The Path to the Rabbit Hole
XXXA week ago, the Wonderland Waltz had been revealed to the student body. The announcement spread fast, and Eonaria, having been anticipating it for weeks, pounced on it immediately. She hadn't been to many balls at Hogwarts, but she already knew she preferred the Spring Balls over the Autumn Balls. The latter were a lovely welcome back to Hogwarts, but the weather was often chilly with the approaching winter. Besides, the aesthetic of the Spring Balls tended to match her taste better. Who wouldn't be excited about blooming flowers and bright blue skies?!
XXXWell, she could think of a few people, but that wasn't the point.
XXXHowever, mixed in with the excited chatters of matching dress styles and colours, came the inevitable discussion of who would be going with who. Eonaria hadn't given a single thought to it last year: as first years, they fell solidly in the category of children, and thus needed no partners. That was how it seemed to her, anyway. But to her surprise, many of her housemates had shown up with dates, and that got her thinking. Dates didn't even need to be romantic! This year, she could comfortably ask someone to go to the ball with her, and all would be well.
XXXWho, though? Eonaria frolicked strode down to the lakeside, humming to herself. Despite the stronger winds today, it was a favourite thinking place of hers and many others. She had changed out of her school robes after classes, as Mondays simply weren't the kind of days where uniform could be tolerated all day. Eonaria instead opted for a simple, dusty green dress and black leggings. She didn't know many people whom she could ask to go to the ball, even as friends. She didn't exactly fancy sending an owl to someone she hadn't talked to in months. She couldn't even reliably find half the people she was thinking of!
XXXAlas, if she didn't find anyone in the three weeks before the ball, she would be alright with going with her friends this year, too. Eonaria would be happy to spend another ball with her best friend, Brie.
.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬ . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. ♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.
Last edited by Eonaria Kabukimono on 4 Jul 2026, 20:31, edited 1 time in total.
| Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 𝄞 Shop ˙⋆✮⋆˚࿔ | iNPC: Akari Kabukimono |
The Path to the Rabbit Hole
Joseph skipped ahead, face lit with a lopsided grin.
He’d always loved spring. Everything seemed to wake up at once, like the world was celebrating the end of a long winter nap. Leaves unfolding. Flowers popping up like they couldn’t help themselves. The sun grinning down at him, urging him to flip up into a handstand.
Not that Joseph could do one. He’d probably end up snapping his Boneius Flimsius, along with a million other important, fragile, and extremely funny-sounding bones.
Good thing Joseph had other less than painful spring plans.
He skidded to a halt, then glanced back at the pet rock tumbling in his wake. Astra stopped too, googly eyes peeking out from behind a tuft of grass. Chuckling, Joseph crouched down as he smoothed his now tangled hair.
“Gonna get you all dressed up for the Spring Ball,” he said, fingers tracing the outline of his rock friend. “It’s Wonderland-themed this time. What d’you wanna be? A bunny? Or a baby chick again?” A grin spread across his face. He’d fitted her into a fluffy yellow chick outfit last spring ball, to match his chicken dress. She'd served as his parrot counterpart instead at the recent Fall Ball.
Fall Ball. His face crinkled at the memory. Eerie sirens. Shaking dance floors. And of course, Lindsey and all her “girlfriend” drama. Not even pirate bravado was enough to save Captain Joseph’s dignity.
“It'd be better this time,” Joseph promised, giving Astra a light pat on the head. “No more creepy-eepy stuff. No more screaming girls.” He gave a quick, awkward nod, like that had settled it.
“Alright! Back to adventureee!”
Astra, unimpressed by his dramatic enthusiasm, rolled forward an inch and stopped.
Joseph squinted back. “Aw c’mon. You can’t be tired already, it’s been what – five minutes?”
Astra fixed him with her unfairly effective blank stare.
He sighed. “Fine,” he relented, scooping Astra into his side pocket. “Just this once. Don't get used to it though, you're still expected to contribute emotionally to this friendship.”
