Open Not Even Attempting To Dance

[Aine Thompson]

Aine could've happily avoided going to the Yule Ball altogether. She was mentally exhausted, just wanting to be done with the semester and go home. But she supposed she had to put in an appearance, and when she'd told her mother about the fact that they had a ball each year she'd insisted on dressing her up. Besides, at least the food here was always good. And if she just slept through it she'd probably regret it, maybe. The crowd might even be a nice distraction. She debated all these points with herself as she wandered down from the Hufflepuff dorms, probably looking like a bit of a lunatic as she mumbled her reasoning out. She did feel a bit paralyzed once she entered the hall, though, stepping out of the doorway and to the side where she could observe and feel out of her depth. She was suddenly acutely aware of how she looked, and how glamourous everyone was. Not that it mattered, she reminded herself, almost harshly. Her fingers brushed over the shadows under her eyes, and she looked around a little helplessly, not sure whether to beeline for the food or just to escape.

 

[Silas Broomhead]

Silas had been wandering around looking for Blanche for quite a while before giving up and going back to his original task - handing out flowers to people at the dance. He thought it would a nice gesture, and he had been growing them himself in his dorm room. They weren't the greatest, but they were still pretty in his mind. He rotated around and then ended up next to a fellow classmate. He didn't really know Aine well, but he gave her a smile. "Would you like a flower? They're sun orchids."

 

[Aine Thompson]

The familiar creeping feeling of doubt and anxiety whispered in her ear, and Aine clenched her jaw, tensing a little as she tried not to let it ruin her evening. Not that she could do much against it, it was a much better debater than she was and always seemed to offer more compelling arguments. Instead, she just breathed, slowly and steadily, surprising herself out of her wallowing in self-pity when she saw Silas appear, handing out flowers. "Hm, huh?" Aine mumbled, blinking a few times in confusion. "Oh, uh, me? Um...sure, I guess? Thank you." She looked at the flower, thinking out loud. "I don't think I've seen flowers like these before."

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo was a little nervous about the dance. She hadn't done a very good job at making new friends this semester and when she finally made her way to the great hall she couldn't find her friends anywhere. She stood awkwardly at the entrance to the great hall for a moment wringing her hands as she tried to figure out what to do with herself now. This was the last great task before she would get to go home where she didn't have to worry so much about talking to people. After some consideration she spotted some people from her house and headed towards them, giving herself a pep talk the entire way. "Hey guys..." she said hesitantly waved to Aine. She brightened a little when she spotted the flower Silas was holding out. "Oh wow that's beautiful."

 

[Silas Broomhead]

Silas gladly handed Aine the flower and gave her a grin, before Margo appeared. "You can have one, too, if you'd like. I have plenty!" he added, before taking another orchid out of his basket and handing it to the other Hufflepuff. "I've been growing them in my room. I was never interested in plants much until joining the Wild Patch."

 

[Aine Thompson]

Did Margo hate her? She was friends with Cameron, Aine remembered, so that probably meant that Margo hated her by proxy, right? Despite the fact that they shared a dorm room so if Margo actively hated her she'd probably know by now. And if Silas hated her, too, he probably wouldn't have offered her a flower. Unless she had allergies, which she didn't and he didn't know about. She shyly waved back, realizing she was clearly overthinking. "Hi Margo, you look nice," she greeted, feeling like the words were awkward even though it was just a simple friendly compliment. Aine was too impressed by Silas' resourcefulness to ponder for too long. "You grew all these in the dorm?" She blinked, looking between Silas and the flower in surprise. "I had no idea that was possible."

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo smiled shyly when Aine complimented her. She was never sure what to wear to dances and it wasn't like she had a lot to choose from usually. It always made her wish she had her mom around to talk about that kind of stuff. Her grandmother tried but wasn't very up to date with fashion and her aunt wasn't they type to care about that stuff. "Thanks, so do you." she replied. "And you too." she added quickly towards Silas with a little laugh. She didn't want him to feel left out. Besides his suit was pretty cool and different from the solid colors most of the other boys wore. "Oh thanks." she said hesitantly when he offered her a flower took. She was just as shocked as Aine when he mentioned growing them in his dorm room. "Does it take up a lot of space?" she asked and brought the flower up to her nose to smell it. "Wild Patch has been fun so far. It reminds me of home." Margo said when Silas mentioned the club. "You must have learned a lot if you're growing orchids." she pointed out.

 

[Silas Broomhead]

"Oh, wow, thanks," he said to Margo. He hadn't particularly put much thought into his look. Just slipped on a suit his parents had sent him.

Silas laughed off Aine's compliment(?)/comment about growing flowers in his dorm room. It hadn't been particularly easy, and magic had certainly helped a little. And maybe he wasn't even supposed to be doing it, but he shrugged. "It wasn't easy. I try to use the little window sill we have. These are the only good ones I had. The rest kind of...died," he said to the girls. "Where's home, Margo?" he asked curiously.

 

[Aine Thompson]

This is fine, Aine told herself. I'm going to get a passing grade in socializing maybe, something that is totally normal to want and possible to achieve. She tapped her knuckles against her chin, thinking for a moment. She didn't know too much about the Wild Patch Club, but it was impressive that they could grow nice looking flowers, even without doing it in the outdoors area. "That's pretty cool," she said, nodding. She turned to Margo, realizing she actually knew very little about her roommate and suddenly feeling especially guilty. Margo was nice, and Aine really needed to try harder. "Do you grow a lot of plants at home?" She asked, curious.