Secret Blossom Ball Event Finished

Interacting with : @Evelynn Decipio

Open to interactions

Reducio

After wandering around a bit and watching people dance, I should have bring a date.

Alexis decided she should find somewhere to sit, preferably with people. She didn't come here to sulk around, she came here to have fun and meeting people. Isn't that what party is all about?

She let her eyes wandered through the crowd of people, watching everyone like a hawk. She looked around at the tables, trying to find a table with not too many people seated. And she found one, there is one person who caught her eyes though, she has auburn hair with bright blue eyes. Alexis recognised her from somewhere but she could not quite place it and she was sure she has never met the girl before. If we haven't met each other yet, when could it possibly be a better time than this?

Without letting any doubt or possible regrets stop her, she straighthened herself up and slowly walked towards the table. Which is, of course, a little bit too slow for her liking but she could do anything about it, she didn't to take the risk digging her heels into the dirt, even if it hasn't happened so far.

Alexis arrived at the table, she got a closer look of the girl sitting there, she was in quidditch team. The Gryffindor! The captain?

Anyway, she didn't want to seem rude, just standing there, staring like a loon. She introduced herself, “Hello. I'm Alexis Asterion. I thought I recognised you, so I came to say hi. You look lovely.” Alexis mustered up the sweetest voice she could, she has been told about her demeanor too many times about how cold she seems.

“May I sit with you?” Alexis gestured to the empty chair but quickly remembered that she just crashed their conversation.

“You probably don't know me, but foolishly, I came here alone and just realised that I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.” Alexis quickly composed herself not letting any sign thyat might indicate that she's nervous show. She's an Asterion. Confidence is key. If she decided that she wants to make new friends here, she's going to make new friends here.

Interacting with: @Lydia Cooper @Aaron Jones @Janet Jackson @Fred Woods

Mentioning: @Rafael D'Spacito @James Cadwell

Status: Temporarily closed

Permission to godmod from @Janet Jackson and @Fred Woods

James disappeared off into the huddle of people to get refreshments and Ariana was left staring into the crowd after him, her cheeks still flushed with embarrassed delight. How nice of him to compliment her like that. She hardly had time to dwell on the thought as she was wrenched back to reality, by a breathless and very flustered looking Janet, appearing out of nowhere in front of her, cutting off her gaze from the crowd. “Ari! I've been looking for you everywhere!” She exclaimed, and Ariana raised her eyebrow in amusement ignoring the note of annoyance in Janet's voice, her mind still off wherever James had got to. “Oops sorry! James was waiting for me,” She turned her focus back to her best friend, trying not to laugh at her expression, “So, how's it going with Fred?” Janets features immediately softened, and as they delved into excited conversation about the events that had happened so far that evening, Ariana completely forgot about everyone around her. She felt a sudden hand on her shoulder and gave a startled yelp, jumping back in shock. It was Fred. “God don't do that to me Fred, you gave me a fright!” She laughed, while Fred chuckled and gave her a sympathetic smile. “I'll leave you two to it” She mumbled, catching Janet's eye and winking before disappearing off into the crowd.

Narrowing her eyes in search of James she scanned the area, tucking stray hairs behind her ears as she craned her neck over the mass of people. Her eyes widened as she suddenly caught sight of a shock of blue hair, drifting towards the refreshments table. W-was that Lydia? She made her way over and as she got closer noticed Aaron standing beside the blue-haired girl, a concerned expression apparent on his features. Lydia beside him looked utterly distraught, as though she would burst into tears at any moment. Who had done this to her dear friend? What had they done? Squeezing past the last lot of people, her cheeks flushed with the heat of the evening air, she emerged, looks of panicked concern written across her face. “Hi Aaron! You look smart!” She beamed before turning to the hufflepuff girl beside him, “Lydia, what happened to your hair? I mean, it looks wonderful, you'll have to teach me, but how did-'' She stopped her babbling abruptly, feeling that she should get to the point, before she ended up sounding too insensitive. “Lyd what's the matter? Has someone done something?” Her tone was soft, yet confused, laced with worry for her friend. Lydia was always so optimistic, who could have possibly ruined her bubbly attitude at a time like this? She pondered for a second on the possibilities, wasn't she supposed to be with Raf? Ariana's eyes widened in realization, What had her cousin got up to now? Why had he left Lydia on her own? She placed a hand gently on Lydia's shoulder “Hey Lydia don't worry, I'll find that bastard and give him a piece of my mind! Leaving you alone, what was he thinking?! Cheer up, eh? I'm sure Aaron will keep you company while I go and hunt down the jackass, don't let him ruin your night!” She gave the girl a warm smile before disappearing into the crowd in search of her cousin, only swiveling back briefly to give Aaron a flash of a smile and the thumbs up, before concentrating on finding the gryffindor boy within the mass of colorful bodies. Things certainly weren't going as smoothly as Ariana had expected.

