Donovan Peters
October 07, 2023 2:05 AM
Help a guy out... by Donovan Peters
OOC: In MARS BIC:
Donovan waited for Leo to show up. Normally, they would toss a Quaffle around on a Sunday afternoon, but today Donovan had another task on his mind.
Dance practice.
He knew that Misty probably had been taking dance lessons since she was a baby or something- she liked figure skating and ballet, after all; and he didn't want to look like an idiot next to her, so he'd sucked it up and gone to one of the Performing Arts Club's lessons. Most of the people there were older than him, but he was at least as tall as the third-years. He'd had to get new robes over Christmas break, as his old ones looked like he was preparing for a flood.
He'd stayed long enough to learn what was called a 'box step', which actually didn't involve boxes. Rather, you traced a square pattern on the floor with your feet in series of threes. They'd also gone over the shuffle-y sway dance, which didn't seem too complicated. It was a good fallback if this waltz thing didn't work out, anyway.
Donovan's motivations for drawing Leo into the fray had more to do with the fact that he didn't want to look like a lumbering troll than anything else-he could practice steps all day in his room, but he needed another body to get the arms right.
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Donovan Peters
Help a guy out...
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Leo Lyons
October 07, 2023 2:15 AM
Absolutely not. by Leo Lyons
"Absolutely not."Leo crossed his arms, looking at his best friend. He'd dragged his Quidditch gear all the way down to the MARS room to find Donovan standing in front of a ballroom instead of a pitch. Leo could appreciate Donovan's enthusiasm for his first date, but that didn't mean that Leo wanted to play the girl in this...whatever this was.
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Leo Lyons
Absolutely not.
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Donovan Peters
October 07, 2023 2:34 AM
Stop being a baby by Donovan Peters
"Okay, I should've warned you," Donovan admitted, raising his palms in surrender, "But you wouldn't have come if I had."It wasn't like Leo had anything better to do. He hadn't asked anybody to the Ball, and all he did was play Quidditch or study. Donovan supposed Leo could just go and find Fortune or Xarryn or somebody to practice drills with, but then Donovan wouldn't have anybody to practice dancing with, and he didn't want floppy arms at the Ball!
"How about we split it?" Donovan suggested, "Dancing for half, then Quidditch for half. Look at my arms!" he wobbled his arms like limp noodles to illustrate his point, "I can't go to a Ball with arms like these!"
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Donovan Peters
Stop being a baby
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Leo Lyons
October 07, 2023 2:49 AM
...You're embarrassing. Yourself. You're embarrassing yourself. by Leo Lyons
Donovan looked like one of those wacky waving inflatable tube men that stood outside a seedy car dealership. It only took Leo about five seconds of watching his friend flail about like a goofball before he cracked."Fine," he said, smirking as he dropped his duffel bag of Quidditch gear to the side, "Twenty minutes, and if anyone sees us, you're dead to me."
This last was said with a grin. Leo didn't particularly care if he was seen dancing with a guy, least of all Donovan. And what kind of Tepp would he be if he didn't help his friend, anyway?
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Leo Lyons
...You're embarrassing. Yourself. You're embarrassing yourself.
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Ursula Arcadius
October 08, 2023 7:02 PM
This isn't gymnastics by Ursula Arcadius
Ursula had missed her usual slot in the MARS room because she'd had to help Quillan with shopping for the ball. She couldn't remember if anyone usually occupied It at this time, but it was worth finding out.With her gymnastics bag (now with added sparkles!) over her shoulder, she pushed open the door to find... Not her usual room.
OOC: Up to you what point she interrupts
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Ursula Arcadius
This isn't gymnastics
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Donovan Peters
October 08, 2023 11:37 PM
Oh. Hi. by Donovan Peters
Leo never could resist Donovan's puppy dog eyes. When his friend finally gave in and dropped his gear, Donovan wasted no time getting him up to speed."So, you're the girl, obviously, so you step back with your right foot first, and then it just sort of...goes in a square. You'll see. I have to..." Donovan cleared his throat, trying not to giggle, "...I'll take your waist, and you put your arm up on my shoulder. Then we hold hands on that side."
There was already a slow-plodding classical piece playing in the background, so music was set. Donovan counted the beats into his starting step, concentrating very hard on keeping his arm firm. To Leo's credit, he followed the lead pretty well, only stumbling a little bit.
"Stand up straight, Don, you're looking at your feet."
Donovan brought his eyes back up, squaring his shoulders.
"I'm going to twirl you," he told Leo, trying to remember how Rosalynn had demonstrated, "Just go under my arm, and then step back together."
On the next beats, the boys performed a halfway decent twirl. As Leo came back to rest his arm on Donovan's shoulder, his ears turned pink. Donovan followed his friend's gaze to see Ursula, Quillan's little sister, looking very...confused? Bemused? Her expression was inscrutable, and Donovan dropped Leo's arms immediately.
"Hi Ursula!" he said awkwardly, "We were just...I mean, I needed practice. For the Ball? And Leo was helping. Did...did you want to join?"
Donovan could feel Leo staring at him, but he wasn't about to look and see if it was a 'murdering you in my mind stare' or 'you are such an idiot' stare.
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Donovan Peters
Oh. Hi.
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Leo Lyons
October 08, 2023 11:54 PM
Also hi by Leo Lyons
What an idiot.After the initial shock of there suddenly being another person in the room, Leo was glad it was Ursula. They got along pretty well, after he'd helped her in Herbology that one day. She was a pretty nice person, and a fellow Tepp, so he'd seen her around the common room, as well.
"Hi, Ursula," he echoed after Donovan had bumbled through what was supposed to be an explanation, "Are we in your way?"
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Leo Lyons
Also hi
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Ursula Arcadius
October 09, 2023 12:00 AM
Hi. by Ursula Arcadius
"That's a great idea." Because they sure as heck needed it. "You're doing so well!" she added, because it was important to be encouraging. She didn't think it was particularly odd for two boys to be dancing together. It was just something that happened when dance classes were imbalanced, though it was usually the other way, with girls outnumbering boys."I'd love to!" she smiled when Donovnan invited her to join. She knew Quillan wasn't Leo's biggest fan but she was determined to make up her own mind, and he'd been perfectly nice to her in herbology. "You seem to be doing a waltz step but in 4/4 timing, and your balace is off when you twirl your partner," she informed Donovan, picking the most glaring faults to start with. "How shall we do this... If you know how to lead, we could demonstrate?" she asked Leo.
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Ursula Arcadius
Hi.
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Leo Lyons
October 09, 2023 12:21 AM
Um...surprise? by Leo Lyons
This was fine. This was totally fine. He hadn't gone to the dance lesson with Donovan, but he hadn't needed to. Not because he didn't have a date, although that was plenty of reason. No, he'd sat out because...well, he already knew how to dance.It had been a tactic to bump up his soccer performance, getting lighter on his feet, improving his balance, that sort of thing. He'd stuck with it for a couple of years, but had quit once he got his Sonora letter. He hadn't even told Donovan; he'd been sure his friend would tease him.
At Ursula's suggestion, he offered his hand, falling back into the simple box step that Donovan had been doing, not stumbling so much now that he was leading.
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Leo Lyons
Um...surprise?
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Donovan Peters
October 09, 2023 12:25 AM
Are you kidding me? by Donovan Peters
So, apparently Leo could dance. That would have been really nice information to have before Donovan had gone to the group dance class and stepped all over other people's toes.That was a discussion for later; right now Donovan needed to watch and absorb all of the information Ursula was willing to part with.
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Donovan Peters
Are you kidding me?
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