1 Oct 2023, 04:26
In the Hufflebuff
*To catch all non-Hufflepuffs up on the event prior to now:
His eyes narrowed at her as the doorway opened, playfully, but in a manner that suggested that he had no idea what it was that she was talking about. "There is no parading myself around, my love," and she now had entered into the corridors. The Hufflepuffs that still remained in the Common Room were watching him with full attention, waiting to see what his next move was.
"I'm merely, waiting for my girl to answer a quite simple question," and he said these words as he began to hold the sign a little closer to his body and began scooting himself sideways against the cold stone corridor walls.
For the moment, they seemed to be alone in that area of the corridor as students in the other houses were either departing from their dormitories on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast or were already in the Great Hall enjoying their meal. The Hufflepuffs that had just bared witness to the exchange between Simon Kincaid and AngelFyre McCubbin were either stunned that the boy was foolish brave enough to enter into the corridors after her, or busy chattering away at what they just saw and overheard.
This scooting method was good, really good. It worked! He was able to keep the sign pressed against him in the front and the wall to cover his backside. It reminded him of how he saw videos of the military performing the action, being all stealthy, with their backs up against the wall, flattening themselves as much as they could flatten themselves to remain inconspicuous to the enemy. There was no enemy here, just the prevention of all of Hogwarts seeing precisely all of Simon Ezra Kincaid.
Oh no. "Pardon me, excuse me...." Simon muttered as he passed some of the portraits that hung up on the wall, knowing that he was in rather close vicinity to some of them. "...My apologies..." Simon could only imagine what they were thinking - if portraits had the ability of having thought processes. He was almost sure that they must because he thought he heard at least one or two gasp. This wasn't something that happened every morning at Hogwarts.
Speaking of thought processes, until now, it really hadn't struck Simon just how warm and cozy the Hufflepuff Common Room was until he was now up close and personal with the cold stone corridor walls of the castle. Quite chilly!
Inch by inch he followed her...
Reducio
Monday, 18 September 2023
and into Tuesday, 19 September 2023
While out on his patrols that evening before bed, Simon saw a flyer posted on the bulletin board in the corridor outside the Great Hall. This was the place where information about events, big and small, were put in the spotlight to keep the student body of Hogwarts informed.
The flyer told students that the annual Fall Ball was coming October 6th and the theme was the Festival of Lights. Just hearing the theme made him think of the Disney movie Tangled and how Flynn worked to get Rapunzel to the Lantern Festival that was an annual tradition on the birthday of the long-lost princess, hoping for her return. He knew quite well that events at Hogwarts, especially school dances, didn't always have that Disney happily ever after, but after taking a break from the last dance, perhaps it was worth another try. If anything less, just as he and AngelFyre had 'their own royal gathering' for the Spring Dance, they could have their own Fall Ball.
Had he been one of the first students to see it? Memory wasn't serving him if he saw it after suppertime so maybe it had been placed just before curfew. Simon wanted to act fast! He had a handful of ideas saved in mind on how to ask his beloved girlfriend AngelFyre McCubbin to a school dance. The last dance was that Spring Dance and when it rolled around toward the second term of the previous school year, it was AngelFyre who beat him to it. He wasn't complaining at all and her idea was grand! She had arranged an elaborate sword in the stone scenario that was quite a perfect fitting for the medieval theme for that dance. Still, with her quick action, Simon knew that if he wanted to put one of his ideas at play that he was going to have to beat her to it. His girl was a thinker and a creative one at that.
So Simon declared his patrols complete and retreated to his dormitory for the night where he could pick out which one to choose for this particular dance. It became pretty simple when he surveyed his options. With how serious last year had been with frequent dealings of attempting to control his unsettling aura and AngelFyre unfortunately losing her Grandma Ruth over the Summer - what these two needed to properly kick off this school year was some lighthearted fun.
That very next morning he put his plan into action after a night of prepping and he got himself situated while his fellow housemates were waking and preparing for the day.
As the Hufflepuff students headed from their dormitories and into the Common Room to leave for breakfast early that morning, Simon stood near the doorway to the corridor with nothing but a large sign in front of him that read:
Was it romantic?
Perhaps not.
Was it memorable?
Absolutely!
Monday, 18 September 2023
and into Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Waiting on @AngelFyre McCubbin to head down to breakfast
While out on his patrols that evening before bed, Simon saw a flyer posted on the bulletin board in the corridor outside the Great Hall. This was the place where information about events, big and small, were put in the spotlight to keep the student body of Hogwarts informed.
The flyer told students that the annual Fall Ball was coming October 6th and the theme was the Festival of Lights. Just hearing the theme made him think of the Disney movie Tangled and how Flynn worked to get Rapunzel to the Lantern Festival that was an annual tradition on the birthday of the long-lost princess, hoping for her return. He knew quite well that events at Hogwarts, especially school dances, didn't always have that Disney happily ever after, but after taking a break from the last dance, perhaps it was worth another try. If anything less, just as he and AngelFyre had 'their own royal gathering' for the Spring Dance, they could have their own Fall Ball.
