spaded tail looping around to indicate his current meal.

Quake has posed:
Three cakes! THREE.

M'kay, there is no mistaking what's in those boxes, and dammit, even if she's not supposed to be peeking in them, that right there is a challenge that Skye isn't sure she can resist "May's fortress" sign or no. Besides, thinking up clever ways to peek takes her mind off of the fact that yeah, this is a party - for her. And Steve. She figures if she can remind herself of that often enough it will take away some of the anxiety of it all...

"Huh, what? Oh! You fixed the butt douche so it doesn't douche anymore? Or..?" Because she still wasn't sure what Lila had done or how, so there was still a risk that she'd vastly misunderstood what "fixed" meant in this context.

War Machine has posed:
"A little certain someone decided to take it upon herself and upgrade your first floor bathroom with a bidet" He pauses wiping off the rest of his face as he starts to throw back on a shirt hiding back away those perfectly chiseled abs that glisten just right in the light of the room. "And went a little bit too far."

     His head pops out the other end of the shirt, and he places his hands down onto the counter once the empty bottle of beer gets tossed right away. "I admit, it's the first time I've ever had a toilet try to strangle me to death." Wiping off his hands before taking a chip full of the literally glowing salsa. Yes glowing as in glow in the dark.

     He takes a firm crunch and just tries to relax a bit while getting more back into the party spirit of things. "Got it back to normal, and next time Lila is going to ask before she goes playing around with other peoples things." A pause as he raises his voice slightly. "Aren't you." Only to get a response of cold silence and ignoring from the young girl who's playing with her soldering kit.

Winter Soldier has posed:
That accent and phrasing has James's face going slightly colder. Still no love for Germans, after all this time. But....HYDRA never hired blue wacky wall walkers, last he knew of, so it eases back to curiosity. He still hasn't introduced himself, though.

"Think STark'll take her on as an apprentice, when she gets older?" he wonders of Rhodes, as he goes looking for a soda.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"I didn't say a word!" Darcy calls out, sticking her head around a corner to look at Clint the moment Kurt called him Skye's husband.

"I swear on my iPOD, I didn't breathe a word!" she adds, eyes big and wide and please don't shoot me with an arrow as she peers up at Clint before stepping out fully and offering a burger and chips on a plate to Scott, who'se near by. Hasn't met him yet, but HI! is said with a bright smile that comes with her name: "I'm Darcy. have a burger."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint looks at Rhodes. "I don't want to know how she did that," he says confidently.

As for the husband thing, he shakes his head. "Nah, we're not married," he says. "Good to meet you Kurt," he sayss shaking hands.

Darcy is given a look and a grin, "I don't believe you one bit," he says.

Cyclops has posed:
"I've got other things to do," Scott mutters in reply to Kurt and takes a pull from his beer. He watches the banter and then turns to face Darcy when a burger is shoved at him.

"I'm Scott, thanks," Scott says with a broad smile. "Service is great here, you work here all the time?"

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"I swear, Clint!" Darcy ascerts again, turning to look at the archer and his grin. Her face? A pout. An honest to goodness pout.

"I got the memo, loud and clear, and I didn't SAY anything!!!" Cue lower lip quiver that lasts until Scott's talking to her. She turns back to him, the smile finding its way back.

"Any chance I get. Nice to meet you Scott. Have you tried the salsa? It glows, and I have no idea how, but it's green and glowing and spicy and awesome. I need to put some in the break room at work and see how many nerds from R&D and Biomed I can get to poke at it."

Quake has posed:
Skye, having been banished from the kitchen (attempt one to see cakes thwarted!) huhs, "Who's married?" Then her gaze narrows down and seeks out Darcy, "Hey.. this isn't a repeat of last year, upgrade version two is it? Because that was funny, but if that third cake pops anything but some half naked guy, or Wade, I'm going to be very disappointed."

Because last year's party had had a bridal shower theme..

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "I may have misinterpreted, Clint" Kurt gives a toothy grin, "But it got Frau Lewis to pout, and confirmed my suspicions even then." he turns about, pausing as he sees the man in the corner. "Entschuldigen Sie einen Moment." moving towards the man, lifting a beer from the refreshment area, keeping on the ceiling as he nears. Maybe a bit to much compassion for his own good.
    "Allo, you look like you're... dealing with something, ja? Beer?" standing on the ceiling and extending his arm so that Bucky needn't do more than reach out to take it without so much as a stretch.
    "I know the look, Mein Freund - no need to talk, or anything else - just have a drink, if you want it."

Cyclops has posed:
"I make a point of not eating green glowing things, thanks," Scott says with a smile. He steps away from Darcy to dress up his burger. It is a precise and very time consuming thing.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Oh my GOD! I swear to Jesus. I didn't SAY anything! I didn't PLAN anything! There's no bride's cake, and I canceled the fucking strippers! For the love of GOD, I swear, no more marriage talk from me. Though if you two get hitched and DON'T tell me so I can throw you a proper-ass party I'm going to learn how to out sneaky sneaky all'a'y'all just so I can eat ALL of your potstickers and drink all your beer!" Darcy, huffing, at Skye and Clint and then the 'tirade stops as she looks at Kurt and leans toward Scott.

"It's like... he's talking a completely different language or something," she whispers. Only, she's whispering like she took lessons from Thor on how to whisper, so it's not a very soft whisper. At. All. Which workds, because Scott stepped away and she doble blinks when she realizes that, then shrugs and heads toward the kitchen. There are cakes to wrangle.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Thanks," says Buck, quietly, relenting at least that far. Then, belatedly, he offers his human hand up to shake. "James. I usually go by Bucky, though." The other hand, covered by a glove, motions to the Shepherd at his side. "That's Lili."

War Machine has posed:
"Trust me, it's not radioactive, and it hasn't killed me yet." Spoken with a bit of a lighthearted confidence as he tries to relax a bit at this party. "Great as a snack or a nightlight." He pauses for a long moment looking back over towards the rest of the group

     "So I shouldn't jump out of the cake in nothing but a speedo and a smile to do some dancing." He pauses for a quick second. "Got it, let me make sure the other guys know." He pauses for a bit of a light chuckle still remembering quite well the bridal theme from last years party.

     Lilia, the little girl makes her way over towards Lili, the dog. She's managed to get her wrist watch back together, though now it's got a little calculator pad stolen from the calculator she was supposed to use for her schoolwork. The little girl just pausing on the spot and looking at the sheppard in silence. Perfectly calm around the obvious mutant, but just fascinated by the dog next to bucky.

     "This is honestly a far better july party then I had planned." Said with a pause from Rhodey for a sip of beer. "I was just going to go out into the desert and bomb some ten rings supply convoys."

