The Mistletoe Spin Group #9 Summer Camp 2024

threading as Johannes Sauer
speaking in english(!!) unless specified

Manu was right— Felix's passion wasn't terrible. If anything, it was instead a shining example of Durmstrang's literal lifeblood. When even romance became a competition to excel at, the Swede's unique cocktail of tsundere compassion and dev-patched magical badassery only justified his Horntail rank. Yet no matter how militarily fitting Nubuck's intensity was, even the pretty candlelight couldn't blind everyone else from judging him. For this, Johannes had never been more grateful to be making first impressions. Someone else could clarify the convoluted relationship ties and romantically inconvenient mistletoes. If things went really well, he'd never have to worry about the threat to his (nonexistent)kiss list again except at gunpoint.

When the dancing had again paused, Johannes would be greeted by a somewhat shorter boy in a winter-themed suit. Don't check the calendars, for this guy seemed as prepared for Christmas in July as the dance organizers. “Johannes Sauer, Durmstrang. Nice to meet you.” His partner seemed more formal than his past two matches, as refreshingly respectful as a potential interviewee at a job convention. It was quaint. Chivalrous at best, dry at worst. Vaguely strait-laced in a way Johannes was unused to seeing except in the classroom. Though, considering the rapid, repeating small-talk required for these impromptu blind dates, it wasn't as if he could complain too much. “You’re more straightforward than I expected from this game. It's interesting." Cocking his head to the side in intrigue, he sized Tristan up. No, he likely wouldn't get the same sort of easy banter here. "Save the kissing for another one of our group. We could just talk if that's alright with you...? If this dancefloor even gives us the time of day." Yet whatever conversation they'd small-talk away in, it wasn't destined to last. By this point, already sick of the rapid-fire mingling, he was starting to believe their love lives were being played with on purpose.

Thank god for small mercies like familiar faces! As the music dropped and the hum of conversation began once more, Johannes' good-humoured niceties melted into fond acknowledgement at the sight of their brilliant #9. A familiar beacon of gold silk, he seemed even shinier up close than he did by candlelight. The tense string of supervision seemed to finally loosen— a small burden shared by two. "Funny seeing you here, Mad." He switched to Russian, which sat sweeter on his tongue after so many years of everyday use. No longer were they bound by the polite confines of perpetual introduction— no, their interactions could get a lot less boring than an unestablished dynamic. If only Madhup had tented with them! It could have been so fun, if not totally incompatible with a quiet night's rest. "Don't you look nice? Where'd you get the tailcoat?" Deliberately ignorant of the mistletoe hanging over them like a guillotine blade, Johannes reached out to graze an appreciative hand over Madhup's embroidered lapels and fine fabric. "The co-ord* is unmatched." His own outfit was fun to put together but Mad's robes looked fit for the high court. A real Aladdin-like figure. And if his interest was only partially exaggerated to brush off some unfortunate candlewax marks, who could blame him for wanting his friends to look their best? He couldn’t be a helpful little shoulder devil without smudging the line between teasing and sincerity.

"Y'know, I saw you getting real cosy with Dee and Lix earlier.” Curious as hell, the Regency court life didn't suit Johannes well at all. Who needed fan language and Jane Austen when you had magical spin the bottle? Madhup had been a bit too comfortable with Felix for the first round, but at least he'd had his fun time. Saving Dealla’s pretty dress from a second dripping candle might have made up for it, especially considering the Hogwarts student had described their #9 as 'pretty cute' earlier. "Any potential blacklisters to look out for? More importantly..." He broke off, glancing briefly at the inevitable disaster of Felix and Theo under the mistletoe. His cursory attention skittered nervously from Greta’s pairing, unwilling to look at Rett’s stupid chivalry and pretty blond hair any more than he needed to. Their Valkyrie was an innocent party in all of this and Johannes intended it to stay that way. “Mind translating Swedish for me?"

