Spring Fling 2011

[Professor Carlyle]

((ooc: I propose this a few weeks ago, come on come all if you fancy it? I was thinking it could be in the Great Hall but like spill out into the entrance and onto the lawns since it could be a nice warm spring evening for once?))

Walking back into the Great Hall after having been very responsible indeed - meaning he'd sternly glared at two seventh years who were getting a little too close out on the lawns - David felt like a spot of punch was in order. Pouring himself a cup he looked down at it suspiciously for many thoughtful moments before he thought 'what the hell' and sipped it, all too soon letting out a loud "eurgh" of disgust at the sharpness of the alcohol and abandoning the cup swiftly on the tray on the drinks table. Jeez those kids sure were quick with spiking the punch so it became deadly!

Shoving his hands into his trouser pockets he instead milled around the Hall feeling utterly inadequate, as always, in his role as 'chaperone' but hey someone had to do it. Plus David was the Professor who was slowest off the mark when it came to saying the 'I already have plans' excuse.

((ooc: PS- Yes he's crap but... please someone take pity on him and entertain him? Oo and just because I love any opportunity to get Carlyle into a waistcoat, he's wearing this.))

[Professor Freeman]

"Hullo David! Looking snappy," Geoff called out while pointing a finger-gun at his colleague and clicking his jaw once. For his part, Geoff had dug out the one crumpled suit he wore for every formal event ever, and had just managed to run a comb through his hair, which was all anyone could ask from him really.

"I'm thinking," Geoff started thoughtfully, standing next to David and crossing his arms over his chest, "We're both fairly ineffective chaperones. But perhaps if we stand to join forces we can be, I don't know... twice as ineffective. Almost completely useless. For all intents and purposes, no different than that hanging plant over there. What do you say?"

[Professor Carlyle]

"Greetings comrade!" David enthused with a 'hello' wave that was perhaps a little too energetic considering the man he was waving to was approaching him and not so far away that he needed waving in in the manner of directing a plane to land on a runway. As Geoff said he was 'looking snappy' he looked surprised, "Aye? Well you do flatter me and, for that, I thank you. You know, I've made a proper, concerted effort tonight so it's nice to know someone appreciates it," he joked easily, assuming a solemn, genuinely grateful expression for a moment as he amicably clapped a hand on the other man's shoulder.

Looking sideways at Geoff as he came to stand beside him, "Yeeeees?" David prompted hopefully as Geoff began to speak in a most thoughtful manner. "Hey, I resent that accusation, I am actually quite a good chaperone, I've just split up a couple who were... cannoodling in the bushes outside, that's my job well and truly done for the night. I can't be too good at it, you know? Otherwise the Headmaster will think something's wrong with the world, a world gone topsy turvy and all that-" he trailed off inarticulately, gesturing far too dramatically with his hands in the hope that this would illustrate his thought process better. It didn't. "I say aye to your plan of joining up to create one twice as ineffective figure though... it frees me of responsibility. So... what do we do now then? Just wander aimlessly around being completely oblivious to everything and everyone else and not telling anyone off for anything?" he asked and then smiled in amusement, "Because I do that most days anyway to be honest," he commented in a conspiratorial murmur with a nod of his head.

[Professor Pattinson]

Will watched as the spiked punch bowl was replaced with a fresh one while he stuffed his hands in his pockets thoughtfully. “Aww already I went to a lot of trouble with that,” winced a mischievous sixth year as he looked at William, “And Prof Pattinson, you were like my favourite teacher did ye know that?” the kid said leaning an arm on the Professor and poking him in the chest as if this illustrated his point. “Yes I’m sure that I am,” he said brushing the boy off and walking away from the punch bowl, which would most likely be spiked once more, hopefully a little less lethally this time round. “At least I brought my other stuff, not as good though,” the boy called at his backside, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Will said with a smile before turning and walking away.

As he did so he found David and Geoff milling around, “Hullo David, Geoff,” he said nodding to the two of them as he took a sip of coffee. “I think I’ve done my teacher-ly duties for the night, or possibly the whole year.” Looking to where they were looking he asked, “And may I ask why we are looking at a hanging plant?” then he added, “And what are we murmuring about?” having caught the tail end of their conversation but not really understanding what it was that David did most days.

((ooc: He is not very good sorry but at least Will is there!))

[francescaainsworth]

Francesca walked tentatively into the crowd. She felt weird wearing a short black dress and heels. It wasn’t her usual baggy, admittedly boyish style. With a little help from a few of her friends, who really knew how many of them were really her friends, she had managed to put on mascara, eyeliner and eye-shadow.

