Kazuo, Percival & Michael Valentines

| Outfit |

Percival was still reeling from the fact that someone had signed him up for an event. Specifically, a blind date event. The boy gritted his teeth as he debated on who would have done such a thing. Quite a few people knew of the bad fall out that he had with Winters. It was rather possible someone had signed him up to help him get over her. Though, a part of him took some offense to that. He didn't need help getting over Winters.

Despite his annoyance over the situation, he found himself still heading up the staircase to the Astronomy classroom. He didn't really know why. Maybe the thought of getting over Winters was enticing enough for him to actually go. Though, as he passed the floating hearts brought nothing more than a slowly growing unease. He had trouble discerning if it was because of the situation as a whole or because he was practically going on a date with a complete stranger. There was a chance that he would get paired with someone he would come to completely hate, and that chance was worrisome.

The boy walked under the large arch without much pause more distracted by the table holding three options. It appeared all the options were supposed to be romantic in some way. The roses and the heart-shaped chocolates practically screamed Valentine's Day. Percival's eyes quickly zeroed back on to the heart-shaped chocolates. His mouth-watering at the thought of shoving his face full of the candy. Percival's sweet tooth had no problem with snatching the bag of candies for himself. It wasn't like he would have to share. Right?

Percival picked up the transparent bag and looked at the blank label in slight confusion. His eyes widened as he watched a number appear on the once blank label. Locating his respective picnic blanket was not difficult thanks to the balloon. It seemed that he would be the first one to arrive to this...date of sorts. Percival sat down on top of the picnic blanket in a criss-cross position. The boy instantly opened up the bag of chocolates. Popping one into his mouth as he waited for whoever was supposed to show up.

Mentioning: @Kazuo Shimada, @Michael Miller, @Opeila Winters

Michael woke up early, because he had to look amazing.He smiled, as he combed his hair, pulling it slightly to see how long it had grown.

The ball night was horrible, and he took a whole day to get himself back together. He felt more relaxed and okay today. He bite his lip as he looked through his trunk, several white outfits look back at him. He knew it would be a little cold, so he choose white denim jeans, and a cotton long sleeve with green vines on the right sleeve end. He thought he looked nice.

He looked back, before grabbing the one thing he counted on to make this day good. A big thing of Chocolate frogs. It had taken promising he wouldn't cause any trouble for his house elf to get it for him, Murphy didn't trust him.

He grabbed it and walked out to the festivities. Walking through the astronomy tower, he smiled at the hearts, his happy nature staying in tact. He looked and bite his lip at the decision between the things. Well the rose. . . the chocolates. .. He looked around before grabbing one of each, stepping forward then grabbing another rose.

Hands full, he didn't even look down to notice the number showing on the papers attached to the thing. He walked straight to Percy. "Hey. .. . i brought you chocolate frogs" he said softly, and sat down, putting his things to his side. He took the box of chocolate frogs and held it out to Percy, hoping for a truce. Even if only for today.

@Kazuo Shimada
@Percival

Kazuo had come back to the dorms after his morning run to discover a letter had been left for him. Opening it and reading the contents caused his brows to shoot upward in disbelief.

Go to the Astronomy tower tonight at 7PM. Wear something nice.

Astronomy Tower? Wear something nice? What did that even mean? He glanced around the dorm room but the rest of its inhabitants seemed to be enjoying the luxury of sleeping in, wrapped up in their blankets. If this was a prank, it did not appear to be at their hand. He looked back at the letter, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. The Astronomy Tower hmmm? The last time he had visited the tower outside of class had been in an attempt to help Selim with his insomnia and that had been… something… Could this be Selim? No, the shinobi would have no reason to trick him with anonymous letters.

He folded the letter and slid it into his back pocket, choosing not to dwell on it and returned to his usual Sunday routine of visiting the library to work on his studies. It wasn’t until returning to the dorm much later that he remembered. He stared at the letter, contemplating whether or not he should risk it. In the end, curiosity was his greatest weakness. He pulled on a jacket against the ever-present chill of the tower, shoved his wand into his sleeve, and headed towards his destined mystery meeting.

