Closed Bringing the Blankets

[Vader Hume]

Vader had been stressed - of course he had. He hadn’t ever known how to not stress about things, and the part of him that stressed about the fact that he was gay was a lot quieter, it didn’t make anything else go away. He was still stressed about classes, about his exams, about accio, about working for evelyn formally as an intern. He just had a whole lot on his mind that caused him a whole lot of stress. So receiving the note from Ava that she was in the arts room, and armed with what she had instructed him to bring Vader was heading to the arts room. A part of him knew that doing this now would not be good that he would lose time to revise his OWLs and he would be behind, but it was Ava, and Vader always made time for her. Especially as she’d been so supportive of him, especially as she very likely wasn’t to be at the school in the next year. He didn’t want to imagine his school life without Ava and yet he of course wouldn’t stop her from leaving. He knew that if this helped her, he would be more than happy to support her and it just meant he had to spend time with her now. He walked into the room and smiled as he spotted her, ”Hey Helene, brought what you asked for,”​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

There had been so much going on lately. Ava was so confused. She needed some best friend time, immediately. She had just set her things down when she heard the voice in the door. "Timmy!" She chirped, smiling brightly, and held open her arms. "I need hugs," she pouted.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader smiled as he spotted Ava, he walked over to her and after setting down what he’d had in hand he reached out and gave her a hug. He certainly held her close, though they’d see each other over the break he knew that he would likely end up being busy, that she would end up being busy and they wouldn’t see each other nearly as much as they wanted to perhaps. ”You okay?” he asked after a moment pulling out of the hug. He knew that his best friend was struggling with a whole myriad of different thing and while perhaps this was just to be able to spend time with him, he didn’t want to make any assumptions to it, and wanted to be sure she knew he was there for her. Here to listen. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava sighed softly, hugging Vader back tightly. She grinned slightly when he asked what was wrong, shrugging and looking away. "Is it that obvious?" She asked, turning. "Lets just... build our fort, and then we can talk all we want." She offered instead, quietly hoping for a sleepover again. It was almost dinner time. Maybe she could get him to eat with her and cuddle the rest of the night. She turned, moving to start building their fort.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader smiled sadly at her, he knew that things were difficult for him, but that he was working helping them get better, and Ava still had so many problems. He knew their lives would’ve been a whole lot simpler if they’d both just been attracted to the other, but he knew he was grateful to be her closest friend, to be family more so than to be a partner. He pulled away as she began started on the fort. He nodded and then helped begin to set up the fort. With Ava this sort of thing was second nature, they’d been building such things for such a long while. When he was sure they almost had it. He sat down inside and smiled a little, it was easy to let his stress go a little when he was around her. He knew that he would go back to it later, he knew it would better for him to go back to it later when he felt a little less stressed. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled as the fort took shape, sighing in relief and crawling inside once it was ready. She sat crosslegged on her pillows, holding one in her lap. "Okay, I'm ready," She decided, trying to decide where to start and what to say. She opened a muffin, a nice gooey chocolate chip one, and took a drink of her pop before letting out a soft sigh. "Let's... start with you, though, how have you been?" She asked, turning to look at Vader.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader smiled as she sat in the blanket fort and then wanted to start with him. He smiled but let out a sigh, ”I...eh..,” he started, he looked to his hands, ”I’m still not sleeping great, between the stress of OWLs, and Accio I spend most of my night awake,” he said softly, ”And I guess in being honest with myself, has brought up a lot of old memories, so I’ve been getting bad dreams when I do manage to sleep,” his tone was quiet but he was being honest, completely honest with her about how he was. There were no jokes, or half truths, it was just how things really were currently for Vader. ”I spoke with Goku too, I apologised for freaking out,” he said with a little smile - it had gone better than he’d thought it would but he was sure he needed to work on some things with it too. But, he looked at Ava and gave her a shy smile. Though his sleep was still bad and he was still stressed he felt pleased and relieved that he wasn’t holding it all in any more. