Open But, I Wanted to Read

[Henri Fontaine]

The thing was, Henri had a costume. His mother had packed one for him for this celebration, and yet, he had completely forgotten that it was something that was happening until he'd stepped into the hall. He'd gotten so lost in his books, that he had forgotten it was halloween. He had come to the great hall, dressed normally, and stopped short when he noticed the room looking at as it was. he wasn't even that interested in what this was. He found a corner in the room with enough light to have his book open in front of him and to be able to read that instead of doing anything else, as he snacked rather than ate a proper meal.

 

[Beatrice Grey]

Beatrice was enjoying the ball so far. She wasn’t a big scary person, but it was still fun to get scared a little now and then. The Ravenclaw stepped away from her sister, hoping people didn’t question their costumes anymore - hadn’t they heard of artistic liberties? - especially when they weren’t next to each other to give everyone the full effect. She noticed a boy by himself reading a book, which seemed a little odd, anc walked up to him. She wondered if he was just waiting on someone. “What are you supposed to be?” Bea asked nicely.

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri didn't even glance up from his book as someone approached him. "I'm Henri," he introduced himself, mis-understanding the question a little, the music from the feast did make it a little hard to hear everything being said. "You're in my light," he then added, doing a little motion with his hand to ask her to move.

 

[Beatrice Grey]

Bea giggled when Henri introduced himself instead of his costume. "No, what are you supposed to be? Like, your costume?" she asked a little more directly. Before she could get an answer, she looked around and realized the kid was reading - at an event. This was not something out of the scope of ordinary for Beatrice, but she had just rarely seen other kids do it, especially in public. "Is the book part of your costume?" she asked, curiously.

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri looked up when she asked about his costume, and then frowned. "Oh I don't have one, I forgot this was happening," he said, waving his hand to gesture to the festivities in the hall. He then glanced back at her for a moment, to look at her costume, though he wasn't sure what even she was supposed to be. "What are you?" he asked.

 

[Beatrice Grey]

Bea didn't understand how this boy would just show up and not know about Halloween. I mean, it was Halloween, which was a big holiday for Beatrice growing up, but maybe it wasn't here. "Oh, well, you could make up something. Like a bookworm?" she suggested, meaning it in the nicest way possible. "I'm Modern Art with my sister. Like statues or paintings," she said, holding a pose before letting go with a smile. "Get it?"

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri shook his head. "I don't think it matters," he told her with a shrug, since the feast was already in full swing, and him not having a costume just was. He didn't think belatedly thinking of something to explain it would matter. He looked at the girl as she held a pose and gave a half shrug. "Sure," he replied before just looking back at his book.

 

[Beatrice Grey]

Beatrice was getting the feeling she was disturbing the boy. He didn't seem to be very festive or talkative, and he wasn't into her costume idea. She looked around for a moment to see if Maggie was nearby so she could show the full effect, but Bea saw her twin off talking to some of their roommates in a corner. "Okay... What are you reading?" she asked, trying to be nice. If he didn't want to share, she figured she'd move on, but she was also wildly interested in books and always wanted to know what to add to her list.

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri glanced back at the girl for a moment and then to his book. "It's a book on the native bug species within this part of New Zealand, and it goes into how truly native some of them are, since when we talk about native species, it can sometimes mean brought in the 1700s and 1800s," he told her, perhaps giving far too much explanation.