Closed one two where are you

[Victoria de Lacey]

Tori walked into the Great hall, she was waiting for Nox and so she leaned against the wall at the entrance. She didn't really know who he was dressed at so she was trying to keep a look out for him. She hoped if he was wearing a mask he would remind himself to keep an eye out for her since she was clearly visible. After the last year, even though the party had gone well, she felt a little uncomfortable about Demi and Will now, she didn't really know what had gone on between them, but she certainly didn't want to have to run into them again at the party, and besides, Nox was one of her best friends, she always liked spending time with him - and honestly she knew she needed to spend a lot more time with him of late since sh'ed been neglecting their friendship a little bit. Still, the yule ball with him had been fun, and she was hoping for a repeat, getting her mind off of things she didn't want to have to care about.​

@Nox Walden-Cade

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nox hadn't stopped fiddling with his costume since he finished putting it on. It was fiddly, things flapped and knocked against him and he wasn't completely happy with his choice but he was too far into the night to back out or change, he was stuck with his choice. Nox made his way down to the great hall where he was meeting Tori, Lumos had effectively abandoned him by deciding not to go to the feast and Tori was his best friend even if they didn't spend as much time together as they did when they first arrived at school. Tori had made a lot of friends and he knew she liked to spend time with them too, Nox hadn't been as sociable or as popular as his friend or his brother so he would often spend time alone. It was nice to be able to spend time with Tori for once. Once he arrived at the entrance to the great hall he struggled to keep a straight face when he saw Tori's costume, she stood leaning against the wall in a three-piece brown suit, she looked great but she also looked funny. "Nice costume, who are you supposed to be?"

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

Tori turned to look at Nox, grinning when she saw his costume. "Well hello, who are you then, Percy Jackson?" She looked down at her own clothes, running her hands down the front to smooth it out. "Mr. Pendleton's Criticism's. Whenever he would criticise my work, he was always wearing a nice suit, but it was also usually colourful, so, I put them together and figured he'd probably criticise my choice of suit, it's all brown you see," she gestured to the brown he could clearly see with his own eyes. "It would have been funnier if he was here to see it admittedly."​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nox wasn't sure he understood what Tori had said, who the fudge was Percy Jackson? He sounded like a muggle, Tori often made references that he didn't understand due to their different upbringings and the kind of things their parents showed them when they were younger. "I have no idea who that is, but sure," He smiled at her, still struggling with his costume, it had shifted a little on his walk up from the Hufflepuff common room and he didn't like how it now sat. "Dad always said Mr. Pendleton dressed funny, so he probably wouldn't like the suit, too bland for him, but I think you look good,"

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

"I'll have to show you, I read the books about a year ago, maybe two years, I can't remember, there's a lot of books, but they're about a boy named Percy who's the son of Poseidon," she'd only read the first two or three before she'd gotten bored, but they'd belonged to Rory, so she'd given them a go. "Yeah, he likes a good suit, but its usually a little more.. I've heard my dad say the word dapper but I have no idea what that actually means so," she grinned at him, glad he liked her outfit. "I don't even know if I can call it a costume honestly, maybe not." She watched him idly, "why do you keep adjusting yours? Do you not like it?"​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

"I haven't heard of those, are they muggle books?" There weren't a lot of muggle books around the house growing up, Nox had seen a few movies as his dad was a big fan of those but he guessed Percy Jackson wasn't turned into a movie, or at least not a good one. "Dapper sounds better than funny, so you look very dapper," He grinned at her, hoping it was a positive word because he too had no idea what it meant. "Should we go in? I want to see if the decorations are different from last year,"

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

"Yeah, they're pretty good, I'll get them for you over the Brightstone weekend if you want, or you could come home with me to visit mum, I'm sure she won't mind having another boy in the house again, since Rory abandoned us." She only slightly meant it of course, she knew he hadn't abandoned them and Rory constantly told her their mum maybe liked a bit of peace and quiet, but Tori didn't agree, as she was such a delight. "I like the word, it does sound so much cooler too, don't you think, like someone is world and stuff." She as she nodded to him to walk into the proper party with her. "Last year looked so pretty, I came with Will and Demi... that ended well," she said, frowning. She didn't get it, Eury was just... a girl, Demi was also weirdly annoying but somehow in the same moment as Will and Demi's friendship had ended, he'd struck up one with Eury, she didn't understand it honestly.​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nox liked the idea of going to visit Tori during the holidays, he hadn't seen her mum in ages and she was always very nice to him, he didn't read a lot outside of what he needed for school but he trusted her judgement so if she thought they were good he'd read them. "I'd like to come and visit, see the books and your mum, its been ages," He turned towards the doors and walked into the great hall, "I wasn't here long last year, Lumos wasn't here so I just popped in to get some food and went back to my dorm, but it did look really cool," Nox walked into the great hall and looked up at the decorations that hung through the hall. There were some subtle differences in the lay out of the stalls, and the decorations, but the usual pumpkins hung in the air where the candles usually were and he enjoyed that. "Not hugely different, but I still think it looks cool," Nox listened to her talk about Will and Demi from the year before. He didn't really know what happened but he knew they used to spend time together and now didn't. Nox was pretty sure they fell out because of the truth or dare game but he wasn't sure. "It's weird they don't hand out anymore,"

