Welcome to Gaia! ::

For once, it wasn't the three children who were known for hosting parties, dances and other activities for everyone; it was Thali. The pregnant elf was prone to mood swings, and so prone to deciding to throw a party or two. Or three. Instead of another fairytale themed party (the twins had attempted to convince her otherwise, but the last time... Well. Let's say it didn't go as planned). Hopefully no one would get hurt this time, and the activities would keep the children happy.

Hopefully.

There were goodie bags on a small table, each containing simple magic tricks, a deck of cards, colorful bits of cloth, a quarter, a cat's cradle game and instructions for each trick. Someone was going out of their way to make sure everyone had a good time, the adults included. A box of plastic wands sat by the table, with a sign over them reading "Take one!". Music played in the background, coming from the stereo. It alternated from dance music to oldies every once in a while.

Thali had even gone so far as to hire a real, live magician for the party. Said 'magician' was fuming. "Aunt Thali," Howl whined. "My magic isn't for entertainment!" Unless it was for Morgan's sake, or his own, or perhaps Sophie's. "Have some common magician come in. I'm a royal wizard, this is an insult!"

Thali smirked, and shook her head at her nephew. "Think of all the girls who'll be watching you with fascination," she said.

"I haven't the slightest idea how to do pretend magic!"

"That's simple, then. Do the real thing."

"I can do that."

Thali's twins, Sammi and Reiya, were helping with the decorations. Glittering star topped wands were stuck to the walls, hanging in the air attached to string, paper hats with hand drawn bunnies poking out of them; the decorations weren't as elaborate as they usually were, being handmade and rather clumsy, as if they hadn't planned it for very long. Even Loki was helping, setting tables. The food would be ready soon.

Hopefully.

It was almost as if the family had something bigger planned. Something important.

Jillian felt more than out of place as she wandered over to the door, rather confused and hoping she was lost. But, no, the address she had scrawled on the slip of paper matched this address... So either she was in the right place, or she had been suddenly rendered unable to read her own writing.
She doubted it was the latter.

It looked like the inside of a kindergarten teacher had exploded across the room with sparkling fervor, dropping goodies and enough shiny things to send an ADD child into mouth-foaming ecstasy. She herself couldn't help but grin and scoop up a plastic one, though she was trying very hard to be mature.
She really hadn't the slightest idea why she was here. But the invitation had appeared in her mail, with her name on it, so she supposed that was reason enough.

Across the room she could see a woman talking to an elaborately dressed boy, who seemed to be rather smug about something or other. She assumed that she was the one in charge, and tentatively crossed the gap between them.

"Er...I do hope I'm not interrupting..." She said as there was a pause in their conversation. "My names Jillian. Jillian McGill. I, uh...got an invitation..."

But she was STILL horribly confused as to why. She didn't have any children, much to her dismay, and judging by the ones already here, the ones who had just arrived, and the decorations, that was exactly what this party was for.

Eve was looking around at the guests, but she smiled when she saw Irae and his cousin. She hoped his cousin was feeling better and Irae looked all right.

She glanced at her mother and walked over to Irae and Alome after the dark elf nodded. Kalia watched the ragdoll child carefully still a but startled after meeting the little girl that morning.

Eve greeted Irae and Alome politely with a bow. "It's wonderful to see you again, Irae. I hope you and your cousin are all right."

She took two roses from her basket and offered them the roses, "Mood roses."

Thali turned to smile at Jillian. "Oh yes," she said cheerfully. "I remember sending that invitation." She stuck out her hand for the other woman to shake. "Thali Sadril," she said. "Call me Thali." Oh, how she hated formalities. "I'm glad you could make it," she added with sincerity. Maybe she'd be making a new friend today as well. "Howl, this is Jillian." That was killing two birds with one stone, or rather, saving them, since the elf didn't like to think--nevermind.

Her attention went to Ivy and Kalia, then, eyes widening at the sight of the latter. She had never seen such an elf; certainly she wasn't woodland. She nodded in greeting in Ivy's direction, before giving the obviously nervous elf a smile. "Hello," she greeted Kalia with ease, though her eyes were questioning. "Welcome," she added. "I hope you enjoy yourselves." She glanced towards a corner of the room, pointedly. "Ivy," she said in undertone, in hopes the other elf would not hear. "I did hope you would come. "I have a friend who's been feeling under the weather. Thought the party might cheer him up. Maybe your friend--?" She didn't get to finish the sentence. A dark, tiny figure had formed behind her.

"Oli? Oooh... Oli? Lilili!"

"Oliver..." The elf sighed, picking the shadow up and balancing him on her hip. Well, why not? He was the size of your average toddler. "You see anyone you'd like to play with?"

"Oli?" Oli questioned, answering as he always did. He pointed to Lilium. "Oli!" He made a vain attempt to get down, before his host set him back down onto the ground. The shadow, surprisingly quick for having such short legs, made his way to the other shadow. "Li? Oli?" That left his host to greet the guests who had just arrived.

"Welcome," Thali said, pushing a stray stand of hair behind her ear. "Lance and Charlie?" she guessed with a smile. "Glad you could make it."