The conversation had been a bit awkward to say the least, “Oh my gosh, you’ve never worn makeup before have you?” one of the more popular girls had said, Franky could have sworn her name was Meg but she didn’t have the heart to ask, god forbid she had got the girls name wrong. “No,” she had answered quietly looking down at her combat boots awkwardly. “Well what about all your girls in Bristol?” asked one of the cooler girls, she was mad confident, Franky wished she could be like her and not give a shit about what other people thought. “I didn’t have none,” she replied fiddling with a loose string on her blue coat which made her look like she could be Captain Jack Harkness with her hair slicked back. “No friends?” said the mean one. “No,” she looked up momentarily, “I had a mate, a best mate Dean, but he wasn’t one to use makeup,” she tried to joke, the other girls smiled. It was then that she was bombarded by three different people putting on eye-shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lip-gloss as another held up a two pairs of shoes. “Look, it’s just a try, okay?” said the wicked cool confident one, “Some eye-shadow won’t hurt,” and that was that, “Aah beautiful,” the sweeter one of the girls cooed and they all smiled as they applied stuff Franky had never used before. “You totally got like fuck me eyes girl,” the confident one said, “Totally fuck me sideways eyes,” said another, the mean girl didn’t seem too happy about this but she suppress her obvious distaste for Franky as they tried on outfits.

Franky wandered around the grounds feeling very out of place but searching for someone she knew, anyone she knew… sort of. Having no luck whatsoever and getting strange looks from, well just about everybody she went over to the punch bowl. Pouring a glass she turned round and tried to lean against the table lightly being very careful not to push it over. She took a sip and nearly spit it out in someone’s face, but gulped it down instead and made a face, “Gahh,” it tasted disgusting, like alcohol, really bad alcohol. She tossed it in a bin and opted for a glass of water with a wedge of lemon.

((ooc: Lia I hope you don’t mind that I mentioned Meg, I didn’t know who else to mention. That little bit – the flashback bit to Franky preparing for the party – was basically stolen from Skins series 5 first episode. And not that it matters but this is her dress and these are her shoes and accessories. Please come one come all and talk to the new girl!))

[Professor Freeman]

(ooc: Totally fine! Meg is SO Mini. Like, spot-on.)

"You're very welcome. I'm going for a look of comforting familiarity," Geoff explained to David, holding out one side of his all-purpose apparently resistant-to-ironing suit. "Hey, you had a good time out with Rose and everyone, yeah? I blacked out around half way through," he said with a sheepish shrug; he had a tendency to get inappropriately sloshed at times -- a holdover from his hazy twenties. He looked at David out of the corner of his eye, for as wholly committed as he was to Mission: Cheer Up David Carlyle, asking about his friend's current emotional state wasn't really his jam.

Raising a hand to greet Will, Geoff continued to stare intently at the plant. "We think it may be the most effective chaperone of all. I'm trying to learn its secrets," he spoke in a low, dead-serious tone.

[Adelle O'Connor]

(ooc: Adelle's wearing an little black-and-white suit, Janelle Monae style!)

Holding a glass of well-spiked punch that she would be willing to guard with her life, Adelle wandered very quietly over to her new Potions partner. She had no intention of staying the whole dance. She had no intention of staying past five minutes. But she'd promised Matt she'd at least make an effort, and her brother was probably the only person who could draw her out of her cave of Potion-brewing solitude. "What happened to your blue coat, Jack?" she asked suddenly, apropos of nothing, and so softly that most people could probably be forgiven for not noticing her at all. Despite her flat, emotionless tone, there was something -- the tiniest of playful smirks, perhaps -- that said that she wasn't being nasty at all, and that even though they didn't know each other very well yet, she greatly preferred the 'old Francesca' to whatever Frankenbarbie look the popular girls had cooked up for her.

[francescaainsworth]

((ooc: I love Adelle’s outfit, and Adelle is so cute.))

Francesca's eyes were glued to the pinkish liquid in her cup. “They don’t think you’re a freak, they don’t think you’re a freak,” she chanted wordlessly to herself, “Nobody thinks you’re a freak,” and with that thought she looked up noticing guys and people staring at her strangely as they passed by. Some guys made comments and girls stuck their noses up at her pulling their boyfriends quickly away by the arm. She felt suddenly mortified and very self-conscious. She yearned for the safety of her long blue coat.

A flash of white caught her eye. Franky smiled subtly at Adelle, the edges of her lips twitching into the smallest of smiles for a brief moment, “It’s gone missing for the night,” she spoke softly, “Apparently I’ll get it back once the night is over,” she said shyly of her security blanket. She supposed it was the mean girl’s idea of fun, but she wasn’t going to let ‘the hazing of the new girl’ get to her. She would see her coat again and her old clothes, and if not she would settle for a quick army surplus special come the next Hogsmeade weekend. “I look like a fucking twat,” she admitted quietly giving Adelle a small smirk, “Mind you, I looked even more twat-ish in this sparkly purple dress I tried on first, they said I looked like a punk-y butterfly,” she said trying to keep her tone light hearted and act like it was nothing but she felt a bit ridiculous to be honest, she looked down at her shoes to distract herself from the thoughts raging around in her head, “I like the shoes though,” she added jokingly with a wide smile this time as she glanced back up at Adelle. Before ten minutes ago she couldn’t walk in them to save her life.