Action: Hunting down the the gryffindor prince while drinking pumpkin juice

Interacting with @Vincent d'Arque

Wyatt was not expecting a tap on the shoulder. He was certainly not hoping for it. This wasn’t good for the plan, but it would be worse if he just walked away. You can’t just walk away from a tap on the shoulder, can you? Wyatt decided to turn around anyway. What he saw looking down at him was a tall, blonde boy with long hair, dressed in black. He hadn’t seen this person before, so he assumed he wasn’t a Slytherin. Possibly a first year. He looked pretty young, but his hair seemed to have been growing for a little over 11 years, so Wyatt wasn’t too sure.

“Hey, I’m Vincent. Are you okay?”

Sh*t. He heard me, didn’t he. Sh*t. What was his name? I forgot already… Victor? Vinctor? Vinctor isn’t a name… Vincent? Vincent! Okay. Remember names.

“I’m… okay. Yes, I’m alright.” He cleared his throat. Smooth.

The truth was, he wasn’t ‘alright,’ but Wyatt wasn’t just going to spill his heart out into a stranger. Certainly not in the middle of a party. He should’ve stayed in his dorm. He missed a perfectly good opportunity to do… anything else.

Since his first day at Hogwarts, Wyatt had been invited to parties loads of times. The other Slytherins are actually quite inclusive, he just never wanted to go. He decided to go to the Secret Ball because he was… just bored. He hadn’t brought anything fancy from home- like he could even afford to- because he didn’t expect to go to the ball in the first place. He wasn’t in his element here. Wyatt was sure the other boy could feel his overthinking from where he stood. What am I missing? Oh yeah,

“I’m Wyatt.”

[font=PT Serif][left]His glasses? Reid fixed them on his nose, grinning ever so slightly at Adam's remark. "Can't have them thinking I'm the student right now with an E on his report card now, yeah?" He let out a small laugh, pressing a hand to the back of his neck before he let it slip to his side. His grandfather said the same and so did his uncle, the glasses made him a little more respectable and a tad unassuming. So naturally, they took to telling him to wear it more often, even going as far to offer non-prescription ones for appearances sake.

But upon Alexx's remark of his attire, he looked down at himself and simply smiled in an attempt to really put his heart into the statement she made. Sure, he looked sharp, but the student was feeling a little dulled out in all the festivities. His fall in the Quidditch game left him rather emotionally nonplussed and irritated over the whole ordeal when he thought about it. There was one thing that hit his sore spot and it was always Quidditch, frankly the only thing he was good at. But he had his heart in the right place, just not his head.

Reid also was left at a weird spot with Alexx, they hadn't talked all that much, if not at all recently. If it had not been for Rosie, he might've just let this interaction slide and take to the sidelines to avoid any of the awkwardness. But he was without a doubt, a little relieved they were here regardless because he saw the locket he gave her. His gaze softened a little at it, recalling how he had stumbled upon it while in a shop with his uncle. He figured it would be a nice gift at the time, she didn't seem like she'd be into some rinky-dinky heart shaped locket.

