HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WEI (Open, Multi)

An hour before

"Arren."

No answer. The wizard kept pacing a hole into their floor.

"Arren!"

Still no answer. He was muttering to himself, tugging at a strand of hair distractedly.

"ARREN!"

The fairly tall figure jumped, turning to the vampire leaning against the doorway that led to the bedrooms. "What? No need to shout, Jace, I am right here."

Jace let out a grunt, narrowing his eyes at his distraught friend. "Oh, do shut up and calm down, won't you? I'm sure the brat'll love whatever you give him, so stop worrying and get your ass out to the ballroom."

"But... do you think I am dressed appropriately? I do not wish to make a bad impression, but I worry that I am over-dressing for this, but it is an important occasion. I do hope he likes my gift as well, but what if he doesn't? Oh, I knew I should ha--" His ramblings were cut off by Ace, who peeked his head around Jace's body.

The boy offered one of his best friends a bright grin, all teeth and innocence. "You're gonna be fine, Arren! I'm sure you'll have a great time. Oh, I wish I could go, it'd be so fun and--" Here, Ace was cut off by Jace.

"What the pipsqueak means to say, is that you should just have fun. Now go!" Before Arren could procrastinate further, the vampire all but dragged him to the front door of their suite, gave a small push, and immediately closed and locked the door afterwards.

Now

Arren waited anxiously as the party began with the entrance of the birthday boy himself. He had stayed back when a few people rushed towards Wei, watching as friends wished the boy a happy birthday and tugging at a strand of his hair--

Or what appeared to be hair down to his shoulders, a darker gray of near black an odd contrast to his normal white and silver. It was messily swept back by a white ribbon, however, the ponytail starting at the nape of his neck and the hair laying over his left shoulder. Even with this new hairstyle, his left eye was completely covered.

Along with his new hairstyle, he had taken a few inches off of his height and had altered his basic facial structure to appear younger and fit in with the crowd of students. He had changed his clothing style as well, wearing black dress shoes, form-fitting black jeans with a white dress shirt tucked in, the sleeves rolled up and the first few buttons undone.

The only thing that remained untouched by his glamour were his eyes, which were kept the same wine-red as they always were. They filled with warmth and another inexplicable emotion when they fell on Wei and how much fun he appeared to be having.

Yes, he'd not exactly been invited, per say, but he couldn't pass up at least making an appearance to wish Wei a happy birthday. He had seen the boy's birthday in the Infirmary's files-- really, Wei went to the Infirmary more than anyone else he knew-- and had tried thinking of what to get him. The little box he'd been carrying in his pocket before he'd set it on the gift table had weighed heavily, though the actual gift-- a banana bunch pendant made completely of crystal strung on a leather cord, both meticulously crafted by Arren's magic and heavily enchanted and warded to keep the wearer safe from harm-- was rather light weight. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake by trying to come to the party.

Ah, well, it was too late now.

Once he'd double checked that Wei was done talking to and dragging his friends around, he stepped forward, offering the boy a warm, serene smile. "Happy birthday, Mr. Wei. I hope that you'll enjoy it and will celebrate the many more to come." He murmured, instinctively resisting the urge to sweep up the boy into his arms and hug him tightly in public.

And then he remembered his changed appearance and went for it. He reached out and pulled Wei closer into his embrace, nuzzling the boy's cheek. "Happy birthday, my little monkey." He whispered, pitching his voice so only Wei could hear his words.

Wei -> Morgan

"Hi Morgan!" He said cheerily, waving to his classmate and friend. Were they friends? He supposed that since she was at his party right now that they counted as being friends. He was glad she was here, if nothing else. "I'm glad you came!"

He glanced over to the food table. "Come eat with us, Morgan!"

Wei -> Euna

He took the popper from Euna and, turning away from the cake, pulled the string and watched as a few partygoers were treated to a small rain of crepe paper and streamers. This party was wonderful. All of the people, they were all great. It was nice that he had the chance to meet someone new at his 16th birthday party.

"Hey, before you eat the cake you have to have some noodles." It wasn't a real rule for parties, but he'd never had cake at his birthday parties. Cake was a rare treat for him. He gestured for her to follow him over to the table of food where Solis and his other new friend, who's name he still didn't know, were waiting.

"You have to slurp as much into your mouth as you can before you bite. It's a charm for long life."

Taking a pair of chopsticks from the table, he put a bit of noodle into his mouth and casually sucked more noodle into his mouth. The Longevity Noodle was basically just one incredibly long noodle. He'd heard stories of people who could get the entire thing into their mouths. Though he certainly couldn't.

It was only when his cheeks were full and puffy with noodles that he bit the noodle and set about chewing his mouthful.

Wei -> Arren

Once Wei swallowed the noodle and finished his bowl, he noticed someone walk up to him. And this person too was someone Wei was pretty sure he didn't know. Though there was something about him that seemed almost eerily familiar, like seeing someone on the street that looked just like your best friend, but when you called out to them they turned out to look nothing like them.

He was dressed dressy like Hari was, but he couldn't imagine why.

Until he spoke.

When he heard Arren speak, a huge grin took over his face. The covered left eye, and the remaining eye the color of the sweet flesh of a pomegranate.

"I'm glad you're here," He said softly, returning the embrace and the nuzzle against his cheek. Wei had to resist the urge to wrap his arms and legs around the trunk of Arren's body, similarly to how one would grip a tree they were intent on climbing, though the yearning was strong.

