Open Here To Be Seen

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole felt like she had been looking forward to and dreading tonight in equal measures all week. All month, even. But as scary as dances always were, Nicole couldn't help feeling a little giddy, making her way up to the entrance hall to wait for Eric. She'd had dates to the ball before, but tonight she was here with her boyfriend. Her real, official, actual boyfriend, Eric Holland. She smiled to some of her classmates as they entered the hall, giving them a little wave. "I'm just waiting. For my boyfriend. Eric Holland," She called as they headed past. Just in case anyone was worried about her standing there and thought she was alone. She lingered by the doors for a moment longer, trying not to fuss with her hair or dress too much until she spotted Eric coming down the stairs, moving over to him and smiling brightly. "Hey, hi, you look good," She said eagerly, standing close enough to Eric that if he wanted to take her arm or something perhaps before they walked in, he could.

 

[Eric Holland]

The conversation with Nicole about the yule ball had been a little disconcerting to Eric. He hadn't really intended to go, but the way she had been talking about the event had made him feel bad for not really wanting to take her. So he'd caved and asked her, even though she hadn't actually told him she wanted him to. Then he had also agreed to be her... boyfriend, he supposed. It all felt a little out of his hands, even though he was the one agreeing to these things. He wasn't sure how that made sense. As he approached the great hall, Eric could have sworn he heard Nicole calling his name. But he didn't think she had even spotted him yet, so he wasn't sure how that made sense. But then she did spot him, and headed over to him. He gave her a slight smile, shrugging. He put his hands in his pockets, feeling uncomfortable in the suit. "You look nice too." He said, though he kind of thought her dress wasn't all that nice. But he knew that wasn't something you said to your girlfriend. "Let's go in." He said, nodding in the direction of the great hall before walking over there. He wasn't sure how long he would want to be at the dance, and hoped Nicole would be on the same page as him.

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole beamed when Eric said she looked nice, resisting the urge again to fuss with the hem of her dress. Her smiled faltered though when Eric just put his hands in his pockets. She hesitated as he started walking into the hall, making up her mind and looping her arm through his after a moment. They were dating after all, so surely this was allowed. And maybe someone from the yearbook would be around taking pictures.

Stepping into the hall, Nicole kept her eyes peeled for her friends. She knew Jenna would be around here somewhere with Daintree already, and of course Emma had managed to get a date with an older boy through Heta she thought ruefully. But she wasn't sure about Iris or some of her other classmates. "So, maybe we could dance for a bit. A little later I mean? If you want," Nicole said, trying to keep her tone jovial. Eric didn't strike her much as the dancing type, but it would definitely cause a stir if they were seen dancing. But she needed a bit of time first to build up her own nerve first before attempting that.

 

[Eric Holland]

The hall was beautiful, Eric supposed, but way too crowded. And honestly, while the decorations looked kind of nice, they were also kind of corny. Hadn't anyone told Professor Alicastell that winter for Christmas was both cliche and kind of dumb, especially here? Eric was surprised that Nicole linked arms with him, but didn't move away. He hesitantly took his hand out of his pocket, to make it a bit easier to walk together. She was really into this, and he was a bit surprised. Hadn't they first bonded because they hadn't really enjoyed dances like this? Even though he was with Nicole, he couldn't help looking around for Minnie. He was curious to see if she was here, and honestly wondering if she was with Noel. He spotted her after a moment, and he froze as he saw her in her dress. She looked absolutely stunning, and it took him a few moments to tear his gaze away from her, only to see that she was with Blake Irons of all people. Eric only vaguely registered that Nicole asked him something, until he forced himself to listen to her and look away from Minnie and her date. "What?" He said distractedly. "Uh, no." He then said, frowning. "I don't dance."

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole felt a little happy flutter when Eric took his hand out of his pocket, taking it as a sign she'd done the right thing taking his arm. She knew Eric had a reputation, and he could be a little intimidating to say the least, but Nicole privately had to wonder if maybe deep down he was just shy and needed someone to get him out of his shell. Not that she was the best for that sort of thing, but it made her feel a little better to think it. She faltered when Eric paused, glancing across the hall to see what had gotten his attention and spotting Blake Irons and Minnie Calida. "Funny that the two seekers got paired up together, right? I wonder if Abian and Cyzarine did that on purpose," She said after a moment, forcing a laugh to push down the bubble of jealousy she felt when Eric kept staring.

The bubble grew a bit bigger when Eric said he didn't want to dance, not that she should have been too surprised. "Oh. Okay," She said, pulling gently to steer them away from the dance floor (and Minnie and Blake). "Maybe we could get out picture taken instead then?" She asked. Nicole wasn't really looking forward to just sitting around with Eric all night if they weren't going to dance, but at least if they got their picture in the yearbook she'd have something nice to remember it by.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric hadn't been as subtle as he'd hoped, and Nicole noticed right away who he had been looking at. "Hilarious." He muttered in response to her saying it was funny, but then her actual words registered. "Wait, what?" He asked when she went on about people putting them together. "What are you talking about?" Clearly, Eric had missed something. He was glad she didn't argue the dancing thing, and he let her steer him away. "Yeah, sure." He said when Nicole suggested getting their pictures taken. He guessed there was no getting around that. "Maybe we can get some snacks after." He said, glancing at one of the tables with food. Clearly this was the only good part about this event.

