"Callista and Elizabeth suggested I ask someone," Zoe said. "I do nee think I can. I'm happy with swimming.

Jona shrugged and said to Zoe, "Well, okay. In that case, I'm pretty sure we'll have the rest of the ship to ourselves." A mischievous grin crept across Jona's face, eyes twinkling with excitement, he asked, "What do you wanna do?"

Fade waved at Millie across the way, and watched as Sauvage transformed her dress into something a little, shorter. “You’re pretty good at that, maybe you can give me some pointers.” Transfiguration was not one of Fade’s strong-suits, but then again he was only in his third year. When she asked him to dance he felt both nervous and relieved. Relieved she saved him the trouble of asking her, nervous because of the actual dancing bit. “Ah, yeah. Sure, I’d like that.” He took her hand and the two went out onto the floor. Thankfully the music was upbeat enough to avoid the abysmal slow-dance. (( ))

(and everyone else)

Paddy laughed, "well to be honest, it's not my idea of fun either, but I don't have a boyfriend to dance with." She watched him leave the pool, just to make sure he didn't dive back in again and headed back to the ballroom. Spotted Rosemarie, she waved and wandered back over to her. "Had a chance to dance with any dashing young wizards yet?" She kept an eye out for Blade arriving, and was pleased to see he had reached the ballroom, even if he seemed reluctant to actually step into the room.

--

Niamh smiled, "I never expected everyone to end up in different houses when we moved here. I thought we'd all be in together, but I guess that Sorting Hat had other ideas." Something caught her eye by the entrance to the ballroom - Blade was standing there, looking... well handsome would be a good choice of words, but seemed rooted to the spot. Smiling with relief that he'd showed up, she walked over to the entrance. "You can come into the ballroom you know, it doesn't bite," she said with a slight self-conscious blush.

(and all)

Zoe laughed. "I'm game for anything. Whatcha wanna do?" she asked Jona.

Blade looked at her. "Are you saying Nimah's my girlfriend?" he spluttered. He had been very confused about it himself.

Rosemarie shook her head when Paddy returned. "No. I don't think any will ask me. Maybe I'll wander the ship at some point."

Blade looked like a deer in headlights when Nimah approached him. "Yo-you look nice," he said. "Are you sure? I heard stories of dancers loosing a limb do to raging ballrooms." He used his best droll voice.

Paddy shrugged, "no good asking me, I've never had a boyfriend, so I wouldn't have a clue what makes the difference between 'friend' and 'boyfriend'."

(back in the ballroom) "You never know, there might be someone who wants to dance with somebody who might not be better than them. So they might pick the best dressed kid here."

Niamh grinned - she liked Blade's sense of humour. "Thanks," she replied, "you don't think maybe my outfit's a little overdone?"

"That's no help," Bkade replied with a bit of frustration.

"If they want the best dressed I doubt they'd want me," Rosemarie said.

"Not for me to say," Blade replied. "First time I've been to a ball. I supoose you'd like a dance?" He offered his arm.

Millie waved to Fade () and Sauvage () while they were dancing. The boys had wandered off and she stood there alone. She had never felt so alone. She decided to take a look at the buffet and contemplated going back to the pool area after eating

"I dunno," Paddy replied to Rosemarie, "that's a pretty neat outfit, and it's got to be one of the best here, surely?"

--

"And you think I've been to a ball before?" Niamh asked with a smile, seeing as this was her first event with this kind of dancing. Looping her arm around his, they walked into the ballroom, "never done this sort of dancing before," she admitted.

(and all.)

"It really is," Rosemarie agreed. "I'm keeping it."

Blade shrugged. "Er, well I er never did any dances before." He nodded to Millie as he passed. "You look nice Toru." He would offer them a dance too, before he escaped. On the dance floor he awkwardly moved not quite sure where to put his hands or, in fact, what exactly to do.

& everyone :)

Callista had started to answer Niamh, but noticed her walking over to Blade. Go Niamh, she thought with a smile, and turned to the younger girl.

"Well, Rosemarie, I have no idea where you'll sort... as I said, I didn't know where Niamh would sort, either. But if you do end up in Slytherin with me, I'm sure you'll do well there. And it won't be long before my youngest brother and sister come to school." Callista smiled. "You can dance with me later if you'd like, since there are hardly any boys here and most of the ones who came are busy goofing off. I was hoping a certain someone would come, but I'm not sure he even came to the party, and my older sisters taught me to dance at home."