Had he been one of the first students to see it? Memory wasn't serving him if he saw it after suppertime so maybe it had been placed just before curfew. Simon wanted to act fast! He had a handful of ideas saved in mind on how to ask his beloved girlfriend AngelFyre McCubbin to a school dance. The last dance was that Spring Dance and when it rolled around toward the second term of the previous school year, it was AngelFyre who beat him to it. He wasn't complaining at all and her idea was grand! She had arranged an elaborate sword in the stone scenario that was quite a perfect fitting for the medieval theme for that dance. Still, with her quick action, Simon knew that if he wanted to put one of his ideas at play that he was going to have to beat her to it. His girl was a thinker and a creative one at that.
So Simon declared his patrols complete and retreated to his dormitory for the night where he could pick out which one to choose for this particular dance. It became pretty simple when he surveyed his options. With how serious last year had been with frequent dealings of attempting to control his unsettling aura and AngelFyre unfortunately losing her Grandma Ruth over the Summer - what these two needed to properly kick off this school year was some lighthearted fun.
That very next morning he put his plan into action after a night of prepping and he got himself situated while his fellow housemates were waking and preparing for the day.
As the Hufflepuff students headed from their dormitories and into the Common Room to leave for breakfast early that morning, Simon stood near the doorway to the corridor with nothing but a large sign in front of him that read:
Yes, it fit right into his boasting ways at times - where self-display wasn't an issue and he could probably use a little more modesty. Still, he stood there, sign in hand and waited without shame or embarrassment. He'd flash a bright smile to anyone who glanced his way no matter what their reaction was. The only badger's reaction he cared to see was that of the beautiful and amazing AngelFyre McCubbin."I'm not putting my clothes back on until you say yes to the Fall Ball."
Was it romantic?
Perhaps not.
Was it memorable?
Absolutely!
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Decisions, Decisions @Simon Kincaid
Tuesday, 19 September 2023
AngelFyre knew something was up as soon as she reached the top of the stairwell leading from the Girls' Dormitories down into the Common room. Mornings were always a busy time as kids were moving to and fro before the day really began in earnest. Some were getting last minute help on homework from their friends before breakfast. Others were making plans as to when and where to meet after classes ended. Most, however, were scurrying down the stairs and into the Common Room, heading straight for the exit because they were hungry. The decibel levels from all of that normal morning commotion, if it was happening, was rather dwarfed by other, much more prominent (yes, pun definitely intended) sounds. From the top of the stairs, AngelFyre could swear she heard a lot of giggling and a couple of chants: "Please Say No!" and "Make Him Wait!"
She started to take her first steps down to see what the heck was going on, but had to back up as two girls were running pell mell up the stairs, giggling about who knew what. When one looked up at her and suddenly stopped the giggling altogether, AngelFyre really got curious. The girl stopped dead in her tracks and said to her friend, "New Plan,"and she turned to her friend pointing at her. She told her to hurry and go get her omnioculars that were in the trunk at the foot of her bed and to also bring her Wizard Camera from her own trunk. As AngelFyre backed up a little farther to allow the girl a clear path, she turned her attention back to the first girl. She did not know either of them, but she had seen them a number of times. They were younger than AngelFyre; second years she was pretty certain.
"What is going on?" she asked with a grin. I have my Wizard Camera here in my satchel if you need it for something. The girl just shook her head and burst out laughing. "Uhhh, no. I think you are going to want to have use of it. In fact, I would get it out now," and the girl just laughed even harder, but good naturedly. AngelFyre just looked at her, not quite knowing what to make of it all, but she could feel a curiously bewildered smile begin to turn up the corners of her lips. She was about to start down again when the girl quickly did a 180 and raced back down the stairs well ahead of her.
What the heck?!?
AngelFyre now was focusing on the chants once again and they grew louder as she hurried down the steps. The girl she had been speaking with was pushing her way through the crowd to the front. She craned her neck around the half-turn before reaching the middle landing and scanned the crowd to see if that would give her a better vantage point than actually "being in it". After just a few seconds, she could see Simon's gorgeous head of hair near the exit, but he seemed to be facing the crowd and they seemed to be facing him.
Again.
What the heck?
As she now fast-tracked it down the steps and made her way through the crowd, she found folks were not wishing to relinquish their spots until they noticed it was her that was trying to get through. It was not exactly as if the crowd parted like the Red Sea at her arrival, but there was a lot less resistance than she expected to have. When she finally made her way to the front, she was able to lay eyes on her boy. He seemed fine which was what had had her most concerned.
She was at first looking into his eyes, smiling like a loon as she always did when greeting him, but then she noticed he was holding a sign, so she averted her eyes from his and looked down to read it. As her eyes tracked down, her breath caught in her chest as she realized he was not... uhmmm... wearing much. Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her. She had not slept well at all the last month and a half so she was prepared to concede her eyes and her mind were possibly prone to hallucinations. But then she read his sign.
And then she read it again and quickly looked up at him.
He was just standing there like the Adonis he was, proud with his chiseled chest (Huffle)puffed out, smiling at everyone as if he had no good sense whatsoever. But now his gaze and his smile were focused on her. She blinked a couple of times in disbelief and turned to the crowd, listening to their chants once again. "Please Say No!" and "Make Him Wait!"
