[Dahliental ~ Carnival] Take a bite of my heart tonight ~ [Mel]

Prosper tripped over his back step and knocked over a couple of glasses that someone had left in the doorway. “Not good, not good,” he murmured to himself, shaking his head as if he’d just discovered that he’d lost a large sum of money. His usual cheeky, dramatic nature seemed to be emphasised by the alcohol he’d drunk. By now, it was fairly obvious to everyone that he’d had a lot to drink, even if he didn’t really think he’d had too much. The boy was lucky enough that none of his friends really teased him too much about the fact that he liked drinking sweet, fruity things (as oppose to manly drinks like whiskey and beer, or elegant fancy ones like expensive wine), and if they did tease him then he laughed it off. Prosper was a very prosperous boy, he thought with a goofy grin to himself.

The back doorstep led into a storeroom of sorts. It was connected to the house, so the room was open for people to go through to get to the downstairs bathroom. Prosper had tucked one of his deliciously alcoholic presents in the cupboard under the sink in here, so he’d come in now to retrieve it. The boy hummed along to the music that was playing in the background, checking out his reflection quickly in a small, unframed mirror on one of the shelves in the room. Out of fear that someone would break something (not an unfounded fear, either), his mother had packed away most of the things in this room and spelled the cupboard doors shut. Prosper gave his handsome curly haired friend a quick wink.

The Papillonlisse boy drew his wand from his coat with a silly flourish. He’d heard that it was a bad idea to do magic when drunk, but he’d only just turned seventeen and the boy was way too excited to listen to any advice that would prohibit him from enjoying these new liberties. Prosper had been unnecessarily apparating around the house all day. Who could blame him? Even now, the boy was pointing his wand at the cupboard below the sink and waved it around impractically. “Acio drink!” he ordered. Prosper winced as he heard the thud of heavy glass hitting wood. Huh. So the cupboard was locked. He’d probably locked it himself, now that he thought about it. The boy chuckled to himself and took a step forward. Manual seemed to be the only way to go.

The boy was distracted as a figure appeared in the doorway. Prosper hadn’t turned a light on when he’d come in here, so it was dimly lit. “Sneaky, sneaky,” he chided, raising his eyebrows as if he’d just caught a child stealing a cookie from a jar with his name on it. “How would you know where the expensive stuff is kept, pretty girl?” Prosper frowned in the dim light, trying to work out who it was. He stepped over to her and a smile broke out across his face. “Oh, Mel, it’s you!” he exclaimed. The curly haired boy took off his black top hat with a flourish and bent low to bow for the girl. In his head, he was on a stage. “Please forgive me,” he said quietly, straightening back up and holding his hands at his chest mock-sincerely. The boy laughed at his own antics and popped his tophat back on. In his bright red coat and darkly outlined eyes, Prosper did look quite dramatic.

Parties like this made Mel nervous. Not because of the people, really, because a lot of them were her friends, but more because of the things that went on. She was inherently naive most of the time, but she wasn’t completely stupid... or at least, she didn’t think so. Obvious things were, well, obvious and she could pick up on simple things. Like the fact that a lot of people had been drinking. Probably more than they should have. Even she felt a little odd, and she wondered why, because she hadn’t deliberately consumed any alcohol, anyway. Perhaps someone had ‘spiked’ the punch, as people seemed to be saying. Even so, Mel didn’t use wand magic, couldn’t apparate, and wasn’t old enough for either to begin with, so she supposed that everything would be fine.

During her time there at Prosper’s seventeenth birthday party, everyone she’d seen had been clothed so extravagantly and exuberantly in their circus costumes. She still felt a little immodest in hers, every so often hesitantly tugging at the clingy fabric of the snow tiger dress that her sister Nat had simply insisted she ‘had to wear’. Mel had disagreed, of course, but being so passive and rather weak-willed when it came to making people happy, she couldn’t have refused to save her life. The leather jacket covering her arms made her feel a little better. Not so bare. And thank Merlin the sixteen year old had been wearing a pair of boots and not heels, because if she was slightly inebriated as she half-expected, stumbling around on a pair of shoes she’d just recently learned to wear wouldn’t have exactly been flattering. Especially not around a bunch of older students.

