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Maybe there was still hope left between the two.. Maybe her fits of foolishness had been ignored, and she still had a friend with the wizard. Perhaps he was someone who looked past her mask, someone who ignored the fact that her once massive shimmering wings had vanished. An unfamiliar feeling filled Alome as Howl held onto her hand, on that felt as if it reached from the top of her head, to the soles of her feet. It was hope, confidence, a feeling of being wanted..

And yet.. As quickly as it came, it left, leaving her feeling desolated and broken inside. She stared at her empty hand. The hand that once held onto his. A hand that had created a bridge between two people, keeping them connected, forming a sort of understanding. At least, that's how she saw it.

A soft, bitter laugh came from her slightly rosy soft lips, and now more than ever, she was grateful for the mask that hide her so well. Just what had she been expecting? No, of course it wouldn't work out the way she planned. It was the other's birthday, after all? She had no right whatsoever to request his attention solely on her. It was a mistake to even consider something like that at his party.

It was gone now. The ambition, the confidence. All those feelings slipped away, just as Howl's hand slipped from her own.

Alome didn't wish to cause any trouble.. Perhaps it would be best to just slip out of the party. No one was worried about her anyway... Not for long..

"Well we wouldn't want you to ignore your guests, would we?" She replied, watching as he left with a slightly amused smile hiding on her face. She waited until his back was turned to turn away also, covering her mouth and laughing quietly, although hysterically.

He hadn't caught it. And she had won! Oh, that kid was amusing. Some giggles escaped her and she clapped her hands over her mouth as if that would stop them. She did feel bad. He was so much younger than she was, it was creepy. But he didn't ACT like it; and, she thought defensively, he had started it. Really. Who would she be if she just sat and took a challenge without response? Certainly not Kalypso Kovak. That was just not in her nature.

Sighing, and giggling again, she slipped across the room to Katia, who had succeeded in taking Luka from Dimitri.
However, they were bickering, now.

"Knock that off or I'll take Luka with me. He's not a toy. He can do what he wants." She told them, and both children pouted. However, Kali was used to it, and thus unphased by their unashamed use of cuteness.

Luka, in the time that Kali had walked up, had slipped away and disappeared into the crowd. Specifically, after the furry young boy who was known as Adam. They were playing tag, though whether Adam knew it was under question.

Nate looked at the blue skinned boy who’d come to join him and offered the other as much of a smile as his body allowed. “Hi, I’m Nate.” He clicked his skeletal fingers together on the hand not holding the gift he’d brought, then pointed at the instruments. “ Magic, not ghosts.” He could see ghosts and they gave him a weird feeling he couldn’t explain, the instruments just made him happy. Other people though, the small boy had come to understand, couldn’t always see ghosts and might think It was them making the music.

Skylar watched the pair of younger boys carefully but said nothing from where he was leaning against the wall. The Nu Mou was happy to see his brother making a friend.

Iggy edged out of the crowd a bit and tried to use his innate ability to coerce someone to pay attention to him and follow him. The will o the wisp boy was getting bored.. at a party of all things! While his blue eyes scanned the room again for anyone showing interest in him began what looked like juggling the soul lights he’d brought with him. He didn’t really touch them and they moved of their own accord but it was something he’d been practicing with the lights that had been with him since he could remember. A lot of them came and went but these ones, they stayed and he recognized their feel.

Adam paused in his frantic chase of Luka to sare at the lights that were swirling through the air. They were very pretty, he thought.
He wanted them. He wanted to touch them.

Scooching over, he dropped down in front of Iggy with wide eyes, staring up at the awe-inspiring display.

"Wow..How d'you do that?" He beamed at the older boy, purple eyes bright with curiosity and amazement. It was almost as cool as the baloon giraffe!

Tish leaned back against the wall and opened her arms for Demy, smiling softly. "I'm always willing to have Demy-hugs; you're the only one who can give hugs like them, after all!" From the floor, Axel looked up at her with a perturbed expression - he wanted to spend time with Demyx! Demyx was his twin, his his his! He didn't want to share. Angrily, she slammed his hand onto the floor, flames springing up around it immediately. He was not a happy baby right now.

Miri smiled and tiptoed out from behind Tish, walking over to where she could get a better view of that cute kitty-boy with wings. Kitties were cute, and a kitty boy was even cuter! This was definitely a party worth coming to. Luvvie skipped around the gathering, dashing between the guests with a hello now and then, but in general spending time with no-one; there was no-one around she was particularly interested in talking to; Eve was busy, Howl-Lindsey was busy, and she didn't really know any of the others.

