Closed Dance The Night Away

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë had been looking forward to this yule ball more so than she had in her previous years. Possibly because after three years of going on her own and just looking around to see if she could find her friends this year she wouldn't be going alone, she actually had a date. She had been having fun during the dance lessons and was happy Sully had asked her to go to the ball with him, even if she was still unsure whether his intention had been to go as friends or for it to actually be a date. Perhaps she should've asked him about it when they made plans, but at that moment it had just felt weird. Personally, she had been getting her hopes up about the fact that he had meant it as a date which had made her realize she might have the tiniest crush on her friend and left her more nervous about the ball than she had planned to be. Chloë tried her best to stop being nervous about it, to act like she usually did, as she made her way down the stairs towards the entrance hall on her own since that was where they had decided to meet. Even if they shared the same common room and could've easily walked down together meeting downstairs had sounded like it would add to the experience of their evening. As she reached the last set of stairs Chloë started to look around to see if she could spot Sully already there. She immediately felt more at ease when she did, smiling at him and giving him a little wave before continuing her way towards him.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Asking Chloë to the ball had been one of Sully's better ideas. And Sully had had plenty of good ideas. Even this year alone. But he was certain that this had to be one of the good ones when he spotted Chloë coming down the steps. He'd always thought Chloë was pretty cute, even when she was all sweaty after practice, but now she looked stunning as she came down the stairs to meet him. Enough that Sully nearly forgot what he'd been about to say as she joined him in the hall. "Hey," He managed, salvaging at least part of a sentence. "You look uh. Hot- Nice. You look nice," He said, clearing his throat and offering Chloë his arm. "Ready to show everyone how it's done?" He asked her, regaining his senses some as he turned his attention more towards the great hall and the prospect of getting to show up everyone else on the dance floor.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

For some reason Chloë could almost feel Sully's gaze on her as she continued to make her way through the small crowd of people in the hall to reach him. It was only normal that he'd be looking at her since she was walking towards them and they were going to the ball together, but it still made her feel a bit nervous again. "Hi." She greeted Sully once she reached him, chuckling when he seemed to stumble over his words for a second even if she could feel an obvious blush spreading across her cheeks. "Thanks. You clean up pretty nice yourself." She smiled in all honesty, unable to recall him being dressed so neatly before. He probably had during yule balls in previous years but she couldn't recall seeing him back then. She mostly just saw him in regular clothes or quidditch gear, the latter being pretty much the opposite of how he was dressed now. Then again it was probably the same way around and she had to admit she had put a little extra effort into how she looked tonight, even attempting to tame her hair so it wouldn't be in her way all the time. "Oh definitely." Chloë nodded with confidence as she happily took his arm when he offered it. "They got nothing on us." She joked, looking sideways at him for a second before focussing her attention back in front of her as they entered the hall.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully laughed when Chloë returned his compliment, making a show of adjusting his bowtie, though he suspected he'd just made it worse. It'd taken him ages to tie it properly and he was pretty sure it was still not quite right. "Oh hey, I know," Sully took a moment to dig his wand out of his pocket, eying Chloë's dress before tapping his bowtie to cast a quick colour changing charm, pleased when the purple changed to a green much closer to Chloë's dress. "There, perfect," He said, grinning and stashing his wand away.

School events were pretty much always a good time, but Sully was feeling a bit more pressure than usual to make tonight fun as he and Chloë entered the hall, his attention drawn to the feeling of her arm on his as he checked over the crowd. "You wanna grab a drink first? Oh, or presents." Sully often forgot about the gift boxes scattered around under the various trees around the hall, usually too busy messing around every year until a lot of the good stuff was gone.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë tried to keep a straight face when Sully messed with his bowtie, trying not to pay attention to the fact that it now looked slightly crooked to her. She was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to do the same if he'd manage to mess it up worse somehow, almost feeling her hands itching to fix it already even when it still looked fine right now. She wasn't entirely sure what he was planning when he took out his wand yet couldn't help but to smile when he changed the colour of his bowtie to match her dress. It was a small gesture but she liked it, felt like it accentuated the fact that they had come together.