For most people in Group 9, spectating the complicated dynamics at play had little more risk than a fly on the wall. It was like flipping channels on the TV, fully capable of switching away when the drama became too boring. Too real for comfort. But much like the dynamics of those high school teen dramas, Durmstrang had the funny side effect of making every friend’s love life so much more important than it should be. They didn't even have the emotional fallback of an iconic theme song to memorize... How did extending their friendship and protection to each other’s circles somehow decide judgment in all elements of social life? This schoolyard drama of who kissed who and 'she-did-he-did-what?' wouldn’t have normally appealed to Johannes either if not for his direct loyalties at play. He didn't necessarily need context if the event went sideways, but it certainly wouldn't hurt if it didn’t. The longer he avoided confrontation, the better.

Action: Boys nightt~

Mod Information

Reducio

Statistics: Sta: 10 | Eva: 17 | Str: 10 | Wisdom: 9 | Arc: 8 | Acc: 18
Abilities: Foulplay, Charmer, Evasive Maneuvers, Rapid Reviver, Blindvision, Wandmaker*, Lovely Creature

Charmer Allies: @Greta Fransson, @Felix Kolbeck, @Madhup Hexum

Wandmaker Information

Reducio

Dragon Heartstring
- Dragon Like Power: +3 to arcane power when casting spells with this wand.
- Accident Prone: 5% chance that the intended spell will rebound on the caster. Non-targeted spells such as counters, healing, and some utility spells that have no target or are self-targeting cannot rebound. This is not prevented by the Perfectionist ability.

Cedar Wood: "Spells performed against this wand owner's enemies (those who have specifically crossed them) tend to be more painful."
Romanian Longhorn: "When their owner is passionate about something, the spells that successfully go off tend to be more dramatic."

Outfit Reference

Reducio

*Co-ord/coord: Short for coordination, which in this context refers to matching sets of clothing meant to be worn together!

RPING AS CASTELOBRUXO STUDENT MANU MACEDO

“What's worth having is worth waiting for.”
—Brazilian proverb

Manu narrowed her eyes as Dealla snorted a laugh that would've had some of her childhood teachers from Rio rapping the Hogwarts girl's knuckles and chiding her about being a lady. What was there to laugh about? Toes? Miss Ul, whoever she was, seemed to be someone about whom everyone else was in the know, and Manu was not. Luckily, the Brit took pity on her a moment later and explained about the mistletoe tradition. "Ah. O visco," Oh. Mistletoe, she muttered, eyeing the green plant dangling above hers and Dealla's heads like a giant, leafy middle finger. That, at least, Brazil had in common with Britain. This kissing tradition? Not so much. "You know, in the Brazil, when we are wanting to kiss someone, simply we kiss them," she jabbed, half-snidely, cocking an eyebrow at her duelling-rival-turned-dance-partner. "We do not wait that a plant tells us to do it."

Still, it was similar to Twirl the Flagon, another British kissing game the Brazilian girl had played going on... what was it, two years ago? What is it with these British and their kissing games? Don't they know how to just kiss each other? she wondered, shaking her head at Dee ever-so-slightly. At least this time there were no jealous redheaded girlfriends, dumb equally redheaded boyfriends, or annoying brotherly enemies making rude side remarks to mess with her. That in and of itself made this dance of sucking face a bit more tolerable than it had been last time. And anyway, Manu knew how to kiss. If all these strangers so desperately wanted a chance at her, so be it.

Dealla, though, was... well. Something else. Manu was no stranger to kissing girls, nor was she any stranger to kissing her worst enemies. But between her being Aly's friend and having bested her twice in duels, Manu's mouth felt more dry than ever. She didn't exactly feel up to kissing the dark-haired girl in front of her, no matter what Miss Ul's toes had to say about it.

