Open Colors in Bloom

[Lars van Houten]

The last time Lars had attempted to paint outside, it hadn't gone so well. A boy named Blake had ruined his painting, stomped on some of his paints and then had been mad at Lars for saying something about it. What the boy had said about perhaps trampling his next painting too hadn't been forgotten, and while Lars wanted to try painting the lake again, he figured it was best to let some more time pass first. The gardens seemed like a safer bet. It didn't seem the sort of place Blake would be at, at least. And Lars had been captivated by the beautiful flowers all around, enjoying the colors and smells of the place a lot. He set up his canvas near a patch of colorful flowers and started to mix paints together to get the perfect color. From where he was sitting he could easily see how the sunlight was hitting the petals, and he wanted to capture that in paint. He started with light strokes of his brush, trying to get the general shape of the flowers down. He smiled to himself as he worked, painting the rough shape of a few pink and red flowers onto the canvas. This was a lot of fun, and he was sure he would be able to sit here in silence for hours while painting things around him.

 

[Sierra Woodlock]

The Gryffindor girl wasn't really sure what she was going to do with her day. Of course, she was going to spend it outside, and she didn't mind not having a set plan in place - she usually didn't. But all her other friends seemed to be too busy to want to go for a swim and try to find the merpeople, or try to steal the broomsticks from the cupboards so they could take them for a test fly. There were some friends she couldn't even find! What was everyone doing with their day? Sierra was beginning to feel antsy. She needed to do something, talk to someone, anything.
Wandering around the school grounds, Sierra thought about searching for the merpeople herself, but decided that was definitely something to do with a friend. She kept walking, trying to spot something to do, or a new friend to make, when she found herself in the gardens, face to face with a boy painting. A grin grew on her face.
Sierra hadn't done any painting in awhile. Sure, she had painted the Courtyard in rainbows, but it hadn't lasted that long. She had even forgotten to make sure that she painted with TyTy! With the rainbows having disappeared, Sierra figured that she should put her paintings and drawings on something a little bit longer lasting next time - so she and everyone around her could always see her masterpieces.
Sierra ran up to the boy, plonking herself down next to him. "Hi!! What are you painting? I love painting. I don't have any of my paints with me though, could I borrow yours? And some paper. Or whatever you're using. If you do it on the ground, it gets washed away. Trust me, I've tried. Are you painting the flowers?" Sierra asked excitedly, in one big breath.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars mixed a bit of brown in with the red to make it darker, and started adding some shadow to one of the petals. It looked pretty nice, and Lars smiled at the result. He would have to show Fleur what he did later, as he had the feeling he was going to be proud of this painting. Lars moved his paintbrush away from the canvas, but then jumped when a girl suddenly appeared next to him. He stared at her with wide eyes as she started to talk, asking a lot of questions very rapidly before he could answer any of them. He stared at her in silence for a moment, as if needing some time to comprehend what she was saying. "Uh." He said, then blinked. "Hi. I'm painting flowers, yes." He gestured to the flowers he was trying to copy. "I'm using a canvas, but I did bring one extra." He had brought it in case Blake would come rushing through again. "If you want, you can have it. There are more in the arts room." He said shyly. As bewildering as this girl was, Lars always enjoyed painting with other people. His sisters had very little patience for it. Now that he thought about it, this girl reminded him a bit of his sister Emma. It was a comforting thought, and he gave her a small smile. "Do you want to paint flowers with me?" He asked her softly.

 

[Sierra Woodlock]

Sierra grinned when the boy said that he was, indeed, painting flowers. She couldn't wait to join in! Her eyes lit up when he said she could have the extra canvas that he brought. "Yes please! What's the arts room?!" Sierra asked excitedly. The arts room sounded like a lot of fun, and somewhere she could imagine spending a lot of her time. Why did no one tell her about it!? Painting was one of her favorite things to do, and she was sure she'd have done a lot more of it if she knew about the fancy arts room. She bounced on the spot, waiting excitedly for the boy to give her his spare canvas. When he asked if she wanted to paint with him, Sierra grinned. "Duh!" She exclaimed, giving a small giggle. "I'm Sierra! Who are you?"

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled back shyly at the girl as she grinned at him, then he glanced away at his paints a little shyly. He had never been good at making friends, so why was it suddenly so easy? "It's a room off the courtyard, there's all sorts of stuff there to make art." He said softly, glancing at her. "You didn't know?" He recognized this girl from his classes, but hadn't expected her to show any interest in him. She seemed to have a lot of friends already. He grabbed the spare canvas and held it out to her. "Do you like flowers?" He asked timidly, though he thought it was kind of a lame question. "I'm Lars." He added as she introduced herself.

 

[Sierra Woodlock]

Sierra's eyes widened in amazement as the boy spoke about the Arts Room. That sounded like Heaven! She shook her head when he spoke again. "Nooo, nobody told me. But it sounds amazing. Maybe you can show me later?" Sierra suggested, her face still full of wonder.
Sierra took the canvas excitedly from the boy, nodding her head enthusiastically. "Yes! And I like rainbows too! I might, um, do a rainbow over my flower..." Sierra mused aloud as she tilted her canvas one way to the other, pretending she was trying to visualize what it was going to look like. Happy with what she had figured out in her head, Sierra leaned forward and took some of the boy's green paint on her hand, and smeared it across the bottom of the canvas, for the grass. "Lars is such a cool name!" She exclaimed, while trying to fill in the missed spots of her grass.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled shyly as the girl asked him if he could show her later. He nodded after a moment. "Of course." He said softly. "My sister showed me when I first came here, because she knew I would like it." Fleur always looked out for him, and he was grateful for that. Sierra told him that she liked rainbows as well as flowers, and Lars hesitated before nodding. "I like rainbows too." He admitted, wondering if that was weird for him to say. He picked up a brush to start painting again, then realized he hadn't given her one. He turned to her again. "Do you want a-" But before he could finish his sentence, he noticed she was already painting with her hand. He stared for a moment, "paintbrush?" he added uncertainly. "Oh, thanks." He added shyly as she said his name was cool. "So is Sierra, I suppose." He had never really considered which names were 'cool' or not.