Simon had strategically backed himself into a corner, so the sign really was nice cover. It was his ONLY cover, or so they were all to believe. Still, her curiosity to know the answer to the question she most wanted the answer to had her mind spinning faster than a whirling dervish. Her boy was not shy and he was definitely bold. He had even been known to skinny dip in the Great Lake. But was he really asking her to the Fall Ball while standing right there in the buff? She would not put it past him, God love his Gryffinpuff soul.
Romance was dead. This was the proof. Hormones and his unsettling aura had finally pushed him over the edge. But as her eyes appreciatively and slowly... and she did mean s l o w l y ... tracked over that glorious architecture that she could and did call hers... a playful smile he would well recognize had long been plastered on her face before their gazes once again locked.
"I am not entirely convinced you really thought this through, Handsome."
AngelFyre tilted her head to the side and winked at him while pulling a chair from one of the tables over in front of him and comfortably sat herself down. She pulled out of her satchel a plump, juicy fig she was going to have as a snack between classes later in the afternoon. Looking back up to him, she sat forward and proclaimed in an oh darn it kind of voice, "Oh! Apologies. Had I known you were going to be met with a wardrobe malfunction today, I would have gladly procured a fig leaf or two.. or three... for you, or would more, perhaps, be necessary?" and she arched a brow at him and pursed her lips together, artfully keeping her laughter at bay.
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OOC: Longstanding permission to Godmod each other's character has been granted by Simon and AF's writers.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patiently awaiting @AngelFyre McCubbin's decision
Now, it was perfectly reasonable that this sort of manifesto would cause a bit of a stir but Simon wasn't nearly ready for the maelstrom of attention within the badger den also known as the Hufflepuff Common Room. It grew in force when she approached - Simon could tell by the chants; but there were too many puffs around to see her. In retrospect, maybe he should have chosen a different time; as badgers were notorious for enjoying their mealtime cuisine and their culinary treats so one probably shouldn't have messed with breakfast.
Those that were surrounding him where now beginning to move as the chatter continued and Simon smiled eagerly, knowing AngelFyre must be growing closer.
"Please say no! Make him wait!" several were chanting amongst other statements. A couple of them were in rhythm with each other, pumping their fist into the air and some others were jumping up and down possibly from excitement. Finally one of the Hufflepuff girl blurted out, "I'D SAY YES! I'D SAY YES, SIMON! I'D SAY YES IN A HEARTBEAT!" and he glanced over to the girl just as mortified expression crossed her face and she gasped, placing her hands over her mouth and looked at a few others close-by and then dashed off with a couple of her friends following quickly after her.
She seemed to escape the badger sea just as the clamor was growing louder. Poor girl, if she had waited only a few moments earlier than it might have been washed out by the sound. He'd attribute it to a rash statement made in the heat of the moment from pumped up adrenaline or perhaps a small little school girl crush but either way knew the girl would be okay. Focus wasn't on her statement, it was still on the boy with the sign and now the blue-eyed wonder that was heading down the stairs from the girls' dormitory.
AngelFyre finally got to the front and Simon smiled that dazzling smile of his, waiting until she read the sign within his hands:
"I'm not putting my clothes back on until you say yes to the Fall Ball."
Yes, it was still there written out across the bright white sign and he watched as she read it more than one over and her eyes looked back up to him. He continued to smile that bright smile.
She couldn't be upset with him, he knew that much. Their relationship was solid - it was friendship as much as it was love, it was deep and all-consuming, it was amusing and it was playful. They were so intertwined within one another's soul that he knew he could do something like this - especially during a time when some levity was needed in her life - and she'd appreciate it.
Oh, but she appreciated it too much!
She winked and he knew that wink of hers meant that there was already a plan in that pretty head of hers that had been signed, sealed, and about to be delivered.
Simon watched as she pulled a chair over in front of him and sat down before riffling through her satchel, bringing out a fig and joking that she would have provided some fig leaves to help him in his situation.
It made him think of the Biblical reference to Adam and Eve, who wore fig leaves in an attempt to cover their nakedness in an attempt at righteousness after suddenly feeling self-conscious about their bodies after eating the forbidden fruit. Oh, but Simon didn't feel self-conscious but rather confident as he stood there - at least for the moment. Right now it was in the safety of the badger den but now he was wondering how long his stubborn girl would take this.
Would he have to venture down the halls like this? Oh, he would.
Would he have to try and sneak into class like this? He would try!
Lunch time?! Hmm, he wasn't quite sure how to pull that off but again, it was worth the risk. SHE was worth the risk.
Even if it took day in and day out right up until October 6th when the dance was being held then he would make the attempt.
"I believe Adam only needed one fig leaf," he said to his girl. "But, darling, we aren't talking about fig leaves here. No, that's far from the subject at hand. You see, the main focus here is that there's this boy who is irrevocably in love with this girl and he wants to take her to upcoming school dance."
"And he will try, as difficult as it may come, to remain true to his word...." Simon glanced down at his sign to make a nonverbal reference to it as he paused, "....until she says yes; whether that be minutes or hours or days; into weeks and months - he will try. She's worth the wait, you see. She's worth everything."
