InsaneJournal

[The scene begins here, with the below tags.]

Being literally stuck to your date's side for the entire night for fear of losing them among the Anonymous Crowd seems kind of lame, even for Isaiah Covington. He's trying very hard to play it cool (and mostly failing, but hey, Jacob seems ok with that?) and so at some point during the night, they do split up, with firm plans for where to meet up before midnight and the fireworks.

He approaches the spot maybe a little early. Sue a guy for being nervous, all right? And he's in luck, because it looks like Jacob is early too! He's so relieved at the thought that he doesn't even consider the option that maybe it's just a random person standing there by accident and not his date at all.

"Hello there," he says, smiling as he steps near. It's not the most suave thing, but it's not stuttering like he was doing at the beginning of the night. "It looks like we're running out of chances to dance."

They already have, sure, but part of flirting is sometimes not pointing out the obvious.

Casey Patterson does not 'take breaks.' Casey Patterson is only standing at the edge of the dance floor so he can scope out his surroundings for his next partner—someone who's probably hot, because even though literally everybody is having the same problem telling one another apart, he's still too stubborn to admit that the weird charms are playing with his ability to assess the goods his peers.

He doesn't recognize the voice asking him to dance, or the outfit, but he assumes they know who he is and that he's supposed to know who they are... and never one to admit that he's out of the loop, he plays along. "Nah, there's at least, like, three songs left." He made up that number. He also didn't quite catch the subtleties of the TOTALLY FAMILIAR PERSON's flirting. He does, however, hold out his hand.

Three songs? Maybe. Isaiah isn't exactly a pro at judging dances. He's also not unwilling to dance all three, so he takes the other person's hand and guides him to the dance floor without argument.

Ooooh, Casey's not the leader? This could get interesting. If he learned anything from being approached by Diego that first time, it's that he can be into it.

He's an enthusiastic dance partner despite trying to work out (mentally, not verbally—that would be a sign of weakness!) who the heck he's dancing with. When the song finishes and it's announced that the fireworks will begin shortly, he's not willing to give up the mystery he now needs to solve. Nor does he feel like giving up the company.

"Balcony?" ... Witty banter isn't exactly his thing.

So the thing about Jacob is that he isn't the most...eloquent...of people. Not that Isaiah is maligning this! He's not going to claim that crown any time soon himself. The point is, 'balcony?' seems just about the level of what he might ask right now, especially if he's eager. Which Isaiah sincerely hopes he is, because 'balcony' probably means 'let's go outside and make out a little,' and Isaiah is very much on board with that plan. An exhibitionist he is not, but the balcony is relatively private, and...anyway he needs to stop thinking so much. No one else will know it's them anyway.

Unless the charm wears off while they're still out there, which...well, hopefully at that point he won't care so much.

"Balcony," he agrees, maybe a little too quickly for it to be suave, but hopefully Jacob won't be judging him for that at this point.

If Casey were anyone else he would grin; instead he smirks and takes the other boy's hand this time, leading him out to the balcony. Does the phrase 'Why is this mysterious stranger so eager to escape to the balcony with me, a stranger?' pass through his mind? Hardly. It's more like, 'Casey Patterson, doin' it right.~'

Isaiah isn't nervous, exactly. They've kissed before. Maybe it's backwards, that the kissing came first and the first date later (well, to be fair, falling in and out of intense, potion-based love came first, but that's hardly fair to count,) but it's working so far and at any rate, there's no need to be nervous about the kissing when they've done the kissing. Still. This is their first actual...anything that could be termed a date. And he's trying to be cool, and not stay in his head the whole time. Right. Right.

In the interest of not overthinking it or giving into nerves, he tugs the other boy close to him as soon as they've made it out of sight of the main doors onto the balcony and leans in to kiss him, hoping that the atmosphere is romantic enough that this doesn't seem pushy. Or that Jacob doesn't care regardless.

Casey makes a quick mental list of 'People Who Want To Kiss And/OrMake Out With Me When I Shouldn't Kiss And/Or Make Out With Them,' decides that there are zero people on it, and reciprocates, wrapping his arms around the other's waist. This is not a bad way to end a single dance, no sirree.

Huh.

Part of the whole 'we've made out several times now despite not having been on a date' deal is that Isaiah is pretty sure he knows how Jacob kisses, more or less. Not that he's complaining about that! It's great! But something feels...off, here. Maybe it's too aggressive, though really, he literally just leaned in and started going to town himself, so he can't say much in that regard. Maybe it's the leaning itself? Something in the height ratio or...something. it just doesn't feel quite right, and it's enough to give him pause, make him pull back and study his partner's face.

Which doesn't help much. Apparently it's not quite midnight yet and the spell is still in effect. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe the charm that's effecting his ability to recognize Jacob's face is also effecting his ability to recognize other things?

With a sigh, Casey's shoulders slump eeever so slightly. What the fuck is it with people at this school and not knowing what they want? "What?" The second word is maybe a little more forceful than he meant it to be, and to his credit he does realize as much. He continues a little less insistently, "Something wrong?"

