Koma Inu's Housewarming Party

"Lady Inari, you have to come outside! The final touch was just finished!" Greed shouts as he runs past the door of Samarra Inari's new office. Samarra smiles and gets out of her chair and heads upstairs. It had been almost a full week of building, and the new guild hall was finally complete. Although it had taken a beating from when Shattered Dusk destroyed it, it is now fully revitalized and even has a few new features!

Samarra steps out the door and the sun blinds her briefly, but once her eyes have recovered, she sees a few of her guild members standing with smiling faces underneath a tori gate at the end of the path. She walks under it and then turns around to see that the gate now has crisp metal lettering that spell out "Koma Inu". Samarra's wide, bright smile reflects all of the surrounding members.

"This looks amazing everyone! I can't believe it is finally finished! And what better way to break it in than with a housewarming party! I have already sent out the invitations, so you all better go get on your best outfit because we are going to have some fun tonight!" Samarra says cheerfully. He announcement is followed by a series of cheers, and mages quickly head towards the adjacent dorm buildings to get ready for the evenings festivities.

--Later that evening--

Samarra marvels at the new guild event room as she waits for people to start arriving. Being who she is, she came up to the event 30 minutes early and decided to take in the hard work that her guild members put in. She could see that they decided to build a bigger bar that stretched over two-thirds of the left side of the room. It still had a deck above it that was arranged with various couches and tables; she even noticed that Aiden's favorite couch managed to be saved. The rest of the room itself seemed fairly familiar; couches, tables, and chairs occupied the right side, but the middle area had much more room than before, making it feel more open. There was also now a stage that took up the back end of the room, where the band for tonight was all set up and practicing some of the songs they were going to play.

"Yay the bar is rebuilt." Zoey Kiyoko said running to it in tears. "I've missed you my precious yes I have," She said hugging the bar as if it was a baby.

Nova giggles at Zoey's elation as she leans against a nearby wall. She decided to dress in a light yellow dress with white trims and a matching bow in her long, curled hair. A woman with blue hair enters with a few younger mages behind her. As they disperse, the woman, who is Valencia Morningheart, stands alone. Gryphon walks around and admires the guild buildings beautiful interior while Serenity shyly sits at a table. Kaden sneaks up behind Nova and spooks her. "Ahhh! Kaden! I swear I'm going to hit you one of these times!" Nova says but both know she's not serious. "That'll happen when Mom lets me get a tattoo" Kaden responds with an eye roll. He quickly zips out to mingle. "That boy is more outgoing than Tiny..."

Aether walked up to the entrance to the guild hall. He straightened the necktie he had on, and made a huge gulp. He had put on a nice suit that he had literally bought that day. Miriam walked up next to him, dressed in her usual attire, although that was a dress.

"Come on honey," she said, "what's the matter?"

"Nothing mother," responded Aether, sounding slightly flustered. Winters nudged him in the back, making a Wyvern call, telling him to go in.

"Alright, I get it," said Aether. He walked through the doorway.

Shaking her head at Zoey, Samarra lets out a little laugh. She then sees a very charming looking man walk through the door with a Wyvern speeding past his feet. "Aether, you made it!" Samarra shouts joyfully and walks over to give him a hug. "You know you didn't have to wear a suit, this isn't a formal event," She giggles and wiggles his tie. She then turns to the older women standing next to him. "My apologies, welcome to Koma Inu, my name is Samarra Inari. It's a pleasure to have you here. What might your name be?"

"I'm Miriam Cade," she answered, "Aether's mother." She held out her hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Aether's told me a lot about you. You really are pretty." Aether tensed up, with a slight look of shock on his face.

"Oh you are so nice! I am so happy to finally meet you! You are quite beautiful too, I love your dress." Samarra says and then shakes Miriam's outstretched hand.

"Why thank you," said Miriam. "I think I'll leave you two alone for a little bit." Miriam walked off to greet other party guests.

"Your guild hall looks magnificent," said Aether. "Then again, this is coming from the man whose guild hall is in a cave."

"Thank you so much. And don't talk your guild down, it's filled with wonderful people that bring life to it! Plus you have this fabled garden island that I have yet to see..." Samarra says and leans into Aether, bumping him slightly.

Zoey approached Miriam with 1 glass of alcohol in one and 2 in the other. "Hey there gorgeous, You come here often?" Zoey said to her striking a sexy pose. Her face looked a little red as an obvious sign that she's drunk already.

"I'm sorry," said Miriam, "but I'm already spoken for."

"Hey, Aether? Are you seriously not going to introduce us?" said a young adult male with red hair who was standing behind Aether. The man was dressed in a black blazer and corduroy which only complimented his white colored shirt underneath. "Man, I hope we aren't late or anything!" he exclaimed scratching his head. As he was about to shift his attention to the girl standing beside him, he noticed Nikolai. "What's he doing here?" he thought to himself. Choosing to ignore the man, Seraph reached out to Samarra as he outstretched his hand. "I am Seraph, Seraph Kinmichi! It's an honor to finally meet you!"

