Twirl the Flagon — Group 3 Summer Camp '22

Languages: Portuguese & English

Raul hadn’t been expecting the English boy to pull him into a deeper kiss, truth be told, he’d been banking on the redhead growing flustered and retreating to the loving embrace of his obvious girlfriend. Alas, it seemed that it was the Brazilian who found himself playing the part of the fool. For he found himself pressed into a much deeper kiss than he’d bargained for. And, Raul was loathed to admit it, the boy was a good kisser. Sure, he didn’t relish the idea of making out with someone of the same sex, but where credit was due, Raul was not one to deny it. Whatever the skinny Englishman’s name was, he could kiss.

The wrestling of tongues took much of his focus for the following minutes, a duel of dominance played entirely in their mouths, before finally, they parted. Raul wiped the back of his hand with his sleeve, before mirroring the motion of his make-out partner, spitting the taste of English saliva onto the ground.

He shot a grin at Boe, only to see his elder brother in the midst of locking lips with the girlfriend of Jack, for that was what he had nicknamed the English gentleman. Of course, such good fortune was not to last for long. For Jack aimed his wand at Raul’s older brother, only for the fizzle of the green spell to die before it could be cast. Alas, whilst the magic of the hex was not birthed to the world, Raul’s anger was.

Standing up, the golden child of Castelobruxo pointed at his hitherto-makeout-partner. Only for his anger to subside, the muttering of his older brother quelling his anger before it could unleash.

Boe was the smart one, Raul thought to himself, the painful awareness of his own role as the blunt instrument in their duo making itself painfully aware.

He muttered to himself in Portuguese as he sat, “If you say so, Boe…” The frustration in his voice was clear, even as he confined himself to his entirely sulky spot on the floor.

Cackling to himself, the youngest Mirales Correa added, “Shit kisser as well, mind you,” He lied.

The elfish boy shot a smil toward Manu, once more speaking in his native tongue, “Shame my brother is a better kisser than you, no, thin-blood?”

With the redheads temporarily out of his mind, Raul turned his mind toward the girl who the bottle had provided him. A younger white-haired girl. Her own trepidations with her blue-haired classmate had gone unnoticed by the Brazilian, for he launched himself toward her, aiming to land an overly-passionate kiss upon her lips.

@Matthias Pride, @Jack Warren, @Aly Salinger , @Winnie Harper &@Della Barfield

Attempting to kiss Della Barfield. Feel free to dodge, avoid, etc. Happy to take a miss by default

“What the eyes don’t see, the heart doesn’t feel.” —Portuguese proverb

The Correa brothers were, as usual, making absolute fools of themselves, which Manu both loved and hated watching. First Raul had macked upon a boy who appeared to be the boyfriend of the pretty redhead with whom Manu herself had kindly exchanged cheek kisses, making out with him in front of everyone - much to the chagrin of the redhead, Manu noticed. At least his brother, who Manu knew considered himself such a smooth and suave person as had never graced the Earth with their presence before, only gave a little fist-bump to his first person, and Manu felt a rush of vindication. Raul could make fun of her all he liked, but she wasn't the only person not full-on exchanging tongues with the bottle's chosen one. Except then Gregorio turned around and tried to kiss the redheaded girl that Manu had landed on, and when she shoved him away - Manu let out a "Hah!" and a bit of a cackling laugh when she did so - the other Brazilian in her year just turned and planted one on the girl the bottle had chosen for him, a pretty blonde. Manu curled her lip in disgust, which was only exacerbated by Raul's jeering comment a moment later.

Manu simply put her thumb and forefinger together in a circle, stuck her other three fingers upwards, and held out out briefly to Raul in a casual, practiced gesture. To anyone from the other schools, it may have just looked like she was making the O.K. symbol with her hands, but this gesture was essentially the equivalent of the middle finger in Brazil, a "fuck off" kind of vibe. "At least she could touch me," she rebuked in Portuguese with a casual wave towards the redheaded girl who had shoved Boe away. "Couldn't stand to be near your brother and his stench. I don't blame her, really."

