Delicious food in the dining room? Etta nodded enthusiastically. Of course! She would definitely be making her way to the dining area soon enough. Also, she was partly there for the food but no one needed to know. Ahem. She was going to dance first and eat later. Also.. why was Irene still carrying around her ukulele? At a ball that too? She'd have to ask her American friend later since she was about to join her date.. who appeared rather dashing, by the way. She found herself staring for a moment before her eyes found Irene's, the brightest smile on her face. "You go have fun! We'll talk later." Etta said, nodding towards her date. "Give me all the details!" She added with a wink and watched her walk away.

-- not his scene. Huh. Etta nodded at what Kyle said. Yeah, she could understand that.. somewhat. But, this event was rather enjoyable and fun, wasn't it? The music wasn't too loud and noisy, making it easier to interact with people. She had enjoyed getting dressed-up even if her dress was making feel way too self-conscious most of the time. She had all her friends there.. and lastly, she got to dance. It was pretty cool. "I'm having fun, yes. It's nice to get a break from school for once, you know? I don't think I'm going to be stressing about OWLs tonight." Her gaze shifted to the entrance momentarily. Levi still hadn't arrived, had he? She turned towards Kyle once again. Um. "Would you like to dance with me? If you're interested, that is. .. it's okay if you don't want to. I mean.. you know.." She abruptly turned quiet. Wow. That couldn't have been any more embarrassing. Diverting her attention, while waiting for his response-- she noticed Derf. DERF.

Derf suited up pretty well, didn't he? He looked so handsome. She beamed proudly and waved at him. Another person to dance with soon. .. He seemed to be staring at someone, though. It was so obvious. Her eyes followed his gaze.. Valerie? She was a fellow competitor as well, wasn't she? Derf had a crush on her.. hmm, interesting. Moving on.. she noticed another familiar person. Felicity, who also looked super pretty. Etta gave her a smile. Heh, everyone looked so wonderful. But then-- her eyes widened slightly when she saw the person who'd just walked in.

"Junia!" Etta beamed widely, happy to see her friend. She looked gorgeous.. but Junia always did look good, of course. "You look lovely tonight! Are you here with Sam?" Obviously. Boyfriend and all.. but Etta thought it was more polite to ask. Wait. She was momentarily distracted when she noticed Kane and Isa together. Were they dating? How had she not known? She looked thoughtfully at the both of them before turning her attention back to Junia with a smile. "Are you having a nice time?"

"By the way, I did tell you, you look amazing right?" Sam asked again, feeling a little freer than he usually did. It was odd. But something he didn't wish to concern himself with yet. But he couldn't help but say it. I mean, his date was hot. That dress though. He could admire beauty.

The socially awkward nerd was not showing through tonight though. Maybe it was the outfit. It gave him confident he usually didn't have. "I mean... I wasn't about to go completely from my plants." Yes, his pocket liner was indeed a plant. Then she was fixing his tie and he blushed profusely. Which was the wrong time to catch a glimpse of his brother, Isaiah and his date Irene. Still blushing, he waved at them. Then Dana said the thing. The attractive thing. He hiccupped. Whut?

"I did not mean to do that. I'm not used to being touched or fussed over. While its nice, I'm totally not used to it." He blurted out. "Why don't we dance and get to know each other a little more?" He asked, presenting his arm again.

Imaging them hurting themselves in a room full of glass did indeed lead to thinking about Healer Reed. That man... Merlin's Beard! Noelle would have fanned herself if she didn't have Olivia's arm. On the same course of thought, she blurted out, "Wanna know who else is delicious? Wayland. That man. And Hirsch. But he's a given. Every time he walks in a room, everyone drools." Noelle giggled. "Wayland brought out that phoenix during class.. Merlin's beard Olivia.. MERLINS BEARD." Yep, she HAD to fan herself now. "There's way too many hot professors around her. It's a wonder how we pay attention in class." Not to mention training.

But that thought was mixed with another thought. "Oh its a challenge. In fact, I up the challenge. I dare you to ask a professor to dance by the end of this dance." Noelle said, a bit of a gleam in her eye. But as for right now, "Of course Ill dance with you! Mind you, Im not the best dancer. Watch your toes." Noelle looked down at her feet. "Well, yours are covered." No Olivia. No. She was not interested in Torrance like that. "No one special. The guy I like doesn't go here anymore." Of course, she'd been the horrible reason. She blushed though, because all the thoughts, good and bad.

Noelle looked over at Mel and Kirk. If that was his name. "Maybe a quick hello. then we can go dance." She said, keeping Olivia's arm and heading over for a quick hello. "You too look brilliant!" Noelle told Mel and Kirk.
"We don't mean to take up much of your time. We are going to say hello before we go off to dance. Have you two danced yet?"

Whoever said Americans didn't have manners? Were totally lying! Because when Brent paused to face her and gave his little piece, Skylar just felt all kinds of emotions welling up that she didn't know she had. He just wanted to spend time with her, his girlfriend. Slow down heart-rate, slow down, she mentally said, trying to calm her nerves. "I ... i don't know what to say," she whispered. Except she felt like an idiot for thinking she was delaying him, when he was just enjoying the moments with her.

Moving on ... from that awkwardness. She smiled, "All the time. Polite is my other middle name," she teased, as his eyes surveyed the room, and hers did as well again. She felt her hand involuntarily squeeze Brent's, a feeling of luck in his transferring here and how blessed she felt right now at that moment. "Oh look, Kane and Isa went together?" Isa had mentioned something to her a couple days ago, now that Skylar thought about it, although she had been distracted with her own thoughts about what she was going to wear. "They look great!"

"Uh ... yes? You're heavier than me and you'd crush me if you fell on me?" she explained casually. "Although then again, I'm wearing a dress and if I fell first, then you can shield me from flashing two schools." She said thoughtfully, taking another few tentative steps down the staircase, they were almost at the bottom, and once she stepped down the final step, he asked her what first. She glanced around tentatively. "Um, maybe food? I haven't eaten a lot today in getting ready," and thankfully her dress was a little loose to account for bloating. "Then dance." She was kind of looking forward to seeing the spin on her dress. And of course dancing with her first ever boyfriend, who was pretty much the sweetest.