Chloë looked around for as they entered the hall, curious to see if she could spot any of her friends there already. Anything to slightly distract her from the fact that she was actually holding onto Sully's arm and walking in with him for a second in an attempt to keep herself from blushing. "Drinks, for sure." She answered his question with a little nod. "I mean we gotta get hydrated before killing it on that dancefloor, right?" She chuckled, focussing her attention on the dancefloor for a second to see if she noticed any other students that had been at the dance lessons with them putting their newly learned skills to use. Juniper perhaps, or even Lysander. "And who knows," She added, eyeing the gifts under the tree. "Maybe some people will forget to take a gift and then at the end we can each sneak two." Chloë grinned. She was joking, sure, but knowing Sully she also wouldn't be surprised if he'd seriously consider it.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully nodded happily with Chloë's assessment of the game plan, heading towards a drink table and passing her a pair of cups. He had to drop his hold on Chloë's arm to do it and was a little disappointed to step away from her, his side feeling strangely cold without her standing next to him. Which was dumb, since they'd be dancing together later anyway. Shaking the thought away, Sully ladled some punch into both their cups, doing his best to not pour it all over Chloë's hands, even though the temptation was there. "Here's to tearing up the dance floor, aye?" He said, raising his cup to Chloë. "Bet I can finish mine first," He threw in quickly, down his drink and nearly choking when he laughed and sloshed a bit. "I like the way you think," Sully said when Chloë mentioned snagging some bonus presents, wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand. "Plus, it'll be easier to dance without holding onto them," He added, pausing to try and subtly wipe his hands off on his pants before glancing out at the dance floor as the song changed. "Wanna go put those dance lessons to good use now then?"

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë was glad Sully agreed with her plan to get drinks first before heading out onto the dancefloor. At least that way she could mentally prepare for them dancing together. Even if they had danced together at the lessons somehow actually dancing at the ball together seemed like a completely different situation. "They won't know what hit them." She joked, nodding towards all of the other students that were dancing already as she raised her cup to his. Chloë considered trying to down her own drink when Sully suddenly decided to challenge her, but shook her head when his attempt didn't go very smoothly. "Yeah, no, you win." She laughed, taking a casual sip of her own drink. In any other situation she might've still tried to beat him at it, but the prospect of choking like he had and possibly spilling her drink over her dress wasn't all that. She wiggled her eyebrows at him for a second at the mention of the presents, before looking out at the dancefloor when the song changed. "Definitely." She nodded, quite excited to see if they would be able to get through the dance without messing up. Without even thinking about it Chloë held out her hand to him so they could walk together, giving him a small smile when she realized how unnecessary that was since the dancefloor was pretty close by. She had enjoyed walking close to him and even if they would literally be dancing together within a minute she had already put her hand out and wasn't planning on pulling it back. She figured that she could always blame it on the heels she was wearing if his reaction wasn't what she was hoping for.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully knew downing his drink hadn't been the most dignified thing to do, especially when he was really trying to impress Chloë, but he'd made her laugh, which was a win in his book. It also helped shift Sully back towards some level of normalcy, which he very much needed. He could feel himself getting too wrapped up worrying about what Chloë was thinking or if he was being a good date when he knew all he should be doing was just relaxing. Chloë was cool, he didn't have to act like someone he wasn't around her. "Hell yeah," He said when Chloë held out her hand, taking it eagerly so they could move out to the dance floor together.

Sully held onto as they came to a stop in a spot that wasn't too crowded, just in case he managed to try some spins or something, adjusting his grip so they were standing in something close to what they'd learnt during dance lessons. He wiggled his eyebrows back at Chloë, actually making sure she was ready before moving haltingly through the steps. He didn't want a repeat of bowling her over like he had with Emma last year, as funny as that had been. "So I was thinking, maybe we could do this again another time? Like, obviously not this-this"-He said, making a vague motion with his head and shoulders at all the Christmas decorations- "But like, I dunno, going somewhere together. I could even bust out the bowtie again if you want," He said, shrugging again for good measure just to show Chloë how cool and casual he was about asking her out again.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë's smile instantly grew wider when Sully took her hand and they made her way over to the dancefloor. She had enjoyed dancing with him at the dance lessons, even if they hadn't been the smoothest duo back then, and knew for sure that dancing at the ball would be even better. The only difference was that she hadn't been wearing heels at the lessons, and now she was. She felt pretty confident in them though, knowing she had good balance, but still wondered for a second if they would work against her once they started dancing. She chuckled when Sully wiggled his eyebrows after they mimicked the way in which they were told to stand in the lessons, looking down for a second when he started moving to make sure she'd also be okay to do the steps in the shoes she was wearing. After a couple of steps she figured she was fine though, focussing her attention back up at Sully. Now that she was confident her heels wouldn't be working against her she could appreciate the extra length they gave her, which meant she had to look up less then she usually did when standing next to him.

Chloë's heart fluttered in her chest Sully suddenly mentioned 'doing this again' and she had to quickly remind herself to keep moving so he wouldn't bump right into her as she looked at him. She wasn't usually someone that didn't know what to say but it definitely took her a second to process what he was actually saying before she could even answer. Doing the dance lessons with Sully and him asking her to the yule ball had made her realize that she might like him a bit more than her other friends, in a different way. Even though going to the ball together had been great, the idea that he seemed to be willing to go out with her outside of the whole ball-scenario was even better. "Yeah, I'd like that." She eventually answered, eyeing his bowtie for a second. "Definitely wear the bowtie though, yes." She nodded jokingly, still a bit surprised by the question as well as how casual he seemed about it. "So would that be like.. a date date?"