Zania and Caius
It was probably all thanks to Shayna Mae O’Reilly and her herbal concoction, but Caius was feeling good now. The mulled wine had been tasty and had settled warmly in his stomach, and with the added kick of magical whatever-it-was -- it kind of smelled like marijuana, but not at the same time, Caius didn’t know what-all was in it and didn’t much care now -- that warmth had diffused all the way through him. He’d found himself feeling much better about being in a house full of people he barely knew, and much better about Reagan, which was the heaviest weight he’d been carrying. He’d slipped some of the herb mixture to his wife too, and hopefully she was feeling lighter as well, and just ... connected to everyone. She needed that more than ever.
Caius took a small break from the mingling to go to the food table, with its massive gingerbread centerpiece. He browsed with a faint smile on his face, because everything looked good. A little too good in the visual sense -- it was all very pretty too, and Caius got caught up just gazing at it for a while, slightly zoned out.
It might've been a weird mix of people, but Zania was feeling really good about how well everyone was getting along. She'd never attempted to put all of her friends in the same room before and knew it would either be a blast or a complete bomb. So far it seemed like a win, though there were a few people she was unsure about. Or really, one couple in specific.
Zania wasn't sure that inviting Reagan and Caius was a good idea, but she'd done it anyways, mostly on impulse. She'd gotten along with Reagan better than she expected, found she kind of enjoyed her company, but Caius... It was like all those years of resenting Reagan had transferred over to him. For the first time in her life, she'd thought that maybe Reagan wasn't the problem. But Reagan and Caius came as a couple, so inviting one meant inviting both. She'd half hoped they wouldn't show, even if that would have been a burn as well.
But they were there. A little somber looking, but she didn't really expect them to show up with bells on. With so many other people there to socialize with, Zania found that she didn't mind them so much and didn't really have to go out of her way to avoid them. But the house was still smaller than an Overlook mansion or a country club ballroom and it wasn't long before she found herself standing next to Caius. Zania picked up a cookie and took a bite, studying him for a minute before speaking. "It's actually edible, but I wouldn't recommend it. Gingerbread strong enough to build with might break your teeth."
Caius should’ve felt startled, as he had no idea there was anybody near him, but he wasn’t, not really. Maybe just mildly surprised that it was Zania, voluntarily speaking to him. Besides the greeting ‘here’s some booze’ and ‘glad you made it’ type stuff at the door, they hadn’t communicated at all tonight. Caius had been lowkey hoping it would stay that way until they’d stayed long enough to be polite and could leave, but now he didn’t feel great about that. He currently felt great about a lot of things, but not that.
Caius looked over at the redheaded fire witch, and he realized he could keenly feel the heat from her magic, more than ever before. It was what was missing from Reagan, only more Zania-flavored in that way all resonance was unique to the witch. It did make him want to get closer to her, curl up in that aura of warmth, let it dissipate those chilled feelings between them, but that wouldn’t make anybody happy, would it? He caught onto her words a few seconds late, and huffed a small laugh. “I wasn’t tempted, it’s too beautiful to destroy,” he said, sounding a little dreamy. Caius picked up a cookie from the same plate Zania had and broke off a small piece to put in his mouth. “Everything’s beautiful,” he murmured around it.