So she drew away from her curly-haired pen pal's curly-haired best mate, folding her arms and looking down at her through heavy, half-lidded eyes. The other girl was, after all, a couple inches short of her, and somehow much less threatening up close than she was six feet away and with a wand in her very talented, extremely capable hand. "If you are wanting a kiss of mine, face me on the battlefield another turn," Manu bit out, an accusation as equally as it was a challenge. "You turn again to win, I will accept the defeat and give to you a kiss with all of the gusto. But I promise to you that you will not beat me a third time."

The music swept her away almost before the last words of the provocation could leave her mouth; she could only give Dealla an arrogant smirk as she whirled back into a waltz. Would it be this summer? Would it be next summer? Who knew? But Manu did know one thing for sure: she would not let Dealla Prince, the Ravenclaw princess, beat her another time. The Prince's reign was over. It was time for the mace.

As the last notes faded, Manu took a last three steps into very familiar arms. No longer was she looking down at a dance partner, but instead, very much up; the Castelobruxo student craned her neck back to stare into very familiar, shockingly blue eyes. "Oh. You another time," escaped her lips before she could so much as think about it. It wasn't a bad thing - really, no it wasn't. Compared to the rest of the dance partners she'd ended up with in this hellscape of a kissing game, this one hadn't been so bad, despite his inability to say words that she could understand. He was easy on the eyes, at least, and hadn't kicked her ass in duelling two years in a row, so that was a plus.

She cast a quick look upwards, above the tall boy in front of her, just to double-check very quickly that they had not ended up under one of the leafy kissing plants. No, it was just a candle - luckily for Manu, who was quite sure she would have had to climb this boy like a tree (or at least yank him downwards by the shirt) in order to plant her lips on his. Well, mistletoe or not, it was fine by her to have ended up with him once again. "I realised, to me, as we left from the last time, that I did not know your name," she told him, a small smile quirking at the corners of her lips. "The mine is Manu. And the... yours?"

Action: Chattin'

STA 11 | EVA 12 | STR 6 | WIS 11 | ARC 10 | ACC 13
The Muggle Condition | Fearless | Advanced Casting
Wandmaker |Perfectionist | Spell Spread

Greta Fransson @Evelynn Decipio, Felix Kolbeck @Winnie Harper @Alan Vanes

He was asking for it. Oh, he was so asking for it. Maybe it was that exactly that just blew all the fight and tension out of the American, as he listened to the mass of words that were clearly meant to hurt him. And suddenly he felt like he was watching one of his younger brothers throwing a fit.

Theo had never been a person who turned to violence quickly, despite being a beater. He was the guy who calmed heated situations, who always aimed to make people feel comfortable around him, who solved conflicts peacefully. There was a reason his siblings tended to turn to him for advice when they found themselves in a conflict, more often than they turned to their parents.

So Theo waited for Felix to finish before answering, using the same tone he would have used on his brothers. "You feeling better about yourself yet? Come on, I am sure you have more. Get it all out of your system, kid."
He waited another second before saying his piece. "I really don't get it. You, that Forsberg guy, you really are all the same, aren't you? Biting at everyone who likes the same person as you do, using her like a weapon, not spending a second thinking about the fact that it might hurt her if her friends fight."

He shook his head. "It is her choice- which generally seems to be something that is just ignored and walked over by her 'friends', isn't it?- and if you are her choice, I will live with that and hope you grow to deserve her. I will not fight you or disrespect her decisions and hurt her. But believe me I will hurt you, should I ever hear of you treating her badly."

Theo found himself getting calmer and calmer while he spoke. "If respecting a person gives forgotten wet towel energy, colour me proud of it.", he continued, already turning to leave, "This wet towel will always be there, when she needs it."
With that he walked away. He could think of a million better things to do than to fight a mini Nichlas Forsberg. Like jumping into a frozen lake.

Action: Leaving unless stopped.