But she couldn't just sit idly by here and listen to the Correas call her a bad kisser. They could call her many things - ugly, thin-blood, etc. - but that was all based off of their wrong opinions, and to Manu's knowledge, Raul had never seen her kiss anyone. She'd certainly never kissed him, so how was he to know what kind of a kisser she was? Gregorio, on the other hand... well, that had been years ago, and Manu wasn't about to go dredging up broken hearts and even more broken noses. Most likely, Boe had blabbed something to his brother about how horrible of a kisser Manu was and this, that, etc., but that had been her first one, and so Manu liked to think she had perhaps improved since then. Years had passed, after all, and she'd garnered... well... likely not as much experience as Gregorio, but some. Kind of.

And then she looked away from the uglier Correa brother (at whom she was looking is up to your own judgment...) to the bottle in the circle, only to find its glassy green nozzle staring her directly in the glassy green eyes.

The redhead's also-redheaded boyfriend, the one who had been locking lips with Raul just moments earlier, had also spun the bottle. And it had landed on her.

She glanced to Raul then and gave him the smile of the cat that had eaten the canary in one full swallow, right down the gullet, with nary a golden feather left on its whiskers. "Let's let him decide, then."

The girl of the ginger pair was back at her boyfriend's side, speaking of how he owed her a kiss, and Manu marched right over to the two, reaching out to lightly touch the girl's arm. "Excuse me," she said in English with an apologetic smile, turned away from Boe and Raul so they couldn't see. "Just... know that I have to do this because of my honor, I would like to protect it. And also, I would love to be friends with you after this. You seem like... tipo um ... você merece até a lua you are a great person (literally: you deserve until the moon). So, tipo um, no bad feelings, right?"

Then she turned and, pushing herself up to her full height considering her new kissing partner's literal foot of height on top of hers, would attempt to throw her arms around Mathias and lock lips in a showy display of making out. It disgusted her to even try this knowing that some of Correa's saliva was likely still in there, but... she had to prove him wrong. Stubbornness was in her blood, after all. And she'd show him who the better kisser was.

Action: attempting to go in for a kiss with Mathias

	@Mathias Pride
	@Winnie Harper
|| Interacting with: ||	@Nicholas McCowan (as Raul Mirales Correa)
	@Jack Warren (as Boe Mirales Correa)

--- Date: 28/08/22 || Time: --:-- ---

Outfit: White t-shirt, skirt, Shoes

Sophia smiled. 'Eli' it was! It was a fun nickname, and it was short and sweet.

When Eli tried to pronounce 'Soph', her accent was absolutely adorable, and Sophia wanted nothing more than to gush loudly and excitedly at the beautiful words coming out of her mouth. She always was a sucker for accents. The girl's nervous tucking of her hair behind her ear didn't escape the blue-head's notice.

As her head rested on the Eli's shoulder - and Eli's head upon her own head! - the strand of hair previously tucked behind the older girl's ear fell into Sophia's face, eliciting a soft giggle. She let out a light puff of hair to blow the hair away, but it returned to its stubborn position along her nose. It tickled, but she didn't care. She loved hugs.

Unfortunately the peace as they watched the proceedings didn't last. She could feel Eli tense as another spell was attempted by the others. Sophia was quite good at ignoring impromptu duels and drama, but it seemed like her new friend didn't have that luxury. Poor thing.

Sophia turned to look at the girl in concern as she felt the weight of the girl's head lift and heard a soft gasp.

"Don't worry, they usually avoid collateral damage pretty well," she muttered in what she hoped was a comforting tone.

To her relief, Eli giggled at the mention of the Ball. Sophia blushed and smiled sheepishly, feeling stupid for assuming the girl didn't know what a Ball was. She hadn't known before attending Hogwarts. She'd just called them 'dances.'

"I wonder how I didn't notice you. You're very tall and very pretty," she commented idly before realizing her slip up. "Er, sorry! I shouldn't have said that. I know some people are kind of self-conscious about their height. I mean, you shouldn't be! You're perfectly tall. Not too tall. But like, I shouldn't have assumed and said anyth-"

Sophia trailed off and winced at her horrible social awkwardness.

"S-sorry."

To her relief, Eli took over and started talking a bit about her own school. Sophia hadn't known other schools existed before the foreign students arrived at Hogwarts, and even then it had taken a while. She had a poor tendency to sleep in the Great Hall during the announcements. It was a combination of her poor sleep habits and insomnia, but because of it she tended to miss important things. Like the arrival of the foreign students.

Eli's next words were very blunt, and very sudden.

"Are we - are we friends now?" the taller girl asked, and Sophia was almost overwhelmed by how adorable she was.

