A Secret 𝙰̶𝚍̶𝚖̶𝚒̶𝚛̶𝚎̶𝚛̶ Antagonizer FIN.

@Pericles Dralt

Ever since she received a sudden and rather suspicious letter from "Pericles" not too long ago, Breana's mind became preoccupied with the mystery of who the real culprit is. The Secret Blossom Ball is but a mere days away, and already she's facing unnecessary drama. She just wanted to dance, to have fun with her friends in a semi-formal gathering, but now this? First of all, who would even know about her feelings toward Pericles? Breana never disclosed such information to anyone. At. All. Not even her dormmates nor even her closest friends knew about it. Sure, she wasn't the most discreet student out there, but she never outright told anyone about it. So either someone had some near-impossible Sherlock Holmes deduction skills, or, worst-case scenario, someone was stalking her.

Such thoughts plagued the little 11-year-old's mind as she strutted down the halls, her face pulling a rather thoughtful expression, her eyebrows furrowed in a strong emotion... anger? Confusion? Either way, she'd definitely want to get to the bottom of this. Breana's face softened, however, as soon as she saw Pericles. She wanted to hug him, just because she was getting mentally tired and at this point, she was even questioning his very existence. Unfortunately, there was no time for such formalities. She quickly swiped the one that wasn't in her own handwriting and inspected it as they walked along down the corridors.

Her face turned into a bright hue of red. Not from embarrassment, far from it. She was undeniably fuming. The feral side of the tiny child wanted to rip up the paper and swallow its remains. Thankfully, her manner overcame her anger so the most she did was grip onto the letter tighter, crumpling its sides. "WHY--" She started, but then she took a long breath, exhaling briefly. She then lowered her voice as she continued. "Why would someone do this? Are they really that bored? Do they not have a life of their own that they want to just bloody mess with others? Do they not see how fudged up that is, doing this to people?!" She rambled, in a sort of shouted whisper. She grunted in frustration, giving the letter back to Pericles.

"Once we find the little bugger that messed with us I'm gonna--" And Breana then gestured to her punching her own palm. Multiple times. She stopped walking as they reached to the spot where Breana thought she baited the culprit. After she let out her frustrations earlier, another strong emotion crept up behind the girl: Sadness. She leaned against the wall, making sure she's not out and about in plain sight. The sadness slowly grew stronger and stronger. Was she really that pathetic that someone thought that she needed such unwanted help? That she couldn't even naturally bond with Pericles to get him to like her that way? Is she really that unlikable? Is it because of her looks? Or her personality? Is she too overbearing? Such toxic thoughts swirled around the girl's head, making her lower her head enough for her curly locks to cover her face, her eyes starting to well up from such emotions.

@Breana Oliveire

In that fleeting moment when their eyes first met across the courtyard, Peri spied the state the girl was in and felt his frown flinch deeper. That "not letter" had him confounded, contemplating a number of subjects he wasn't yet ready to breach, leaving him unsettled and unsure. He had come to associate Breana with a sunny sort of disposition, cheery and warm in a way which radiated all around her. Yet the tension he witnessed there put a damper on his own unease, numbing his emotions as a cloud takes away from a bright day. What he had felt was rapidly being replaced by pity, if an underlying layer of guilt for having believed- for any amount of time- that the letter had been from Breana. She snatched the parchment away, turned a dangerous shade of scarlet, then started seething. Pericles softened in contrast, taking her anger and outrage with an enduring patience. "I can't imagine what the reasoning may be behind this," he answered eventually, adding on an almost anxious note, "but I worry as to why someone would want us both at the ball...." A sinking thought struck. Surely Brea was too friendly and easygoing to develop any enemies. What if she was targeted because he had set someone off?

And so they stood, stewing in their worries and wonders. Pericles had placed a gentle hand on Breana's shoulder when she started striking fist to palm, a mute move at soothing her. If her trap did succeed, he didn't want her flying fist-first into the situation... that could wait. The abused parchment crinkled as it was slid back into Peri's pant pocket. He hooked his thumb there, leaning into the nook at her side, the ghost of a grimace playing on his thin lips while he watched and waited. No one was sneaking about, no one looked to be searching. He couldn't decide what was worse: not having a quick solution to this strange situation, or the waves of energy he could practically feel rolling off of Breana. For her sake, he had done decent work at compartmentalizing what he was thinking, not wishing to worsen her own emotions. After awhile, one look at the girl was enough to tell him that staying silent wasn't going to help either.