Howl shot his most winning smile towards Jillian. "Jillian?" he repeated, to make sure he had heard correctly. "A beautiful name, for a beautiful lady," he said with a courtly bow, and when he stood, a sweetheart rose was in his hand. He offered it to her. "A beautiful rose for a beautiful--" he couldn't continue. Blue eyes had settled on something, rather someone, else. He would keep his distance, however. He was frightened of her father (not that he'd admit that), and did not look forward to his next encounter with him. He turned back to Jillian. "I'm Howl," he said offhandedly. "Howell really," he wrinkled his nose to show his dislike for the name. "I'm--"

"Pu?" A certain dragon shaped shadow had appeared, clinging to his host's leg. Red and green eyes surveyed the scene before he glanced up at Jillian. "Pu!"

"This is Puff," Howl finished, frowning at his shadow. Of course, his shadow always showed up when he was talking to someone. Calcifer must have put him up to it. "Would you like a tour, or something? I could introduce you to everyone."

The once butterfly girl wasn't paying much attention to the things around her. She was just simply staring off into space, though she did send a few concerned glances at her little cousin. Other than that, she paid no mind to anything else, just smiling at Eve when offered the Rose.

The rose turned a pale grey color.

Irae, on the other hand, albeit tackled Eve, rubbing his little cheek to hers.

"Oh fank uu, fank uu so much! I wuv it! It so pwetty and," He gasped, making a surpized expression that would make anyone go "aww..." "IT CHANGES COLORS! It so cooll! Fank uu so much!"

Eve smiled even though she was concerned at the color Alome's rose changed to. That meant lost, at least from what she had read.

"I hope you're feeling better, Alome."

Eve yelped slightly when Irae tackled her, but hugged her friend with a laugh. "You're welcome, Irae. I'm glad you like the roses. They're mood roses, they show your mood."

She hoped that the roses wouldn't die as fast as normal roses. "They'll live longer if you put them in water or plant them. At least that's what I've seen so far."

Thali liked Jillian, she had decided. She often did this, picking out people she would either like or not. Soon, however, her attention was again taken by Ivy. "Pleasure to see you again, too," Thali said, smiling at Ivy, though she honestly felt rather awkward at being told her friend's friend or whatever she was to Ivy was single. "Oh, I'm fine," she assured her friend with another smile, though her hand instinctively went to her stomach. "He's over there, you know," she added, ever so helpfully as she gestured to a corner in the back of the room. "Maybe they could be friends," she added, pointedly.

The elf knew Nikos was in no state to be thinking romantically, especially not right after what had happened. In fact, if the diminutive, pregnant elf had not gone out of her way to convince him, she knew he would have very likely not come. Niko was indeed sitting in the corner, using his dark hair to shield his face from onlookers. His eyes were bright and alert, still visible even through the dark strands. In his arms was an infant, Demyx. "Is Kalia very often alone?" Thali asked in a whisper, genuinely curious. "I could introduce her to some people, help her make a few friends. Oh, and of course not!" She added, surprised. "That was wonderful of her." Eve was so thoughtful. She would have to make it up to the toddler.

She turned her attention to Charlie, flashing him a smile. "No," she started teasingly. "I'm Sammi. Kidding. Call me Thali," she corrected him, used to doing so. She liked Charlie already. He was friendly and polite. "Hello, Cain," she added, after studying the shadow. He was absolutely adorable! "Nice to meet you." She looked over to Lilium and Oliver, and gave another smile. "Would you like to meet Oli?" she asked. "He's right over there," she added, gesturing. She studied Lance for a moment longer than she had Charlie. "You must be Lance," she observed. "Nice to meet you." Honestly, he looked rather unhappy about being here. "There's food over there," she gestured to the tables behind her.

Oliver looked doubtfully at the rose as he took it, before smiling in fascination as it changed color. It was a green-blue, a sign of contentment. "Olilili!" he said excitedly. He moved forward and kissed Lilium on the cheek in thanks. "Li! Oli!"

Oliver's excitement made Loki look over. He grinned, showing off his fangs. “Color changing roses?” he asked, going over to his aunt’s shadow. The fae had quite a green thumb when it came to gardening, sometimes literally when he spent too much time outside. “Can I have one?” he asked of the shadow. “I’ll plant it in my garden.”

Howl was delighted, to say the least. He had never had an adult respond so well to his flirting before. "Of course," he said with ease. "Not nearly as wonderful as you are," he added.

"Pu?" asked Puff, looking up at Jillian. "Ooooh..." The lady was pretty, wasn't she? He released Howl's leg and attached himself to her instead. "Pu! Uff?"

"Well, you've already met Aunt Thali," said the wizard in minature, gesturing to the elf. "My cousin's are over there," he pointed to Sammi and Reiya. "They're twins, but you can't tell." He thought of who to introduce next. "My cousin Loki's around here, somewhere..." He glanced around. "My apprentice, Eve's over there," he said, gesturing to the ragdoll. "Hey, Eve! When you're not busy, come over here!"

Jillian chuckled, watching Howl. He certainly was a little charmer, this one. And he seemed rather proud of it.
She was a bit surprised when the dragon-like creature attatched itself to her leg, and stared at it for a second before giggling and reaching down to stroke its' head. It was a bit weird, but cute.
"You have an apprentice?? Whatever for?" She asked Howl, looking over at the ragdoll that he was currently calling over.

Including the shadows, there certainly was an amaglam of creatures in this house. And, despite many of them being of races that Jillian hadn't seen before, she found them intriguingly adorable. She couldn't help but smile around the room, then look back at Howl.

"All of these people can't possibly be family. They're just guests, right?"
For the mystery party that, she realized, she hadn't been the only one confused about. There was a rather surly green eyed boy skulking his way over to the snack table, and a red-headed impling that had been asking Thali questions. She wondered how many people here had known Thali when they receieved their invitations.