"Seraph! I have heard some great things! Nice to finally meet you too!" Samarra says and shakes his hand.

Nikolai Ichor came into the guild. He was impressed, in the reconstruction of the guild hall. "Impressive." Said Nikolai.

Stewart walks into the guild hall, but is frightened by the growing number of people inside. He attempts to slip inside of the guild, away from the eyes of strangers whom he hasn't met.

Theia Zhulong comes bounding in behind everyone and jumps up and down as she looks around. "Oh my! This place is so pretty! There are so many people here! I can't wait to meet everyone!" She says smiling.

"Hey, Theia! Generally I am the one who's late. What took you so long?" Seraph asked as he let out a small smirk.

"I am sorry Seraph, I wanted to come with you, but I got distracted by some stray cats on the road. They were so cute!" Theia says and gives Seraph a hug.

"I--Umm---Uh..." blushes Seraph as he was hugged by Theia in the presence of several strangers. "We should stop now? People to meet, food to eat! Heh!" he added. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he exclaimed while handing Samarra a small envelope. "I got you a small house warming present!"

"Oh thank you Seraph, you really didn't have to." Samarra says, taken aback, but impressed, by the mages kindness. She takes the envelope and places it into the pocket of the jacket she is wearing over her blue dress. "Well I hope you and your girlfriend enjoy the party!"

"Thank you for inviting us! G-girlfriend? Oh, we are not dating or anything". Seraph blushes again and turns his head away. Being unable to talk due to his shyness, he excused himself to the washroom. "Great first impression, chief!" he thought to himself as he expressed his disappointment in himself.

Scorpius and Mirrana are seen walking up to the rebuilt guild as they are now living together. "The guild looks more amazing than ever." Mirrana stated. "Yes it does. Let's go see if everyone is having fun." Scorpius said. Then hand in hand they walk into the guild together.

Sykushi Strykri and Kyshira Rytika are to a degree seen walking into the party as well, Sykushi wearing a masquerade mask on his face seemed to fade away with the crowd as he entered. Kyshira is seen looking for him "Dang it, he knows how to elude people in a crowd like this...." She signed annoyed to a degree "Idiot Sky..."

"Hello, you all must be from Dragon Gunfire as well. Welcome to Koma Inu, I hope you have a good time!" Samarra says and waves to the new people.

On his way to the washroom, he noticed a man wearing a masquerade mask. If not for his sense of smell, he would have probably not identified him. Poking Sykushi, Seraph raised his eyebrow. "Here I thought, I was overdressed for this thing! You know the mask is a dead give away, right? You're the only one wearing a mask."

Repelling Seraph's pokes he responded "It's a neat hobby I have, everyone has them. Mine just happens to make me stand out which was the opposite of what I initially chose to wear masks." Sykushi then put the mask away "Didn't even notice I wore one, not sure if that's a good sign or not..." Sykushi then went quiet.

After laughing at Sykushi's reply, Seraph let out a gasp. "Oh, right! You're the weird guy from our guild. You and your "surrogate" sister. What were you two called, again? Ah, nevermind! I have to go. You take care, mask-guy?" Seraph walked away as he searched for the washroom. "Please don't tell me that I am already lost!" As he continued walking, he noticed a fairly tall man with a mohawk standing in a corner. "Hey, do you know where the washroom is?" he asked as he approached the man.

Kyshira approached Sykushi having overheard a good amount of what occurred "He thought we were related? Not true. We may have shared a common teacher but that's about it..." Sykushi chuckled a bit "My sister isn't even in Dragon's Gunfire she's in some guild called Purple Phoenix, I know some people in it. Oh, by the way, whats the catering like?" They went over to the catering table together to see what was available.

Meanwhile, Aiden had just arrived to the guild and was amazed by how many people had showed up for the party. Nova was the first one to come p to Aiden and grabbed his hand. "Come here I have a surprise for you, close your eyes" Aiden was a bit surprised and willingly closed his eyes. Aiden was led past people with his eyes closed being pulled toward what seemed like the middle of the room. "Okay, open your eyes." Aiden slowly opened his eyes and when he saw what was in front of him his heart fluttered him. A brand new, exact replica of Aiden's favorite couch was there in before him. Ever since the attack and the destruction of his couch Aiden had been filled with slight melancholy. "Oh my goodness, thank you thank you thank you!" Aiden then hugged Nova so hard he picked her up. Scorpius and Miranna then walked over to Aiden and Nova. "Wow Aiden, it's hard to tell what you like more. The couch or Nova?" Scorpius said with a snicker. Aiden retorted with a quick, "Well its hard to tell who wears the pants in your relationship. Haha just kidding. By the way, congratulations on the move-in together." Then the two couples conversed throughout the party.