That doesn't sound like Jacob, either. Not that Isaiah really knows his makeout-friend-boyfriend-person all that well (oh Merlin, he doesn't, does he?) But...yeah. This isn't right.

"Maybe?" he offers, an unsure, deeply uncomfortable answer that belies itself: if he was positive something was wrong, he'd already be gone, but he's still hedging around certainty, afraid his own awkwardness has betrayed him. "Are you...do you think something is wrong?"

"I think you're starin' at me like something's on my face that's not a mask," Casey replies. He didn't initiate anything (again) yet he still feels like he's in the wrong just for being here, and he can't tell why. That's an uncomfortable feeling. Feelings are uncomfortable. "Why?"

The accent is wrong. That's what it is, Isaiah realizes with sudden and startling clarity. Or part of it. Either way, it's enough that he starts to feel a little sick to his stomach.

"I think I. Uh. Made a mistake," he explains, sounding a little desperate and a lot pathetic to his own ears. "I'm sorry?"

Those words cause Casey's hands to fall immediately from the other boy's waist. Again?! What the fuck did he keep doing wrong?! He raises his hands to show his innocence (in what, Casey? You're not on trial.) and shakes his head. "Whatever, bro." His tone is more defensive than it needs to be but he doesn't notice. "Whatever."

"I really am sorry," Isaiah protests, because he feels terrible now. "I thought you were...someone. But now I'm pretty sure you're not." Pretty sure. Mostly. If he's wrong...Merlin. This is awful. This is why he has avoided big dances and parties and dates his whole life.

"Oh yeah, you sound real sure." Casey's defensive tone becomes sarcastic as he crosses his arms. He isn't exactly sure why he's starting to feel angry, but he does—he's confused about the whole situation but refuses to admit he's confused. Obviously this other guy is just, like, a total idiot. Obviously.

"If we're gonna stand around 'n waste our time like this I'm fuckin' out." He means 'waste our time awkwardly arguing over my identity' but it comes out way closer to 'waste our time not making out'; Casey's working on his tone. It's a long process.

"If I were..." Isaiah starts, but no, he probably wouldn't actually make out with a random stranger even if he wasn't involved. He's participated in a few rounds of spin the bottle this year, but even then he at least knows who his partner is. He shakes his head and course-corrects. "I'm...involved. With someone who I actually like a great deal. You were...where I thought he would be, and I made a mistake, and I am truly, genuinely sorry to have marred your evening. If I could make it up to you, I would. I just...don't know how that would be possible. I'm sorry."

Not that Isaiah can see it with the funky charms, but all Casey does for a few seconds is blink at him as he processes what he's been told. He... isn't in the wrong? Unlike last time, he didn't say or do something he wasn't supposed to do?

... SICK!

Absolved of guilt and uncertainty, his face breaks into a grin. He's BLAMELESS! He slides in dangerously close to the face-blind stranger to chirp, "Not a bad mistake though, right?" before getting out from his face.

"uh," Isaiah says intelligently, totally taken aback by this reaction. It's kind of a bad mistake, in that he wanted to spend his evening making out with Jacob, not consumed with guilt over having kissed someone else. But. Saying so would be deeply unkind, surely. "I...mistakes are by definition bad? But it...could be a lot worse, yes?"

Yeah, that was terrible. Damn it.

That makes Casey laugh, mostly because he doesn't have any of that guilt running through his brain. Innocence is a dangerous thing for him because it actually gives him to gall to try and see what could happen. "So like, you're involved. Cool. Sick. Is it, like, a mutual thing or like..." He gestures as he speaks, trying to show the difference between 'open relationship' and 'not.' It's a poor attempt, and he gives up quickly in favour of being direct. "Wanna make out?"

"I very much hope it's mutual," Isaiah says earnestly, though he can feel his face heating up beneath his mask. Thank Merlin for obscuring charms. "Please don't be offended. If I weren't, I...ok, if I weren't involved this wouldn't be an issue because there's no way I'd have gotten up the courage to make a move on anyone tonight, but. That aside. Maybe? But no. Because I'm involved. Like I said. Too many times now. Shit, I'm sorry."

"So, like..." Casey leans away from the other boy, trying to assess his body language. The charms make it nearly impossible. Just to make sure... "No?"

"No," Isaiah replies, managing to be firm this time. "No. No offense. It's not about you. Really." He rakes a hand over his head, trying desperately not to fidget. It doesn't work. At all.

"Chill." Casey isn't crazy about the turn that 'no' took and he takes a step back. "Bro, it's cool. You can, like. Stop. I'm just makin' sure." Of course, the 'no' had also confirmed his suspicions: that there was now fuck-all reason to be out here on the balcony with this rando, and he had nothing to do. And he doesn't like having nothing to do.

"'Kay, well, this was sick." He gives the confused stranger a smirk before he bails, and bails he does, back to the dance floor.