Text Cut: Junia <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

After having her fill of strawberries (her favorite) and a drink or two, Junia made her way onto the dance floor. Her boyfriend was around here somewhere, though the brunette couldn't wait any longer to take her new dress for a spin. It was the type that was perfect for twirling and she felt pretty in it, her usual self-doubt tucked safely away for the evening as the confidence boost her outfit gave took over. Confidence was her accessory of choice tonight, and she was wearing it well.

As the music drifted through the air, the Slytherin grabbed an empty spot in the center of the room and let herself get lost. She felt very much like the princess she wanted to be. At a ball, with a boy she liked, in a dress that made her feel beautiful. This was a perfect evening indeed.

Vivian was having such a splendid time. The food from the dining saloon tasted exquisite and classy, plus she was happily dancing until her feet ached with Felicity. They both didn't have boyfriends to be their dates unlike Skylar and Junia, but they had each other and that was more important. The blonde had spent so much time just laughing and cherishing each moment aboard the Merlin's Pride. Really... kudos to those people from their Board of Governors!

Still laughing and taking another sip from her drink, Vivian looked behind her and saw her other dorm mate, Junia. Naturally, the blonde waved at her fellow Slytherin. "Hey, Junia! You look absolutely lovely tonight!" Of course, they were all together at their dorms changing prior to being on the cruise ship, but she had to compliment her friend again because why not? Everyone looked stunning! "Where's your date?" She had a boyfriend, didn't she? The fourth year wondered where he might be. He'd left his princess on the dance floor!

Text Cut: Our adorable date <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChanceCoeur

"By the way, I did tell you, you look amazing right?" Sam asked again, feeling a little freer than he usually did. It was odd. But something he didn't wish to concern himself with yet. But he couldn't help but say it. I mean, his date was hot. That dress though. He could admire beauty.

The socially awkward nerd was not showing through tonight though. Maybe it was the outfit. It gave him confident he usually didn't have. "I mean... I wasn't about to go completely from my plants." Yes, his pocket liner was indeed a plant. Then she was fixing his tie and he blushed profusely. Which was the wrong time to catch a glimpse of his brother, Isaiah and his date Irene. Still blushing, he waved at them. Then Dana said the thing. The attractive thing. He hiccupped. Whut?

"I did not mean to do that. I'm not used to being touched or fussed over. While its nice, I'm totally not used to it." He blurted out. "Why don't we dance and get to know each other a little more?" He asked, presenting his arm again.

Samuel Collado was a flatterer, and Dana was probably the luckiest girl on this cruise to even have the opportunity to be his date. Honestly. The blonde turned pink once more at his compliment. "You did, earlier when we met up at the Grounds," she said, with a smile. "And thank you, once again." And she was obviously still blushing so hard, she'd make a tomato jealous.

He had a plant for a pocket liner for this event? Cute. Her date was so cute. And that HICCUP. It made the sixth year giggle. Then that was when Dana's attention was caught by the presence of Irene and Isaiah. The blonde smiled at the pair. "Hi, guys," she greeted. "You did really well during the first round, Irene. Congratulations." Pukwudgie pride! Of course, she'd known her since they were in the same house. As for Isaiah, who happened to be her date's brother, Dana had also smiled and waved at him. This girl will take care of Sam. Donchu worry, Isaiah.

And now back to her obviously attractive partner for the night. There was no use in hiding it. She had already told him that he looked good, even when she wasn't supposed to. Meeeep! "You don't have to apologize. I'm not really used to being someone's date." When he had asked her if she wanted to be his date for tonight, Dana just went 'whoa, really?' and blushed too much. "I didn't really think I'd have a date for tonight, honestly." Did she have to blurt that out? Oh gosh, how embarrassing! The redness on her cheeks kept darkening. "And of course, what a shame it would be to not share a dance with my handsome date?" BLINK. The ground needed to eat her, ASAP. She was saying too much.

"Hey Etta!" Junia's lips tugged upwards into a radiant smile as the Hufflepuff approached, noting that the older girl's dress was a perfect representation of her personality. It was soft and cheerful and delicately pretty. The Slytherin liked it very much, she'd decided.

"Thank you. I really like your outfit, the color suits you." She nodded seriously before looking around, the mention of Sam causing her mind to wander momentarily. "I am, yeah. He's around here somewhere, I'm sure. Probably chatting with friends. I just hope the girls aren't swarming all over him. He looks so good all dressed up and I'm fairly certain he'll be an attention magnet all evening." ...She blinked, surprised all of that had come out of her mouth when all she'd meant to say was that yes, she had come with him. That was strange. "Where's your boyfriend tonight?" She was allowed to ask, yes?

She kept dancing, swaying on the spot as she considered Etta's next question before answering. "So far, so good. This ship is quite lovely, don't you think? I've always wondered what a ball would be like and here I am, getting to find out." She paused, then added, "But I did think more people would ask me to dance. I look way nicer tonight than I do most days and I made sure my eye shadow brings out the color of my eyes. Has anyone asked you yet?" They both deserved to be asked in Junia's very honest opinion.

...Why was she talking so much again?

"You're earning major friend points right now, Vivi." And doing wonders for the brunette's confidence, which was appreciated. "Did I mention how much I like your outfit, yet? That color blue makes your eyes pop. You should try batting your lashes at someone and seeing what happens, bet you'd make some unsuspecting boy swoon." She grinned and then tucked some hair behind her ear, showcasing her stud earrings that sparkled just right when the light caught them.

"That seems to be the question of the evening. Hopefully he's around somewhere noticing how pretty I look and deciding he simply must dance with me. That's really the only thing that would make this night better." Really, truly.

