The Enchanted Maze Spring Ball '23

Interacting with: @Duvessa Ember

Parseltongue
English
Thoughts

Outfit

Moving you say? I'd believe it."
The ability of magic never ceased to amaze Nico. The possibilities seemed nearly endless, so it was easy to assume that the maze was somehow enchanted. And seeing as the Spring Court was student-planned, it made sense for there to be something of that sort.
"You're doing good. You aren't being awkward, Duvessa seems to be enjoying talking with you. And you're not freaking out about physical contact like you usually do."
Duvessa began lecturing talking to him about how she wasn't really as social as he thought. It was believable, she did give off a vibe of slight villainy, but in a good way.
"-but you can't blame an angel like me for it," she said.
And Nico absent-mindedly replied with, "Well, yeah. You're obviously too pretty to ever be thought of as a suspect." He almost immediately turned a slight red. "Ay... Idiot..." "Well- I mean, um. Yeah, no, I didn't- well, I did- but I... um. Damn it," he muttered in embarrassment. "Ignore the whole 'you aren't being awkward,' thing. Because you just went from cool and confident, to awkward and stumbling over your words. You just shouldn't talk to girls, or this happens..."
Nico looked the other way and grimaced, how to recover...

Outfit

Reducio

"You look amazing Rhys!" Azzy greeted them, causing a blush to rise to Rhys's face. "I'm ready to head in when you are." Just like that, Azzy was holding Rhys's hand. They tried to hide their surprise as their gaze landed for a few moments on their intertwined fingers. So they held hands now. Their attention was brought back up to Azzy's face as they noticed a blur of brown scamper up to Azzy's shoulder. Once it settled, Rhys noticed that it was simply Azzy's ferret, Mischief. "Don't mind him Rhys. He is a sneaky little furball. He means well though." Rhys smiled, shaking their head.

"Quite alright. Good you'll have a companion with you in case we get separated for any reason," They commented lightly as they moved into the maze, giving a furtive glance around. They distrusted it, since both Rhain and Rhun had recounted their own experiences and explained in length about the complex magical qualities of it. How easily it could shift and change.

Rhys, like any neurodivergent queer with daddy issues, hated change. Even good change, such as these recent developments with Azzy (and, for a minute there in December/January, Qrow), caught them off guard. And they always tried to be on their guard.

As Rhys glanced around, they caught sight of a familiar spill of red curls, and a fleeting show of green, and they immediately recognized Qrow, their other "close acquaintance" that they had flirted with on occasion. Things between them and Qrow weren't nearly to the level as they were between them and Azzy, but they very much had the potential to be. Rhys's stomach twisted as they were again reminded of how affected they were by the Slytherin, despite feeling that way about Azzy at the same time.

Ugh, they were eleven. Far too young for this teen-angst bullshit.

Pushing those thoughts from their mind, Rhys gave Qrow a wave, smiling a bit as they beckoned the red-haired metamorphmagus over to where they stood.

"Hang on, Az." Rhys put a hand on Azzy's arm so that Qrow could catch up to them before turning back to face the Slytherin.

"You want to stop lurking and maybe join us?" They joked, quirking a brow as they gave a once-over of the other genderqueer. Unsurprisingly, Qrow cleaned up quite nice.

Reducio

Trying to tolerate @Qrow Beithir for @Rhys Read and about to fail

Azzy stopped and looked back, seeing Qrow and tensing. They had hoped that they wouldn't run into the Slytherin boy again. They did their best to avoid him since that day. Azzy politely bit their tongue, they wouldn't be speaking much after this one. And that was just so it didn't go badly. The ferret on Azzy's shoulder licked Azzy's cheek and laid it's head back down. They were on edge now. And they hated that Qrow was here. But they decided to play it nice until something rude was said. "Yeah Qrow. Stop being a creep." Azzy's tone had gotten a bit more bitter than their normally sweet and caring voice. They silently prayed to Loki that this wouldn't end bad. Oh Gods what had they gotten themselves into. The very sight of that stuck up Slytherin made the petite Gryffindor's skin crawl with hatred. And that was a new one for Azzy. They had figured out they disliked Qrow from the second they met him. Suddenly they got a bad feeling in the pit of their stomach. Something told them that they were going back to Gryffindor tower to cry to their cousins about what had happened today, and that didn't sit right with them. Azzy could sense something more between Qrow and Rhys, that or they were overthinking it, either way they'd zoned out and lost all track of the conversation.