Peri pulled the glasses from his face, tucking them away before beginning at a hushed murmur: "You know, I think I've gone and done something really foolish." The confession came with a weak smile her way before he glanced off again. "I'm s'posed to be helping with this 'new' Blossom Ball. It wasn't my idea, but I heard some Hufflepuffs talking about it, and without thinking I..." he shook his head, "...suppose I started making suggestions. Small contributions. I did try to tell them that there are dangerous things happening at Hogwarts, but I didn't say what. I'm awfully inexperienced when it comes to killing someone else's fun, or, telling people what they shouldn't do." A scoff left him, tone wry while he mumbled, "I think that's why our Head of House made me a prefect, to make me more assertive. And if I'm being really honest, it felt nice, being a part of something like planning a silly school dance." Pericles managed another fleeting smile, though this time it was mostly directed at the floor. "I think what I'm trying t'say is, this is all new to me. I never went to public schools, or any schools before now. People do things that don't make a great deal of sense to me, like writing fake letters."

Fingers touched to his freckled nose in a habitual gesture, though there were no glasses to be pushed, and his need to fiddle with something went unmet. "It can be overwhelming, confusing, and all sorts of frustrating. I-" he fumbled the "h" word, it was almost too strong for the situation "-don't like that someone's gone and made you feel like this, Brea. But I would rather be stuck in a stupid situation with you than to be stuck at home still, wondering when life was going to start for me. Please don't be sad. This is just something for us solve, and we're Ravenclaws now. That's what we do- we solve things and get answers, yes?"

@Pericles Dralt

Breana tilted her head, just enough to look at Pericles as he began to speak. As much as she is comfortable towards him, it's would still be quite the embarrassment for the freckled girl if her crush suddenly saw her tearing up. Her head fully turned as Pericles talked about something foolish. Did he do something wrong? Is this about the letters earlier? She wiped her tears, sniffling a little as she continued to listen about Pericle's situation. Her expression slowly turning into that of slight shock as he told her about how he was one of the clever few that orchestrated the secret little ball in the first place. Granted, her mind was too focused on fixing up her dress and this, so it didn't cross her mind to think of the mischievous students that took the initiative on making the ball in the first place.

Fortunately (or rather, unfortunately) for the Ravenclaw girl, she hasn't experienced any of the dangers that Pericles as mentioned. She has heard whispers of such, like fires and balls gone wrong. Though, she has small hopes of getting what she wanted at the dance, which is, well, a dance. Breana nodded lightly, her undivided attention fully given towards him as he continued with his somewhat venting to her. She didn't expect to be in such a level of friendship with Pericles for him to open up to Breana like this, but she listened, treating it like any other normal friend she had that needed to let their problems out in a healthy manner. It did hit her hard as the topic of not being in public schools was raised. She sighed, nodding once more with a soft "yeah..." escaped her lips.

Her eyes grew wide for a moment, as the topic turned its attention to Breana herself. The butterflies in the pit of her stomach have terrible timing, as they start to resurface as Pericles expressed his worry for the young girl. A hint of a blush escaped her cheeks, which made her quickly turn her head away to calm herself for a second. "I... well... likewise, Peri..." She uttered softly. As his small allocation came to a close, Breana looked back at the fair-skinned boy, staring at him for a second. Nothing romantic, just the fact that he kept pulling them both up with a stiff upper lip. It was rather commendable for her. "We are, Pericles..." She said with an assertive nod.

"And... can I just say, erm..." Breana looked down as she fiddled with her fingers, then she slowly raised her head to look at Pericles again and reached out to place her hand his, as a sort of comforting gesture to him. "You... You aren't alone... w-with the school thing." She said, pulling her hand away from his. "I dunno if it's obvious for you or not, but... my family... we aren't exactly the most luxurious living lot in the patch." She gave him a soft smile. "They had to homeschool me, so this... this thing, with the letters? I--" She let out a long sigh. "I'm still wrapping my head around it..." But Breana does have a strong inkling to what the culprit's intentions were.

That begs the question: Would she even tell him about it? She's still not sure if it's just a fleeting infatuation or a full-on crush for her, so it would be rather ruinous (at least in her mind) if she blurted it out during their stakeout. "Pericles..." She started. Breana looked over to the corridors, keeping a quick glance to make sure that they aren't missing their culprit. "... What would we do, if we won't find the letter person now?" She queried. "I mean, duh, we'll still try to find out about them, but... I mean... " She looked down at her hands, rubbing them meekly. "With the Ball... What should we do...?"