Something was frightfully amiss when he arrived, eyes taking in the floating paper hearts. Oh no. The hearts made him think there was something he was forgetting. Or perhaps something that had never even occurred to him to remember. Nonetheless, he climbed the staircase, wanting to find out who sent the letter despite the growing concern that tightened his guts. A paper-rose-arch. Heart garland. More paper hearts. So much pink, it was nausea-inducing. Valentine’s Day. A brief memory of a sign-up sheet and a distinct memory of scoffing at it. Ohnonononononono. He stood in the doorway, once again contemplating who could possibly have written that letter. Who could possibly want to lure him into this den of romance. Hags and fire both seemed more attractive options than what he was about to experience.

Whoever had decided to play this devilish prank on him would suffer.

Yet to find out who had set him up, he would have to engage in this awful event. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly as he focused on hiding his disgust behind an expression of bored disinterest. He looked around the room for some indicator of what to do next, eyes landing on the table laden with roses, chocolates and cupcakes. Sweets. Always sweets. Just once he would deeply appreciate an event that served something less saccharine. He reached out and collected a bag of chocolate anyway, sliding it into his coat pocket. You never know when you might need to bribe an idiot with chocolate, after all. Then he collected not one, but several of the roses, contemplating on delivering them to the prankster as a funerary bouquet. As he did, he noticed the label and the number that appeared on it.

Wonderful. Some kind of prearranged blind date.

He glanced around the room, viewing the numbered balloons with a sigh. Upon spotting the matching number, he took the funerary bouquet and made his way through the crowd of lovey-dovey - well… some were lovey-dovey - students enjoying their Valentine picnics. As he reached the balloon his gaze turned downward toward the blanket and its occupants.

Occupants? Two. Two boys already sitting on the blanket. Two boys he recognized. Two boys he had seen just yesterday. Percival Rainwood and Michael Miller. Well, well. Someone had a twisted sense of humour. Could this be Limehead's doing? His eyes flitted between the two boys, Miller in the middle of offering Percival a chocolate frog while Percival seemed to already be devouring some sweets.

"Ohayo, lovebirds~" Kazuo greeted the two boys with a smirk, eyes shining with amusement. "Sorry to interrupt but it seems destiny has made this a threesome." He displayed the tag with the matching number for them to see as he gracefully took a seat cross-legged beside Percival. "It seems Okuninushi has a sense of humour." He made reference to the Japanese kami that represented love more for his own amusement as he didn't expect the other boys to understand it. He let his funerary bouquet drop into his lap, unwilling to present it to either boy at this point. "It appears everyone has recovered from last night's excitement." He added, giving Michael a sly look before reaching into the picnic basket to retrieve the tea, picking an earl grey blend to prepare.

────────────────── Outfit ──────────────────

────────────────── Interacting with: @Michael Miller @Percival Rainwood ──────────────────

| Outfit |

Percival hadn't really known what to expect, but this was definitely not it. The boy had been only mildly surprised when he noticed Miller coming through the arch. It was hard to miss him. He was completely dressed in white. Acting almost like a beacon. Though his surprise only grew as he watched the boy make a beeline towards him. His confusion was clear on his face as he watched the boy sit down on the picnic blanket. Of all the people he could have gotten stuck with he got stuck with the boy who played him like a fool. Percival's face soured as he looked at the box in the boy's hand. A bribe Miller was trying to bribe him with chocolate. Percival had trouble understanding if he should feel insulted or not. Though a part of him leaned towards the former. He huffed snatching the box from his hands with a little more force than required. "Is this all you came over here for?" he asked black eyes flicking up to study the other. The boy studied the box of chocolate frogs for a few seconds. Before placing it down onto the ground next to him. He had half the mind to throw them away, but the thought of throwing away candy seemed like a waste.

The boy's face instantly turned sour as he heard Kazou's greeting. "We are not lovebirds." he instantly denied on instinct. Percival's face grimaced at the boy's joke about destiny. The boy was fairly certain that Lady Luck was not on his side. Instead of getting a chance to meet someone new, and possibly someone pretty, he got two people who had already thoroughly gotten on his nerves. Percival shoved another chocolate into his mouth replying to the boy's reference with a non-committal noise. "I'm surprised that they paired us three together. I thought the point of a blind date was to go with someone you don't know." he huffed as he plucked another chocolate from his bag. It took only a matter of seconds for the chocolate to disappear into his mouth. "I would not categorize last night as exciting. More of a disaster than anything." he said throwing an accusing look towards the blond-haired boy. Percival popped another chocolate in his mouth.

