Yuki blinked in surprise for a moment before her eyes turned to slits.

She was on the verge of responding when her brother stepped in front of her, posture stiff and yukata blowing a bit in the breeze. This wasn't going to be good.

"You," her brother said, his low tone held a warning in it, "apologize to my sister. She didn't intend to bump into you." He glared, his hand in the long sleeve of his yukata.

"Big brother," Yuki said softly, but firmly, placing a hand over his. "Stop this. It's not worth it." She glanced at the other boy, before bowing her head. "Excuuse my brother, he is over protective. Though, really, you didn't need to be so rude. Accidents happen." She turned back to her brother, trying to tug him along. "Big Brother, let's go, please," she said in Japanese.

************

Of course Kimihiro wasn't listening. Someone had been rude to her and that was not forgivable. She was his sister, his twin sister, and he wouldn't let some stupid younger Slytherin insult her.

"Do you have no respect for others?" he bit. "Apologize."

He heard his sister let out a weary sigh and mutter something under her breath, but she'd stopped tugging on his sleeve at least.

Jessy sat down to eat an apple when he heard a call far out. He observed his food and played with it. "Hey Bella." he said to his friend. Bella was the one calling out for him. Nowadays you could sit in any house table. You just didn't have to get caught.

Bella, out of breath, took a seat by Jessy and smiled. "Hey Jess, my it's quite quiet out here. I suppose everyone's still sleeping...." She rubbed her hands and took a bite off of Jessy's vacant sandwich.

Jessy raised his eyebrow at her and shook his head.

"What? You weren't eating it so I took the bite...." She took another bite and nibbled.

"Class is going to start soon. Better get ready." he said to her, looking away. He leaned back on his chair and sighed.

Bella nodded and looked round the Great Hall to see if there was anyone she recognized....

ooc: woah don't overwhelm me with HUGE posts

Gabe beamed. Sounded like his kind of party. "Sure I'd love to!" He said cheerfully. "I'm Gabe by the way." Gabe said, introducing himself by extending his right hand towards the girl.


Gabe frowned. The kid looked so unhappy. What was the matter with him? Gabe didn't like it when other people were unhappy... it made him feel unhappy.

He nodded in response to his question. "Totally. You should come with man." Gabe said, trying to get him to smile ... or something positive. "I'm Gabe by the way. Well, Gabriel but Gabe for short." He said, smiling brightly.

OoC: Hehe. Actually... Boo is a Gryffie. I need to fix her profile. It's been ages since Boo and Tristan were Ravies.

Also for those who don't know, it's still September 1. The Feast is over and everyone is on the terrace, at Boo's party.


Boo’s head perked as she heard someone calling again to her. She pulled her attention from Inez for a moment, grinning and waving at Kate and Stella as they appeared, though a careful brow did indeed arch as the Champagne bottle was withdrawn. It didn’t show on her face, nor did the relief as it was proclaimed to be apple cider – the Professors were lenient of the parties and she imagined if alcohol showed up, they wouldn’t remain so of it. “Hey there,” she greeted them, still dancing round with Nolan, having taken Mozzie’s place as she had gone off to wherever.

Tristan was still mulling in his mind over the weirdness of the people he was surrounded by. Boo, his best friend. Mozzie was certainly an odd one. Inez was ditzy and daft, though she certainly provided entertainment. And now weird girl was here, holding out a wishbone to him. He glanced up to see two more girls arrive, dressed, like many of the others, in dresses and heels that confused him. Why did they all get so dressed up to dance on the terrace?

He kept forgetting that Stella seemed to have few reservations and it was all he could do not to flinch from the air kisses. Few people were allowed to invade his personal space and he thusly pulled back slightly, greeting her with a nod.

Inez was still trying to get him to dance and he merely shook his head, the corners of his lips tugged so slightly it wasn’t even a smile, but more a symbol of amusement. “No, no, Inez. I’m quite content being the Party Pooper, if you don’t mind. You just keep on dancing and keep Boo away from my feet, okay?”