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A Handsome Hufflepuff in the Buff, @Simon KincaidTuesday, 19 September 2023
Noise. There was a lot of noise around them. She could feel the reverberations in her sternum. She sat and watched him intently as the chants rumbled a bit more loudly and offers were shouted out to him from every corner.. and not just by the girls. It would seem many were willing to say "Yes!" to her Handsome Hufflepuff. I mean, to be fair, his sign did not exactly specify who he was asking. She was making a huge assumption... they all were... that this was all being staged for her.
AngelFyre could not help it and finally chuckled to herself as she brought her hand up to her mouth while looking down into her lap. She just sat still for a moment and listened. Though not quite the same, it reminded her of their night on stage in London when they unexpectedly became the opening act for Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber of all people! The crowd just about lost their minds over Simon and he was mistaken for the Biebs more than once that evening. She smiled at the memory and looked back up at him.
She knew her eyes had to be sparkling. Her boy had outdone himself this time. A++++ for creativity. The London stage had been a serendipitous adventure. This, well this, he had actually planned. But had he really gamed it out? I mean reallllllly gamed it out? Not entirely, and though she knew without a doubt he had not meant to do it, he had unintentionally placed her in a very uncomfortable position.
He was well aware that she was more than fine with other girls gawking at her boyfriend. It happened all the time. It was such a silly thing to take pride in, but she did. She loved that other girls looked at him. I mean, he was extremely easy to look at for extended periods of time and she... as well as others... did so daily. But what she really liked about it was that someone that freaking amazing could bypass all of those other looks to look upon her. There were nothing but beautiful girls in this school... not to mention Veelas... but Simon, for whatever reason, looked at her the way others looked at him. No. Not true. The way he looked at her was even better than the way they looked at him because she could see and feel the love behind his looks.
And so that brought her back to the here and now. Her problem was that while she did not mind other girls looking, she very much did mind too much sharing of himself. He was well aware of this, but somehow this... this very personal display of himself... this he did not see as fitting into that category. Honestly. Boys! If she had pulled this stunt, they would have been peeling his gorgeous mop off the ceiling after he blew his top.
So this was her conundrum. Was he, or was he not, really nekkid as a jay bird while standing behind that sign? She knew him so well and because she did know him so well, she knew the answer could easily be equal measures of yes or no. As she was pondering this and her fig was being passed from one of her hands then back to the other, she heard him, above the din, begin his retort about her fig leaf comment. She could feel the smile in her eyes crinkle at the corners and she listened intently. As Simon continued to speak, the din from the crowd drew to a near hush.
Darling.
He called her Darling. He had not done that since their first night in the Library when she told him she suspected he was a dhampir. She, at that point in time, was still in the "I like love you but I cannot have you" stage of their relationship, so hearing him call her darling that evening caught her attention. She had questioned herself as to whether it actually meant what she hoped it might mean or whether it was just another British endearment like calling people "Luv". Matching fire with fire, she had called him "mo chridhe" (my heart) knowing it would take him a while to sus that meaning out. That name stuck though.
Simon was her heart.
As he now teasingly chided her about the fig leaves and then stated his point for standing there as he was, he crystallized the answer to her burning question, which was yes. Simon Kincaid was indeed standing naked, in the Hufflepuff Common Room, with nothing but a sign and the shy decency of the throng around him preventing complete exposure. In fact, exposure is exactly what he obliquely threatened promised if she did not say, Yes.
Was her guy in the buff playing at a bluff? Standing there was one thing, but surely he would not venture out further into their small world undressed like that... would he? Her heart could not help but melt at his last line, and she did smile and blow him an air kiss. His entreaty kind of reminded her of Julia Robert's line in Notting Hill, "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."
Yes, well. Decisions, decisions. He was just a boy, standing naked in front of a crowd, asking a girl to be his date to the Ball.
There was no doubt she was going to be at the Fall Ball with her boy. She knew he knew that. She was 99% certain everyone in that room knew that. That was a given. But he had started something that simply needed to be played out. For good or bad... for laughs or embarrassment... or anything in between... it was game on now, Mr. Man.
She reached for her satchel and placed her fig back into it. She then turned back towards him, smiling widely. "Well, my love, you did not really expect me to let this opportunity pass me by did you? It is a magnificent gesture... and then some... but I feel the need to play this out even further," and she cast a very concerted look towards his feet and even bent down to look behind them. She then cast her eyes in his immediate vicinity looking for his enchanted satchel or anything that would hold his clothing and school robe. Nothing. She turned to him with her brow arched especially high, a questioning look on her face. It was quickly erased by a smug nodding of her head as if to say, 'Just as I thought'. As far as she could tell, the boy had not brought any clothes to change into.
Oh, this was too delicious.
She scooted the chair back in place and walked over to him. Tippy-toeing less than she normally had to do with him since her growth spurt over the summer, she planted a long, deep kiss on his luscious lips. Some cat calls filled the room as others hushed those around them so they could hear her long awaited response. "I, Mr. Kincaid, am feeling particularly peckish this morning. I think I am going to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast now. Would you care to join me?"
