Open Away from the dance

[Majora Valentine]

Majora hadn't really been a fan of the events the school held, not because he didn't think they were good for other people, but because he knew they didn't mean anything at all to him. He'd attended Halloween because he thought that he should see what all the fuss was about, and he'd been outside the hall during the Yule Ball just so that he could see who was about to enter. But Valentines was the worst one of all in the Slytherin's mind. It felt so fake and forced, and even on a good day it was debated whether anyone actually cared about Majora, that making up an entire celebration as a way to show your love almost pushed it in the opposite direction. He wasn't even going to risk his curiosity with this one though, and instead had made his way up to the towers to sit and watch across the mountains as the sun went down for the night, making use of the quiet time to empty out the bag of rocks into his lap and reexamine them.​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah didn't stay at the dance very long and decided to go back to the towers to hide from the rest of the world. She had spoken with a random older boy who didn't seem interested in speaking with her. After the awkwardness, she dashed out of the hall, trying to hide the fact that her anxiety had once again taken over any social interaction she'd ever had. Thankful that the halls were empty, she took off her shoes and continued walking up and switching staircases until she noticed a boy playing with rocks in the hall, which she found peculiar. "Shouldn't you be at the dance?" she asked, realizing it was a rude thing to say after the fact. Her anxiety manifested negatively a lot, and she was trying to work on that.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia had no time for dances, especially not a valentine’s dance where she did not have someone to attend with nor anything fancy to wear which made the effort of going anyway entirely pointless. She had delivered roses and played a role in the school wide celebration of Valentine’s day and believed her effort in participating was enough and she could spend her night however she wanted to. Thus what she did have time for instead of the dance, was using the calm and quiet in the rest of the castle to her advantage to read while most students were many floors below her in the great hall. She trudged up the stairs to the north tower, wanting to get as far away from the valentines commotion as possible. It was as she got to the top she noticed she was not the only student to have the same idea, and held her book against her chest as she looked between a boy she recognized from her classes and as her housemate, and a girl she wasn’t familiar with at all. Not wanting to ignore them and seem rude, Theia approached quietly. “Isn’t going to the dance a choice?” Theia answered with a question herself, looking at the girl who seemed to be dressed up for the occasion but clearly not in the great hall. “It’s quieter here, less people to worry about.” She stated the obvious. “I’m Theia.” She then greeted, not wanting to seem dismissive and trying to remember to be polite even if her intentions of walking up the tower were to read rather than socialize.​

 

[Majora Valentine]

Majora looked up when the footsteps he’d been hearing grew louder, and he realised there was another student in the vicinity. “It’s not mandatory.” He stated simply. There was no should about it, if he didn’t want to go he didn’t have to. He didn’t mind if there were other people around here although he would have at least hoped they ignored all talk of Valentines since that was why he’d come away. It was a little ironic that the holiday he hated most was part of his name too, but it couldn’t be helped. Not yet. One of his housemates that he recognised from class joined them, and she seemed to have the right idea. “Looks like all three of us have made that choice,” he shot the first girl a look, wondering why she was able to question them about not going when she quite clearly wasn’t either. “Maddox.” He said simply, not wanting to delve into why he went by a different name to those who were not his friends.​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was surprised when suddenly another girl approached and made a comment in response to Adorah's rude statement. She pulled her arm tight around her elbow, closing in her shoulders. The boy also responded as they both introduced themselves. Adorah stood awkwardly as she decided whether or not to say her name as well or just walk away and enter the common room. She scratched her head and caved. "Umm, Adorah?" she said unsurely, pointing to herself. "And I didn't mean anything by it. I was just surprised that you were here and not down there in the hall with all the other younger kids because it seems to be such a big deal to them to go to the da-" she started to say as she spiraled and then put her arms around herself again. "Sorry. That's what I'm trying to say." She looked Maddox and pointed to his rocks, shakily. "What are you doing with those?" she said with a smile, hoping that Theia and Maddox didn't think she was insane.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia looked the older girl up and down. She had noticed the girl, apparently named Adorah, was dressed for the dance as she approached, unless being formal was her sense of style, but she couldn’t tell whether Adorah was on her way down to the hall or making her way away from it. It was tempting to ask given the fact Adorah was asking Maddox why he wasn’t at the dance either, but Theia decided not to be too direct with her curiosities as she turned her attention to her housemate. Theia looked between Maddox and Adorah not really knowing what to say, slowly beginning to regret talking to them when all she had wanted to do was keep to herself for the night while most of the school was in the great hall celebrating valentine’s day. “Do you collect those, or something?” Theia asked Maddox, nodding to the rocks Adorah had mentioned. She wasn’t sure what else to say other than to continue the conversation with this older girl and the housemate she only knew from classes, it was a little awkward but she figured it was still better than going to the dance alone, which would make Theia feel one thousand times more awkward by comparison.​

 

[Majora Valentine]

Majora was listening intently as the girl tried to reason her question, although the Slytherin didn't look up again from his rock pile until she spoke about it. Then Theia did too, and he looked between them both. He didn't think either of them would really care what they were for, and it was probably boring to most people, but for Majora they had been key to him growing up. "Yes." he said simply. "I collect them. Or I used to. Now I just look after them." The first year knew he didn't have to explain, especially because it made him feel a little awkward about it. People asked questions, that was a given, and if they asked too many questions then he wouldn't have enjoyed telling them to back away. He didn't know why Theia nor Adorah didn't just talk amongst themselves, they probably would have found one another much more entertaining than he, and besides he preferred to listen himself rather than talk about what he did. "Don't you have any hobbies?" he asked to neither one in particular, but keen to take the attention back off him.​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was surprised that the girl also asked what Maddox's rocks were about. She found it odd that he said he looked after the inanimate objects. "Are they magical or something?" Maybe it was just that he cared about his collectables, but she found the sentiment a little odd. Adorah was not a collector herself, so she didn't quite understand the connection to objects. "I'm not. Theia?" she asked, turning the attention toward the presumed younger girl. She wondered why she was standing here talking to people she didn't know, but at the same time, this was better than laying in bed by herself in the dorm. Or was it?

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia nodded slightly at Maddox’s answer, that he used to collect the rocks and now looked after them. He didn’t elaborate which left Theia furthermore clueless to what she was meant to talk about, but it was then he asked both her and Adorah if they had any hobbies. Theia looked to Adorah, listening to her before speaking herself. “I read, obviously.” She said, looking down to the book she was carrying, the book she had intended to spend the evening reading as she kept to herself and avoided the dance and socializing in general. She wondered why she had bothered to act differently when she ran into Maddox and Adorah when all it did was make her feel awkward but it wasn’t as if she could change her decision now. “This book is one I got from an old bookshelf at home, its about a detective, kind of boring really, but I’m more than halfway through the story so I have to finish it.” Theia added, thinking if she didn’t take the responsibility to keep talking no one would. “Have you read any good books lately, Adorah?” Theia asked, looking to the older girl. She felt as if she was grasping at straws and honestly was on the verge of saying goodbye and deeming whatever that conversation was as a lost cause but she was nothing if not determined and wanted to finish what she had started by approaching Maddox and Adorah.​