Happy Birthday! Finished

Interacting with: @Ruka Tân, @Willow Anderson, & @Flash Holmwood
Mentioning: @Mildred Wilson & @Opeila Seilun

Of all the ways Willow could have reacted, maintaining her composure and playing along was definitely not something Jack would guessed she could have done, much less would have. If someone already had enough of a bias against the red-headed Slytherin to dislike him as the Hufflepuff did, they usually didn't wait to see how he tried to get things to play out before attempting to put a stop to it or at least call him out on his antics. However, the blonde surprised Jack right from the moment her facial features calmed and she moved to take a bite from the dumpling he held out for her.

His eyes widened, brows rising, and he glanced briefly at Ruka, as if wondering whether or not the Gryffindor expected as much from the girl. After all, Ruka seemed to be pretty well-aquainted with her. The second year was also probably the only other person who would have trusted Jack enough to eat anything he offered him, especially from right out of his hand. This girl had guts.

He held back a laugh behind a small, appreciative smile as she took a while to chew the food, but that smile disappeared with another look of astonishment when she began to address him once more. It took him a moment to realize she was addressing him as Flash, knowing full well she could tell he was different from the slightly-taller brunet Slytherin. And it took him a moment more to process the entirity of what was going through her head as she spoke.

Willow's comment about being able to shapeshift made him wonder for a moment if she knew he was only pretending, especially since Jack had learned about metamorphmagi and that it actually would have been plausible for someone to be Flash without looking like him. There were also polyjuice potions too, of course.

But as he continued to listen, it was becomeing more and more apparent that this girl was far from stupid. Jack's first impression of her might have been along the lines of a close-minded idealist bigot, but that was quickly changing. Either that had been a poor sample of her true self or she had done a lot of learning and maturing since then. Regardless, Jack found himself impressed by Willow's willingness to communicate her frustration through the context of their little charade. He hadn't even expected her to try to communicate at all other than wanting to get him away from her table.

Aside from Willow's behavior, her words were equally intriguing, but for different reasons. Jack had always suspected Flash to wear masks like Selim did in order to cultivate his ideal image in the eyes of others, but for this girl who was obviously close to Flash to confirm it and to reveal being hurt by it told a lot. Jack thought it probably explained a good deal about the brunet's anxious behavior right before he'd entered the party. Willow and her opinion must have meant a lot to him.

Well...did it, if he hadn't done anything to set things right with her? Or was Willow just not willing to listen to any more? Perhaps Flash might have even thought he deserved her shunning him for having hurt her so. Jack also had a huge hunch that Ruka played a greater part in all of this than he was aware of so far, but he didn't have time to ask. The Hufflepuff was already changing her demeanor and tone with him, making it clear she was no longer going along with his facade of being who he implied he was. She was addressing him as the boy who had called her friendship bracelets 'death sentences' and tried to shrink them the other day.

His brow furrowed slightly as the blonde spoke of games, players, and pawns. She seemed to give him a warning - or was it a threat? - and sourced Ruka as a reliable reference for her claim. Jack almost recoiled at the scathing glare Willow cast the Gryffindor then. Just what had gone on between those two? Had Ruka insulted her friendship bracelets as well? No, he couldn't have...Jack had seen him there at the table making some along with everyone else.

There was no time to question it, though. Willow was already getting up and excusing herself from the party, mentioning something about a bathroom to Mildred. Jack took that moment to exchange a meaningful look with Ruka before getting up from his chair himself. He considered trying to catch the girl or block her way, but those thoughts were quickly brushed aside. He didn't want to tempt her to use force, nor did he want to encourage such an obvious and open confrontation in the middle of the party when it had just barely started. That was presumably the reason that Willow had excused herself in the first place, after all.

Instead, Jack pursued the girl, but at a slower pace. He stuck his hands (and his bag of candy) in his pockets as he walked, glancing back every so often at the fire-dancer as if to ask if he planned to come along. However much of the picture he thought he might have gotten, Ruka still probably knew more. It would have been helpful to have him there, especially for what Jack had in mind.

As he neared the doors to the rehersal room, his gaze cut to Flash, wondering if he would be able to catch his peer watching what they were up to. With a cheeky smirk at how the proper young man stood so politely and helplessly among the other guests crowded around Opeila, Jack put his hand on the doorknob, turned, and stepped out.

