Nerves and Smiles

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen waited patiently at the Great Hall for Corrine. Although he wasn't very sure if she'd come at all. He'd received back a yes that she would but he knew she might have said that to be nice. However she had sent him a pink rose, so perhaps the Gryffindor would show up the dance that night and they could share a dance that would be better than the stumbling he had called dancing at the Yule Ball. He straightened his tie as he looked around for Corrine. He had to stop his attempt to run his hand through his hair as he'd spent about twenty minutes getting to look decent that evening, though usually he wouldn't bother. Cullen wanted to look nice for Corrine. He still wasn't sure of his feelings, he thought he like her but right not the nerves in his stomach told him he was nervous about seeing her. Was that liking her? He questioned himself. He also thought about his family, Corrine was more out there than anyone he'd ever met. Cullen thought that might be a part of the reason he was attracted to her, she wasn't reserved, she climbed trees and scared him. She was nice and there were plenty of other qualities about her that Cullen thought made her nice girl and a pretty one as well. He did see many other people with red hair here at Hogwarts and home in Korean and even in Japan many of the girls and even guys would color their hair red. It wasn't a color he wasn't familiar with, but Corrine was the first person he really talked to that had red hair naturally and he thought it looked best on her than anyone else he'd seen growing up that dyed their hair. Glancing around he spotted her on the stairs. He had to take a moment to just stare widely, she was really pretty, given that he hadn't given her much notice Cullen was surprised how she pulled together an outfit. He forgot that she might have been planning to go even if he hadn't asked her of course.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine had waited both until Flavio had left and she had managed to find herself out of the prefect lounge and alone to celebrate her invite to the Valentine's dance. It had involved a lot of smiling and a little jumping around, and then she had gotten back to work in delivering her own flowers. She hadn't actually been sure about attending alone, but now she didn't have to. Continuing the flower theme, Corrine made her way downstairs and spotted Cullen easily this time. She grinned, giving him a shy wave before she headed to his side.

"Hi Cullen" she said shyly, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "Thank you for the flower" she continued. "It was pink" she added, blushing as her words betrayed her excitement. Cullen didn't give her any of the same feelings that her crush on Tristan had, and she realized she was very ok with that. Because she was sure Cullen was a nice guy and those other feelings had obviously not been a good indication of anything. "You look nice" she added, her nerves betraying her and causing her to continue rambling.

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen reminded himself to breathe and to think in English, otherwise it was going to be hard for him to find words in his vocabulary to reply to his date. She approached and he put a smile on his face, happy she had showed up and happy he'd remember to ask her in some manner to the dance. "Hello," Cullen replied with a slight head bow, something of respect from the culture he grew up in. He looked away nervous for a moment when he realized he had done that not sure how she'd react. He pulled himself together to listen to her words seeing her face turning pinker than it already was.

"You too, a pink flower from you, thank you," Cullen replied his sentences not complete as his nerves were taking over the thought processes usually available for him. He glanced down at his outfit, it was nearly the same as the Yule Ball, although he had decided to leave the jacket in his trunk upstairs. He remember that the last dance it'd been too warm and didn't want to worry about forgetting it later on in the evening. "You and the dress look beautiful, together," he said with a little hand waving in front of him trying his best to compliment the girl, he added a cheesy smile at the end knowing he wasn't making much sense. "We go in now or stand here?" Cullen asked trying to think of what they should do, he wouldn't mind being anywhere with Corrine in that moment but they had come for the dance. They should at least peek in and decide if they would stay or go somewhere else. Though he'd rather stay, figuring he'd be too nervous to be alone with her and make a bigger fool of himself. "I'll get drink, you want....juice? Uhhh, sweet?" Cullen asked trying to look over at the drink options but not even fully knowing himself what the options were based on their colors from the distance they were at.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine nodded, her blue eyes on Cullen as he thanked her for her flower. Sometimes she had trouble understanding what Cullen was saying, but she had learned that it helped to watch him closely because he would usually add some gesture that would help her put things together. She didn't mind much. Cullen was attractive and looking at him wasn't a bother in any way. So, she knew what he meant when he complimented her dress. She blushed straight away, her gaze dropping for a second. "Thank you" she smiled.

"In" she replied without hesitation. The idea of staying outside with Cullen was not something she was ready for. Corrine had plenty of friends who were dating and who had been dating for some time, and she knew she wasn't quite ready for that. Being alone with Cullen was an exciting prospect though. For tonight, she was eager to go inside and see the decorations. As Cullen offered to get them drinks, she nodded though she wasn't sure if he was mentioning a specific drink or just offering them in general. "Ok, I'll get us seats" she gestured to the tables on the opposite side, beamed at her date, and then headed off to secure them a pair of seats.