Brent was amused at how they were acting toward one another. One second they were being overly sweet to one another and in the next second, they were back to their usual sarcastic selves. He guessed it was a good mix for a newly-formed boyfriend and girlfriend. Duuuuude. He was still getting used to the way that sounded. He grinned. "You mean Skylar Diggory is at a loss of words?" he jokingly asked. "I'm in shock." He laughed at her comment about politeness being her other middle name.

He peered out over the crowd when she mentioned the little bro and...apparently...the little bro's date. "Hmm. So they did," he commented. "Between you and me, I'd rather see him with Isa anyday than this other girl he's been hanging around." Saffron was cool and all, but Brent sometimes got the impression she was way more mature than his little bro. Call him an over-protective big bro, but Saffron and Kane worried him just a little.

He laughed at her detailed explanation about why he should fall first should a fall actually happen. "How about this," he suggested. "How about we just plan on not falling at all?" That sounded like a way better plan to him than hammering out who'd go first should they fall. They were moving on to other things now, though...like food. "I do like a girl who's not afraid to hit up the food table first," he said. "I'm starved." He didn't waste any time on that plan either. He changed from looping his arm around hers to holding her hand, and then he steered them in the direction of the food table.

Maddox was more of a go with the flow type of person and well depending on how this night goes. Well many things could happen. Such as getting a kiss from Louise. See it was a possibility. "So you are sayin there is a chance" More than he hoped. Though he was not a fan of too much sugar. But this was a worthy goal.

PLS

He was always ready. Like that small dude saying dude. He was ready. No idea if he was joking or seriously thought that is how they all greeted each other. Dude. Who knows. SEE. At least he was not the only one thinking Felicity and Madelyn were looking might fine tonight. And good job Will. You dance with her.

Now they were ready to dance and Maddox aimed to not disappoint and step on any toes. Step one to his plan. Requests. Well maybe something slow and nice to start. That sounded good to him.He started to slowly dance with her smiling.

"Maybe something slow to start or whatever you want. You have good taste"

One thing Maddox could not do was bust a move.

Moving away from the Dining Salon, Lachlan politely pushed his way into the Ballroom, which was deceptively big for a ship of this size. Naturally assuming magic was at play, his bright blue eyes raked over those gathered here. This was very well-to-do for a student crowd, but he found he wasn't bothered by the formality and richness of the atmosphere. This was like being back home in Mississippi, where every event was ostentatious and everyone was equally as obnoxious. There was no discomfort. However, it did bring out the manners in a bigger way. He'd been groomed for it since birth.

Removing something for his inside blazer pocket, Lach uncapped it and began drinking the contents. The food was tainted and he wouldn't be expected to participate. So, he'd provided himself with his own refreshments. Prepared. He'd been predictably prepared.

And he had to say, everyone present was practically glowing. It was clear that no one had spared any expense in their preparations for this party. It ranged from lavish to simple, and he had to commend these girls. The high heels were a wonder to him still, and there was nothing but pure respect for the way they pranced around on them. Graceful and confident. Girls were a true wonder to him. Fascinating and intriguing.

Mm, for now, he leaned against a pillar, grinning at people as they passed by. With his personal addition to the catering, this was sure to be good at some point.

After the showdown with Takeru, Olivia had been...confused at herself and the way she'd behaved. The words she'd seemingly been forced to say. She hated getting into with people, especially her favorites. Takeru definitely fit that category, and for about forty minutes, she'd sat stunned out on the Promenade Deck. Stunned and heartbroken that she'd hurt him so badly. It wasn't like she could've helped it. Decisions were hard, but they were still decisions. She'd accepted a ring from a boy and had given her word.

That meant something, didn't it?

.....Even if that boy wasn't speaking to her, and was taking every available opportunity to dance with others. Everyone but her. That should've hurt, but Olivia was...slowly just accepting that it didn't matter how she felt. She wasn't worth the trouble and had a feeling everyone was starting to realize as much. In fact, she deserved every bad emotion coursing through her veins at the current moment, and wasn't going to complain about another thing. That was selfish, and she was done with being selfish. What did it matter, anyway? None of this mattered. None of it.

The blonde was slowly losing her way again. The struggle to hold onto sanity so that she wouldn't have to go back to that place far away...was one she was quickly losing against. There was simply too much stacked against her... with OWLs, with not having her biggest support systems, with all the added self-confidence issues. Was it really...just....so bad to want those that were meant to care for her to...build her up sometimes? Tell her she was beautiful for no reason, tell her they loved her and that she was important....? Liv hadn't realized that was too much to ask for, and regretted all the situations leading up to this point when she'd...again, been so selfish.

Standing at the bottom of the grand staircase after making another flawless entrance...because she wasn't a novice to making entrances, Olivia looked around for her daddy. Right now...she just needed her father to hold her and tell her everything would be okay because he loved her, and that her mother loved her...and that they'd always do so.

She couldn't stop smiling now and the extra moves Will was doing was making her laugh. She twirled when he twirled her and she danced with him. Could she do this all night? She hoped he was ready to dance the night away because he was most likely not going to be allowed to do anything else.

Though they had just said about exploring the ship a bit together. "Let's go in a little bit. This is so much fun." Did he really want to stop dancing already? She knew most boys didn't like to dance, but she appreciated him saving her from death by awful evening. "Where do you want to go first when we do? Are you hungry?" They could hit the food first.

"Oh come on Will, you looked cute with the blushing. You would never hire anyone to do that to me." She laughed and twirled around again.
It was time for her to go pink though, "Thank you. I'm glad you approve." She did love her dress and was excited that others took notice too.

Usually Valerie relished in her indifference to praise. Confirmation at being the best was superfluous although she could appreciate others acknowledgement - save for this moment. Something about Jesus words (or perhaps tone) caught her uncomfortably off guard to the point she found herself wishing that he had said nothing at all. The peculiar manner in which her heart was palpitating in her chest combined with the tingling to her cheeks was unwelcome in this moment. A distraction. Perhaps she should have declined his invitation to attend this festivity together after all? "I try to make a habit out of not mixing business with pleasure," was all she could manage to whisper in reply, grateful for when he pulled away.