She'd never been asked such a question so bluntly. In her experience - which was lacking, since her only friends before Hogwarts had ghosted her when her parents died - friendships just happened and it was hard to define beginnings or ends when it came to friendships. It was refreshing to have such a blunt discussion about it. Maybe if she'd been so open and clear about it, she wouldn't have been disappointed when she lost her muggle friends.

"I- I'd assumed we were," she returned nervously. "I-if that's okay with you, at least!"

Smooth. She cursed her shy and awkward nature even more. It was a clear chance to define their friendship. She could have just said 'yes, we are absolutely friends,' and things would have been great! Why'd she have to go and trust herself with words?

She kept her arm around Eli's shoulder, but loosened her grip a bit in case the girl decided she wasn't worth the time.

Preparing for the worst, Sophia closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable response.

Notes:

Reducio

I was reading and I realized typing just 'Eli' could be misleading! Just wanted to double check! The pronunciation is more like 'Ehl-Lee' right? Like Ellie?

Interacting:

@Samantha Salwis as Eliza

Mentioning:

Languages: English & Portuguese

Playing the prince charming was one of the best starters in Boe's playbook. With his ability to integrate his intelligence with his innate charismatic magnetism, the ploy couldn't fail. He couldn't help but feel the rush of excitement as Greta bloomed into a strawberry color, which only made his confidence grow. This girl was not nearly as experienced as Boe himself was, but that made the bottle's choice even more valid. Boe pressed his lips against the tiny girl's, but it was only time to increase the volume and add more passion.

Boe could only feel himself pushing deeper into the dip and face battle. His hands only held on tighter to match his partner's grip. He was sure that his wild introduction caught the girl by surprise, but that was the best way to get what he wanted. Her reaction let him know kissing wasn't Greta's number one pass time. Of course, saying that sparks flew would be an overstatement, but it was a fun interaction.

Only after moments Boe pull them both up to a standing position. Honestly, it would be weird if they went on for too long, and Boe would never make himself look like he was overindulging. Taking a step back, Boe kept her hand covered with his. "Pretty good, yeah?" After he spoke, he subtly slipped a silver ring off his finger and into the palm of Greta's hand. Then, leaning forward, Boe would speak softly into his partner's ear. "For you, senhora." Boe said while smiling as genuinely as he could, "I think I would like to talk to you more- before we are forced to leave" The boy purposefully spoke the words in a delicate whisper in the hopes that he would force Greta to lean into him more to hear him.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he would pull away and turn toward his classmate and brother. Raul was already talking shit again to Manu, but against Raul's taunting, he could see Manu decide to step up to the plate. Let the failure of a wizard determine who was the better kisser. Was that seriously her plan? How pathetic. A little peck on the lips should never be considered a real kiss. They weren't first years anymore.

The elder Mirales-Correa watched with great intent as Manu spoke to the two redheads before leaning over to Raul and saying, "Honestly, who would want to kiss a mutt like-" the venomous words spilling from his mouth were cut short. Like a strike of lightning, all he could see was the girl's arms wrapping around the failure's neck and going in for a terrible display of kissing. Something strange occurred as Boe watched this. Weird? What was this pang in the pit of his stomach? It was like he was sick to his stomach mixed with a splash of anger. What was this wretched emotion rearing its ugly head? Why would it show now? Why was Boe feeling jealous? Nothing could explain this phenomenon, so Gregorio could only shake his head and look away.

Interactions with @Evelynn Decipio as Greta, & @Nicholas McCowan as Raul
Mentioning @Aly Salinger as Manu & @Mathias Pride

MODERATION POST—Round III

There are some cases where some students who would otherwise find themselves in a relatively quiet area enjoying slices of life and cute interactions will have their world turned upside down by delinquents boldly shouldering into their pristine images. Perhaps that could be said of a select few members of this circle whose lives fate had decided to shake up a little bit. They might disagree, however, and who could really blame them. Absolute nonsense, that's what this particular group was. If it wasn't outright unprovoked violence, it was jealous rages, or inspired fear, or acts of dramatic flair to out-do a silly rival. And that made it all the more delicious, naturally.