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Reducio

Interacting with @Rhys Read And @Azrael Faire

"You want to stop lurking and maybe join us?" Rhys joked.

"Yeah Qrow. Stop being a creep." Ah, Qrow knew that bitter voice anywhere. They had almost forgotten that Azrael Faire was Rhys's 'date'. Though it was rather unfortunate if you asked them.

They brushed off Azrael's comment quickly. They would not let their distaste for Azrael ruin their friends' night.

In retrospect, it wasn’t as if Qrow was purposefully trying to be creepy; at this point, lurking was just a bad habit. They hadn’t even realised they were following the pair until it was pointed out; the redhead had always had an awful sense of direction, and it was likely their subconscious’ way of making sure they didn’t get lost in the damned maze. The invitation to tag along from Rhys was certainly appreciated, and if it helped minorly piss off the other Gryffindor, the metamorphmagus would gladly take the offer.

Well, it's best to be polite.

"Ah, you must be Azrael Faire. I believe we’ve met, though I don’t think we got to properly introduce ourselves. Qrow Beithir. My pronouns are they/them."

They desperately pushed down the itchy sensation that pricked their skin as they realised Rhys's gaze was on them.
“Well, firecracker." The redhead started with a smirk, their pupils turning narrow and snake-like as they looked into Rhys’ ocean eyes. "How do I look? Convincingly human?"

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Reducio

The gorgeous white gown and remarkably shiny jewelry Annika had chosen for the night did nothing to hide her apparent disdain for the situation. Her “master plan” had seemed more and more like a bad idea the closer the ball got. To be honest, she’d much rather have skipped out like she did at the last event; standing up the offending character to her side sounded much easier than trying to make his night miserable.

When she had originally asked her “date” to the ball, she had in all honesty thought that he would refuse, and that her plan to humiliate him in front of the Hogwarts students would be foiled. But it turns out that him accepting the offer was surprisingly the worse option. What was she supposed to do now that they were here, standing in front of a giant maze in which she had no clue how to get through.

Speak of the devil, she saw Kolya turn to face her, an annoying smirk already present on his face. She took a deep sigh and put on the fakest smile she could conjure - making sure the sarcastic aspect was clear. “Ladies first? Well I guess I should let you go ahead then, huh?”

She adopted a sly smirk of her own. Despite her response, she took one last nervous glance at the maze before stepping inside, careful not to trip on her long dress. Taking small breaks to admire the flowers and pretty plants that littered the green walls of the maze, she took charge of navigation, only stopping when they reached their first dead end.

“Crap.” she turned abruptly, nearly bumping into Kolya with how sudden she changed directions. “Uhh..any idea where we go from here? Y’know, since you’re so smart.” Her sarcastic tone was supposed to shadow the fact that she had absolutely no clue where she was going either.

Stats: EVA - 9 | STR - 4 | WIS - 6 | ARC - 4 | ACC - 6 | STA - 8

Inventory: Wand

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iNPC • Annika Novikov

Though he tried to concentrate on his juggling, the actions became a matter of muscle memory and therefore didn't require much thinking at all. It was for this reason he almost went back to thinking about Flash's disappearance when he spotted a familiar, princely figure applauding him among the throngs of other students and grinned from ear to ear. Ye-jun's timing couldn't have been more perfect.

"Hyung!" he called out joyfully, almost dropping a torch in the process but quickly catching it. "I'm so glad you could make it! I didn't know if you would be attending this ball. Especially considering how close in theme it seems like it was to the last one," he added with a small laugh. "Princely attire really does suit you, though."

Between his tosses, he gave a small bow. "As for your question, your Royal Highness, I am quite alone. Well, as far as dates go, anyway. Unless you would care to be mine for a second time?" His smile turned sheepish. "Because last time went so well, I know."

Idly continuing his juggling, Jack glanced about as if expecting to see someone. Who he was looking for became evident as he asked, "How's your cousin, if you don't mind me asking? Did she, um...decide to come, too?" He could only imagine how she was taking Flash's mysterious absence.

