Let's try this again! [Graham] on Cascade Hall

Valentine Duell

December 22, 2021 4:31 AM

Let's try this again! [Graham] by Valentine Duell

Valentine Duell entered the Cascade Hall on a mission. She was going to assist her friend Lavender get a date for the swiftly approaching ball. Lavender wanted to be asked to the ball, which meant she couldn't go around asking boys about it. Valentine, however, already was set with companions for the event which meant she could find and encourage potential dates for Lavender to go ask her. Her friend hadn't given her a long list of boys she though would be okay as dates. But that wasn't surprising when one knew that Lavender was related to a decent amount of the people in the school.

Val was already halfway through the list of potential candidates now. That didn't sound to bad, except she was also at the last person on the list. If this didn't work out, she wasn't sure what she was going to do. Hopefully she wouldn't come to that bridge, because she wasn't sure how she would cross it. The Teppenpaw scanned the hall seeking her quarry, her perception check came up good and she spotted him.

Graham Osbrook was a nice enough boy, he was in her and Lavender's year and a housemate of Lavender. She wondered if they ever hung out in the Crotalus common room. He was the only one other than Theo to make Lavender's list, and she suspected Theo had gotten there mainly because he was friends with Wally, Stanley and some others who would all be somewhat together at the ball. Still it wasn't her job to speculate about such things, she had a different job.

Strolling casually through the room, saying 'hi' to people as she passed, Valentine found her way over to where Graham was sitting. "Hi Graham! Do you have a minute to talk?"

2 Valentine Duell Let's try this again! [Graham] 1490 1 5

Graham Osbrook

December 27, 2021 7:28 PM

I'm not sure if I'm honored or scared. by Graham Osbrook

Graham Osbrook had not entered the Cascade Hall with a specific mission in his mind. In fact, he had really mostly only wandered in out of pure boredom, and had taken a seat and stayed because the people-watching in the dining hall was a little superior to that in the library or the Crotalus common room. People in the library were generally cramming for exams (aka, what he was avoiding doing today) and people in Crotalus, even if they weren't also cramming, were generally quiet and well-behaved. Watching them still would be an improvement over actually studying, but no reason not to look for better if he could.

As unplanned as his presence was, then, he thought that anyone other than maybe his sister approaching him would have been a little bit of a surprise. Valentine Duell approaching him, though, was more surprising than a regular surprise. Not that he had anything against Val, or - as far as he knew - that she had anything against him. It was just...she was one of those people who was just so...pretty and so popular and so involved in everything around the school and so...over the top all around that he had to kind of wonder how she was even...real. He smiled, a little awkwardly, as she joined him.

"Hi," he said. "Uh, sure, yeah. What's up?"

16 Graham Osbrook I'm not sure if I'm honored or scared. 1498 0 5

Valentine Duell

December 27, 2021 8:03 PM

You can wait to decide by Valentine Duell

Val swept her skirt under her as she took the seat next to Graham and gave him a friendly smile. She had dove straight into the topic when she had talked to Theo, but he had also advertised that he was looking for a date for the ball. That had made breaking the ice on the subject a bit easier. For all she knew, Graham didn't even want to go to the ball. Still, she had her mission.

"I'm trying to do a favor for a friend," Val started trying to keep her voice easy going. Hopefully this didn't go poorly. "It involves the ball and your name came up." Her friendly expression turned just a touch towards the sly end of the spectrum. "So, my first questions for you are; are you thinking about going, and if so, have you already made arrangements?"

"Oh," Vall continued remembering one thing that had come up during her conversation with Theo, "It really is for a friend. I have arrangements made already." She clarified just in case there was any confusion on that front. Not that Graham would have been that bad of a ball date, but she already had two wonderful people already.