Sophia Nelson would be the first brave soul to spin the bottle in the next round despite having sort of wished she could just be a lurker and not actually have to risk anything on the line. Don't we all, Sophia. Don't we all. Unfortunately, that wasn't how the game was player, and her bottle would land on Elizaveta Mikhailov. Rather fortuitously, in fact. The latter was a touch shaken up by the surrounding chaos. Both, really, were rather in over their heads. What started as a handshake would quickly develop into cutesy cuddles, however, as the two found solace and new friendship in each other's company, content to chatter between themselves while the rest did whatever tom-foolery they were up to.

Theodore Duncain followed, smiling inwardly (and outwardly) in the wake of the partnership of taking down the Koldovstoretz shrimp. (/j Edwards) Shooing others from the boy, he would go back to the game as though it were just another normal event at Hogwarts. Which... really... it was. Go us. His turn would land on the fair princess, Winnie Harper, who may as well have been a damsel in distress swept right out of a fairy-tale novel. Her jealous ire had been spurred by her boyfriend's antics, especially in the wake of a poor attempt to exact vengeance on an impromptu and unscripted extra spin. It had still done the trick, though, her shove sending Boe Correa back on his behind to interrupt what would surely have been a horrid display. But she had tact enough to rein herself in to give Theo a hug before darting back to bicker at her beau.

Meanwhile, Rita Su would get the chance to spin the bottle, pairing the round with some very thoughtful introspection on romantic preference. For an eleven year old, she was very quick to digest the sentiments and integrate new and thoughtful plans of action to improve future encounters. She might have been a Rita S. but she was assuredly not a Rita Skeeter. More people ought to be like Rita. Her unfortunate crush, Noah Jupe, was happy to reciprocate a hug, gently wrapping his arms about and even thanking her for the experience. Cute.

And then there was Edward Smith. Oh, Edward Smith. Locked and loaded, limbs frozen to his sides, he had been left to tumble backwards, discarded and abandoned. It was for the good of the group, naturally. Or so the foreigners would try to have the others believe, anyway. A couple of the members didn't seem so convinced. And Edward assuredly was not up for this ridiculous treatment. Bent on trying to brute force his way out, he would strain against the bonds. Had it been anything other than an impeccably cast crit spell, he might even have managed it. But he wouldn't be able to break through. Not quite.

Edward attempts to break free from the Full Body Bind Curse
Strength check (DC 14) | [d20]:1+11 = 12 (unsuccessfully breaks out of the binds)

Mathias Pride did not seem to be having the best of nights. Or maybe he was. It was hard to tell with him at times. He had definitely earned a point against the Brazilian lad, though, not backing down from the torrid game of chicken and successfully horrifying him. But at the cost of a vile taste and his girlfriend's anger. Worth it? Yea, maybe. Jealousy would force his hand with a cast at Boe, however, resulting in a bit of an unfortunate failure of follow-through. And also more yelling from Rapunzel Flapjack. He really ought to just shut her up with a kiss. Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. When he eventually got back to the game to spin the bottle, though, it would find itself pointing at a very willing Manuela Macedo. Perhaps too willing. If Boe didn't end up caving and attempting a confusing jealous counter-hex on behalf of Manuela, surely Winnie would do something as equally crazy. It was pretty much guaranteed at this point that this group would experience an attempted murder of someone at some point.

Recovering himself from being pushed over backwards and denied his stolen moment with the auburn babe, Gregorio Correa would define his own fate, taking flagon to hand. It would spin upon the Horntail Horde's collective little sister, Greta Fransson. A very unprepared Greta, as it would happen. Boe's charm would shine as he stalked up to her, taking her tenderly to hand with an elaborate dip and showy kiss. It was a good thing it hadn't been her first else she might well have fainted right then and there. And then, to seal the action in a very confusing, but assuredly memorable moment, he would present her with a ring. Let us just hope she doesn't get the wrong impression!

Last up, the second Correa brother would have his gander, Raul Correa taking initiative in a manner more fitting of another group. Like a fighting bull, he would charge the diminutive form of Della Barfield, practically attempting to maul her face with his lips. To her credit (and possibly speaking to an underlying insanity??), she did not up and run. Not that she really had much time to react. And to his credit, he was—apparently and arguably—at least more good looking and smelling than a bull. As a result, the two would share a definite moment of intimacy for the full spectating form all the rest. Perhaps it might even have inspired something...

THE BOTTLE HAS CHOSEN AGAIN!

