Secret Blossom Ball Event Finished

Atlas fixed the bottom of the dessert table's cover as she tried to feel normal at this formal event. Her boots and wand tucked safely in them made her feel more like herself but still, she felt like a weirdo in the bright white dress her mother had picked out.

She hadn't seen Ethen in what felt like forever and she was starting to get nervous he was pulled by food or sleep and abandoned the party. What if my makeup looks weird...I shouldn't have worn makeup...or a dress...wait everyone's wearing a dress. So? You don't always have to fit in, in fact you never do... Atlas thought as her inner thoughts clouded her mind as she overthought everything leading up to this point.

Pulled from her cumbersome thoughts, Atlas heard a familiar voice as she quickly turned to face Ethen. His first comment put a pit in her stomach as he took a pause before saying different. Opening her mouth to playfully insult him to ease the tension, Atlas watched as Ethen stumbled over his words finally arriving at the statement that she was pretty. There it was. Butterflies. Ethen had never not insulted her and here he complimented her. Her mouth instantly dried up as she realized she was staying quiet for an uncomfortably long time. She could literally feel her cheeks burning up as she tried to maintain composure to no avail.

"I uhhh oh this old thing? I mean its new...I think...I had to take the itchy tags off...I uhh I didn't pick it out."

Oh god Atlas you sound horrifying...what is happening right now...it is just Ethen.

Although Atlas had thought about Ethen every single day she had never felt the way she did when he called her pretty. She had no idea how to process the compliment but she didn't hate it either.

"You look pretty too...I mean that's a girl word...you look sexy." Her eyes widening as she knew that was the wrong word to spill out from her lips. Her heart pounded in her chest as she felt her breathing pick up. "Not sexy that's just something I heard in a movie...You look good. Yeah real good Ethen. I uhh didn't know you owned a suit."

You didn't know he owned a suit...oi vey.

Taking a second to breathe and allow her mouth to catch up to her rampant thoughts, Atlas teetered on her feet as she wondered if she'd just blown the whole night. "Uhh anyway, the snack table has quite the array of snacks if you want to check it out?" She inquired hoping he would gloss over her catastrophic failure.

Outfit:

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He agreed, and with hardly any hesitation. It gave Flash reason to smile. Perhaps he was starting to understand Ruka a bit after all. Ruka didn’t care about their history together in the moment, he only just saw his opportunity to meddle in something interesting and took it. To take something you wanted without caring about the consequence… familiar.

He could at least be expected to be invested in the success of their ruse. He even smiled, laughed, putting on a face like he was taking a crack at writing one of Flash’s narratives himself. One where he and Ruka are good friends, having fun learning how to dance at the ball. No one that knew Ruka would buy it for even a second, but really, no one was trying to know Ruka. Most of them gave up when they realized it would be too hard. Flash had tried to give up too, neither of them were ever trying to be around each other. Every meeting had been tense and confusing. Before, he might have said that Ruka held the key to his destruction, but now he knew that he had been jumping at shadows. Ruka had only ever pitied him.

But now, his feigned act of clumsiness elicited a barely audible chuckle in Flash’s throat. It had a practical purpose, but it seemed Ruka took the opportunity to put on a show.

”No need to feel self-conscious. You’re doing very well.” Flash forgot his worries for a moment. He wondered if Ruka was trying to make him feel better.

At one point Flash followed Ruka’s eyes to where Selim sat on the periphery of the dance floor, looking out around the crowd. And… wait, what? Thomas is… what is he doing? He was talking to Marion. Naturally, it had never been agreed upon to have Thomas talk to Marion. Most likely because if it had been suggested, it would have been swiftly shot down. Talking to her would cause unintended consequences, ripple effects.

Flash cursed himself for getting so distracted. He had to keep an eye on everything, people were counting on him. Thora and Tyranni seemed to have linked up, it was good that the flow of communication was continuing, even if Thomas wanted to do whatever he wanted and Burnett was nowhere to be seen. When he looked for Dan Palmer it took him a while to spot him, because he was sitting down talking to someone, having no apparent need to pay any attention to anything else going on around him. Flash then sought out Bridget, who it seemed was keeping an eye on Vladimir. A good choice, she could be an eyewitness if something happened. Meanwhile, Opeila was in the center of it acting as bait. Why does it seem only the girls are doing anything useful… His date Evelynn only continued the trend, mingling with the crowd while keeping an eye on Victor Moore. She had done nothing but impress him all night.