@Breana Oliveire

As politely as he could, Pericles continued to stare up, down, and around until Breana was good and composed. As far as anyone else as concerned, he definitely had not noticed her sniffles either. Her gentle "likewise" was given a short shake of the head and a reassuring "I'll be just fine." He was more worried about how the impersonation must make her feel, but then, he had yet to read the letter "he" had sent.... These worries and wonderings hit a wall when Breana admitted she, too, had been home-schooled. She seemed so sociable, Pericles was convinced she must have gone to some public muggle school, surrounded by a small flock of friends to have built up that personality of hers. He blurted a quiet "Really?" with an expression of earnest shock, jaw somewhat slack and eyes steadily staring. It was a subject he absolutely intended to expand upon when they weren't staking out an impersonator and whispering about a risky ball.

She'd asked about it, bringing him back to their present predicament. Pericles offered an apologetic smile before his gaze averted, contemplating the dissatisfying empty corridor. "I've already gone and confessed I'm terrible at telling others what t'do..." he spoke softly and with a hint of humor. "It seems someone wants us both to be at the ball. I don't like the implications of that, but I feel as if I'm obligated to go, really.... I've asked the LGBTQIAP club to provide boutonnieres, and the Arts and Orchestral Society to play music, and I wanted the Martial Arts Club to come and be 'bouncers', if necessary. Should those people attend and something happened to them, I'd feel absolutely awful. That, and... I'll tell you another secret." His focus fell fully on the girl at his side. "I've been trying to understand some of the strange things happening at Hogwarts. If something important happened, I couldn't bear missing it when I had the opportunity to be there."

There it was, lain bare: a curiosity so severe, it was what deigned him a Ravenclaw. The lad did not lack the courageous tendencies of a Gryffindor, the inclusive nondiscrimination of a Hufflepuff, and certainly not the ambitious tenacity of a Slytherin- as the bulk of his heritage had been. Yet his strive to see how things played out overwhelmed them all. He longed for experience, even if it meant setting aside sensibility and self-preservation for a little while. That smile returned to him, though it was something of an odd, automatic expression this time. His eyes were aglow with an excitement that didn't touch his calm cadence. "Luckily, you've two options I can think of, which makes matters simpler. You can go to the ball, or stay at the dorms. Going would be the faultiest tactic in our arsenal, and the most risky, but attending after all might give us the answer to this riddle- or at the very least, another clue. If you're set on going, just try and be as careful as you can, please." Worry and sentiment eased through that last word. "Don't go to or from the pitch on your own. I'd offer to walk with you, but I'll be leaving with the other organizers while everyone else is at dinner. Try not to wind up alone, and do bring your wand. If anything goes wrong, move to the edges of the event as quickly as possible, out from the crowd's core." Being raised by an ex-auror had its advantages: the lad could doomsday prep for practically any occasion.

@Pericles Dralt

She couldn't help but let out a soft giggle as Pericles bared a stunned look on his face as she told him of her academic origins. "Yeah, I know... That's a whole melting pot that we can talk about someday if you'd like." Breana smiled softly at him. As he turned his head out to the corridors, Breana followed suit, her expression dropping as the pathways are still without a student. "Sugar." She said as if it's a swear. "Corridor's still under the clear..." Breana sighed softly, shaking her head in frustration. Did she mess it up? Did she have a tell in her letter? Or maybe... was it more than one person? She forgot to think of such a possibility, but once that rose in her mind... What if they figured it out as a group? Could there be a trap that'd be laid out for them right now? Breana squinted her eyes shut, trying to shake her mind away from such paranoia... at least for now.

Her attention swerved back to Pericles as he began to explain the current strategic layout of the ball. Breana gave him a soft smile at his joke as if telling him, "Come on, you're better than you think." Then she lowered her head as Pericles whispered of other secrets than the ball. Odd happenings? Possible connections within them all in Hogwarts? Breana's intrigue rose evermore as her fellow Ravenclaw put this topic upfront in their conversation. Now there's an abruptly low chance of her not attending the ball. In fact, this just gave her a solid reason to join it, instead of just mere dancing. "Wait... Strange things? So do you think these happenings had something to do with the Headmaster canceling the official ball in the first place?" She pondered aloud, the furrowing of her eyebrow now having less of a strong aggressive presence and instead have the familiar semblance of questioning instead.