2 Valentine Duell You can wait to decide 1490 0 5

Graham Osbrook

December 28, 2021 10:05 AM

Thanks, it's just this Crotalus thing, you know? by Graham Osbrook

Val wanted to do a favor for one of her friends. Graham assumed, just from there, that she must be talking about Wally O'Malley, just because Wally was also a Crotalus. This made it get really, really awkward, at least for Graham, when Val added that it involved the Ball. When that happened, he was really glad that he didn't have anything in his mouth, because if he had, he might have choked on it, and that would have been distinctly less than ideal.

Oh, Merlin, she can't mean...has to be some way out of that...

Of course, he reminded himself before he could panic altogether, she did have a lot of friends and he was in the weird position of being a guy in this school during a Ball year...and, more specifically, of being one who lacked most of the qualities that most of the girls around here looked for: money, sufficiently inbred ancestors, that kind of thing. The problem there, though, was that while he thought she had a super-tight girl friend who needn't be quite such a snob...well, he was pretty sure that girl was also Val's, like, girlfriend or something? Though who knew, that could just be rumors; there were also boys mentioned with Val in gossip, so she might be with nobody involved, or with everybody, or anywhere in between.

"I...guess I'll be there like everyone else," he said cautiously. "Can you be more specific about what you mean other than that?"

16 Graham Osbrook Thanks, it's just this Crotalus thing, you know? 1498 0 5

Valentine Duell

December 28, 2021 11:47 AM

I've known a Crotali or two in my life. by Valentine Duell

Graham's cautious tone and word choice warned Val that her mission may trickier than she had hoped. Still, she'd do her best. He wanted more information, so that was a plus. Hopefully that meant that he didn't have a committed date yet. Excellent. If she could work this right, Lavender would have a date for the ball and things would be good. If she messed this up though, Lavender might hate her forever. No pressure. Should she just come out and say that Lavender wouldn't mind him asking her to the ball? If he didn't like the idea, that could potentially end disastrously for Lavender. Not that Val thought for a moment that Graham would intentionally do something terrible, but you never quite knew how these things could fall out. Well.. actually.... Val glanced around the table for some tea, but not seeing any she sighed inwardly. Oh well.

Valentine's mind sorted through the potential bits of information she could give to Graham without completely giving away Lavender just yet. House? Year? Gender? Oh wait, that might be a good one, some people thought that was awful important. "Well, my friend would like to be asked to go." Val smiled with just a hint of mischief, she wondered if Graham liked games. "She thinks that some things should be done the correct way." That should hopefully give him something to work with, a definite gender and a hint at house. Hopefully that didn't narrow it down to much... there weren't a lot of Crotalus girls around this age range... but this friend may just think a bit like a Crotalus in this instance?

2 Valentine Duell I've known a Crotali or two in my life. 1490 0 5

Graham Osbrook

January 01, 2022 6:17 PM

That's...probably good? by Graham Osbrook

Graham did not, as it happened, have a definite opinion of games. At present, he found them mildly frustrating, and also really weird, because it definitely felt like Val was flirting with him even though she had fully disowned the very idea. Which meant that his interpretation abilities seemed to be a bit sub-par, unless she was lying, or...was it possible to flirt with people without noticing one was doing so?

Times like this were ones where he really, really wished his mother wasn't a psychologist to the rich and secretive. He could just ask Dad this stuff, he guessed, like most people would (maybe?), but the thing was, Dad would probably tell Mom, and...Mom insisted she didn't try to analyze him or Claire, and maybe she was even telling the truth, but Graham had always had the vague feeling that literally anything emotion they ever expressed except happy-but-not-too-happy worried her, and he blamed her profession for that. Better, anyway, than just blaming her, which was tempting, too, because always acting like he was in exactly the Correct state of mind was just...exhausting. He felt tired just thinking about the long sequence of meals he'd have to eat over the summer, either with or without Mom, because it was actually even more important to appear Perfectly Content when it was just them with Dad - otherwise, they risked getting a lecture about how it was wrong to resent their mother's work or her patients or her or whatever, and Graham always wanted to sort of crawl under the sofa and die when they got that lecture, just because it was so...awkward and uncomfortable and off-base. Or at least it was in his mind; Claire never had much expression during lectures, and he wasn't about to, like, ask or anything - not when that would mean dwelling on the subject even longer