Interacting with: @Michael Miller, @Kazuo Shimada

Michael frowned as Percy spoke to him, though he took the chocolates. ". . that act too happy to see me. . " he said sarcastically as he sat down, looking down at his rose and smiling. His smile quickly disappeared as another boy sat down, Michael having to move his feet for the boy. Percy's attention immediately went on him. Oh hell no.

Michael didn't say anything as he listened to them. He looked back between the two before trying to subtly move closer to Percy. His once smiling face was glaring openly at the other boy, before they moved to Percy, his glare slowly shifting to guilt. "I shouldn't have let everyone come, wouldn't have ended how it did. . ." he said, noting his lip as he thought about the night before.

Not only did he ruin his date with Percy, he abandoned his club. He sighed and moved on leg to his chest, laying his hands on it then his head on them. He hadn't thought about what he'd do if Percy got more than one date. He looked down at his rose, before being it to his nose and sniffing it slightly. At least their was something good about this so far. Percy hadn't wanted to hurt him.

Kazuo watched the interaction between Michael and Percival, noting the not-very-friendly response Percival had to Michael’s gift. A brow arched in amusement. It seemed all was not well between the two snakes. He ignored the sour look Percival gave him, measuring the tea into a pot and adding the hot water with practiced ease. “Not lovebirds, then. Puts us all on the same level. Just three boys suffering from someone’s delightful idea of a joke. Does that sound about right? Or did you two actually sign up for this awful event?” He reached into the basket, rummaging through the contents, pulling out the assortment of snacks and spreading them out on the blanket in the middle so that any of them could reach it. “Eh? I… Hmm. That was meant to be… sarcastic. But disasters can be exciting.”

He looked over to Michael, smirking at the way the younger snake glared at him. Well, well. Trouble in paradise. It seemed that while Percival wanted nothing to do with Michael, the younger boy still had his heart set on Percy. Kazuo had no idea why the mysterious prankster had signed him up for this disaster and he certainly wasn’t interested in dating anyone but that didn’t mean he couldn’t salvage this evening. In fact, he had an idea of just how to make it entertaining. He gave Michael a benevolent smile.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. It wouldn’t have been much of a ball at all if you hadn’t invited people. And really, it was your first attempt at hosting such a thing. Tea?” He lifted the pot and began to pour into the three cups, starting with Percival, then Michael and finishing with his own cup. “Perhaps next time you could call on your club members to assist you? Most purebloods have a flock of servants to help them with their balls.” He returned his gaze to Percival, fixing the older boy with an impish smile, mischief shining in his eyes.

“Percival, would you like sugar or cream for your tea? Or perhaps a slice of cake to go with it?”

────────────────── Outfit ──────────────────

────────────────── Interacting with: @Michael Miller @Percival Rainwood ──────────────────

| Outfit |

Percival felt a frown tug at the corners of his mouth at the boy's sarcastic comment. He wasn't too sure why the other thought he would ever be excited to see him. It wasn't like the two of them were friends or even on a friendly basis. Especially after what took place only a day prior. Humiliation and anger still burned low in his gut as he debated on just shoving the box of chocolates in the boy's face. He wondered if the boy would be quieter if he did that. The faintest of smiles crossed his face at Kazuo's comment. They truly were suffering together, weren't they? Three boys, who wanted nothing to do with one another, shoved together haphazardly. "I did not. Someone decided to take that decision from my own hands.: he relayed to the black-haired boy. Percival's gaze flicked towards Miller as he moved closer to him. He couldn't help but feel slightly boxed in by the two boys. His facial expression didn't change. Instead, he simply popped a chocolate into his mouth.

A sour look crossed his features as he listened to Miller bring up the aforementioned ball. The thing had truly been a disaster, and he hadn't appreciated being abandoned in the middle of it all. "Fewer people may have helped ease the problem." he agreed with a faint nod. Percival huffed a small bit of laughter at the thought of Miller having a flock of servants. The boy wasn't the commanding sort, and he found it weird to think of the other try to give directions and be in charge. Percival glanced back towards Kazuo as the other offered to make him tea. The boy turned his body towards the other boy. His left leg slid up slightly as he turned his body. Resulting in it become more parallel to his body in a bent position. Unknowingly, his body appearing more open to the black-haired boy. While simultaneously closing off the blond-haired boy to his left. "Sugar is just fine, thank you." he said taking a look at the cups in front of them. The boy thought about the offer of cake. His sweet tooth already aching for a bite of something sweet. "Hm...what flavor?" he asked glancing away from the cups back to the boy.

