Open Seeing Where the Night Leads

[Gracen Worth]

Attending the yule ball again had been a last minute decision for Gracen. After attending the previous year only for the chance to see what all the fuss was about, he had not thought he would attend again, at least for a little while because he did not see the point. Though as the ball drew closer, and students around the school became increasingly excited to attend, Gracen began to feel a little excited with them. It was unlike him to act like another sheep in the flock, nevertheless want to attend an event when so many people would be around him when he knew there wasn't anyting truly special about it, but he still arrived dressed a little more casually than what was expected, and feeling somewhat interested to see where the night would lead. Gracen walked over to the side of the hall, leaning against one of the walls and beginning to people watch rather than go out of his way to socialize. The previous year, he had been approached by a few students his age, all of which were energetic and bubbly, traits he usually would despise but ones he slowly realized where actually completely endearing to him. As he continued watching the crowd and keeping to himself, he wondered if he would run into the same people again, or if he would meet someone else entirely. ​

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian wasn't really interested in anything romantic, so the dancing and kissing part of the ball wasn't really for him. But he was a social person, and he always liked being around different people and meeting new ones. Last year he'd met a few Slytherins at the ball, and he wondered if he would make more friends today. He was wearing a something simple he had thrown together, though he felt a little envious of everyone in their nice suits as he passed them. Maybe next year he would make more of an effort, it wasn't that often that they got an excuse to dress up nicely. Abian headed into the great hall, looking around with wide eyes. His gaze was first drawn to the dance floor, but without a group of friends to dance around him he really didn't feel confident enough to dance right now. And a lot of the people dancing were couples, and it was weird to imagine himself dancing like that with anyone. He looked away, scanning the rest of the hall. He paused on a boy who was leaning against the wall, as he was reminded of the previous year. Gracen had been pretty quiet, but he'd seemed nice. Abian would have liked to get to know him better, and realized that he had the opportunity right now. He walked over to the boy and greeted him happily, holding up his hand for a high five. "Hey! Fancy seeing you here again." He said brightly.

 

[Gracen Worth]

In the process of people watching, Gracen's attention moved from the couples on the dance floor to the single people standing around. It was as he did this, he noticed Abian, one of the students he had spoken to at the last yule ball. For a moment he considered approaching the other boy but soon realized that wasn't necessary when Abian approached him instead, greeting him with enthusiasm and offering a high five. Such open interaction with others was not Gracen's strong suit, but he was pleased to have someone to chat to for a little while, and stepped forward to return the high five with a polite smile on his face. "Hello Abian." He greeted, leaning back into the wall behind him. "It's good to run into someone familiar." He then mused as he moved his gaze to the dance floor again. It occurred to him shortly afterwards, that Abian might have been waiting for a date to arrive, and in a lack of anything else he could think to make small talk about, it seemed fitting for him to ask as such. "Are you waiting for someone? Or are you here alone?" Gracen assumed Abian would be attending with someone rather than alone, as the boy was so bubbly he couldn't imagine otherwise, even if he was just going with a friend. ​

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian was glad Gracen returned the high five, because it would have been totally weird otherwise. He grinned, nodding in agreement when the Slytherin said it was good to run into someone familiar. "It is! There's so many people here." He said, looking around. "Though that only means its very possible to make new friends, right?" From what he knew of Gracen, the boy was a lot quieter than he was and a lot more subdued. But that didn't mean he couldn't have fun with friends at a party. At Gracen's question, Abian shook his head. "Nah, I'm by myself! I didn't make plans with anyone, just hoped to run into some friends, you know?" He grinned. "And hoped to get my hands on some good snacks! Did you have any yet?"