His concern was unwarranted and she knew it. Whatever lead she had had on him was gone and, if anything, he was the one one step ahead and likely to win the foot race if she could not pull herself together. Surely it was the setting and the fact that she had given in to feminine wiles and adorning her pale skin with deep crimson silk. It was unnatural for a creature like herself but had felt the need to put effort into such affairs for tonight. For herself, of course. Certainly not for anyone else.

Certainly.

"You are not about to quote Confucius to me, are you?" She could not help but tease in the moment and even went so far as to pull on one of those obnoxiously endearing curls of his. All weak attempts to regain some of the ground she had lost, but there was absolutely no recovery after the slip of her foot and the way her cheek brushed against his when he held her a little too close. Jesus Rodriguez had officially and undeniably flustered one Valerie Gray become reckoning. And the hated it.

All comments of flamboyance aside, the sixteen year old knew she needed to remove herself from the situation or else risk certain exposure. Which was why she gave him a gentle but assertive push (both palms to his chest) and met his eyes briefly before speaking. "I think I have had quite enough dancing," she stated, almost as though she had had more than enough for a lifetime.

Swiftly tucking a few silvery blonde wisps behind her ear, Valerie took another step away from her date and turned to weave her way out of the crowd of people and out of the ballroom.

Olivia blinked several times. She hadn't ever seen Professor Wayland in that light before. Merlin. She'd have to take another look at him. At the mention of Hirsch, Olivia just nodded several time. Hogwarts hottie. "It's unfair. It's like he was photoshopped or something..." She paused. Merlin. What if he had abs too? Ugh. Also Professor Marchand was also quite handsome himself but they were allll way too old for Olivia. Sure, she thought they were attractive and all but she'd never consider. She laughed at the last part. "It must be a hiring requirement for Hogwarts that potential professors have to be very, very attractive," whispered Olivia with a wink. "Healer Reed is.... something." A joy to look at perhaps? That'd work. No words to describe him other than that. "Mr. Kennedy is also very nice on the eyes."

"A PROFESSOR?" repeated Olivia, a little too loudly with eyes widened. MERLIN'S BEARD. WHAT WAS... WHAT WAS NOELLE THINKING? She paused as she was in shock. IN SHOCK. NOELLE! AHH! One she had gotten over the preliminary shock, she began planning the best course of action. Now who would dance with her...? Olivia was never one to back down from a challenge. "Do staff members like Mr. Kennedy or Healer Reed count?" she asked with a curious grin. At the mention of dancing together and stepping on toes, Olivia simply grinned at her friend. "I opted for boots. I'd surely die with heels on and I'm sure Healer Reed would suggest that I wear something more sensible," she said before pausing when she heard that the guy that Noelle liked didn't go here. Aw no.... "I'm sorry," she said with a frown. That was bad luck.

Now to Kirk and Melbourne! Olivia nodded, agreeing to everything Noelle had said. "You both look wonderful!" she said with the biggest of grins and then winked at Melbourne (because her date was HOT- well her friend date or date date... She didn't really know nor want to assume either way... just in case).

She turned to glance around the room and caught sight of Lachlan Wheeler watching the crowd. He looked very nice as usual. Seeing him, she tried to catch his eye with a quick wave and a grin. It was always good to see a new friend. She'd have to go say hi to him later during the evening.

SPOILER!!: DATE MATE!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

It had taken Abey a little while to get to the room where ALL the action was. He, being an Abey, had stopped by the dining saloon first, in order to satisfy his growling tummy. THEN, of course, he had got mega distracted, because the abundance of COLOURS of the food and drinks all laid out had sent him into nothing short of a frenzy. IT WAS ACTUALLY JUST SO AMAZING OUT THERE. Abey had been so overwhelming by the millions upon millions upon BILLIONS of nuances of colour that he'd nearly passed out in his excitement.

After sampling pretty much everything (he HAD to), Abey had picked out some drinks and began traversing the ship, looking for his villain. It didn't take him long at all.

"HIIIIII DATE MATE!" Abey trilled, appearing by Derf with not two but actually five glasses of colourful drinks somehow carefully gathered up in his arms, hopefully in colours that his DATE MATE could distinguish and appreciate as well, because he wanted to share the fun actually! "I got us some drinks! I couldn't decide so I just got as many as I could carry." He had maybe spilled some down his suit, but his clothes were charmed not to stain so actually it was all fine. "Are you allergic to anything? I can't remember."

Oh. OH. HOLD ON JUST ONE SECOND.

Abey couldn't applaud yet - though he wanted to - but he could cheer.

"YEAH! WOO, YOU GO MR. GROUNDSKEEPER MAN!" Abey didn't really know what kind of dancing that was supposed to be or if it was even proper dancing at all (he didn't think it was) but he liked watching people move to the BEAT.

Or... against the beat, which was probably a better way to describe what the groundskeeper was doing.

BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER.

"WOOOOO!"

Okay...OKAY....he could do this...he was TOTALLY practicing the words in his head and was TOTALLY going to see if he could cut in with Valerie Gray and her date for a dance ... EXCEPT ALL THE DISTRACTIONS HAPPENED WHEN ABEY WALKED IN!

"HI HI HI!" he grinned, nearly throwing his arms around his Gryffindor when he stopped mid way and flapped his arms as though he were about to take off because that was A LOT of drinks in Abey's hands. "Oh great!" he chirped as he selected two at random and downed one almost immediately. "Uh...no...no allergies-s-s," he said as an afterthought while working on drink number two. Abey had to have FREE arms so they could DANCE after all. "Unles-s-ss...you reckon there are animal parts-s-s in any of thes-se drinks?" Well...hopefully not any in the TWO he had just drank at least.