"And I see you're still wearing that locket too, it fits." The dress was nice and the color was dazzling, she wore it well. Though he was more comfortable complimenting his guy friends than the girls, and sometimes he'd opt to compliment them generally. At that moment, he heard the greeting of someone else, whom he stepped aside and made room for ever so slightly. He recognized her a little, maybe for a while ago, but regardless gave a half-hearted wave to her. A briefest of smile before his gaze drew back Rosie asking, where he nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Realistically, there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice, he didn't really dance all that often. In fact, ever single school dance he went to was him standing on the side like an accessory to most of his dates. They danced, he did not. It didn't bother him before, but there was lingering thoughts of whether he was starting to become a stick in the mud for the last two years. The only time he's genuinely 'danced' was when he ran into that rock crowd at the last ball with Adam and the others. "Let's go now, before I end up shoving my way onto the floor." It was half a joke, he kind of missed the chaos the rock band brought to the last ball.[/left][/font]

Despite his careful approach and the subtle tap on the unsuspecting boy's shoulder, Vincent still seemed to have startled him. Thankfully not too seriously, he didn't jump out of his skin, but he did appear to freeze a little as he felt the touch of Vincent’s hand on his shoulder. For a moment Vincent thought the boy was going to ignore him as he didn't show any intention to respond in any way, but after a few seconds the boy turned around after all. He carefully scrutinized Vincent, who answered the boy’s visual examination with one of his own. The boy was shorter than him, a few inches perhaps, and had a pale skin. He had pierced ears, wore glasses and his hairdo was just as messy up front as it was on the back of his head. He seemed a little tired, but that could also be Vincent’s imagination. Though he definitely did not react unfriendly in any way, his body language impressed as somewhat aloof and cautious, something Vincent could very well understand. Not everyone was comfortable talking to complete strangers, he knew enough people who completely freaked out at the mere thought.

Still, Vincent couldn't shake the impression that this boy was more insecure than he should be – or needed to be even – given the circumstances. It was more or less a formal ball, sure, but there was no pressure from anyone to do anything or behave in a particular manner. Perhaps something here, or maybe someone, caused his unease. Vincent looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Behind him he noticed a girl with long, raven black hair and very, very blue eyes standing close to the dance floor. The color of her hair triggered a memory in Vincent’s head, but he shook the thought off right away. The girl was dressed in a green-and-black checkered blouse dress with an uneven hem and folded cuffs over a black pair of jeans and black-and-white sneakers, probably All Stars. She carried a camera bag and, not really surprising, a camera – a Cannon from the looks of it – taking pictures of everyone and everything. A photographer, a kindred spirit perhaps! He made a mental image of her face, resolved to keep an eye out for her and, provided the opportunity presented itself, talk to her. Her attention, along with her camera, was not aimed at the boy and him.

On the opposite side of their table Vincent saw that the girl he talked to earlier, Evelynn, still sat at the same table. She was still engaged in conversation, in fact, her audience had grown since he left. She was obviously very popular. Vincent shrugged and smiled sourly, his decision to walk away, at least for now, seemed to have been the right one. He looked at each individual student gathered around that table, neither of them showed any particular interest in them or suddenly suspiciously looked away. He swept all other directions, with the same result wherever he looked. Plenty of people to see, but no one overly interested in them.

“I guess that’s not it, then.” Vincent thought turning his full attention back to the boy. “I surely hope it’s not because of me addressing him.” Vincent tried to fathom the boy's expression, but couldn’t make out an answer. It did worry him a little. Even though the boy answered in the positive to his question if he was alright, his reaction, with him nervously clearing his throat, seemed to contradict that. Vincent decided not to pursue the subject in a possible conversation, perhaps the boy simply felt out of place here. Suddenly the boy looked up at Vincent as if he remembered something and he started to talk.

"I'm Wyatt."

Vincent conjured a wide smile on his face which lit up his eyes. Luckily the boy responded to him, telling him his name, giving him an opening to start a conversation. He chose his words carefully, he didn't want to give Wyatt the impression he was nosy or pushy. From what little he knew and had seen from the boy - which was actually just his name and his clothing - he couldn't tell what would be an appropriate subject, so he decided to start with an obvious, rather general topic. Hopefully he managed to make the boy feel at bit more at ease. He held out his hand.

"Hi Wyatt, good to meet you. Hopefully I didn’t startle you. I don't think I have ever seen you around, what house are you from?"

