Earlier that evening she had shown up unplanned, with a bag. She'd knocked on the door loudly and all Lucina like, and then had asked him to come to a party with her. The knocking had scared him out of his wits (immature students had been running up and down the halls all night, screaming things like Trick or Treat and making monster noises), but he'd been happy to see her (especially since she was dressed like the most beautiful black swan he'd ever seen in his entire 17 years). Less happy when she asked him to come to a (totally low-key, no really!) party.
He wanted to make her happy, he really did. He'd been trying so hard lately. They'd gone on a handful of dates in the last weeks, and he had even asked her out for a few of those. Being around Lucina made being in public easier, but this?
In short, he'd said no. He couldn't bring himself to do it. His body felt frozen when he even thought about trying to mingle with bloody ghosts, and he would never admit it, but he was just as nervous about rainbow pony masks as he was about zombie ones. It was just the general "you have no idea who I really am" thing that freaked him out and made his palms sweat.
Lucina had been gone for a half hour, now. And Henri had spent that entire time pacing in his dorm room. He'd hated the disappointed look she'd tried to hide from her face, it made him feel like such a coward. He was a coward, but he hated proving that over and over.
Henri flung himself into a chair and grabbed at the bag Lucina had left behind. He reached in and pulled out a simple black mask. She'd planned for him to go as a masquerade guy. He had to admit he would get more use out of his suit (Lucina wouldn't let him wear it on dates anymore) if he just tried to go.
It took another half hour of Henri putting on his suit and taking it off and putting it back on, and taking off the tie, and putting it back on, and lacing the mask and taking it off and putting it back on before he finally left his dorm room. He felt a mixture of anxious pressure, self-hatred, and undying love for the girl he would do this for, as he walked through the now-deserted dorm hall.
Outside was not as bad as he'd imagined it. Most of the students were now making their way off campus, so he wasn't surrounded by a sea of anonymity like he was expecting. It was then, as he was trying his breathing exercises and avoiding looking at any passerby's too closely and listening to Lydia talk him out of running back to his room, that he saw Senna.