-- IF ONLY THEY KNEW [Ashton]

Suits were a bit of a difficulty for Ashton, mostly because they were not things he was used to wearing. He was a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy, all laid-back and no class whatsoever. He didn't really have a problem with them, per say, it was more like they had a problem with him. Like this one and the damned tie. He hated ties, that much was decided right then and there. He tried to remember what his father had taught him but it still took a while of fumbling before—"Aha!" he exclaimed triumphantly—he managed to get it right. Frowning at his expression in the mirror, he realised just how strange he looked when he was all dressed up. To himself, at any rate. He was such a leisurely person that this was unlike him. Oh well! He looked pretty good, if he did say so himself, and there was an upside to the fact that he didn't have to worry about short dresses flying up or breaking his ankles in heels like the girls did. Girls like Lark, whom he'd invited to be his prom date. He couldn't just not go to prom. The leaders were expected to go (they didn't have to, but they were expected to) and he wasn't going to show up without someone with him. Ashton didn't mind being single but you looked like a loser if you didn't at least bring a friend. He wondered what people would think of the whole "Earth and Fire" thing, though the fact that the two of them were of the same alliance was certainly going to help. He hoped. Hell, he really hoped. No need to make a scene at prom.

Besides, it wasn't like they were dating. He supposed there would be talk about that but it happened whenever a guy was seen with a girl so it was no big deal. He had gotten ready in his room and so once he was all ready he headed downstairs to wait for Lark. "Hey, handsome," his mother joked, causing Ashton to duck his head and laugh. "My god, Mom, don't." He knew she was only playing around as mothers tended to do. It had been cute when he was in middle school but even Ash got that flush of embarrassment when his parents said or did something like that now. "So you and Lark, hmm?" Analynn leaned across the kitchen table she was sitting at, hands clasped together and elbows propped on the wooden surface. "Me and Lark, huh?" he shot back, smiling. "We decided to go as friends 'cause neither of us had a date." Dustin seemed unperturbed by this news, since Ashton had already been over this with him, but Ana had that motherly look of mischief in her eyes. What was it with parents? He met a girl and they were immediately all over him with the teasing. They'd done it with nearly every female friend he had so far, including Nell. They'd laid off the latter when he'd pointed out, "Guys, she's engaged! I don't want to die, thanks!" He didn't have romantic feelings for his fellow Earth and even if he did, there were people who wouldn't appreciate his interception. Like her fiancé. Lark was more on the market but she was a friend, nothing more. For now.

He blinked when Lark met him downstairs, realising for the first time that he'd never seen her in a dress before. His surprise probably registered on his face for a moment before he got over it and offered her a wide grin, bowing. "Thanks, I try." Ah, there was Ashton in all his usual dramatic flair. "You look great; where'd you get the dress? It looks good on you!" He was allowed to say that, right? Ashton was always the type to compliment his friends no matter what it was on. If a lady looked pretty on prom night he was going to tell her that straight up, of course he was. He tilted his head to get a better look at her shoes when she mentioned them, chuckling. "I guess there's a price to pay for looking nice, huh? At least they're not... boring?" He chuckled, referring to his own shoes which were plain, your typical dress shoes to match the suit. "At least you can take them off if it gets too bad," he mused, remembering how Hannoly had done just that almost the moment they got inside the hall. They'd went as friends, too, and they'd never actually ended up dancing together. Noly had been more interested in talking and eating food. Fine by Ashton! He didn't have two left feet but he was generally an agreeable person so if his dance partner didn't want to dance, he'd be up for whatever they did want to do. "Ready to go?" he asked. "I wonder what the hall will look like? It looked really nice last year... did you get a chance to see it?" His voice rose with the curiosity as he realised he wasn't sure whether she'd went last year. She'd been a sophomore and so there was a strong chance she hadn't gone.