- Interacting with @Aaron Jones , @Evelynn Decipio , @Ariana Walker -
- Mentioning @Rafael D'Spacito , @Aurelia Notrésvace , @Alexis Asterion -
Closed to other interactions at the moment

Lydia bit down on her bottom lip, as she tried to gather her thoughts to answer Evelynn's question. Was she alright? Well, physically she was completely fine, it was emotionally that she felt like a complete mess. But she couldn't just say that to Evelynn, after all they had just met. The Hufflepuff girl let go of her bottom lip as she took a deep breath, and gently nodded.

"I'm alright, thank you. Nice to meet you Evelynn!" she said, and couldn't help the small smile that formed on her lips. The other girl sounded genuinely worried, and her smile was kind, even if the was she was just looking at her made the Hufflepuff girl wonder what she was thinking.

"He... didn't... hurt you... did he?"

Evelynn's question made Lydia frown slightly, completely taken aback by her words. Then, the conversation that she had with Aurelia popped up in her mind again, but this time it wasn't regarding Anastasia, but it was about Rafael's inclination to violence; another wave of doubts started racing through her mind, as she started wondering what all fo that meant. Rafael had never been violent with her, not a single time since she had first met him in the Rehearsal Room; on the contrary, he had always been gentle with her, treating her with respect and a calm attitude.

Then, all of a sudden, Lydia remember part of her first conversation with the Gryffindor boy; it was regarding his nickname, "Bird".

“It’s short for Thunderbird, now. Supposedly an allurement to how the air whistles when I fly on my broom. And… a prod towards my temper.”

She had completely forgot about that, his words stored somewhere in the back of her mind. What did Evelyn even mean with her words? Was she worried that Rafael might have hurt her in any physical way?

Lydia was going to answer the Gryffindor girl, when Ariana's voice reached her. She turned towards her and gave her a small, faint smile, before shaking her head. "I'm fine Ariana, I- it's okay! I'm okay," she tried to reassure her, but in vain; she could see on her face the moment that she realised that her distraught state had to do with Rafael. Lydia didn't even try to stop her once she decided to storm off, knowing that if Ariana decided to do something, she wouldn't have been able to make her change her mind.

"He didn't hurt me, he would never do that... I mean, he might be a bit of a hothead sometimes but he would never lay a finger on me. We just-" Lydia said to Evelynn once she turned her attention back to her, but stopped mid sentence as another girl, that she didn't know, joined them. She sounded quite friendly, even though she probably hadn't notice them, and if Lydia would have been in any other mindset she would have probably stopped there and chatted for a little bit, but not that night.

"We should probably get going, but I promise to give you back Aaron soon!" she said to Evelynn, as she let a small smile slip on her lips. After that, Lydia wrapped her arm around Aaron's one, and started walking towards the dance floor with him. Once they reached it, Lydia realised that she had absolutely no idea how to dance, but she didn't care; she placed a hand over Aaron's shoulder, while she took his other one in hers, imitating what the other people were doing, before they just started... well, not properly dancing, more like swaying back and forth, not even really following the rhythm of the music.

"I'm so sorry for taking you away like that from Evelynn," Lydia said, as she felt her voice crack a little bit and her eyes swell up with tears - if sad or angry tears, she couldn't tell anymore. Now that it was just her and Aaron, she didn't feel the need to keep the mask up anymore, she could just let go and tell him everything.

Reducio

Lydia's updated outfit

@Anastasia Beckett @Rafael D'Spacito

Dale was a little worried about Ana, something seemed a little off about her, her word didn't have the same punch the usually did, on any other day those words and that wink would've made him into a blushing mess, he was a little worried about it. But he wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. But he was just happy to have a little company, he was starting to get a little bored just sitting around... waiting for something to happen. He landed back in his hair, he put his right leg over his left.

Dale wasn't exactly sure what to say, so instead, he opted to sit in silence. Dale didn't really talk all that much, not because he didn't like to talk to other people, it's just he never had anything to talk about. And even when he did talk, he liked to stick directly to point, that made him a rather dry conversation partner... He looked over to Ana, she rested her chin in her hands and was staring at him, Dale shifted in his seat a little, He didn't it when people stared at him, it always made him a little uncomfortable, and when Ana did it, it was even worse.