The dance continued, now comfortably located in a spot beside the ticking time bomb. That, or the completely innocuous first dance of a normal couple. Flash wondered what it might have been like if none of this horrible dark magic was taking place, where they were at a normal Blossom Ball and all of them were happy and able to actually enjoy themselves. In that scenario, Flash would have been dancing with Opeila. Certainly. In fact, perhaps no one in the entire school cared about Opeila as much as he did. He held her during the spider attacks, held her in her hospital bed when she was trying to recover, and held her by the lake when she couldn’t take the pain any longer. He promised her to stay by her side, no matter what. And here he was, though the distance between them somehow felt vast.

Ruka took Flash by surprise when he bumped into his chest to catch his ‘fall’. Flash sighed, there was only so much he could fret before it jarred his nerves completely. Flash chuckled again, louder this time, as Ruka messed with his ‘hurt’ foot. Not far away, Willow had already found a dance partner that more suited her speed. He wanted to ask her what compelled her to take Ruka instead of one of her closer friends. Perhaps she was trying to be charitable... a bad approach for Ruka.

”No need to apologize. We can go slowly.”

Any time now, it would be time for action, and he couldn’t stay lost in the possibilities. He needed data, to know exactly what was going on around him. When he checked back to where Victor and Marion were, the situation had developed. There was a kid-- one of the organizers, how had Flash not memorized their names?-- taking Victor’s vase of roses off somewhere. Shouldn’t those roses be checked? How would they even be able to tell if something was wrong with them? Then, Victor’s date Wren trotted over to another girl who was-- Oh… is that… Lydia Cooper? It was hard to tell on first glance because her hair had turned from bright red to bright blue.

Flash hadn’t been prepared for her date to arrive, being none other than Rafael D’Spacito. Flash couldn't help but shy his eyes away the moment he saw him. He felt guilty. Rafael had asked him to the dance, and he had to decline. Evenlynn had sent Flash an owl quicker than he had, and Flash had promptly accepted. It wasn’t only that, but that he had, despite not wanting anything to do with the feeling, developed a bit of a crush on him. He could do very little to combat it, not even trying to sort it out logically. It was just a feeling, one with no real grounding or meaning. The last thing he needed to do tonight was flirt with a crush.

Besides, Lydia was a much better date for him. She was endlessly sweet and kind, a well of patience and understanding. Flash was quite fond of her himself, she always seemed to exude positive energy, though he admittedly only had the chance to get to know her recently. If he was lucky, the two of them would continue on their evening having a blissfully good time. Perhaps Rafael would even grace him with a dance, and Flash could selfishly imagine things being different.

Instead, Flash looked back to Ruka, who gave him a nod and a smile. He had given him all he could have asked for, an act that distracted from his true intentions, keeping an eye on people of interest. Was having Ruka’s trust going to continue to be so useful?

”You look like you’ve got it.”

The song changed, the dance moved on.

Interacting with: @Ruka Tân
Mentioning:

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@Selim Faust @Thomas Lestrange @Marion Davenport @Thora Larkston @Tyranni Whitethorn @Dan Palmer @Jack Burnett @Bridget Collins @Vladimir Athanatos @Opeila Seilun @Evelynn Decipio @Victor Moore @Wren Caster @Willow Anderson @Lydia Cooper @Rafael D'Spacito

Action:
Inconspicuously dancing closer to Opeila, while scanning the surroundings

Previous posts: Pre-ball, Entrance, Recon, Asked to dance, Spots Vlad on dance floor

Closed to Interaction
Unless by Evelynn, Member of the Partners, Rafael, or Vladimir

»»————————-　♔　————————-««
interactions OPEN TO INTERACTIONS
mentions @Willow Anderson, all
word count 598 | text colour #274E13
abilities terrible presence
current mood brooding quietly
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The longer Astrea stood there, silent and stony-faced in a self-imposed bubble of isolation away from the throngs of children, the more Astrea felt like leaving.

The ball was bustling with activity now, children dolled up in a sea of fabric backdropped by a towering stadium of flame-lit stands that stretched so high that there was no doubt that the pit was for Quidditch, long dresses and pressed suits creating an almost awkwardly put together air as they stood alongside denim jeans and short skirts. The sheer amount of students gathered merged voices into an everpresent mumble of noise, and Astrea was only waiting for it to crescendo into a panic. It was only a matter of time before something happened, good or bad she did not know, but it would happen and soon. For now, it was a snapshot of calm before the storm lit in candlelight, a frozen page drawn in watercolour and outlined in white, a magical picture frozen into a few repeating moments. Idly her mind went back to Willow's sketchbook, the loosely sketched details writ in black and blue muggle ink.

