Finished A Surprise, Skates, and Super Soakers! PV Invitees Unoff. Mod

Animal Dances @Simon Kincaid

11 February, 2024

As she made her exit from the party to meet up with Simon along the path, she noticed with a great deal of satisfaction that Charlie Jacobsen had arrived while she had her attention elsewhere. She caught the smile Charlie sent her way, but AngelFyre was in no way fooled by it. She knew Charlie still harbored ill will towards her for the cranberry juice incident last year at the Unity Gathering, but AngelFyre had done her best to make amends. It became quite obvious after an apology and offers to replace or Scourgify her slacks that the cranberry juice was not the reason... or the main one anyway... for Charlie's prickly attitude towards her. That left only two things AngelFyre could think of, and neither had caused her to lose a moment's sleep... when she did sleep, that is. The first, and most likely explanation, was that Charlie had had a crush on Simon at the time. Maybe she still did for all AngelFyre knew. The second explanation was that Charlie simply disliked her. Everyone has met someone that they just do not like for whatever reason. Maybe AngelFyre was that person for Charlie. And that was okay. She clearly liked Simon enough to stomach AngelFyre's presence and Simon was the important thing here today.

She quickly smiled back at Charlie and headed up the path that led to the castle. She diverted from the path only momentarily when she caught sight of a buck with his harem in a small clearing. She watched them for about a minute, turning her head every now and again to keep and eye out for Simon. She was happy to see Alejandro pass by and almost called out to him but did not want to scare away the deer. She had met him just yesterday at their unofficial Quidditch match and was eager to get to know him better.

When she turned back to watch the deer again, she laughed when a hare darted out of a log about 10 feet away from her when a branch laden with snow and ice broke and plummeted down onto the log. Its sudden, rapid movement into the clearing startled the harem which then turned and gracefully bounded back into the forest behind them. And just like that they were gone.

AngelFyre stood fully erect then and made her own way back to the path, looking as far ahead as she could for her handsome Hufflepuff. When she got back to the path, it struck her almost immediately that the pathway was covered in all kinds of footprints. That would surely be a dead giveawy to him that they would not be alone. Dang it!

She was trying to calmly breathe out her frustration over her failed plan and the inconvenience, in this moment anyway, of having a brilliant boyfriend, when one of her own silly plans came to light. And she had the hare to thank for it. She quickly began to do a specific series of directional hops. She only had to worry about this particular section of the pathway because it was under the trees and the snow had not melted here yet. The rest of the path got enough sunlight that the snow had disappeared by mid morning most likely.

So, as Simon would come upon her, waiting for him in the path, he would find his girlfriend hopping. He had seen her do a number of silly, crazy things, but honestly, this was a new one. He rather snuck up on her because she did get a little engrossed in her plan and stopped looking up as often as she apparently needed to. She stopped what she was doing and just beamed at him as he beamed a smile at her while leaning against a tree trunk.

"Hiya, Handsome! How long have you been standing there?" and she blew him an air kiss. "Bet you are wondering what I am doing, yeah? Well, as you know, last year was the Chinese year of the rabbit, but I conveniently ignored that because the year of the dragon suited my purposes better. This year is actually the year of the dragon, but because I feel like I gave short shrift to the rabbit of yesteryear, I hoped to make up for that a bit this year. That is why your invitation^[1] came to you in the form of a rabbit. But because the two have co-mingled, I have taken it upon myself to christen this the year of the Drabbit!"

She smiled widely and looked at him but was not fazed in the least by his nearly perfected poker face staring back at her. He was definitely great at it, but she knew deep down he was curious as all get out to know what nonsense she was up to. Still, she did think she noticed just the slightest bit of a smile attempt to lift the right side of his lips, but she would concede she could have imagined it.

Plowing on with her explanation, she swept her hand down and in front of her, while hoping to draw his attention to the pathway between them. "I, my love, have been doing the bunny hop, but it is not the bunny hop that may... or likely may not... make an appearance at Aunt Maggie's wedding. Nope, this is some delightful, fanciful footwork I saw on YouTube not long ago over Christmas break," and she giggled a little as she raised her hand out for him to join her.

