Last Christmas

[Archie Renner]

The yule ball was always an amazing time of year. Archie loved to make the most of the festivities and planned to celebrate that year more so than all the others because this yule ball was the final one before he graduated. It was sad to think about leaving and not having a formal event to attend with Orwell every christmas, but he was also excited to have an excuse to dress to the nines more so than usual and dance the night away while looking beautiful alongside his soulmate. Archie pulled out all the stops that night with his hair slicked back with gel, his shirt unbuttoned a third of the way down and sliver body glitter applied along his collar bone and subtly along his jawline to emphasize his features. A necessary step in his opinion, since he wanted to turn heads that night and stand out from the crowd.

Eventually Archie had finished getting ready and skipped happily to the entrance to the great hall where different students lingered, some waiting for their dates and others talking amongst themselves. Archie chose to follow suit and waited for Orwell to arrive so he could show off how glittery he was before they eventually intertwined their hands and decided to walk into the hall to begin their night.​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell couldn't believe it was his last christmas, and he could say last because he only really celebrated the occasion because of school, because of Archie and when he left the boy knew he'd likely spend more of his time within his community so it was unlikely that they would do anything for the festive season that Orwell had become somewhat accustomed to. Although the thing the eco-anarchist boy would miss above all else was the type he spent at the yuleball with Archie, in either suits or normal clothes, with or without colour and flowers the time he spent at the party with his best friend was one of the best times in the year. Orwell had dyed his hair red for the occasion, the red for gryffindor, the red for the social conventions of Christmas. He had also adorned the suit that he always wore, the hand me down from Archie which fitted him far better than it once had, given how much Orwell had grown over the last few years.

Since this was the last yuleball Orwell would attend and he was the king of the flowers the boy had carefully placed into his hair, not the usual flower crown, but the carefully selected flowers in the different strands of the bright red hair, pink, yellow, orange, and purple flowers adorned his hair. Brock made his way hurrying through down the stairs, a little pressed for time, and stopped just at the entrance of the hall, noticed his best friend, his brother stood there, with obvious glitter on his face. Orwell approached him with a massive smile on his face and a fond expression sitting on his face, "ARCHIE" the ravenclaw called excitedly through the hall as he walked to him, "You've got glitter there," he pointed to it, unsure of if it had been intentional or not, but thought it necessary to bring it up before just wrapping his arms around the taller boy in a tight hug.
​

 

[Archie Renner]

Archie eyed the crowd as he waited, soon spotting the mess of red hair and flowers that could only belong to his best friend. He smiled wide when the other boy shouted his name and then bounded forward to him in excitement, laughing when Orwell pointed out the glitter on his face, neck and collarbone. "It's body glitter, so I can blind all the haters." He said, then noticing the different coloured flowers placed in Orwell's newly dyed red hair. Archie smiled as he reached to gently touch one of the flowers, careful not to move it from it's place. He was soon pulled into a tight, affectionate hug and returned it with all his might, laughing again as they pulled away and some of the glitter had unsurprisingly transferred to Orwell's cheek. Glitter was beautiful but it got everywhere and was impossible to get rid of. Archie would have been bothered by it if he didn't feel so confident wearing glitter on his skin and dancing the night away with his best friend.

"You've got glitter there." Archie said as he brushed his thumb along Orwell's cheek and giggled. "Anyway, we should go dance now. C'mon." Archie quickly grabbed Orwell's hand, leading him into the hall and the middle of the festivities. He paused momentarily to take in the scenery before making a beeline for the dance floor. When they arrived, Archie immediately pulled Orwell close, sliding one hand to the small of the other boy's back and intertwining their fingers with the other. He was still not a great dancer but was slowly and surely getting the hang of it, improving with every passing year. It was a shame this dance would be one of their last while in school but it was all the more reason for him to make the most of it while he had the chance. He swayed side to side with the slow pace of the music, smiling down at Orwell whenever their eyes met.​