If Willow hadn't excused herself from the party, Jack might have assumed the Hufflepuff simple wasn't affected all that much by Flash or whatever he had done to her and that was the reason for her ability to play along with Jack. As it turned out, though, she must have been having a hard time, because it really wasn't a mystery why the girl might have asked to leave. It just made Jack admire her all the more for keeping up the front she had for as long as she did, especially in the faces of people she seemed to believe meant her harm.

This just reaffirmed his idea that you could really learn a lot about a person from the way they acted when upset or angry. The redhead suddenly had a newfound respect for the one he'd called the Death Sentencer.

When Jack stepped out into the corridor, he couldn't hear any footsteps - not running or walking - and he suspected the nearest lavatory was too far for Willow to have already vanished into it. Guessing she might have opted to disappear into Flash's former hiding place instead, The redhead went up to the door and gently knocked. He didn't want to startle her, but he wasn't keen on being locked out either, so without waiting for a response, he attempted to open the door a little.

"Um...pardon me," he spoke in a more gentle tone than he'd ever used with her thus far. "But...last I checked...this wasn't a bathroom."

Interacting with @Jack Burnett @Willow Anderson 

Mentions @Flash Holmwood @Opeila Seilun 

As Jack had left the table to do whatever it was he was planning on doing, Ruka could tell that Willow's eyes were following the Slytherin suspiciously, and he wondered, for a second, what it would take for her to divert her attention, but before he could come up with anything, she had directed her glare at him instead, her voice cold as ice as she spoke to him.

"I-," he started, a frown of confusion on his face. He could tell that Willow definitely wasn't a big fan of Jack's, but he hadn't expected this very thinly veiled hostility directed at him just for associating with him. "He's helped me out a lot," he answered vaguely and with a definitive tone in his voice that left no room for argument. No matter the encounter Willow had had with Jack, the way she looked and talked made him assume that she was about to make sure he knew exactly what a bad person she thought the Slytherin to be, and he wasn't going to have that.

Too many people had already tried to make him see Jack's bad sides and he wasn't going to put Willow's name on the list of those people.

Before he could say anything else, Jack had returned with the green dumpling for Willow, and Ruka decided it was best to just lean back and watch what was going to happen with an attentive stare in Willow and Jack's direction
His eyes widened a little as, despite contrary belief, Willow ate the dumpling right out of Jack's hand, as if she completely trusted that he wasn't up to no good with his gesture. It really wasn't what he had been expecting at all after the way she had mustered Jack like he was dirt under her shoe.

Seeking out Jack's expression, Ruka couldn't help but grin lightly, impressed by Willow's act. He could respect the way she managed to go along with the Slytherin's antics as if there was no underlying tension to deal with between them, and clearly Jack was just as pleasantly surprised by her for it.
Had things stayed on that track, Ruka would have continued simply being slightly amused by the scene, however, once Jack had revealed his name card to read Flash's name, there was something in Willow that Ruka had only gotten a glimpse of back in the Great Hall.

He watched as the girl got up to boop Jack's nose while she talked to him as if it was actually Flash she was faced with, an anger in her voice and expression that wasn't solely directed at Jack and his fake identity. That glance she shot him as she told Jack - or Flash? - that he was supposed to be far away from her, showed him exactly what she currently thought of him, and it wasn't anything good.

Opening his mouth to say something, Ruka quickly decided not to interrupt her as she actually talked about him as someone who could attest to the things she was capable of, and he quickly lifted a hand to his left cheek as if reliving the memory of getting punched for his unpleasantries. 

Her words about his false kindness struck him like an arrow, his expression crumbling as he listened at the foul things she had to say to him. He had thought many vile things about himself in his life, but if there was one thing he didn't think he was, it was fake or acting out false kindness as she had just described it. When he had apologised to Willow he had meant it, when he had tried to show her a kindness he had failed to give her back in the Great Hall, he had done so without any ulterior motives.

"Willow," he started, voice a weak tremble as he lifted a hand to maybe reach out to her, but before he could, she had gotten off her seat, excusing herself to the bathroom, probably just to get away from both Jack and himself. It took him a moment to really digest what was happening, but once Willow had gotten on her feet, his eyes found Jack's and he nodded without a second thought at the look the Slytherin was giving him.

He didn't need any further encouragement, didn't wait very long to stand up off his seat at the same time as Jack, only staying behind him a few paces and walking slow enough not to draw attention should anybody look his way.
He gave Jack a subtle thumbs up when he saw the Slytherin glancing back his way, as if to assure him that he was planning on following exactly where he was going in what Ruka assumed was his pursue of Willow.