Quake has posed:
Skye shakes her head at Kurt, who she know knows is the source of this year's rumour. (well, she hasn't fully ruled out Darcy yet). "Nah, Clint and I just live together. We're partners on the team, but nobody's married yet."

"I haven't met your friend yet, Kurt." Looking to Scott. "Friend of Steve's, or just a general well-wisher?" She doesn't seem too bothered by either possibility. "I'm Skye by the way. Apparently it's my birthday too."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Totally believe you, Darcy," Clint calls before catching Skye's attention and giving a little shake of his head.

Then back to Kurt, he says, "Isn't Frauline Darcy? Speaking of marriage. Though my German is rusty."

At that point he drifts over to Skye, grabbing a beer on the way nodding to Scott as he joins them.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott gets his burger ready and manages a couple of bites. Then he makes an exasperated face. He puts his plate down on the counter, pulls out his phone and scowls. He tucks it away and walks past Darcy.

"Hate to eat and run, but I have to rush home and deal with something," Scott says to Darcy with an apologetic smile.

"Hi, I'm Scott. Happy Birthday," he says with a smile and offers a handshake to Skye. He does the same with Steve and then makes his exit. Moments later the bike starts up and he is gone.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "Kurt." the acrobat nods, "She's gorgeous as well." He smiles, "It's nice to meet you, Bucky. Like I said, I know the look - you need anything just yell and I'll hook you up, ja?" he turns when Skye speaks to him, "OH! Völlig in den Kopf gerutscht, ich entschuldige mich" smacking himself on the side of his head. "Skye... he just introduced himself" laughing and looking next to Clint, "I do not know, someone may have said something that made me think married, maybe not."

Quake has posed:
Skye looks at Kurt confused. "I guess I missed it. I was busy with other things." She shrugs. It is a busy party after all and her attention is being pulled this way and that. I heard rumours that there is cake in the kitchen. Hey.."

She turns to Clint. "You could peek? You're out to make another round of burgers soon? Snap a picture for me!"

Skye might be teasing. Maybe.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Lili's on-duty, vest and all, so there is no petting of the dog. But Buck looks to the little girl and explains, "My friend Steve gave her to me. She helps me with a lot of stuff." How much time has he spent interacting with little kids? Pretty close to zero. But he doesn't seem uneasy. She's an engineer, and those he knows, even if she's smaller and less experience than most of the ones he's met.

Then he nods, unbending enough to give Kurt a little smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint grins, "Well not if you don't want to end up a widow," he jokes, I mean might as well with all the wedding jokes flying around. "But I'll see what I can manage. If I don't return. Remember me."

He chuckles and giving Skye a brief kiss he makes his way back out to the deck passing through the forbidden kitchen.

No picture comes but those close to the kitchen might hear something about Barton getting his phone back when dessert has been served.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy glances up from getting the cakes ready as Scoot brushed by, said bye, and bounced. She didn't even get a chance to say bye back. Oh well.

Her voice promises to give it back for sure as Barton slips out.

Then, she grabs one of her worker bees from eariler, to carry out one of the two cakes out of the three total, she brought for the party. The worker bee's cake was a soft blue, with the SHIELD eagle piped in white. Sparklers are on the corners, because 4th of July, but with the number of war vets here, Darcy WAS NOT going to light actual fireworks. Sparklers was about as far as she was going to allow tonight. IF she could help it, anyway. The SHIELD agent she was bossing around was ordered to set that cake down on the table while she walked toward Skye.

In one hand was a long bread knife, held with a napkin by the blade, the rounded tip pointed down. Artfully balanced with the grace of a waitress on Darcy's other hand was a cake.

A flat one layer sheet cake, it looked plane, simple, unassuming. White frosting and a simple piped border. A single candle, lit with a purple looking flame, sat off center. The writing was in purple however, and read 'Happy Birthdya Sh!tcode'. Yes. Complete with the typo. Reasons. As she starts toward Skye, Darcy starts singing, loud and proud and not really on key at all: "Happy Birthday to YOU!"

Quake has posed:
"Ha!" Skye declares. "I'd have to be dating Nat for that, and we all know she hates me."

Long story there. And it might not precisely be hate anymore. More like longstanding grudge that was difficult to give a proper burial to.

She laughs when he kisses her cheek. "Tell Darcy I love her, and who knows, maybe next year.."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Singing, cake, Kurt turns with his head tilting, commenting to James, "Want me to get you some cake, Bucky? Or do you think you could brave this mass?" tone light, a joke - gauging what he can say with the man as he is. He doesn't join in the singing though, simply waiting for Bucky's response before he does anything else.

Quake has posed:
Okay, now Skye is embarassed. Cake! Singing! Spotlight! Holy crap, how did normal people do holidays on a regular basis. All this focus on one person and being happy and.. "You did not, omg. You did. Shitcode even."

Cheeks flushed red with embarassment, Skye is laughing her ass off at the cake.

Daredevil has posed:
Slipping through the front door with Karen Page on his arm, Matt Murdock enters the house, his cane in one hand, dressed in his standard suit and red shades combo.

Having heard the music from outside, indeed, he could have heard it down the block, he's already singing as he steps inside. Joining the other guests in singing happy birthday.

He'd say proper hellos and things afterwards.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck does join in with the singing, though he shakes his head at Kurt. Another little smile accompanies the refusal - he does remember how to act like a real boy, now and again. Even if it takes Lili the Wonder Dog to help him do it.

Karen Page has posed:
'On his arm'? HA. Karen leads Matt into the unfamiliar building with her arm hooked through his because she's considerate that way. Having normal human hearing, she didn't hear the singing until they're inside, so she looks lost for about half a second before she joins in as well, though she has NO idea who they're singing for. She only knows that Matt asked her to drive him here and... oh, hey! There's Mr. James Nobody and Lili!

As soon as the singing is done she asks Matt quietly (because she knows he'll hear regardless), "I'm gonna go say hi. Want me to drag you along or would you rather fend for yourself?" She is very much aware that he's fully capable of fending for himself, but is okay with keeping up the act for his sake.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy leads the singing, holding out the cake to Skye.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!" she sings way too loudly, before steadying the cake with her other hand (the one with the bread knife).

"Make a wish, and blow out your candle. Then make the first cut so i can slice this bad boy up and start getting people a slice," Darcy tells Skye, grinning way too broadly to be innocent of anything.

Quake has posed:
Because it's expected of her, Skye cuts the cake - okay, Skye wants cake, so there is that, too, but she'd be just as happy to stealth cut a piece and go off and hide in the quiet corner. Secret? The corner isn't just for Bucky. Parties are awesome. Parties where she's the guest of honour.. slightly more difficult to navigate and a bit of a breather off and on is a good thing.