AngelFyre was not a poker player, but one thing she knew she was not prepared to do was to fold by giving an easy answer here. No, Simon was going to have play his hand a little harder and a little longer... and hopefully a little smarter. "It is time to put up or dress up, Handsome," and she turned and walked out of the Common Room and into the Corridor. Looking back over her shoulder at him, she smiled a delightfully teasing warning to him.
"Oh! I think it only fair to let you know that as a newly minted Hufflepuff Prefect, detention is not out of the question here if you parade my fellow's... or rather... that gorgeous body of yours around for one and all to try and gawk at."
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His eyes narrowed at her as the doorway opened, playfully, but in a manner that suggested that he had no idea what it was that she was talking about. "There is no parading myself around, my love," and she now had entered into the corridors. The Hufflepuffs that still remained in the Common Room were watching him with full attention, waiting to see what his next move was.
"I'm merely, waiting for my girl to answer a quite simple question," and he said these words as he began to hold the sign a little closer to his body and began scooting himself sideways against the cold stone corridor walls.
For the moment, they seemed to be alone in that area of the corridor as students in the other houses were either departing from their dormitories on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast or were already in the Great Hall enjoying their meal. The Hufflepuffs that had just bared witness to the exchange between Simon Kincaid and AngelFyre McCubbin were either stunned that the boy was foolish brave enough to enter into the corridors after her, or busy chattering away at what they just saw and overheard.
This scooting method was good, really good. It worked! He was able to keep the sign pressed against him in the front and the wall to cover his backside. It reminded him of how he saw videos of the military performing the action, being all stealthy, with their backs up against the wall, flattening themselves as much as they could flatten themselves to remain inconspicuous to the enemy. There was no enemy here, just the prevention of all of Hogwarts seeing precisely all of Simon Ezra Kincaid.
Oh no. "Pardon me, excuse me...." Simon muttered as he passed some of the portraits that hung up on the wall, knowing that he was in rather close vicinity to some of them. "...My apologies..." Simon could only imagine what they were thinking - if portraits had the ability of having thought processes. He was almost sure that they must because he thought he heard at least one or two gasp. This wasn't something that happened every morning at Hogwarts.
Speaking of thought processes, until now, it really hadn't struck Simon just how warm and cozy the Hufflepuff Common Room was until he was now up close and personal with the cold stone corridor walls of the castle. Quite chilly!
Inch by inch he followed her...
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
2 Oct 2023, 04:26
In the Hufflebuff
From This
to This
to This
AngelFyre vs @Simon Kincaid over the Great Battle of the Bulge, Hogwarts Style
19 September, 2023
She stood in the Corridor and listened to his retort. He slipped from view, but she still heard him. She assumed he was making his way to get dressed, so she called out to him, "I will see you in the Great Hall, Simon, where I will be most pleased to answer your flattering question. In the meantime, however, hurry up. I really am famished," and with that, AngelFyre turned and made her way half way down the moving staircase, which was cooperating for a change and was not moving.
She was chuckling to herself at his antics and was going over in her mind how she would ultimately say 'Yes' to him, when a new outburst from the direction of their Common Room began to echo throughout the Corridors. She stopped and did a slow 180, looking back over her shoulder. It was at that time that the staircase decided to shift, and AngelFyre planted one foot on the step below her while keeping one exactly where it was. She calmly high-stepped then low-stepped then high-stepped one more time over to the railing where she caught a glimpse of Simon scooting along the stone walls, his sign still gripped in front of him.
Was he serious?!?!?!?!? No. no. no. This was not the plan. This..... this was now bordering on scandalous.
Stubborness personified is what he was. The moment she stepped out into the Corridor, she was still AngelFyre, the girlfriend, playing along with her fellow and his bold self. She was the girlfriend heading off to breakfast with the stupid belief in mind that her normally brilliant fellow would relent and some part of his brain would have him go get dressed. Had he truly not registered the dozens of conversations about the parts of themselves, individually and as a couple, that were meant ONLY for each other. At her core, and he KNEW this, AngelFyre was a very private person. Yes, there were displays of public affection, but that is all they were...kisses here and there and some hand holding. Maybe more than a few flowery declarations of love when feeling particularly playful, but really, all in all, they were quite tame in front of others.
More serious and intimate displays and conversations were always in private. It is true they had never specifically had a talk about their bodies being specifically off limits, but that was mainly because she figured that had been baked into the equation when she agreed to be his girlfriend. His particular brand of 'sharing' was precisely why she held off on jumping immediately into a relationship with him. Had he forgotten this or simply gotten so comfortable with where they were as a couple he did not see how this had great potential to damage her? She prayed it was the latter.
But the moment he chose to step into the Corridor after being threatened with detention, and was scooting his way to the Great Hall, undressed as he was, she felt the knot in her stomach begin to turn. AngelFyre the girlfriend would have to realize her duty to the school and the throng of students around them and morph into AngelFyre the Prefect.
She had hoped he would play his hand smarter, but no. He was sticking with a bad hand. In fact, he was likely unaware of just what a bad hand he held. She knew he had had the very best of intentions here, but it all went sideways and there was no clawing it back at this point. She sighed and then began to do her best not to panic as the "situation" continued to evolve. First off, there was still a sizable crowd around him and more were streaming out of the Great Hall as some Hufflepffs before her had alerted the students within to what was happening on the first floor. That was bad enough, but what was really making her sweat was how close he was getting to the staircase.
