Open Cautious Observer

[Iris van Houten]

Open after Jesse posts with Lysander

Iris was feeling a bit anxious about the dance this year, which had everything to do with Emma and her date. She was happy for her sister for getting to go with a boy she liked, but she also knew that Emma could get her hopes up about things. She often assumed things would go how she wanted, and rarely considered other possibilities. It was often up to Iris to consider those possibilities for her. So here Iris was, anxious on Emma's behalf as she lingered near one of the tables. She kept an eye on Emma and Sully as they entered the great hall, barely looking away from them. She knew she should find her own friends and have some fun tonight, but she wanted to make sure Emma was okay first. Iris grabbed herself a drink, then went on to observe her twin quietly.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander hadn't been asked by anyone to be his date to the ball, but that was okay. He hadn't asked anyone either, and he wasn't sure he really knew how to bring it up. A small part of him had wondered during the lead up if maybe Nicole would ask him again, as out of the blue it was last time, but it seemed to have been a one-time thing. Maybe it was a relief, he told himself. It was kind of stressful to have a date, and have to make sure that they were having as good a time as he was, and he knew how annoying it could be when friends were busy with their own date for the whole night to have any time for him. Jenna and Wendall breaking up whatever they had going was probably a good thing for him, in the end. He just wanted to have fun, eat good food and dance around with whoever. Though he didn't have a date himself, he had helped set up two of his friends, and after grabbing a drink he wandered around to see how they were going, soon finding himself not the only one on the lookout. He sidled up next to Iris and cheersed the brim of his cup against hers. "Have they kissed yet?" He asked with a hint of excitement, leaning back to rest against a table while he watched Emma and Sully to see how they were getting along.​

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris looked up with a small smile as Lysander joined her and tapped his cup against hers. She shook her head at the question, glancing back at the two who were now dancing together. Emma at least seemed to be having a good time, and Iris relaxed a little bit. "I don't think so, or I missed it." She said with a small shrug. "But I think Emma would be blushing a lot more if they did." She added with a knowing smile. It was a trait they all shared, though Iris was less easily flustered than most of her siblings. "Emma told me you helped make this happen, she was very excited." Iris commented. "I just hope it's everything she hopes it'll be." She added with a small sigh.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had to agree, though with all that red hair he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to tell if she was blushing. "Yep! It was all me. It was easy, you should have seen them when we were playing spin the bottle." He laughed. It trailed off awkwardly as he remembered that Lars had kissed him, too. Did Iris know? Emma didn't let him forget it, so she must have. He moved on quickly, not wanting to linger on the topic. "I'm like a matchmaker now. If you want a date to the yule ball, I'm your guy." He said confidently. He'd done it once and it wasn't so hard, so he had to be able to do it again. "They're gonna be great. They're like, perfect for each other. They're in the same house, and they both play Quidditch..." He continued, pulling a blank on the rest of their similarities. He didn't know much about Sully outside of Quidditch, but he thought he was cool, someone Lysander wanted to be more like. He watched the way the older boy tried to take his best friends hand, thinking how romantic it was, until Emma fell down. Lysander sucked air through his teeth and looked away. "Ouch." He murmured to Iris. It hurt to watch.​

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris frowned a bit. "I see." She said as Lysander had brought up the spin the bottle game. Emma had been strangely quiet about it to Iris, which had made her feel a little sad. They usually shared everything, but Emma knew Iris thought the game had been a bad idea, and now she had decided not to talk about it for some reason. Lars hadn't said much either, and Iris tried not to listen to gossip. So she wasn't completely certain what had happened at that game. She smiled a bit as Lysander suggested getting her a date to the ball. "That's alright, I enjoy talking to friends at these events." She said softly. "I don't need a date." Her gaze moved back to the two on the dance floor as Lysander spoke about how perfect they would be together. She appreciated his enthusiasm, but couldn't quite share it. Iris winced as she saw Emma tumble and fall, and covered her face with her hands for a moment before peeking through her fingers. She took an involuntary step forward, but then stopped herself. It wouldn't help Emma now if she rushed out to the dance floor to help her, that would only make things worse. "Oh no." She said quietly. But then she frowned and lowered her hands. "Is he... laughing at her?" She then asked, her eyes narrowing.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander nodded in agreement, mid-mouthful of juice. He swallowed and lowered his cup. "Yeah, no, me neither." He said. His first year had been the most fun, with a bunch of his friends just hanging out instead of getting caught up with dates. It was a ball, but he didn't want to ever have to waste the whole night with just one person. That said, he was enjoying Iris' company. It was fun to have someone else to talk to and spectate the date he'd set up, though that itself seemed to be going downhill. Or at least, Emma was. "He's laughing...with her?" He suggested hopefully. Emma seemed to be smiling, it was hard to tell. "It was kind of funny." He admitted. It was, and he might have laughed too. "Do you want to get closer? We could pretend to dance, listen to what they're saying." He asked. Now that Emma had stacked it, he wished he'd been closer to hear what they were saying about it, or brought his extendable ears.​

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris was a little relieved to know Lysander wasn't all that enchanted by the idea of dates either. It felt a little like all the girls she knew were suddenly interested in boys and asking them out, and Iris... wasn't. She narrowed her eyes at Sully and Emma as Lysander suggested they might be laughing together, but Iris knew her twin well enough to see she wasn't feeling entirely at ease in this situation. She considered Lysander's suggestion, then nodded with a slight smile. "It would be rather hard to pretend to dance." She joked lightly. "So we could... really dance? Just conveniently close to them?" She held out her hand for him, but still kept an eye on her twin and her date out on the dancefloor.