Interacting with: @Kazuo Shimada, @Michael Miller

Michael Miller wasn't known for doing things that would be considered ill-mannered. He was the Heir for a pureblood family, it was preached in his head, his actions could hurt his family.

So at Hogwarts he didn't do much that could cause some unrest or anything. He was lovely, if you ignore a window smashing.

But that was all before now, before he saw Percy looking at him like that, like he wasn't. .. Wasn't worth the time. Like trash. He felt like it was harder to breath. His hand rose to his chest, as he tried desperately to calm himself to no avail.

Then the other boy turned away. Closing him off from them. And once again, in his young life, he felt like he was unwanted. Abandoned.

He took a sharp intake of breath and then he couldn't find anymore. He felt like he was drowning but tried to conceal it, he turned himself away from the others. How hoped they just thought he was pouting or something. He couldn't seem weak, not infront of them..

He closed his eyes. Telling himself to breath. His head hurt, and he felt so tired.

He started thinking, making this a problem not his problem.

Accelerated heartrate? He felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. Chest pain? Like someone was sitting on his chest. Shortness of breath? Like there was none left for him. Tightness in the throat or feeling like you’re choking? Like he was drowning. trembling or shaking? He hoped not, the last thing he needed was Percy making fun of him. Feeling faint or dizzy? Well. . .if Percy does make fun of him, he wouldn't feel it for all.

He caught Percival’s slight smile, noting that the older boy appreciated his comment. Michael provided no answer to his query but the way he stared at Percival gave him the impression that perhaps Michael had wanted to be here tonight, with Percival. He could believe that the young Slytherin might sign himself up and even possibly sign Percival up but it was clear that Michael wouldn’t have signed him up, certainly not with the intention of the three of them ending up together. If Michael had signed himself and Percival up, how had he ended up thrown into their group? Still convinced there was some other prankster at play, his thoughts returned to the ball. It had been the only time the three of them had been together.

”Do you think that rude fourth year had something to do with this?” He mused as Percival turned toward him, accepting his offer of tea - and turning away from Michael. His head tilted slightly, wondering if Percival had done it intentionally? No… He suspected not. The reading and manipulating of body language was a learned skill, as his mother had told him. One he prided himself on practicing, even if he wasn’t nearly as good as her at it… yet. His gaze shifted briefly to Michael, watching the younger Slytherin turn away at Percival’s rejection. Kazuo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He added sugar as Percival requested then turned back to the spread of sweets on the blanket, picking up the cake lifter and sliding it under a slice to draw it out. ”Ah, Red Velvet it appears. How… predictable. I swear there is more icing than cake.” He slid the cake slice onto a conveniently supplied plate, rummaging in the basket for a fork and placing both in front of Percival with a smirk. ”Tonight’s menu appears to be chocolate, chocolate and… more chocolate!”

With Percival provided for, his gaze returned to the silent Michael, noting the way the boy had closed his eyes and seemed to be breathing rapidly. He even looked like he was trembling. Kazuo let an exasperated sigh escape his lips. The fun he had thought he was going to have ruined by the younger Slytherin’s reaction. ”Honestly.” His voice was full of irritation. He took a bite of the sandwich, chewing as he stared at Michael with derision, calculating his next words. ”Are you just going to sit there? No, you look like you might cry at any moment. Perhaps run away again. Honestly, how did such a meek little mouse end up in Slytherin? Truly, the hat must be going senile with old age. If the best you can muster is…” Kazuo waved his hand in Michael’s direction. ”Whatever this is, then it’s no wonder Percival-kun has no interest in you. You know…” Kazuo paused, raising a brow. ”I’m curious, is this really the way you want things to go? You attempt to do something, in this case I suppose it must be to gain Percival-kun’s affection by offering him chocolates. When the results aren’t what you hoped for, you retreat, you give up, you run away. Why? Why is turning inward your only reaction? Have you never stood up for yourself? Tried to fight for what you want?”

Kazuo sighed and leaned back, resting his hands behind him as he turned his gaze upward toward the ceiling. ”Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. It would be boring if everyone reacted the same way to everything. I blame myself for setting my expectations too high.”

────────────────── Outfit ──────────────────

────────────────── Interacting with: @Michael Miller @Percival Rainwood ──────────────────