His sign may cover the front, but just what was going to cover his shapely backside? Certainly not the open space between the railings on the staircases. Excitement was growing at a steady pace amongst the crowd. Her staircase was taking its sweet time to get back to where she needed it to be, so just what could she do here? Drastic times. Drastic measures. She snapped her left arm quickly and felt her wand easily slide into position like an old friend. Magic was not going to be her first go to, but it was not off the table.
No, her first go to was going to be her exertion of authority over the situation and the students gathering into a larger and larger crowd. Looking down at the folks who were edging to the side where his derriere would be most likely to be exposed, she raised her voice enough to be heard, but was not yelling. "Break it up now. Go on about your business," and she flashed her Prefect badge at all of them. She literally had to bite her tongue from adding, "There is nothing to see here," but of course that was a lie. There was great potential to see too much here.
She said nothing else but what she had already and stared each and every one of them down. She knew she had her Do NOT test me right now look on, and wisely, they all believed her and dispersed. Now if only her boy would take heed, they could still get out of this rather unscathed. The staircase had been swinging here and there and finally lined back up to her first floor landing.
AngelFyre raced up and pushed the crowd of Hufflepuffs out of her way, getting right smack dab in in front of Simon, her back now to him. Repeating the flashing of her badge and tone from earlier, she added, more for Simon's benefit than anything else, hoping to impress upon him the severity of the situation, "None of you, I promise, want to cross me right me now," and she turned to eye Simon after eyeing all of them. " This has all been quite amusing, up until now, but the gag is over. Detention, awaits anyone who continues to loiter in this vicinity after being told to move along. So, go. Please. Eat your breakfast," and she began to move forward, shooing them all away while finishing up with, "and get to class and tell all your friends about the Hufflepuff in the Buff drama of the day." Then an impish smile crossed her face as she softened somewhat and said, "Now scoot. All of you."
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Because they were Hufflepuffs, they took that all well and in stride and no one gave her any guff, Prefect or not. Had they been Slytherin, she had momentarily envisioned "Obscuro"s and "Flipendos" left and right.
What a mess.
She turned around and faced Simon. There was a stone bench beneath a window a few steps from where they stood. She pointed at it, saying nothing, and walked, waiting for him to scoot his way over. As Simon made his way, she got up and removed her school robe. "Here. You will put this on. Now," and she draped it over one of his forearms holding his sign and turned her back to him once again as he followed her instructions. She was facing the Corridor, watching out for any prying eyes. He was standing in front of the window, but no one would be able to see anything below the waist, so all was good there.
She spoke up as he got dressed. "Simon, I do not want you to misunderstand how much I actually loved your promposal. That may have gotten lost in the last few minutes, but I truly did. It was EPIC, love... completely epic," and her face softened as she heard the sign drop to the floor. She would wait to turn to face him until she next heard the rustle of the school robe.
"But, oh love... I was not joking when I said to you that I did not think you had really thought it through. I guess we are not yet perfect in our communication because I thought for sure you had received my meaning." Now she smiled softly and a little sadly as she turned upon hearing the whisper of the school robe's fabric as he slipped it on. AngelFyre looked deeply into his confused, beautiful, cinnamon colored eyes. "You are part of a "we" now and I am loathe to bring up a long dead horse, but love, remember all of our discussions about there are certain things between us that should be reserved for me and me alone? Well, handsome, as far as I am concerned, that most definitely includes peeks at areas that no one but I should be peeking at... and even I do not have that privilege yet."
She took in a long, shuddering breath, feeling exhausted, and it was not even 8 am yet. "I love playing with you. I love looking at you. I love dreaming about you and thinking about you all of the time. I love that other girls look at you, but what I do not love is when it goes beyond that. And this did... or could have. It is just playing with fire putting ideas in other's minds. Would you like other boys thinking of me like that? Cat calling at and leering at me? Would you honestly like it if it had been me down in the Common Room with that sign, only a little larger, making the same proposal to you?"
She reached for his hand.
"I really hope your answer is no to those last what if questions. I hope that would engender a good deal of jealousy quite honestly, because it ended that way for me just a few minutes ago. I was going berserk at the prospect of you making your way down that staircase."
"What we have is precious, Simon. You can joke with me about such things all you want. I love it. You know I do. But such things need to be sacred and sacrosanct and strictly between us. It demeans what we have otherwise, and we are better than that."
------- ----------- -------
The magic is real.
2 Oct 2023, 15:02
In the Hufflebuff
Yielding to the prefect power of @AngelFyre McCubbin
He wasn't sure how far this was going to go. In fact, once he saw her on that staircase it got him thinking of said staircase. There was going to be no good way to really get there and get himself to the next level so he could get to the Great Hall. Plus, there were more students in the Great Hall - students galore and that wasn't what he was needing. He was trying to make a statement here, not be some exhibit for all to see.
Luckily though, AngelFyre came to his rescue before he had to plan out more on his mission or retreat.
It was great to see AngelFyre go all prefect on her fellow students - including himself. She honestly asserted herself better than he did as one and he could see her being taken more seriously out on patrol than he. That was good, that's the way prefects were supposed to be! Plus, he was probably overstepping boundaries now in several ways.
