Come On, It'll Be Fun!

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx came bouncing into the Great Hall, dressed up and excited. He turned back to his twin, who was still lingering outside. "Come on, Sapphy, it'll be fun! Let's go mingle!" He pulled on her hand. "You don't have to be nervous, silly, you look great!" He reassured her, smiling earnestly. It had taken them all morning in the abandoned bathroom to get ready, and he was positive they would blow people away. Maybe Sapph would catch the eye of a certain Gryffindor, but Onyx had plans just in case this one of his backfired like it had last time. Still, the night was young and there were lots of people to see! He gave his sister his best, most encouraging grin.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire still thought this whole thing was stupid. She glared at her brother as he tugged her hand, trying to pull her into the Great Hall. She sighed, ignoring his pleas and reassurances. It was far too late to go back now, she had put much too much time into this already and that meant she would see it through. Raising her head, she followed after her energetic twin. Tonight was going to go one of two ways and she didn't particularly want to expect it to go either way, on the chance she was wrong and then hopelessly disappointed.

She had only bothered dressing up once before, and that was to prank Salamander last year. She had no way to prank anyone in the middle of this crowd without much more planning and a much less conspicoius costume.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel hadn't bothered dressing up. He hadn't even planned to stay long at the feast, though in retrospect it was marginally more exciting than sitting in his dorm by himself all evening. Not feeling particularly hungry, he wandered over to one of the spider-web hammocks hung up around the room and sat down in it, happy just to watch everybody else enjoy the festivities. The costumes were pretty good, he had to admit. Some of them were genuinely scary, the students unrecognisable beneath their makeup and fancy dress. After a while he got up and drifted around the edge of the room, eating a few snacks from the tables as he passed them, until he reached a couple of students he sort of recognised, but not quite. He stared blatantly at them, his face expressionless as he tried to make out not only who they were, but also who they were supposed to be dressed as.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx laughed in delight as his sister followed him in, looking around the room. He noticed a boy from class- costumeless, it wasn't hard, and pulled Sapphire after him as he sauntered over and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Heyyy, Arvel, isn't it? Onyx Michaels. Tell Sapphy here if you're enjoying the ball, yeah?" Onyx asked him with a wide grin, turning to his sister with bright eyes.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire rolled her eyes as her brother started off in another direction. She noticed the snack tables as they walked and she considered ditching her brother for them when suddenly they stopped. She turned, brow raised, as Onyx assaulted a kid in their year. She rolled her eyes again and took hold of her brother's arm. She pulled him back to her with a weary sigh. "Onyx, you blockhead, whatever he thinks I'm sure he doesn't need you all over him to answer your dumb questions."

She smiled apologetically at the kid. "Don't mind him, yeah? Just, are those snacks any good? Maybe I can drag him that way and get some if they are." She offered hopefully, eyeing the snack table again without releasing her hold on Onyx. Who knew what he would do if he roamed free?

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Had Arvel known the pair of students would start talking to him, he wouldn't have gone anywhere near them. He ducked out from beneath Onyx's arm, relieved when Sapphire reined him back in. Since when did he have a sign above his head that read, 'Come and hug me'? "I'm not," he said. "I mean, it's a party, and everyone is dressed up except me." He looked down at the uneaten candy in his hand and shrugged. "And I feel sick, so..." Putting the snacks down beside a bowl of crisps, he wiped his hand on his shirt. "Who are you meant to be?"

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx pouted as his sister pulled him away and Arvel responded negatively. "Awww, don't be like that," He complained half-heartedly to the both of them. He was just trying to show his sister a good time. Maybe he should find Leda, she always had a good idea. He started to look around the room for the red-head, sure she would have something good worked up. Or maybe Jacob Kingsley, or even Gideon. There had to be someone in here that could help him make his twin enjoy herself. His attention was half drawn back to Arvel when he asked who they were. "Haven't watched many Tim Burton movies then?" He asked off-handedly, returning to his search.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire rolled her eyes. She might not think before she acted, but at least she didn't feel the incessant need to touch everyone she came across. She shook her head at Onyx's vague remarks in response to Arvel's question. "We're characters from a muggle story about the holidays. I'm supposed to be Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King and he's the rag doll, Sally." She told Arvel, a bit exasperated. "We switched it up a bit, but the idea is the same."

 

[Arvel Ayers]

"I haven't watched any movies," he told Onyx, who seemed to be distracted. Arvel wasn't surprised. Most people got distracted while he was talking to them. Sapphire's explanation made nothing clearer, but Arvel said, "Oh," as if it did. "You look good." That much was true, at any rate. He looked at Onyx. "Well, I guess I'm boring you, so... I'll just... go..."

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx waved Arvel off. Normally he'd try harder to make the cutie feel more at ease, but right now his focus was on his sister. He needed to make sure tonight was spectacular and he couldn't do that if they were hanging out with Arvel. "Yeah, yeah, see you," Onyx muttered, not paying attention.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire sighed. "Thanks Arvel." She told him. They had put a lot of work into the costumes, even if no one knew who they were.

"Any other time I'd try to stop you. Honestly, you're better company than him." She joked, pointing at her brother. "But keeping you here would mean you have to put up with him and he's a lot to handle. I'll catch you sometime when I'm not with Mr. Crazy here, yeah?" She offered him a small smile, exasperation clear on her face.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel felt his eyes sting, Onyx's dismissal crushing him. He ducked his head, not wanting Sapphire to see the pain welling in his face - not wanting her to embarrass him with her pity. "It's fine," he managed to get out, at last. It really was fine. He didn't need friends. He didn't need these people. Without another word, he passed Sapphire and headed out of the door.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire watches Arvel leave, irritated, before turning and smacking Onyx upside the head, hard. "You bloody idiot!" She told him with a glare. "Just because you have some loony idea doesn't mean you can be rude." She put her hands on her hips, exasperated with Onyx's behaviour.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

"Ow" Onyx yelped as Sapphire's hand connected with his skull. He looked at her with his best puppy eyes, pouting a bit. He nodded as she chastised him. "Of course Sapphy. You're right."

Acting quickly, he scooped her up quickly in his arms and spun her around. "Come on Sapphy, smile! You're so much cuter when you smile!" He set her on her feet, grinning widely.