The Princess of Storms is having a ball tonight. She's painted clouds across the western sky.

[foryourown]

As the light fades, the collars on the cats visiting the barracks - and the collars on the wrists of those who chose to put them on - start to glow. The transition between the freezing, crumbling barracks and the opulence of a castle's interior is almost unnoticeable. One moment they're in the barracks. The next, they'll find themselves in large

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[lovethissuit]

Peter is actually sleeping for a change when the small cabin shifts into something else, and all he does after is fully sprawl out on the king-sized bed with a quiet groan before settling into a much more restful sleep. The cots back at the cabins? Are nowhere near the quality of the mattress he's got going on right now.

The snoring and occasional mumbling continue for another ten or fifteen minutes before something disturbs him. A quiet, muffled tink tink tink - a tapping that starts and stops. Grumbling and scrunching his forehead, the agent raises his head groggily, blinking at the soft light of the chamber.

"El...?" He snorts a bit as his brain kicks into gear, then really opens his eyes to see... A glass wall in front of him. With miniature people the size of his index finger on the other side floating and swimming around while pointing and gurgling at him nonsensically.

Miniature, scaled, green people. With tails. And antennae. And gills.

There's a moment of golden silence... Before Peter yells at the top of his voice when the sight in front of his eyes sinks past the shock and confusion. Flailing backwards and away from the weird little sea people, he eventually goes far enough as to fall backward off the bed. He scrambles to his feet, pulling his gun out and aiming it at the tank-headboard. This is about when he notices everything else.

"What the actual hell is going on here?!"

[painhumbles]

Gabriel pokes his head into the room with a grin that he shouldn't be wearing, considering the circumstances. The woman who made his life miserable and turned his sister and his friend into cats is hosting a party. Why is that a happy thing? Ever?

Oh, but he can snark again- never mind that he's not sure when, exactly, Tempest's deal is supposed to end, but she said 'until the Gala.' It's the Gala. He held his tongue for a week. He can be a bitch now.

"Actual hell's a little warmer, Petey," he says. "And there's no Sea World."

[w_for_wizard]

Harry's hanging back, in the doorway to his own room, arms folded over his chest as he eyes Gabriel from across the sitting room. "I feel like this is a punishment of some kind, but I don't know what for. I was under the impression the Princess liked me."

He has the mark on his neck to prove it. ...not that he really wants to go around showing that off, he just doesn't have much of a choice.

[lovethissuit]

"Fr--" Peter spins on his heel to aim at Gabe's smiling face before he groans. Of course Gabe's here. Of course.. Shoving his Sig back in the holster with a disgruntled frown that's entirely directed at Gabe, he stalks over to shove his way past the archangel into the common room. "And it's Peter. Five simple letters, two easy syllables. I don't know why it's so hard for people to handle all that."

Yeah, he's already riled up - poking at his name isn't helping anything. He snorts at Harry's comment, rubbing his neck as he checks out the rest of the room. Sea World is right - it's all blues and greens of every shade imaginable, with potted examples of seagrass on the various tables that are waving gently as if by a current. Never mind there's no wind or water to move them. Whatever. Not focusing on that.

"I'm pretty sure most of the players here aren't big fans of karma, as much as 'hey, let's poke at the lesser things to see how they twitch today'."

[tenoroftheskies]

"I'm afraid I don't share that opinion, Agent Burke. Does my hospitality not suit your tastes?"

With the slightest ripple of vertigo, the room changes, so instead of tiny merpeople the walls are patterned with moving mosaics, images of serpentine dragons crawling up the walls and across the floor.

"Less unwelcome? There are other rooms as well."

Tempest moves away from her position in the corner of the room, though it's unclear whether she was there the whole time or just appeared. She's dressed simply, despite the fact that they're in her home - loose white robes, hair braided back.

"Agent Burke, Master Dresden." Her eyes settle on the archangel. "Gabriel."

[painhumbles]

Gabriel glances between Harry and Peter. They think they've got something to complain about? Try being stuck with two of the tall guys. If Sam were here, it'd be a real party... That Gabriel would hate.

Tempest's arrival triggers an involuntary tension reaction in Gabriel, although not so much as Harry saying that she liked him. Asshole. Of course, she liked him. All the girls love Harry. ...Granted, Gabriel lost his chance with this particular girl on his own merits. It's the principle of the thing.

"Okay. Tell me. Didja think I'd be able to pull it off?" He doesn't sound rude- because, really, he's... Still putting out a fire here. He honestly wants to know.

[w_for_wizard]

Harry grins a little at the Princess' appearance, and dips in a brief, ironic bow - though if he's mocking anyone with that gesture, it's himself, not her. Maybe he's just trying to distract her from taking offense at what Peter said. "Princess."

He frowns a little at Gabriel's comment, though, and glances warily between the Princess and the archangel. "...pull... what off?" Given the things that happen when Gabriel tries to pull anything, he thinks he has a right to ask.

[lovethissuit]

Peter flinches at the sudden appearance because damn it, that's just not possible to be able to pop up wherever, whenever. Even though he knows better now, much as he wished he didn't.

Just like he knows better, but still can't help the small flare of hope at seeing Tempest's face... Or the gut-wrenching disappointment when he remembers who that face really belongs to here. Shrugging it off (or doing his best to), he tries to backpedal as hard as he can without being too obvious about it while looking as neutral as possible.

"Most. Not all." He twitches slightly with every redecoration, resisting the urge to shake off the vertigo or pop his ears. "And the setting isn't so much my problem as the way the impromptu party bus worked out. Just the slightest bit disorienting."

...And then he's looking at Gabriel, and he doesn't even have to open his mouth. What did you do now.

[tenoroftheskies]

"I charged gave the Messenger a challenge. If he could not mind his tongue, his sister and friend would lose their own."

She raises an eyebrow at Peter while raising a hand to Harry's lips to stem whatever protest he might make. "Figuratively speaking, is the phrase, is it not?"

[painhumbles]

Gabriel crosses his arms over his chest and gives both Harry and Peter a dark look. "And I did," he says, with mocking scorn in his voice. "So... How about what you promised me?"

He pauses and then adds, with a slight bit of frustration, "Please?"