"Interesting," he said, considering the two pieces of information he'd just received. Was a girl. Had ideas about what was proper and what was not, at least in terms of...was it dating? The way Val phrased it implied that this friend of hers was thinking along lines like 'you male? you'll do,' rather than specifically caring if it was Graham who asked, but it was vague enough he couldn't be sure either way. "I'm guessing you won't just tell me who if I ask, so to narrow this down...hair color?" Val was quite possibly the most popular girl in school, and in the top three almost for sure, so that only narrowed it down so far, but it was the first thing to come to mind.

16 Graham Osbrook That's...probably good? 1498 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 01, 2022 6:52 PM

It is good to know all sorts of people. by Valentine Duell

Graham had always been a hard one to read, and he still was now. She could could only assume he was still interested because he was still asking questions, which was a good thing. However, the lack of any real interest didn't do much to ease her fears of 'something weird happening' if he learned it was Lavender and didn't want anything to do with her. This whole thing would probably be easier if she did just say tell him, yet... she really didn't want to make things worse for her friend. She liked games, but this one was a bit dangerous and it was Lavender more than her that would suffer for making a mistake. Still she didn't know which way was the mistake, keeping this game going or just telling him. Maybe she could just ask?

"She has light brown hair," Valentine responded, answering his question. "I'm debating just telling you because that would be the easiest thing, but I worry a little bit." She gave him a questioning look, "What happens if I tell you, and you decide that you don't want to ask her? That's fine for you, but if word gets around or something... I don't know. Sometimes I worry about her." Val sighed. "Don't tell her that though, I'm trying to be a good friend." In that moment Valentine made up her mind, she gave Graham a smile and a weak shrug. "She's a fourth year, in Crotalus, and her name is Lavender." Hopefully this didn't go bad. "She gave me a very exclusive list of people that she would like to ask her and you were only second to Theo because he already hangs out with Wally and Stanley who will be going with Bonabelle and I." She gave Graham a little wink, "If that wasn't a factor, I think you would have topped out that list."

2 Valentine Duell It is good to know all sorts of people. 1490 0 5

Graham Osbrook

January 01, 2022 8:26 PM

Except maybe dark wizards. Or, arguably, politicians. by Graham Osbrook

Graham gave Val a sharp look, openly indignant, when she explained why she was worried about just telling him who she was talking about. What did she think, that he'd go spreading gossip? Okay, so, maybe under some circumstances, but here, any disadvantage to the girl would be just as much of a disadvantage to him because everyone would immediately note the part where this bizarre labyrinth of intermediation by Valentine had occurred. That was why he wasn't even telling Claire about this one....

"I'm against Unbreakable Vows on principle, but I can do a pinky-promise non-disclosure agreement," he said, still a little annoyed and offended despite being pleased with himself for thinking up 'pinky-promise non-disclosure agreement' off the top of his head. That was, he thought, a pretty good one. Useless outside of this extremely specific conversation, but hey - they could all die tomorrow. Might as well use a good line when it occurred to him.

Then, though, she told him, and suddenly her reserve made a lot of sense. Graham suspected he looked like he'd just seen Gunther the Zombie for the first time again, at least until his face became a betraying traitor which betrayed and started blushing when Val made that remark about how he might have stacked up under other circumstances, even though he was pretty sure this was what they in the business called a straight-up lie....

"Lavender? Lavender Brockert?" he said, though there was no one else named Lavender at the school. He regretted it instantly, both because the lack of other Lavenders meant it had sounded stupid and because it sounded kind of like he had a problem with Lavender, which he didn't, but...

"I mean - sorry - I don't have any problems with Lavender. Or the Brockerts at all," he added. He didn't doubt that the headmaster had probably done some seriously messed up stuff in his day, but it didn't affect Graham, and he thought he and Jasper might be kinda-sorta-almost friends or something? But... "Uh, full disclosure, though, my maternal grandfather's kind of a Muggle, and I'm not, uh, sure she knows that, and you know how, you know, people can be about that kind of thing...I'm not saying 'no,' just asking if you think you should double-check that her family isn't going to, like, kill me or turn me into an iguana or anything if I go along with you with that in mind?"