To attend was a foolish idea indeed, it would do her no good if she stayed- every event that Hogwarts hosted seemed to end in disaster and she truly doubted that a student-run ball would differ, especially since not an adult soul was aware of where a solid chunk of their pupils were over the night. A crawling sense of dread started to build within her the longer she pondered over the matter, one hand protectively upon her dress where the twirled texture of her wand lay hidden and the other twirling idly at a stray lock of downed hair.

If one were to go up near enough to her, they would have heard a low hum escape her as she looked over the field, resigned acceptance just as prevalent in the short rumble as mild detachment. There were first years at the ball. So many first years and not nearly as many older years just as willing to eagerly participate in the ball, bright-eyed as they spoke amongst each other with enthusiasm. Perhaps in a different life, she could have been like them, seemingly pure in soul at best and annoyingly endearing at worst. Maybe one in which Astrea wasn't so used to the danger of magic, wasn't so cynical and emotionally repressed, one in which she wasn't so entrenched in the life she knew. But alas, she was not. The only thing Astrea was at that very moment was in a perpetual state of anxiety-ridden dread. Like screamo, except if played to classical music and spoken in an unshakeable accent.

Yet it was unseemly to brood so obviously in the back of the pitch, empty-handed and in fine fabric. Her attention turned leftward toward the snack table, a lay of various foods indispersed with gleaming argent chalices and unknown sealed drink bottles spread out on the surface for all to take. The actual foods were ignored as the aristocrat picked up a the cool glass bottle of 'Yoohoo'- the thin liquid inside milky and brown with chocolate- and carefully set it back down in clear rejection to take a chalice filled high with clear, cold water before parting from the generous displays.

It was not hunger that gnawed at her from inside and Astrea was certainly not in the mood to wet her tongue with the strange liquid- she merely needed something to occupy her hands, to keep up her appearance of normalcy in the face of simmering paranoia.

Little Arlo didn’t have a chance of keeping the smile off his face as Marion returned his compliment. Although his head would soon after cock to the side as a little confusion flashed through his eyes. With a swift motion she would smack her temple before repeating the compliment. Oh well, he thought with a shrug. Perhaps it’s just a tick or something. At least she was nice enough to pay him the compliment twice!

“Blend in? Huh?” Again, he was a bit confused as she took the drink from him. At least he had picked a drink that she liked. It would always elude him why anyone would want to drink the juice of a pumpkin, but to each their own they say. It would be then that Arlo would notice Victor and his flashy suit, but Marion quickly shut that down. Something about an argument he was having. No bother. The little gremlin was just happy to be around friends and have the company of a pretty girl. Hopefully this time without all the shouting and fighting.

“Called to the stands? Whatcha talkin about?” It was as if she was talking to someone else. “I mean, I’m happy to go wherever you’d like. Shall we?” he gestured towards the stands.

That’s when Arlo would spot him out of the corner of his eye. The last person he wanted to see if he was going to be honest. None other than Thomas Lestrange was quickly approaching. Arlo’s golden eyes would roll in the socket as he began to speak. It was the usual jab. The easiest remark that all the lame brained idiots went to first. His height.

”Good one, Thomas.” Arlo said with a sarcastic smile. “Come up with that all by yourself.” he shot back as he attempted to swat Thomas’ hand away. “Oh, just kidding are we. Freakin jerk!” the insult would be said in just a whisper. “We were actually just about to go. Well...um...” he paused for a moment. It wasn’t his place to make decisions for her. “If that’s still what you’d like to do Marion.”

Entering from Changing Room
mentions @Rafael D'Spacito | @Lydia Cooper

Hufflepuffs were known for their loyalty, it was a stereotypical trait, granted, one that Lydia sure had. The blue-haired beauty was a kind-hearted creature and was headstrong in defending the quidditch captain. Of course, she was oblivious to the escapades of the handsome Gryffindor, she held too much purity and innocence and Rafael, predictably, would have never revealed his less-charming side anywhere near the Hufflepuff. He did not deserve a girl like Lydia.

However, Aurelia would not blame Lydia as one could never be sure of what they have never witnessed. Sure, Lydia was oblivious, Aurelia, on the other hand, had a first-hand view of Rafael's true colour. Both Lydia's charm and ignorance would only shield her for so long before the inevitable discovery of the truth shattered the girl's heart. It was only a matter of when. Aurelia had warn her. She would not stop the girl as she stood and made her exit. The Monster Hunter could sense the pleasant grip of the charm fading off as the Veela widened the distance between them. The fourteen-year old had done her best to warn the child. As the saying went, sometimes, love makes one blind.