Glancing around on his way to the door, his eyes fell on Opeila, and for a second he felt horrible about not even having said Happy Birthday to her before leaving the room - at least for the moment - but thinking back on Willow's words and reactions just then, he felt like this was a more important thing to take care of.
Next his gaze fell on Flash, and he thought, for a moment, that he had seen the Slytherin looking their way, maybe to follow where Willow was going, maybe to keep an eye on Jack or even Ruka himself, but he wasn't completely sure. For a moment he glared in Flash's direction as if to blame him for whatever Willow was currently going through - The way she had talked to Jack when he'd pretended to be Flash, made him feel like the other boy may have actually done something to deserve Willow's wrath like this, but as he looked Flash up and down, he noticed something that threw him off his high horse a little bit.

Right there on his arm, were two familiar bracelets. A memory of Willow holding out her bracelet proudly to show off her friendship with Flash passed him by. He remembered pointing out the fact that Willow's wrist was bare now, clearly showing that said friendship had crashed and burned exactly how he had predicted it to. 
Flash was wearing Willow's bracelet, like an open, honest show of his loss, and for a second Ruka stopped in his tracks, face slackening. From their previous encounters, Ruka had had no reason to believe that Flash was anything but a manipulative child with various fake personalities to draw people into his twisted spider web and eat them up after letting them struggle in it for a while, but this simple show of vulnerability shattered that picture of him into tiny pieces on the floor.

Flash cared about Willow.

It was like a punch in the stomach to realise something so dreadfully simple, something that hadn't been his place to doubt from the start, and he immediately felt even worse for the way he had treated Willow before. He shouldn't have made assumptions, shouldn't have pushed his own image of Flash onto other people the way he had tried to do, no matter how angry and resentful he had been.

Biting his lip, Ruka shook his head to himself before pushing open the door to follow Jack and Willow outside the Rehearsal Room and down the corridor until he had caught up with Jack outside a door to what he was pretty sure was not a bathroom.
Slowly and quietly he joined Jack's side as the Slytherin knocked on the door and pushed it open a little bit.

Taking a deep breath, Ruka took gentle hold of Jack's arm for a second, urging the other boy to look at him before they could enter the room Willow had taken refugee in. "This is my fault," he admitted quietly, guilt and regret visible on his face as he shook his head. He hadn't thought about it that way before, but having seen Flash with those two bracelets, thinking of all of Willow's reactions... He had destroyed a friendship, and he had no idea how to fix it.

He only hoped Jack did.

Without waiting for the Slytherin to say anything about it, Ruka let go of his arm and instead reached past him to fully open the door so they could join Willow.

Temporarily leaving Thread

Interacting: @Opeila Seilun
Mentions: @Mildred Wilson

Sean had been watching the party go on for a while without saying anything, he was trying to get the courage to interact. He decided after a while that it was about time he went up to Opeila and wished her a Happy Birthay. Sean just hoped he wouldn't come off as bored or uninterested, the way he said things would sometimes be different than the way he intended it them to be. He looked over at Opeila who was in the middle of thanking the Hufflepuff girl who had put in place this surprise birthday party and grabbed his courage. He walked slowly passing by a few of the other guest trying not to back down, what's the worst that could happen ? After what seemed to him as forever, he finally got to Opeila.

"H-Happy Birthday, I hope you don't mind me being here" He wasn't quite sure what she thought of him and had doubts of whether or not she would like him there. He tried his best to smile at her, he was as nervous as ever. He thought he was getting better at socializing but still had a hard time when there was more than one person around and it didn't help that he didn't know many of the guests.

Smiling at what she had done, this could be her good act of the day. Sharing tasty treats with the guests- she nodded proudly at herself, she stepped back. Mildred listened to Willow's request and took note of the other boy's name, Ruka. She was going to say no since allowing Ruka at the table would break her seating chart- although, in the end, she couldn't say no as Willow gave her puppy eyes... which was Willow's second most powerful weapon, second to her friendship bracelets. "I suppose.. It would be alright" she drawled out although she looked at the unknown person there, "although he can't say here."

It was brought to her attention that perhaps they were at the right place as Ruka tapped his name tag and it showed his name there, his point was proven when the other person there showed his name tag reading, Flash Holmwood. She nodded her head and apologized, "Sorry, You're right there are a lot of people here... I probably got everything mixed up." She looked at flash- "Terribly sorry to you too, it's nice to meet you Flash".