Taking drink number three - because apparently all his scrambling around and dancing with people had made him more thirsty than he had initially thought - Derf began taking a sip from that one when he spotted Stasya and Cameron dancing together. BOTH of them were on his list so he needed a dance with them...maybe he could ask Stasya to be next? But he also needed to dance with Abey who was right HERE right now...

WHY MUST HIS DANCE LIST BE SO LONG?!

WHY MUST SO MANY PEOPLE BE SO NEAT AND AWESOME?!

Glancing back at Abey over the rim of his glass, Derf felt a bit of a FUNNY wiggle in his tummy. He couldn't REALLY explain it but it was there and made him finish his third drink rather quickly because he just had the URGE to tell something to Abey. "You kinda confus-s-se me," he blurted out with some well meant pensive blinking. "But in a GOOD way...I think. But s-s-still confus-s-sing." He wasn't sure why he was saying all this but now that the door had been opened it was kinda hard to shut it. "Got even MORE confus-s-sing after S-Science Club with Jes-s-ssa and everyone."

Actually, a lot of things were kinda confusing. Like how girls kept blushing around him. Something that he could RIGHT NOW IN THIS MOMENT admit to kinda liking but didn't quite understand WHY. Like when Stasya or Natalie blushed at him. He liked that. A lot. Actually...he kinda wanted to go tell them that right now FOR SOME REASON. He liked it when Emmeline did to...come to think of it...and he wasn't toooooooooo sure what to think of James asking her because he sorta seemed like TROUBLE...but if she was happy that was all that mattered to Derf. Maybe he should go tell HER that too. Jessa didn't really blush around him...but he was okay with that. Same with Hazel. Abey didn't so much..why didn't Abey blush at him MORE? He kinda sorta wanted Abey to blush at him too. What?

Something that WASN'T confusing was the fact that Valerie Gray was MAKING HER WAY IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF HIM. Okay...so not really. It actually looked like she was trying to LEAVE but that meant he had an IN! Suddenly with a reluctant burst of confidence Derf, rather than doing the normal thing and walking TOWARDS her, did what foolishly little love-struck second year Hufflepuffs do. He shouted.

"VALERIE GRAY! I THINK YOU ARE THE MOS-S-T BEAUTIFUL VEELA IN THIS ROOM AND I KINDA SORTA AM IN LOVE WITH YOU! I ALS-S-SO WEAR A S-S-SHIRT WITH YOUR FACE ON IT UNDER MY ROBES-S-S AND S-STUFF! AND I S-SLEEP WITH A PICTURE OF YOU UNDER MY PILLOW THAT JESSA CAMBRIDGE GAVE ME AND ENO UPSTEAD TOOK. WOULD YOU PLEAS-S-SE DO ME THE HONOR OF DANCING WITH ME EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY OUT OF MY LEAGUE?!"


.........what? He had not meant to say about...half of that information.
Not that Derf wasn't always honest about things, but even he KNEW this was a little overboard.

Or...well...he WOULD have though it was overboard if his heart was not DRUMMING IN HIS EARS LIKE A GALLOPING CENTAUR'S HOOVES.

Well, one thing Ambrosia did always pride herself on managing was making a correct assumption. Not that she had expected any different of a reaction from either Kyle or Maddox to her observations. Or, in the latter case, it had been outright teasing but then that was another thing that was pretty much normal to her. The one thing that most decidedly was not normal in her eyes was feeling summarily ignored, which she got the distinct sense that she was as soon as Louise had appeared. Granted, there was one thing she knew she could have done to get the attention back on her, but she did try to reserve that for other circumstances. Like occasional runs, or to show Lorcán and apparently Maddox exactly what she could do. Upon request. It was strange, but then also not technically breaking any law. That she knew of, anyhow. She’d been a good girl and registered herself with MACUSA after all, and so far she’d held back from using her ability while she was here.

One thing she did find rather amusing was the fact that people actually thought they could compete with the show Miles was putting on. Although the small Hogwarts boy had put on a good show with his attempt at American slang, which was actually more appropriate for the California girl than it was for some of the others. Yet even he had gone off to one of his friends, she suspected. The main thing was that nobody seemed to care whether she was there or not, so instead of continuing to stand there, she had wandered off in the direction of refreshments, brushing past the figure of Lachlan looking rather pleased with himself. She could figure that one out later. Odds were she’d be back. This did seem like a good place to find amusement after all.

-----------

She hadn’t known exactly what she had been going to find when she’d first gotten excited about the idea of a party, but Stasya was having a lot of fun. Even if she still was completely undecided about that whole date thing. She didn’t have one and they hadn’t kept her from getting on the ship, but she really didn’t know what to think about Emmeline having come with James. That was just weird. Plus, she could see lots of people with others that she guessed were their dates. At least, they were with other people, but she’d just sort of bounced around. She’d twirled with Liv earlier, not long after she’d investigated what kinds of treats there were on the ship. There was still the curiosity of Derf’s theory that most of the food was dangerous, but she hadn’t thought the professors would have done anything while they were all on a boat in the middle of the cold lake. She didn’t think there was any danger.

So far she hadn’t felt anything weird. Just giggles from her dance with Liv and then she’d found Cameron and danced with him too. Lots of dancing, which was definitely fun, and she hadn’t forgotten that Derf had promised too. And maybe she could find more people to dance with too. Just, they were all already dancing with other people, or they were like Derf as she saw him over with Abey and lots of different drinks. Not dancing, but she didn’t want to interrupt either, even if she’d sort of worked her way closer to the two boys.

Only to freeze in place as Derf had suddenly shouted at that one Ilvermorny girl champion. The one Jessa had given him the picture of in Charms, which if Valerie had asked she would totally have verified because she’d seen it. Well, not the part about him having it under his pillow because she hadn’t managed to sneak into the Hufflepuff common room yet. And also, she didn’t actually figure that the Ilvermorny girl would ask her anyway.

