i'm wishing...

"Oh, you and me both. Not that I was looking forward to going home that much... Any excuse to stay out, really. Besides, it'll calm down soon. The weather, I mean. Everyone downstairs might need a little bit longer. Hey, do you want to hold my lightsaber? That might make you feel better."

Sofia nodded. It was true, it wasn't the worst thing that had happened in Redwood Hollow. Hopefully nobody was seriously hurt. She hoped, she really hoped, but considering the way the wind blew outside the windows, and the sudden manner in which the storm had beaten down on the local buildings... It was perhaps a bit too naive, even for her, to pretend nothing bad had or could still happen.

Regardless, she smiled. She knew Lilo was trying to make her feel better.

Now she was a bit curious to know why Lilo wouldn't prefer to be home, but a sudden thunderclap startled her before she could open her mouth. "Goodness..." she said quietly.

Just then she wondered whether Guinevere and Lady were doing okay. It felt really bad, to only then wonder about that. She should be panicking about her stepmothers, about whether they were hurt during this sudden storm.

"... Hm?" she blinked, when Lilo asked her a question. The words arrived just a little bit late. "Oh... Oh, can I?" Sofia had never held a lightsaber before --but she was intrigued about it, she wouldn't lie. Not that she knew much about Star Trek or any science fiction franchise, mind you, but she did enjoy a good sword, of course. She smiled as she held the hilt. It was a little lighter than she expected. And, just for fun, she tried to twirl it like she saw in the movies --accidentally hitting herself in the side of her head.

Sofia smiled. "You're right, it is a special occasion." She truly liked sweets, though she wasn't one to eat much candy, if at all. Maybe that was why her cavity was such a surprise. She usually took such good care of her teeth...

"Hm..." she hummed quietly, looking into a big bowl full of different candy, none of which she could recognize. "What are the best, in your opinion?" Sofia asked the girl. "I'm sorry, if it's a bit of a strange question." Most people probably already knew what candy was the best suited to their tastes. Truly, Sofia only knew that she liked fruit flavors, vanilla and caramel. But, really, she could probably try whatever she suggested.

Even if Sofia knew that Lilo was probably exaggerating, the sole idea of what could have caused her to say that concerned her. While there wasn't exactly a despairing degree of panic, there was definitely a different type of disturbed noise coming from downstairs, people loudly complaining and asking questions and some crying and no music, and Sofia began to get really nervous, even more so than before.

"Oh... Is Anastasia okay?" she asked, wanting to think about anything else besides the fact that it would be very difficult to navigate the first floor with an even bigger crowd. "I hope nobody loses their job. I think accidents happen, and some things might just pass unnoticed... Though I do wish I had known there would be such a big storm happening tonight." There was no way to be sure, but Sofia had a suspicion she wouldn't have come to this party in that case.

"Looks like a power outage, little bird," Cameron replied. "There's a big storm outside; came out of nowhere. A tree probably just fell on a power line, or something, it's alright."

Cameron seemed to be relatively unbothered, and her answer helped to calm Sofia a bit. There were even more people inside the house, though, and the crowd that had already overwhelmed her a bit was now really worrying her. For a second she wished she had stayed locked up in the bathroom.

"Alright... It's alright," she repeated to herself, truly hoping Cameron was right. "Oh, I hope the storm doesn't ruin the party at Town Hall. I think it was set outdoors." Sofia knew Guinevere would be furious if her dress got wet. Then she remembered --a bunch of people had been outside the Lightfoot house, doing a series of Halloween activities. If a storm had surprised them, maybe someone could have been caught in an accident, rushing to get in. "Did anyone get hurt?" She looked around, but it was hard to see anything.

"May I see?" Sofia asked, stretching her neck and trying to see where on her head she was been hit. "Um... I can't quite see, not in this light... Or lack of light, rather."

She took out her phone and turned on the front light --giving out a sudden flash of white that probably blinded Anastasia for a moment. "I'm sorry... Where does it hurt?" Sofia knew she was one of the lucky ones who had been indoors when the storm broke out, but she really hoped nobody at that party got any serious injuries. She had a feeling they wouldn't be able to go out and get help for a considerable while.

This time he was joking though. He was happy to see Sofia actually, it was what he had been looking forward to most, even though he was unsure if she would be the type to show up to a house party.

"Oh you know, when you're the baby of the family with like nine siblings, give or take, you slip through the cracks sometimes.But that also meant I never really got in trouble either."

Art tried to make himself sound a little more daring than he was. The truth was that he did not often get in trouble because he had not been included. Sometimes, however, when he was included in the chaos, his siblings would vouch for his innocence as well.

"And thanks! So, let's go find the punch and you can tell me all about how your halloween's been going so far and also this sick costume."

"Oh... Okay, I think I understand," Sofia nodded. What Arturo said made sense, even though, in her opinion, nobody should slip through the cracks, no matter how many siblings they had. At least there was the benefit of never getting in trouble, she had to assume. A part of her wanted to know more, and ask more questions about this aspect of him (she guessed it was her developing social worker side, added to her natural curiosity), but decided it might not be the best conversation to have in the middle of a crowded house party.

Sofia smiled and nodded again, and got on her tiptoes, looking around to try and see if she could find the punch bowl anywhere nearby. While she definitely did not manage to see anything above people's shoulders and heads, she did get some peeks at a table set not too far away, where there were snacks and some bottles. She turned to Arturo and pointed in that direction.