Ashton's green eyes brightened slightly at mention of Nell, a mutual friend of theirs. He loved his fellow Earth dearly and he still regretted the way he'd treated her upon finding out about the trial. Briefly he wondered whether Lark knew or not but decided against asking. Some things were better left unsaid and it wasn't his place to share. "She's got good taste!" He'd never claimed to be much of a fashionista. In Ashton's opinion, if it looks good on you, you should wear it. He never understood complimentary colours or not wearing certain colours to certain events. Well, alright, he understood white on the wedding day and black at funerals but that was as far as it went. He was not oblivious to the fact that Lark would not meet his gaze but passed it off to simple awkwardness given the fact that they were two good friends going to prom together. It was a little awkward, sure. It had been the same way with Hannoly when he'd went last year and so he tried not to think too much on the subject. "I'm sure you'll be fine," he reassured her when she mentioned falling. Geez, is it really that bad? Being a guy, he'd never worn heels before. He wondered why girls bothered putting up with them when there was a risk of broken ankles. "Feel free to drag me down with you. Then they'll laugh at us both and we won't feel so bad." His tone was joking but in retrospect he really wouldn't mind if she did. Being embarrassed was always a little more bearable when you were not alone during your walk of shame. Or, erm, fall of shame in this case.

Lark looked at him at last, agreeing to his comment on being able to remove the heels. "That makes two of us." He smiled at her, hoping that his own lack of proficiency was a comfort. He wasn't great at dancing. Perhaps better than Lark, as he'd never seen her dance and vice versa, but certainly not that great at it. He knew the basics and that was it. "It's not too hard. I mean, it's not like they expect a tango, huh?" He laughed, always injecting humour into an awkward or uncomfortable situation to try and make everyone in it feel better. Jesus, if they expected teenagers to learn salsa or... well, any other form of dancing, really, there would be a lot more of a reason to be incredibly nervous at prom. He'd probably refrain from going if that were the case. But it wasn't and while it wasn't his favourite event of the year, Ashton could say with honesty that he wasn't dreading it. There was food, there were people, he had his friends, it'd be fine. He was surprised to learn that Lark had gone to prom the previous year, wondering if it had been a just-as-friends deal or whether she'd been in a relationship at the time. He didn't see it as anything of importance, though, and so the normally incredibly nosy boy was able to abstain from a barrage of questions. "Guess we'll find out!" He turned to jerk his hand in a wave to his parents, then went with Lark out to the car. She really did look good in her dress, he thought. He wondered vaguely why she didn't dress up more often.

Upon arrival at the dance, Ashton shivered slightly from the cold, chuckling at himself. "Really, why can't prom be during the summer?" He wasn't too upset about it, though, as it wasn't like Ashton to be bothered by much of anything. The moment they got into the crowded mess hall things were much warmer and he relaxed, glad for the heat. He assumed it was the work of some of the Fire professors or something. It was much more reliable than trying to heat the massive room through other methods. He got a little deja-vu when they went over to one of the tables immediately but it was altered when Lark didn't insist upon sitting down or anything like that. Maybe she would actually want to enjoy prom the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with dancing and all that. Ashton also greeted their allies, though with a grin and a, "Hey, guys!" instead of a wave. He wasn't shy about the fact that he'd brought Lark, though he'd be lying if he said that it didn't cross his mind. What they were thinking, how they'd react. They didn't seem to mind. It was a good sign. "Whatever you want, I'm not picky," he said brightly. "There's food, we could track down our friends, there's dancing..." He grinned at the last bit. "I mean, if you think we'd survive that last one in combination." Did he ever stop kidding around? I think not.

Ah, Lark knew him well already. Not that it was hard, of course, being that he presented himself as an open book. Ashton would certainly trail Lark all the way to the medical wing if she pretended to be ill just to get out of it. Not out of suspicion but out of concern. He tended to take everyone at face value, believe them without incident unless they gave him a strong reason to doubt them. "I don't think either of us wants to end up there. You'll be fine, don't worry." He flashed an optimistic smile, seeming to believe it. Lark wasn't stumbling around like a drunk in her heels and that was a good sign. He hoped that she didn't go over on her ankle, though, because he'd bet that it would be pretty painful. "Hey! I don't stomp!" His defensiveness was fabricated and it was not hard to tell. "At least you can walk in them! I'd have fell flat on my face already. You've got skills." He laughed, joking skill, though he really did commend anyone who could manage to walk ten feet in heels without at least wobbling in their stride. They looked so uncomfortable, so unsteady. He liked the flatness of his own shoe, the fact that he didn't need to think about balancing. And heels hurt, too. Really, Ashton would never understood what girls put themselves through. Weight loss, heels, make-up... he threw on a nice suit and he was fine. Then again, Ashton was a pretty easy-going and laid-back guy.