Etta beamed when Junia complimented her outfit. She'd thought that the dress looked quite pretty on her but the fact that other people appreciated it made her feel even more happy. It was the small things, always. "Thank you, Junia." She gave her friend another bright smile. .. She blinked momentarily at her next few words though. Was Junia rambling a bit? Or was it just her? Did her friend usually talk so much? Etta didn't think so but.. maybe she was feeling rather talkative. Eh. She was probably reading too much into it. Moving on.

"Well, even if he's an attention magnet tonight.. I'm sure his eyes will only be on his beautiful girlfriend." Etta said with the slightest hint of a smirk. They were rather cute. Sam and Junia. They seemed to be so perfect for each other and she was genuinely happy for them. For Junia, especially. Where was her boyfriend? Good question. She literally had no idea. He was supposed to meet her at the ballroom, wasn't he? "I'm sure he's around somewhere. Talking to friends.. probably. Or grabbing some food to eat. He'll be here very soon. He looks so handsome in a suit, Junia." She really couldn't wait to dance with him later.

"Right? I've always wondered what a ball would be like too! I've only read about it in books but now that I'm here, it feels so magical. In fact, I almost feel like a princess tonight, you know?" It was a weird feeling but a good kind of a feeling somehow. She found it hard to explain. She pondered over it for a moment or two before mentally shrugging it off. "Right? I've been itching to dance since the second I got here.. but people seem to be busy dancing with their partners." Had anyone asked her to dance? She shook her head. A little disappointing, wasn't it? "Maybe we should just wait and see?" Gosh, she really wanted to dance!

Her gaze kept flicking towards the entrance to see if Levi showed up.. instead she spotted a familiar face standing nearby. Lachlan Wheeler. Hmm. She decided to give him a smile because why not? This ball was an opportunity to make new friends as well, right? He was apparently quite nice too.. from what she'd heard about him anyway.

SPOILER!!: Aurora! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurora Chae

Aurora was fashionably late, but it was worth it - she was WORKIN' this pink suede dress and nude heels. Suede was making a comeback, she was sure of it. You heard it here first, everyone.

She entered the room and scanned the crowd for her DATE...Jer had asked her to go, and since she had no better prospects at the time, she had agreed. The Hogwarts boys OBVIOUSLY were blind if they didn't see what an amazing opportunity this was. It was ok, though - Jer was a nice guy and she hadn't gotten around to flirting with him much this year, so why not?

She smiled and walked up to her date, tapping him coyly on the shoulder as she approached him. "Hey handsome," she told him with a smirk to announce her arrival.

Nope, Aurora was definitely not there as yet. She obviously was taking her time in getting dressed- this is what he had learnt of girls. Not that he minded when it came to the champion. He liked looking at her. No, it was more like he couldn't usually take his eyes off her. Jer knew she was a flirt though and to which he didn't mind because he was too.

Feeling the tap and the shoulder and hearing the voice, Jer turned around to face Aurora with a smirk on his face. "That's me.'' Oh man! Just look at her! She looked stunning! "You look amazing,'' he told her. Beyond that, the fourth year was lost for words. He was all starry eyes *__*

You, Arora Chae, had done quite a number on Jeremy Elijah Dawson.

A break from school, Etta had said.

"... Sure."

Kyle was perhaps not the best individual to talk to regarding that, seeing as he couldn't relate at all. School was one thing that never seemed to stress him out, not even when finals came around and general anxiety levels started to rise all over Ilvermorny. In fact, school and classes and homework was more of a safe haven for Kyle. He was good at school and all things academic, which made it all much more enjoyable; some subjects more than others, admittedly. "We don't take JARVEYs until sixth year, so I don't have that stress just yet." Maybe next year he would understand? In any case, Kyle was glad that the IMPS had fallen when he was a fifth year, rather his sixth. This way, he had much more spare time to devote solely to the competition, as opposed to focusing on how to ace a specific exam.

The offer to dance came so suddenly and so out of nowhere that, for just a second, Kyle just stood there, blinking and processing. Again, only for a second.

"Uh... yeah. Sure. No problem." Had Kyle ever danced before? No. Definitely not at a proper dance and, now that he thought about it, not around any other people. What better way to do the exact opposite of what people expected from him. "I'm interested. I'll dance with you."

Except, hold up just a moment, because that little blond Hogwarts kid (Derf), had gone and made this entire event worth the time spent on it with that display.

Kyle only stared at the kid for a moment, but then broke into a grin the second his declaration was over. He didn't know what amused him most: the fact that Valerie had an admirer, and one who was still a baby Hogwarts student at that; the fact that said admirer thought she was a Veela, probably based solely on her skin and hair, and the fact that he was clearly stunned by the intensity of his own crush; or the fact that he always wore a shirt with her face on it and slept with a picture of Valerie under his pillow. His pillow.

There was perhaps a very obvious snort of laughter from Kyle at that point-- not directed at the kid, but at Valerie Gray herself. He was never, ever going to let her live this down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

"You're earning major friend points right now, Vivi." And doing wonders for the brunette's confidence, which was appreciated. "Did I mention how much I like your outfit, yet? That color blue makes your eyes pop. You should try batting your lashes at someone and seeing what happens, bet you'd make some unsuspecting boy swoon." She grinned and then tucked some hair behind her ear, showcasing her stud earrings that sparkled just right when the light caught them.

"That seems to be the question of the evening. Hopefully he's around somewhere noticing how pretty I look and deciding he simply must dance with me. That's really the only thing that would make this night better." Really, truly.

Vivian couldn't help but beam at both the compliment and the friend points. See? This is why her she-snake squad was amazing. They just loved to boost each other's ego as much as possible. "And so are you! Even more major friend points," the blonde said and winked at her dorm mate. And... batting her lashes at a guy? Vivian considered that for a moment. "Guess I'll give it a try tonight." She just wanted to know the effect, to be honest.

As for Junia's date, even she didn't know where he was? The blonde blinked. Well. that didn't seem nice! "I hope he didn't ditch you. You're obviously too pretty to not dance with!" Vivian was so sure of it! And that didn't even include the dorm mate bias. Though maybe a bit, but Junia was PRETTY and everyone in her dorm was pretty. They were all pretty!