She was headed back to the main part of the house after going to the restroom, and upon doing so, she had to cross through a storeroom of sorts full of cabinets and things in order to get there. The blonde skittered back slightly as she heard a crash, followed by some muttering from a voice that she distinctly recognized. If it wasn’t the birthday boy himself, after all. Her honey tresses bounced a little as she advanced further into the room, frowning, about to ask for help, and then he interrupted her almost-sentence with a drawling comment. Sneaky? She was only coming back from the bathroom... oh. Of course he hadn’t stopped to see who it was. Mel was beyond relieved when he cheerfully exclaimed something else, something with her name in it, and she smiled shakily in return, nodding. “Hi, Prosper. Happy birthday, again. I was um, only coming back from the bathroom... do you need any help?”

Her inquiry was genuine. If he needed help, of course she would help him. He shouldn’t be doing all the work on his birthday, anyway. She was confused again when he bowed, her brow furrowing slightly. What on earth...? The younger Papillonlisse went with it, smiling a little more firmly and nodding at his gesture. “It’s really no problem. It’s kinda dark in here, anyway.. you wouldn’t have been able to tell who it was at first glance.” He really did look great in his ringmaster’s costume. She supposed her fuzzy cat ears probably looked childish and paled in comparison. Unsure of what else to do, she stood about, crossing her arms to cover her chest and listening to the bangles on her arm jangle. It was much colder out here without all the people, something that she realized in full depth when she shivered lightly.

Do you need any help?

“Yes,” he answered immediately, a dramatically sincere expression appearing on his handsome face. “I do. I do need your help.” Prosper nodded solemnly, holding his hat on his head with one hand. “Un momento, Mel!” Prosper ignored her for a moment, brandishing his wand at the cupboard. A part of him was showing off, it was true. He didn’t even care. It was his birthday and he could legally use magic whenever he wanted now, so where was the shame in showing off? He chuckled to himself and thought, as hard as he could, Alohamora. He glanced at Mel again, holding a finger to his lips as a tiny click rang out from the cupboard. A delighted grin took over his face.

Realising that he didn’t have to go “manual” at all, Prosper summoned the elaborately decorated bottle that his uncle had given him for his birthday out of the cupboard again. He almost fumbled the catch as it flew into his hands, but managed not to drop it. Perfect. The boy held it out at arm’s length, making a show of reading the tiny gold label. Store in a cool place, drink with ice or neat blah blah… Prosper’s eyes slid right off of the words and returned to the girl in the room as if he’d forgotten she was there and was suddenly remembering for the first time. Huh. “Oh hey, Mel,” he said, giving her a quick smile. Prosper grabbed a couple of his mother’s fanciest glasses out of the cupboard too and unstoppered the bottle. “I really need some help,” he repeated, “Tasting this drink.”

He might have claimed that they were just tasting the liquid, but in his inebriation poured two full glasses. It took a lot of work on his part not to spill it everywhere. He stared at the glasses for a moment. The liquid seemed to be flecked with silver. It shimmered, even in the dim lighting. Prosper tilted his head to the side curiously and leant in close to observe it. There seemed to be some faint silvery-purpley stuff rising off of the surface of the liquid. Little wispy tendrils of mist. It was all very pretty, he decided. The boy went back over to Mel and steered her over to the counter with the drinks on it with a hand on the small of her back. He didn’t drop his hand when they got there, either. “It’s very expensive,” he told her quietly with a serious nod, “And I wouldn’t just share it with anyone.” This was partly true. Prosper decided that it couldn’t be classed as a lie.

He reached out and took his glass, holding it up for her to toast if she wanted to. Absentmindedly, the boy’s hand had moved from the small of her back to her waist, so he effectively had his arm around her. It was a light touch, and he hadn’t even noticed he was doing it. Prosper was a touchy feely person at the most sober of times, so why would now be any different? With his most charming smile, Prosper raised the glass to his lips and took his first sip. Mmmm. It tasted sweet, but not overly so. It wasn’t fruity and didn’t taste like lollies. His uncle had told him that it had a certain sweet flavour and shifted taste ever so slightly to match each drinker. The boy took a quick whiff of it before placing it back on the counter. He couldn’t detect the alcohol in it at all, even though it was very alcoholic. That was probably why it was so expensive. “So Mel,” he started, running his tongue over his bottom lip. The boy was amused. “Why are you in here, and not out there kissing pretty acrobat boys?”

She’d just about been ready to tell him that she would leave him be until he answered her question with a definite yes. Mel watched her friend fumble with his wand and resisted the urge to smile as he was seemingly lost in thought. She’d heard from others that wandless magic was quite difficult, so, watching him perform the spell without saying anything was impressive, indeed. Melusine couldn’t even cast Lumos most days, let alone perform wandless magic. She would never be able to. Her wand was basically useless, but, it was fun to play with when she was bored, at least.