There was something they had in common, at least! Ashton loved having things in common with people, a level ground that they could walk on together. "Right? I'd steer clear. Us and the rest of the school, probably." He chuckled at the thought. Not a lot of teenagers could dance in the professional sense. It was funny to think that a lot of them were good at the sort of dancing that was done in clubs and that was of course banned at prom. Did they listen to the restrictions? Course not. Some of the kids showed up buzzed so that the alcohol could give them a little extra fun, some snuck stuff in if they could manage it, and practically everyone ignored the rules. That was fine by him. He was so relaxed that it was hard to find anything that would phase him. "My favourite thing about winter is snowboarding, really. I can't wait to hit some of the slopes!" There was excitement in his voice at the mere thought. "You still wanna come with if I do? The offer still stands!" He loved bringing his friends along on whatever he happened to get up to. He remembered her telling him she'd show him a thing or two about surfing in return. It was probably best to wait until the summer for that, he thought. "Colder than I thought it would be. Good thing it's warm inside since we never brought jackets." Ashton was the sort of guy that would offer his own if any of his friends needed it but then, that was sort of hard when you didn't have one.

He could tell that Lark was a little nervous but Ashton could not properly gauge the extent of her dancing stage-fright. Reading people was not easy for him. In being an oblivious person that took everything for what it was at first glance, this was a difficult venture. "Well do you want to dance?" She said she was up for anything that Ashton wanted to do but they reached a problem in the fact that he was feeling the exact same way. He was fine with doing anything at this point. "I won't ask you to if you don't want to, really! It's whatever you want." He sounded genuine, honest. (Least he hoped he did, because that was how he was feeling). The fact that Lark had said she couldn't avoid it forever made it almost sound like a bad thing to him, which was confusing. "I can't tell whether you're saying yes because you're really okay with it or because I want to," he admitted with a laugh. "My date last year didn't want to, so we didn't. I'm really okay with anything." His date had also been a friend then. Maybe that made it a little more awkward or something? Eh, hell if he knew.

His bright gaze lit up when he thought of the talent that might exist within the school. Ashton always loved to observe and praise other people in their skill. It was fun and it made people feel good which, to him, was motivation enough. "Maybe if any of the dance students came together?" Hush, Josh Ashton knew that a lot of the kids who were in dance were in it because they wanted to be dancers but he didn't know if any of them would take each other as dates to prom or whether they'd use the school event as a way to show their stuff. He almost hoped so. It would be cool. They could grab snacks from the table, dinner and a show. He grinned when Lark expressed a desire to come with him on his next snowboarding expedition. He couldn't often find people who would so it was nice to see she was still on board. "Great!" he said enthusiastically. "The hills I usually go to have a good place for beginners. No trees or difficult jumps or anything like that. And then there's the pro hills." He laughed on 'pro hills', kidding. "I could show off my awesometastic skills." He wasn't bragging. Ashton was just being his usual silly self. Ashton was probably better at snowboarding than a lot of people thought. He was modest about his skills. It was one thing he was really, really good at. Like Lark and her music or surfing. Ashton had gardening and snowboarding. "Sounds awesome! I can't wait!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them for a moment as if anticipating.

When Lark's voice wavered slightly upon speaking, even the ever-oblivious Ashton couldn't help but to notice. He felt bad for the fact that she felt nervous despite the fact there was nothing he could do to calm those feelings. "You won't," he promised her despite the fact he couldn't predict the future. Ashton was pretty confident there was nothing Lark could do to sabotage the dance. "You're not wearing heels so if you step on my foot it'll still be intact in the morning. What could go wrong?" His light laugh coloured the air again. Always joking, always lightening the mood. Some people felt better when there was someone who took nothing seriously or made light of everything in the room. Others got offended by his attempts at being funny but you couldn't please every crowd. He tried to make his friends happy and that was that. "Really, Lark, if it was that difficult I wouldn't try it either." Ashton might have been okay with people laughing at him but that didn't mean he'd purposely set himself up for failure. If it happened it happened but he was just going to be his usual, positive self and hope that it didn't happen. She still wouldn't look at him but her words were reassuring and his smile widened. "Good!" It would suck if she held it against him.