It was just her and him right now as everyone else had vanished, scattered like the badgers they were. Simon knew she was going to need to be getting to breakfast within the next ten minutes or so as well because the mealtime would be wrapping up. As for him, he was okay skipping it as he didn't normally eat it breakfast anyway. Mealtimes were just different for dhampirs - or at least for this dhampir.
He nodded as she spoke, understanding her point completely and watched her, his eyes focusing on hers the entire time so she knew she had his attention. He wasn't the type to brush off what she was saying any time, and never would when she was trying to express her concerns to him. She was a good prefect, but she was an even better girlfriend.
But he still wanted to be stubborn about this. He still wanted his plan to work. Technically he didn't have any of HIS clothes on right now and was still wearing hers so he could stay true to the sign. He could say he was going to go to his dormitory until he heard from her so he didn't show off anything to others, or find some sort of alternative to clothing if he was going to be out and about. Still though, it seemed if he tried anything other than going to his dormitory and putting his Hufflepuff uniform on that he was disregarding her wishes so he would.
To him, his promposal was therefore declared rejected and he'd have to think of another way to ask her and time was ticking. The Fall Ball would be here before he knew it. "You go on down for breakfast. I'll meet you shortly," he said as he reached out his hand to take hers.
Do not continue. Turn back. Retreat. Abort mission.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
8 Oct 2023, 22:25
In the Hufflebuff
And Then From This
Back to This
Back to This
A Couple of Firsts and @Simon Kincaid Gets His Answer
19 September, 2023
Simon gave her his full attention as she spoke but he said nothing directly in reply to anything she had said. A year ago that would have unsettled her, but not now. She knew his silence was not dismissive in any way. In fact, it actually meant he had been paying attention and was now thinking. No, their communication was nowhere near perfect, as a quarter of the school had just borne witness to, but she was exceedingly pleased with how far the two had come. They played hard and loved each other harder, but they also worked with a dogged determination to better themselves as partners at every opportunity, and it was paying off in huge dividends. Fewer and fewer flash points ignited between them, not that there were ever many to begin with, but when they did occur, they had gotten better about talking them through and giving each other grace for whatever it was that grace needed to be given. It would, of course, be a lifelong project, but could she ask for a better lifelong partner?
Answer: Nope - she absolutely could not.
Simon reached for her hand and suggested she head on down to breakfast. His tone was very low energy, so she knew that it was more than him just thinking about what she had said. She knew him so well and would have bet her three favorite heart-shaped rocks in her collection at home that he was still ruminating on how to get this uniquely wonderful promposal of his to work.
Again. Her fellow was the epitome of stubbornness.
She fidgeted uncomfortably on the stone bench as he stood and mentioned she should hurry down to breakfast. Her fidgeting was not due to the hard surface, but rather, due to the hard thing she must now do... made harder by the fact that he likely was not even going to see it coming. She had to maintain her resolve, no matter his reaction. She was telling herself quite rapidly that one day they would both look back at this whole episode and just laugh and laugh. Today was not that day, however.
She cleared her throat and tensed her arm muscle in resistance to his gentle guidance of getting her up and moving toward the Great Hall. "Hold on there a minute, Mr. Kincaid. Our business is not yet concluded I am afraid," and she leaned over to reach into the left pocket of her school robe which he was now wearing. Not immediately grasping that which she was seeking and blindly feeling around for it, she came to an abrupt halt the moment her hand pressed directly against his muscular thigh. AngelFyre allowed her hand a fast retreat, knowing with a certainty that her face was warming due to an involuntary blush now tinting her cheeks.
Looking up at him once again, she cleared her throat once more and asked him to please retrieve the parchment from her pocket as she then broke eye contact and turned to her satchel to retrieve her quill and ink pot. Still not looking at him, she told him, "Simon, please sit down. This will be quick. You will not be late to class, I promise." Just as she set the ink pot down beside her with the quill comfortably perched in her left hand, she quickly turned to adjust her satchel flat in her lap as her nose nearly careened right into the Prefect Detention Parchment Pad he was stiffly holding before her.
She looked up and kept her steely nerve as she looked into his beautiful brown eyes, trying to discern his reaction. He had been a Prefect long before she had become one. She knew he knew exactly what the little pad was... no hiding what was to come. As far as AngelFyre knew, Simon had never been given detention. And he sure as heck knew she had never given a detention, so this was a couple of firsts for the couple (yes, pun definitely intended).
Not their finest moment... or maybe it actually was. How could they feel good about their positions as Prefects, or each other in those coveted roles of responsibility, if they gave favored treatment to one another by dint of their relationship? That is not the Prefect she wanted to be and she knew that was true for Simon, too.
She did not try to sugar coat it. Simon did not need it from her. It would only have insulted him. She breathed slowly, trying to keep her hand from shaking as she scratched out the offense for which Simon would be punished. AngelFyre noted he remained standing as she filled it out and then tore it deftly from the pad, handing it over to him.