Dakota steps through the guild hall entrance next, for once controlling her excitement as she walks calmly. However, her gaze whips around so fast it's easy to tell just how much she's been anticipating this night. The walking stops as soon as she realizes how many people are in the guild. I don't have time if I want to greet everyone! She thinks to herself, as she starts skipping over to Samarra. "Ah, Ms. Inari! The guild looks so amazing!" She says, her eyes sparkling with amazement. She gives Samarra little time to respond to this as someone else catches her eye, and she hops over to the next person, enthusiastically greeting anyone who gives her a chance to.

Chase's entrance is much more composed, and his eyes search for Lady Inari to greet her, and one he finds her, he walks unsurely over to where she stands. The red-headed girl makes it look so easy to be around so many people. He thinks as he reaches his hand out in greeting to the guild master. "Hello," He says sternly, and he attempts to relax a little as he introduces himself. "I'm Chase Grimsted, from Dragon Gunfire." The entire exchange is awkward and stiff, and the sympathetic look he gives Samarra shows that he understands so.

Turning away from her talk with Aether she smiles to hopefully bring some ease to the mages obvious discomfort. Shaking his hand she says, "It's nice to meet you Chase, my name is Samarra Inari. Thank you so much for coming, I hope you have a good time. Also, if it gets too crowded, I encourage you to check out the lower levels. It's much more spacious down there." She says, hoping to give Chase a sense of security knowing he has somewhere to escape. She has heard from Aether that out of the new dragon slayers he got, Chase was the most distant of them, so she wanted to make sure he felt welcomed.

"Hello Chase!" said William Harrison abruptly entering, putting his arm around him. "And hello to you ma'am. You must be Lady Inari. I'm Aether's Earth Magic teacher: William Harrison."

"William, what are you doing here?" asked Aether. "I thought you were out on an assignment."

"I was, but I came right back when I heard about this!" Exclaimed William.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you William, glad you decided to stop by!" spoke Samarra.

Stewart stared at Seraph with confusion. "w-Wash...room?"

"You know? The place where you pee? Urinate? Girls' pout and pictures of themselves? Any of that ring a bell, no?" replied Seraph as he struggled to explain what a washroom was. "Zipper. Down. Private parts out. Pee?" he added as he simultaneously gestured his hands.

"Oh!" Stewart proclaimed. He pointed his arms to his right, to a small set of corridors across from the room. "That way."

"Thank you!" replied Seraph as he waved at Stewart."See you around."

Suddenly a small flash of light appeared and vanished as both Asa and Nagisa appeared both in blue and green dresses. "Hehe see I told you we would get here before it ended" Asa said giggling at her sister's shock from the teleport. "You will get used to it eventually now excuse me as I go find Samarra, Numair needed me to tell her something" she says running over to Samarra. "Well she sure is lively," Kaze says picking up Nagisa princess style causing her to blush.

After talking with Nova, Aiden, and Mirrana for a while, Scorpius volunteered to grab them all some drinks. He walks over to the bar and asked Shifuku for a few drinks. Soon Seraph came back from the washroom and came to the bar next to Scorpius.

"Oh, Hello! My name is Scorpius. Welcome to Koma Inu!" Scorpius said with a smile and an outstretched hand.

"Hello, I am Seraph from your guild's bathroom. I mean, Dragon Gunfire, heh. Nice to meet you!" he replied and shook Scorpius's hand.

"Seraph you are from idiot world?" Marekō said as he walked up to Seraph and Scorpius. He was wearing a magnificent tuxedo. "Hey my name's Marekō I'm from Dragon Gunfire," he said to Scorpius.

"Dude, really? Here I thought you were my wing-man. What a let down!" he replied to Marekō. "This is getting crowded. Well, excuse me", he added as he began to walk away due to frustration.

Chase nods slightly to Samarra's offer, saying a small thanks before excusing himself to the bar. His mission to leave is abruptly halted as William eagerly throws his arm around Chase, and his lips pull into a deep frown. He looks ready to say something against this gesture, before he relaxes a fraction, and turns to William. "Hey, William," He says, his voice considerably less excited than his companion's though he seemed happy to see him. He quickly withdrew himself from William's grip after this, with the excuse that he needed a drink of water. In truth, he did, as even this small amount of talk had run his mouth dry, and he walked over to the bar. He asked for a glass of water, looking as Seraph and Marekō introduced themselves to the dark-haired mage. "I'm Chase, also a member of Dragon Gunfire," He says, outstretching his hand as a greeting, his lips pulling up in a small smile.

