[b]"Tommy man, lighten up!"[/b]
[color=brown]"No."[/color]
[b]"Come on! You gotta try some!"[/b]
[color=brown]"I'm not even hungry."[/color]
[b]"Alright, but you're missing out."[/b]
Thomas and Finn walked down the busy hallway, the latter's exuberance exasperating the former. Of all the festival foods that he could've picked, Finn had in his hand a plate of roasted squid.
[color=brown]"I don't even like seafood."[/color] Thomas said said. [color=brown]"And didn't I ask you to do the culture clubs?"[/color]
[b]"Hey man, Japanese culture was built on the sea."[/b] Finn countered. [b]"Food's plenty cultural anyway."[/b]

Thomas shot a displeased look towards Finn who responded with an innocent smile. Thomas rolled his eyes and turned away, scanning the hall as they walked. The school festival, the culmination of months of planning and preparation. Some put more work in than others, and it showed. Be it shoddy signs, awry costumes or students desperately carrying supplies, while every class and club tried to some degree, some did so more than others. But even the worst stall was forgiven today, because this was a day of merriment, a break from their humdrum lives. A break Thomas didn't particularly need.

[b]"Hey Thomas, there's roasted corn over here!"[/b] Finn said, stopping to inspect one of the stands.
[color=brown]"Save it, Finn, I've got a job to do."[/color] Thomas asked.
[b]"Come on man, don't you want to enjoy this?"[/b] Finn protested.
Truth be told, Finn hadn't gone to many school festivals. He went when he needed to participate but otherwise he didn't really go if he didn't have to. In recent years he'd gone due to his role in the declining newspaper paper club, but it's not like he didn't want to go with his friends, it's just that the only close "friend" he had at the time was Finn... Alright, so maybe he didn't want to go after all, but there were other issues, like how he was short on money at the time. And how he was short on money right now.

Thomas shuddered as he caught a glance at the prices in the nearby stalls. They ranged from worryingly cheap to quite a bit higher than was reasonable. It was regulated, of course, but what was affordable for the standard Purple Crown student was a notably higher than what Thomas had.
[color=brown]"I'd rather not dig into my pockets anymore than I have to."[/color] Thomas said.
[b]"Don't give me that, I can pay for ya."[/b] Finn countered.
[color=brown]"The last thing I want to do is be in debt with you."[/color] 
[b]"Hey, that's harsh!"[/b] Finn said jokingly.
Thomas sighed wearily. He wasn't the type of guy who could stand exposure to Finn for that long.
[color=brown]"Don't you have somewhere else to be?"[/color] Thomas said. [color=brown]"I seem to recall giving you a job to do today."[/color]
[b]"I am checking out culture, Tommy!"[/b] Finn said playfully. [b]"I'm just going to check out the White Guild's display and I happened to meet you on the way."[/b]
Thomas couldn't exactly refute that. They walked on for a little longer, Finn voicing his observations and Thomas largely ignoring them, before they came to their destination. A large crowd was arrayed in front of them, surrounding one area of the floor in particular. The ivory mask's cafe.

[b]"Woah, look at this crowd!"[/b] Finn said, peering over the crowd.
Thomas hummed discontentedly before walking back to a nearby unoccupied window, close to a support pillar and a trash bin.
[color=brown]"What a pain."[/color] He sighed.
[b]"It's not too bad."[/b] Finn said, following him while biting into his roasted squid. [b]"We just gotta wait a while."[/b]
Thomas had sent the meeting place to the rest of the crew he'd asked to come, and it was fairly close to the designated time. It was early, but that would be a good thing. He had no idea when the black guild's display would emerge so he wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible. But speaking of invitations...
[color=brown]"...Finn."[/color] Thomas said.
[b]"Yeah?"[/b] The boy asked as he chewed the squid.
[color=brown]"Why exactly are you still here?"[/color]
[b]"Hey man, I told you."[/b] Finn said, finishing off the roasted squid. [b]"I'm here to see the cafe, and I just happened to meet a friend on the way."[/b]
[color=brown]"Well I see plenty of your friends in the crowd,"[/color] Thomas interjected, gesturing towards the crowd. [color=brown]"Why aren't you over there instead?"[/color]
[b]"Well I don't see any of [i]your[/i] friends over there, unless they have a mirror over there... Which they don't."[/b] Finn said, smiling mischievously. 
He walked over and smacked Thomas's back in a sign of friendship.
[b]"We're buddies, man. What'd you think friends were for anyway?"[/b] He said, grinning.
[color=brown]"I really can't deal with you sometimes."[/color] Thomas sighed, batting away Finn's arm.

And so they waited, killing time until the cafe opened.

[@Ryonara][@KoL] (sort of)