Phoenix was sitting in her "office", engrossed in the volumetric displays of her desk-computer, when the flitters arrived. They appeared suddenly, wings fluttering, squeaking in apparent surprise as they flew right through the holograms displaying the latest advertisements from Star City's Draconic Relations Ministry, then landed on her desk with a scrabbling of claws.

The biomech' xenomorph jumped and squawked at the sudden intrusion, watching the flitters finally secure their footing and perch upon her desk, their little bodies sticking through her half-dozen holographic windows in an odd and disorienting manner. There were two of them (and what elegant little creatures they were!) and she noted, then, that each one had an envelope clutched securely in its jaws.

There was stirring in the corner of the room as her bonds--of which she now had four, if you could believe that!--stirred in their comradely nap-pile and blinked sleepily (or didn't blink at all, in the case of the eyeless two) over at her. Also in the pile were her two flits (one of whom was mechanical), who also turned drowsy attention towards her.

"Phe?" asked Ashkenaz, jaws gaping around a yawn. "Wha'sup?"

"Er. Mail call," she at last answered. Mail deliveries were far from rare at the Ranch of DOOM, which now had the population of a small village, but Phoenix had been so engrossed in her net-surfing that the delivery had caught her by surprise.

The flitters dutifully dropped the envelopes in the hand that she held out to them. Holding them up to the light, she observed her name on one, but the name on the other was a surprise. Rather than being for Dray, her fellow CEO of the Ranch, it was for one of the very first dragons that Phe had ever adopted--the Winter Fox, Merydian.

Putting Merydian's envelope down for the moment, Phoenix opened her own with a quick rip of her thumbclaw, and pulled out a little--flyer? No, an invitation!

"Lantessama!" she squealed, after reading it. "I love that place! I haven't been there in…gosh! Too long!"

It was an invitation to a Halloween celebration! A masked ball! Phoenix wasn't too big on the "ball" part, but Halloween and costumes were great, so two out of three wasn't bad at all! Now what in the world could a xenomorph wear as a costume?

Picking up Merydian's invitation, she turned off her computer (at last dispersing the holograms that "pierced" the flitters' bodies) and stood up. With little squeaks the elegant flitters took to the air, but rather than disappear off to whomever had sent them, they settled upon each of her shoulders, clearly intent on seeing their delivery through to the end.

Motioning her bonds and friends to stay put when it looked like the whole dang caravan of them all was going to follow as well, she left her office and headed off to the corner of the Ranch of DOOM where Merydian's room was.

As she trotted along the corridors, enjoying the air-conditioned coolness that kept the desert heat outside at bay, she figured out what she'd wear. It would mean having to deal with Phantasyss, the Phantom of the Opera xenodragon, and the affections he tried to lavish on her whenever he saw her, but nobody could dress fancier than a Phantom. She knew he had a "Red Death" costume tucked away somewhere, complete with a feather-plumed hat and a cloak that proclaimed, "Touch me not, I am Red Death stalking abroad!" Phantasyss was a little bigger than she was, but he was still just as xenomorphic in form as she was, and anything that fit him would fit her, too!

"But I just know he's going to make a huge deal out of me asking to use his clothes," she sighed to herself, reaching Merydian's door. At the same time, she resigned herself to that outcome--that Red Death costume was cool and would be worth it, durnit.

She could hear loud but cheerful music even through Merydian's door, so she gave the door several loud raps to make sure he'd hear, which he did.

"Just a minute!" she heard him shout. The music turned down significantly before the door opened, revealing the pale blue-white dragon that had been one of the founding-inhabitants of the now vastly populated Ranch.

"Well heylas, Phe!" he grinned down at her. Behind him, Phoenix could at last identify the cheerful rhythms of some boisterous boy-band or another. Outta-Sync Boys? She could never keep track of the dozens of bands Merydian so fancied.

"Mail for ya, pal," she grinned, holding out his envelope. "Do you have any costumes?"

"Costumes?" he blinked, pondering the small envelope, and then his large paws. "Would you do me the honors?"

Phoenix did so, confirmed that the invitation was for the same party just to be sure, then spoke as she offered the flat card. "It's from your birth-world, Lantessama! Somebody must still remember you're a party animal, because it's for a masked Halloween ball."

Merydian's alit with pleasure. "Prodigious!" he exclaimed. "What are you going as?"

"Gonna ask Phantasyss if I can borrow his Red Death costume."

"Hmm." Merydian tilted his head thoughtfully. "Maybe I can find some whispy white stuff to wear and go as Jack Frost. Do we have any glitter? I think I can whip something up in--" Suddenly he gave a start, having raised the invitation to his eyes to read it himself. "PHE!"

Phoenix jumped at being shouted at in close quarters. "Whaaaat?!"

"This ball is tonight! We're gonna be far-less-than-fashionably late if we don't leave in like, half an hour!"

Phoenix squeaked in dismay. "Well don't just stand there, go put your Jack Frost costume together! And don't forget a mask!"

With that declared, Phe bolted off towards Phantasyss's room (with the two flitters STILL clinging to her shoulders), while Merydian scrambled to find some spare cloth and art supplies. They only hoped they wouldn't be late!