Dax raised his eyebrows at Toko as he mentioned Fir, a frown taking the place of his easy-going grin. "Don't take it too seriously, man," he said. "Fir's kinda a hoe. He probably just wants to give your hair a makeover..." He paused as Toko looked quite uncomfortable.

"I'll keep 'im off ya," he said, noting mentally it wouldn't be that much of a chore provided Toko didn't mind having to follow him while he ragged on Dion to ask Sophie to dance.

He smiled at Toko again. "I'm glad you wanna come," he said, and meant it. Though probably not for the reasons Toko expected. "And don't worry, bro, I can keep Cuween under control." When in doubt, he could always lock Fir in a box or something.

Or spirit Toko away from the ball. Now that was a possibility. Yeah - he could take off with him and they could go be awkward by the lake or something.

He cleared his throat, curiosity getting the better of him. "What makes you think Cuween likes you ... that way?"

Annnd the blush was back. Grand.

“Oh, he…well. I—I don’t know, he. He’s weird. Like…talks about me like I’m a baby cat or something.” Being called ‘cute’ was one thing, having that drawn out into some annoying coo was annoying as hell. Being ‘smooshable’, ‘glompable’, whatever was way different than just being called fu—

“Stares at me and stuff. And…yeah. He and that Quinn chick were painting Fauna’s face in the common room a couple days ago and he like. Nearly peed on himself when I came in and played with my sodding hair.”

Alright, that part had been way more enjoyable than he was letting on to Dax. And really, Toko was more jealous of Fir Cuween than anything else. He wasn’t ballsy enough to prance around Hogwarts decked out in eyeliner and glitter, and never would be. No matter how much he might like to. Didn’t mean he would.

Toko shrugged, and took to hopping up each stair like some kind of awkward rabbit to distract himself from the sinking feeling in his stomach. It was embarrassment, or…maybe he was feeling sick again. Probably both.

“Whatever. He’s…he’s probably just making fun of me or something. Um. Thanks, though. Really.”

Dax scowled. "Let me know if he makes you uncomfortable, okay? It sounds like he's just being....well, Fir." He shrugged. "His idea of hello is be all like-" he grabbed Toko by the waist, swinging him up to the step Dax was on, and bent him backwards, bringing their faces close together. "Where have you and your gorgeous hair been all my life?" He did a fairly good imitation of Fir's voice.

"See?" he said, failing to hide the fact he was blushing - stupid impulses. "Fir's just...Fir." Since he was near the landing anyway, he picked Toko up and placed him on the landing before taking the last few steps in a hand-on-railing jump. "He either does that or he compliments your bod, man. Don't take him too seriously."

"Ohh and just to warn you - if you let him touch your hair he'll stalk you forever." He winked to show he was joking - though Fir was kinda nuts about hair. He was also talking a lot in a failed attempt to ignore what he'd just done. Or how easy it had been to do it - by which he meant how light Toko was, not how natural it had felt.

Alright, so. ‘Blushing’ didn’t cover this. He wasn’t ‘warm’ or ‘hot’, just. It felt like a nuclear explosion just overtaken his face. People grabbing him, and hauling him close, and getting all up close to his face so close he could have—

Jesus.

A gasp had jumped out of his throat and his legs felt quite a bit like jelly, after Dax set him done. It felt like his stomach had just upended itself,  that his heart was in his throat – really, it felt like all of his internal organs had just been very giddily rearranged. He staggered, just a bit, when his feet hit the ground. Stupid.

“D-Dax, I –“

want you to do that again.

really wish you weren’t just dicking around.

“—think I’m gonna be sick.”

What a charmer. But if there was ever a time for honesty, Toko guessed it was when you were about to upchuck. Getting flopped around like a ragdoll had twisted up his insides in both a physical and metaphorical sense. He scuttled back, spindly little limbs twined around his waist, a watery little smile still clinging to his lips.

“So I’ll…s-see you in class, yeah? Uh…maybe.”

Well, that wasn't the reaction he had been quietly hoping for, though for an instant it had looked like - but, well, no - trying that with a kid with a hangover had been a mistake. Damn. Dax frowned in a worried way and sighed, leaning on the top of the railing and pointedly not looking behind him down the stairwell.

"Sorry man. Forgot your stomach is all up-ended," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Go throw up, you'll prolly feel better, eh?" He added, more cheerfully than he felt.  He adjusted his bookbag and grinned again. "I'll seeya in class, man. Go throw up," he said as he absently adjusted his uniform to look a little less - well, mussed up. He tucked his tie back under his grey sweater and straighted the cuffs of his shirt as he walked  off down the hallway to the Divination room, feeling as he always did around Toko - odd. Very, very odd. He felt odd around Fir too but this was, well....different.

Once convinced Dax was gone and couldn’t see him, Toko’s meek little shuffles broke out into a straight up sprint. That…okay, that really wasn’t the best idea for his pukey-biley self right now, but it was better than vomming right there in the corridor. A bunch of pretty painted pictures yelled at him to stop bloody running in the halls, but…

He’d just have to apologize to them later. Preferably after this incident, after he’d had some juice, and after he’d taken a nap. He wouldn’t be able to speak too clearly with his hand clamped over his mouth, anyway. It was just Toko’s luck to do something immensely stupid the moment things started going well.

It was also just Toko’s luck that the moment it looked like he was going to make it, the heavy cherrywood restroom door flew out to greet his face.

Greeted his face right in the sodding nose.

It wasn't a good day for Dion, so far. But Divination with his brother was likely to make it better, since being around his boisterous brother always cheered him up.

Hah. Maybe in opposite land.

He finished washing his face; cold water always woke him up, though the standard fight in the showers earlier had helped too. He needed to start waking up earlier and making the trek to the Prefect's bathroom...Dax kept slowing him down in the mornings. The kid needed to grow up already.

He straightened his pristinely clean and neat uniform and, wiping his face with his handkerchief, he headed for the bathroom door and shoved it open. The door met resistance and so Dion pushed it harder in the fraction of a second before he realized it had hit a person.

"Son of a - are you alright?" he asked, stepping quickly around the door and standing above Toko.