He accepted it, locking his gaze with hers for a few seconds. He was not smiling, but he definitely did not look angry. If anything, she felt he was probably chastising himself a bit for this particular stunt. When his eyes left hers and looked down at the slip, she thought she may have caught a slight bit of amusement as he read it over, but when he looked back to her, it was with the same stoic, nearly blank look.
She had told him on more than one occasion that if Dragon Trainer/Tamer, Healer, Architect, or Singer/Movie Star/Model did not pan out for him as a career, that of a professional poker player surely would.
DETENTION SLIPOutside of the margins below the last line, she had drawn an arrow pointing off to the side, indicating more was to be read on the back. When she handed it over to him, his large fingers must have covered that spot as he had not flipped it over to read it. When she stood up next to him and moved his hand so he could see the arrow, he flipped it over and saw the following:Submitted by: Hufflepuff Prefect, AngelFyre McCubbin
Regarding Student/House Simon Kincaid/ Hufflepuff
Infraction: Failure to Follow Rule No. 15: Students must wear their school uniform during school hours unless common clothes are permitted by a professor (or no clothes are permitted by a suddenly deaf, dumb, blind and non-jealous girlfriend, who absolutely DOES NOT EXIST in your world, Mr. Man!!!)
Date of Infraction: 19 September, 2023
Summary of Incident: In an adorable and uniquely attention-grabbing promposal, Simon Kincaid stood at the exit of the Hufflepuff Common Room wearing absolutely nothing, holding a sign proclaiming he would not get dressed until an unnamed person of interest said "Yes" to attending the Fall Ball with him. He was warned by fellow Prefect, AngelFyre McCubbin, that detention loomed if did not clothe himself, but he ignored said warning and took his undressed self out into the Corridors, causing an even larger crowd to drool gawk proposition him gather.
Punishment: DETENTION
Where/When to Report: 1st Floor Corridors/ Saturday, 23 September, 9:00 am
Delivered: Hand delivery was made to Mr. Kincaid on the morning of 19 September, 2023 without incident.
As Mr. Simon Kincaid is still not wearing HIS own clothes, and Miss AngelFyre McCubbin would love nothing more than to go to the Fall Ball with her supremely creative and handsome boyfriend, whom she loves more than anything in the world, she is most pleased to give him an answer of yes! Yes! YES!!
The magic is real.
21 Oct 2023, 14:28
In the Hufflebuff
Accepting his fate and his date with @AngelFyre McCubbin
Oh, the boy knew he was in trouble the moment she began to reach for the parchment pad. He had seen her get ready for patrols a dozen times and each time she would do a thorough check to ensure that she had everything she would need - wand, satchel, quill, ink, prefect badge, Prefect Detention Parchment Pad. That last one always went into the left side pocket of her robe that he now adorned. What he wasn't exactly sure of was whether she was serious or not but he was 99 percent sure that she was over the 1 percent that his uncertainty wavered. And with each passing moment, that last remaining 1 percent was diminishing like rapid fire.
While that moved like rapid speed, time itself seemed to move into slow motion as she filled out the form and he watched her, mesmerized at how beautiful she was. Yes, initially his thoughts were how her long beautiful hair cascaded perfectly down her shoulders and onward and how each feature of her face was perfection, but it went beyond that. She was a beautiful student, a beautiful friend, a beautiful prefect, someone who was firm but gentle with her authority that her position presented her with.
RIPPPPPPppppp. He heard the tearing sound.
Time came back to normal as she tore the sheet on it's perforation and handed it over to him and he locked his brown eyes with her beautiful ocean blue ones. What a sight this must have been - her beautifully put together prefect self delivering a detention to her boyfriend in too-short and too-small of nothing-but-a-robe.
He then scanned over the official detention slip:
Rule No. 15? Oh yea...
Summary of Incident? She thought he was adorable....
Delivered, without incident. Should he cause one? Hadn't he already?
He was at the end of the parchment when she came over to his side and placed her hands on his. Initially he thought it was to either get his attention or to take his hand but she guided his hands over so he could see the very bottom of the page where an arrow had been. He had written such an arrow many times on essays, indicating that the reader should flip the page over for more information.
He flipped the slip over.
He read it twice although he understood it once and it was pretty evident of such because a smile had crossed his face within the first eleven words of the addendum. "So is my creativeness and attractiveness enough to get me out of this detention? Is that answer a yes! Yes! YES!" he asked with a wide smile, even more so than his normal in an exaggerated form but he was just having fun with her in a good-natured way. Simon next neatly folded the parchment and and went to slip it in the pocket of his nonexistent pants and shook his head since they weren't there, then his nonexistent button up shirt that wasn't there. He couldn't use the robe because, after all, it wasn't his robe.
No clothes = no pockets.
He then, ensuring that the robe was closed, shuffled over to his satchel and placed it inside. "Scratch that statement. Your detention slip was delivered without incident, Miss McCubbin. I shall be there, promptly and ready to serve."
He then came over to her, smiling his normally bright smile and kept one hand on the robes to ensure they remained closed and brought his other around her, pulling them close to one another. "I'll see you down at breakfast and we can start discussing details for the dance!" He kissed her on the forehead, tapped his head to hers, and then his lips found hers for a sweet lingering kiss before he departed from her to go cloth himself and be in the hufflebuff no more.
Thread complete.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)