Open Flowers For Spring

[Emmanuel Okoye]

Emmanuel had seen the shirt he was wearing, while looking for other things and decided that it was exactly the right shirt for him, that it was exactly what he needed for the halloween celebration. He had then grabbed real flowers, and used magic to stick them on to his outfit adding to it, so he was, what he said he was, flowers. Emmanuel headed into the room, and was pretty eager to see if he'd spot Kyon in it, but he couldn't yet.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope adjusted her scarf as she walked around the great hall, smiling at everyone's costumes. She was looking for Todd, hoping to spend some time with him. She wasn't sure how he was dressed- or if he even dressed up, but she wanted to find him. She was on the lookout for Marnie too, always eager to see her best friend. She squeezed past a clustered group of people and was pushed forward slightly, making her stumble. She bumped into someone and looked up to apologize. The apology died in her throat as she came face to face with Emmanuel, a situation she had successfully avoided for over a year. "Oh." She said, taking a quick step back. "...Sorry." She added belatedly.

 

[Emmanuel Okoye]

The last person he did expect to run into was his ex, though they did run in very similar circles. Given that they were both prefects - though he was now head boy, and they were in the same year. he looked at her and gave a little smile, keeping himself friendly. "No matter," he replied warmly with a smile on his lips. He sort of hoped Kyon would turn up and then he'd be able to pay attention to him rather than Penny. "How are you?" he asked. keeping it polite.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope couldn't quite get herself to smile back at Emmanuel, even though she wanted to. Her muscles just wouldn't cooperate. She dusted off her jacket and looked away, trying not to think of the hurt feelings looking at Emmanuel still brought to the surface. "I'm fine." She said, her voice slightly clipped. "I was looking for Todd, my boyfriend, have you seen him?" She almost winced at herself, she just had to slip in the fact that he was her boyfriend, didn't she? But she wanted Emmanuel to know, though he probably already did, considering they were roommates.

 

[Emmanuel Okoye]

Emmanuel wasn't sure he and Penny would ever be on good terms, since he had been more than a bit of a jerk to her. Even if not entirely realising why he had been. he had known that Penny was going out with Todd, he'd heard the boy mention it in the dorm, and he was happy for them both. Todd was a nice guy, he was sure they would be having fun together. "I haven't seen him," he replied. "He was in the dorm when I left, and that was a while ago," Emmanuel said and he glanced around. He wondered if now was the time to also mention his own boyfriend before deciding not to.

 

[Kyon Lockwood]

Kyon was perpetually running late, though this time it was because he'd spent some time on his makeup. Satisfied with how creepy he looked, he bounded down the stairs. Of course the dance had already started, so he just started ducking and weaving his way through the crowd in search of Emmanuel. "Babe!" He declared, spotting his boyfriend but not seeing immediately who he was with. "Hey, sorry I'm la-" He started, bouncing up but stopping just short of wrapping around Emmanuels' arm. "Penelope," he stated in surprise, eyes a little wide. "Hi," He unthinkingly reached over, brushing his fingers over Emmanuels hand.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope nodded when Emmanuel said he hadn't seen Todd. It should make her end the conversation and look for him, but she didn't. A part of her wanted to confront Emmanuel, to tell him he had hurt her. But why? He had broken up with her, that wasn't a crime. She had just never understood what she did wrong. And the way he was looking around was annoying her, he could at least try to pretend he didn't want to run away from her, even though she kind of wanted to run away from the situation herself. "Alright. Thanks." She said, deciding to let it go and move on. She wouldn't get any answers out of him and she didn't need them. Things with Todd were great, he was great! A better boyfriend than Emmanuel had been. She had the crazy urge to tell him that, but didn't. That would just be needlessly rude. She blinked when Kyon Lockwood ran up to them and called Emmanuel babe. Her gaze moved between the two boys as something clicked in place. So Emmanuel was dating again, and someone entirely unlike her. Was this common knowledge? "Hi Kyon, you look scary." She told him after a slightly too long pause.

 

[Todd Cobbler]

Todd wasn't the jealous type, but something about arriving at the Halloween Feast and seeing Penny talking to Emmanuel made him feel like he should step in, just in case. Kyon, who Todd didn't know well enough to gauge, was there too. Maybe they were just talking, but it felt like Penny might need a bit of backup.

He walked over with a relaxed smile, slipping his hand into hers as soon as he reached her side. "Hey," he greeted her, his voice light. "I've been looking for you." He glanced at Emmanuel and Kyon with an easygoing grin. "How’s it going?" He wasn’t here to start anything, but he wanted to make it clear that Penny wasn’t alone while he figured out what was going on.

 

[Emmanuel Okoye]

Emmanuel felt a lot of relief as Kyon suddenly was at his side. He knew the conversation with Penny was dragging out and it wouldn't be good for them to drag it out more, though finding an out that wasn't rude was hard. He went to slip his arm around Kyon and to press a kiss to his cheek before he glanced back at Penny. He wondered if he should tell her, he didn't owe her coming out but he felt sure she wanted some degree of explanation. "you look great," he added and then they were joined by Todd, he smiled at the boy. "Hi Todd, we're just chatting, we were both looking for our boyfriends." he said. "And now we've got them,"

 

[Kyon Lockwood]

Kyon leant into Emmanuel, though he scrunched his nose as the boy kissed his cheek. "Babe, makeup," He muttered, reaching up to try and brush the white paint from Emmanuels' lip with his thumb. "No kisses for you," He teased softly, before turning back to look at their guests. He turned back to Penny, leaning his shoulder against Emmanuel and giving her- then Todd- an easy smile. "Thanks, Penny. Daphne Blake yeah? Great costume. Though," He smiled at Todd. "You look freaking epic, I gotta say- Todd, you look amazing. You gotta teach me your ways."

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope felt relieved when she saw Todd head to her side, though his appearance was quite alarming. She squeezed his hand, glad he had found her. "I was looking for you too." She said, hoping he didn't think badly of her for talking to Emmanuel. She wouldn't want him to think she wasn't over him or something. Penny's questions were partly answered when Emmanuel said they had both been looking for their boyfriends. She had many more questions pop up in her head, but she held them back. She knew it wasn't any of her business. Her brother Connor was gay and it was fine the most normal thing in the world. And maybe Emmanuel still liked girls and just hadn't liked her. And maybe he didn't and figured that out when they were dating. Whatever it was, it was none of her business, she knew she couldn't ask, though it was killing her a little. She nodded quickly at Kyon, hoping they didn't see the gears spinning in her head ."Yeah- Scooby Doo, you know." She said vaguely. She smiled when Kyon complimented Todd's outfit. He really had gone all out. She didn't know Kyon that well, but he was doing a good job de-escalating... whatever this was. Just awkwardness, she supposed. "I'm parched, Todd... should we get a drink?" She asked, not so subtly looking for a way out of this conversation.