Inside the cake, the cake is purple. Vividly purple. Like Lika could have made this cake kinda purple, only it isn't glowing, so it's likely Lila didn't make it. And it smells faintly of that particular scent many of the guests will associate with the ever-present frou-frou beer she and Clint drink.

Skye? Laughing her ass off again, because totally DArcy here.

Only she has a decent excuse to beg off cutting the rest. "Hey! My lawyer, and I haven't even had to use that speedial once this month." Teasing as she makes her way to say hi to Matt and Karen.

Daredevil has posed:
Okay fiiiine, leading him by his arm, but still the description stands!

"I'm good," Matt says quietly retracting his arm.

Then Skye is coming over and he smiles, "Hey, good to see you're staying on the right side of the law, seems like we've arrived just in time," he says before making the introductions. "Skye, this is the firm's office manager, Karen Page, Karen, this is Skye Johnson, we grew up together at St. Agnes."

Karen Page has posed:
Karen smiles and nods to Matt, even though that might seem odd to anyone else paying attention, and then smiles and offers Skye a handshake after hitching her ever-present bag a bit higher on her shoulder. "No kidding, really? It's really good to meet you, Skye."

She was hoping to sneak in further to say hi to James but she knows social conventions have to be upheld and really, she can wait a few more moments to go bug the man.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner nods to Bucky and begins walking along the ceiling, pausing at the sight of Matt, a sudden start of the pulse before he gets himself collected - the last time he saw this man he was meeting angels and passing out. Aa he walks he uses one thick finger to snag a bit of frosting and aims to put it on Darcy's nose while looking at the PURPLE of that cake. "That's a good color, ja? Could be more blue though."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Your lawyer? Buck is giving Skye that look, before looking to Matt and Karen. To the latter, he says, a little drily, "You're the one who had our mutual friend knocking at my door." IT sounds faintly accusing, but not really upset. At least he's out of the leg brace, and there's no sign of the cane.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Helping to get cake slices handed out, Darcy doesn't see Kurt until BLOOOP! Frosting on her nose. She had a slice of cake in each hand and so stands there, eyes blinking and crossing to try to see the white frosting, before looking up at Kurt.

"When it's YOUR birthday, I'll get you a bright BLUE and yellow german chocolate cake, ya menice! Now, come down off the ceiling nad eat some damn cake," she quips at him, red lips fighitng hte smirk. She can't wipe her nose until someone frees one of her hands of cake.

Quake has posed:
Skye snorts at Matt's description of things. "Grew up together is a very loose term."

She holds up her arms to Karen's offer of a handshake. "Uh, forbidden for at least another week. Long story. Outcome, I'm supposed to behave and not reinjure myself. Too many narcs here tonight so I'm trying." Including May in the kitchen. "But nice to meet you, finally. I was beginning to think you were a figment of his imagination. You know, a way to make it seem like he actually had a secretary instead of him and Foggy doing all the work by themselves?"

OH yeah, she want there. And Bucky's look is interpreted, Skye shifting her body to include him in the circle of conversation. "Yeah, I needed a legal way to pass on some information a couple ops back. Then I needed bailing out of jail. Though it turns out Darcy there didn't actually read my my Miranda rights.." All truth. "But technically, he is my lawyer. And huh, who had what knocking at your door?"

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"IT WASN'T ME! I WAS WEARING A SKI MASK!" Darcy calls out from near Kurt. She heard her name but has No idea what Skye was talking about so... going with the you can't prove nothing line.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen ohs at Skye's refual of a handshake but seems to take it in stride well enough. "Okay, no thumb wrestling, got it."

And then Bucky's quipping at her and she smiles a smug little smile. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. You look like you're feeling better." She sees the lack of knee brace and cane and is pretty sure that their trenchcoated mutual friend did track James down. "The ends justified the means."

And then Darcy's hollering has her glancing over and gaping in open shock at Kurt. "Uh, he's.... uh..." He's STANDING. ON THE CEILING. Or something close to that.

War Machine has posed:
Rhodes takes a moment to just stand back joining in with the singing best he could. He tries to take the moment to get Lila to join in, moving over to her, and picking her up in an arm. A little prod to the side.

     Still she just sort of keeps silent. The only sound she makes is a very quiet sort of "yay" Barely more then a whisper which is lost in the commotion and sound. As usual she doesn't exactly seem to be in the mood for talking or singing.

     Rhodes looks over towards Matt and his friend and just is reminded of something. "Oh man", a low chuckle under his breath. "it's been too long since I've even spoken with my lawyer, Max Mcmann, great defense attorney, helped me out a lot with the whole Trinidad situation."

Winter Soldier has posed:
By his expression, Buck's grumpy at being forced to concede that Karen is right...but concede he does, with a little sight. "I am feeling better," he admits. "He did his thing. He seems to take it damned personally when I'm in pain."

Then, to Skye, he explains, "She and I have a mutual friend who's a healer. She let him know I was insisting on letting nature take its course when it comes to healing......and he showed up at my door to take care of me. Nearly ran afoul of Peggy - I arrived just in time."

Karen's shock makes him glance up at Kurt. "It's a thing he does," he says, bemusedly.

Daredevil has posed:
"Well until you made a break for it anyhow," Matt offers Skye with a grin spread across his lips.

"And I assure you Karen, is very real, besides, I mean I'd understand Foggy making up someone who worked for us," especially if that someone was a girl. "Though not me. I'm the stable one of the group. Right?" he says the question directed to Karen.

He chuckles. "Been too long, though," he says to Skye. "I am not even going to ask about the hands, but happy birthday," he says offering a one handed hug, while trying to avoid her hands. "Sounds like quite the party."

Rhodes' remark is heard, because of course it is, "Heard of him," he says in a dissaproving tone. Seems like Matt and Max don't see eye to eye on the application of the law.

Quake has posed:
Skye crinkles her nose at Matt. "Vienna," is all she says with a shrug. He'll either get it, or he won't.

Bucky's words adding up to, "Fuck me, you guys are talking about that angel dude. The one who healed Clint. Wait, how do you all know him, and what, he's.. He threw Clint into a wall..?" Amongst other things.

"Don't need to know," she decides, but does tell Karen, "That's Kurt. He's a friend. Mostly harmless. Terribly flirt - by both of the standard meanings. And yeah, apparently he does ceilings."

Nightcrawler has posed:
Taking a cake plate, Flirtcrawler dials it up to 11, leaning to smooch the frosting from Darcy's nose. "I only hope that such a cake is as sweet." waggling his brows before he looks to Karen at her expression. He really is standing on the cieling, and with a beer in one hand, and cake in the other, his spade tipped tail is used to wave. "Guten Aubend, Fraulein!" tipping her a wink.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Frosting... smooched off her... Darcy flails as soon as her hand is free, snorting and rubbing at her nose. For all that she does so much the same thing, havnig it done TO her... very novel.