When he got over to her, she smiled brightly at him and tippy-toed up a bit to kiss him. The boy had had a growth spurt recently, but she was not that far behind him. "Hi, you. Tell the truth now, Mav. You are ahead now, but what if I were to end up being the Nicole Kidman to your Tom Cruise? Would my Top Gun's ego be able to handle it?" and before he could lodge his disavowal at nurturing such an ego, she pressed herself fully into his arms and gave him a long, lingering kiss, smothering any protestation on the spot.

"Okay, now that we have the important business out of the way, here is how I was doing the bunny hop. I expect it will be the next Macarena," and she looked at him most earnestly before bursting into a fit of giggles. "It is kind of fitting in a way. I mean, we spent last evening dancing a dance named after a fox, not that anyone has ever seen a fox actually trot, but I digress. Given that, I did not think a bunny hop would be altogether out of the question. Again, may I remind you of the drabbit connection?" She slow blinked at him, gauging his willingness to try her nonsense.

"Should you need even more incentive, I could probably see my way clear to being your own personal snow bunny for the day... or year.. or lifetime," and she raised an eyebrow at him. "I seem to be in a mood to grant wishes for my strapping young lad today. Take advantage while you can." That offer went out to him with a side of double eyebrows being raised.

Was she blathering on? Absolutely. But she was doing so purposefully. It was all a means of stalling and trying to distract him from the notion that there might be people ahead, who were hopefully laying in wait to wish him a "Surprise!" before wishing him a Happy Birthday.

She had no idea how the surprise, or the whole party for that matter, would play out, but that added to the excitement and anticipation she was feeling. If all else failed, she knew he would love the real surprise. Now she just needed to get him there.

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^[1] - Mo Chridhe in the invitation is Scottish Gaelic for "my heart"

@Alejandro Garcia @Charlie Jacobsen

Axyen was typically pretty nervous in these types of social settings, especially when there were what Axyen considered a 'ton' of people involved. Axyen decided to just take in a deep breath and remind himself that he has been practicing all summer for an event like this. He couldn't let his practice go to waste, he could already hear Jacob rambling on and on about making a good first impression on people, at the time Axyen didn't think too much of it, but now he could do nothing but think about it, and it made him more nervous. 'Just speak calmly and do not stutter.' Axyen told himself, of course not out loud. That would probably look stupidly comical and of course, Axyen wasn't planning on embarrassing himself here... he was probably overthinking this entire thing, but it felt like he just couldn't help it. He felt oddly like a deer in headlights, just kind of still and making perfect eye contact with the ground. For now Axyen would simply just hear what AngelFyre had to say to him since he did go talk to her and ask if she was the one that was hosting the party. AngelFyre greeted Axyen, Axyen made careful note to from now on refer to AngelFyre as AF. "A-F, got it." Axyen said making sure to make a mental note and repeat it ten times over as if to not forget. It probably wouldn't work, but if Axyen kept his calm and kept his head clear he might just be able to remember it. Axyen wondered how Jacob would react to Axyen in this setting? Would he be proud of Axyen? Maybe he would just keep would just keep his typical attitude and there really wouldn't be any kind of reaction, well, Axyen was improving and that's all that mattered to him when it came down to socializing. AngelFyre went on to explain more that she has seen Axyen in the Hufflepuff Common Room, which there really wasn't a big surprise there. Axyen spent lots of his time in that room in-between classes and spent most of his days at Hogwarts there. Axyen showed the most reaction when AngelFyre explained that Simon mentioned Axyen before, which of course caused Axyen to begin thinking, his face changed from kind of blank to thoughtful. What was really that interesting to say? Aside from the whole family problem there was probably not much else to speak about, well not that Axyen could really think of or remember.

AngelFyre mentioned Axyen's gift, which helped him snap out of his thoughts. He was actually pretty excited to give this gift to Simon. AngelFyre asked if Axyen wanted to place his gift with all of the other gifts, which Axyen silently nodded went over to said gift area, placed his gift and then returned back to AngelFyre. AngelFyre went on to mention drinks and food that Axyen could eat or drink, which Axyen was thankful for considering he was hungry and he was sure he was eventually going to get thirsty at some point during the party. "Thank you." Axyen said, his tone was pretty calm and quiet. Axyen slightly smiled, and despite being nervous, he had a good feeling that everything would be great if he didn't try to overthink something.