Soon, after securing her wand back under her sleeves, Aurelia would leave the female changing room to join the ball. She would make her way to the nearest table, grab a chalice and pour herself a drink. With a scrutinising gaze, she would scan the vicinity, unlike most students enjoying the party, Aurelia was on guard. None of the previous balls went well. Mostly, she had to keep an eye on the non-humans, if she could identify them that was. Not too far away, was the veela girl foundling with the suit of the very boy she had only just warned her about, Rafael D'Spacito. Suit herself.

@Icarus Sable

"Ah, love, don't question why I've chosen to grace you with my presence or I might just change my mind," Ana said with a wink. Her words were lacking the punch that they normally had, and she just hoped that Dale wouldn't notice. She did not feel like dealing with that or explaining what had just happened. First off, it was embarrassing, and secondly, it made her depressed, and she was trying to have a fun time despite the mess that had just happened.

Ana daintily began to eat her cupcake as though she had not just shoved an identical one in her mouth and eaten in it a single bite. She rested her chin on her hand and stared at Dale for a moment. She couldn't imagine being alone at a party like this. Ana was definitely what you would call an extrovert, and she was one of the people that was constantly moving and talking to people at parties. She sighed as she considered everything that had just happened. As she was calming down, it occurred to her that she looked like an overdramatic little brat, and Scott would probably never want to speak to her again.

Sure, Scott seemed like he was a genuinely good person, but Ana doubted that he would side with some crazy flouncy person over his best friend. She knew that were she in a similar situation, she would almost certain that she would side with her friend over some random younger student with a crush. Still, she couldn't help blushing when she thought about what he'd said before everything had blown up. That gave her a bit of hope. It also occurred to her that, in any given instance, Scott had done practically the opposite of what she would have done. Maybe everything wasn't completely hopeless after all.

That lead her back to what on Earth had inspired Chad to behave that way. Was it really just a protective friend thing? She supposed that it had to be since she couldn't think of any other reason for the Hufflepuff to hate her this much. Still, the behavior had been extreme. Ana felt her rage returning as she thought about it. It also made her lose a bit of hope for Scott ever realizing that she liked him. If some random person who didn't know her very well could figure out that Ana had feelings for him within a total of five minutes of interaction, then if Scott was going to notice, he would have noticed by now. It also irritated her. She was never the girl with embarrassing, obvious crushes on people. People had embarrassing obvious crushes on her! Sure, she was flirtatious, but more in a playful way. She hadn't thought that she was being that obvious. She thought she had a pretty good gauge for people liking other people. Glancing back at her companion in his flamingo suit, she wondered if her radar was really that off. Dale was a fairly attractive boy, so surely there had to be someone he liked or who liked him.

"So, what is a lovely gent such as yourself doing without a date? Surely there's a special someone," she said. It was a nice distraction, and she was genuinely curious. Now that she thought about it, she didn't think she'd heard any rumors about him liking anyone or vice versa, which was noteworthy, because, at the rate gossip spread at this school, everyone knew practically everyone's relationship status the second it happened. In fact, she was sure that everyone would know about Chad's nastiness and her own flouncing by morning. She sighed again. She didn't want to think about that anymore.

She took a swallow of the drink and wrinkled her nose. It was far too sweet, and she would really prefer it to be coffee. She sent the bottle down and finished her cupcake. Biting her lip, she thought for a moment and glanced at the dance floor. Taking in Dale's suit again, it occurred to her that coincidentally, they rather matched. In fact, his getup was pinker than hers.

Character Statistics: Stamina 5| Evasion 9| Strength 5| Wisdom 9| ArcPower 7| Accuracy 5|
Abilities: Lovely Creature, Fearless

Actions: Contemplate her sad love life, chill with Dale

Emory smiled as the other girl, whom she now knew was named Grace, returned a compliment. If she was honest, she was expecting more of a compliment. Her dress was spectacular. It was marvelous. It was worth more and deserved more than just a “you, too” compliment. Nevertheless, her cheerful expression stayed the same.

She took a sip of the lemonade in her chalice as Grace introduced herself and continued to inquire who Emory was with at the ball.

“Oh, I’m by-” Just before Emory could finish her answer, Grace announced that she was leaving as she began walking away with a wave. “Myself…” Emory said disappointedly with a slight wave. Well, there went that conversation. Emory slowly sat down in one of the chairs. She removed her black cloak from around her and folded it into her lap. The Slytherin girl did good in trying to socialize, but apparently the other person wasn’t interested. Maybe Emory had interrupted her while she was busy, or maybe Grace had other things to worry about, or maybe she was shy? Emory didn’t know what to think, but she did know that it was boring to sit alone at a party.