Mildred has never met this Flash kid before- she's sure she has seen him around though, it soon became clear that willow knew him, however. She listened as Willow spew out words claiming he had a poisonous personality and how Ruka spread False kindness. What... Mildred was so lost, she's never seen Willow this upset before- just what did Flash do to her?

Mildred was struggling to understand what was happening- she looked back and forth at Willow and Flash and he didn't seem like the type of person to really harm someone, although you could never judge a book by its cover. Mildred struggled what to say- she didn't want anything to happen, "I think we should really just calm down..." although in the end- she was unheard.

Willow stood up and excused herself and told Mildred to not worry but she worried for her- she tried to grab willow but she missed and willow was too quick for her. She turned back towards Flash and Ruka about to give them an earful- just what in the heck did they do? however- they soon left without a word after Willow. Nearby she saw another person watching the table- she wasn't sure if they heard the whole conversation or not, judging by the fact he eventually looked away- he did hear everything.

Do I notice Flash?
t!dice 1d20+8
[d20 : 19] + 8 In the end, the result was: 27 (yes)

Watching them both leave for willow- she started walking towards where they all had gone but in the end, she didn't want to crowd her, and well she was the host, she couldn't leave plus she didn't even know what the heck was going on! She walked back towards the now empty table and took a seat and placed her head on the table,

Why
she whacked her head gently on the table-
Did
she did it again
I
Whack
Even
Whack
Plan
Whack
This.

She looked up towards Opeila and saw a few students near her, Gris was still at a table with a few others- eventually, everyone was doing their own thing, and she had been left alone. again. She sighed and realized that she'd never throw a party again- she walked towards the person who had listened to the conversation and since he knew what was going on, "Hey sorry to bother you- Alan, Jack whatever your name is- I'm just picking some names that are left. I'm giving you the host role now- make the party a success thanks." She gave a soft pat on his shoulder as an apology. She even didn't know who he was- flash had just left with ruka and willow, Sean was over there thus left Alan or Jack- she wasn't sure who it was.

She looked at Opeila and harbored guilt towards her- in the end, she forgotten that it was supposed to be about her and nothing else. "Sorry Opeila, Ill make it up to you one again" she softy smiled at her, she was sorry about everything- the room, the messy state it was in and everyone else here. The room could have been made better, the guest list could have been done better, everything could have been.

She was done with the whole party, she walked towards where the cake was and took it. Opeila wouldn't mind would she? she carried it and walked towards the snacks table and sat under the table- she would sulk down here for a while, now that the party had a better and capable host unlike her. Should she have chased Willow? she wasn't sure. she stared at the mess of a cake she brought for Opeila and tears threatened to fall. She laughed at herself, it was such a stupid cake just like everything else. Stupid Flash and Ruka for ruining everything and stupid her for wanting to do something nice for someone else. In the end, she was the fool.

Interacting with @ Griseldis Edelhardt | @ Opeila Seilun

Mentioning: @ Mildred Wilson

Alan was diligently working on his sign for Opeila mostly ignoring everyone around him, the young lad was quite capable of working with most distractions leaving the Ravenclaw boy in his own world. Alan, with an intense look across his face, was the way too engrossed to pay attention as the poster was almost finished adding bits of glitter and drawings of animals here and there. Stopping to admire his work, the young lad heard a familiar voice, someone, he recognised immediately causing Alan to smile warmly. Wanting to act surprised for his best friend Alan made an excuse to add a few more finishing touches only to feel a gentle pat on his back.

Turning his head, Alan matched the grin Griseldis was displaying not really minding the fact she was wearing her robes, in fact, the Ravenclaw boy was quite amused as he stood up from his seat and waved carefully "Gris! it's ok so long as you're here it's all that matters and thanks I don't know her too well but have to make something it's a birthday after all." The poster is seen to be on full display on the table for all to see. On the sign was a drawing of a cake and a cartoon drawing of Opeila blowing out the candles on the top said "Happy Birthday Opela Opeila" with a glittery border as he told to Gris gesturing to it "You really think she'll like it...I was drawing her based on memory; it might not look good."