It was nice to finally have consistent eye contact and this reassured him as he grinned. He was glad that Lark was okay with dancing and all because it would be sort of awkward if she hinted that she wasn't comfortable with him. It wasn't like they were dating but he didn't like to make any of his friends uncomfortable. Really, Ashton spent most of his time trying to impress people or make them feel good about themselves. About him. He followed her onto the floor, which was already filled with dancing couples and groups of friends chatting and laughing, and noticed that she'd averted her gaze again. Why does she keep doing that? He kept wondering if it was his fault, if he was doing something to make her feel uncomfortable, but the fact that Lark was saying otherwise put him off the idea after a moment. She put her hand on his shoulder and he hesitated only briefly before putting his on her waist. He didn't know what position she preferred Really? Again? so he figured he would just go with the flow. He'd danced with girls before but there was always that moment of awkward when you tried it with someone new. "It's not so bad, right? At least I'm not expecting to dance the tango with me." And there he was grinning again, joking again, a soft chuckle brushing past his lips.

Ashton nodded to her question about the slopes, grinning broadly. He was easily cheered and talking about snowboarding on a day that had already been going pretty well (if he did say so himself) was more than enough to lift his spirits. "The resort I usually go to has a terrain park, too," Ashton said with obvious excitement. "I love trying out all the tricks. I fell a lot in the beginning but I'm better at it now." He'd sprained his arm during one such fall and his mother had practically demanded that he stop the sport. It had taken a lot of begging and support from his father before she'd let him go up into the hills again. Ashton was persistent when he found something that he actually got a lot of joy from. Like gardening, which, lo and behold, she also disapproved of. He had a feeling she wanted him to be into Math and Science, English even, graduate and get a good degree so he could make a name for himself and the family. Ash, however, well, he just wanted to have fun. He grinned when Lark mentioned swooning over him, totally missing the actual implications of this. She was lucky he was so consistent with missing the obvious. Ashton figured she was joking around and didn't realise that she 'swooned' a lot more than he was aware. "A good boarder always needs his fans, yeah?" Grinning, always grinning. "Awesome! Can't wait!" Surfing looked fun, he was excited.

He wasn't too worried about Lark's ability to damage his feet, at least not since she'd ditched her heels, and so Ashton just chuckled easily when she spoke. "Monster heels, huh? Well, at least they weren't stilettos. Then we'd both need to be worried!' Ashton about Lark impaling his foot and Lark about going over on her ankles, that is. It was easy for him to make jokes when there was no real threat of either thing happening. Hell, knowing Ashton it would have been easy even if he did have something to worry about. He joked when he was happy, sad, nervous... pretty much everything but angry, and that wasn't an emotion he felt often. His anger usually lasted five minutes tops and it took a lot to rile him up. His fuse was probably the length of the wall in China. Long and slow-burning. "Light as a feather, I bet. It might tickle rather than hurt!" Tickling was okay. He could deal with that. He was kidding though. It probably wouldn't tickle but he also doubted that it would hurt. She was pretty light. Looked it, anyway. Lighter than him. "These shoes are thick as bricks," he exaggerated, wiggling his foot for a moment in explanation. "Someone could drop a wrecking ball on my foot and I probably wouldn't feel a thing." That was a lie but at least he didn't try to hide that fact.

He couldn't miss the sudden pressure on his shoulder when he put his hands on her waist and he twitched his lips at her almost uncertainly. "You alright?" What he was really asking was if she was okay with this, though it sounded a little strange to phrase it as such. He felt bad for how nervous Lark was compared to his relative confidence. He wasn't good at dancing but he wasn't bad at it either. "Only by a little," he assured her. "I've done it before so it's not too hard. You'll get used to it, I'm sure." She wouldn't have prom to go to next year, of course, but there were always other events where dancing was expected. "Nothing like my snowboarding skills," he agreed. He loved hitting the slopes. He couldn't necessarily say that he loved dancing but if he'd hated it he wouldn't have offered to dance with Lark or even to come to prom at all. He could always have faked sick to get out of his leadership duties, problem solved. "Just last year," he said, smiling. "I was still leader then so they wanted me to show, and my friend didn't want to go to prom without a date. So we went together." He missed Hannoly. He wondered where she'd went but he'd stopped calling after the first few times. Given up. He was used to people walking away. Sad but true. Hey, he'd gotten over it. "I'm guessing same for you?"