"So, what is a lovely gent such as yourself doing without a date? Surely there's a special someone," Dale laughed at her comment, "You're the special someone." Dale thought to himself. He shook his head, "I prefer to go to these things alone." That was a total lie, but he didn't wanna tell her that he was too nervous to ask her to go with him.

“Anastasia!” Dale heard a voice say, he looked over to where it came from. He was surprised to see a very good looking guy, Dale was tempted to greet him, but it was clear that he was here to talk to ana and not him.

“Who the hell are you?” the boy said when he saw Dale. Dales's eyes shot up in shock... he did not expect him to be so rude. He noticed the boy looking him up and down, with a condescending look, Dale just smiled at him and winked. He didn't like people that thought so highly of themselves... the other guy then went on to give Ana a flower and told her to burn anyone who wanted to take it. Dale looked over to Ana with a concerned expression, "What the hell was that?"

Interacting with: @Dale Kurt, @Rafael D'Spacito, and @Willow Anderson
Mentions: @Lydia Cooper | @Evelynn Decipio |
Open for interactions

Ana arched an eyebrow at Dale's reply. As someone who lied frequently, she could fairly easily recognize when someone else was. Especially if the liar in question was as bad as Dale was. Nobody liked to be at these things alone. Maybe it was stressful to come with someone romantically, but it was rather miserable and sad to come to things like this completely alone. Obviously, there was someone and it was rather complicated. She was about to inquire more about that when a certain Quidditch captain called her name and her head snapped in her direction. He had a face of flowers and was also dragging the lovely Willow with him. He tried to wave and she chuckled since his hands were full of flowers and the first year's wrist.

Willow greeted her, and Ana smiled in return and was about to reply when Rafael spoke again. Good Lord, as much as she enjoyed her best friend's mildly insane nature, this was rather irritating. Still, he seemed quite worked up about whatever it was, so she would resist the urge to mock him. For now, anyway.

Rafael was in the middle of asking her if she could do something for him when he cut himself off and demanded to know who Dale was. Ana exaggeratedly rolled her large brown eyes at Rafa. How extraordinarily mature... She made a mental note to tell him that she had excellent taste in friends, and if she didn't, she was perfectly capable of dealing with enemies on her own. Still, her friend rude protectiveness was mildly endearing. Just mildly, she was still going to smack him later.

When Rafael unceremoniously shoved the vase into her arms, she raised an eyebrow. "Rafa, dear, as lovely as I am, and as fond as I am of you, I highly doubted that your date is going to appreciate this," she began dryly before catching Rafael's eyes. Whatever was going on had him spooked, so Ana probably ought to take it seriously for the moment. Rafa was a tad dramatic, but he wasn't someone who got freaked out very easily, at least not in Anastasia's experience. She narrowed her eyes when he mentioned not picking her finger. What did he think they were in some sort of fairy tale? He also really ought to have known better, since Anastasia was the kind of person who, when told not to do something, could think of nothing else than doing the forbidden thing.

Narrowing her eyes further when he told her what to do if anyone else came for the flowers, she nodded slightly. "I suppose since it's you asking," she said, her tone still playful but her expression more serious now. "You have better have one hell of an explanation for this though, Rafa."

Her friend zoomed off, dragging poor Willow along before Anastasia had a chance to say anything to her. That was a pity since Willow was among the handful of Hufflepuffs that Anastaisa was actually fond of. Actually, now that Ana thought about it, Willow was probably the only Hufflepuff that Anastasia was fond of. There were one or two others that she didn't mind too badly, but the rest were little more than kindling to her.

Inspecting the roses carefully, she didn't see much wrong with them, other than the fact that they were pitch black. Since they were quite alive, Ana assumed that they must have been enchanted, which was mildly suspicious, since she couldn't think of any first or second-year spells that would be able to do something like this. She carefully set the roses on the table as though they were about to burst into flames. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Tracing her finger absently along the vase, she watched Rafael rejoined his date, who shortly stormed away. It reminded Ana of her own storming away only minutes ago. She was definitely going to need to have a chat with Lydia after the ball. Not that Anastasia disliked her greatly, but if she thought for a second that abandoning Rafael at a ball was going to fly, she had another thing coming.

