The Sundae Inn was hot, crowded and loud: exactly the sort of place that Candace would ordinarily never allow herself to be. But Julius had been all excited about coming to the party, and once her new husband got excited about something, not even the Harvest Goddess could dissuade him.

Maybe he would if she offered him a blueberry cocktail, she mused as she watched him accept another drink. Candace, sipping her own herbal tea in a corner, disliked alcoholic beverages. They didn't even taste good, and besides, who would want to feel so out of control? At least he's happy, she thought. But when has he been anything but happy recently?

The untouched plate of tea next to her clattered as Jin, the doctor, picked up a cup. "Good evening, Candace," he greeted her graciously. Candace stammered a polite reply, swallowing her words in a sip of tea.

Jin sat next to her and balanced the cup on his legs. "I hate parties," he said, blunt and truthful. Me too, Candace thought, though she was so unused to having someone other than her husband so near to her that she couldn't speak.

They sat in contented silence for a while, surveying the crazy scene in front of them. Even Gill was on the floor, swaying uncomfortably while Candace's sister Luna tried to pull him in for a dance. Candace closed her eyes, as if by doing so the image would vanish. Does she have no modesty? She wondered, appalled as she watched Gill actually accept. Candace, her long blue skirt touching the floor, was the very image of reserve, and anyone else behaving anything else horrified her.

Julius was in the middle of the floor now, rocking out to some pop hit imported into the island. Friends of theirs watched on, sometimes joining in. Candace felt her cheeks blush, as though people would accuse her of not keeping her husband 'in line'.

"I…I think Julius is a bit drunk," she whispered into her cup of tea.

"Pardon?" the good doctor asked.

"Julius," she repeated, not much louder. "I think he's had too much to drink."

"Hm." Jin studied the flamboyant man for a few moments. "Yes…I'll definitely be seeing that man in my clinic tomorrow morning."

A giggle slipped out of her lips before she could stop it. She turned to Jin, rather appreciative. She'd been worried that she'd have no one to talk to at this awkward event, even though she didn't talk much in general. Candace was perfectly happy to sit in silence and drink tea with the doctor the whole evening as long as no one tried to get her to dance.

"Your wife," she suddenly remembered. "Anissa. Where is she?"

"At home," Jin said passively, his black eyes unreadable. "She wanted to care for Van."

"Your….your son." Candace ventured a smile. "How wonderful; I'd f-forgotten."

"Yes." Jin couldn't help himself, and smiled at the thought of his newborn baby. A flicker of emotion slid into the grin, and Candace warmed to him. Jin had always seemed rather intimidating even though he'd worked right next to her home. She was glad to see some emotion other than calculating concern pass his face.

Cheerful silence—or as much silence could be gathered at the party—passed between them for a while longer until Kathy, her arms full of cocktails, passed by and caught sight of them.

She frowned, her green eyes studying the two unresponsive adults in the corner. "Hey!" she called, walking over to them. "Don't be such wallflowers—get into the life of the party, yeah!" Kathy waved the plate of drinks dangerously in the air as if to prove her point.

Candace, as usual, said nothing. "No thank you," Jin answered, sipping his healthy, unalcoholic beverage pointedly.

Kathy looked at her cocktails and flushed. "Let me grab one of those," she muttered awkwardly, setting down her drinks and grabbing a cub of herbal tea. She sat next to Jin, blowing off the steam and staring at the partygoers much the same as they were.

"I know I shouldn't be drinking those cocktails," Kathy suddenly interjected, "but it's good for business, you know? My dad makes them and I'm surrounded by them all day…"

The other two said nothing. Kathy took a sip of tea. "Wow, this is pretty good," she said in surprise, taking another drink.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Jin said in a fake-incredulous tone. "I, too, prefer drinks that don't destroy my liver."

"Mm," Kathy answered distractedly, gulping down her tea. "Wow, that's yummy."

"H-here," Candace muttered, passing her the dwindling supply of tea. Kathy eagerly poured herself a fresh pot and offered it around, smiling when they all accepted.

The unlikely trio sat in silence for a while longer, simultaneously sipping their ruby-red tea while the rest of the village slurped their cocktails and screamed and danced.

"This is nice," Kathy interrupted again. "I think I like this quiet-feeling better. Though Dad's probably going to get mad when he sees me not waiting on everyone."

"It's a party," Jin said encouragingly. "You can have fun if you want."

"Yeah….yeah!"

What's our definition of fun? Candace wondered to herself. Sitting in silence, drinking vegetable juice and watching everyone flip out?

"Yeah…." She muttered out loud, smiling into her porcelain cup.

"Pardon?"

Startled, Candace looked up. "I said this is fun," she said, loudly and clearly.

Her stutter-free announcement seemed to take the other two back.

"Yeah…this is….fun," Jin agreed.

"Yeah!"

Candace smiled and asked for another cup of tea.

The party seemed to have died down a little now that alcohol was in short supply. Calvin and Phoebe were the first to go, giggling and talking about new methods of mining in slurred speech. Luna and Luke of all people followed, Candace's sister keeping up a steady stream of chatter while Luke nodded attentively. Toby followed, looking as dreamy as usual.

Finally, only a handful of people were left, slumped at tables or chatting quietly on the inn steps. The fiery heads of Maya and Chase were peeking out from behind the bar as they slept.

"What a pain," Jake groaned as he surveyed the ruin that was all that was left of his inn. "Chase better be fully awake tomorrow to help me clean this up!" Candace smiled to herself as she saw the name's owner only twitch slightly.

"Irene is going to run out of headache medicine tomorrow," Jin mused. Kathy laughed and sipped some more tea.

"I'll help out with the chaos," Kathy offered. "I think it's only right, seeing as I gave everyone the plague with my evil concoctions!"

Jin smothered a laugh with his drink.

"M-me too," Candace added unexpectedly. "I'll probably be…down there with Julius, anyway….Oh, look." The man in question was walking towards them, looking more than a little dazed.

"Candace?" he gushed, a little less bubbly than usual. "Do you mind if…?"

"Of course not," she muttered, rising and putting her teacup-free arm around him. "Jin will take good care of you in the morning…" She saw the doctor smirk at her comment, and she swallowed a grin as well. She placed the teacup on the closest table and rubbed Julius's arm soothingly. Julius moaned and clutched his head.

Hamilton, as perky as ever, clapped his hands loudly, causing Julius and the other crazy fools to groan in protest. "What a wonderful party!" he declared, swinging his little arms side to side. "We're going to start cleaning up now, so we ask that all of you head on home!"

Kathy sighed. "That's my cue. See you later, guys." She trotted off to greet Owen, who was wiping up a cocktail glass that had fallen out of an unconscious partygoer's hand.

"What…what was the theme of tonight's event, anyway?" Candace asked Jin as the three of them exited and headed towards the Maple Lake District. "I don't remember it from last year."

Jin offered her an amused smile as he stopped outside his front door. "The mayor's first annual 'Chemical-Free Night', " he answered, closing his door behind him like a single chuckle.