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole kept a smile pasted on her face, trying to brush past her boyfriend staring at other people while they were at the ball together. It was probably just weird to see someone so studious as Minnie all dressed up, especially since Eric and her had classes together all the time. "Oh, yeah, Heta Omega and the Brotherhood did a big blind date event this year and paired people up at random. I didn't need to sign up, obviously," She said, leaning a bit on Eric's arm to try and pull his attention back to her.

She was glad when Eric was open to getting their picture taken, nodding happily and scanning around to see if she could spot any of the Accio students around with a camera. Her heart sped up when she saw Ajax nearby, and she was eager to flag him down before he had to get back to his own date or something. "Ajax, Ajax hey, will you take a picture of me and my boyfriend?" She asked him, gently trying to arrange her and Eric to face Ajax in case there were any doubt who she was referring to. This would be perfect, Nicole thought, smiling brightly at Ajax and then up at Eric as she continued to hang off his arm. @Ajaccio Skey

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio had told Jarica that he needed to get back to his duties for a bit, but that he would be back, so he had left her in the room and was getting back to taking pictures of the dancing, of the couples. He was just getting into the swing of it when he heard his name be called out. He glanced round and spotted Nicole. He waved back and walked over to them. He looked to who she was with and his mind seemed to put the pieces together. Nicole had a boyfriend, why was there a weird feeling in his gut. He’d never experienced that before..He pushed it aside, ”Of course,” he said looking between them before, letting his gaze linger for a moment on how she was on his arm before just smiling and raising the camera, ”Remember the pictures move,” he told them, counting down for them so they’d know when he was taking the picture. ​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric nodded as Nicole told him about the event that the two clubs had organized. Figured they'd do something so dumb, though it did make Eric feel a bit better about seeing Minnie and Blake Irons together, knowing it wasn't her choice. He would have thought she had better taste anyway, though he supposed he couldn't expect much from someone who willingly went out with Noel either. Eric followed Nicole as she approached one of the Accio people, and Eric sighed as she asked about a picture, making sure to call him her boyfriend. Well, he had agreed to that, so he couldn't blame her. But before he could really say anything, a commotion made Eric turn his head. He was just in time to see Minnie punch Blake in the face, and he immediately jerked his arm out of Nicole's grip in his surprise. He had already taken a few steps in the direction of Minnie and Blake, walking out of frame of the camera without a second thought, when a professor jumped between them. He couldn't believe his eyes, Minnie punching someone. Eric had almost forgotten what he had been doing, and he glanced back at Nicole. "Hold on one second." He told her without looking at her, before moving in the direction of Minnie and Blake, even with a professor there, he wanted to make sure she didn't need his help. Or if Blake didn't need another punch for good measure. Minnie would never have done something like that if it wasn't deserved, and Eric wanted to know what Blake had done to get such a reaction.

 

[Nicole Fisk]

"Thanks, Ajax," Nicole said brightly, glancing up to look at Eric, wondering if they should wave or something as Ajax raised his camera. Maybe she could even kiss him on the cheek if she was feeling bold. She frowned when she realized Eric was looking away however, opening her mouth to remind him to look at the camera right before he pulled his arm away from her. Nicole was sure her mouth was still hanging open even as Eric walked away from her, mortified that the exchange might have been caught on camera as she glanced wide eyed between Eric and Ajax. "Eric," She hissed, feeling an embarrassed flush rise on her cheeks. She gave Ajax a flustered smile, trying to keep her composure as she took a few pointed steps over to where Eric had wandered. She didn't even know what he was looking at this time, took preoccupied rolling over all the things she was sure Ajax thinking about this. She'd been so excited to show off that she was dating someone, and now she looked like a total idiot. "Eric, we were taking a photo," She said, tugging on his sleeve to try and drag him and some level of dignity back into the frame. "Sorry, Ajax, won't be a second! Could we have a redo?" How has this gone from perfect to mortifying so quickly.

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio was ready to take the picture had been about to start counting them down when he noted that the boyfriend wasn't looking in the right direction and even seem to pull away in that direction. He was glad he'd stopped taking the picture so as to not capture that moment, since Nicole didn't seem too pleased. It was a bit rude to do that to your partner. It didn't ease the weirdness in his stomach about this, at the end of the day he did want Nicole to be happy. He glanced round to see what had taken the boy's interest and looked towards Minnie and the slytherin seeker. It seemed the slytherin seeker was bleeding, had Minnie punched him? Ajaccio had always thought his captain wasn't the sort. He had to believe she had good reason. But he wasn't that interested in that, instead turning his focus back to Nicole and Eric, "No problem, I didn't manage to get the picture so, it won't be a redo. Are you guys ready?"​