Astra made no promises.
They reached the Great Lake, the once-frozen chunk of water housing the evil Giant Squid. Evil Grindylows too, from his last trip into the lake. Another one of his twenty million near death experiences.
His gaze skimmed across the surface of the water, before fixing on a girl standing by the lake side.
Joseph pressed his lips together.
“Guess we’re not having the lake to ourselves,” he said with a shrug.
The lake rippled, as the figure strolled along the water’s edge. Then she tilted her head toward him, and a glint of sunlight glanced off her familiar face.
Joseph's eyes widened.
Eona. What was she doing here?
He studied her with mild interest. Her billowing green dress. Her long black hair shifting in the light, swaddling her delicate face with soft accents of blue.
His stomach did something funny.
He took tentative steps forward, until he could see her emerald green eyes up close. Too late to back out now. He fiddled with the edge of his robes, which suddenly felt two sizes too big.
“Hewwo,” he muttered, regretting it instantly. “I… uh… why are you here? Looking for gulping plimpies again?”
@Astra the rock
@Eonaria Kabukimono
Last edited by Joseph Sims on 9 Apr 2026, 01:47, edited 1 time in total.
Life is like a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans; you never know what you are going to get.
The Path to the Rabbit Hole
XXXUnfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted with a gust of cold wind to her face, which was not very nice. Then-- "Guess we're not having the lake to ourselves."
XXXEonaria turned her head, puzzled, and found Joseph standing a little ways away, looking a bit nervous. Who's 'us'? Astra?
XXX"Oh, hey! Hewwo," Eonaria echoed unconsciously, smiling at him. She hadn't had an actual conversation with Joseph in a while, so it was bit awkward. She giggled at his comment, hopping down from her rocky perch to properly face him.
XXX"Oh, no, I'm not even sure they dwell in this lake, though the regular Plimpies probably do." A fish with legs was kind of horrifying, even by magical standards. It was nice callback to their incredibly chaotic first meeting, though. "What about you? Contemplating the icy depths of the lake again? I should hope you won't endanger Astra." She thought Joseph's tendencies to talk to his pet rock were a bit odd, but she couldn't fault him for wanting to get his thoughts out in the air, or... to the rock...? And hey, it was fun.
XXX"To be honest, I was thinking about the Spring Ball," Eonaria admitted, though she didn't really know why she was telling Joseph. It wasn't like he could help her with her dilemma. "I have no idea who--"
XXXWait a minute.
XXXEonaria immediately backtracked, snapping her fingers with a small gasp. Was that rude? Hopefully not. "Joseph! Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Wonderland Waltz next month?" She asked brightly. Raiame likely wouldn't approve of Joseph's antics, but she practically embarrassed herself just by being herself, so who cared? And why am I even thinking about him? He's not here, so he can go-- She ceased that thought, waiting with bated breath for Joseph's answer. Now, if he refused, that would surely be even worse-- or not that bad?
XXXShe was just confusing herself at this point.
XXXShe probably also messed up the invitation, but like-- whatever.
XXXEonaria took a moment to question how rebellious her thoughts were getting, wondering where on earth she had gotten this influence from. A bee buzzed nearby, doing a few loops over from the fresh lakeside flowers to veer into their conversation. "Hello there," she said, gently waving it away. She wasn't particularly afraid of bees, but it was inconvenient trying to keep an eye on its location and keeping up a conversation at the same time.
.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬ . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. ♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.
Sorry the bee's kinda random- 
Last edited by Eonaria Kabukimono on 4 Jul 2026, 20:31, edited 1 time in total.
| Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 𝄞 Shop ˙⋆✮⋆˚࿔ | iNPC: Akari Kabukimono |
The Path to the Rabbit Hole
Joseph’s cheeks flushed as Eona skipped down to meet him, repeating his awkward greeting. Somehow it sounded natural coming from her, which was just downright unfair. Being both awkward and sweet at the same time shouldn’t be allowed.