“Sorry, I didn’t even say hello,” she shook her head, “I think the punch is getting to me,” she fell silent for a moment. It had been the longest conversation she’d had with anyone in months. “I like your suit,” she complimented Adelle with a small smile to show her that she was genuine. “Do you like Janelle Monáe?” she asked apropos of nothing, “It’s just that, well I saw a show of hers once and she was wearing something similar, it just reminded me of her that’s all,” she said uncertainly her sentence a bit disjointed. She had been beaten up and humiliated at her last school and she didn’t want to risk insulting or offending perhaps the one cool girl she had met properly so far by comparing her clothes to an artist she might in fact dislike.

((ooc: Hope it was okay about her mentioning that she had seen Janelle, I figure the one thing social Franky does do is go see a lot of live music? And I can change it if not.))

[Adelle O'Connor]

"So your coat ran off with someone else for the night? What a diiiick," Adelle spoke in a low, quiet voice, smirking slightly. "Who's 'they'?" she asked in as neutral a fashion as she could manage, and not like she wanted to murder whoever was messing with Franky's style. Addie wasn't prepared to lose another awesome weirdo to the horrible plastic clones walking around the school.

"You saw Janelle Monáe live? Fuck, get out. Was she amazing?" Smiling genuinely for a second, Adelle looked down and did a little shuffling dance move in her saddle shoes. "She could have just said, 'Hey, I'm going to do a science-fiction concept album about a messianic android, and also I'm going to dance and wear tuxedos and be cool and talented and incredible. Adelle O'Connor, please fall madly in love with me'," she explained, saying far more words in rapid succession than she normally did, but it really needed to be said.

[Professor Carlyle]

"Really? Well you're working it, that's for sure, you look comfortably like the Geoff Freeman everyone knows and loves," David assured him with a smile. Looking back at Geoff as he talked of the famed 'Cheer Up David' night that Rose had order him to attend, David smiled at the memory, "Aye? You pushed the boat out on drinking a bit that night... you didn't end up in a ditch come the next morning did you? The thing is, I'm not that great at the bar or club scene, I don't drink nearly enough to be as cool as all of Rose's mates who have seemingly endless bladders. But... it was fun, I'm fairly certainly I embarassed myself with all my crap dancing. What can I say... you give me sambuca shots, I'll dance like a headless chicken, except with even less grace," he shrugged easily.

"Heyyyy Will," David acknowledged him with the standard shout of greeting and an enthusiastic 'hello' wave, "Same here, I say we use it as an excuse to not mark any more essays this year." Glancing at Geoff he shrugged, "Aye, we figure we ought to look up to it as a source of supreme ineffectiveness. It's good at surviving, photosynthesising and such, but that's it... I'd say we're similar, aye Geoff?" he asked seriously. Then, grinning at Will and dropping the act he asked, "Sooo... enough about the plant, we don't want it getting too egotistical now do we? How's wedding planning going?" David enquired conversationally with a pleasant smile.

[francescaainsworth]

“What a stupid coat, doesn’t know what it’s missing,” Franky gave a partial smile. Adelle was a cool girl, and funny. It was not often she found someone with her same sense of humour. Franky still felt vulnerable, being in a new place, like all her wee idiosyncrasies and past failings were sat on the surface for everyone to see. The ‘mean girl’ had already seen what had happened to her at her other school, saw what other people had posted, pictures of her having been beaten up and whatnot. Franky naively thought that this ‘mean girl’ character and the others might actually be her friends and wouldn’t really do anything with the knowledge they had discovered, how wrong she was about them. Franky pursed her lips together as she looked round at the students mingling trying to remember the girls name, “I think it was Meg or Mini, it was her idea anyways,” she shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Franky smiled again, a small shy smile, “Yeah,” she muttered hesitantly over her glass as she took another sip. Then seeing Adelle’s genuine smile her eyes lit up, “She was, fuck, I can’t even describe it she was beyond amazing!” she enthused. Franky smiled, a genuine smile this time as Adelle did a little shuffle and let out a very short laugh that sounded light like the tinkling of belles very unlike what someone might suspect of her laugh. “I know I think I have a lady crush on her, seriously she is utterly phenomenal,” she nodded matter-of-factly as she took another sip of her drink but a small smile peek over the edges.