Toru looked incredibly surprised that Callista mentioned she had younger siblings. "Y-You have a l-little brother a-and sister?" Callie had never mentioned them and it was curious now. They wouldn't press much further because if she wanted tell them she would. "O-Oh... I'm n-not sure if y-you're interested b-but Ruriko is l-looking for a-an intern o-over breaks. I r-recommended you. I-I hope you don't m-mind."

They had seen Blade enter and he did look very handsome in his outfit. They tried not to stare when Nimah approached him. It was a little frustrating to watch them, but that was something they would keep to themselves. Blade and Nimah looked good together. It also was none of their business. They did get flustered when Blade complimented them. "T-Thanks."

Toru had noticed Lorcan was by himself again. He really seemed to be the loner type. They hoped to talk to him before the trip ended.

(Sorry for disappearing. I have a lot going on lately. ;n; )

"Thank you Callista!", Elizabeth replied. She wasn't aware that Callista had younger siblings as she always only mentioned her older sisters and wondered how big the family actually was. With a smile, she listened to Toru. The internship sounded very good and she would be happy for Callista if she would be chosen.

Lorcan had decided to get a small plate of Caprese salad. He was pleased that there were roasted pine nuts as well. Turning around, he finally noticed Toru...next to two girls, all of them looking posh. But he quickly recognized Elizabeth, even though something was different about her. So what could possibly happen?, he thought to himself and approached them. "Good evening Toru, Elizabeth and...I fear that we were not introduced to each other yet. ", he said, facing Callista at his last words. "I'm Lorcan Tierney and I do have to compliment your dresses. ", he added.

(Sorry, I was pretty busy over the weekend. Work was overwhelming. :< )

Toru smiled happily up at Lorcan. They motioned to Callista. "This is Callista Zabini. S-She's in Slytherin." They introduced the two older students, even though they were sure that Callie could introduce herself just fine. They flushed again at everyone complimenting their yukata since it wasn't even a fancy design or expensive fabric. Toru had always loved the koi pattern, but they seemed to love koi anything. Blade would be the only person who would know why, though. "I'm g-glad you came t-to join us t-though." They said to the older boy.

“Thank you Callista,” Rosemarie said. “I hope they will like Hogwarts.” She smiled. “I won’t mind dancing with a girl so that would be fine. I dance with cousins all the time.”

Blade smiled at Toru. “Anytime.” He finally managed to dance with Nimah awkwardly. At the end of the song he said, “I am gonna offer a dance to Toru too…” and then made his way back over to Toru who was talking to Lorcan. “Er… Ru, would you like a dance?” he asked.

Toru blinked at Blade a bit. "I-Is Nimah going t-to be okay w-with that?" They asked softly. They weren't sure if Blade was honestly interested in her romantically, but it seemed like they would be dating soon if they weren't already. "I-I don't want to s-step on p-proverbial toes. A-Also m-maybe literal t-toes." They had never danced with another person, so wasn't sure how Blade's feet would survive the song.

(and all)

"I don't let people tell me what to do," Blade replied simply. "So wanna actually answer the question?"

Niamh enjoyed the dance with Blade, even though they were both feeling pretty awkward. Niamh wasn't surprised that Blade wanted to offer Toru a dance. "No worries," Niamh replied, "they might be a better dancer than me, so I can watch and pick up some tips." Catching Toru's eye as Blade approached them, Niamh gave them a smile and a quick thumbs up to show she was fine with it.

--

Paddy watched Blade and Toru dancing as Rosemarie and Callista chatted. "You two will be putting my non-existent dancing skills to shame, if you're as skilled as you sound" she said with a laugh.

Toru gave a small nod at Nimah before looking up at Blade. "I-I'd like a d-dance." They moved to offer their hand to Blade. They weren't terrible at dancing, but they weren't a professional either. Sort of right in the middle of comfortable and awkward.

Lorcan smiled. "Nice to meet you as well, Callista.", he said. Before Toru was taken away by Blade to dance, he simply shrugged his shoulders. "This afternoon, I went to a quieter deck to draw. To be honest, I'm feeling a bit tired, but my hand hurts, so I'm here.", he explained. Stroking over his hands, his fingers also touching the several rings on his fingers, his eyes noticed Toru looking over to a girl who he had seen somewhere before...probably at the beach? It was a bit awkward that Blade offered Toru a dance so shortly after dancing with the girl over there. Sure, it was Blade's decision at all, but Lorcan wondered if the girl was really okay with it as Toru had hinted it so carefully. He grinned a little. He knew for sure who would be offended if a guy did this to a certain person.