HP: 600/600
Stats: STA 6 / EVA 9 / STR 3 / WIS 15 / ARC 9 / ACC 9
Abilities: Prodigal Charms / Binding Mark / Perfectionist / Perfectionist II
Action: N/A
Free Action(s): Talking with Ye-Jun
Interacting with: Ye-jun Lee (@Eun-ji Lee Hunt)

Open to Interactions

Post Tracker: [1], [2]

As he looked at the boy, a shock came upon Gabriel’s face. His reaction was more than startling; the change from aggressive to “flirty” had been faster than he’d ever seen. This boy was surely weird, maybe even weirder than the midget he reminded Gabriel of.

Gabe peered at Vladislav’s wand, was it really an elder wand like he claimed? If so, this boy could be powerful and maybe a good friend despite his...quirks. Gabriel wasn’t one to judge, so he decided to shake off Vladislav’s behavior. He got pulled into a quick hug which was very unexpected, but seconds later he found himself attempting not to crack up. The boy had turned away so fast, it was a miracle his back was alright.

Before he could comment on this, the boy was yelling again. Seemingly at some student who put on a fire spell, so perhaps it was justified this time. “There are some idiots here with magic, they’re going to find themselves hurt before they even enter the maze.” He stated, as Vladislav turned towards him.

The reply he received was truly astounding, was this boy serious?? Asking Gabriel to kiss him? “You can’t go around kissing people dude. I just met you” He blurted out. He took a moment considering. “I am already uh- dating? - people. But I will admit you are good looking and seem decent enough, I will maybe, MAYBE! reconsider after this evening.”

He took a step closer to the maze and beckoned the boy over. “Now I’m going into the maze. You’re welcome to join me, though if you don’t I doubt I’ll have to consider anything more.” He remarked, preparing to head into the maze, alone or not. Just before he went in, he stopped and looked back. “You forgot to introduce yourself, so I’ll start. Gabriel Palmer.. Its a pleasure to meet you.” And away he was.

Actions: Half-rejecting Vlad @Clark Baird and entering the maze.

Reducio

Stats: Stamina 7 | Strength 8 | Evasion 4 | Wisdom 7 | Arcane Power 4 | Accuracy 5
No abilities

english | russian

Amina was a little bit disappointed by the reaction she had triggered with her entrance. Val didn’t kiss her back - Then he just returned to everything like nothing had happened and even wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She couldn’t see his face and the true shock she had released and that gave her a false impression of her impact. She had expected him to either make fun of the situation with her by playing along or teasingly push her away. But this… was underwhelming. Not even Slava laughed… The only one with a proper reaction was Romeo. Or even more than propper. Amina felt a small triumph that her prank had at least straddled him.
Shortly, she considered making the prank even more clear and force the other people to notice it, but then she shrugged it off. Instead she offered the two people she didn’t know yet a white grin and a high five. "Hi, nice to meet you, guys. And welcome to Durmstrang, Maila!” The girl did seem familiar. Now, the redhead thought to remember seeing her in the castle before. She was rather pretty and had a kind and nice aura. Amina liked that. The Samurai she hadn’t met before for sure. Last year she still had been busy getting familiar with her own new school. Talking of her school - where was Felix? She didn't see him. Too bad, it would have been nice if he had seen this...

Her green eyes fell back on her partner in crime, Slava. "And good job, Hanya. I will ask him next time to help me, too. You pull it off nicely.” Followed by a wink she grinned at him and then turned her head towards the maze. Their unofficial leader of the group was ready and so was she. Amina was ready for some action.

But after all, the game was not over yet and as Romeo approached her, she didn’t give up her position on Valentine's side. A knight, how fitting. She gave him an appreciative nod, acknowledging his efforts until he opened his mouth to criticize her lovey-dovey name for Valentin.
"Oh, what would be better than babe? Honeypuff? Moonpie? Since he is so sweet you just want to eat him up?" With a sweet smile followed by a smirk she would pat Val’s arm and turned her head to beam at him.
Although, like Slava, she was not the most observant when it came to emotions, even she had not missed Romeo's open mouth and the blush on his cheeks. Amina had never questioned the two of them and had no idea what was going on. For her, they were simply good friends and Romeo was her constant rival in that friendship triangle although she respected and liked him. His reaction just now puzzled her nonetheless. And that only allowed the following conclusion.
With a frown, she leaned forward a bit, her arm still around Valentin. "And duh, I’ll join you, but - Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” She teased and then suddenly widened her eyes in realization. "You are, aren’t you? You have a crush on me! Oh. My. God. This explains so much!” Was that within the realm of possibility? She stared at him expectantly. Not that she was interested in him, but that would complicate things unnecessarily.