Scanning the room, she noticed a certain redhead's eyes (Evelynn) on her for a split second. Given what Rafael had told her, Ana made note of the girl's stare as well as the fact that Rafael's date seemed to have joined the group of people that she was speaking to. It was probably nothing but given the utterly suspicious nature of everything that had just happened, it wouldn't hurt to keep track of something like that.

Dale asked a question, startling Ana from her profiling of the other partygoers. Her finger jerked upwards and caught itself on a thorn. That was unfortunate. Still, since Rafael hadn't actually shared any details of what was going on, she wasn't too worried. Scratch that, since she had no idea what was going on, her mind immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusions, ranging from painful deaths to falling asleep for 100 years. Trying to ignore her uneasiness, she acted as though everything was normal. Reflexively, she popped her finger into her mouth to stop the blood. "All shall be revealed in time," she said mysteriously after a moment. She had no idea what was going on, but she had some very dark ideas. Still, it would do absolutely no good whatsoever for her to share her pessimistic thoughts and cause others to panic. Just because she recently discovered that some distant ancestors had probably been cursed for some reason didn't mean that everything was dark and gloomy. The work was not out to get Anastasia Beckett, however things might seem.

"So, back to you. You're a rubbish liar, there's clearly someone," she said, bringing the conversation back to Dale's singleness. A, she really wanted to know the details, since Dale was her friend and anyway, Ana liked to gossip, and B, she could really use a distraction from her dark thoughts. "Let me guess - she's going with someone else? Or she said no to you? Or is it a he?"

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

Actions: Recieve creepy flowers, chill with Dale, prick her finger, pump Dale about his love life

Mentioning: @Lydia Cooper, @Rafael D'Spacito, @Thomas LeStrange, @Arlo Reynolds, @Wren Caster

The social dynamic that was ongoing was beyond Victor's understanding. Wren had wandered off, started talking to a pretty little girl, Lydia Cooper that was left to her lonesome. He watched her briefly before wandering off to play white knight himself. He would notice out of the corner of his eye the arrival of his date's friend, Rafael D'Spacito. He was embarrassed to admit it, but he was unsettled when the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain showed up. It was not that he had not expected the guy to be here, he was a popular fellow and was in a lot of ways everything that the Slytherin wanted to be.

The flower in the girl's hair turned yellow, as did the bouquet that was nestled beneath the table for safe keeping. He addressed Thomas LeStrange, the rando that was giving his friend a hard time. Sure Marion could be a bit emotional, it was some girl-thing that he was still trying get a grip on. That said, she was not the aggressive type - throwing a drink, trying to physically push the guy away... that was not some monthly hormonal thing.

The guy was cocky and not quick to start an altercation, well at least further it in a noticeable way. From afar it looked like Marion lost her cool and assailed the darkly clad student. It was likely that he was going to keep harassing her, if he wanted a dance, a date or a laugh at her expense, it really did not matter because she seemed fussed by it all. Wren was talking to charming, he had a few minutes but hopefully not the whole night.

“I only asked for a dance…”

Did he really now?

"A bit of an over the top" reaction for a simple favor but it was also rather obvious that Marion was not here alone. Not that he was overly familiar with her date, Arlo Reynolds. Small guy, nice guy. Not that he bothered to get to know the first-year.

“You see…”

Well, he got the guy's attention at the very least.

“My date…disappeared, I guess. Selim here, was helping me find…him.”

"So you decided to take someone else's date," he eyed Marion. Her expression, if not her words likely indicating she was not a fan of the Slytherin. "And swapped teams," he added. Mary was the furthest thing from 'butch' or masculine. There were a few girls here that looked like prettier versions of guys. Some of them were alone even.

“Guess I’m not the only one.”

He looked back to see his date over with Rafael still. He wanted to know what they were talking about. A part of him was incredibly paranoid, he felt as if he was being watched. An uncanny sense that he was not wrong about, there were eyes in the crowd that were on him. That uneasiness was not his imagination.