Boo cried out a “Hey!” of indignation, laughed, and pretended to stomp on her friend’s toes. Sure, she was a wild, dangerous dancer but did that give him the right to pick on her? No, it did not.

“Until I see you dancing, you can make no cracks about my dancing,” the much tinier girl decided.

Back with Inez, Nolan was laughing quietly, a look of amusement also written over his face. Moments were impossible to be dull when she was around, just because she never shut up and she always happened to say some of the strangest things.

“It’s alright. Mozzie calls me pretty, too,” he was telling Inez, but her attention had already shifted and he shrugged, turning to Quentin with a grin. “You wanna look like me, huh?” he asked. “By all means, do. Steal away some of the fangirls, while you’re at it, will you?”

Boo hurridly drained what was left of the energy drank, bypassing the usual pink bendy straw and placed the empty can beside Tristan before hurridly moving to join Inez in the flailing and jumping around to something louderk, a little heavier, but still with amazing beat. “Nice moves, Inez!” she shouted over the din.

“I wouldn’t let Mozzie hear you saying that,” mused Tristan in a low murmur, the hint of laughter seeping in his voice as he look up at Quentin from where he sat. Mozzie was known for violent attacks. Then he glanced back at the blonde. She was pretty, which made him wonder if she was another fangirl. They were always around, and many of them were the prettier girls, who often believed themselves entirely deserving of his attention.

A voice from a short distance away called to Tristan and he looked up to see…. Who was it? someone… waving to him. He gave a nod of greeting and glanced over at the girl. Having so many people around was starting to make him feel kind of claustrophobic.

An idea formed in Tristan’s head as the girl explained the purpose of the wishbone and he nodded slowly, reaching up and grasping on slender side of the bone. “So, I pull on this side and make a wish? If it breaks properly, my wish comes true?”

I wish people would stop being so weird.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It was hard to cheer up, though, and Ollie looked up at the boy who had approached them. “Join us?” he asked. Perhaps if they had more people around them when they went out and joined the dancing throng, there’d be so many people that his lack of smile would go unnoticed? Or perhaps ditzy Inez would say something that could make him smile? Perhaps, perhaps…

“Let’s go then,” he said, linking his arm through Grace’s.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

“Pleasure, Valdor,” said Salinea in a voice that clearly did not express any pleasure in their meeting, but more a sour contempt. He bored and annoyed her and she thought his stupid flippy hair was that. Stupid. Granted, she had no room to make any mention of the messiness – her own hair was rarely tidy itself.

“No. I may not be selling my soul by exchanging words with you but I certainly am wasting time and killing off brain cells. I don’t see why people insist upon trying to speak to me. I don’t care for you. I don’t care for them. I would rather not be here.” Her eyes flashes menacingly, though something told her Valdor would not be put off by this, so she merely blinked serenely, holding her poise.

“People are foolish, pointless idiots. I need not sell myself to your kindness and you need not be aggressive for my attention or kindness as you’ll receive neither of it.”

Edge raised an eyebrow when another Japanese guy - this time her brother? - came over to him and tried to verbally attack him. Edge smirked. "I have a name," Edge said, flicking at a piece of leaf off of his shoulder.

Edge tilted his head as the siblings conversed with each other, then shook his head. "She never apologized," he said, in his usual low and heavily accented voice. Frowning as they spoke Japanese, Edge rolled his eyes.


Troy narrowed his eyes as the boy didn't come over. Fine. Let him get all feely with emotions with that girl. His eyes wandered over to Edge and the two other asians and he frowned. One kid seemed to be insisting on something, and Edge looked a bit irritated.

Pushing through people, Troy came into their group just as he heard Kimihiro ask about the respect part, then demand an apology. "Edge," Troy glanced over at his friend. "What's up?"