"Gah, right!" She said softly, waving her hand away. "Later... Another topic for us to talk about." Breana said. She then looked down on the ground, crossing her arms as she thought of the possible options she can do with the information that they both accumulated with this situation. She nodded at Pericles warnings, frowning at the first advice he gave her. As much as she's acquainted with multiple people over the course of her stay in Hogwarts, most people that she knew have already had dates by now, or friend groups to join in. Bringing her wand is easy. Thankfully, her mother's old dress has a rather wide skirt, so tucking in a slot for her wand would be fine. The last piece of advice is another easy one to follow since her shoes are platforms with a moderate height on its heels, so moving to the edges at a quick pace wouldn't be an impossible task. "Alright... No promises that I'd follow all of it to a T, but I'd try my best..."

With one last look at the still empty corridors, she looked back at Pericles. "So much for my plan..." She commented, sighing in defeat. "Well... It was a longshot, but at least I tried something..." Breana then scratched her chin, going into deduction mode as she continued. "So odds are... they might be going to the ball themselves... Probably along the sidelines, if they're hoping for others to be there, they might want us to be there upfront..." She then pressed her temples with both of her hands. "If I can get a plan to get everyone's writing... Yeah, it would work..." She muttered and mumbled. Then another topic rose in her mind, which made her stop with her plan-making. Slowly, she turned her attention back to Pericles, her arms close to herself. "Pericles...? Uh... Would you have gone to the dance with me, if I actually did ask?" A dangerous and maybe loaded question, but if Pericles is one of the coordinators of the dance, might as well ask him now before he gets filled with ball-related tasks.

@Breana Oliveire

Pericles was quick to give a short enthusiastic nod. "I'd like that very much," he insisted quietly, evidently still reeling over the discovery. He didn't want to be relieved, as it seemed a selfish thing to be glad over, yet knowing he wasn't alone in his cluelessness was bizarrely comforting. Upon hearing he was more convincing than he let on, the boy but gave a humble shrug and shy smirk. To talk of the Headmaster however, the lot of it- happy shock and modestly alike- were replaced by an abrupt seriousness. Peri's mellow expression petered out, fair features darkened ever so slightly by a grim shade of unease. "Well... the Headmaster didn't cancel it, because you see, he's missing. Worst of all, not a single piece of the puzzle I've found yet has indicated why. I think I'm getting closer... but you're right." Another weary look wandered the surrounding area. Talking about such sensitive subjects, when it was possible they were being watched (that letter had been absurdly keen on all of their interactions). "We should share more later. About each other, and about Hogwarts."

They deviated instead to their plans for the ball, which Peri tried to be concise about. He wasn't about to start slinging "rules" for survival at the girl, he could however share the precautions he tried to follow, only leaving out "don't take any food or drink". It seemed too much to ask, and he worried he was starting to sound far too much like his father anyhow. "
"Alright... No promises that I'd follow all of it to a T, but I'd try my best..."
"Oh!" Pericles' eyebrows arched. "Let's aim for E's at the least, shall we? A's are 'acceptable', too, but we may wish to avoid any T's for the evening." Was he talking grades? Was he serious? There was no certainty given that "worried" look he wore, though if he managed to make her laugh, it would be split by a grin. "We should go, Brea," he said on a softer note, and when she worried out loud that she had made a mistake, he shook his head. "Don't discredit yourself. Inviting the culprit was ingenious, and it's exactly what I would have done, had I..." not quickly realized he was being duped "...thought of it first."

The young Dralt gestured down the corridor, and with that, stepped out from their nook to walk. He was silent while listening to Breana's quiet plans. Hearing her contemplate scouring for every student's writing was vaguely worrisome, though the enthusiasm made him smirk, lips tight and curling at one corner. "Whoever it is, don't let them distract you. We can examine the letters later and keep our wits about us at the ball. If- that is- you do go." She asked that precious question, if he would have gone with her, all falsifications and obligations aside, and Pericles looked to meet her eye with a solid stare. "Why wouldn't I?" It was asked without an ounce of shame or shyness; then again, it was possible he underestimated the brevity of being asked to a school ball. Straight-faced, focus no longer on the wander, the Ravenclaw spoke straightforward. "I like talking to you, Breana. You're fun and clever and kind. I'd like us to be friends, but I'd also like to think we already are. I wouldn't want to encourage any of my friends into a dangerous situation, yet it isn't as if I wouldn't want to be around you, either."