Emory’s bright eyes scanned the party-goers for someone to talk to. Her eyes jumped from outfit to outfit, searching for the next one to ask about until she for one. A simple, but stunning, black dress. She stood up with her folded cloak hanging on her arm and her chalice in her hand as she walked over to her next target.

The wearer of the dress was accompanied by another party-goer. Emory was familiar with them both from seeing them around the school. Who knew? Maybe she would befriend them? She approached them with her hands wrapped around the chalice and a smile spread on her face.

“Hello. My name is Emory, and I just wanted to let you gals know that you both looked stunning.”

Interacts with : @Lizzie Verdine | @Blake Bayne | @May Moonstar |@Emory Montgomery | Interaction close for now

Before Cassie marched toward the LGBTQIAP table, Cassie faintly heard Lizzie mention about she brought one of the things for the pranks Lizzie, Blake and Cassie will pull in near by future. When Cassie back from the table wore pink-blue-yellow ribbon on their wrist Cassie sent apologize for making Lizzie waited.

Lizzie said it was fine and Lizzie took quick glance toward Blake and his date were. "Que pasa contigo? (what is up with you)"after seeing a troublesome expression on Lizzie face. "I mean what is up with you?"Cassie cringed when they realize the slipped out and translated it. Cassie glance over to Blake and his date, Blake beckoning Cassie and Lizzie to come over to his table.

Cassie smile at the kind gesture. When Cassie (and assuming) Lizzie about to make way to Blake table, a girl Cassie could seen around the castle, talking to both of them. She introduced her name as Emory and said Cassie's and Lizzie's dress are stunning. Cassie observed the dress that Emory wore which in Cassie opinion make Emory looked like Chloris (Goddess of Flower in Greek Mythology).

"Thank you and so do you. I'm Cassandra but you can call me Cassie. Your dress look stunning. It suit you really well. Make you look like Chloris, the Goddess of Flower"Cassie speak out what they are thinking. Cassie once read their father's book about Greek Mythology. Cassie smiled at the other girl. Cassie saw Blake moved a little closer to May and the other two chair beside Blake's are empty but the other empty seat was near Blake's table.

"We are about to go there,"Cassie stated as point out where Blake was seated. "Maybe you could join us? I hope my friend did not mind you tagging along"Cassie added and addressing to Emory.

Once Cassie marched toward where Blake at, Cassie took one of the vacant seat beside him. "Hey, Blake! Finally I found you"Cassie greeted Blake and take notice that Blake was not alone. "I'm Cassie, I do not think we met before"Cassie said to May. "I hope you do not mind that my friend here tagging with us"Cassie being their confidence self already called Emory as their friend.

Blake then said something to May and not long after day got up from his seat. Cassie notice Blake small feature had to fight around the table that served drink. Then Blake bring out two chalices. As Blake returned into his seat and he quickly poured the remainder of the pumpkin juice into the two before offering one of the chalice to Cassie.

Blake raised his glass and tipped it slightly with a confident grin. He suggest a toast saying about the four (or five of them, if it includes Emory) first event as Hogwarts students even that event is a secret. Cassie smiled at Blake accent and raise their chalice too."Here here, lad! Cheers"Cassie expressed and grin as they cling their glasses with Blake.

Things Cassie Wear For The Evening

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Dress

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Earrings

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Make up

Alexander had a full grin as he watched Aida laughed and could not help but join in a little as well with laughing. Then he began to follow Aida towards the Bouttonieres. Looking at the large collection of flowers of various shapes, sizes, and colours. There he looked at the collection of flowers. Looking intently at them. His hand brushing some of them as he walked by them looking for any that caught his eye.

He then saw a flower that stood out amongst the rest of the flowers. A collection of purple heads, probably something gathered locally. Finding it interesting Alexander grabbed it and put it near the collar of his jacket. Since he did not have a breast pocket in which the flower could go.

Aida with her closer experience with nature might recognize them as bluebells.

Flower:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... 781186.jpg

When he was sure that it was secure in his collar Alexander turned to Aida once more.
"So Aida, I haven't really gotten to ask. What were your hobbies before going to Hogwarts? I guess a bit of crafts considering your breeches" Alexander said whilst pointing at the aforementioned white breeches. "But did you do other things as well?"

Whilst he was speaking he also began to walk towards the eastern end, towards the quidditch stands. Specifically one of the stairways leading up to them. And as he spoke to Aida he occasionally glanced around to see if anything was happening yet.