Reducio

@Winnie Harper spins the bottle, and lands on @Manuela Macedo (@Aly Salinger's iNPC)
@Elizaveta Mikhailov (@Samantha Salwis's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters's iNPC)
@Sophia Nelson spins the bottle, and lands on @Della Barfield
@Greta Fransson (@Evelynn Decipio's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Boe Mirales Correa (@Jack Warren's iNPC)
@Raul Correa (@Nicholas McCowan's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Mathias Pride
@Noah Jupe spins the bottle, and lands on @Rita Su

Additionally:
—The order of the spins listed is not necessarily the order they happen ICly, nor do they have to be posted in that order.

Players have until Midnight on Tuesday, August 9th to post

--- Date: 28/08/22 || Time: --:-- ---

Outfit: White t-shirt, skirt, Shoes

Sophia was watching the happenings of the game idly as she cuddled up with her new friend, happy to chat with the girl as long as she was willing. So far it'd been just as chaotic as she'd expected as an unhealthy glob of jealousy, flirting, kissing, and romance were infecting what could have been a cute, wholesome game of hugs and friendship.

Though, despite her Catholicism, Sophia wasn't an idiot. She knew - and had known when signing up - that many joined the game for... more risqué reasons. They wanted to smooch, and she could understand that. She'd seen people before that she wanted to kiss, but she never had because she was supposed to be a good Catholic girl. She was supposed to save her first kiss for her wedding.

That didn't mean that she didn't have intrusive urges to kiss people.

She'd had the urge to kiss Gem that one day in the owlery the previous year, for instance, and she didn't even bother denying that she wanted to kiss Kim even now, but she'd never kissed either of them because she understood that such urges were natural, even when it came to girls, so she tried not to act on them.

She also understood that jealousy could make those urges more common.

She had no reason to be jealous. Not at all. The girl she'd hugged first in this game wasn't even technically her friend. Sophia didn't even know the girl's name, so she had no reason to be jealous when she watched the girl being kissed intensely by the foreign student. No reason at all. Even if the silver-haired girl was her friend, it wasn't as if she'd kissed for any reason beyond the game, so jealousy literally made no sense.

Still, Sophia felt a tiny bit of jealousy. Maybe it was because the girl's silver hair reminded her of a certain white-haired seeker? Or maybe it was just because she was adorable. Heck, it could have even been her captivating green eyes. Whatever the reason, Sophia found herself wanting to kiss her as that other boy had, and she felt horrible for it.

When Sophia's turn to spin unfortunately came up once more, she frowned, having hoped that she was done being the one to spin the bottle. She didn't mind being targeted, but being the spinner in this spinner-spinnee relationship was stressful. She didn't know how to approach it. She didn't know how to decide between a hug, a kiss, a handshake or whatever other options there could possibly be. It was much easier to have someone approach her and give her a bit ol' hug.

She removed her arm from Eli reluctantly and muttered a 'be right back', slowly standing and leaning forward toward the dais.

She closed her eyes as she spun the bottle. She couldn't bear to see it spin. There were quite a few of them in the group, and she knew her luck was bound to run out and it would land on one of the rowdier students of the bunch. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in the middle of the drama and spellflinging.

She peeked with one eye open to see the identity of the poor unfortunate soul who matched with her.

...and let out a soft sigh of relief as she saw a familiar pair of green eyes looking at her. This was the girl from before. Maybe now she could get her name? Maybe, if she was brave enough, she could even- Nope. She couldn't. She was a good Catholic girl, and she couldn't kiss the girl in front of her. First of all, they weren't courting or married. It was improper to kiss before marriage. Second, she couldn't kiss girls anyway. It was against the rules. Third, well, she was sure there was some other reason she couldn't kiss the girl, but that reason was lost in the girl's eyes. The girl's gorgeous green eyes.

Sophia found herself approaching the girl in a trance-like state, unable to tear her own eyes away from the other girl's. Despite her focus being stubbornly stuck on the green peepers in front of her, she found she could still see the girl's long silver hair in her peripheral vision, and she wanted to touch it.

Sophia knew it was natural to admire girls that were pretty. Every girl did so. But the way she was watching the silver girl wasn't what the way she was supposed to do it, and she found it very difficult to care. Pax's words from earlier in the school year echoed in her head.

"Are you sure you're straight? Because I recognise that face from my brother. The 'I've secretly been thinking about someone of the same gender as me and I don't know how I feel about it' face."

