Max and Shayna Mae
It didn't take long to find Shayna Mae at the party since the house wasn't huge and Knox stood out like a light post and could usually be found close to her. Of course Max had to get 'through him' first and there was much hugging and rejoicing before he weaved his way to his little sister, tapping her on the shoulder with a cheeky grin on his face. He thought maybe he should have tracked down Zania again - or Nic - to get them to do something about his slightly busted up face but oh well, too late now. He really just wanted to get settled in and meet everyone. When Shayna Mae turned around, he leaned back and spread his arms. "Hey!" he said jovially, drawing out the word, his grin only growing. "Broke out of the joint just in time for Christmas!"
As odd and diverse Zania's guest list seemed to be, Shayna Mae did not expect to see her brother at this part. Older brother, anyway. She stared at Max in surprise for several beats too long before a smile finally spread at her lips. "Oh my gosh. What are you doing here? Why didn't you call? How did you get here?" She moved in for a hug, careful to keep her drink out of the way in case of jostling. Had Max told them he would be released before Christmas and she just forgot? No, Shayna Mae wouldn't have forgotten that. It was a surprise, but a nice one, assuming he didn't mean broke out of the joint literally.
"Just got off the bus," Max told her with a little snicker and that look on her face made the trek to the party worth it. He hugged her back with one arm, careful with his own drink. "Dad told me where to find you guys so I just walked here." He pulled back and raised his glass. "Already got my hands on some hooch from Aidan. How are you? You look good." His little sister always looked good, she was definitely the prettiest O'Reilly as well as the most responsible one but that last bit wasn't exactly a lofty goal to reach.
It was so cold just to walk here, but she knew it wouldn't matter much to admonish him about it. Shayna Mae grinned, thinking she would have given Max some of her herbs for that hooch and really sent him skyrocketing, but she had given her entire jar to Caius, so he would just have to wait for another day. "I'm fine. Nothing exciting to tell you about. We've all just been kind of going about our business, and the things I should tell you about I'll tell you about later when I'm sober and we're not at a party. So why'd you get out early? I mean... you didn't really break out, right?"
Max laughed, shaking his head. "Thanks for the vote of confidence but I don't think even I could pull that off," he replied. He also wasn't stupid enough to do that, he would never be able to come home. "Nah there was some kerfuffle with the housing and they let a bunch of guys go. It was basically blah blah good behavior, Christmas spirit and less than six more months to serve so here I am." He looked around pointedly. "And I only know about half the people here, I was only gone for two years, what the hell?"
Blah blah good behavior. That sounded right and it prompted another grin from Shayna Mae. She followed his gaze and shrugged. "I don't know all of them myself. Uh, I mean, that one is Rost, right? He has that lady with the reddish hair... she'll read your palm if you go near her. And then the dark haired guy is with them too. Uh... he's somewhere? The tall scruffy one is Vex, and he's Zania and Nic's neighbor, with the tiny dark-haired girl over there." She motioned with her cup. "You already know Reagan Kelly and Caius D'Onofrio. There's definitely been a lot of new people in town. Who knows how long they'll last."