Edge looked over at Troy then shrugged. As much as he looked annoyed, he also looked bored. He didn't say anything, though.


Troy's eyes traveled over to Kimihiro before snapping, "What's your problem?" Folding his arms across his chest, his voice got louder in order to be heard over the music. "Why should Edge apologize? He never did anything to you," he went on, his fingers twitching. "Talk about respect," he said loudly. "You're the one who's picking a fight."

Kimihiro glared at the ner arrival.

"He was being rude to my sister for no reason. She said 'excuse me'," he said slowly and in a low tone. He tried to remain calm, and he was generally very calm, even when angry, but his sister was off limits. No one ever messed with her.

Kimihiro felt his sister's hand on his arm. "Please, Big Brother, stop." She glanced at the boy she'd bumped into. "I said 'excuse me' in Japanese. I'm sorry I didn't say it in English. Force of habbit. I'm sure you understand," she said softly, trying to keep the exchange from escalating.

Kimihiro glanced at her other hand, which had traveled to her dark blue obi where she kept her fan.

"I don't care if you said apologies," Kimihiro said to her. "He's the one that needs to apologize now. Besides, you're a lady and it was clearly an accident." He glared at the other boy--Edge was what the other one had called him. What kind of name was that?

****

Yuki sighed heavily, hand on her fan hidden in her obi. She didn't like this. Her brother was known for being overprotective, but this was ridiculous. She'd bumped into someone and apologized, it was just a simple misunderstanding and she could certainly take care of herself.

"Big Brother," she said, "let's just go, please. It's not a big deal. Sheesh."

Mellie had just reached the scene in which Tybalt slayed Mercutio, which was followed by Romeo's killing of Tybalt. It was the Hufflepuff's favorite scene of the entire play. She rarely told anyone this, though, fearing they might think her to be oddly morbid.

So she became a bit irritated when another girl interrupted her. "Reading," Mellie answered quietly, her voice low. Nothing in her voice, expression, or body language gave away that she was annoyed. The fifth year simply looked a bit blank.

It took Melissa a moment to notice who'd interrupted her with what seemed to be a rather obvious question. Morzella, more commonly known as Mozzie, O'Neil. She was a Ravenclaw in Mellie's year. Rather loud and overly outgoing, not really the kind of person this Hufflepuff wanted to associate herself with. Mellie was pretty sure that if she got to know Mozzie, she wouldn't like her. Or at least, she'd be annoyed by her.

Mellie was glancing around the courtyard, trying to make Mozzie realize that she wasn't exactly wanted. The Hufflepuff Prefect would be happy is she was left alone to read.

That's when Melissa Bruns noticed him. He was tall and good-looking, though Mellie didn't realize this right away. The first thing she noticed was that he'd been looking at her... At least, she thought he had. Mellie was almost ninety-nine percent sure that this boy had turned his head away from her direction right as she'd turned her own towards his.

WHY was he looking at her? The girl quickly ran her hand through her light hair. It didn't seem to be sticking up or out in any strange, attention-grabbing directions. And it wasn't any frizzier than usual. Duh, Mellie. He wasn't looking at you; he was looking at Mozzie. This hypothesis made a lot more sense than her original one. Morzella's outfit was more than enough to attract anyone's attention.

Troy glared back at the smart alleck. Who did he think he was? Did he not know Edge? Well, of course they didn't know each other, but still. "There's always a reason to be rude," Troy shot back. "And Edge has a very plain one. He probably thought your baby sister was annoying," Troy scowled. "Just like you are. So back off, will ya?"

Edge's expression was amusement as he watched the exchange between Troy and Kimihiro. He didn't necessarily like Troy to fight his battles, but it was funny and entertainment. His gaze flicked to the girl while she tried to stop them from fighting. "Let them be," he told her, shaking his head. When she mentioned Japanese, Edge made a face. "I don't know Japanese," he said to Yuki - unlike Troy's voice, his was calmer. He narrowed his eyes. "If you want to get through to me, try learning Chinese," he said, sounding a bit selfish. He turned away.