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava listened intently, smiling softly at him. She was relieved he was being honest with her and glad he had made up with Goku. "So what's up with Goku?" She asked. "Are you dating or taking it super-duper slow?" She stretched out on the blankets, holding out her arms. "Cuddle?" She asked. "I... know we can't do it next year, but maybe... we can have little sleepovers here a few times a week?" She asked. "You need your sleep, Vader. You seem to sleep better with me," She gave him her biggest blue eyes, sticking her lower lip out slightly and letting it tremble, doing her best to pout him into saying yes.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader gave a little shrug, ”I think super duper slow,” he told her, leaning into her arms, ”We kissed, properly you know,” he said to her with a small smile, ”But I know I can’t go quickly, there are so many people I still have to come out to, but I think I’ll give myself the holiday, and then I’ll ask him out,” Vader told her softly. He’d always been the one to ask out the girls he’d dated. He knew that Goku was more out than he was, more confident in his own sexuality than Vader was, so he knew he had to be the one to figure out his emotions and go to him. He wanted to spend so many nights just hold his hand and kissing, he wanted to spend days making him smile, and hearing him laugh but there was just so much he had to contend with first. He smiled a little at Ava’s words, ”It’ll be okay Ava. We’ll have a few sleep overs, and when you’re not here, I’ll come here anyway, and build my own blanket fort and it’ll make me think of you and then I’ll sleep easier.” He assured her, more than happy to have sleepovers but really wanting her to know he’d be okay without her there at school. He didn’t want her to not do this because she was worried about him, he would manage, it would be hard, but he had never felt more comfortable in who he was than he currently did. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava listened to Vader talk about Goku, smiling brightly and giggling. "You have to tell me everything, what he says, you're gunna have to come see-" She faltered, her smile fading and her entire demeanor diminishing a little as she stumbled over her words. "Write me," She corrected softly, looking away and curling into his chest. "You'll have to write me and tell me what happens," She stated softly.

She sighed, running her fingers over his side lightly. "Yeah... that's good. You'll keep the music box too, that will help." She managed softly, curling in close. She felt tears in her eyes and tried to sniff them away. "Vader?" She paused, biting her lip and hiding her face in his chest. "I... I'm scared," she admitted softly.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader couldn’t help the redness of his cheeks when she knew that she would press more details, as much as it was nice to know that she was really interested in what was going in his life. It was hard to know what to say, but he was nervous about saying it. ”I’ll write and tell you,” he said to her, promising it sincerely. It wouldn’t bother him too much to write it down, it might even be a bit easier as it would be one of the first time to try to talk about it. He could find the words a little easier if he didn’t have to say it. He’d always feel most comfortable around Ava and probably would have the easiest time with saying it to her, but that might be even easier. He looked at her and nodded, ”What are you scared of?” he asked wrapping his arms around her and running his hand down in her back in a comforting manner. He wanted to be able to help her feel less scared and that probably meant talking about it. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava relaxed a little as he ran his hand down her back. "You won't need me anymore." She admitted quietly. "I'm going to leave and you'll have Goku and your sisters and you'll forget me." She bit her lip, burying her head in his chest. "You'll write for a little while but it will be less and less often and I'll come back next year and you'll have no place in your life for me anymore..." She held onto his shirt, afraid to look up at him.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader frowned a little and shook his head, ”Even if I won’t need you, I still want you,” Vader knew that he would probably always need Ava in his life, but he didn’t want her to think that her value to him was because he needed her. ”I'll always want to write to my best friend, I’ll always want to tell her about what's going on in my life,” He told her, keeping his hold on her tight. He knew that she was worried about being left behind, that her father treating her like that, and all the other changes in her life, he knew that he was keenly aware that being left behind was a fear. ”I love you, and I always will appreciating you looking after me, but even if I don’t need that I’ll always want you in my life,” he didn’t know how to tell her that she meant so much to him, that there was no going back to his life pre-her. ”I can add all the other people to my life, but they’ll never take your place or your importance in my life,”​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava sighed, curling into Vader. She wanted to believe him, she did. She held on to him tightly, taking a shaky breath. "Promise?" She asked softly, hating that she had started to cry a little bit. She already felt like her dad had replaced her a hundred times over- he had replaced her mother, easily, and he had four other kids now. Then again... that was why she was staying at home this coming year, was to mend bridges with her father. She ran her fingers through Vader's hair, enjoying his closeness. "You know, um... Miss Kami said she would teach me how to cook while I'm at home... maybe when the next break rolls around I'll be able to cook you dinner," She offered softly. "Are there any dinners you really like?" She asked, thinking having a project could help her to keep busy.