Shoshanna Fischer (nervouslion) wrote in caged, @ 2013-10-14 09:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-10, [ log ], shoshanna fischer, wayne hopkins |
WHO: Shoshanna Fischer and Wayne Hopkins
WHEN: Monday morning at breakfast
WHERE: The Great Hall.
SUMMARY: Dessert exchange awkwardness.
RATING: G
STATUS: Completed Log
Shoshanna wasn’t exactly sure what had happened last night with Wayne. A part of her thought it could be flirting, but another, more rational part of her, thought it was probably just Wayne being nice. After all, it was her birthday. People were generally nice to you and offered you sweets on your birthday. She was likely reading far too much into it. That didn’t stop her from taking special care of her appearance the next morning. Or, to be more precise, trying to take special care. She’d probably tested out four different hairstyles before settling on her usual ponytail. She’d also borrowed some lip gloss from Olive, but it had been the blood-flavoured one from the monthly club, and she quickly wiped it off. Even with all of her delays, she still made it to the Great Hall at the start of breakfast, carrying the piece of cake on a small plate. She looked over at the Hufflepuff table and quickly located Wayne. She took a deep breath and approached. “Hullo, Wayne,” she said, balling up her free hand to keep it from shaking as she took a spot next to him, only facing away from the table instead of inwards. Wayne wasn’t entirely sure what had happened last night either, despite the fact that he had been to one to initiate that awkwardness. He’d only really intended to wish Shoshanna a happy birthday; although he did not know her well, he liked her and thought she was a nice person, so why wouldn’t he, really? Usually, he was far too shy to start up a conversation with girls outside of his own house, especially ones he admired as much as Shoshanna, but once he had started talking to her, one thing had led to another, and before he could convince himself not to, he was offering her sweets in exchange for birthday cake. Only after he’d shut his journal did he realise with horror that perhaps he’d bitten off more than he could chew, and he spent the remainder of the night fretting about how much he’d embarrass himself when he tried to talk to her in person the next morning. Nonetheless, he’d gotten up early enough to try to make his hair look less stupid and to mentally rehearse all the dumb things he was probably going to humiliate himself by saying, and by the time he’d gotten to the Hufflepuff table and taken his seat, he was pretty sure he was feeling more nervous than he ever had in his entire life. This was an exaggeration, perhaps, but it certainly didn’t feel like one. He was anxious enough that he’d forgotten completely that today was his own birthday. When Shoshanna arrived, he was trying his hardest not to tremble too noticeably. Wayne gave her an awkward smile, then stared at his hands. “Hi, um. Hello. I mean, um. Good morning, Shoshanna. I, uh - happy belated birthday. I’m sorry it’s late.” he said, then offered her the large box of chocolate frogs that he’d stuck an impromptu bow on along with a handmade card. Shoshanna was touched by the handmade card - really, he didn’t have to do that. It was just nice of him to give her the chocolate frogs, let alone a card. And a bow. She put the cake down on the table and took the present, looking slightly bewildered but pleased at the same time. She swallowed hard and tried to think of something to say. Parvati or Lavender would have known something brilliant, but she had been too embarrassed to ask them about this sort of thing. “Thank you,” she finally came up with, after a long few seconds of silence. That was a good start. Now she needed a second sentence. “You really didn’t have to, you know,” was what she finally came up with. Not the best follow-up ever, but certainly preferable to sitting in awkward silence. Despite his best efforts, Wayne let out a nervous titter. “It’s uh, it’s nothing, really. I wanted to. Thank-you for the cake - this looks delicious!” he said, picking up the plate, partially because he wanted to look appreciative, and also partly because he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with his hands that wouldn’t look silly. He, too, was silent as he tried to figure out what to say next. No-one had ever accused him of being a smooth talker. “I hope you like chocolate,” he said finally, and probably needlessly. “Did you, uh, did you have a good birthday - the rest of it, I mean?” “Oh, I love chocolate!” Shoshanna said, answering quickly. A bit too quickly, actually. She was just so pleased to have something to say that she’d blurted it out. Her cheeks started turning red a moment later. Really, she was being ridiculous. She couldn’t even carry out the simplest of conversations. “But yeah, my birthday was nice,” she said, trying to get back on track. Not that she knew exactly where this conversation was going. “I’ll tell my mum you liked the cake,” she added, even though he hadn’t yet said he liked it yet. He hadn’t even tasted it yet, she realised. “That is, if you do like it. I mean, it’s good. I’m sure you will. But still, I’ll wait to hear from you before I tell her.” “I’m glad you had a nice birthday. That’s great. That’s really great,” Wayne said, smiling. Perhaps he was smiling too much. Was he making a weird face? Merlin, he hoped he wasn’t making a weird face. Fortunately, other than these face worries, he was actually beginning to feel as though perhaps this wasn’t the most mortifying conversation he’d ever had. That was good. This was good. He was going to be okay. “I love the cake,” he said quickly, before he’d even tried the cake, and with that, all his confidence came crashing down yet again. Wayne immediately realised his error, then picked up a fork before correcting himself, “I mean, I expect I’ll love it. I don’t see how I couldn’t. It looks wonderful.” He picked up a forkful of cake and put it in his mouth. “Oh, wow. This really is brilliant. Please tell your mum it was lovely, and thank-you. I mean, thank-you, too, because it is your birthday cake, and you saved it for me, but I uh. Well.” Wayne cut himself off in mid-ramble and ate more cake, simply to keep himself from speaking more. It really was an incredibly tasty treat, and he felt bad that he couldn’t enjoy it more, anxious as he was. Shoshanna nodded, just starting to realize how odd he was being. Before she’d been so wrapped up in trying to make sure that she wasn’t being awkward that she’d hardly noticed that Wayne was being awkward, too. In some strange way it made her feel a little bit better, although it also made her feel a little bit sorry for him. She knew just how he felt. “Oh, good,” she said, finding it a bit easier to talk now. “I’ll definitely tell her that. And you’re welcome. And thank you, too.” Hadn’t she already thanked him? She was beginning to wonder if they were stuck in an infinite loop of ‘you’re welcomes’ and ‘thank yous’. She bit her lip, trying to think of something else to say, but nothing came to mind. “Well, I should probably go eat,” she said, pointing to the Gryffindor table. Nevermind she wasn’t the least bit hungry right now. Half the time she skipped breakfast, anyways. “Thanks again.” Dammit. Wayne was secretly a bit relieved when Shoshanna concluded their exchange, not because he hadn’t enjoyed talking to her, but because he felt as though he was the worst at talking to her. Hopefully, she would forget about how awful he had been soon enough. “Yeah, I’ll just uh, I’ll probably just eat this cake. You’re welcome. And thank-you. And uh, happy belated birthday,” Wayne said, mentally wanting nothing more than to bury his face into the table. This could have gone worse, he reassured himself, although he couldn’t really imagine how. |