Elias Weare -- Thomas Baines Valentines closed

Callie had told many lies to Thomas that day. It wasn't the first time she'd done something along these lines, she often dragged the Ravenclaw along with her antics for the sake of forcing him to have a little fun, but gosh darn it this just seemed mean-spirited. Thomas had been excited, even, upon learning that there was a stargazing event. He had totally forgotten it was February 14th; he was thirteen years of age and an astronomy geek so that wasn't so inconceivable. Upon seeing the positively Valentine's Day theme, and upon watching Callie take off to wherever she had been assigned, he earnestly contemplating leaving then and there. For some reason, he didn't leave immediately, which would prove to be his first mistake.

Going through the motions to get a number and sit down, Thomas rubbed his gloved hands together in an attempt to keep warm. In true paranoid fashion, he scanned his surroundings, seeing that many of the people in pairs seemed to be acting strangely. Some were in varying degrees of awkwardness, but not the same social awkwardness he was familiar with. They knew each other, or at least one knew the other, which was hard for Thomas to fully conceive. Some of the pairs seemed to be rather close, leaning on each other for warmth and enjoying their partner's presence. It was all rather peculiar.

Slowly but surely, Thomas was able to piece together what the event was meant to be. He may have been daft, and oblivious to social norms, but it was clear that he had been set up. By his dueling partner no less! Mentally rehearsing what he'd say to the poor sap that got paired with him, I do not feel any sort of romantic feelings towards you, if they were a friend, with an addendum of in fact, what I feel at the moment couldn't even be classified as a platonic attraction because I don't even want to be here, if they were a stranger, he took notice of what could possibly be the worst-case scenario.

Elias Weare. Walking his way no less.

After spending a few moments in shocked silence, his resolve steeled and Thomas even managed a downright venomous glare. He even reached into his pocket to grab his wand, though he did not retrieve it yet. Perhaps if Elias was annoying enough, Thomas could simply jinx him. He hadn't learned Mimblewimble yet, but it'd be a rather useful spell to get his rival to shut up later on.

"You better not be on your way to #16, Weare," he warned, just in case this was a misunderstanding instead of the worst joke the universe had ever played.

Reducio

@Elias Weare respond whenever, bestie

Similarly to Thomas, Elias had been dragged along to this event by one Callie Jensen. Or rather, he'd been told he was signed up... except not with who he was about to be meeting. The menacing young girl, who seemed to have taken to making fun of him and his love life as of this year, had him under the impression he would be meeting up with Valerie Baines (perhaps there was a mixup with the last names... though he wouldn't be aware of this just yet). Scanning the crowd for the girl, he was a tad disappointed when he couldn't immediately make her out in the crowd, though he was sure he'd find her once he'd collected her number.

Rather begrudgingly (he still didn't really want to be here and had only shown up so as not to ghost Valerie), Elias joined the line for numbers. A few moments later, and the boy was steadily heading towards spot #16, glancing down at the number every few moments. That was, at least until something near immediately snapped his attention away from the paper and back to his surroundings.

Letting out a sigh of anguish as he saw none other than Thomas in front of him, Eli couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here. A Valentine event? There was no way Thomas Baines of all people had somehow convinced someone to sign up as his "blind date" and there was also no way he'd have wanted to come to meet a stranger... so why was he here. "What are you doing here?" He asked, deciding he'd get to the bottom of that before he even thought about addressing the fact that Thomas already seemed to know where he was headed. Perhaps he'd seen Valerie over there and simply didn't want Elias spending time with her? That had to be it. Thomas was simply a jealous hater. It was understandable. Elias would be jealous too if he were Thomas.

Thomas wracked his brain for some witty, clever response he could deliver. He had no banter, nothing he could harass Elias about, at least nothing was coming to mind, and he was right and truly taken by surprise. Callie's little prank had worked famously, as now Thomas was flustered and incredibly irritated. For someone who claimed to hate the boy, Tommy was curiously concerned about impressing Eli with his hilarious comebacks and insults.

The grip Thomas had on his wand tightened considerably as Elias got closer, still concealed by his robes for the time being. Stiffening as it became increasingly clear that indeed, table number sixteen was where he was headed, the indignation coursing through his veins made his blood run hot. Standing up, if only to try (and fail) to match Elias' formidable height, Thomas glared daggers at his sworn enemy. Perhaps it was the cold, but to an observer, the boy's cheeks seemed rather flushed. That was it, certainly, the weather. Not the embarrassment as Callie's deception quickly came to him. Setting him up to spend a- he could barely fathom it- a romantic evening with Elias Weare?

What kind of cruel, cruel world was he forced to live in, what choice did he make to end up in this timeline, what god had he angered to deserve such a fate? Was it because he cast Tarantallegra on Breana back in the Forbidden Forest? He had thought it was funny, and great problem solving, but perhaps the karmic justice of the universe thought it different. Was it because he set Mars on fire on approximately three different occasions during their little summer dueling sessions? He had a strategic appreciation for the spell, the way it forced the hand of his opponent to extinguish themself (plus, it had been a little amusing to see how angry they appeared to be as a result of his spellcasting).

Perhaps Thomas did deserve it... But he wouldn't accept it nonetheless!

"Shut up! I'm only here because I was told that it was a stargazing event, and that we'd get extra credit in Astronomy for attending! How about, why are you here," Thomas accused, trying to figure out the potential motive for this deception. "And why are you assigned to the same seat I am?" Admittedly, he seemed more irritated than the occasion might have warranted, but the boy was simply embarrassed by the implication that he planned some form of romantic rendezvous with the scum of the earth that was Elias Weare.