As soon as the group started moving, Amina would stick to Val’s side. "Lead the way, my captain, my hero, my champion!” She chirped and squeezed him briefly. Still unaware of his shock and pain, she just assumed everyone had moved on from what had happened. Like a child she was more focused on her surroundings than on the people with her. She softly touched the whispering plants of the maze. They seemed to talk to her and push them a certain way. Looking up at the dark walls in awe, the young Durmstrang got easily from her original mission. "Fascinating. I wonder what this looks like from above" She whispered more to herself than to anyone else and petted the wall.

And then, when Romeo appeared on Val’s other side, Slava pulled her away from the group.
Amina gave in and willingly linked her arms with the boy, giving him a friendly welcome nudge in the side. Her grin deepend as he addressed her entrance. Okay, at least some people had noticed it! She blinked at him with playful innocent big eyes. “I don’t know what you mean. Isn’t that how you welcome your date for the night?” Giggling, she shook her head. This laugh attack was only interrupted when he presented the glitter to her. “Oooooh!” Her eyes widened in excitement and she immediately froze in place to perform a complicated bow that included a lot of gesturing. “The king commands, the peasant obeys. Please, do me the honor, Mylord.” After a short pause, she blinked up to him. “Oh, I just wanted to prank Val a bit. Also - kissing is fun.” Her grin grew wider and a sparkle appeared in her eyes. “And maybe, if you’re lucky. What would you do to get one?”
She would stay in that position, waiting for the boy to empty the glitter over her head. Then she would spin around herself to spread it all over her body and costume, face turned up to the dark sky and constantly wheezing in excitement. Then she would pull his arm to follow the group through the maze if he allowed her to drag him along.

Interacting | Valentin (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood) | Slava (@Ruby Cazares) | Romeo (@Piérre Marchonné) | Maila (@Beatrice Dupont) | Ginyami (@Jack Burnett)

Mentions | Felix (@Winnie Harper)

open to interactions

Action | actually action will be included in next post

Ability | Muggle Condition | Fearless | Foulplay | Lovely Creature

Allies for LC | noone ~ everyone may admire her =P You can decide from an RP perspective how much the ability affects you

Stats | Sta:9 | Ev:15 | Str:7 | Wis:7 | Arc:2 | Acc:15

Aƚƚιɾҽ + Pԋყʂιƈαʅ Dҽʂƈɾιρƚισɳ

Reducio

A pretty prince. Like the one whose the heir of the kingdom but all they do is laze around and skip lessons. From top to bottom, he wore this royal-like get up in dark blue colours. Each little thing added to the outfit (the cape, the badge, the shoulder pads etc) made their use by hiding his usually skinny stature, giving him the illusion that he was more built than he actually was.

The main attention grabber definitely was his outfit, but there were other small details people who talked to him could notice. Like the subtle shade of red that dusted his eyelids, giving a sort of femininity to his outfit. As well as the one clip on earring he wore on his right ear, that was a light shade of gold, shaped like thin ropes that reached just above his shoulders.

His hair was kept in his usual manner of soft wavy jet black locks. If not, even slightly more curled than usual.

He was coerced. Forced against his will. And …sponsored? He was unaware of Katherine’s real intentions when she told him that she would be in charge of his outfit for the upcoming ball. They did have a history that involved Kath making him do things he didn’t want to. As bossy and demanding as she was, it didn’t come to a surprise. But he had grown tired of being her dress up doll and eventually started feeling comfort in a different style in compared to hers. More comforting, light and semi-feminine had always made him feel more at ease.

Alas, keeping in mind of all that while following the dress code for this year’s theme proved to be a difficult task. It was King’s Court- they didn’t really value comfort under all those garments and whatnot. He wasn’t willing to risk an extra wad of cash to get those outfits with good material either, so he went with the typically safe good-looking peasant outfit. Only to have the sight of it be an insult to Katherine’s eyes the second she laid her gaze on it. True to her words, a package did arrive for him a few days later. With a whole attire he probably wouldn’t be able to afford like..ever.