"Imma turn you into a pinata!" she vows, the words having more laugh than bite. She wipes her nose on her free arm before making her way to Skye with the other piece of boozy purple cake.

"Here you go! Happy birthday, Shitcode."

Karen Page has posed:
Karen recovers from her shock with a blink and a small shake of her head, though her eyes keep flicking back over toward Kurt. CEILING.

"Uh, yeah, they're drinking buddies and they like Josie's near the law office because Josie won't cut 'em off after they've drunk enough to kill a regular person." She's totally guessing about that, but it seems logical to her.

"Oh, hey," she says to Bucky. "I pulled these off my shelf, thought you might give them a chance." She dugs into her bag and brandishes a few DVD cases -- all Danny Kaye movies -- and offers them to him.

She waves her free hand hello to Kurt when he calls out a greeting, but is again distracted by Darcy of the frosting nose arriving to offer Skye a piece of cake. And using Skye's nickname. In front of Bucky. Her eyes go from Darcy to Bucky and back a couple of times, narrowing a bit more each time. Why does SHE get to cuss like that and not get squirmed at?

Daredevil has posed:
"Vienna?" Matt asks, he totally doesn't get it.

What he does get is the angel dude thing, "Wait, which angel?" he asks them. Though when Kurt is introduced, Matt had noticed him but his act had meant he couldn't react or comment, says, "And Kurt from the church?"

This was all getting really, really interwoven here.

"And wait, Shitcode?" he asks when Darcy presents the cake.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "Dame Darcy, you can put your hands on me whenever you wish." Kurt grins even wider, all teeth again as he calls after her, "Lucky there's nothing danceable playing, or I'd show you a really fun trick. Though it'd have to be a slow dance, ja?" moving his beer to his tail so that he can eat cake, munching happily and giving Karen another wave when she keeps looking at him like that... Some of his bravado starting to chip while he does his best to keep where he is at.

Winter Soldier has posed:
IF that were so - Buck's definitely turned pink, inasmuch as he couldn't tune all that out. "I didn't know that," he tells Skye, re: Cas. "Yeah, he's an angel. I.....what she said."

He turns the movie cases over in his hands. "I know him. Saw a couple of his movies during the war..." Like Steve, he's always delighted with some piece of pop culture flotsam bobs up from his own era. "Thanks," he adds.

To Matt, he clarifies, "Castiel....you know a lot of angels?"

Quake has posed:
"There was an earthquake in Vienna," Skye says lamely, not really explaining things.

SAved by the cake, though! And the rest of the conversation. "Wow, So, wait.. ah!" Now it all makes sense. Kind of. Kurt was brought in from.. yeah. Wow. No wonder May didn't talk about Cas without making that slightly tightlipped face. "Dude needs a course on how to human if you ask me."

A forkful of cake is eaten and there's an approving nod. "Holy fuck, who baked this? Darce, you totally used our beer. OH god, marry me and have my babies."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Happily in the middle of like everyone talking, Darcy giggles at so many of the things.

First: Darcy blows a kiss over her shoulder at Kurt without saying anything. Second, she looks at Matt to address him: "Hiya, Handsome! Long time no see. Want some cake?" To Bucky commenting about Castiel, Darcy adds: "Oh yeah. Totally an angel. But not the Skewniverse ken-doll kind. And he really does need to learn to human, but after the debacle of me helping him get ready for a date with May, I don' tthink anyone wants me tring to help out anymore. Shame really. I was going to do titty bars next."

Why does Darcy get to talk like this in front of Bucky? No clue! She only promised she was going to be good in front of Steve, so until he sneaks up behind her..

"I've been waiting for you to ask for years, mah hacker," Darcy quips at Skye, grinning and tossing an arm about her waist while she noms the beer-flavored cake. "I may have, in fact, bought way more of your brand of beer than is healthy and found a bomb ass chef to make this. And incidentally, I know have a pet cake. In my office. That's a long story. I'll fill you in later. RIght now, where's mah ring?"

Captain America has posed:
The 'never mind knocking' sign is absolutely noted. Steve doesn't knock at all when he enters the abode, having paused outside of the place to listen to the conversations or remnants of them he can catch through the walls.

"Sorry, traffic was the pits," he calls out as his announcement to his arrival. Of note, the motorcycle jacket and helmet hanging from one hand and the small matte-green giftbag with twined handle hanging from the other, but...

No sound of the motorcycle a minute earlier. Granted, the modernized 40s music might provide ample cover unless someone's got sharp ears. Also of note, the scrapes at his knuckles and the lighter scuffing at the knees of his jeans. He's in a summer-light button-down shirt of plaid-blue overtop a white tank-top, civilian comfortable in the the lingering heat of the day. He hangs his jacket and helmet by the door and continues further in, wearing a small smile. "Just in time for cake, good."

Of course, he arrives in time to hear Darcy running her mouth. An eyebrow is accompanied by the barest hint of a puckish little smile.

"If you were clever, you'd hide the ring in the cake before you went to whatever bar you felt was appropriate," he comments airily in regards to Darcy's thoughts.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen takes advantage of Darcy's butting in with cake and Skye's reaction to it to sidle a little further into the house -- she and Matt did kind of get caught just inside the entryway. Now that she's got a chance, she walks over to look up at Kurt as if trying to figure out a particularly cunning riddle. "How the heck are you just standing on the ceiling like that? Anti-gravity boots like from '2001: A Space Odyssey'?" If she's at all perturbed by his appearance, it's completely overshadowed by the whole ceiling thing.

It kind of makes her want to hijack the music and cue up some Lionel Richie just to mess with the German guy. Yes, she recognized his greeting and his accent. New England's got its pockets of German townships.

Then another voice rings out from the entry and she turns back to see that Steve's arrived. Rather than wade back into that knot of people, she just smiles briefly to herself before turning back to look up at Kurt again. She can say hi to Steve in a minute. She's clearly waiting for his explanation.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    With Karen's approach, Kurt blinks and smiles nervously until she speaks to him normally, "My hands and feet... they, well they grip almost like a gecko, or maybe more like an octopus." Blinking at the arrival of Captain America, but he keeps his attention focused on the person asking him. "My name is Kurt, Ma'am" reaching up (down) to Karen.
    "I can do more, but one of my tricks would be a party foul..." his smile showing sharp fangs. "If you, and you weren't in a skirt I could help you stand on the ceiling, but that's not something I think you'd wish to risk right now."