“Would you be interested in a dance?”

The guy had a lot of nerve. Bothering his friend, making her look bad and then asking him for a dance. Te guy seemed like the stereotypical asshole. The sort of guy that enjoyed stirring the pot and... Victor got a whiff of the air around the deviant. He smelled like alcohol. He had also been drinking. At least that was the way he saw it until he tried to 'sweeten' the offer.

“Your bag looks heavy; I could carry it… if you’d like.”

"While dancing?" Victor might have been born at night, just not last night. "Why are you here LeStrange?" He eyed the pumpkin-soaked boy over once. "Bothering my friend... going dancing with my bag..."

Shifting the bag on his shoulder he would call out to Marion. "Mary, Keep an eye on this." He was referring to his duffle bag. "Going to chat with your accessory Prince," Thomas. The bag was heavier than it looked, it clamored as he rested it on the ground next to his housemate.

He would embark upon the dancefloor with Thomas. He was comfortable enough in his own masculinity to walk onto the floor with another guy. He would have preferred his pretty date rather the a boy in an undertaker costume but he would take what he could get.

Oh good, a slow one. And no voice in his head now for several minutes playing crappy narrator.

Victor would whisper sweet nothings into Thomas' ear.

"What is your game?" The question as as much an accusation as it was an inquiry. "How many of you are there?" The presumption that the eyes he felt were not the product of paranoia. "And..." there was a pause as he made his final question. The rose turned white in the girl's hair as she was approaching to duo now. Rafael having identified his quarry, a vase of flowers would observe the same in the great vase. The yellow blooms would once again turn white. "Did you really think I was going to let you hurt Mary?"

This should have been the indication for Thomas that something was about to go terribly wrong.

Rafael would break away from his date and the meandering stroll they were engaged in to briefly address him as would Victor's lovely date Wren.

“Hey, Victor, I’m back, what happened here? And who are these people? Are you okay?”

"He," referring to Thomas not Selim. "Was bothering a friend of mine for a dance." And she did not seem to appreciate the offer. His explanation was simple, he would have loved to have given her more but there was this festering sense of apprehension. A different sort of fear. Fear was what drove the boy into isolation and fear was what forged the powerful bonds he had with his friends. Well, friend.

Still he was happy she was back. There was a self-depreciating part of him that thought he was going to spend the evening with Rafael. A paranoid part that felt like he was a specimen being studied. A fearful part of him that believed he as well as Mary were in peril.

“Victor. Thomas, loving the pumpkin juice look. …Selim, wow. You don’t look like a walking grease stain. Impressive.”

Victor nodded cautiously. Back at the Valentines Day Tea, his friend Jo had questioned him about something she should not have known about. He had an inkling that they all might have been interesting in making his acquaintance for a reason besides friendship. It was what ran him away from Jo, an otherwise seemingly nice girl he supposed if it was not for the fact that he was being manipulated. He wondered if his present date was no different. If their shared acquaintance, well actually from how the girls regarded him friend was likely a better term although a jealous part of him presumed that they both perhaps wanted something more.

No, he had to get that notion out of his head. The rose shifted from white to yellow to white again.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

Rafael would disappear into the sea of people but he did not go far, leaving his date behind. He would make his way over to the table under which Victor's gift for Wren was stored. A romantic gesture which was not an item of suspicion. He did not hide it very well and that vase would be incredibly heavy. The class, some sort of leaded crystal. The water, blue. Not a natural blue however as there was no blue celestial space to reflect from, the water was a turquoise blue. The roses, there were ninety-nine of them had the Captain taken the time to count. All long stemmed roses, however the thorns had been cut off, close to the stem. All except for one on each long, slender stem. The leaves a deep and vibrant green. The petals appeared fresh, as if picked just that morning but that was not possible in such quantities and with such quality. The blooms themselves would shift in color from white to yellow before his eyes.

The dance ended by now and unless Thomas was a cuddler and a hand holder, Victor would relinquish any physical contact he had over him. Besides, his date wanted some answers from the new boy of interest, Thomas.