Dee blinked, then laughed at Manu's comments about being ordered around by a plant. "Eh, you can still do that." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, in the vague direction of some of the other dancers. "Not all of the kissing going on here was mistletoe-induced." There was no way she was going to let Manu off without some teasing, however, so her grin widened at the next words. "And it's completely fine if you're too nervous and want to chicken out, you know. I remember you being rather distracted by me last duel..." This one, she was rather certain, was not going to call her bluff. Not that she doubted Manu's guts, but she'd teased the Brazilian girl about the exact same thing during the duel last summer when she'd failed to land a few spells, and... from what she remembered, it hadn't been taken too well.

Instead, however, Manu made her an offer that... made Dee hesitate. Not because of the kissing part, she would have kissed Manu right here to prove a point, but... duelling? Dee had left the Ravenclaw team a few months ago with a sense of bone-deep relief. She wasn't exactly looking to jump back into it at the moment, the thought alone made her feel trapped, almost claustrophobic. And especially not to settle what seemed to be a rather personal grudge for Manu. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You can just admit you want to kiss me, and we can skip the part where I knock you on your ass a third time," she replied, trying to sound as blithe about it as she had before, but there was a slight strain to her voice that turned the words less light-hearted than she wanted them to be.

Yet she wouldn't be Dealla Prince if she backed down from a challenge, so when Manu spun away with an insufferable smirk on her face, Dee called after her: "Find me at Hogwarts next time you're there!"

She was glad, then, to let the music carry her away again, spinning from partner to partner and taking the time to push down the conflicting feelings the thought of duelling provoked in her these days and recall the excitement she'd felt earlier during the night.

Next time she stopped - really, if not for the spell, she would have tripped over her own feet at least five times by now - she found herself facing one of her classmates. It was the blond one she'd pointed out to Johannes as cute enough earlier and her mind instinctively assigned him to Slytherin, but she truthfully didn't remember ever actually talking to him, despite them having shared classes for the past five years. A suspicious glance upwards revealed another candle, but at least one this didn't seem to provide immediate danger of splashing wax on them, so she gave her new partner a sunny smile. "Hi! Tristan, right? How'd you like the night so far - gotten lucky yet?"

Action | Teasing Manu and chatting with Tristan!

Manu Macedo (@Aly Salinger) | @Tristan Theramin

Stats | Sta 7 | Eva 16 | Str 3 | Wis 15 | Arc 8 | Acc 20
Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer | Perfectionist II | Spell Spread | Restricted Potions
Charmer affects everyone present.

♢ Date | 2 August, 2024 ♢
♢ Interacting With | Felix Kolbeck^{@Winnie Harper} + Greta Fransson^{@Evelynn Decipio}♢
♢ Hex Code | #C08838 ♢

Rett was mildly surprised at how eager Felix was in the kiss. Feeling the slight bite on his lip, Rett couldn't help the small gasp out of surprise. As they pulled away, his eyebrow raised. Suddenly curious about the boy standing before him. "I'll keep that in mind for the future." The broken hearts that Rett had left laying behind him when he started to date Rafa seemed to be sweeter than he believed. Less deserving of having their hearts broken at all. Granted, he was young and just playing around. What a shame. Maybe some of them would've paid more attention to him than Rafa ever did.

Music, dancing, back together with a girl he had seen around summer camp but never gotten around to knowing. His honey sweet charm kicked into third gear, if there was anyone to be polite and sweet to (according to his parents) it was a nice young lady. "Everett Brooks, most call me Rett. Ilvermorny." He took her hands up, dancing her further out of the way of the candle, mostly putting himself under it instead. Wax was not too hard to clean up later, especially with the help of a well chosen spell. "People seem to be quite interested in you this evening, especially spell wise." He glanced over at Felix, then to Theo. "Hopefully I can provide you a quiet moment of simply dancing rather than dodging melting candles or spells headed your way."