She wasn't gay. It was impossible. Every girl was sometimes attracted to other girls. It was natural. She knew it was. It had to be. Pax had to be wrong.

As she shook Pax's insinuations from her head, she found that she was suddenly standing quite close to the tall girl. Far closer than she'd realized at first. If she was only a bit taller, their noses might possibly be touching. She could only wish that were the case.

With no control over her traitorous limbs, she began to stand on her tiptoes, closing the height difference little by little until their noses could touch. Her eyes were wide with fear and - though she would be hesitant to admit it - excitement as she leaned closer and closer to the girl.

She lifted her hand to the girl's cheek, her vision blurring as the hand brushed against the silver locks.

"I'd like to kiss you, if I may?" she whispered, seconds before leaning in for her first ever kiss.

Notes:

Reducio

Sammmm! I excused Soph briefly from their cuddle session, because she has to confront - and lose - to her stubborn bisexuality. Their cuddling shall resume shortly! Della, I hope this was fine! I left it open ended so you could react however you like. Feel free to shove Sophia, pull away in disgust, or literally anything

Interacting:

@Della Barfield || @Samantha Salwis as Eliza

Mentioning:

@Kim Sato || @Colin McCoire

*the stats in the banner are old

With one of the trouble-making students unable to move due to the curse cast at him by another student and the others also having calmed down, the game seemed to be less chaotic but Elizaveta didn't want to celebrate too early and end up in utter chaos again. Luckily, no death threats were made this round as the escape from the full body curse of the boy failed.

The comforting words calmed her down a bit, even though she didn't completely understand what the other girl had said. As their conversation moved on Sophia shared her confusion about how she hadn't noticed Eliza at the ball and complimented her. The blond was about to thank the girl for saying she was pretty when the other apologized and said she shouldn't have said that. So Sophia didn't think she was pretty? "Oh," left her lips as a wave of sadness hit her.

Reducio

Fidgeting with her skirt, Eliza looked down at the ground disappointed that the other girl didn't think she was pretty as Sophia continued talking. Wait! She had meant she shouldn't have said anything about her height! The blonde perked up with the realization and looked up at Sophia with a little smile on her face. "So you do think I am pretty?" she asked happily, completely ignoring the height part as it wasn't important to her.

Eliza had been waiting just as nervously for the answer to her question as Sophia replied to it. "I would love to be your friend!" she replied cheerfully. Never in her life had she known it was this easy to make friends, maybe she should try it more often. "This is good," the blonde shared, clearly thrilled with her new friend. When she was back in her dorm, she would write a giant letter to her brother about how she made a new friend, he will be so proud of her.

Jealousy, it was the feeling Eliza got when she saw her dad praise her brother's quidditch games and never showed up to her ballet performances. A similar feeling was what she got when Sophia's arm was removed so the girl could spin the bottle again, leaving her alone. Crossing her arms like a spoiled little child that didn't get it their way, she watched as the bottle was spun by Sophia and slowed down hoping it would land on her again so her friend would return to her again.

But it didn't land on her, no, the bottle stopped as it pointed in the direction of a girl with long white hair. Disliking the whole situation, Elizaveta quietly watched as her friend approached the other students in a trance-like state. Her green eyes narrowed as she noticed Sophie, who was standing real close to the white-haired girl, whisper something and then slightly lean towards the other girl. What was she doing?

When Sophia returned to her seat, Eliza, acting a little more distant than before, would stand up immediately and make her way over to the bottle. Not wanting to be the one who was left alone again, she was the one leaving now. It was also a way that she could prove she wasn't a loser and was worthy of the attention of the adorable blue-haired girl. The slower the bottle spun, the more nervous she got. What if the bottle ended up on one of the boys that had participated in the crazy make-out session? No, she didn't want to think about that.

Her fate was sealed as the bottle stopped moving and pointed in the direction of the boy who had been slapped during the first round. At first, she had felt bad for him but after that, he had scared her when he was yelling at the other boy. Of course, it was a lot better to have to bottle choice him than the boy that had slapped him. "Hello," she said nervously to the boy as she made her way over to him. "Hug?" she asked him, voice trembling a bit.

--- Date: 28/08/22 || Time: --:-- ---

Outfit: White t-shirt, skirt, Shoes

Sophia had seen or read about many, many kisses in movies, comic books, and even some of the cheesy romance books she'd searched for - er, stumbled upon accidentally - in the school library, and she'd thought she'd known what to expect when her first kiss came.