Daredevil has posed:
The little bit of extra info is all Matt needs for the Vienna thing to click. "Oh," he says, he'd heard about it, there were some pretty big numbers being thrown around about the scale of that quake, but thankfully no lives lost.

"We'll have to get together for pizza and beer and talk about that," Matt says.

The cake is sniffed and Matt's nose wrinkles, beer cake, and the frou-frou kind... thankfully the other didn't smell like that.

Though when Captain America enters, Matt turns, nudging Skye. "Who's that?" he asks. He could make out the shape of Steve in the doorway and could probably tell you the last time the man shaved and what he ate for lunch last Tuesday, but he couldn't see faces.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"HOly fuck!" Darcy blurts out as Steve makes his appearance. She promptly clams both hands on her mouth. 'Language'.

Does Darcy blush? Yes. Yes she does. Soon as she realizes Steve's here, Darcy's cheeks stain with red before she turns and beams at him.

"YAY! You made it! Alright! You.. Cake. Yes. Just. wait. Inside. WIth people. Do not eat the purple cake. That's not your cake. That's her cake. Because I. Wait. Hang on. Be right back!" And with that, Darcy turns and beelines it for the kitchen.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck spent more than fifteen years watching over Steve Rogers. And his instinct for when Steve's gotten into trouble hasn't faded.....when Rogers shows up, he turns that blue stare on the Captain. "Steven," he says, and Steve knows that voice.....it's the 'Was charging that German machine gun nest really a good idea, Steven Grant Moron?' voice. "What happened to you?"

They say that animals and their handlers grow more alike....and while it hasn't even been six months of Lili taking care of Buck, she's grown accustomed enough to his cues to turn a worried look on the Captain, as well.

It's hilariously like a high school student getting home after curfew, to be faced with waiting parents - Dad ready to lecture, Mom just concerned.

Quake has posed:
"I'd like that," Skye says simply. Matt was her oldest friend. And while she loved her SHIELD family to pieces, he also wasn't blinded by the light of the place, nor had he drunk the kool-aid. "But you're buying," she teases. Knowing full well he was likely broker than she was, even if that race were close.

As the doorway gets crowded with folks, Skye moves away, letting everyone traipse in as intended, taking her cake to sit downa nd eat it. Pausing to smile at Steve, "Hey, Happy Birthday. No clue if there are fireworks, because Darcy. But the cake is.. okay, it's very purple."

Forgetting Steve had his own coming.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen shakes Kurt's hand without a split second of hesitation even with the oddity of the upsidedownness. "Good to meet you, Kurt. I'm Karen." When he mentions her skirt, she looks down at herself. "Oh, yeah. Probably. Warn me next time and I'll wear yoga pants or something."

She glances back over toward Steve and then up at Kurt. Hop down from there, Geico, and I'll introduce you." Though she does look at Darcy a bit oddly as the brunette rushes past red to her ears and stammering. The hell?

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Blinking, pausing, and then he gives a little grin, watching Darcy rush past and then looking back to Karen. "Sorry... you suggested you in yoga pants and I forgot that there could be anything else in existence for a few seconds. " three fingered hand drawn back finally. "Could you repeat that?" he winks "Not the yoga pants part, lest I have a heart attack to think of such a moment longer than I already have."

Smoothcrawler.

Captain America has posed:
Steve goes allow his grin to deepen before he clears his throat lightly and takes mercy on Darcy. The curse word brought her own punishment on herself anyways. He watches her stutter, his eyebrows slowly lifting, and then glances from the kitchen to the group.

"My own cake? Oh." It occurs to Steve then that he's apparently included as patron to this party. Now comes his own little pinking of ears in quiet pleasure -- aw. Skye gets a lift of the gift bag at her. "Happy Birthday to you as well. Should I put this somewhere?"

It's Barnes, however, that nails him with the astute observations (as usual). The brunet gets a slow roll of true-blue eyes towards him and he can see the refined mouth thin into a line for a second. A huff of a sigh and Steve reaches to rub behind one ear at his neck as if it were stiff.

"Motorcycle trouble on the way in. Ended up having to take an Uber. I'd've been on time otherwise," he explains drolly. "But I'm here and alive."

And not raiding any machine gun nests.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
For those with extra good hearing: Darcy's in the kitchen fumbling with the last box of cake, cussing herself out. Something along the lines of the ONE thing she was going to make sure she got for Steve for his birthday was ONE night with her around where she wasn't talking like a foul mouthed sailor girl. She had a great cake, and a cute even appropriate gift, AND found some pop music Skye might like that was perfectly mixed with the 1940s stuff he'd like. Seriously, Darcy had this all perfectly planned out, but he surprised her and she'd been talking out her ass and then f-bombed at him and more f-bombs at herself while she gets the very tasteful round cake ready to cart out there.

In a moment though, because she's got to get a handle on herself AND wash the cake knife that they used for the purple boozy Skye cake and the simple chocolate SHIELD cake.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Which is when Buck gives the scrapes on Steve's knuckles a pointed look. "Did you have to *punch* the motorcycle, birthday boy? Did it say something nasty about your sainted mother? The mother to whom I gave my solemn oath to keep her son safe."

He's laying it on with a trowel. Sometimes, with Steve, that's what it takes. "Yeah. We got you presents. I was just gonna give you an orange like it was 1929, but I got told that's not sufficient, these days." A beat, and he adds, "So I got you two oranges."

There are, in fact, two oranges sitting on Steve's half of the gift table.

Quake has posed:
From her perch on the couch - mid level couch, not hunkered back in the corner couch - Skye just watches this all go down. For once not being the loudest, most outspoke, most outrageous member of the crowd, it's kinda nice. Smirking to herself over Darcy's f-bomb reaction. No such thing from the girl herself. Then again, when was the last time Cap had 'language!'d her? - She couldn't remember.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen looks up at Kurt, clearly and blatantly unimpressed by his attempt at being smooth. At least she doesn't cross her arms. "Yeah, no, schmoozing doesn't work on me. I have two lawyers for bosses. Try just being youself, hm? Now, seriously, unflubber your feet or I'll get the DJ to play 'Dancing on the Ceiling' just to make everyone stare at you."

Not to mention, she could really use a beer.

She looks back over toward the knot of people, and her eyebrows draw together when she sees James in what looks like full scolding mode and Lili doing the ears and eyebrows of concern. And they're both aimed at Steve.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt for his part slides out of the way of things and grabbing some SHIELD cake with the help of one of Darcy's minions, he makes his way over to the couch by Skye.

"So, yeah will definitely need to catch up, and sure, my treat. I am actually not doing too badly these days. A couple of big mutants rights cases." He shrugs as if it were all no big deal.