Action || Sacrificing Himself Under the Candle

Durmstrang | Year 7 | Height: 5' 2"

Russian‏‏‎ | Swedish‏‏‎ | Norwegian‏‏‎ | English

"Oh!" Giggles bubbled, the sting of the molten wax soon forgotten as the blonde gracefully spun her out of harm's way from its gravitational path. All the dancing and spinning certainly wasn't helping the state of her hair, the once precisely pinned tresses now half fallen around her shoulders to her mid-back. "It is nice to meet you, Rett," Greta beamed, obviously entirely unbothered by her declining state of dress. "Ilvermorny? You know a Theo, maybe?" She queried. "He is student of Ilvermorny also."

And perhaps it seemed that this boy did indeed know Theo. When he spoke, the little valkyrie followed his gaze to two familiar figures. Delighted recognition illuminated her face for all of a second before fading into concern as Felix (@Winnie Harper) and Theo (@Opeila Winters) did not appear to be all too happily engaged in conversation; and then to confusion. "I not understand." She dragged her gaze away from the simmering conflict to peer up at Rett. "What people is interested in me? What is 'spellwise'?" Her confusion only deepened. "There is spell on my head?"

Her hand lifted to touch at her head as her gaze glanced sheepishly around them, coming to settle again on Felix and Theo, the lattermost in the middle of a lengthy monologue that she couldn't quite keep up with. She caught the name Forsberg, brows pinching with bemusement as to why on earth they would be talking about Niche. Unless they meant Ella? Something about Felix being the same as someone. Biting, weapon, it might hurt her...

Her hand started to drift slowly down to her side, as images of biting slugs and friends turned host bubbled hauntingly into view. She shifted rapidly between Theo and Felix, expression gradually encroaching upon dread and disbelief. Theo was talking about fighting friends? Was he trying to hurt the Horntails? Then a lot of words that she couldn't make sense of until I will not fight you and hurt her and I will hurt you. Was this why he had seemed so solemn when they had paired up? Had it been Theo who had cast a spell at her and was gauging whether it had taken effect? The jaw that had slackened open shut suddenly with a chatter of teeth, eyes wide with fierce loyalty as she reached for her wand hidden deep in her pockets.

"You don't hurt my friends!" she yelled, no hesitation as she pointed her wand at Theo, and definitely not giving any slugs a chance to bite Felix. "Slugulus eructo!"

Action: Being bad at English, misunderstanding everything, and Casting the Slug Vomiting curse at Theo

Once more the music swelled and AJ was thrust into a near dizziness inducing twirl of unnaturally smooth moves forced upon him by the infernal floor. He wondered which one of these colourful characters he would end up with next, and if he could manage to be less awkward this time...probably not.

It turned out the face he met with was not altogether unfamiliar, as if fate had granted him a second chance to redeem his rather lacking conversational talents. The Brazilian Beauty was in his arms once more, and with the first sentence out of her mouth it sounded like she was disappointed to be so. No matter, AJ was far swifter this time in standing her up and keeping his hands to himself from then on. "Ah...hullo agun..." "Ah...hello again..."

As Manu looked up AJ would follow suit and both of them would spot the candle. AJ was relieved on her behalf, it seemed he had a natural talent for avoiding the kisses in games like this. "Mebbe nux teem." "Maybe next time." He chuckles and shrugs casually. He assumed she had someone here she'd much rather kiss and that was ok, these things happen.

She did at least provide a name, or rather, clarified her name for him. It was nice to know she hadn't slung an insult his way and had rather been trying to introduce herself before. "Oh ah see. Neece t' mee' yeh Mahnoo. Am Eejee." "Oh I see. Nice to meet you Manu. I'm AJ." He introduces himself back, bowing ever so slightly as he does so. "Yoov go' ah veereh neece neem, duss ut meen unnethen?" "You've got a very nice name. Does it mean anything?" He asks, trying to make conversation before the music whisks them away again.