She flashed him a smile, and his brain turned to melted butter.
“Um, no. Definitely not going for another dive,” he said, eyes drifting up to the clouds. He squinted at a bunny-shaped one, then glanced back at Eona. “Astra doesn’t like getting wet. Not before her scheduled shower time, at least.” He offered a sheepish grin. “We were just gonna walk around until we were… um, well, graced with your presence.”
Bad joke. Bad joke, Joseph. He spluttered a cough.
Thankfully, Eona didn’t seem to mind as she muttered something about springs and balls instead, sparing him the need to scramble for some cover up. Joseph let out a breath. He had to calm down, stop panicking over absolutely nothing. It was just Eona after all. Just Eona. Not some-
“Joseph!” she cried, and Joseph stumbled back, blinking in and out of focus. “Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Wonderland Waltz next month?”
He gazed at her open-mouthed, eyes frozen on her cheerful expression. His brain lagged for a moment.
“W-wonderland… wha- oh.”
She’d just asked him out to the ball.
Something sparked off in his chest, strong, brief and sudden. It took him another moment to process what this meant.
“Wait, um. Wow. You want to-” he stopped, shutting his mouth before he said anything irreversibly stupid again. He took in a shaky breath. “Yes. I mean, sure. That would be… nice.”
Nice. Yes, that was it. Nothing more. He straightened up, beaming for no particular reason.
Sunlight danced across the surface of the lake. A bee drifted over to them, carrying its share of nectar from the colourful bunch of flowers nearby. Or maybe he imagined it. It was hard to tell while all giddy and light-headed.
“It’s called Bob,” Joseph said, chuckling as Eona waved the bug away. “You can sort of tell from the way it hums.” He leaned back, wearing a curious smirk as Bob buzzed around rebelliously. Bees didn’t have real names: unless they had their own secret language, in which case they’d all have silly names like Sir Bzzz, Lady Bzzzzbzzz and other buzzy variations.
But this one here was Bob. That much he was sure of.
@Eonaria Kabukimono
Life is like a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans; you never know what you are going to get.
The Path to the Rabbit Hole
XXXJoseph seemed oddly nervous, but Eonaria did her best to focus on his words. "Aww! Astra's such a sweetie." She had never interacted with the rock before (what interaction could they have-?) but the rock hadn't hit her in the head yet, so she seemed like a sweetie.
XXXShe hadn't quite determined yet if those pet rocks could move by themselves. Eonaria didn't think so, but perhaps those shops had finally decided to enchant them? To hit people in the head? Surely not.
XXXAfter a quick moment of stuttering, Joseph finally came up with an intelligible answer: "That would be nice." Eonaria lit up at the same time as him, clapping her hands together once. "Oh, yay!! I mean, wonderful!" she coughed slightly, covering her grin with one hand. Dang, how am I supposed to respond to an acceptance again? She was already forgetting her decorum?? "Thank you so much, I'll be looking forward to it!" The wind grew stiller as Joseph aptly named the bee "Bob."
XXX"I see," she mused, trying to nudge Bob with the tip of her finger. He just buzzed a little more, bobbing (pun unintended) though the air as if trying to determine if the pair were flowers or not. Eonaria paused to actually listen to the bee as it flew, but it didn't sound anything like 'Bob.' Of course, she knew it wasn't going to sound like a human name, but one could ponder.
XXXWas there a spell to make insects talk? Huh.
XXXBob buzzed away, likely having finally determined their inedible status. "I guess we'll never know if his name really is Bob," she chuckled. Eonaria turned slightly, back towards the castle. "Well, this was certainly productive. I'll see you around, Jose." With that, she shot him one last smile before hurrying back across the Grounds, heart leaping with excitement. It hadn't been a planned outcome, but certainly a successful one.
.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬ . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. ♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.
| Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 𝄞 Shop ˙⋆✮⋆˚࿔ | iNPC: Akari Kabukimono |