Of course, she'd been wrong.

She didn't know anything about kissing, and it was probably apparent to the girl on the other end of her lips at the moment. The girl. The fact that not only was she not saving her first kiss for her wedding, but she was also sharing it with a girl instead of a boy was a can of worms that she didn't want to open just then, so she stuffed it as deep as she could manage within her heart, instead focusing on the now.

She was about to kiss a girl, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was excited. She didn't know the first thing about what she was doing, and that just made her feel even more embarrassed. Unsure what to do with her arms, she settled for wrapping them around the other girl in a hug as they both leaned in.

The girl introduced herself, and it offered a momentary reprieve from Sophia's inner anguish and excitement. Della. It was a gorgeous name, and she had to fight the urge to say the name a few times just to test how it felt on her tongue. She didn't want to ruin the moment.

She could see Della's lips getting closer, and she found herself trembling with fear and excitement. This was really going to happen. She was really beginning to regret not keeping mints with her at Hogwarts. She found herself mentally running through her day, trying to remember what she'd eaten and what else could possible affect her breath or her lips. Were they chapped? Was her breath okay? Was she holding her arms a bit too tightly around Della because of her nerves?

Her mind was racing as thoughts warred for control of her attention span, but the thoughts were mercifully silenced as their lips met at last.

It was beyond anything Sophia could possibly have imagined she would ever experience.

She'd expected the softness of the girl's lips, of course. That much was clear even from a distance. But seeing a pair of soft lips and feeling them on your own lips were two entirely different situations, and she was positive she'd never appreciated the difference as well as she would in that moment.

She didn't know what to do, but she allowed herself to follow Della's lead, closing her eyes as their lips formed a strange, invigorating relationship of give-and-take, push-and-pull. Their lips seemed to move together in perfect sync, and while the kiss was probably clumsy in the eyes of a more experienced kisser, to Sophia it was absolutely perfect.

But, unbeknownst to her, the feel of soft lips on her own wasn't the only effect of the kiss. She could feel her cheeks reddening beyond what they'd done during any of her many embarrassed blushes and she felt more lightheaded than she'd ever felt in her life, but it wasn't the same lightheadedness she'd felt in the Summer Duels after her head injury. It was a good lightheadedness, and that confused and scared Sophia.

After what felt like both an eternity and a criminally short amount of time, Sophia pulled away, opening her eyes once more. She was still shaking, and her eyes were wide. She was more flustered than she'd thought she was capable of being, and now she didn't know what to do. She barely knew where she was. Heck. She barely knew who she was.

After a trembling breath, she attempted to speak. It was a mistake.

"I, uh, you were, we - uh, good, very - it was, you know, a - well, I, uh, thanks," she said inelegantly, wincing at the high pitch of her voice and praying as hard as she'd ever prayed that Della would pick up on her meaning despite her lack of verbosity. It was an amazing kiss, and Sophia was broken.

She realized that her arms were still around the other girl's waist, so she attempted to untangle them. The traitorous limbs were stubbornly latched together, though, and she had to fight with her own neurons to force her hands to unclasp behind Della's back.

She took a single step back in the direction of her seat, desperate for something to help get rid of these confusing feelings. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized that her legs were like Jell-O, so all she managed was to stumble and land flat on her face. She quickly pushed herself up and attempted a smile at Della with a nod to affirm that she was okay and stumbled over to her seat once more, waving shyly to the silver-haired girl.

She would never forget this day.

Unfortunately, all was not well for Sophia.

As she returned to her seat and reached her arm out automatically to resume her friendly cuddle session with Eli, Sophia was horribly disappointed as the girl shied away and stood, going straight for the bottle and pointedly ignoring her. Had she done something wrong?

The lightheadedness thankfully faded as she watched Eli in concern.

All she could do now was wait patiently for the girl to come back so that they could talk it out. The last thing she wanted was to lose her new friend so quickly. She didn't even know what she'd done, but she would gladly apologize if it would fix things.

As she waited nervously, her eyes turned - stealthily, she hoped - toward Della and her mind began to race as she realized how severely she'd just sinned. And worst of all, she didn't even regret it.

Notes:

Reducio

oh my

Interacting:

@Della Barfield || @Samantha Salwis as Eliza

Mentioning:

@Kim Sato || @Colin McCoire