Before Alan could get a response from his friend the birthday girl had arrived, turning around and holding the poster up the young lad chanted "Happy Birthday Opeila! I hope you like the presents!" The Ravenclaw was genuinely excited to see her despite not knowing the girl too well but wanted her to feel welcomed even more as he whispered to Griseldis "I-I don't know what's come over me...are birthdays normally like this or am I being weird?". He offered a nervous smile towards Gris. Only to see Mildred approaching her friend seemingly quite distressed as Alan watched her climb under the table as the young lad suggested: "Should we go check on her Gris?"

Sorry for late reply folks and if it looks bad I had to catch up so much xD

Flash’s eyes gravely tracked Burnett and Ruka’s movements-- they got up to follow Willow. The predicament annoyed him, it was another impossible situation. If he ran out to try and stop them, what kind of impression would that leave on Opeila, the one who so feared being left behind. He hardly thought the two of them would hurt her intentionally, but he feared what he didn’t know. He hated not having control.

His train of thought was however interrupted by a thunk… thunk… thunk, thunk, thwack… The origin of the noise was the hostess herself, having approached the table of troublemakers and watched them leave, she was no doubt upset with how her party was progressing. No doubt, because she was slamming her head against the table. Not very subtle about her emotions, though that wasn’t too unusual for children their age. Then, before Flash could decide how to handle this new development, she approached him.

And… handed over the responsibility of the party to him. Not that he felt like objecting, he had already assumed that position without being asked. Still, he was a little surprised that she apparently had no idea who he was. ...picking some names that are left… that had an implication she likely didn’t realize. Jack-- so he had switched his name card with Flash’s. It was almost funny, if it hadn’t been in such poor taste. It was no wonder Willow started talking to Burnett the way she had, the words she said were indeed intended for Flash after all.

Before Flash could even say one word in response, Mildred grabbed the entire cake and hid under the snack table. He could hardly believe it, it reminded him of his petulant little brother, doing as he pleased with no regard for how it came off. The reckless abandon of a child whose world revolves around themselves. At the same time, it was somehow adorable. Something about the way she unabashedly sulked when things went wrong made him want to console her, but her flamboyant actions already drew the attention of two of the other students. He recognized the boy as one of the Ravenclaw players in the Quidditch game from earlier in the day, and the prefect of course.

He hoped the two of them knew Mildred a bit better than he did, her first impression left Flash feeling concerned. Something about raw displays of emotion got him immediately interested in people. Before, it was likely because he knew they were easily manipulated targets. Now, he was just worried about how fragile the human psyche really was. However, being officially proclaimed the new host, he had a few things he needed to do.

”Opeila don’t worry about Mildred, have a seat and I’ll take care of everything.” It was a broad statement, but Opeila knew him well enough by now to trust that he would get everything under control. He looked at the others gathered around her and put on his best friendly smile. ”Thank you for coming, everyone. We’re celebrating an auspicious day, the lovely Miss Opeila is turning 12-years-old. If you’ll all take your seats, we can start by opening the presents. I’ll prepare some slices of cake as well, if I can pry it away from our grumpy little hostess.”

Flash made light of her outburst, not even mentioning the three who had straight-up walked out. It wasn’t important, what mattered was creating a celebratory atmosphere. Change the narrative that the loose threads were creating. Accept the burden of everyone’s misgivings and assure them that they were free to let them go. He motioned to the tables to encourage everyone to follow his lead. He would have liked to also switch around the table seating arrangement, but there simply wasn’t time to. It was better to move along before anyone started getting anxious.

He specifically singled out the boy who last approached, he was clearly not sure what he should be doing and was giving out a lot of nervous energy. He needed to be given a task, that way he could feel like he was contributing meaningfully and being of use to Opeila. He was tall for his age, but not quite as tall as Flash was, so Flash laxed his posture to appear more on his level.

”Would you do me a huge favor and bring the presents to Opeila for her to open? Thank you.” Flash smiled sweetly. It was an easy task, he didn’t expect him to refuse. He put a hand gently on Opeila’s shoulder. ”Now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll return shortly.”

With that, Flash went to join Alan and Gris at the snack table in hopes of bringing young Mildred to her senses.

Interacting with @Opeila Seilun @Sean Hearth
Mentioning @Ruka Tân @Jack Burnett @Willow Anderson @Mildred Wilson @Alan Noble @Griseldis Edelhardt

To say that she was surprised that things were starting to go sour would be a lie. It was not often at Hogwarts when an event did not go foul in some manner. After having greeted Opeila, she took up her typical position at groups events: in a corner where she could observe the attendees.