AngelFyre walked over to two students, which AngelFyre soon explained that she wanted to introduce Axyen to some people which caught him off guard a bit, but he soon silently followed. Axyen could've sworn he saw Lily somewhere... Axyen wondered if they had met before and he simply just forgot? Axyen mentally scolded himself, trying to remember and tried to remember as fast he could. 'Gobstones, why is that what I am thinking of? What does Gobstones have to do with this party? I need to focus back on introducing myself, Jacob did say first impressions are important... but these thoughts about Gobstones keep popping up back in my head... wait, she's that girl I had a Gobstones match with! Now I remember!' Axyen thought to himself. AngelFyre helped snap Axyen out of his zoned out state. Axyen directed his attention towards Emiline(at least that was her name according to AngelFyre). AngelFyre mentioned something about the possibility of Emiline and Axyen knowing each other. Axyen silently thought for a moment, flipping through multiple memories, but he can't recall ever seeing Emiline. He did spend most of his time in class or reading a book most of the time anyways. After trying to remember, he decided he spent enough time trying to remember. "...I don't believe so...?" Axyen said, he sounded uncertain as he said this. 'If I do know her, I can apologize for my terrible memory.' Axyen told himself(not out loud, of course.) "...Well, uh, it's nice to meet you!" Axyen said, extending his hand out for a handshake (He'll put his hand down in a couple of seconds if Emiline doesn't accept the handshake.) A few moments later, Axyen redirected his attention towards Lily as AngelFyre began to reintroduce him to her. "Hello again Lily!" Axyen greeted, besides a Gobstones match, he also remembered that they once met in the Forbidden Forest. Axyen was gathering twigs and sturdy sticks at that time, but that was in the past now. Axyen didn't want to zone out again just because of another memory, he really needed to learn how to live in the moment.

AngelFyre mentioned the food, probably to make sure that the other two girls were aware of it. Axyen did make note of what AngelFyre said about this place being a judgement free party, which of course made Axyen feel slightly better. "Thank you." Axyen said to AngelFyre before she walked off to greet more guests. Well, Axyen was happy to be here and he would be sure to make the most of this experience. He decided he wouldn't try and let shyness overwhelm this time, and even if it did, if Axyen tried to socialize and do literally anything other than just stand around doing nothing, than it would ultimately still be a win to him.

Mentioning...

@Lily Isobel McCoire
@Emiline Hunter

Party Time @Simon Kincaid

11 February, 2024

"A lemon drop? Really? she asked him incredulously. "I essentially offer you anything your heart might desire, and what it desires amounts to a... a... lemon drop?" she muttered theatrically in a trembling, pained tone of disbelief.

"Gee, either you are losing all interest in me OR," and she reached up to touch his forehead with the back of her hand "you are not feeling 100%." She stopped walking and turned to face him, moving her hand from his forehead and now down to his cheek, trying to gauge if her cold bodied dhampir had a fever. His cheeks both looked a little pink, but it was a little nippy, so that told her nothing really. Her cheeks probably looked pink. And what was considered a "fever" for a dhampir anyway? Then she looked at his eyes. They were mostly bright... not what she would call dulled, exactly... but they sure were not Simon bright. "Since we both know it is just inconceivable that you could possibly lose interest in the fabulousness that is me," she teased him, "I am left with no other option than to think you are feeling under the weather."

Trying to hide her exasperation at herself for not knowing more about what it looks like when a dhampir is sick, she tried to remain chipper for her boy.

"Are you feeling up to this, love? I know we have been running ragged the last few days in particular. If you need some down time, I swear it will not hurt my feelings if you want to sit this one out. I just do not want you to get sick." And as she was telling him all of this, she was reaching in her coat pocket and brought out a lemon drop which she unwrapped and put on her tongue.

Smiling slyly at him and remembering back to his detention in September when she first delivered a lemon drop to him this way, she moved once again into his arms and kissed him, long, but tenderly. Upon pulling back from the kiss, she circled her own lips slowly with her tongue, tasting both him and the lemon drop's residual tartness. "I would make such a great nurse. If you are sick, we should definitely be doing more of that because it has got to be the best method of transferring all of your cooties right on out of there, donchathink?" and she gently tapped his bottom lip with her index finger while grinning shamelessly up at him.