The knowledge that Lark was ticklish was not exactly surprising, being that a lot of people were, but it was kind of cool to find out little facts like that about his friends. Things he didn't know before, new knowledge for conversations. Ashton would love to sit down with someone and just listen to them spill out their entire life story because the Earth elemental was fascinated with people and what their lives were like. It wasn't that he found himself boring or unimportant but as he already knew everything there was to know about his own life, the lives of others were considered pretty freaking cool in his books. "I'm a little ticklish too," he admitted with a grin. Common ground was always interesting. Something to relate on was always a fun thing when getting to know people. Lark couldn't be considered a 'new' presence in his life but they hadn't known each other as much as some. "Maybe not as much as you, though." The good thing about Ashton was that he did not think to test it out, didn't think to make Lark embarrassed or uncomfortable by tickling her relentlessly. It was considered annoying to a lot of people and if she was extremely ticklish then she probably didn't like it much. Especially if she'd prefer crying over tickling. That suggested a distaste. He wasn't a mean guy even when it came to tricks and practical jokes. That's why you're not a water, he reminded himself. His grandmother had pointed that out to him once. "Hopefully you don't have to cry or get tickled, huh?" Still smiling, still seeming completely at ease with their situation.

He noticed the blush, too, the way that she moved her gaze away from his and looked embarrassed. There was a stammer in her words as well and Ashton almost didn't know what to make of it at all. What was so bad about this? His first thought was that he was doing something wrong but that didn't seem right, especially when Lark was insisting that everything was fine and that she really didn't mind the dancing. So then... what? The only time he'd ever had a girl get this awkward around him was when—Ohh. The realisation was immediate, the thought slow, and then the boy found himself feeling a little sheepish. She liked him, didn't she? Lark actually liked him, and not in the sense of just friendship. Suddenly it made sense. The way she wouldn't look at him, how she froze up when he touched her, how she blushed and looked flattered when he complimented her. She freaking liked him. How long had it been going on before it finally came to his attention? I'm an idiot, aren't I? The thought wasn't distressed, more exasperated and amused. He didn't know what to do with this newfound information right away and so the Earth graduate just broadened his smile a little. I'm okay with this. He was fine with her liking him. She was pretty, she was nice, aaaand if he continued down this thought process much longer he was going to be the blushing one. For the sake of not making an awkward moment even worse he decided to think on it later. Enjoy the night for now. "Yeah, it's a lot of fun," he said brightly. "I don't see anything bad about it at all." As long as they meant nothing by it.

After the dance was over, Ashton lingered for a moment before taking his hands back into his own possession and continuing to smile. He never stopped, this kid didn't. "My toes are intact, mission accomplished!" Grinning again. Chuckling. Being silly like he always was. Nothing had changed despite the fact that his mind was now whirring with a bunch of jumbled thoughts about Lark. He hid them surprisingly well behind his mask of cheeriness, which was not really a mask considering his mood was just as good as ever. "I'd wiggle them but you couldn't see." He could try pulling off his shoe for the sake of it but it had been kind of hard to get the damn thing on in the first place. They were pretty tight. They didn't hurt nearly as much as heels probably did, though, so Ashton was not complaining. The mess hall was pretty hot thanks to all the people and dancing so he exhaled a little and looked longingly toward the beverage bar at the back of the hall. "I'm gonna go grab something to drink," he said, gesturing toward the table and then leading the way. He took water instead of the punch or soda, because it would quench his thirst a lot faster. It was hard to chug things that were carbonated because the bubbles got in the way. He could chug the water no problem, though, and he drank half the bottle down before he pulled it away from his lips. "Thank god for that," he breathed. "That was fun though, huh?" He looked at Lark expectantly, wondering if she'd agree.