Open Alone and Sublime

[Finn Madison]

School dances weren't something Finn had really put a lot of thought into before. Sure, they were nice enough, with the dancing and food and everything, but he had never really paid attention. It was just a day to wear nicer clothes than usual, and hang out with his friends in the Great Hall. This year, though, half of his friends had dates, and Finn didn't know entirely how he felt about that. It seemed like it had come out of nowhere all at once, everyone he knew suddenly taking an interest in.... going on dates, and thinking about it was worrying. Did Finn want to go on a date? Having thought about it he was fairly sure he would rather go on a date with Augustus or Ryan than either of the girls they were dating, but beyond that he just didn't know how he felt yet. It all seemed far too complicated, and he didn't know how he felt about the whole thing yet. But he had come along to the dance by himself, standing towards the edge of the dancefloor and sipping on a drink, wondering where his friends were. He could see Emily causing a ruckus, but nobody else he actually knew.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy usually loved going to school dances. She got to hang out and dance with her friends, and it was great. But now it seemed like she was the only one who just wanted to hang out with friends at a dance. This year almost all of her friends had dates, and she was happy for them but it made her feel like there was something wrong with her. She just didn’t see the point in dating someone right now, she still felt so young and dating just felt so adult and scary. She had found people pretty and handsome but she wasn’t sure if that was enough to make her want to kiss them or anything. Poppy sighed, she had gotten all dressed up and was determined to have a good time tonight. She walked into the Great Hall and was still caught off guard at how beautiful the decorations always were. She looked around trying to find anyone she knew or anyone who looked like they needed a friend. Eventually she spotted a Ravenclaw boy she had seen around. She was fairly sure he was friends with Nicole’s little brother and he looked a little shy. “By yourself tonight?” she asked brightly.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn was surprised when an older girl approached him, glancing at her a little warily. She just seemed to want to chat though, so he shrugged and nodded, leaning against the wall slightly. "Yeah, all my friends brought dates." He commented quietly, glancing at the girl and trying to remember her name. He knew he had seen her around Ravenclaw before, but Finn didn't know the names of too many schoolmates outside the ones he shared a dorm with. "How about you?" He asked quietly, wondering if she was in the same boat.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy smiled sympathetically at his answer and nodded knowingly when he asked about her. “Same here.” she said with a sigh. ”They all have dates.” She looked out at the crowd and spotted a couple of her friends and their dates right away. They looked like they were having fun. Too bad the blind date thing was only for those in clubs, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. But she shook her head, not wanting to feel sorry for herself. “I’m Poppy by the way.” she said, turning her attention back to the boy. “Why don’t you have a date?” she asked playfully. She was curious to see if he had a reason or was like her and didn't really want one.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn nodded sympathetically when the girl confirmed that she was in the same boat, glad that at least he wasn't the only one floating through this evening surrounded by uncertainty. He nodded once when she introduced herself, glancing at her for a moment. "I'm Finn." He responded, hoping he wouldn't forget Poppy's name. He shrugged awkwardly when she asked about his lack of a date, stuffing his free hand in his pocket. "All my friends are going with girls." He said somewhat evasively. "I didn't know anyone else I could ask."

 

[Freya Song]

Dressing up on Halloween was expected, but inhabiting a costume for the Yule Ball was the only way Freya could convince herself to attend. A long brown wig wasn't the most elaborate of disguises, but sometimes simple was better for blending in, and Freya didn't expect anybody to be looking for her anyway. It seemed like everybody had a date this year, but Freya was alone since she'd been cruelly abandoned by her favourite people in favour of going to the ball with boys. She strongly believed that Kas and Connor should have just gone with each other if they were going to ditch her anyway and intended to spend the night spying on them in hope of catching sight of a trainwreck in progress. Freya immediately shattered her attempt at anonymity when she saw Poppy and somehow ended up next to the Ravenclaw without intending to. "Hey, Popcorn, you look very cute," she grinned. Catching the end of Finn's introduction, she smiled sympathetically at the boy. "These things are more fun by yourself, anyway." Freya wasn't convinced of the truth in her statement, but hopefully she could believe it by the end of the night.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy leaned against the wall with the boy and quite liked the view from here. “Well it’s nice to meet you.” she said sincerely, glad to have a name now to go with the face and listened intently as he answered her question. “Well I think that's a pretty good reason.” she said thoughtfully as she looked out into the crowd again and spotted her friends with their dates. She noticed all of them were with boys, even Connor and she tried to imagine what it would be like if she was with a boy. She frowned when she realized it didn’t exactly sound as exciting as going with her friends, who were girls. She took a long sip of her drink and appreciated the relative silence of their corner of the hall. Poppy’s frown deepened when she heard a somewhat familiar voice referring to her by something other than her name. She felt her cheeks warm a bit at the compliment but it didn’t soften her completely. “What are you doing here?” she asked briskly and ignored her other comment.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn smiled slightly when Poppy said it had been nice to meet him, relieved to have possibly made a friend here if nothing else. They were quickly interrupted by another older girl though, and Finn withdrew very slightly as he watched them. The tension between the two was clear, and Finn didn't especially want to wind up in the middle of a fight between two relative strangers.

 

[Freya Song]

Freya was a little thrown by Poppy's less than warm greeting. She wasn't entirely sure what she'd done to offend her second favourite red-headed Ravenclaw, but took it as a good sign because now she didn't have any expectations to live up to. It did make her a little sad, for reasons beyond her comprehension, but she shook that thought off immediately. "Well, you see, students are generally encouraged to attend the ball," Freya said, raising a brow. "I imagine it'd be pretty empty if nobody showed up." Boring too, with nobody embarrassing themselves in front of dates, or pretty outfits for Freya to secretly fawn over. She raised herself up on her toes to try get a better view as she scanned the room for familiar faces, and tilted her head towards the other two. "So how's your night been going?" she asked brightly.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy frowned at Freya's answer, that obviously wasn't what she meant. She knew she should try and be nice since the other girl was, somehow, friends with Connor. But she really didn't like the joke of never getting her name right and Poppy knew it was on purpose because she had been very clear when they first met and the fact Freya used different names each time. "It's been fine." she said a little tightly, crossing her arms across her chest. "How about you?" she asked, doing her part to be polite. "And this is Finn." she added quickly, gesturing to the other boy. She felt bad he had to deal with this.