"My Halloween's going well... Um, I mean, it just started," she chuckled. "I tend to just stay home and hand out candy, but there's usually very few children willing to go all the way to the Orchard House during the evening to trick-or-treat." Sofia took a moment to feel a little bad for any kids who might make the effort and find out the house was empty. "But I wanted to challenge myself, and go to a party this time. I'm glad I did."

"Sofia!" Alice called, over the blaring music and excited chatter of the other guests. "Over here!"

It was a lovely surprise to see Alice there. Not to assume things, but Sofia wouldn't have thought them to be the type to go to a big party like that one... Then again, Sofia wouldn't have expected herself to be there, either, if it wasn't for the sensation that she might have more fun out there on Halloween than stuck at home alone. Perhaps Alice had thought the same.

"Hi, Alice," she greeted as she approached them. "There's... There's a lot of people here, huh?" Sofia gestured at the house, at the music, at the noise... It was all a bit much, at least to her. "Did you come here with your friends?"

Of all the people to stumble and trip in front of, of course it would be Sofia. He should have expected that with his luck. He did his best to regain his composure. At least she seemed happy to see him, and he had really been hoping to see her too.

"Heyyy, Sofia! Good to see you too!" He said, "Hey it's no worries, most people don't, I'm pretty used to it." His voice was not sad about that at all, instead he played it off lightly, like a joke. Even if there was truth to it.

"Sick costume, you look great-I was going to get a drink, do you want a drink?"

Sofia frowned a bit. "Most people don't... See you?" she asked, a bit confused. Why? Arturo was quite good-looking, and more often than not good-looking people were noticed. Still, she had a feeling that might not have been a good question to ask, so she kept quiet and just fidgeted for a moment, before stopping herself and forcing her hands to remain still by her sides.

"Thank you," she smiled. "Your costume looks great, too." At least Sofia could recognize that it was meant to be a racecar driver, though which one, she couldn't really say. "Um... Yes, I've actually been looking for the punch." She had seen a couple people drinking what looked like that, and she had to assume there wasn't any cider and much less wine at that party.

What a good question. Sofia needed to mull it over for a moment before replying. "... I think it depends on what I'm in the mood for, at the moment. But I guess that, more often than not, I do end up craving sweets," she had to confess. "It is not a very healthy habit, I know. It rots your teeth, first of all." Sofia still remembered the awful experience at the dentist some time ago, when she had found a small cavity in her upper molar.

"But I suppose not eating any sweets during Halloween is a bit of a shame. It is sort of the point of trick-or-treating, right?" In all truth, she had never actually partaken in the tradition of trick-or-treat. Her costume was from a Halloween party she had been to at school, where she remembered not doing as the sociable crow and standing on the sidelines not realy talking to anyone.

"What about you?" she asked the other woman. "Do you prefer sweet, or savory?"

Sabrina had many choices this Halloween. She could go to the Town Hall with Benak, she could stay at home and give out candy, or she could go to a party.

The choice was clear. It was time to party. Sabrina was not even particularly sure that she would even know anyone there, but that just meant it was a great time to make new friends. She had decided to go as Zoey from K-Pop Demon Hunters this year, and she had felt extra cute as she added glitter eyeliner and other sparkles to her make up. Maybe a little too much, but that's what K-pop stars did, right?

"Ooh hi! Nice costume, what made you choose it?"

"Um... Well, to be quite honest, this is an old costume I had," Sofia admitted. "I don't know if there are any Halloween rules about reusing a costume, but I don't believe anyone should mind too much."

Then she smiled, much more interested in telling why she had made it (at least the crow head) in the first place. "I love birds, and I think crows in particular are fascinating. They are extremely smart, some of the smartest birds there are, actually. They mate for life, and have large families, and even have 'funerals' when one of them passes away." Sofia began fidgeting with her hands, getting a bit excited about talking birds. "And they can make a wide variety of vocalizations, and can recognize human faces, and they actually make for great pets despite their negative associations with death and superstitions--"

Sofia stopped herself. She was at a party, not giving a TED Talk. She pressed her lips together and forced herself to leave her hands alone. "I like your costume, too. Is it a character from a movie?"

...he hoped. He did have an awfully suspicious track record of always just missing people he wanted to see or places he wanted to go.

"Excuse me, sorry-" He tried to say as he passed someone in a crow costume, only to immediately stumble and trip, to his horror.

"Oh--" Sofia mumbled as someone passed by her, and when they stumbled and tripped, she automatically reached out to grab their sleeves so they wouldn't end up falling. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to--"

Just then she actually got a good look at them, and her face lit up when she recognized him. "Arturo! It's so good to see you!" Sofia had had no idea he would be coming to this party. A part of her had hoped so, but she also assumed he would probably have many friends to attend parties with, and would most likely not have time to actually talk to her. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Thank you. I'm a crow, actually," she said, smiling at Anastasia. By this point, she knew that she wouldn't recognize most of the costumes of the people there, and her costume was no exception. A vampire cheerleader, perhaps? Vampires surely could have any sort of jobs they wanted, theoretically.

"Um... Yes, sure. What are you drinking?" she asked her. Now that the poisoner had been apprehended, Sofia felt a lot safer and more confident about drinking in public situations, outside of the wine and cider from the Red Orchard.