Vivi smiled at him as she noticed he took a curious question about the wishbone. He could be faking it, but really, she just wanted him to get a kick out of this. Whether it was calling her uber weird, like he was in his mind, or just taking this in and keeping it to knowledge.

"Oui," she nodded, her curly hair blowing in her face from a small graze of wind. "Now, make a wish and see if it comes true. It's always fun to see if it happens, keeps you guessing when the time will come," her eyes sparkled a bit. "Now, monsieur, it was a pleasure sharing this gift with you." She clucked her tongue and looked over at the refreshment table. Hmm, pumpkin juice? Not her thing.

She took out her wand from her skirt pocket and summoned a cup of hot chamomile tea. "My name is Vivi Venin, monsieur, and it was a pleasure meeting you," she took one hand and took the hem of her forest green and copper autumn shimmery skirt, and curtsied to him. "If you need to get away from this limelight, I'm over by the large tree over there, if you want a talk," she pointed past the dance floor and over where the large oak tree was. She smiled, more vibrantly that her other light, subtle smiles. She nodded and walked across the dance floor, dodging all the frantic dancers and once again, took her reside on the roots of the tree.

Vivi sipped her tea and smiled. It was just brewed, but it needed something else. She pulled out a leaf of mint from behind her ear and put it in her tea. She sipped and sighed, that was better. She learned a bit of human tricks with street magic.

Yuki turned her blue eyes on the boy--Edge, wasn it?-- that she'd bumped into. She gave him the once over. Chinese, then? Well, she wasn't going to bother learning Chinese just to please him, although she did know a little. But just a little.

"Well, forgive me," she said in Chinese, before switching back to English. "However, I don't see how that's fair. I have to learn Chinese and you can get away with being rude because you don't know Japanese. It was an honest mistake." She glanced at her brother who was now glaring at the new boy.

"I merely bumped into him," she said calmly, glancing at the other boy. "I apologized, but it was a simple misunderstanding. You can't assume I am annoying when you don't know me." She tugged at her brother's sleeve, but it was useless. This other boy had certainly pushed her brother too far.

She sighed heavily and pulled out her fan, opening it in one quick motion. The fan was your typical rice paper fan, the wood base was made from the wood of a Sakura tree. The image on the fan changed often, depending on Yuki's mood. Sometimes it would depict a beautiful geisha standing by a cherry tree, cherry blossoms drifting and blowing in the breeze...

At the moment, it was darkened and a storm seemed to be brewing over a sea, water lashing against a rock with a mermaid on it.

She glanced at her brother, giving him the Look.

****

Kimihiro glared angrily at the new arrival. How dare he?!?! He heard his sister talking to this Edge person as though from miles away. The boy in front of him had insulted his baby sister; true she was only thirty minutes younger than him, but still... she was his little sister.

His dark eyes never waivered from this other boy's. He heard his sister's fan open and knew if he didn't stop, then she would interfere, but that didn't change the fact that his sister's honor was at stake.

"You should apologize," he said in a low dangerous voice. "Now."

Yet another blank and confused stare came across Inez's face. "Feet? I thought we were still on teeth..." She shrugged. "Okay though!" she concluded, giggling.

Quentin smirked at Inez before looking over at Nolan again. Poor guy couldn't even get his comment in noticed before Rivera's attention was lost. "Oh I plan on it. Just a warning... Supposedly the whole bows on the rist thing works great as well. So maybe I'll go that direction." He told him, raising a shoulder then giving another small crooked smile.

By now Inez was jumping around and spinning, not even trying to avoid bumping into people. "Eee Gads, you too Boo!" she yelled over the music before tripping again and causing her to giggle some more.

Quentin smiled, laughter threatening to come out as he thought of Mozzie. "Keeping that in mind... She could take me down," he said, once again letting the smirk play on his lips.