Well, at least the fabric seemed comfortable.. He wasn’t stupid enough to refuse her orders ( unless there was a discreet manner to do it ), so he figured he might as well go along with it. That made them get ready together, an activity they had not done in a while. If he wasn’t so busy desperately getting used to his new outfit, he would’ve noticed he actually had fun with her. It was comfortable, sure but ….this whole…price-ly vibe… it was incredibly unfamiliar for a wizard incredibly in tune with the current modern era of muggles. How could purebloods wear stuff like this all the time? Those were his thoughts before he saw himself in the mirror. Oh damnn yea maybe this cannn work out. If anything, Katherine certainly has good taste.

Knowing dates were more trouble than they were worth, Hanako went ahead and arrived with Katherine knowing she had some other dunce waiting for her. Poor guy. Caught in her twisted little web, on the way to getting his heart broken. Oh well, who told him to fall for her charms? He wasn’t so keen on being a third-wheel, so at the first sight of a cute guy, Hanako gave her a lazy wave and went ahead to have his own little fun~.

A fun that only lasted for a good few minutes, sadly. It was easy enough to gain his attention. Looking like you just got out of a fairy tail book + Hanako’s usual forward manner, it was a good recipe for a night of fun. Sadly, their smooth flow of conversations took a turn when this guy had revealed his fondness for…cats. And suddenly, this guy wasn’t cute anymore. It seemed he was too busy talking about them to notice how bored Hanako was getting. Fortunately for him, his eyes caught a familiar face a good distance behind the cat lover, and Hanako found his excuse to leave. “ Ah! That's my friend right there. I gotta go and make sure he doesn’t miss me too much. See you later, Handsome~” hopefully never. A thought the other boy didn’t seem to share judging by the flush of pink that tinted his cheeks. Wow this outfit was really doing wonders, huh. Well whatever, he’ll forget about Hanako soon enough.

“ Burnett! Hello ” he called out in a playful greeting, quickly giving him a quick pat on the shoulder as if they were buddies reuniting (unless Jack is still juggling fires, then the intention was showed but Hana backed away nervously) . They were not. But it needed to look like that. “ Thanks to your torch juggling earlier, it was super easy to spot you. So, you really saved me from a sticky situation. You have my utmost gratitude. Now help me out even more and pretend like you’re happy to see me. Like- even more than usual, of course “ he jested with a casual grin, using all his energy to not turn back to see if the cat lover was still there. It was only now that he took notice of the other person. Why Hanako didn’t notice him earlier was a huge mystery to him.

“Hello ~”. It was certainly different from the ‘hello’ Burnett received, that's for sure. Hanako hadn’t really made it a habit to be subtle with his attraction to anyone. Nor did he want to. Suddenly the cat lover was absent from his mind, thanks to this good-looking stranger in front of him. Fingers crossed he wasn’t a crazy cat person. Or worst, like dating Burnett. “ I’m not interrupting anything am I? “. Honestly, he hoped he did. Sorry, but Burnett was the one that said he wasn't all that interested in romance and whatnot sooooooo according to Hanako, the handsome stranger definitely is up for grabs.

Iɳƚҽɾαƈƚιɳɠ
@Jack Burnett and @Eun-Ji Lee Hunt's inpc

Mҽɳƚισɳιɳɠ
@Katherine Labraouder and @Haley Rose's inpc

Iɳʋҽɳƚσɾყ
wand and non-stop rizz

Sƚαƚʂ + AႦιʅιƚҽʂ
ꜱ ᴛ ᴀ ᴍ ɪ ɴ ᴀ : 10 | ꜱ ᴛ ʀ ᴇ ɴ ɢ ᴛ ʜ : 3 | ᴀ ʀ ᴄ ᴀ ɴ ᴇ : 10 | ᴀ ᴄ ᴄ ᴜ ʀ ᴀ ᴄ ʏ : 10 | ᴇ ᴠ ᴀ ꜱ ɪ ᴏ ɴ : 6 |
ᴡ ɪ ꜱ ᴅ ᴏ ᴍ : 10

ᴘᴀʀꜱᴇʟᴍᴏᴜᴛʜ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʙʟɪɴᴅᴠɪꜱɪᴏɴ

Posts (so I don't cry about not being able to find it later)

Hana's Posts: I . II . III . IV . V . VI

Story Progress Posts: I . II . III . IV . V . VI . VII . VIII . IX . X