"So are the guys talking about oranges who I think they are?" he asks, he recognized Bucky and could guess about the other given the party invite.

Captain America has posed:
"Barrrrnes..."

Steve draws out the name slowly and with the barest burr of a growl in his voice, still pleasant but for the twist of his lips to one side. He points at the man. "Y'know what? I'll let the comment about my sainted mother pass because you got me //two// oranges." He walks over to deliver Skye's present to the present table and snags one of the oranges in the process. He brings it to his nose and sniffs it and...his expression goes almost dreamily fond. A thumbnail breaks the rind and the oils sparkle now. "Mmm." Simple contentment, an orange, and the accompanying memories.

Quake has posed:
Skye, rudely, has her feet on the couch - except it's her place and she's allowed, right?

"MMm-hhmmm. Exactly who you think they are - wait, who do you think they are?" She laughs. "And, just so you don't jump out of your skin should she wander in later, yes, she's who she is too."

Because /that/ was helpful.

"Glad to hear you're doing well," she murmurs. "Seems like it's been forever since we caught up with one another."

Seeing Steve drop a present on her side of the table, she calls over, "Hey, that flat box there, beside the envelope? On your side of the table? Wanna bring it over?"

For reasons.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Brow raising at Karen's response, Kurt frowns at the threat, commenting "They can look, you were gawking, Mein Dame." he drops without another word, landing on one hand before his legs swing down, the fuzzy blue elf bending almost in half, backwards, before his arms go out to the sides when his feet make contact, wrist twisting to keep his cake upright the whole time as he stands up - like the great limbo kings of ancient legend.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
With May's help (because she's in the kitchen), Darcy gets the round one layer cake all prepped and ready. Drawing herself up, she steps out and in a repeat of what she did for Skye, she walks over to Steve, singing happy birthday loudly, off key, but with a tiny pink on her cheeks.

The cake is round, banded red and white with a blue core and a white star in the middle. There's a single white candle in that and in the inner most red band is piped very simply: 'Happy Birthday Steve!' Unlike the other, the writing is not at all smooth and elegant. It's a bit sloppy, the lettering wobbly and it definitely looks like a child wrote it.

Darcy holds this up for Steve, lower lip caught between her teeth, her smile pulled tight from it.

"Happy Birthday. Make a wish and blow out the candle before you make the first cut," she tells him in what is very noticeably a smaller little voice than Darcy ever uses with anyone ever.

Winter Soldier has posed:
That's not all that Buck's left on Steve's side of the table. Just the only things he's left unwrapped. He's a different animal with Rogers there, much closer to being out of his shell. "We still haven't made it to Florida," he points out, no doubt in reference to some long ago planned vacation, dreamed up in the gray bitterness of a New York winter. Then, lazily, "The other stuff there's for you, too."

Then Darcy's bringing out the cake, and he actually hushes.

Captain America has posed:
"A few days in Florida wouldn't hurt," the Captain opines over to his oldest friend, giving him a fond smile. He's not wrong, after all; the plan to visit Florida is decades old at this point.

Steve gives Skye a curious glance and does take up the flat box in-hand at her request. He's in the process of threading his way through people -- "Oh Kurt, hey!" A friendly greeting towards Nightcrawler, whom he met at the mansion and the dirtbike races not too long ago. "Hey Karen," he adds towards her, recognizing her from the diner. -- when Darcy's reappearance has him pausing.

"...gosh, Darcy, thanks." Steve's not much more loudly-spoken himself as he puts aside the flat box in order to take up the cake from the young lady. He looks at the candle and frowns rather seriously at it, thinking hard. It might be endearing. Then, a puft of air from him leaves the candle blown out and swirling thin blue streamers of smoke. "Perfect," he says before grinning at Darcy again. "Cake for all!" That's called out loud enough with the addendum of, "If you have room for it." He still laughs.

The interior of the cake itself is banded in mirroring of the frosting itself and Steve's ears are pretty dang pink at this point, their own color holding firmly. "This is charming, Darcy, thanks," he's sure to reiterate in his quietly embarrassed gratitude.

Daredevil has posed:
"Bucky Barnes and Steve Rodgers," Matt supplies. "Which is a bit strange to say out loud. Foggy would just about die to be here."

A beat. "Wait, she who?" he asks her.

"And yeah, doing okay, enough that I was able to get you this," he reaches into his jacket pocket and hands a paper wrapped bundle over the size of paperback book but much heavier.

"Since our escape to Jersey when we were kids didn't work out I thought I'd make up for it," he says handing over the big wrapped chunk of salt water taffy.

Karen Page has posed:
"I was gawking because you were standing on the ceiling like gravity is only a mild suggestion. Can you blame me for that?" Yeah, he probably can, but Karen is totally ready for a debate. Then Darcy passes by with cake in hand and she hushes out of respect for the occasion.

She can't help but feel bad that she didn't bring a gift for either Steve or Skye. And she should have known better about Steve at the very least. Oh well, not much she can do about it now.

Quake has posed:
Skye can wait for Steve to not be busy with cake. And Matt only gets an enigmatic smile, but no answer about Peggy.

The smug is wiped off her face at the parcel though. "Me?" As though this weren't a birthday party, and presents were part of it. And when she finds out what it is, her features crumple into something that says please don't make me cry in front of everyone, even though she's almost there. "You remembered," she whispers. "I remember the first time I tried it when I'd escaped. It was horrible and wonderful all at once. Mostly because I didn't know what I thought it would be. It makes me think of summer, though. And hope. Thanks, Matt. That's.."

Skye shrugs helplessly.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Pink still staining her cheeks, Darcy beams at Steve's complement.

"You're welcome. Happy birthday again. I'll go get you a slice and set this out for everyone else to have some," she says, again her voice softer than is normal for the too boisterious SHIELD agent. She collects teh knife and the cake, returning to the kitchen to cut that piece for Steve, and get him a beer and some food from the table, and just letting party guests bring their gifts to whichever of the two they were invited to celegrate with. After all, Steve friends were told bday for Steve. Skye friends told bday for Skye. and BOTH friends were told bday for BOTH. The other Plus One's got told whatever their date told them, and that was okay with Darcy. This was about celebrating being in this crazy awesome anythign goes of a country they call home and the birthdays of two of Darcy's favorite people in the world.... even if she's not the bestest at showing it all the time. She was just relieved and happy that they both seemed to really like their cakes. She's fighting happy tears to get the food delivery down, relief and joy making it hard, so as soon as she can, she's got plans to disappear and get it all out so she can be presentable to people again.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier is silent again, watching....that brief firework flare of the old Barnes lapsing into the usual wary quiet. But the pale eyes are brighter for it, even as he's let his human hand fall to Lili's ears.

