Open Following Suit

[Nicole Fisk]

Open after Jesse posts with Lysander

Nicole couldn't believe that Tres had actually gotten up the nerve go and ask Simon Vanity to the ball. She figured she would have rather drank bubotuber pus than do that, but now that she had, Nicole didn't want the other girl to think she was too much of a baby to ask out a boy that was in her own year. Trying not to fuss with her hair or her skirt too much as she made her way over, Nicole hovered awkwardly near the Gryffindor table, taking a deep breath before pasting on what she hoped was a confident smile and walking over to Lysander. "Hey, can I ask you something?" She said, tapping him on the shoulder. Lysander was pretty dorky, his dad was a teacher and he was obsessed with his owl and stuff, he wasn't that scary, Nicole reasoned. He was best friends with Wendall even, so she had no reason to be nervous. But he was also one of the youngest kids on a house quidditch team and pretty smart to boot. Nicole caved and fidgeted with her pony tail, smiling when Lysander turned to face her.

 

[Lysander Summers]

With the introduction of mandrakes to raise in Herbology, Lysander had been busy at his house table simply trying to fill out the journal entries Professor Carter had requested. There wasn't really anything to say other than that it was a plant that had screamed a lot, and so far hadn't been nearly as fun to look after as he'd hoped. He idly doodled in the corner of his booklet with his quill, having stopped after the first sentence to wrack his brain for things to fill it with. The tap on his shoulder was a blessed distraction from the otherwise boring homework task, and when he turned to face whoever it was, he was surprised to find it wasn't one of his usual friends. "Hey! Sure, what's up?" He asked. He figured it probably had to do with the cat he'd seen her with at the Menagerie or something. A lot of people seemed to think he knew everything about animals, including himself, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary.​

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole had been so focused on getting the nerve to walk over here, now she actually had to ask Lysander out and she didn't know what to say. She'd never asked anyone out before, though she'd read plenty of romance novels, not that she'd ever admit it. She doubted a dramatic confession here would work anyway and tossed her pony tail over her shoulder to buy some time. Why hadn't she paid more attention to what Tres was doing, she probably wouldn't have any trouble with this. "I uh. Yeah, I wanted to see if you were going to go to the Yule Ball.. And uh if you were going with anyone?" She asked, tapping her fingertips together. There. Close enough. That wasn't so hard.

 

[Lysander Summers]

It quickly became apparent that Nicole hadn't come over to talk about cats at all. "Oh, uhh. Yeah, I'm going." The boy responded, shifting around on the bench to talk to her without awkwardly having his back turned. He hadn't really given the Yule Ball any thought so far. He assumed that everyone went. He'd gone with just his friends the previous year, and figured the same sort of thing would happen this time around. That, or he'd stick a bowtie on Fuzzfeathers like he'd done for the Valentine's dance and call it a night. "I dunno, I haven't really like, asked anyone." He raised his arm in a shrug, twirling the quill in his hand for something to do. "Why? Are you going?"​

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole had half hoped maybe Lysander wasn't even interested in going, even if that was kind of awkward, it would be better than a straight out no, and she wouldn't need to waste her time asking and risking him saying no. "Oh right, yeah cool," She said absently. "Well.. I wanted to see if maybe we could go together? If you want?" She squeaked out, chewing her lip and bracing for his response. If he said no and then she had to walk back to the Slytherin table it'd be awful, all the other girls would know and think she was an idiot. She probably was an idiot for even trying this, but she'd asked now, so it couldn't be helped.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had been so relieved to get a break from writing about his mandrake, but with how odd Nicole was acting, he almost wanted to go back to it. It didn't dawn on him why she was being so weird until she came out and said it, at which point it suddenly made a lot more sense, and he felt a lot more awkward than he already had. He didn't immediately answer, instead glancing into his peripheries as if someone would swoop in and say something, but nobody did. "Okay." He said after a beat. He couldn't say no. He didn't really want to, she was nice enough, it just seemed so out of the blue. He hoped he hadn't somehow given her the wrong impression when he'd seen her around his father's store, and he racked his brains trying to recall. "You mean just as friends, right? Or do you mean, like..." He trailed off, uncomfortably scratching a sudden itch at the back of his head. "You know...like as a date?" He asked, a little more quietly than before. A red flush touched his cheeks. He wasn't often embarrassed, but he also wasn't often asked to the ball by someone he barely knew, either.​

 

[Nicole Fisk]

There was a small eternity where Lysander seemed to be considering his answer and Nicole was almost certain he was going to say no. She'd been stupid to ask just because of some dumb game. But then he finally did speak and Nicole let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Okay! Okay, great-" She started, pausing when Lysander asked to clarify if they were just going as friends or... not. "Oh uh. Yeah, no totally as friends, right?" Nicole said, grimacing internally when she let out an ugly little laugh and felt her face flush. She hadn't really considered what she would do if Lysander said yes, too busy imagining how she'd salvage her dignity if he said no. Did she want to date Lysander? She could do worse, maybe. But clearly he didn't want to, and she didn't want to look desperate. More than she already did. "A date, hah! Funny!" Nicole let out another awkward laugh and slowly began backing away. "I'll.. talk to you later?" They could figure out the details later, now Nicole just wanted get back to her table so she couldn't say anything stupid or worse, keep laughing like that.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Relief washed through Lysander as Nicole confirmed they were just going as friends, and that she wasn't asking for anything more. After his conversation with Emma, he'd realised how much a girlfriend or boyfriend was the last thing he really needed, especially with his dad always around the school. Having an actual date at the Ball would have been so embarrassing. "Cool, awesome, okay." He said, chuckling in response to her own laughter. Girls were so weird sometimes. "Haha, yeah. I'm a jokester." He commented in a lame way to try and sound like he was being funnier than he was. A date, hilarious! The whole situation was equal parts amusing and awkward. He was just glad they were both on the same page. Why had sorting out plans for the Yule Ball been so much less awkward last year? He watched Nicole make a motion to leave, and he raised his hand in farewell. "Sure, see you later. I'll be around...the castle. Yep." He said, knowing full well there wasn't really anywhere else he could be, he simply couldn't think of what else to say. He smiled bemusedly, and slowly turned back around in his seat to pretend he was suddenly invested in the homework he'd been working on.​