Title: Mercs: 'Till the deer come home 1/1
By Shadowstar
Merc faction
Time: Tuesday night before and during the UF party
Concurrent with other UF party posts.

Shadowstar slung a medium-sized bag over her shoulder
and started searching for Libs.  "Oh, House Mommy!"
she called, wandering though the halls.  "Dangit," she
said, smacking her forehead.  "I forgot, she's with
the RatPack right now.  I'll have to tell the others
that we can bribe her at the UF party," she muttered,
then hurried down the hall to the computer room.  The
other new Mercs had to know.

Shadowstar looked around, but it seemed as if everyone
had left.  With a shrug, she hurried off to her room
to change clothes.  She dropped her bag on the bed,
grabbed her favorite golden-brown velvet top to go
with her new Superman jeans and shoes, pulled it on,
undid her braid, and brushed out her long, heavy hair.
 Habitually, she started to push her glasses up until
she remembered that she'd recently given in and gotten
contacts.  She glanced at herself in the mirror, then
rummaged through suitcase number two and pulled out a
toaster oven.  Unfortunately, she'd been unable to
reach Julie to get permission to use the UF kitchen,
so she was having to come up with something else to
make Liz's bribe.

Shadowstar stuffed the toaster oven into a backpack
with the other materials to make grilled cheese and
left her room.  She figured that the bribe would have
to be extra-big since she was using one of the vacant
rooms as a workroom.  After all, how else was she
supposed to create items of mayhem if she didn't have
a place to work?  For the duration of the war, at
least, 'mayhem' was her middle name.

She left her room and wandered out into the lobby
where she met up with Ann, Megan, and Rose.  "Y'all
going to the party?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Ann said as the others nodded. "I'm hoping
that it'll be fun and you and I can get started on
that… job of ours."

"Maybe," Shadowstar said, grinning.  "Figured out what
you're gonna bribe the House Mommy with so we can stay
here?"

That question brought several responses at once.
Laughing and chattering, the four Mercs headed out the
door to climb in Ann's station wagon and head to the
party.  It didn't take long to get there, and the
Mercs soon separated to work the room.  Shadowstar
wandered around for a bit, spotted Libs and tapped her
on the shoulder.

"H'it's MINE! H'it's my preeeeccciiiioooouuuusssss..."

"Um, sure." She said.  "I'm Shadowstar.  I don't think
we've met.  Aren't you Libby also known as Libs also
known as that #(*%&#(&% Ratpacker?"

"Among udder thingees," Libs said, looking up at her
suspiciously.
"Wot o'h'it? H'it's still my
preeecccciiiioooouuuusssss..."

"I don't want the earring," Shadowstar explained.  "I
just want to pet one of the rats; they're kinda cute
in those scrubs. Is it okay? Do they bite?"

"Only h'if you h'asked nicely," Libs replied.  She
grasped the earring tightly in one paw, and grabbed
the nearest rat with the other.  "Here," she said,
handing the rodent to Shadowstar.  "Screed says tha'
un tastes stale."

"Does it have a name?"

"DayO," Libs said.

"DayO?" Shadowstar asked, petting the friendly
critter. It did feel scratchy and dry, not at all
fresh and soft.

"Short for DayOBread," Libs explained.
"DaaaayyyyyOOOO! DaaaayyyyOOOOO! Daylight come an' me
wanna go 'ome."

Knowing the song, Shadostar chimed in.  "Six foot,
seven foot, eight foot, PUNCH!"

"Oh, here have mine," a passerby said, handing a cup
of punch to Shadowstar.

"Thanks... but... I didn't want any... Wait a sec,
where'd Libs go?" Shadowstar looked around
frantically.  "Wait, Libs! I had something else to ask
you... and do all rats wear little scrub suits?"

Shadowstar sighed, looked around and surreptitiously
pocketed some stray items left out by the UFers. She
was sure that they might come in handy for a job or
two during the course of a war; one could never know
what might come in handy, and it would save having to
pick locks and break in later.

A huge grin spread over her face as she caught sight
of Libs again.  *Now* would be time to bribe her.  She
located a wall socket, took out her toaster oven,
plugged it in, and hurriedly made a toasted cheese
sandwich.  As soon as it was done, she put it on some
shiny tin foil and walked over to Libs.  "Hey
House-Mommy Libs.  I've got something for you!"

"Wot's that, S'addoeystarr-girlie?" Libs asked.

Shadowstar handed her the sandwich and smiled.
"Toasted cheese," she replied.

"Ohh an' shiney-pretties!" Libs grabbed the sandwich
and scarfed it down, then folded the tin foil and
stuck it in her pocket.

"So can I stay at HQ now?" Shadowstar asked, twirling
a strand of hair around her finger.

"Eh?  HQ?  Yew wanna ask Liz 'bout dat,
S'addoeystarr-girlie.  If yew wanna s'ay wiv RatPack,
I'm 'he one ta arsk, but nae Merc HQ.  Talk ta Liz."

"Fine," Shadowstar said with a sigh.  "But that means
that you owe me a favor for the sandwich."

Without answering, Libs wandered away, leaving
Shadowstar to her own devices.  "Just my luck," she
muttered.  "I got the Elizabeths mixed up, and now I
need another bribe.  Oh well, there's always
tomorrow."  She wandered off, in search of chocolate
and friends.  After all, the UF was hosting this
party, and since Jarvinia was UF, maybe she'd finally
meet her in person.  And she'd also like to make the
acquaintance of people that she'd only seen on list.

Shadowstar spotted Liz hanging with a couple of deer
and a llama and smiled.  Tonight was bound to be a lot
of fun, after all!  "Let's see," she muttered.
"Bribes for Liz… what do I have on me that she might
like?"  She dug in her backpack and produced some
caffeine-free green tea and a handful of carrots for
the deer.  "Perfect!"

Shadow star sidled up to the Merc House Mommy, handed
over the green tea, and fed a carrot to one of the
deer.  "Liz, will this work for rent?  I've got a nice
supply of it and some Flakes, too," she said with a
winning smile.

Liz took the canister of tea and examined it.  "Sure,"
she said with a smile.  "Why don't you go get some
chocolate? I spotted Alyce over by the refreshment
table; I think the two of you might have some stuff in
common.  I think Mildred is around here somewhere,
too."

Shadowstar smiled.  "Okay," she agreed.  "Isn't Alyce
a Nunkie?  I don't know about you, but LaCroix kinda
gives me the creeps," she said with a small shrudder.

"I think so," Liz said with a smile, "but she used to
be a Knightie."

Shadowstar brightened.  "Cool.  I kinda like Nick.  I
guess I'll go over and say hello, then." She hurried
off to try and make a new friend and was soon joined
by Ann and Rose.  She grabbed a handful of chocolate
and smiled a hello at Alyce.  Wars sure were fun…

~*~*~*~


=====
FoLC, PEZhead, DarkNNer, JAGaholic, DieHard H/M shipper, J/C shipper

Visit my website! http://bratling.0catch.com

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that
a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good and
that honor, courage and virtue mean everything. That power and money
mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil and I want you to
remember this, that love ... true love never dies."  --Hub,
"Secondhand Lions"



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