“They’ll be here any minute!” Nyx calls from her spot at the window for the fourth time in the past hour. From the kitchen, Ozzy sighs, but there’s a smile on his face. He’s just putting the finishing touches on the cake Mr. Hornelius had helped him bake last night, piping ribbons of rainbow frosting around the edges and sprinkling sugar crystals on top. It’s a little bright and colourful for his tastes, but Ozzy knows that their guests, colourful bunch that they are, will appreciate it.

“They’re here!” 

Nyx runs to the door, probably faster than she needs to. Ozzy glances out the window, and sure enough, their guests are still only halfway up the path. It doesn’t stop his sister from flinging the door open and greeting them, nor does it stop Styx from barreling down the hall to join her. Only Juni remains calm and collected, shaking his head at his friends’ over-enthusiasm. 

“Hi, guys!” Nyx says as Tavi, Luxinia, and Iridesia finally make it to the door. Ozzy and Juni join her and Styx, greeting everyone with cheerful waves. 

“Hi!” Tavi says. She’s the first to come in when Nyx steps aside. There’s a box in her hands, wrapped in green paper. “Where can I put this?” 

“Anywhere is fine,” Nyx says, gesturing vaguely to the living room. “You know you didn’t have to bring presents, right?” 

“Yip yip-yip yip,” Juni says. 

“Juni!” 

“He’s right.” Tavi grins as she puts her gift down on the coffee table. “It’s a housewarming party, after all; of course we had to get you something!” 

“Even if it’s just something small,” Iridesia adds. Sure enough, when Ozzy looks at the gift bag in their hands, it’s much smaller. They pass by Ozzy and lean in, whispering to him: “A little Faellie told me you were running low on oil pastels.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to say what’s in the gift before it’s opened,” Luxinia chides, following in after the other Faerie. “But then again, I never was good with surprises, so…”

“Is that why you didn’t bother wrapping your gift?” Nyx asks, pointing to the present in Luxinia’s hands—or rather, the stick she’s holding.

“I wrapped it!” the Light Faerie protests, tugging on the end of a multicoloured ribbon she’d tied around the big wooden stick. “I just thought Styx would appreciate it this way more.”

At her feet, Styx is looking up at the completely unmysterious present, tongue lolling out of his mouth and tail wagging a mile a minute. 

“I think you’re right,” Ozzy says. 

“Arf!”

The party gets going quickly once presents are opened. Luxinia and Iridesia update everyone on how Faerieland’s restoration is going and how progress is coming along on establishing the Faerie Council. Tavi has been travelling all over the ruined lands of Neopia, helping out those in need. Nyx has been delivering Ozzy’s paintings to his new artistic patrons in Neovia and Darigan Citadel—they really like greyscale over there—while Juni’s gotten a little mechanics business started here in Neopia Central. Ozzy tells everyone how his community service at the Petpet Puddle is going, and how much he’s enjoying it; everyone says “aww!” “eeee!” at all the right times when he tells them some of his more adorable stories, and when he later informs them that he and Styx have visited Luperus since Dr. Landelbrot cured him of his void infection. “Sounds like all that Void Essence that got collected went to good use,” Tavi had said. “We should invite him and Luperus to the party next time, too!”

Once the catch-ups are out of the way, the fun begins in earnest. Styx starts tossing his newly-gifted stick up in the air, prompting Juni to join in and make it a two-Petpet circus act, until he gets distracted by whatever new tool Iridesia is tinkering with. A game of charades gets going, and Nyx is surprisingly good at it (if only with her void tendrils’ help). It gets to be a lot of excitement for Ozzy to deal with—almost too much—but Tavi pulls out a box of special sweet tea leaves she’d brought and asks Ozzy to help her with it in the kitchen to give him a little respite from the action.

“The key is getting the right amount of leaves for the size of the pot,” Tavi tells him as he begins to spoon the tea leaves into the teapot he’d chosen. Her smile grows, though, when he finishes. “But it looks like you know that already! Who’d’a thunk you were such an expert on tea-brewing?”

“Oh, um… I guess I just… picked up a few things here and there,” Ozzy says, trying not to think of his tutor in these things. Luckily, there’s plenty of distraction: Juni and Iridesia have finished whatever it was they were tinkering with, and now bubbles are floating into the kitchen from the living room, accompanied by a chorus of “ooh!”s and “aah!”s by Nyx and Luxinia. Styx trips over himself trying to catch them in his paws, and Tavi rushes out to help him.

“Careful, buddy! They’re made of soap, so they’re slippery…”

Ozzy laughs to himself and turns back to the tea. The rest of the party continues on without him, leaving him to the quiet of his own thoughts for a moment. To his surprise, they’re… happy thoughts. Grateful thoughts. He doesn’t think he’s ever felt so at peace, even with all the bustle and noise and chaos surrounding him.

“Ozzy! Ozzy!” Nyx calls from the next room. A moment later, she’s poking her head into the kitchen, a big smile on her face as she lowers her voice to speak: “When you’re ready, you should take the others on a tour of your studio. You’ve got some great paintings going right now; I’m sure they’d all love to see them!”

Ozzy laughs. “Okay, Nyxie. Maybe in a bit.”

“No rush,” Nyx says, and heads back to the other room. “I’ll hold down the fort ‘til you’re ready.”

The party goes on. Tea is served, cake is eaten, songs are sung, and more charades are played. It’s hours and hours of fun, everyone getting lost in it. Even Ozzy, as he shows his friends what he’s working on in his studio, momentarily forgets how exhausted he is.

He catches a glimpse of Iridesia looking out the window when they all return to the living room. The sun is low, painting the horizon a brilliant vermillion. The sky above is darkening into a pleasant indigo, and the clouds have shifted to muted tones of pink and purple. Each and every colour is reflected in Iridesia’s wings, even though they’ve begun to droop a little.

Luxinia follows Ozzy’s gaze. Her smile softens. “I think it’s about time for us to go,” she says quietly. 

Ozzy blinks. “You don’t have to,” he says, surprised at himself and how quickly he’d asked them to stay. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Nyx’s eyes have gone wide, too. “I mean… are you sure?”

“We’re sure,” Luxinia says. 

“It’s getting dark out,” Iridesia agrees, moving to take Luxinia’s hand. “Besides…”

They turn to Ozzy, and there’s that smile again—the one that means Iridesia knows exactly how he’s feeling. “Even if it’s with good friends, too much company can still be a little exhausting, can’t it?”

Bashful, Ozzy looks away. He tugs at one of his ears, trying to distract himself from the sheepish smile he can feel pulling at his cheeks. “I guess so.”

Behind him, Tavi stretches. “I’d better head out too,” she says. “I’ve got a hike scheduled for tomorrow, bright and early. One of my old climbing buddies is coming with me to Brightvale so we can help out some more with the restoration. We’ll be there for a couple weeks—it’ll be a whole trip!”

Nyx beams. “That’s great, Tavi!”

“You wanna come too?” 

Nyx looks at Ozzy for a moment. Ozzy looks back, curious. There’s something in Nyx’s expression—something familiar. Something he hasn’t seen since before she left for Virtupets.

“Nyxie…?”