Looking for someone to try that batting lashed thing on, Vivian spotted that Ilvermorny student (Lachlan) who competed during the first round. He looked attractive, so she decided to just try it on him. Because... well, why not? Waiting for them to meet eye-to-eye, and once they did (hopefully), the Slytherin batted her eyelashes at the older guy.

If that worked or not, it was going to be a learning experience. She'd probably practice on it, either way.

Isaiah grinned at her curtsy, glad that she was playing along. Or maybe she would have done it anyway. Either way, it was very impressive and looked very proper. And princess-like. He was also, of course, smiling at her blush and her comment. "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Because it definitely wasn't.

He was going to say something about how she was breathtaking but then decided maybe it was enough with the compliments. He'd already made it clear that he thought she looked nice. He wouldn't want to go overboard and make a fool of himself. "It is quite spectacular," he agreed. "At an event like this dancing is a must. Shall we?"

"I'm glad you're here," he confessed quietly, giving their surroundings a once over. "I came with Rula.." Rooney figured that that conveyed enough about how he felt, but it also reminded him to look around the room for his date and make sure she was okay. Her fiance wouldn't be happy with him if anything happened to her, especially as he was responsible for escorting her here and back to the castle efficiently. "You look great though, Miss Dora. I might borrow your outfit one day." He would find a reason to wear it. Or he'd ask his mother to draw inspiration from it and put a version together for him. T'was a blessing to have such a talented mama.

Giving the Gryffindor a spin, Roo forced a smile onto his features. "Talk to me about how you're preparing for the next challenge. Distract me." From his thoughts. From the stir in his brain and his stomach.

Why did Brent keep doing that to her?! Saying things like that to even put her at more speechless? First when he asked her out, now at least twice this evening. "Your fault," she casually blamed, shaking her head. "Making me speechless isn't going to get you more kisses, you know?" Actually, it probably would. She kind of liked it, not to mention, talking and kissing didn't usually work out too well, so by eliminating the talking aspect.

Smiling at the comment about Isa and Kane, she nodded in concurrence. "No, i get it. Isa's a total sweetheart..." Unlike Saffron, whom she wasn't even going to mention the encounter she had with the girl, but the girl was trouble and Sky didn't really care for her. "Maybe you should talk to him about it?" Not tonight though, obviously, because tonight was for spending time with each other, but another night.

Humming softly, in thought at Brent's suggestion, she pondered it a moment. "That sounds like a brilliant idea. Not falling. Wish I'd have thought of that. I knew I said yes for some reason or other," she grinned, playfully. Oh good, he was down for food first too. "Hope they have celery," she teased, suggesting the first 'low calorie' item that popped into her head, except knowing full well (and Brent knew too) that she ate more than that, having witnessed her eat a cheeseburger and chips. Switching from arm loop to hand holding, she followed him in the direction of the food table, except peered back over her shoulder at an outburst from one Derfael Ashburry-Hawthorne. Um. Um. Poor kid is about to get his heart crushed. "Guess we should hurry back. I fear he might need some consolation dances," she whispered on the way towards the food.

SPOILER!!: :O VILLAIN

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Okay...OKAY....he could do this...he was TOTALLY practicing the words in his head and was TOTALLY going to see if he could cut in with Valerie Gray and her date for a dance ... EXCEPT ALL THE DISTRACTIONS HAPPENED WHEN ABEY WALKED IN!

"HI HI HI!" he grinned, nearly throwing his arms around his Gryffindor when he stopped mid way and flapped his arms as though he were about to take off because that was A LOT of drinks in Abey's hands. "Oh great!" he chirped as he selected two at random and downed one almost immediately. "Uh...no...no allergies-s-s," he said as an afterthought while working on drink number two. Abey had to have FREE arms so they could DANCE after all. "Unles-s-ss...you reckon there are animal parts-s-s in any of thes-se drinks?" Well...hopefully not any in the TWO he had just drank at least.

Taking drink number three - because apparently all his scrambling around and dancing with people had made him more thirsty than he had initially thought - Derf began taking a sip from that one when he spotted Stasya and Cameron dancing together. BOTH of them were on his list so he needed a dance with them...maybe he could ask Stasya to be next? But he also needed to dance with Abey who was right HERE right now...

WHY MUST HIS DANCE LIST BE SO LONG?!

WHY MUST SO MANY PEOPLE BE SO NEAT AND AWESOME?!

Glancing back at Abey over the rim of his glass, Derf felt a bit of a FUNNY wiggle in his tummy. He couldn't REALLY explain it but it was there and made him finish his third drink rather quickly because he just had the URGE to tell something to Abey. "You kinda confus-s-se me," he blurted out with some well meant pensive blinking. "But in a GOOD way...I think. But s-s-still confus-s-sing." He wasn't sure why he was saying all this but now that the door had been opened it was kinda hard to shut it. "Got even MORE confus-s-sing after S-Science Club with Jes-s-ssa and everyone."

Actually, a lot of things were kinda confusing. Like how girls kept blushing around him. Something that he could RIGHT NOW IN THIS MOMENT admit to kinda liking but didn't quite understand WHY. Like when Stasya or Natalie blushed at him. He liked that. A lot. Actually...he kinda wanted to go tell them that right now FOR SOME REASON. He liked it when Emmeline did to...come to think of it...and he wasn't toooooooooo sure what to think of James asking her because he sorta seemed like TROUBLE...but if she was happy that was all that mattered to Derf. Maybe he should go tell HER that too. Jessa didn't really blush around him...but he was okay with that. Same with Hazel. Abey didn't so much..why didn't Abey blush at him MORE? He kinda sorta wanted Abey to blush at him too. What?

Something that WASN'T confusing was the fact that Valerie Gray was MAKING HER WAY IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF HIM. Okay...so not really. It actually looked like she was trying to LEAVE but that meant he had an IN! Suddenly with a reluctant burst of confidence Derf, rather than doing the normal thing and walking TOWARDS her, did what foolishly little love-struck second year Hufflepuffs do. He shouted.