Since Arren was here, and glamored, that meant that he could introduce him to people! Kind of? He couldn't introduce him as Arren King, because then they would know, but...

But...

He really wanted to.

"Make sure you eat lots of food. zhōng guó cài is good for you!"

Sid -> Stefan

As Sid casually helped himself to the buffet, he glanced over and saw the guy who'd grabbed his little monkey friend and sent him looping through the air like he was on a roller coaster without rails. Stefan was... not exactly someone Sid knew of. He was more like the kind of guy he heard vaguely about in stories and 'you will never believe this kid' type deals.

Which was really a shame because the he was a nice brand of tall and handsome. With his messy hair and blue eyes and being over six feet tall.

Why were all the cuties so tall come on.

"Stefan... I've heard about you." He said, taking another bite from his bun as he looked over the nymph. "DJ told me about you too. Told me about some flying kid who wanted to get an army of three year olds started."

The drow couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Nice to have a face to put to that story."

Sid -> Stefan

Oh yeah. Obviously he'd heard a ton of other stories about this guy. Most of them were just kinda strange, and the others all painted him like a merciless flirt and terrible playboy to end all terrible playboys. Still, had was undeniably attractive so there was not doubt he was getting unprecedented amounts of sauce.

Plus, he certainly did know how to turn on the charm.

"Oh, are you?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow and throwing a quick glance around the ballroom. It looked like most everyone was preoccupied and he couldn't see Wei at all. That was good. The little dude always threw the pretend retching in his face whenever he caught him in the process of flirting. He imagined that he wouldn't find it very endearing that two of his friends were making out near the food table.

But he didn't see him. Good.

"Well... if you want to know about me... I'm just an average guy living an average life." He muttered, reaching for another steamed bun. "I like to party... And I like to fill my time and social circles with the company of attractive people like you."

[[OOC: oh my shit i am so bad at flirting]]

Solis

His scowl deepened into a glare at the mention of interacting with others that weren't Wei. Wei, he could handle. They weren't friends, dammit, he just barely tolerated the monkey boy.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself, even as he allowed Wei to drag him towards the buffet table with some girl he'd never met. He completely ignored her in favor of giving Wei a Death Glare-- for his not-friend, though, it was more of a grumpy huff than anything.

"Such things mean little to me, you imbecile." He muttered. "I do not wish to participate in such... frivolities."

And yet, he still humored the monkey boy, doing as he was shown that was apparently tradition.

Ah, the things he did for his not-friend.

Arren

He basked in the happiness all but rolling off of Wei, his smile turning to something soft, meant only for the boy he was hugging. "I am glad to see you so lighthearted." He murmured in return, prolonging their embrace now that he could without worry of being outed as a staff member in a relationship with a student.

"... You may call me Angelus Garza, if you wish." Sure, he was using one of the many aliases he'd amassed throughout all of the adventures he went on with his late mentor, but he was sure no one here would ever catch on. He could tell Wei wanted to introduce him to people, however-- he was fairly used to answering the this particular alias, and he'd managed to 'save' the glamour he was wearing in the crystal pendant he was currently wearing. All he'd have to do was channel his will and magic into the pendant, making the construction of this specific glamour much easier and take only a few minutes rather than the hour he'd spent creating it in the first place. "I am an alumnus of Starlight Academy and, upon re-visiting the school for old time's sake, found you. If there are any questions about my age or anything similar, I will answer them."

His smile brightened and while he pulled away from the embrace, he kept their hands intertwined, his thumb tracing gentle circles into Wei's. "I will take your word for it, my sweet Wei, though if you could help me find it...?" He prompted, clearly hoping for more time with his little monkey.

Pham Thi Anh Sang

Noodles! And they were free and totally up for grabs and delicious and also she could eat as many as she wanted! Anh Sang practically teleported over to the buffet table -which, actually. Maybe she had. Her magic really knew what she liked and wanted, just like how a really good friend would. Grabbing a bowl, okay two bowls, she was beyond happy to see that her big sis Morgan was there, too!

"Morgan Morgan Morgan, hiiii!" If Morgan was there, then the monkey guy had to be a really good guy, right? So Anh Sang felt completely glad that she had showed up after all.

Also at the buffet table, though, was this this frowny guy who kept glaring at her friend. Anh Sang thought it was really weird that he looked so scary but she guessed that some people just looked like that all the time. Maybe deep down, he was actually a really nice person. Oh! But then I shouldn't keep fidgeting and stuff!

It was hard to look at somebody who was glaring so much that their face seemed like it was about to explode but Anh Sang was determined to show that she wasn't afraid at all. By staring right at him with wide eyes as she ate her noodles.

Okay, don't look away, don't look away....

Euna skipped over towards where Wei stood, keeping an eye out for the pile of poppers she had abandoned. However, the poppers were quickly extinguished from her vision.

“Food!” she exclaimed excitedly, before settling down just long enough for Wei to explain the noodle charm. The whole thing seemed a bit weird to her (who would take the time to make one really long noodle? And how?) but it sounded fun nonetheless.

“Bet I can get more noodles in my mouth than you can!” she challenged Wei, snatching up a pair of chopsticks. She only took a moment to look at the chopsticks, which were slightly different from what her mother used from time to time, before picking up a noodle and slurping it into her mouth.

It wasn't long before her mouth couldn't hold any more noodles. It was significantly less than how much Wei had eaten, but she ceded to chopping the noodle off with her teeth and chewing. There was the hint of defeat in her eyes, but after swallowing, her words were still peppered with competitive energy. “Hah! You got me this time, birthday boy!”