 

[Gracen Worth]

With the way Abian spoke and generally how he carried himself it was obvious he and Gracen had polar opposite perspectives on a lot of things. Where Abian saw the ball as a chance to meet new people and make new friends, Gracen saw it as a chance to people watch, the opportunity to make friends not one that normally appealed to him. Not seeing it appropriate to agree as it would be a lie, Gracen instead nodded to show he was listening, paying polite attention to Abian's words. One thing they seemed to agree on and that Gracen could react to however was the subject of food, something Gracen was yet to try that evening, but something he was reminded of by Abian's mention of getting his hands on snacks. Stepping away from the wall again, Gracen nodded in the direction of the snack table. "Should we see what food they have?" He suggested, interested to see what kind of snacks were available. Last year the chocolate he had eaten was delicious and he was curious to see if there would be some new kind of sweet he could much on as he continued chatting to Abian. ​

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian was aware that Gracen was a little quieter than he was, but it wasn't until now that he realized the boy may not be waiting for his company but instead for someone else. He paused. "Wait, are you waiting for anyone? Because I can be out of your hair in a second if you need me to." He told him earnestly. "I don't want to be in the way." He liked Gracen, but he didn't want to bother the boy. He figured this was a good way for him to take a step back if he needed to, even if he wasn't actually waiting for anyone. Abian figured it was nice to at least give him an out if he didn't actually want to hang out. But then Gracen asked if they should go see what food they had, and Abian felt a little reassured. It seemed like he did want to hang out. "Yeah! Sounds good!" He said, grinning. "I bet they have tons of different sweets." He started heading over to the nearest snack table, hoping that Gracen would follow.

 

[Audra Worth]

Audra was more antisocial than her brothers combined. She eyed the people as she slowly walked through the Great Hall wondering why everyone was also so festive and cheery whenever there was a dance. She couldn't quite understand why dancing made people so happy. She only came because she had seen Gracen leave the Common Room dressed nicely and figured her brother was there. She had quickly thrown on an outfit picked by her cousin and aunt, though she supposed being adopted it was sister and mother now and had been that way for a great number of years now. She spotted her brother and a rare smile washed over her face. She hung back for a moment watching him interact with another student, she figured it must be a friend. Although she hardly saw her brother hang out with anyone. Quickly as she realized the two boys were on the move she moved faster and wrapped her arms around Gracen's right arm. Her left hand intertwining fingers with his and her right arm wrapping itself around his right arm as well. She hadn't wanted to loose him in the crowd, even though he didn't realize she was there probably. She looked up at her brother and batted her eyelashes, "I want to try the food too."

 

[Gracen Worth]

Gracen shook his head as Abian asked if he was attending with anyone. He was sure if he did have a date he would find himself wishing he didn't as constantly feeling obligated to maintain a conversation and keep someone else happy was inherently exhausting. Attending alone meant Gracen's night was entirely on his own terms which was all he wanted, so he hadn't considered anything different. He was lucky that with a friendship or in Abian's case an acquaintanceship the conversation did not need to be so forced, making it much easier for him to deal with. "I'm not waiting for anyone." Gracen confirmed, before following Abian over to the snack table. Pleased with the conversation change, he mused "I hope they have the chocolate from last year", genuinely feeling comfortable saying more than a few words. Though not a moment later Gracen felt someone wrapping their arms around his arm, intertwining their fingers with his. Sighing in exasperation, and feeling the small comfort he was feeling dissolve, Gracen paused his steps, knowing it could be no one other than his pestering little sister. He turned his head to stare down at Audra, willing her to leave and make her own friends as the last thing he needed was the responsibility to look after her if she tagged along. "What are you doing?" He said in a hushed tone, not wanting to make a scene but very much wanting to show her she should not be bothering him.​

 

[Abian Hunter]

As Abian made his way to the food table, he glanced back to see how Gracen was holding up. As he looked at his friend, he saw a younger girl warp his arms around his arm. The way she did it made it clear to Abian that she knew Gracen and was pretty close to him, and he wondered if this was his little sister. He stopped in his tracks and smiled at her. "Hi! Of course you can." He said happily, only then did he notice Gracen looked a little annoyed with the situation. Abian missed his own little sister quite a bit, so he hoped Gracen understood he didn'tmind if she joined. Though he didn't think Aisa would grab his arm like that, she was a lot less shy than this girl seemed to be. "Hey, it's cool. She can join, right? I bet there's tons of chocolate for all of us to share." He gestured to the table enthusiastically. "Is this your sister, Gracen?" He looked at the girl and smiled at her. "What's your name?"