@Pericles Dralt

Breana had to cover her mouth with both hands to resist gasping loudly as Pericles revealed to her a rather colossal secret on the Headmaster. "Wait, what?! But how, wh--" The tiny girl stopped her soft gabbing as Pericles turned his head around to look at their surroundings, quickly closing her mouth in case someone might overhear. She never had such experiences, doing espionage and such, so realizing that there might be something happening that's deeper than just a prank on her raised her suspicions and paranoia more. Breana nodded rapidly at his proposal to talk more about such secrets. "Right!" There is still the matter about what she saw in the school album way back when she first met him... Hopefully, he can help her with analyzing what she discovered on it.

Her eyes blinked in confusion as her Ravenclaw friend started talking about letters, only to realize it was Hogwarts grades. "Huh? What are you-- Oh..." She placed her palm on her forehead, laughing softly at her slow understanding of Pericles's little joke. "Duh, Breana! You almost got me there, Per." She bantered, lightly pushing Pericles's arm with her fist. She sighed, giving him a wry smile as he complimented her with her plan. "Thanks... I was hoping we would get something outta it, though... Well, aside from more things to talk about with you, I mean." Breana shook her head as she followed Pericles out of their little hiding spot.

"Ah, sugar! The letter!" As they walk along the corridors, she rummaged through the pockets of her robe, finally unfurling out a folded letter. "Here's what they sent to me..." She said, handing him the letter. She crossed her arms and scrunched up her face as she saw the letter again, still troubled with how lovey-dovey it was written. It was almost like it was a parody of a romantic letter. She blinked again as Pericles answered her question with zero hesitation. "Oh..." There go the butterflies again. "W-well... I'd like to think we are. I mean, isn't this what friends are supposed to do for each other? Staking out corridors?" She snickered. Maybe this time the butterflies' timing was perfect? Maybe...

"So, Pericles..." She started, her hands starting to sweat, making her hold them together. Her mother has always told her to take initiative, especially when it came to the matters of the heart, so... "What if... W-what if I asked you now? I mean, I'd still go either way... I'd just... r-rather go to it with you... Of course, we won't walk there together! DUh, not gonna give the mystery person that, but... Just... being my d-date and stuff.... and all that... That still works, right? Er... y-yeah..." She prattled, furrowing her eyebrows and closing her eyes at her messy invitation. She mentally encouraged herself as she awaited a response, trying to convince herself that even if Pericles turned her down, at least she can say she tried.

@Breana Oliveire

Breana's brief stammer was answered with a grim look and a little shrug. The hows and whys of the Headmaster's disappearance were uncertain to him, which served to heighten their priority. Pericles did not have an answer, which meant he would relentlessly pursue one until this all made clean clear sense. "I was thinking..." when wasn't he, really, "there are too many who don't even know he's gone. I don't want to start a panic, but maybe, it would help if I shared what I've heard with our House. Have a debriefing in the common room. An awful lot of Gryffindors got together not long ago to discuss it all... why not us?" With a small smile, Peri pressed "We are 'The Wise'. We could help if we put our heads together."
(This wouldn't happen until I get a conclusion for this thread, though I'd seriously like to!)

The deviation in conversation had been gradual, yet effective. He wanted to have hope, and he wanted Breana to have it too, to ease her away from a state of sorrow and exasperation. He'd earned a laugh from her, and the little shove was enough to crack that carefully concealed grin, exposed like crystals tucked into an unassuming geode. It seemed he did hide some modicum of sly humor under there. "Don't you fret," Peri was insisting airily, voice resuming its mellow tenor, smirk still playing on his lips. "It's at least put us on the trail. 'The game's afoot' and all that." They almost managed to make it sound like cracking this case would be fun, and in that moment, the lad was content to believe as much. "That is exactly what friends do," he'd said smugly, taking the parchment and adding with another roll of shoulders, "or at least, I like to think so." His nose crinkled in amusement for her non-swear. He'd heard it a few times now, and thought it charming. Evidently, the falsifier knew he considered Breana was charming.

Pericles was already a pale boy. While he scanned that letter however, an utterly uncharacteristic change overcame him. First, his ears began to take on color, a gradual glow of pink flaring at the tips. Then, what tint remained in his fair beige face began to bleed away. His cheeks turned a frightfully stark white, leaving the grey freckles to pop in all their anomalous glory, looking like a phantom flecked with ash. Whereas his mouth was soft and more often than not smiling, the edges now suffered a stern downward drag while his brow creased. The expression came precariously close to a dark grimace. Pericles' stomach sank, the sounds of their steps fading for the din of dialogue in his head. This impersonator, this antagonizer, had somehow surveyed his surface emotions and corrupted their core, twisting his intentions. He believed Breana to be good through and through, and it was true that he didn't want someone as sunny as her to feel unnoticed. He was glad to have met her, and he did want to share more. Yet this dripped romantic intent. It reeked of it, like fermenting fruit, whereas he genuinely, deeply desired an earnest friend. And- he didn't sound like this, did he...? No, he didn't talk that way. But what if it seemed like he was trying to, to others? To-