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen was glad Corrine didn't want to stand out in the hall and wanted to be seen at the dance with him. He thought the previous time he had probably embarrassed her or something. He noticed her blush, of course he thought he might be blushing as well. He continued to resist putting his hand in his hair and in stead put both hands in his pockets. Nervous about this being the first time he'd ever invited a girl to a dance, successfully. Once heading inside Cullen was wrapped up in all the commotion of others around him before looking back at his date.

Corrine headed off to find seats and Cullen stood back for a minute trying to think of what had just happened. She said okay and walked off but didn't tell him what sort of drink she'd like. What if he brought over something she hated? Moving towards the drinks table he watched her find a pair of seats for them and knew he had to think fast. He noticed a tray of cookies was nearly empty and he wondered if any would mind him taking it. Glancing around he picked the tray up, cookies and all and began to pile on the different drink options filling the cups around the half way mark. Carefully he made his way back around people hoping no one would run into room. Successfully he made it back to his date, tray full of drinks and a few of the different snacks, including the last of the cookies it originally had. "I, uhm, got drinks. Each one," Cullen said setting the tray down before sitting himself. He hoped she didn't ask for the names and kinds of drinks, he couldn't remember and had barely looked in the first place. "You look flower--good," Cullen added once again complimenting his date.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine lost sight of Cullen because there were too many people milling about. She spotted a few of the professors dancing and a few of her housemates as she waited, her hands in her lap. The teenager was content to people watch as she waited. It sure beat thinking about what was going to happen once Cullen came back. She knew what she hoped would happen. She hoped they'd have a lot of fun. They'd sent each other pink roses, and she didn't know exactly what that meant but she was trying not to dwell on it so much. It was really hard though. Corrine had noticed herself thinking more about Cullen in her spare time, wondering what he was doing and hoping she'd run into him.

She smiled as she spotted Cullen again, but it wasn't until someone moved a bit that he realized he had a tray full of food. Corrine eyed it as he put it down, wondering if he was really thirsty. She stared at the tray, counting four drinks before giving up, a grin turning into a chuckle before she started outright laughing. "We better start if we are going to get through all of this before the end of the dance " she joked. Her laughter slowed, her head cocking to the side as she heard his compliment. She knew it was one, but she didn't know what to make of it. "Thank you. So...which one should we try first?" she said, gesturing at the drinks. They were all different colors and presumably different flavors. One even sort of looked like it was bubbling. With so many, she figured they should make a game of trying them.

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen was nervous walking across the Great Hall with people running about and dancing. He was trying to carry the tray back over the Corrine without making a mess. He wished he'd thought of levitating the tray high up in the air but even then if he tripped the tray would have come crashing down over probably more people. Grateful to be in a seat with the tray on the table Cullen grinned at his date. He'd down well bringing the things over. He could feel his face beating turning red as she responded to the compliment he had gave her. "Oh, uh try pink?" He suggested not feeling very thirsty himself at the moment. He picked up the bubbly pink drink and handed it over to Corrine. He hoped she wouldn't think he'd dropped a love potion or something worst into the drinks, he really hadn't. But that made him wonder if anyone had ever done that, poured something into their date's cup as a joke.

"Good?" Cullen asked looking back to his date wondering if she had tried the drink yet. He wasn't sure about the colors of some drinks here. They looked more like colors one should never consume. "Want to dance now and eat later?" Cullen asked wondering if he was doing a good job keeping her entertained for the evening. He remembered from the Yule Ball that he'd tripped up a few times while dancing and vowed to himself to be better this time.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine reached for the pink one, the bubbly one, and gave it a small sniff. What she smelled caused her to smile widely and she took a sip, glad to see she was right. "Mmm...watermelon, my favorite" she exclaimed with some delight. She noticed that Cullen hadn't picked and she was just about to ask him why when he asked her to dance. Corrine took her time answering. She had never been a great dancer. Her parents told her she made up for it with her enthusiasm, but she didn't know if Cullen agreed and now that she was older she knew it wasn't a compliment. He was asking her and there was something to be said for that, but she didn't know if he was simply being a nice guy. She was pretty sure she'd tripped him up last dance AMD was convinced he'd simply forgotten all that. On the other hand, it was a party and they were supposed to dance. Corrine sighed inwardly. She'd promised herself to not overthink these things. Taking another sip of drink, Corrine nodded and forced a smile even though she was very nervous. "Yes, let's do this" she smiled a bit wider. Rubbing her hand against her dress as inconspicuously as she could manage, Corrine held it out for Cullen as she stood up. "I like this song" she added, bopping slightly to the beat.