16 Graham Osbrook Except maybe dark wizards. Or, arguably, politicians. 1498 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 01, 2022 9:03 PM

True, evil folk in general. by Valentine Duell

Valentine was briefly taken aback by Graham's reaction to her statement. Not because of what he said, she had admittedly openly impugned upon his honor. His reaction was completely appropriate. It was the fact that he actually had a reaction that surprised her. Graham had been so stoic and unreadable before, this she took as a good sign. She smiled at him warmly. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

His reactions when she actually told him about Lavender were just as open and wonderful as well. She was almost completely certain she had made the correct decision. She just continued to smile as he stumbled through some words. "Yes, Lavender Brockert." she assured him. As for his other concern, she waved a hand in a dismissive manner. "I don't know that you need to worry about that to much right now. As far as I know she just would like you to ask her to the ball." She couldn't help but let out a little giggle, "If it becomes anything more than that, it's between the two of you and then maybe you'll need to worry about it." She couldn't resist but to give him a playful wink as well.

Honestly, Val didn't really know what Lavender thought on that front. She didn't want to make Graham think that he was getting locked into a family thing here, but at the same time... what if he was? "I don't know what good it will do, but if it comes to something like that I'll pinky-promise to help you any way that I can."

2 Valentine Duell True, evil folk in general. 1490 0 5

Graham Osbrook

January 03, 2022 4:22 PM

Don't want to take 'know your enemy' too literally. by Graham Osbrook

Graham had expected his moment of sarcasm to more or less put an end to the conversation. He suspected he had a sort of dumb look on his face when Val - instead of getting angry or feelings-hurt at him - smiled and acted as though he'd made a serious suggestion. This girl...this girl was...something. Or, more accurately, a lot of somethings all at once.

One of them was excessively flippant when it came to the subject of how weird people like some of the prominent members of Lavender's family could get about stuff like someone's grandpa being a Muggle. Of course, outright murdering people for being in the same room as a fragile flower of pureblood femininity was kind of out of fashion, and had been for a while. They could still decide to mess up any chance you ever had to have a life someday, though, which was arguably worse - Graham didn't know what being poor was like, and he didn't want to. It looked unpleasant, from what he'd seen. He was pretty sure nobody in his family was rich, but they definitely weren't poor, and that was a tradition he had always fully assumed he would carry on someday...

"Haha," he said weakly when Val joked about 'anything more than that' following the Ball. "Thanks...."

That, of course, in response to the offer to help in any way she could if a massive complex of very rich people decided to come after him someday. He wasn't sure how much good it would do - he had the impression that Val was more or less his equal, socially speaking, though of course he wasn't going to do anything as vulgar as ask - but then, he realized, he was also possibly in trouble if he didn't do what Lavender apparently wanted. Because then he'd be insulting her. Never mind that self-preservation was a perfectly logical thing to consider; his mom was guaranteed a solid income because families like that didn't really do rational thought very well a lot of the time. Wow, he was glad that most of the ones here seemed pretty easygoing...except the headmaster....

Of course, a concern with being seen as a proper member of society came with elements other than just being unnerved by the thought of overstepping his place. There was also an element of realizing that associating with certain people could be a good thing, these days, now that the whole literally killing people thing was unfashionable. Graham was pretty sure he wasn't cut out for being a social climber, it just sounded like too much effort, frankly, but just the same....

"Though you know. They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and I am the heir apparent of a pen dealer," he joked, straightfaced, a bit uneasy with having blurted out what he was thinking like that before. "A very small pen dealer, but They didn't specify, so I can squeeze through that loophole. So, I...guess, then? What the heck, right?"

16 Graham Osbrook Don't want to take 'know your enemy' too literally. 1498 0 5