As he busied himself, Melusine wondered whether he’d forgotten she was there. It had been a minute or so and she didn’t exactly know what to do other than stand there awkwardly, waiting for his answer on what he needed help with, and then he was magicking other things and catching flying bottles, full of... well, Merlin knew what. Probably not pumpkin juice, that was one thing she was sure of. Mel was naive, but she wasn’t completely daft... she didn’t think so, anyway. He was most definitely acting funny, but the Papillonlisse couldn’t find it in herself to make up some excuse like other people would have done and leave. Her friend needed help, however strangely he was behaving, and she would give it to him.

Prosper said her name out of the blue again and Melusine rotated her body a little to face him, widening her eyes. He... he wanted help tasting the drink? Mel knew that there had been things meant for adults in the punch, but not a lot, and to actually drink alcohol when she wasn’t supposed to, fully aware of what it was... she wasn’t sure. How would that help in any way whatsoever? Before she knew what was happening, the slim girl was being manhandled and lightly shoved over to the counter where the glasses full of the interesting liquid sat. The blonde swallowed hard, trying her hardest not to blush profusely at his hand on her back. She didn’t do these things with boys, she’d never really had a desire to, and she never really thought about it unless it was slapping her in the face, just like it was right now.

Expensive? Was he sure he wanted her to drink it with him? Melusine nodded, smiling back at him, half nervously. “Thank you, Prosper.” Even if she’d felt bad about the alcohol principle before, she would feel worse not drinking it, especially if he was saying things like ‘he wouldn’t just share it with anyone’. A slightly shaky, usually agile hand picked up the glass and toasted his gently, and she listened to the tiny clink of the glass against her friend’s. Here went nothing.

Following suit, Melusine put the ornate-looking glass to her lips and took a small sip. Her hazel eyes widened a little. It was absolutely delicious. She supposed that was a bad thing to be thinking about something that was technically illegal for a sixteen year old, but, there was a faint taste of her favorite sweet in it. How was that possible? She could taste the alcohol even less than she’d been able to in the … well, community punch bowl, or whatever it was called. “This is delicious,” Mel mused quietly, taking another slightly larger drink of her share.

How was she supposed to answer that question? She didn’t kiss boys. “Uhm...” She began, dumbly, pondering what to say. “I was just coming back from the restroom, I suppose, and I didn’t really notice how pretty they were, I suppose.” She murmured hastily, just loud enough for him to hear. What kind of answer was that? Surely he would think her absolutely silly.

“No worries!” He told her, waving a hand dismissively and offering a cute, dimpled smile. His movements were a little slowed and everything generally felt a little hazy and a little dopey, but it was fine. This was what happened when one drank copious amounts of alcohol, and Prosper was a total lightweight anyway. It was a happy daze, at least. When Mel went for her second sip, Prosper placed a finger under her cup and tipped it up a little, encouraging her to drink a little more. When she stopped drinking, he topped their glasses up again. “Magic alcohol. Genius, I know. I have no idea who came up with it, but it’s so clever.” The boy nodded eagerly, half to her and half to himself. His gaze drifted back to the pretty girl beside him.

“What’s wrong, Mel?” he asked curiously. Suddenly the curly haired boy wondered if he’d ever heard anything about the brunette kissing… anyone. Had there been any rumours about Mel with boys? It struck him that she’d probably never been kissed. What a bizarre thing. How old was she, sixteen by now? “…Don’t like kissing?” he asked after a short moment of thought. Sweet sixteen and never been kissed? A dopey grin graced his face again, with an element of knowing that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Obviously Prosper wouldn’t do anything against her will but… he cast a quick, surreptitious glance down her form… he also wouldn’t say no.

The boy’s fingers stroked up her side absentmindedly. “You like this song?” he asked, pointing up as if the music was coming out of the roof and raising his eyebrows expectantly. “Here…” Prosper took a step back and took the glass out of her hand, placing it on the bench beside them. He reached for her hand and pulled her over to him gently. This was nice. Dancing was fun. Mel seemed kind of surprised and doe eyed a lot of the time and sometimes she reminded him of Zoé. The boy lifted their hands up over her head and pushed her waist gently with his free hand, encouraging her to spin. He hummed along with the tune of the song and pulled her back in again against his chest. He could feel her body warmth through their clothes. She was pretty. Had he told her that already tonight? “You’re very pretty,” he murmured seriously, one hand pressing against the small of her back.