“I just got here, I honestly have not a clue as to what is going on”

He would let Thomas reiterate, perhaps change the narrative to fit his 'story.' It did not matter greatly what he said, Victor was not looking to be popular and neither was Mary. Well, it would have been nice but he was not going to drive himself mad.

He would see Rafael under the table investigating his flower. His stomach sank a bit. He saw Wren look in his direction. Was she a part of it? In on it? had she asked him to investigate? Were they both studying him like a curious new breed of insect. The roses would remain white.

She was fixated on Thomas.

“Thomas, are you okay? What the hell happened to you?”

He wondered how they knew each other. If they knew each other. If they were working together even. No, that was simply mad. A group of students secretly assembled to keep an eye on him. On Mary. "I see you guys... know each other?" He hoped for something. A statement, a rationale. Something that would indicate to him a why. A what.

“I need you to tell me so that I can help this situation.”

What was this? He took a deep breath. "Why don't..." he hesitated because he did not want to make the offer but she as not hers to keep. "You both take a spin on the dancefloor, his boyfriend" if he believed that "ditched him." He did not want this weirdo anywhere near his, no not his... this pretty girl. But she had an interest in Thomas, not him. Be it romantic or professional. If she wanted him, Thomas. He was going to let her have him. He would pick up the pieces of his broken heart and shattered ego later.

He needed to see a Quidditch Captain and discuss his penchant for taking things that did not belong to him. "Hey D'Spacito!" Victor called out, he was not about to do this subtly. "Stealing my girlfriend's flowers?" Well, girlfriend might not have been accurate. He was working on that. In his mind maybe she had already said yes. Well, no take-backsies now. His cheeks flushed, she was probably going to be an ex before she was ever his girlfriend.

A different girl that was not his date was there assisting him. Victor, the foolish and not commonly known as brash youth, would approach. "Those flowers are for Wren," he reiterated without putting titles on things. He would not hear Rafa's instructions to his firebug friend to burn the blooms. "What's this all about?" Did he think him daft?

The fake cheer. The drink. Was it a show for them or a show for him? Did it even matter? As mentioned by Willow, being low-key dragging some girl around was far from low-key. "Dragging pretty girls around. Stealing flowers..." Awfully suspicious D'Spacito. He had run Lydia off. He wondered if he was interested in her at all. It wasn't his job to get involved but she seemed interested in him.

Victor understood the basics of it. She had never told him about LeStrange's threat to murder her that she very much believed. The fact that she was absolutely terrified of the deviant. She was not really worried about him in the perverted sense, more in the -- found dead on the side of the road sorts of fears.

Victor was not the aggressive or the assertive type. Not generally, but he was a good guy. That was something she got to know over these past few years. He commented on his reasoning, poking holes into it. He knew the guy was full of shit but he still accepted the offer to dance for as short as that might have been.

He left his bag with her. She eyed the bag, he came geared to a dance. She wondered why, but his skill set often involved... accessories. Of course she was not able to lift the bag, she would not even tried. Someone had injured her shoulder and it still ached. She would have lacked the strength to lift that even if she had two 'good' arms. She wordlessly eyed the bag but she never agreed.

In fact, she was going to leave the bag under the protection of Arlo as she made notice of something queer.

Meanwhile the Quidditch Captain, she never knew the guy's name investigated the massive vase of flowers Victor had presented to his date in an over the top gesture. She saw Victor's eyes settle on the curious monkey. Meanwhile her drink was empty, Thomas was wearing most of it. She approached the table and looked over the glasses. She picked one with a cloudy, amber liquid. She would pick it up and give it a sniff. She was pretty sure that it was pumpkin juice.

She would draw something from her dress. Yes, she stored it in her bosom, her wand or at least a long slender length of wood. She tapped the rim but she never cast a spell. Too young for non-verbal magic. She lacked that skill as of yet but she had an array of other skills. She returned that length of wood to her dress and returned to Arlo's side. The dance was over between Victor and Thomas. (Laced with Valerian)

Victor was about to start something with Rafael and she clutched the drink in her hand. Of course she was going to back up her friend the only way she could. The physically frail wizards such as herself were not trained in martial magic or at the very least ineffectively. She was better with plants and spells, better than most. "Vic, take a drink."