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

Tori grinned, happy to hear Nox wanted to spend some more time with her. "I'd love that! The books I've got are a bit of a mix - some for school, but a lot of random stuff I've picked up over the years. I think you'd find a few that'd be interesting, though. Mum might be more interested in hearing about what you've been up to, too," she added, she needed to send her letters to Rory already, but she was never quite sure what to say, she wasn't sure he wanted to know about a couple of random older girls who had been fighting in the common room about someone kissing someone else. Why did it always have to do with kissing? She looked up at the Great Hall as they walked in, noticing the pumpkins instead of candles. "Yeah, it's not a huge change, but it's nice to see something different. I always look forward to the decorations this time of year," she said with a grin, running her fingers through her hair as she thought about the new setup. When Nox mentioned Will and Demi, she sighed, a little confused. "Yeah, it's strange, right? They used to spend so much time together. I honestly don’t know what happened - there’s always something a bit off when people just... stop talking. But I don’t think it was just the game, there had to have been more to it." She shrugged, looking at Nox. "I don't know, it’s just weird when things shift like that." She didn't see how it could have just been the game, if it was that felt really shallow.​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nox smiled as they talked about Tori’s mum, she was someone he was quite fond of despite not having seen all that much of her but she was a lovely person to him and Lumos and she had raised Tori so what wasn’t there to like? “I wouldn’t mind that, though I’m not sure theres much to tell her about my life, plenty of school drama though,” Nox laughed as they moved into the great hall and looked at some of the stalls that had been laid out with games and activities. He definitely wanted to grab some pumpkin juice when they passed a drinks table. “Truth or dare really seemed to change things, our group didn’t last long really did it, everyone went their own separate ways, William is always hanging out with Eurydice now so I wonder what’s happening there,”

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

"I keep seeing Lumos with your roommate," she said, sideyeing him a little. She didn't like Jonah very much and she got the idea it was pretty mutual, which seemed to be common for her. It was like that with Demi and with Kanako too. She had apparently been rather divisive of late as a friend and she wasn't quite sure she knew how to feel about that. "The whole dynamic shifted, I wanted to do another study thing this year, but... honestly I don't know if I want to invite any of them. Eoghan was okay, and Susie too, but everyone was daring everyone to do things and that wasn't what it was for and I know Demi intentionally got a question wrong and then got mad because someone dared William to kiss Eury or something, I don't know. Maybe it should just be me and you, and make it a proper study session, no games." She liked spending time with Nox, but she really wasn't about all the drama.​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nox saw the side eye he got from Tori but he didn't know what she wanted from him. He knew Lumos and Jonah had been spending a lot of time together but Nox didn't know what to think of it. "Yeah, I don't know how that happened, I think they bonded after truth or dare," Everything had changed after their study group had turned into truth or dare. He remembered Demi being upset that someone dared someone to kiss William and her being upset that William actually did it rather than refused, he didn't follow up on any of the William and Demi drama other than what he heard from his cousin and the knowledge that he now spent all his time with Eurydice instead. Nox couldn't keep up with the drama and he didn't care enough to ask about it. "I'd be happy to study with you anytime, I promise I won't ruin it by daring you to kiss me or something,"

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

She shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end, sides were taken and lines were drawn and all that, but," she was just glad her friendships had survived it, mostly. She'd been friends with Susie and Eoghan, Nox and Lumos before hand, and as far as she knew, she was still friends with Esme and Felix and Keira, so she didn't see any problems really. It was mostly Jonah she'd butted heads with, and she hadn't really liked Demi in the first place. If anything it had made that more clear than anything else. "Well, I don't love studying, but I do like spending time with you, so that's definitely a bonus, but what say you we stop talking about this and have some proper fun, wanna get snacks or do an activity? You can pick!?"​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Tori’s comment about loving spending time with him sent all thoughts about the drama with their friends out of his head. He liked the idea of studying with Tori just the two of them, or doing anything together really. They hadn’t spent as much time together as he would have liked since they had started school and he hoped that would change. “We could do an activity first then get some snacks? I heard there was an apple bobbing station we could check that out?”