There's a glance around for Peggy, but he doesn't seem either upset or surprised that she's not to be found, at the moment. He knows what it's like to be overwhelmed.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner snorts at Karen, "Ja, well, he's got rippling muscles, big blue eyes, pouty cupid lips and America's Ass, you're not gawking at him." he snorts and smiles to Steve, "Herr Rogers! When I got the invite I had an idea. Hope you don't mind." hand dipping into his suit pocket, Kurt sets down his cake and flips back to the ceiling, walking over the crowd and extending a hand to offer a pair of keys towards the Cap.

Karen Page has posed:
"Hey, Steve. No, it's because I already got my gaw--" Karen trails off when Kurt calls out to Steve, letting the ceilingwalker go over to offer... a set of keys? Okay, then.

Glancing around, she steps over to a table to claim a bottle of beer but none of the food. Especially not that glowing stuff, what the hell?

Captain America has posed:
Steve takes the offered piece of cake from Darcy and tastes it. Wow -- that's excellent cake, and he's certain to inform her of this without any of it in his mouth, because manners. "Really creative with the colors too, Darcy. You're great at baking." He's not yanking her chain: the Captain is honestly impressed at it, lacking basic culinary skills himself beyond box brownies.

"Barnes, come get cake," he calls out towards Bucky without being overtly loud in volume. "You're missing out."

Kurt's ceiling-walking garners all of Steve's attention not seconds later and he looks wide-eyed from the keys and back to the blue-furred young man upside-down at eye level with him. "Thanks, Kurt, what...what are they for?" he asks, reaching up to retrieve the dangling chits.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Dropping the keyes into Steve's hand, "It'll take a lot of TLC to get it to better than working condition, but I found a thirty eight knucklehead... I understand you like bikes... Figure you'd want one about as old as you are ja?" Kurt has money... not like... oodles of it. But he doesn't pay rent, utilities, for food other than if he goes for snacks and Charles gives him a salary for crying out loud. It adds up when you don't need to spend.

Daredevil has posed:
"Of course you, happy birthday Skye," Matt says.

He can feel the shrug and sense in other ways the present hit its mark. "Glad you like it," he says with a grin. "Now if you want to go drag Captain Rogers over to open his gift go ahead." He offers sensing the man got waylaid enroute.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy had lingered, without trying to make it look like she lingered, waiting for Steve to take a bite of the cake. Again, the inside of her bottom lip is bitten down on, then smile bright and hopeful as she tried hard not to seem that way. Just... umm... clearing empty beer bottles. Right! That's all that's happening here!!!

And then Steve tells her it's yummy and Darcy's cheeks brighten to match the red of her lips and of the frosting. Her smile is like the summer sun, and her eyes glisten.

"Glad... you like it," she squeaks, voice cracking. And with that, off she goes again, into the kitchen to toss the bottles and then.. to the basement. Because in the kitchen is May, and Darcy does not need May going on a rampage because she's suddenly CRYING. And because backyard is Thor and Barton, the first of whom would DEFINITELY rampage over Darcy crying while the latter would most likely find his bow and arrow to provide cover fire. At least, in Darcy's head.

Nope. Not risking ANY of that during this party. Nope. Better to give a lame excuse about needing to check something and then find a place where there aren't people and aren't likely to BE people, and just get out all the happy (ugly) tears of the cakes are perfect, and the party was perfect and everyone is happy and there are presents and no explosions and... Darcy can't anymore. She's just gonna go cry now. Thanks. See ya'll after presents.

War Machine has posed:
"Hey Steve" Rodey walks over to greet cap having kept himself at the edge of the party for a bit helping mostly with making sure people get to enjoy food and have their wonderful evening on such a special holiday as the 4th of July.

     "Feels like last time I ran into you was at the medbay." Spoken with a bit of a chuckle. Still ballancing the young Lila on a shoulder who still seems a little bit unhappy about something or another. He looks over at the keys for a long moment pausing before saying. "That's right, skye gift."

     He reaches back over towards the box that had been left behind the glowing green salsa, yes it glows green, vibrant green, like a flashlight or a discoball. He pulls the gift and slides it over towards Skye's general direction. A simple green and blue box containing a book labeled 'learn2code' containing a gift card for 50 free meals at the Wine and Dine on mainstreet. Some fancy high end restraunt that does high end takes on low end bottom of the barrel food.

Quake has posed:
Skye has no clue what a knucklehead is, but when Kurt get out 'bike' she's got a good idea. "Hey, Clint has a bike. Wonder if he'd like to help." Then again, she'd just set up tech with Clint. 8 thumbs and 2 more between two hands. He might not exactly be the mechanical sort.

Getting up, she kisses Matt's cheek, "Love it. And I'm going to hide it from Clint. Because mine!"

She sets it down in Matt's lap with instructions to guard it (or put it on the gift table) and rescues the box with Steve's gift in it, waiting for a free moment to tell him, "So, it's not much, but I thought you might like it. Probably best if you look at it when you get home, but you can peek now if you want. Then, uh.. yeah. Anyway, no fancy wrapping, sorry."

Her hands are held up as an excuse, but really she's about as good with wrapping paper as Clint is with tech.

Winter Soldier has posed:
He's also used to taking Steve's orders....so Buck obediently pries himself up off the couch and comes wandering over to get himself a piece of cake. He doesn't offer his gifts to Steve or Skye. They can wait - apparently he doesn't expect them to open them now.

Maybe all Steve gets from him *is* oranges.

Captain America has posed:
Steve blinks. "Oh geez, Kurt, thanks! That'll be -- wow, I appreciate that a lot. I hope I get time to get it up and running again. It'll be an old friend before we know it." He lifts the keys towards the crawler again with a broad grin. "Thoughtful of you, thanks."

Rhodes's call-out has the Captain glancing over and grinning. "Hey, Rhodey. Figure if we manage to not meet each other again there, it's a good thing. Hey, Lila," he adds more softly, smiling at the kiddo. At his left side, he hears someone step up and glances over to see Skye again, the lost flat box in-hand.

"Oh right, the gift. Sorry, got lost in everything," he says as he sets his cake aside. He takes the flat box from her once more and gives her a wry little smile. "Not gonna judge you for using non-fancy wrapping. Yours isn't a bunch of frills either," and he nods at the matte-green gift bag. "It's useful. You can open it now or later too, whatever you want." He eyes the flat box in his hands pensively. "Think I'll open it at home. There're people to talk to and cake to eat. Rather catch up with folks for now." He reaches over and sets the flat box by the two oranges and other gifts, sure to add with a small grin, "Thanks for thinking of me, Skye."