It was not long before drama started happening between a few students that the girl recognized, but had never really spent any meaningful time conversing with. Willow had already left, crying. She was tempted to follow the girl to comfort her, but decided against it when she saw the Gryffindor boy tag after her. Best not to get involved in drama.

Shortly after people had left, the host herself began to have a moment in lapse of better judgement, smacking her head on the table like a child who craved punishment. She then briefly spoke to Flash, a fellow Slytherin, and took the cake to hide under the table.

Taking lead, Flash attempted to turn the party around, asking the quiet Hufflepuff boy to bring the gifts over to Opeila, before excusing himself to *hopefully* attempt to speak some sense into Mildred. Tyranni understood anger and the feeling of failure, but she was not one to show her emotions so readily. It made one an easy target for those who liked to manipulate others.

Deciding that it was time to do something, she went over to the gift table and started grabbing gifts as Flash wanted. If the Hufflepuff boy heard Flash and decided to help, that was his own decision. Grabbing a handful of gifts, she walked them over to the table where Opeila was closest.

"Hey. Here are some of your gifts if you want to start opening them. It does no good to wait for everyone to pay attention, since they all seem to preoccupied with their own self interests and emotions." She addressed Opeila with what she hoped was a bit of compassion and empathy for this party going haywire, also attempting to stress that the others were not important. "Don't let them ruin your birthday."

Mentioning @Flash Holmwood | @Opeila Seilun | @Willow Anderson | @Ruka Tân | @Mildred Wilson | @Sean Hearth

Opeila had just gotten over her surprise, when Willow stormed out of the room, seemingly upset, followed by Ruka and Jack.
She was almost surprised about herself, when she felt an angry heat spreading through her body. She had no doubt who had upset the Hufflepuff, who she didn't quite know yet, but who she also didn't want to see upset. That Burnett chose this day, this location to upset people she took very personal. How dare he. He got invited to her birthday and used the opportunity to show her that he gave a damn about her valuing birthdays? Her own like she would value his, Ruka's, or everyone else's in this room? She clenched her hands to tight fists for a second, before she exhaled. This was her day and she was not going to let Jack Burnett ruin it. She would put on a happy face, and if only for the other guests.

Then Sean gratulated her and asked her if she minded him being there. Opeila smiled at the Hufflepuff. "Not at all, Sean, actually I am happy that you're here! Thank you!"

Mildred seemed to lose her head as well. She walked over, asked Flash- who she called Jack- to take the role of the host and make the party a success, before she ran off to hide.
Opeila seemed to lose track of what was going on. Someone- Gris' friend, she couldn't remember his name gratulated her and she sent a quick thankful smile in his direction.
In the next moment Flash was there, told her not to worry and sit down instead and then came up with a very spontanous but well made Birthday Speech. She was glad that Flash was there. He somehow gave her the feeling not to be lost in this chaos that her birthday turned into by the minute she had entered the room.
He then went to look for Mildred, probably to talk some sense into her. Once more Opeila had to calm herself down. Jack was responsible for this.

She was almost as thankful for Tyranni's presence. The calm girl seemed to know what Opeila felt about this situation in the second she felt it. She carried some of the gifts over to Opeila and put them on the table. Actually Opeila was happier with not everyone watching. She would have felt weird opening her gifts with everyone just watching her.
Tyranni was right. She shouldn't let them ruin her birthday. But it was quite hard. "Thank you.", she said to her. "Do you know what happened with Willow? What has Burnett done?"

Interacting with @Sean Hearth @Tyranni Whitethorn
Mentioning @Willow Anderson @Jack Burnett @Ruka Tân @Mildred Wilson @Flash Holmwood @Alan Noble @Griseldis Edelhardt

Interacting: @Flash Holmwood,@Opeila Seilun and@Mildred Wilson
Mentioning: @Tyranni Whitethorn

Sean nodded at Opeila's response and smiled at her, she had always been nice to him for some reason even when he acted strange. He was about to go back into his own corner but one of the guests came up to Opeila offering her to sit down, it was a rather tall boy, a bit taller than Sean and Sean wasn't a small person to start with, the boy had brown hair and blue eyes. He seemed confident when he spoke as if he was used of taking charge in these situations. The boy then turned to Sean and asked him if he could bring some of the presents over, naturally Sean with his unemotional looking face and in probably the coldest way he could have, responded "No problem".