Group 9

FINAL MODERATION POST

Our last dance-floor of the evening has one final song left to waltz, but before that, there's plenty of drama yet to be done. Greta Fransson first chats with a self-sacrificial Everett Brooks, but upon seeing Theodore Duncain exit from his dance/argument with a sour-tongued Felix Kolbeck, Greta shoots an ill-fated Slug-Vomiting Spell at his back. Instead, it hits a chair as Theodore is gone into the darkness. Is it just me, or does that chair look faintly green now? And lastly, Johannes Sauer continues to chat up his partners, as does Dealla Prince, while Manu Macedo and AJ MacAllister meet once again on the floor, this time able to exchange names, at least.

The music has faded out, for good this time, and the enchanted instruments drift slowly to the ground. It seems that the event is over, officially, but will the dramatics continue? Only time will tell...

THE DANCE FLOOR HAS SPOKEN:
Manu Macedo (@Aly Salinger) and Greta Fransson (@Evelynn Decipio) end up under a candle... that is dripping wax on them!
Felix Kolbeck (@Winnie Harper) and @Dealla Prince end up under the mistletoe!
Everett Brooks (@Dorion Anderson) and Madhup Hexum (@Pericles Dralt) end up under the mistletoe!
Johannes Sauer (@Astrea Soleil Neptune) and @Allister-Jameson MacAllister end up under the mistletoe!
@Tristan Theramin ends up under the mistletoe! #dancingonyourown

For any questions or concerns, please owl the moderator of this event, @Aly Salinger.

This is the last "paired moderation" post, aka the last time you will be paired with a partner. The music has faded out and the event is technically over. Next Saturday, August 17, I will do one last moderation for any spells/actions that have been cast in this round, and that will be the end of moderations for this event, though you are welcome to continue RPing in this thread following that.

Outfit/Physical Characteristics Reducio Winter themed suit	Languages English Parseltongue French Hebrew Spanish German Russian Thoughts	Age 15
Mentioning/Interacting @Astrea Soleil Neptune as Johannes Sauer @Dealla Prince	Location London Qudditch Stadium	IC Date August, 2024

Mistletoe Spin

xxxxxTristan smirked as the other revealed himself as Johannes Sauer from Durmstrang, saying, “Johannes Sauer, Durmstrang. Nice to meet you” At least it was a much better experience than the one he had last year with the other two Durmstrang students Valentin and Romeo. Although, he did reconcile with the first, spin the bottle and this mistletoe spin did have an eerily similar effect on everybody. “Durmstrang and kissing, somehow that is a phrase that haunts me forever. Last year, I was a part of Spin the Bottle with Valentin and Romeo. You might imagine what that turned into. I had someone thrown at me, in fact.” Tristan joked and laughed lightheartedly, rolling his eyes slightly. Although of course he now understood what was going on in Valentin’s mind and why the incredible fight had occurred, it was slightly far more melodrama and Shakespearean than he’s imagined that actual life could be, although he could admit that his life had been somewhat of a Shakespearean play. “I have to admit it was far more Shakespearean than I would imagine real life to be.” Tristan gestured his agreement with the other, “Of course. I am not much of a kisser anyway. It’s best to leave that to people who are romantic partners anyway.” Tristan was strangely formal but also quite whimsical in the way he acted, strange like the muggle character Willy Wonka. There was a twinkle in his eyes with a darkness within, yet also a genuine kindness. He was a strange dichotomy of pureblood and Muggle, growing up with his squib tutor. Tristan did give off the impression of a straight laced pureblood with no fun oftentimes, as he did have a natural tendency to put on the mask of a perfect pureblood with the manners that any parent desired, however in reality, when he was alone, there was a queerness to him that originated from his soul, a strange figure of mischief and darkness. Perhaps it originated from his close experience and relationship with death or perhaps it originated from his personal lack of reverence for any societal expectations. He thrived in breaking the perceptions of people, surprising them with his uniqueness and weirdness. He was academically focused yet charming, powerful yet sweet, intelligent yet emotional. He was all and none, a jack of all trades, master of none. However, soon the music would take Tristan away from the safety of conversation to another partner and another danger. While the music and the floor caused him to dance, Tristan would ignore all else and just enjoy the movement of dancing as he always had done. He had enjoyed ballet as a child and a little bit of ballroom dancing as well. As the music stopped, Tristan was partnered with a young woman his age whom he recognised from around Hogwarts and her name was on the tip of tongue, it was Dealla or something like that, perhaps he'd heard her name around Hogwarts Headliner work. "Hello, your name is Dee or Dealla right?", Tristan asked with a smile, giving his signature charm and politeness. He replied to her with a lighthearted smirk, "Lucky, me? It depends on what you think is lucky. I haven't kissed anyone yet, if that's what you mean? How about you? Anyone you interested in here? I did not really come looking for kisses, just to meet some new friends, so in that way, I'm hoping to be lucky." Tristan gave his usual flourishing and joking bow, "Yep! Tristan Theramin, but you can call me anything you like, Tris, Tristan, Theramin, any name you can think of." He wanted to keep it lighthearted and hopefully find a new friend in this classmate of his. He really needed friends his own age. "You excited for sixth year? I'm glad that the Ordinary Wizarding Levels are finished and I think I'm excited to see what happens this year." Tristan blinked sheepishly for a moment and commented, "Sorry, I get ahead of myself sometimes, hope you don't mind the ramble?"