Elise noticed that the birf-day boy had gone away, then come back and was now talking to the masked girl again - masked like her sister Miri. She smiled and toddler-waddled her way over to the two again, setting her new bear and bottle down before looking at the bear and at the masked girl. "Sow-wy, birf-day Howl, bu' I can' keep th' bea'," she said, then held it up as far as she could in Alome's direction. "He'we, you wanna bea'? He's a nice bea', his name's Hen-wy Hah-py!"



Belle took her glasses back and settled them on her nose with a quiet "Thank you" to Loki for helping her. Getting to her feet while still clutching her books, the toddler tilted her head and stared up at the older boy for a moment. "Loki? As in the Norse god of mischief?" Somehow she thought that name seemed fitting for the boy in front of her. "It's nice to meet you too; I read a book about the Norse gods; Ragnarok sounds both fascinating and scary - I wonder if we'd know if it had happened in the past and everything was already redone? If Odin's still alive or if his successor is ruling? Isn't it wonderful to think about?"

Kupo giggled and shook his head, slipping down so he was sitting on the older boy's shoulders with his legs hanging around Loki's neck. "Nu-uh, I's taaaaa~aaaallll!" he said happily, bright eyes twinkling with excitement. "Sissy Belle! Sissy Belle! Loook, I'm big!"



Meanwhile, little shadows were spreading out to cause mischief, or in one shadow's case, Mischief with a capital M. Elphaba the little witch shadow cackled to herself as she adjusted her hat, climbing up to the table where the bottled magic was. "Oooooooh~" she exclaimed, and proceed to open one to see what it would do. The bottle exploded like a diet coke filled with mentos, shooting the shadow around the room and sending her banging into whatever objects and people happened to be in her way. "WeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeee! Haaaaaahahahahaha!"

"Thank you Elise... But I don't think Bears quite suite me." Her smile was kind, a sweet one, for it really was a cute gesture. "But.. Maybe you can find someone else who'd like a bear. Like.. Oh, I know. My little cousin should be coming soon. You can give it to him. He's about your size."

Her eyes narrowed sharply at Howl. What did he think she was, stupid. She KNEW she couldn't hog him. She knew it. He was too thick headed to understand what she felt. She pulled her hand away from his as if she were burned.

"On second thought.. I don't think I want to. Like you said, you're to be shared. But really who would want someone like you?" Her voice got soft, so that she wouldn't be heard by the infant nearby. "At anyrate. I have some where to be. Happy birthday, Howell. May it be filled with smiles."

With something akin to a glare, though it couldn't be seen, she turned on her heel, heading to the door. Why share someone who was too stupid to understand anything? No point in it really.

Besides, she had to go get Irae anyway. He was sure that Caro was done with his repairs anyway.

Keya stopped in her tracks once she saw how many people had come to the party. Her eyes widened as the little girl's dislike of crowds showed and made her nervous. She nearly cried out when she felt someone grab her shoulder and turned sharply, expecting a monster. Her father's dark blue eyes met her, anger mingled with nervousness of his own as such is what a parent could feel when their children ran from them.

"Ke-ke, what's wrong?" Aries' eyes softened once he realized his daughter's nervous mood.

"Too many peopwe, daddy."

He picked up his daughter and carried her into the house, thinking by staying with her, she would be able to make some friends and possibly have fun at the party. Her present for this Howl fellow was in his pocket, a tiny box with a special pendent inside.

Elise hugged the bear to her, not understanding the quick, sharp change in behavior the older girl had just gone through - she was too little to really get it. All she knew was that the older girl who had seemed so sad now seemed kind of, well, scary, and clutching her new bear, she barreled her way through partygoers until she'd reached Tish's side and curled up against her, crying softly. "Sca'y girl, Mama! Sca'y!" She peeked at Demyx out of the corner of one eye, but was too distraught to pay him any mind at the moment.



"Of course I still want you, Demy," Tish said softly, scooping the little boy up into a hug. "I could never not want you," the brunette added, planting a kiss in the infant's head. All too soon, however, the moment was broken by Elise throwing herself at her, obviously distraught. Axel took that moment to grab Demyx by the hand and tug him off.

"Come on, Demy! Show me the games!"



"I suppose you're right," Belle acknowledged with a nod. "Actually, most of the mythologies I've read don't have very "nice" gods," she added thoughtfully, which was rather amusing because she was a little, toddler-aged girl and was seriously discussing mythologies like an adult who had studied the topic for years. Shaking her head at Kupo's silliness, she turned and gestured to a distant corner, where Jadyn was just barely visible to a person looking for her.

"Mama's over there; she doesn't like parties much and only came because Kupo and I wanted to. My big sisters are staying at home... but they don't get along so I'm not sure how much will be burnt up or shredded when we get back..."