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Rye loved parties. Of course, most of the parties she attended were not exactly appropriate for children. That didn't, however, stop her from flooding over with excitement at hosting a party for children from the liberty center. And, of course, considering the time of year it was obvious what theme she had chosen; Valentines Day!

She might have been frivolous, but sometimes she could put something together pretty well. She had rented out the Cafe' of another guardian, Rebecca Weaver, and went into a whirlwind of preperations. A more secluded area of the cafe' was cleared of chairs so the older children or guardians could dance. The counter was cleared of its normal sale items and replaced with the food available for the guests, mainly chocolates and other sweets. A few gaming tables were set out, even a small area for twister, and then at the opposite corner there were tables for coloring and other crafty activities directed more towards the younger crowd.

Sophia had been a bit apprehensive when she heard her mother was holding this party. She had made most of the food along side Becca, but as she peeked in one the set-up from time to time she got a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Valentines day...it was definately a holiday girls favored. She was no exception, but she really didn't know what to expect. She told herself it was better to expect nothing. After all, what would happen? It was just a party.

She had dawned a cute, lacy dress of lavender and pink for the occassion. She didn't know who would end up coming, but he knew that all of the families at the liberty center would recieve an invitation. How many new faces would there be? She rearanged a tray of chocolates as she waited for someone to arrive.

"This is the girliest party in existance!" Sean complained as loudly as possible. Never mind that there were plenty of games set out that were not "girlie". Perhaps it was simply the opressive decorations of red and pink with hearts that got to him. A holiday based on love hardly seemed like anything short of torture. Rye had, of course, insisted that he stay. He decided that, in protest, he would make his mission to be as miserable as possible. He refused to allow Rye's assumption to be right. He refused to have fun. At least, that was what he was thinking as he sat with folded arms and furrowed brows scowling out the window.

Sophia perked visibly as Iselda entered. She left the chocolates sitting half-arranged and went to meet her. She called quickly before she got too close, "Mom! Someone's here!" Hopefully Rye would come out of the back soon. Sophie didn't know what she was up to, but if there was anything that needed to be done as guests arrived...well, she certainly didn't know what they were.

She dipped down in a half curtsy, offering out of a lack of any other ideas, "Hello. I'm Sophia." She paused and then added quickly, "Thanks for coming!"

Sean groaned from his seat, sending the two girls grumpy looks. "Great, another GIRL for the GIRLYNESS," he said specifically for the purpose of being heard.

Iselda hadn't been the only one who had been practically pushed to go to the party. Upon seeing an invitation from god-knows-where, Anya had sternly bullied Keres into attending, saying that she hadn't done any social... things for sometime or something. When Keres had asked Anya if she'd go to, the Sven snorted and said "Oh hell no."

Though now that Keres had cat-toed around the cafe's door and into the party as quietly as she could... she realized that having Anya here would create some sort of oxymoron. Or a rip in the spacetime continuum. Valentine's Day parties and her guardian just didn't mix -- couldn't mix. ...And Keres wasn't quite so sure that she went with them either.

She looked around at all the red and pink, hearts decorating every inch of their surfaces. She approved of the red, as she was wearing the color herself, but all the pink? Lordy. But hey... at least there were chocolates all over the place!

Sean huffed and turned his back on the incoming group. Boring. He could foresee it. Boredom was all he'd fine here. "Don't waste your fake smiles on me," he grumbled under his breath.

"That's a very pretty name," Sophia complimented. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to pronounce the whole thing correctly. Regardless, it wasn't a test she was willing to take at this moment. So she simply improvised. "It's nice to meet you too, Iselda." As the two other girls entered she whirled around a bit. She tried to come up with a quick greeting, but she was interupted.

Jamie came out of the kitchen with a tray of glasses, an ice bowl, and a few pitchers of fruit drinks. Seeing that there were already guests, he smiled widely and called out a friendly greeting, "Welcome ladies!" The female customers that came to the cafe' had always liked that introduction. He set the tray down on a free space on the counter and then turned towards all of them. The outfit Rye had made him wear, despite the fact that he wasn't her child, made him look like a mini-server, not that that was his job either. At least he didn't seem to mind. "I'm glad you all could come. I'm Jamie."

Iselda had been about to answer Sophia's compliment with one of her own when the place suddenly seemed to get invaded by a small army. Hanging back, she smiled serenely to anyone who looked her way.

Ah, the helpful creature from earlier was here as well. How interesting. Hopefully he wouldn't approach her. In a move unknowingly similar to Rook's, she made a mental note to avoid him and his for the day.

Sidling a bit closer to Sophia once it seemed that people were through rushing through the doors, at least for the time being, she latched onto the person that seemed to have been the nicest - and safest - so far.

"Thank you, for the compliment. Earlier, that is." She smiled again, this one considerably more genuine than the other smiles so far. "You've got a very pretty name as well - very regal, Sophia. And that dress is just gorgeous." She threw an admiring glance at said dress.

Kaimi had been shifting around a little uncomfortably until Bishop and Rook showed up. She smiled at Bishop, unutterably relieved to see her best friend. There was a definite difference in height. Kaimi hadn't really thought about the fact that she seemed to be aging much faster than her friend until now, when she realized how much bigger she was. "Oh, Bishop! It's good to see you!" She gave her a tight hug. "I have a lot to tell you." She added under her breath. "A lot happened. And I..." She swallowed. She didn't know how to talk about it or what to say, except that Bishop was probably the only person at this point she really wanted to tell the whole story to.

The sudden explosion of people coming through the door made Keres both surprised and slightly miffed. She almost knocked over a small table as she scrambled to get out of the way of the door and make room. Reaching out frantically to grab hold of the table, she took a deep breath and stayed in that position for a moment as she looked around at all the faces.

She recognized Kaimi aanddd... and...no one else. When a boy with, well, really big hair and some sort of server's outfit gave a loud greeting, she straightened and pursed her lips for a moment and crinkled her eyebrows. That was a weird outfit indeed, she thought silently, and then changed her expression to that of one who was slightly annoyed with everything else around her. "Keres," she said dully in a half-hearted response.

Folding her arms, she then looked to the chittering group of girls not too far off. One person that she suddenly remembered from her baby-days was Sophia, but only for her long and pretty hair. She had no idea who the blonde was, and by listening to their talk, she wasn't all too interested in finding out. ...She liked clothes and pretty things, but she didn't prefer polite small talk and exchanging compliments.

Next.

Keres scanned the room and then looked to a tall gray lad with red jewels about him. Her mouth twitched into a smirk -- those were so pretty, she thought, and she moved just a little to go talk to him, despite the fact that some other, short boy was there already. However, the sphinx's attention was suddenly grabbed when Casia walked in. Now that was someone that Keres remembered.

"Casia, right?" Keres asked the winged girl suddenly. She gave a small, smirky-smile but stayed her distance, remembering that Casia had seemed a bit scared of her at Harper's memorial. "Remember me?"

Keres's feral eyes brightened when Casia remembered her name, and her self at that. "Ah ha, yep," she said before casting a sidelong glance around at one side of the decorated place. She looked back at Casia a second later.

"You get pushed to come here too?" she asked, a sullen undertone hanging on her otherwise some-what happy voice. Her eyebrows rose in small sympathetic arches and she dropped her gold wings to give an added affect.