"VALERIE GRAY! I THINK YOU ARE THE MOS-S-T BEAUTIFUL VEELA IN THIS ROOM AND I KINDA SORTA AM IN LOVE WITH YOU! I ALS-S-SO WEAR A S-S-SHIRT WITH YOUR FACE ON IT UNDER MY ROBES-S-S AND S-STUFF! AND I S-SLEEP WITH A PICTURE OF YOU UNDER MY PILLOW THAT JESSA CAMBRIDGE GAVE ME AND ENO UPSTEAD TOOK. WOULD YOU PLEAS-S-SE DO ME THE HONOR OF DANCING WITH ME EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY OUT OF MY LEAGUE?!"


.........what? He had not meant to say about...half of that information.
Not that Derf wasn't always honest about things, but even he KNEW this was a little overboard.

Or...well...he WOULD have though it was overboard if his heart was not DRUMMING IN HIS EARS LIKE A GALLOPING CENTAUR'S HOOVES.

"No. I think that only really happens with potions and food, not drinks," Abey replied, his eyes fixed on the drinks as he put pretty much all of his effort into keeping them as upright as possible. Things were made a lot easier given the fact that Derf had soon taken three of the five.

One in each hand now, perfect. Abey made short work of downing the first one - it tasted so SWEET and good and colourful and he was so thirsty having eaten so much in the dining saloon. He... really had nowhere to put the empty glass though, so... he just kept hold of it whilst he sipped on the other one.

He was still sipping when Derf decided to drop THAT on him, and it took Abey so much by surprised that he nearly choked on the pretty colours.

Confuse? What? Abey... didn't know what that meant, or how to take it, or what to say, or ANYTHING. Except that apparently it didn't matter what he wanted to say, because his lips were already moving and words were already falling out.

"You don't confuse me." Was there a tone of hurt in his voice? Probably, even though Derf had SAID it was a good type of confusion, and Abey couldn't even work out why it was happening because he hadn't told his voice that it could do that. In fact, he hadn't told his WORDS they could do that either. It... didn't really matter though, because Derf was already bounding off. Still, it didn't stop Abey from continuing, quietly, "You're the only thing that doesn't confuse me."

................. Oh.

......... Oh.

... Oh.

Still holding his two glasses, one empty, and the other with only a sip missing, Abey only watched the... proceedings, aka Derf openly declaring how much he loved Valerie Gray. And it felt weird, but in a way he wasn't quite familiar with; like a sort of ache that started in his chest and then moved up to his throat and stayed there in a painful lump, and it sort of felt a little bit like he was going to cry but no tears were coming, just the painful lump in his throat and a feeling like all the air had suddenly been knocked out of him.

And then he spoke, quietly again, and Abey's words surprised even himself because he hadn't yet had the chance to try and understand things - ANY of the things - but once they were out he knew what they meant and he knew they were true.

"I'm jealous of Valerie Gray."

Dora couldn't help but smile as Rooney spoke. "If it weren't for you I would have bolted immediately. " He had calmed her nerves just as he had following the first challenge. The Gryffindor had been less than pleased with what had transpired, but the Head boy had been able to quell her anger and make her laugh. No small feat, that. "I came with Mason. Casper had to go home for the holidays." Apparently his father had laid an epic guit trip on him. Merlin love that man!

She would have blushed had it not been for his following remark to her appearance. "A few well placed charms and a shirt instead of a corset and you're all set! You can borrow my clothes anytime. And if I forgot to say so, you look smoking hot. Every girl in here is jealous I'm dancing with you. I can feel the envy radiating over us. " FACTS. Okay maybe no one was jealous of Dora, but Rooney did looking amazing tonight. Ha cha cha!

As she spun out and back to him with ease her features creased with a frown now. "It's infuriating really. With no clue to tell me what it is, it is virtually impossible to prepare. I've read all I can regarding past tournaments here, but they're likely useless. I've trained with my uncle more in defensive magic, but aside from that just normal practice. I feel like I'm preparing for OWLs all over again." And Roo knew what THAT had done to her. It was all she could do not to freak out about all of this. Truly.

"I mean... it's to prove our worth, right? That could mean a whole host of things."

Aurora giggled. Awww, look how adorable he was! Gawking at her like that. She grinned and grabbed his arm, leaning in to him. "Why thank you. Now are you going to show me off or not?" she teased him. She KNEW this suede dress was amazing. Time to go teach Hogwarts kids a thing or two about FASHION, because they obviously needed a lesson in it.

As she started to make her way to the dance floor, practically dragging Jer with her, she stopped when she saw that adorable Hufflepuff kid declaring his love for Valerie. She bit her pink bottom lip to try and stop herself from bursting out laughing - because bless his HEART, that was just TOO CUTE - but Valerie? Of all people?! Had he learned nothing about her in the past few months?

"That is both the most adorable AND most pathetic thing I have ever seen in my life," she whispered to Jeremy with a giggle. Mostly adorable, but pathetic because the poor child had zero chance. One, he was a child. Two - Valerie. Enough side on that front. Poor kid. Maybe Valerie was in a good mood and would give the kid the dance he asked for, but she highly doubted that...

Carter walked around observing the students. He probably should have done a better job of chaperoning considering the amount of fights and kissing that had been going on tonight. But, he also still remembered what it was like to be one of the kids here. He'd have hated to have a so-called pivotal teenage moment interrupted by a professor or a board member. Or even a quidditch player.

So, he kept his distance and just surveyed. He was prepared to step in if the situation called.

Which... ... this one did.

His eyes fell on his baby girl coming down the stairs. He smiled and made his way over to her. "Hey, Princess." he greeted. Wait. Why did she look so sad? "What's wrong?" He looked over her shoulder instinctively trying to spy the girl's mother. He wanted to be sure he knew where she was just in case that was something she needed to be involved in.
Team parenting for the win.