Coming Out of His Shell (Annabelle)

[Martin Bishop]

Martin arrived in the Entrance Hall, where he'd agreed to meet Annabelle, though he'd gotten there a few minutes early. Being early was much preferable to being late. He was wearing his best Hogwarts robes, on account that he didn't have a budget for anything fancier, though he did add a grey sweater-vest, and he had a white rose in his breast pocket, a little something to give his date.

He was a bit nervous, though he knew he had no real reason to be. He contemplated how lucky he was to have met Annabelle. She was a year his senior, so not in any of the same classes. She was sweet and wholesome and energetic, and every time she got excited about a geeky idea, it always brought a smile to his face. He'd always been the quiet bookworm who rarely got pulled out of his comfort zone, and girls had always been a low priority for him, something that he would get around to later. But he had to be honest with himself, his mood had markedly improved over the past 19 days, ever since that chance encounter in the library when they'd needed the same book for an herbology essay, and then decided to collaborate on a project in the greenhouses. He'd caught himself looking forward to every interaction with her, hoping to see her in the library or the corridors or the Great Hall. And now he was going to have her for the whole evening as a dance partner!

As he waited, he happened to glance down and noticed some lint on his sleeve, which he brushed away. Then he noticed the stone floor tiles, something he'd never really paid any attention to before. He glanced around, and backed up a few steps, as he tried to determine whether there was a repeating pattern or if it was purely random. It was yet another puzzle to him. It would look as though he'd dropped something and was trying to find it.

[Annabelle Sinclair]

Not too long after, a group of girls would come around the corner, all giggling, laughing, and excited, most of them walking past Martin, with only one separating from the rest. Annabelle stepped up to him, biting her lip a little before smiling and giving a little shy wave, "Hi. You look quite dashing this evening," she said, flushing a little as she moved a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She hadn't been planning on going when she'd prepared her things for the year, and didn't want to bother her parents by trying to send her something, so she had come in with the best thing she had. It was a simple yellow dress, which she put a jean jacket over to cover the spaghetti straps and a little pearl choker, with her hair down. She fidgeted a little with her sleeve as she tried to stop feeling quite so nervous, though it was an excited kind of nervous. She had been looking forward to this since he'd asked her. She'd even worn flats so that she wouldn't have to worry about her feet hurting, so it wouldn't be a problem for them to enjoy themselves.

"Sorry for making you wait," she added, realizing he'd been here waiting for her. She'd been too nervous and awkward to walk by herself from the dorms, so she'd waited until the others were on their way.

[Martin Bishop]

Martin startled and looked up upon being addressed, the puzzle of the tesselated floor instantly forgotten. He smiled upon seeing her face. "Annabelle! Thank you. You're beautiful, as always." He was no fashion critic, and just appreciated that she'd made an effort to look nice for him. Nobody had ever dressed up for his benefit before, after all. That's what mattered, not the quality of the garments. They'd each made similar efforts with whatever they had to work with.

"No, not at all, I arrived early because I was super anxious about being late and possibly disappointing you," he admitted. "You're well worth the wait, and I have no complaints." In truth, he'd probably have waited at least an hour for her before giving up.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have something for you," he recalled. He glanced down and plucked the white rose from his breast pocket and presented it. "Shall I thread it into your hair? Or I could hold on to it for you if that's not your style."

Once the placement of the rose was resolved, he'd offer his elbow to escort her into the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was ... a lot to take in. Busy environments with lots of people talking and moving about were always a bit stressful for Martin, but he masked it well. All that mattered to him was that was that Annabelle enjoyed the event. He could always slip out for a minute here or there and take a breather if things became too claustrophobia-inducing.

[Annabelle Sinclair]

Annabelle blushed at his compliment, twirling a strand of her hair bashfully. "Thank you," she said, smiling sweetly. At his saying she was worth the wait, she flushed even more, "O-Oh, I don't know about all that," she murmured, smoothing that twirling hair out now. Clearly, she did not know what to do with her hands. As he produced the white rose, she smiled softly, "If its thorns are cut, we can put it behind my ear?" she offered, "Or I have a pocket we can put it like how it was in yours," she offered, "It's lovely, thank you for that," she added.

When they did go in, she looked around, clearly a bit amazed at the sheer amount of things around them, "Oh wow," she said, "I didn't go to dances at Ilvermorny, either. I had friends who would go, but," she nodded her head side to side, "If it wasn't so cold I'd say we could go down to the gardens instead," she gave him a smile that said this was a bit much for her too, though she found herself looking over at the bright red hair of Nova as she climbed onto a table to get dateless students to play a game, "You know... I think she should have been Gryffindor sometimes," she mused, looking almost concerned at her behavior, "Was there anything you wanted to do, like... dance? Or shall we find a safe spot to retreat to when we need a little less of the... lively atmosphere?"

[Martin Bishop]

Martin had indeed removed the rose's thorns. With Annabelle's acceptance, he reached up and threaded it over one of her ears. "There we go," he said.

He surveyed the Great Hall with all its decorations. But it was mostly all the socializing going on that made him uncomfortable. His date's comments about going out to the gardens and finding a spot to retreat to suggested that she might have more in common with him than he realized. "Do you find situations like this stressful as well?", he asked, not wanting to make assumptions regarding her comfort.

"I had hoped to dance, but if you'd rather not, that would be fine, too," he assured her.

"If you want, we could easily find another place to be. I'd honestly be content to be free of all distractions so I can give you my full attention. We'd pretty much have our run of the castle, with just about everyone else being here right now." The library would certainly be less stressful, but it hardly constituted a romantic getaway. "With a couple warming charms, we could go outside without too much discomfort. Most of the gardens would be covered with snow, but...what about one of the greenhouses? Or even the boat house?"

[Annabelle Sinclair]

Annabelle carefully touched the rose once it was behind her ear, quietly pleased at the simple show of some degree of affection.

"Well, sometimes, it depends on how well I know the people," Annabelle said, "I'm only really familiar with members of Hufflepuff and well... you," she looked over at him with a small smile, "And I'm fine to stay awhile to dance and the like, and then when we're tired of all this," she looked around at everyone, fidgeting a little with a button on the front of her jacket, "We can make our escape to the greenhouses. It'll be warm in there," she smiled over at him again.

"I'm in no hurry either way, I'm rather good at adapting to the mood of a room with time," She gave a little laugh and a shrug, "Sometimes that time is longer than others, but eventually I figure out how to get along and enjoy myself," she said with another small laugh.