Bobby opened the door to her gentle knock a little eagerly. His nerves were at breaking point-- Jools might not know him well enough to know that when he wore his glasses he was trying to hide, but when they met up with Sam and Colby his friend would know instantly.
He grinned at her stupidly. "You look really pretty. I mean. You always look pretty."
Her face split into a shy, pleased grin. "You look really handsome," she said giving him the up and down. She didn't know the trick about his glasses; he wore them sometimes when they played chess. She assumed that maybe his eyes were tired. "I'm not too early, am I?" She wasn't used to this dating thing and had no idea about the etiquette.
"Not at all!" Bobby was also clueless about dating routines, and had she tried any on him he would have been confused. For instance, if she had been late to make him desperate to see her, he'd have thought she didn't like him very much and had forgotten about their date. And if she'd shown up early to catch him off guard, he'd think he'd forgotten and then he'd feel terrible. So all in all, it was good that neither of them really had any idea what they were doing.
"Oh," he said, remembering with a faint blush his mother's very strict instructions. He vanished from the door for a moment and returned with a rose stem. "This is for you."
She blushed and thought to herself we're off to an early start with this girly moony shit. She took the rose, her fingers lingering over his hand for a moment as it changed hands. "Thank you."
A boy had never bought her flowers before. She wasn't sure what to make of it. "I should have brought something for you." She was suddenly, frustratingly flustered. "I didn't even think of it."
He smiled shyly. "You brought me you; that's pretty awesome." He closed the door behind him, and offered her his arm. They were going to meet Sam and Colby at the dance, but maybe she wouldn't mind if they took the long way there. Even if he did get horribly nervous and tongue-tied around her, he did still want to have her to himself for a little bit.
She swooned nervously and reached out tentatively to take his arm. It felt nice to have that little touch connecting them. And made her very nervous at the same time. She had no idea what to say to him next without sounding ridiculous or dorky. "It's a bit chilly out. I can do a warming charm before we head out," she suggested. She didn't think to bring a jacket, trying very hard to impress him with her choice of dress.
Bobby hadn't even noticed the cold, he was so nervous that an iceberg falling on him probably would have escaped his notice. And then Jools was actually beside him and his face was flushing so hot that he could probably have used an iceberg falling on him.
"That would be nice," he said, a little starstruck and not quite paying attention to what a warming charm would actually accomplish. "I mean, would you like a jacket?"
He would conjure a jacket for me. Jools hadn't made up her mind entirely, but she was certain that these were her first steps toward falling in love. "No," she said gently. "We won't need jackets once I cast it. We'll be warm and cozy until we get back inside."
She hadn't noticed how nervous he was because her nerves were nearly deafening. "I mean, unless you're already warm. I can just cast it on me."
"I'm just fine." He gave her a lopsided grin, feeling a bit like he might look like a cartoon character complete with hearts for eyes. "I'm great." He squeezed her hand. "Did I tell you you look really pretty?"
She cast the spell on herself, but strayed just a bit closer to him as if his extra warmth was helping the spell. She thought he was more than fine. He was wonderful. How had she ended up on a date with such a delightful boy?
It didn't take long for her thoughts to turn dark and anxious and she shivered despite the spell and his body warmth right beside her.
Then he was being sweet again and she pushed her anxiety away. "You did. It was very sweet." She smiled shyly at him sideways. "I'm having a nice time." Even though their date had only just started and they were just walking. His company was very nice and she wanted him to know.
"Me too," he replied, endlessly relieved that she wasn't already thinking of a way to escape. He was starting to think that he might actually enjoy this dance, instead of spending it just like every other (trying his best not to be attacked).
He was almost disappointed to be approaching the main hall, decked out in all its Valentines glory. But then he reminded himself that he would still be spending time with Jools, even if it weren't just the two of them. "Would you like to dance?"
That nervous flutter moved upwards and she was choking on it. You can do this, Jools. Don't freak out. Just calm down, take his hand and dance like it's no big deal. Girls do this shit all the time.