Action: Chatting with Dee

Trunk

Statistics
Stamina: 8
Evasion: 8
Strength: 9
Wisdom: 14
ArcPower: 8
Accuracy: 8

♢ Date | 2 August, 2024 ♢
♢ Interacting With | Greta Fransson^{@Evelynn Decipio} + Johannes Sauer^{@Astrea Soleil Neptune}♢
♢ Mentioning | Theodore Duncain^{@Opeila Winters}
♢ Hex Code | #C08838 ♢

The satisfaction of making a lady giggle was always some of the highest praise he could receive at any event. At least, that is what his mom would measure him by. Even though she knew he was gay and knew for many years, her social metrics were still wired for heteronormativity. But Merlin, did he love her for it. Saving a lady from a glob of hat wax? Somewhere in the world (Georgia, really) his mother probably felt a warm sense of raising her son right. "I do know Theo, he is one of my closest friends. Unless you hate him, in which I have no clue who he is." He winked at her, trying to be playful.

But it quickly seemed like his previous tries at being playful might've gone awry, he did forget that the international schools didn't always speak perfect English, his eyebrow raising at her confusion. "No darlin', uh- you know what, they are probably so interested in your beauty." He would try and twirl her again, cringing at his poor cover-up of the situation. This was- barely believable. However, it didn't seem like he didn't have to try and cover-up the situation for much longer as the girl went to try and cast her own spell. He fully let go of her the second she had her wand in hand, not trying to get caught in the crossfire. In his mind he wished good luck to his good friend Theo, who was clearly deep into- well, whatever was happening here.

A panic did swell in his chest, not for the Theo maybe dying right here right now, but for the fact that the event was ending and he never found himself paired with Johannes. For some reason his heart ached at the thought. Since that summer he hadn't interacted with the boy, and Felix's words struck him more than he'd like to believe. He looked between the conflict happening in front of him, with his close friend, or the boy that he wrote letters to about to leave, as well as the new boy he was dancing with. There was a nagging question that had never left him, why hadn't he written back? "I'm- so sorry, I'm sure you're lovely. I just have something I need to do." In a moment of bravery or stupidity he approached Johannes who was with a boy he didn't know, reaching out to touch his shoulder but pulling back. "Johannes-” His voice came out confident, then he quickly faltered. He cleared his throat quickly, his voice coming out softer than intended. Much softer, meeker. “Do you mind, uh- can we talk? Privately?" It seemed like all of his confidence had drained out of him the second he approached, the second he spoke. Stuttering and cowering in on himself as if Johannes was going to turn around and smite him where he stood, which was honestly a possibility. They were wizards.

Action || Abandoning Madhup to Confront Johannes