Sean obviously didn't mean to speak that way but it was done and so he made his way towards where the presents were kept. He noticed that he wasn't the only one to bring a few presents back to Opeila, it was the girl who had arrived right after him. Once he got to the presents, he picked up the rest of them and brought them to the table Opeila was sitting at. He smiled at her before making his way to where he was before but noticed that Mildred, the girl who had planned the party was now under the food table seeming rather upset. Sean was probably the least qualified to help someone with their emotions but he couldn't just walk by her and so he made his way over and bent down to look at her. "Hey, are you ok ?" He wondered what had upset her like this, was it the people he saw leaving the room ? There was definitely a lot of drama among the guests that Sean was not aware of. He finally just sat down beside her trying not to hit his head of the table, "It's actually quite cozy under here huh" this was his attempt of humor. He could only imagine the pressure it must be to organize something like this for someone else, he knew that he couldn't have done anything like this.

Interacting with @Opeila Seilun, @Tyranni Whitethorn
Mentioning everyone else

Well, this was…not at all what she had been expecting. Of course, it wasn't as though Evelynn had some great repertoire of experience for birthday parties to which she had attended, but the few that her mother had hosted on her own behalf when she was younger had involved a great deal more smiling and cheering, with games and music and fun. This…seemed almost like one of those adult cocktail parties gone sour. There was obviously the effort made with what streamers had been lofted and the gift table and cake, but it had somewhat fallen flat. And that wasn't even mentioning the apparent emotional turmoil.

From her vantage point at her table, Evelynn had a front row seat of the drama going on. With Seilun occupied with Edelhardt and a couple of others, it had been the trio near the cake that had drawn the red head's attention. Somehow, it came as no surprised that Burnett would somehow be involved. Granted, Evelynn didn't mind him, but she was fully aware of just how he had a tendency to push buttons that ought not be pushed.

Still, she had obviously missed most of the prelude as no sooner had she started paying attention than the girl, appearing very much distressed, took her leave from the room, pursued shortly-thereafter by Burnett. And Tan, by the looks of it. Evelynn cocked a brow as the latter-most pocketed his hands and glanced — in what she could only assume had been a furtive attempt — around the room. When the room consisted of barely a dozen kids, the sudden retreat of a quarter of them was easily noticed.

Gray eyes flickered to the party's coordinator as she, too, followed after them. Although, by the looks of it, she'd had a change of heart. Evelynn watched, unmoving but for the eyes trailing after her, as she returned to an empty table, and promptly—

"What are you doing?!" Evelynn called out in mild alarm, brows raised over slightly widened eyes as she watched Mildred hit her head repeatedly against the surface of the table.

The bottoms of her chair legs scraped against the stone floor as Evelynn immediately pushed back and rose. She was barely halfway to her when the girl stood abruptly and walked over to one of the boys with whom Evelynn was unfamiliar (which, really, was just about everyone there), and asked him to take over before dipping off, stealing the cake, and skirting underneath the table upon which it had been set moments before.

For a good several seconds, Evelynn just stood there, bewildered, not quite certain what to make of the whole scene. It was like being in the center of a poorly done drama. One with several writers each insisting on their own story-line and no director to keep any semblance of coherency to the overarching story. Should she check on the girl after which Burnett and Tan had run? What about this girl sulking under the table? Perhaps pay her respects to the birthday girl? Or even introduce herself to literally anyone here? Evelynn even had half a mind to give up altogether and return to Gryffindor tower to work on that which contained some semblance of logic to it: her homework. That would hardly do well for her image, however, something she had desired to maintain ever since the disastrous events at the Valentine's Party.

Thankfully, an answer to her uncertainty was quickly presented in the form of an announcement by the very boy to which emcee duties had been handed. With one last flick of her gaze towards the hidden girl, and then the door, Evelynn shifted the whole of her attention to Flash, and was quickly relieved to hear that he seemed well-equipped to manage the chaos.

"Many years to you, Seilun. Happy Birthday," Evelynn (finally) greeted with a warm — albeit reserved — smile. She had taken a leaf from Tyranni's book and chosen to ignore the surrounding mess in order to pay attention to the one individual for whom it had all been arranged in the first place. "I hope you don't mind my being here," she continued, briefly breaking eye contact and lifting a hand to tuck a loose strand behind an ear.

"I was.." She hesitated, having initially intended to say that she was surprised to have been invited. But perhaps it would be rude to focus on that? Instead, she shifted the statement in a different direction. "I wasn't really sure what to get you for a gift…" She glanced to the one she had brought, recently placed on the table by Sean. "I hope you like it."