"Sure," she replied nervously. Now that they were among people other would see that Jools Le Gallo was on a date with this cute and wonderful boy. And they'd probably, correctly surmise that she was in over her head.
Those same people would be seeing Bobby in way over his head and so far out of his league that it was laughable. He hadn't seen his friends yet, but he hoped they wouldn't arrive until after he'd taken Jools around the dancefloor a few times. Or at all. He could live without having to share his time tonight.
"I'm sorry if I step on your feet," he apologized in advance. "Sunny says I'm really bad at this."
"You can't be any worse than me," she replied. "I don't dance very much."
She liked the feel of his hand on her waist, even while it made her shiver and curl up inside. "If Sunny thought you were that bad she should have taught you to dance better," she teased.
He couldn't see that she was teasing; he was looking down and focusing very hard on not treading on her shoes. "She tried. But she decided it might be best to give up before I crushed her feet and ruined her future Quodpot career."
Jools was trying to decide if there was any purpose in pointing out that you didn't really need functioning feet for quodpot. So long as you had a seat on the broom.
She did something very bold and reached over to lift Bobby's chin. "My feet can take it," she said. "I like it better when I can see your face."
A blissful, goofy grin bloomed on his face at her touch. "Okay," he squeaked, looking up at her. He was still concentrating very carefully on his feet, but attempting to not look at them while he did it. "I like your face," he said.
I like your face? For the love of... He reddened, mortified at the stupid things coming out of his mouth.
Their goofy-grinned, tomato-red faces matched one another, and he couldn't think of anything to say except that he liked her face, again, so he didn't say anything.
They danced in silence for a few minutes, punctuated with shy glances and at one stage, a frightened yelp as a floating heart exploded over them and rained glitter everywhere.
Eventually, Bobby felt the silence becoming a little awkward. "Are you having fun," he asked timidly.
She smiled at him. Such a rare thing to see on her face, but Bobby seemed to pull them right out of thin air. "I'm having a great time," she said.
Though she couldn't tell when it had become so hard to talk to him. Maybe they needed a chess board between them. Or a cookie sheet full of dough.
"Though these exploding hearts are hideous," she commented with a laugh. "I'm going to find glitter in my underwear." Then her eyes got big because she realized she was talking to Bobby, that boy she liked, about her underwear.
"Me too," he said about finding glitter in his underpants, and his reaction mirrored hers exactly. He tried to change the subject slightly. "And in our ears. I wonder if we breathed any in."
In a panic he started thinking about sneezing out clouds of glitter, or glittery boogers, and those, like his underwear, were things he didn't think he should be talking about with a girl.
Given that that subject change had only put him into a tailspin of silly thoughts, he decided to change it again, this time to something far more calming.
She laughed at his first change of subject, pleased that he was gentleman enough to shift it to a safe area of the body, even if it was just as gross to think about. "Glitter lung butter," she said with a fake gagging sound. "We could sue."
Then he changed the subject again and she was perfectly amenable to the idea. The dance floor was getting a bit crowded. "Sounds like a plan."
That was a relief, not only because it stopped underwear from being the topic of conversation, but because it also meant he could stop trying not to step on her feet (which was a far harder exercise than he could ever have anticipated). It also had the very awesome added bonus of bringing food into the picture.
He took her hand shyly, and led her carefully around the other people dancing to the snacks table. "May I get you a drink?"
She liked the weight of his hand in her hand again. She thought for a moment if she could hold his hand for the rest of her life she'd be perfectly content.
She nodded happily at his offer and stood with her hands folded over her dress while he negotiated the punch bowl. Hopefully it was still early enough not to have been spiked.
Bobby had the same concern about the punch, and after having poured one cup he brought it to his nose for a quick sniff. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about it, even though the only alcohols he was familiar with were ones he cooked with. Any change in ingredients in any concoction though changed something about the result though, he knew that from Potions. The punch seemed fine.
He sorted out a second cup and brought it to Jools, making sure not to spill any. "It's all clean," he assured her. "I don't think the drink-spikers have rolled out of bed yet."
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