Bucky's acquisition of a slice of cake earns him a firm, pleased nod from Steve. Cake must be eaten, after all.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen wanders a bit, glancing out toward the back yard where the grilling is ongoing, then ghosting past the kitchen to end up near the quiet corner sofa and opting to take a seat there. She's pretty sure she seriously stuck her foot in her mouth with that Kurt guy, but since he's off gift-giving she's retreated quietly.

Looking around the cheery and noisy living room, she can't help but be reminded of home, and really that's the last thing she needs right this minute. Breathing out a faint huff through her nose, she takes another sip of her beer... and then makes a face and looks at the bottle.

"What the hell is this stuff? Ugh."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt for his part takes the package and moves it to the gift table while Skye goes to deliver her gift to Captain America.

Captain America, it was still strange to think he was in the same room as the man. He smiles at the thought as he makes his way towards Karen's shout.

"What'd you find?" he asks, feeling around for a bottle of beer and cracking the top.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Nodding at Steve acceptance of the gift, granted he just gave the man a chore, fixing that thing up. Going back to all fours to give the space, on the ceiling or not. Scuttling back over to where the food is, Kurt stands and eyes he glowing salsa. Nope. He looks at the other food, dogs, burgers... the Bavarian lets the other gather, grabbing another dog, munching quietly.

Karen Page has posed:
It wasn't so much a shout as a mutter, but it's probably all the same to Matt's (and probably Skye's, maybe Steve's and Bucky's better than average ears). "The grossest beer since Pabst Blue Ribbon. Want to be tortured a little?" Karen holds up her bottle, but will set it into Matt's hand if he acquiesces. They're likely at an angle where no one will see the difference unless they're trying.... or they're a former Russian assassin who already knows.

"So you and Skye were miserable together as kids, huh? World's getting awfully small, Matt."

Quake has posed:
"Peek," is all Skye says, then peeking into her own gift from him, since she's there. The rest of the things she'll take in bits and pieces, savouring them to not be overwhelmed.

Daredevil has posed:
Shout, mutter, all the same for Matt. Easy to get confused.

He gives the salsa a sniff. "Smells normal enough, what does it look like?" he asks her before nodding at her observation. "Tell me about it. And here you know Captain America and a couple of angels too. Certainly feels a long way from starting out in a crappy office in Hell's Kitchen."

Not that life was exactly normal then either, with Matt pulling on a devil suit and beating up badguys.

Captain America has posed:
Within the nestling of crepe-paper in a shade one lighter than the bag itself, a glass galaxy ball. It rests upon a matte-silver pedestal and is lit from beneath with a small if shockingly bright bulb. Turning it on will not only fractal through the swirls of colors impossibly strewn throughout the orb, but into patterns on the wall. There's even a 'rotation' button to press for a slow spin in place. It'll make a nice decoration for any desk.

Steve eyebrows and then picks at a piece of tape on his present. He lifts up a flap of paper from the gift beneath and tilts his head slightly. Those eyebrows flick upwards as he opens it a little bit more, keeping the contents towards primarily towards himself. "Wow. That's...you must've done some serious digging," he says quietly back to her as he tapes up the present once more. "Thanks, Skye," and he smiles at her. "Been a while since I've looked over it."

Quake has posed:
Skye loves her gift, but to be honest, she's more excited for Steve's.

"Peggy showing up gave me the idea. I mean, I'd had most of it already. Turns out there were a lot of records in the basement that never got digitized. Yours were there. Bucky's. Hers. bunches of shit. I was just putting it all in the right boxes sorting it, and after poking at some files on the computer.. Anyway, thought maybe you'd like to know what really happened. The bits you never got to see or hear. Stuff after. I don't have half my history. I remember what it felt like when Fury handed me my file and I got to learn more about who and what I was."

She grins at the galaxy ball. "And the best part is it's not that glowy golden bright thing in the sky that burns us Precious.."

Karen Page has posed:
Karen looks over at the glowing salsa for a moment before answering Matt. "Do you remember seeing something glow under a black light? That salsa is glowing like that, but there aren't any black lights in here." She then nudges his hand with her partly empty beer bottle. "Did you want to taste this? It really is gross."

She lets her bag flump to the floor by one of her legs, her usually straight enough posture sinking into a full slump as if she's exhausted. Maybe she is.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt has to check Karen's pulse just to make sure he's hearing things right... and apparently she's telling the truth. His brows shoot up, "Wow. Yeah, hard pass."

He leaves the salsa alone only to turn towards Karen as he posture shifts into a slump. "What's wrong?" he asks.

War Machine has posed:
Lila manages to squirm out of Rhodes hand taking off her backpack in the process. She sets it down onto the ground digging around inside of it.

     Rhodes lets out a bit of a sigh trying not to drop her the wrong way. She's perhaps a bit on the older side to be being held up off the ground but heck it's what he's used to doing by this point.

     "I asked Lila make the salsa." Rhodes explains as he just see's yet another person pass on the salsa grabbing another chip load himself of the stuff. "As usual she wound up" He pauses for a long moment looking down at the munchkin "Trying her hand at 'Improving' the concept."

Captain America has posed:
Steve dimples to one side as he slips the flat box away into his collection of presents. "It'll definitely give me some reading to do over coffee in the mornings -- and yes, the best of the solar sky without the sunburn to go with it. You can put it wherever you want. Thought I saw something about it where you can connect it to a cell phone or musical program and have the bulb change colors in time with the music," he adds, frowning at Skye's present for a second as if attempting to remember. "Bet you can make it do that regardless." A little laugh escapes him as he takes up his slice of cake again.

He does give the glowing salsa a long look and then glances at Rhodes. "Do you know what's making it glow, Rhodey?"

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Kurt remains seated, sort of, over in his corner, on the ceiling, the shadows naturally deepening around him as he remains still - part of his connection to other dimensions
    Using his tail to hold his plate, and having found another of those big bottles of German beer that May showed him. Most of the folks here are with 'their people' as it were. He's content to eat for now, letting people go about their business. It was nice to observe as much as it was to be a part of things.

War Machine has posed:
"I have no idea" Said as he finishes eating another chip loaded with neon glowing salsa that looks to be glowing bright enough to light a small room. "It's not radioactive at least so that's a good thing." Implying that he was concerned enough to run a Geiger counter over the thing before trying it. "She gave me a recipe but it's all in code."

     He lets out a bit of a low disappointed sigh. At that time Lila pulls out a notebook from deep within the bag. She pulls a peice of paper from it and with one hand grabbing onto a pant leg to get Rogers attention offers a rather.. interesting blueprint for a suit of armor for Captain America.

     "It tastes good though, so that's at least something." Spoken as Rhodes digs in for another bowl of the salsa. "Got a weird tang to it I can't place."