He just looked back at her, smiling his devastatingly blinding smile before hollowng his cheeks as he sucked hard on the lemon drop. "Ha! AngelFyre, love, I don't think I've ever known you to be so wrong. Except for the kissing part. Failproof plan right there," he enthused and grasped her hand, tugging her onward towards the lake and the group of friends ready to celebrate his birthday.

As they approached their spot, he began to notice the snow hearts hanging in the trees and thankfully started looking up instead of ahead. "These are amaz-...." but he was cut off when a group of voices instead shouted out to him.

S U R P R I S E ! ! !

Happy Birthday Simon!!!

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Reducio

@Clair Fernandez @Colin McCoire @Bailey Glade @Kim Sato @Linda Ramirez @Alejandro Garcia @Emiline Hunter @Axyen Dragonclaw @Emma Wynn @Lily Isobel McCoire

As Axyen was waiting for a response from both Lily and Emiline, it was only natural for him to try and think of all the possibilities of what they would say. He did this to try and think of replies quicker to not only prevent awkward delays in replying, but also to try and prevent stuttering. He learned from experience that knowing what he is going to say beforehand helps a lot to not stammer. 'Alright, this doesn't have to be difficult, just don't overthink it. . .' Axyen thought to himself, but he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and he still felt as if he was overthinking this somehow. Despite all of this, Axyen still had that belief that this actually wouldn't be a bad conversation. He was finally feeling a lot more confident than before, not really confident, but definitely not completely nervous and being in a state of constant worry(about his social skills). Axyen also had to consider other things, like when Simon would come to the party and whatnot.

Speaking of which. . . Axyen suddenly heard a bunch of shouting and telling Simon 'Happy birthday!' or 'Surprise', Axyen being a follower and not so much a leader parroted what he heard. "U-uh, oh-!" Axyen was caught off guard, but managed to catch on and repeat whatever he could hear, but with so many voices he decided to simply , of course his voice would most-likely be unheard, but still. . . "S-surprise and happy birthday Simon!" Axyen said, his tone was a little louder than usual, but it was almost natural that Axyen didn't raise his voice too loud, he didn't want to be obnoxiously loud but at the same time too quiet. He didn't want to bring the attention onto himself somehow, but at the same time he still wanted to wish Simon a happy birthday. Axyen also decided to smile, since smiling always helped give a mood boost to everybody around... or at least that's what Axyen loves to think.

If there was one thing he was determined to do, it was to do his best to ensure that this was one of the best parties that Simon experiences. Of course, he didn't know what Simon's previous birthdays were like, but it was always good to try. That's what Axyen believes. Well the important task right now was socializing with both Emiline and Lily (OOC: I don't want to double mention them especially right after I posted 2 days ago) and of course the main reason he came to this party: celebrating Simon's birthday.

"AAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Colin burst through the gateway that led from the courtyard and down towards the lake. His feet pelted along the well trodden pathway, kilts swirling and long hair bouncing gaily in the chill air. It felt exhilarating to run in the cold, and Colin felt super energised! "Yip! Yip! Ayoooo McCoires!!" Colin called out to a bunch of kids playing by the pathway. He smiled. Ci and Lorc were engaged in a snow ball fight with Liam and a few of the cousins. But Colin wasn't headed towards that particular chaos. As he picked up speed, his feet headed down towards the lakeside!

He reckoned he was a bit late, seeing as how there were already quite a few kids there! Colin heard the shouts of 'surprise!' and 'happy birthday!' from just ahead. Whew! He wasn't too late! As he came around the last bend, he could see some Hufflepuffs already there. Lily was there too! And --- Kim? Colin didn't even know the two boys knew each other.

Oh wait!

Colin smiled. Bailey was there too! That Ravenclaw knew everyone!

"Happy Birthday Simon!" Colin sang out as he skidded to a stop next to Fyre Angel. He tossed a packet of lemon drops towards the older boy. "Sweeter than almost any kiss, eh lad? Speaking of, is Clair here? She's been really busy lately. I hope she shows up!" Colin said admiring the decorations all about the place. Hearts of course! Colin sighed. Love was such a wonderful place to be in!

@Clair Fernandez| @AngelFyre McCubbin | @@Simon Kincaid