"Hey Chase! What's with the frown, man?" Seraph questioned looking at Chase. "You don't have to say if you don't want to but is something bothering you? You've been on the sidelines ever since you joined us", he said in a low tone addressing Chase.

Chase shot Seraph a questioning stare, thinking back at his attempt at a smile. Did it really look like I was frowning? He thought to himself, and then he began to think over Seraph's following questions. "Nothing in particular, really. I'm just not used to having to interact with so many people is all. As for being on the sidelines, I find it easier to be away from everyone. Besides, you've all made your groups, and I'd feel rude if I were to assert myself into them." He explains, keeping his voice low and directed at Seraph only.

Observing Chase's facial expressions and tone, Seraph couldn't help but frown himself. "You don't have to fake a smile, Chase. Take my advice, stop pushing yourself. You can't we alone, none of us can. At least try to mix up with people and trust me, you are not Batman. Haha. The fact of the matter is— don't be lonely. Loneliness equals depression which equals desperation and we all know what "that" leads to. That being said, I am back to being a schmuck again. No more preaching, I promise. You want a drink?" He replied, offering the man a drink.

After Kaden had excitedly bounced around to introduce himself to every person possible, he worked his way over to his sister. He whispered something into her ear and she nodded her consent. The boy took off again but this time up the stairs and away from the bustling party. Nova turned her attention to the couple of Scorpius and Mirrana. They looked so happy together that Nova couldn't help but smile. She slipped away from Aiden for a moment and found Tiny outside and around the corner of the guild building. "Hey buddy," she said as she scratched behind his massive ears. "Don't worry, I'm not much of a party person either. I don't really know many of the people in there so I'm kind of scared." She continued taking to her furry friend as she sat on the ground next to him and kicked off her shoes to be her usual barefoot self.

Mirrana had at this point joined Scorpius at the bar with the other mages from Dragon Gunfire. "Hello Marekō and Chase. I am Scorpius, and this is my beautiful girlfriend Mirrana Gold." Scorpius said in reply to all of their greetings, causing Mirrana blush at the comment. "H-Hello Everyone." Mirrana said in reply.

"Samarra, may I talk to you in private," said Aether. Samarra nodded her head and gave a small smile to William. William understood the message and left the area, going over to the bar with Miriam.

"Hello Miriam," he said, "and who's your attractive friend here?" He said, referring to Zoey.

"She's gay. Don't bother, Will" said Seraph as he handed William a glass of scotch. "A man's gotta drink. So, how are you?"

Dakota hops up to the bar next to them, giving Seraph, Will, and Miriam warm smiles. "Hello!" She greets, hopping up onto a barstool. "I'm Dakota, welcome to the guild.!" She turns away from the guests for a moment, directing her attention to her guildmate, Zoey. "Try not to take up too much of her time, okay? It'd be a shame if she wasn't able to speak with everyone here." She says, referring to Miriam. "I'm sure there are a bunch of other pretty girls around here that would love to talk with you too." She adds, and then turns back to the Dragon Gunfire members. "So, how do you like the new guild hall?" She asks, gesturing to the room around her.

"Hello there, I'm Seraph and I love what you guys have done to the place. On an unrelated note, I also love what you're wearing. Suits your eyes." replied Seraph with a small grin on his face as he attempted to flirt with Dakota.

"It's quite lovely," said Miriam.

"I'd have to agree," said William.

Out of nowhere Theia emerges and messes up Seraphs hair and says, "Don't pay attention to him, he is a flirt with no game. Although it's funny to see him try." She says giggling. "Hi there, I'm Theia. I'm from Dragon Gunfire too!" And she goes and gives Dakota a big hug.

--

Aether and Samarra went to a more private area of the guild hall. "I have something for you." He opened his palm and a blue flower grew from it. "It's a blue lotus. They're very rare, and only grow at high altitudes. I've been growing it for some time now, ever since I acquired the seeds."

Marveling at its beauty, Samarra takes the flower from his hand and brings it to her nose. It's smell was so deep and intoxicating that Samarra couldn't help but smile. She leans in and gives a peck on Aether's cheek. "It's so beautiful, I love it. Thank you so much Aether. One of the best housewarming gifts yet." She says giggling, a slight blush on her face.

Aether blushed deeply. He practically froze in place. It took a while before he could finally manage to speak again. "You're... Welcome. Don't worry about it wilting though.  The lotus is so vital because it can absorb magical energy to remain strong.  Like a mage's magical container." He still sounded flustered. His words were meerly him trying to learn to speak again.

"Oh wow, that is truly amazing. Are these grown on that secret island of yours? I will keep it right on my desk in my new office, so then I can think of you whenever I see it. " Samarra says and gives Aether a bright smile.

"Yes," he answered. "I had to increase the altitude of my island so they'd grow properly. I could take you there if you'd like."