[Lillian Turner]

There were three reasons Lillian stayed away from alcohol; 1 being that she had the inexplicable urge to take clothes off, 2, her stunts went off the chain, almost death defying and 3, she spoke without thinking.
It was for the third reason that she found herself making a beeline for the three Professors that stood together in a group, and saluted with a nod of her head before pointing a finger at each in turn, "Pattinson, heard you had a baby...'gratz man, good times. Carlyle, heard you split up...comis' man, sad times." she smiled then frowned at each man in turn, "I'd hug you Carlyle but...you're fragile and tender so you may fall in love with me and that'd be like, totally awkward. Trust me, I know" she nodded her head before downing the rest of her 'punch', handing the now empty glass to the Muggle Studies Professor with a wink before turning to the Arithmancy Professor and taking a deep breath.

"I heard...well I heard you and my sister are making the double backed beast. It's cool, we cool..." she motioned between them before holding her hand up for a high 5. "Geoff...dude, we'd never have worked out anyway! Im like...in love with a gay man and your cardigan's are like stupid flammable...our love can never be" she shook her head with a shrug of her shoulders before grabbing his hand and shaking it, "I'll stop leaving frogs legs in your textbooks now, Im over you" she smiled widely before turning on her heel and skipping off rather merrily to where Adelle & the new girl stood.

"Suuuuuup, my bitches?!" Lillian hollered loudly before making finger guns, "I just told Freeman that Im ok with him banging my sister & that Im over him, fo reals!" Lillian nodded her head, 'shooting' her guns at Adelle then the new girl.

(ooc. Lillian wanted to play! She lookeths liketh thiseth but with pink hair and wearing a black bowtie around her neck)

[Professor Freeman]

(ooc: OH LILLIAN, NEVER CHANGE)

Upon realising he'd been staring blankly at the plant for far too long, Geoff turned back to David and Will. "I swear I'm not high right now... but I really genuinely wish I could photosynthesise." He then waved at Lillian before putting his hands in his pockets, calmly rocking on his heels as she greeted each of his fellow Professors. "That's why I've not hugged him," he deadpanned while jabbing a thumb at David.

As she spoke to him in particular, Geoff had to do some serious facial contortions to keep himself looking mildly serious, and not as utterly bemused as he actually felt. "We cool," he said as his eyebrows bounced hilariously above the frames of his glasses, bending his knees and leaning over to one side as he gave Lillian a goofy high-five. He shook her hand sombrely and added, "Well, I appreciate it," mildly afraid to go look in his textbooks now.

As she bounded away, he stared at Will and David, lines slowly forming in his forehead. "Okay, I may be high right now," he laughed suddenly.

[Adelle O'Connor]

"Meg Vorpahl? She's pure evil. I've looked in her eyes and seen the dark vortex that lies beneath the fake tan and hair extensions," Adelle told Francesca ominously.

When Lillian came over, Adelle bumped hips with her and held a hand over her own heart where she'd been 'shot'. "You go girl," she deadpanned before smiling a bit, "Still glad all the people my siblings bang are total pricks. And hey, we match." She indicated her own bowtie, holding it between her thumb and forefinger.

"Franky, Lil. And vice-versa," she said quickly while waving her hand between the two girls; she wasn't great at introductions and all of that social convention stuff, and thus tried to keep it quick. "I've made a new friend and haven't scared her away yet, aren't you proud?" Adelle added half-sarcastically, standing with her hands on her hips.

[francescaainsworth]

((ooc: Yes Lillian, never change, Telle your post made me laugh! Btw I love Lillian’s av!))

“I think so,” Franky muttered with a little shrug, her voice trailing off into her glass of water as she took a sip. A small smile peeked over the edge of her cup however as Adelle explained Meg’s dark vortexes of evil. “I think she’s starting to get a tinge of orange, like a shriveled tangerine” she said quietly of Meg’s fake tan not wanting the girl herself to hear if she happened to be, oh, say, right behind her.

Franky glanced tentatively from Adelle to the pink-haired girl as she bounded over to them whilst making finger guns. “Aww did I miss the black bow-tie memo? Clearly I’m not hanging with the cool kids,” she deadpanned, almost as if she were dead serious but gave a wee smile to show that she was joking. Francesca wished she had siblings. Then again, if she did maybe they would hate her too.

“Nice to meet you,” Franky said holding her hand out politely not really sure what she should do, but she figured being polite was good, right? She did get beaten up once for being polite, then again she got beaten up for a lot of things at her old school.

((ooc: Would it be wrong to have a non-charrie Meg or some snooty girl show up to try and steal Franky away from Adelle and Lil, sort of like what are you doing talking to them but then Franky stays with them and is ridiculed for it the next day, pictures from her old school of her being humiliated and beaten up and stuff surface- yes this is completely stolen from skins, well the pictures part? If not that’s cool too.))