Caius and Shayna Mae
Parties were something that Shayna Mae was not entirely used to. She had never been invited to many, save for the few sleepovers here and there when she was a young girl, but very few people wanted the weird girl at their parties, especially in high school when image was everything. She didn’t mind being excluded. She had other things to do, and other people to see. But she had always liked the Castells, or at least Zania and Nic, as they seemed to be more aligned to “her people” than the other magical families in town. Some of which were here tonight too, which sort of surprised her.
Shayna Mae had had conversations with Anthony D’Onofrio in the past, when he came around the house needing something from her garden. She remembered Caius from school, though he was older than she was. They had zero in common, but that didn’t mean she didn’t find him intriguing, especially given who his father was. And what he was. So Shayna Mae wasn’t exactly feeling shy when she found him in the kitchen after she stepped inside to refill her cup. He didn’t look very festive at all. Not like Nic and Zania did. Shayna Mae herself wore jeans and a dark green sweater. She didn’t really have a lot of holiday clothes, but she did have earrings that looked like mistletoe, so she supposed that counted.
Shayna Mae walked over to the counter and gave him a smile. “Hi. Having a good time?”
The party was going smoothly so far, at least. It was an interesting group of people, not all of whom Caius recognized, which was unusual in this town. He’d managed to avoid saying more than hello to Zania so far, busy as she was with guests, which felt like a good thing at the moment. Caius silently hated the theme and all the gaudy glamor that the Castells had put up to go along with it. He knew he stuck out like a sore thumb in his dark clothing, but he didn’t care. Dr. Suess was fine in children’s books and movies, but making the whole house -- already decorated with questionable taste -- look like it was like being in a schizophrenic’s nightmare to Caius. It was all over the top and had already given him a headache that he was trying to quell with mulled wine.
He was lingering near the additional alcohol, adding a bit of the amaretto he’d brought to the wine, when someone spoke to him. Caius looked around with a raised eyebrow. Ah yes, Shayna Mae O’Reilly. He was mildly surprised that she and some of her clan were there, he didn’t think they came out of their forest hole for much of anything. “Hello,” he said, turning back to add another dollop of sweet liquor into his glass. Caius recapped the bottle and leaned one hip against the candy-cane-striped countertop. “It’s certainly a ... festive time. How about yourself?” Not that he cared, but parties were made for small talk.