Breana said something and a ripple of panic disrupted that smooth-as-glass exterior of his, sliding that start of a scowl away. The letter had left him reeling, and her innocent question struck while he was still in its throes, glancing from it to her and back again. That was his name at the bottom, only not in his pen. The outlandishness of it all left him speechless, and by the time Pericles found his voice again, it occurred to him that they had stopped walking. "I..." his head was thrumming with worries, with wonders, deductions, stratagem.
Who was watching them this closely?
Who had done this?
Who had dared?

No, that wasn't the question he was being asked, it was something else. Pericles blinked stupidly, as if this would help dull the dissonance. He couldn't quite put a name to what he was feeling, though the mental image of Breana furiously pounding her own palm resonated well with it. It wasn't an uncommon sight on the outside: the Ravenclaw lad was prone to fits of staring off into space, no one the wiser about his internal skirmishes. It always seemed he zoned out, then something clicked, and he "came back" with an answer. The young wizard spoke in that slow, sleepy sort of way which implied he was pulling himself from a mire of thick thought. "By date, d'you mean we would be spending the ball with one another?" He nodded as if answering himself, continuing without pause, "Because I am starting to think we should. I'm going t'look for you there. You don't have to wait for me- dance and have fun, please, try and make the most of it- and I'll come looking for you once enough students have arrived." He smiled; it lacked its usual warmth and ease. "I won't have to worry about you as much if we're together. But I should warn you, I'm going to be a very dull date, and it may not be just us on our own. Are you sure you'd like to come with me?""

@Pericles Dralt

"Secret meetups with other Ravenclaws...?" She nodded in thought, scratching her chin at the notion. "That'd be cool and all, but... who're the others that would join us? Do you even think they'd believe us with the letters, or the Headmaster thing?" She questioned. As much as she'd like to go all Mystery Inc. in this situation, it would be best to have more brains stirring the pot. Would anybody believe them? The letters pose suspicion that someone's stalking them, so maybe the disappearance of the Headmaster won't be too far off.

It was mildly refreshing for Breana to see him make a clever joke like that one. Sure, she's seen him smile (even though some of the time it's a small and polite one), but she couldn't recall off the top of her head if she saw him laugh before. So seeing him do so was a rather pleasing thing to see, revealing the possible traits that she as yet to see in Pericles. "You dang right it is!" She said, punching her palm with her fist, this time the gesture is more on determination instead of anger. "I'm still gonna go feral on the person when we find them." She said, emphasizing the "when" to add to her determination. She then grinned and sneaked in a bit of a fun retort to Pericles. "If you can't stake out the corridors with your friend to find the writer of weird letters, who can you stake it out with?" She chuckled.

When Breana thought of possibly seeing the other sides of her friend, she didn't expect to see his angry side so quickly. As they were walking whilst Pericles was reading the letter, Breana matched his pace and slowed down as she noticed his eyes scanning through the impersonator's letter. His anger was understandable, considering her own reaction to her own impersonated letter was worse in comparison to Pericles's. She was concerned with how fast his face turned from bright red with frustration to pale as freshly cut ice, but thankfully his face turned into its normal shade as Pericles turned his head from the letter to Breana, and to the letter again. "Er... Per? Pericles...?" She said, giving him a light wave just to make sure that he's all there. Is it because of the letter? Or her question? Thankfully, the boy snapped back to reality and gave the freckled girl an answer.

"... Wait." She paused, trying to process what she heard. She blinked a couple of times, putting her finger in her ear to make sure her hearing was clear as crystal before continuing. "You... I... So you wanna go? For reals?" She asked, mostly to herself. "Of course I would, Per! Why wouldn't I if I asked ya in the first place?!" She exclaimed. "And as for other people... Hey, there's strength in numbers, right? If something up with this school might as well get some backup in case things get fishy." Breana said, beaming with happiness as her expectations for his answer was drastically low. After her cheerful glees slowly died down, she cleared throat. "So, erm... is there a formal thing for me to do, o-or is it just the asking?" She said, honestly clueless when it came to ball etiquette. "Should I curtsy? Or bow since I'm not in a dress...?" She continued, grabbing the skirt of her robe.