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader nodded, ”I promise,” he would promise it and hoped that he would be able to show it to her, and he knew he would always try to show her that that was true. He didn’t say anything more, just keeping her close and letting himself enjoy her being there. He didn’t think she’d want to spend too much time talking. He smiled as she talked about learning to cook, and he had to think about what he would want as a dinner. ”You know I’ve always been partial to lasagna,” Vader told her with a little smile, ”but you know I’d eat anything you made me right?” he said, ”And as your best friend and brother, I’d eat it all even if it was raw in the middle,” he joked with her, though he was sure that once Ava put her mind to it, she would be good at it, she would manage it just fine. He could understand why she’d want that, want to have something to do with this woman. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava chuckled. "Well, I'm gunna make you the best lasagna ever then," She told him with a smile, running her fingers lightly along his ribs. "Did I tell you that Philip and I are friends again?" She asked. "I got so tired of the grand gestures and the guilt, like all he would ever do was apologize and act like a martyr." She rolled her eyes. "I talked him into starting over. We're just friends right now. We can't be anything unless we have something to build on, you know?" She hesitated, blushing a little and burying her head in his shoulder. "But, um... there's actually... someone else I maybe sorta... have a crush on..." She admitted softly.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader smiled at her, he was sure that she would excel at making a lasagna if she tried. He found himself quite excited at the thought of the food he would get in that future. He was a little surprised that she was now friends with Philip again, he wasn’t sure if things had gotten better between them, but it seemed like there was a step in some direction - perhaps they hadn’t tried to be friends and this was the right step. ”That’s good, I’m glad you guys are trying to be friends. I’m still not a big fan of him though,” Vader told her honestly. He didn’t dislike him, he just didn’t trust him and he wanted Ava to feel comfortable and happy in all of her friendships. But it was interesting that she had a new crush, ”Oh really, who is it?” he was curious, perhaps he could talk about boys. He’d never been confident about it before for obvious reasons, but he could try and of course he was genuinely interested in her love life and making sure she was happy. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava sighed. "I just hope it goes better than it did the last time we were friends. I actually met him before school, did you know that? He used to be my best friend before we met. But he just... was never around. I actually found you reading that spider-man comic book when I was looking for him," She told Vader, smiling and brushing his hair back. "I think I found a much better best friend, honestly." She almost wished- again- that she was a guy, or that Vader was straight. It would be so much easier if they could just be them, but she knew it would never happen. She smiled shyly as she asked about the boy she liked. "He's, um, the gryffindor Keeper," She told Vader shyly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Christian Cade?" She bit her lip. "He's really nice, and cute, and he takes an interest in me as a person," She told Vader, "He asks about my day and he actually listens to what I tell him," She smiled softly.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader listened as she said she’d met him before school, he hadn’t really known that, Vader himself hadn’t met anyone until he’d gotten to the school. It was only once at school that he had tentatively made friends, and then Ava had come along and that had fast become his best friend. Vader nodded as she told him who it was, he knew the name and the face vaguely, and felt a very light blush cover his cheeks as he very quietly said, ”He’s cute,” it was an odd admission that perhaps others would find easier than he did, but it felt like an important moment for him. But as she went on to talk about what he was like he smiled, ”I’m glad he treats you how you deserve too, I promise I won’t scare this one away,” Vader said, he had always in part blamed himself for the failed relationships, knowing that they were in part due to people worrying about if he and Ava were together ”I’m happy for you Ava,”​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled, brushing his hair back before booping his nose. "Hey, if you're able to scare them off then I don't want them," She nodded decisively, before yawning and cuddling back up against Vader. "It might sound silly, but you're always going to be the most important guy in my life." She murmured softly, running her fingers lightly over his ribs. "No one will ever change that." She pulled the blankets up over them, settling in and running her fingers through his hair.