Prosper found his gaze had come to rest on her lips. They were standing very close. He leaned down slowly so that their noses barely touched, holding her little body against his chest. The seventeen year old was always so good at being caught up in moments, and this one was no different. As per usual, his attention was totally taken by the pretty girl in front of him. His eyes were dreamy and fixed on her lips. “Say yes,” he told her in a romantic whisper, as if they were secret lovers in a play or something. Prosper was about to kiss her, if she’d let him. Maybe he should have elaborated a little with his words. The boy reached up and caressed the girl’s cheek. Oh, the theatrics of it all. How thrilling. 

Magic alcohol. Yes. But… since they were wizards, weren’t there magical equivalents of everything? Magical books, magical clothes, magical writing utensils… the list went on and on. Magic alcohol was obviously the better sort--at least, better than any of the stuff she’d tried before. It was illegal for her to drink it outside of household residences, but she looked her age, and people that looked their age could always pass for a year or two older. Melusine couldn’t believe she was thinking such thoughts, especially since she’d been taught by the council that it was important to follow laws and doctrines, but a drink at a party with some good friends couldn’t hurt all that much, could it? Prosper tipping the glass back alarmed her a little bit, and she had to work not to let out a muffled squeak against the rim, narrowly succeeding.

“Nothing’s wrong at all, Prosper.” She assured her friend with a sweet, even though half-fabricated, smile. She didn’t want the small degree of discomfort she was feeling to ruin anything for him on his special day. The second half of his inquiry that she hadn’t known was coming threw her for a little bit of a loop. How was she to know whether she liked it or not when she’d never even participated in it? Oh, bother, what a thing to answer. She knew by now that there were such things as rhetorical questions, but since Prosper was a little… well, tipsy, it was difficult to tell what he’d meant by his question. His playful tone made Mel decide not to answer at all. It wasn’t like there was any reason for him to know, anyway, especially when she didn’t even know yet. Would she ever?

A blush colored the Papillonlisse’s cheeks when her companion’s fingers stroked up her side. She wasn’t wearing anything like a tanktop under the dress her sister had helped her ‘pick’, and it was practically like feeling his touch on her bare skin… but what was she supposed to do, be impolite and tell him to take his hand off of her? It wasn’t a completely bothersome sensation, really, just… foreign. “S-sure,” She answered off the hip, not really retaining what he’d said or even registering the tune that was playing from the speakers in the house. It was too blurry-sounding, if that was a thing, for her sloshy head to make out what it even was.

Before she knew what was happening, Melusine’s distraction--the glass--had been taken out of her hand and placed on a bench next to his, and they were doing something similar to dancing. Similar to because it was completely informal and neither of them were all that coordinated at that moment in time, so it was kind of just swaying. Swaying that involved their bodies being a lot closer than the sixteen year old was used to. Spinning when she was prompted, she listened to his words. Pretty? That was kind of him, but really not necessary. What good would compliments do in this situation? It was already much more intimate than she thought it was going to be initially.

However, the only correct thing to do would be to say “Thank you.” as she knew how to say so diligently. They might’ve even been the pair of words she’d uttered the most amount of times in her life. Even though they’d been close a few seconds ago, suddenly their noses were touching and Melusine’s brain was spluttering and stuttering on the spot. His breathy voice muttered something about saying yes, and a knee-jerk response elicited from the girl. “Um. Y-yes.”

Only after she’d said it did she realize what she’d been agreeing to, and her eyes went a little wider. Oh, goodness. No going back now. He’d think she was crazy!

“You’re very welcome,” he answered, amused by her strict politeness. The corner of his lips twitched into a small smile as he tugged her over to him. It struck Prosper that this was probably the closest a boy had ever been to her. She seemed a little nervous, but that was okay. The first time he’d kissed someone, Prosper had felt a touch of nerves too. Her inexperience was endearing and he couldn’t help but smile, just a little. She looked very cute all wide-eyed and unsure like that. The boy’s sparky grey eyes flicked up to meet hers, gaging her reaction to his proximity.

He was crowding her space. Overwhelming her with closeness and sweet words. That was how he saw it, anyway. She gave him permission and he moved forward, one hand coming up to tilt her chin upwards slightly. His other hand slid from her waist to the small of her back as he pressed his lips against hers. Prosper was caught in the moment, enjoying the pleasant, alcohol-fuelled daze he was buzzing in. After a moment, the boy deepened their kiss, parting his lips slightly and pulling her small body close to his chest. He slid his fingers into the girl’s hair, enjoying the sensation.

Some seconds passed and Prosper pulled back, ending the kiss with another quick peck. He rested his forehead against hers as a crooked smirk played across his lips. “How was that?” he murmured cheekily, trailing the hand at her back back to her waist. He shifted his weight back, putting an inch of distance between their bodies.