Closed Doodling

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren had made his way slowly- very slowly- down to the lake. He enjoyed being out by the water, though he was irritated it was so far away. He sighed in relief as he finally made it to the water. He took a seat near the shore and pulled out his sketchbook. He shut his eyes a moment, just listening to the gentle swaying of the water. He loved being near the water. With a content smile, he opened his book and began to work. He hated to admit it, but he was sure that being here in the castle was doing wonders for his inspiration. Besides, he loved the way Lily fawned over his drawings. She had gone with him to that art class, even though she had no interest in it. He wanted to prove to her she hadn't wasted her time. He lost himself in his work quickly, bent over the page intently. He didn't hear anyone approach.

 

[Xio Havoc]

Xio was admittedly feeling a little bit homesick. And the worst part was, she didn't even know exactly why. She had been so excited to come to Hogwarts! So excited to see the castle, and so excited to make new friends. . . And whilst the castle definitely exceeded her expectations, she hadn't managed to make as many friends as she originally hoped. Was there something wrong with her? Merlin, Xio hoped not! She was a perfectly likeable person, thank you very much. Gosh, maybe this friends thing was just not cut out for her.

In her misery, she somehow managed to find her way out onto the Grounds, wallowing in her misery by the lake. Sprawled out like a star on the grass, her childhood pet was spread out on top of her, purring softly as she stroked his fur. Beelzebub was always in a bad mood, and Xio felt that she could very much relate to the kneazle-cat hybrid in this very moment. As she watched the sky, trying to blind herself by staring directly at the sun every once in a while, she saw out of the corner of her eye another presence who chose to sat not to far away. He didn't seem to notice her presence, and Xio took the opportunity to watch him for a bit. He took out a sketchbook and Xio immediately turned curious. Was he any good? She liked drawing too, and she felt the immediate urge to compare herself to him. Should she go check it out? Upon closer inspection, Xio recognized the boy as being another kid in her year. It wouldn't be that weird to go say hi, would it? Almost as if fed up with her indecision, Beelzebub rose up from his spot on Xio's stomach and started to trot off towards the boy. Stunned for a moment at the gall, Xio mentally groaned at the sight. Bub, you menace. Xio quickly staggered up before Beelzebub could mark the boy as his prey and attack him from behind, or whatever antics the creature could come up with. She managed to scoop Bub up before he did anything, and was glad that the boy seemed to be very invested in whatever he was doing as not to notice her. However, before she left, she managed to catch a glimpse at what the boy was drawing. "Oh, that's pretty cool," the words left her mouth before Xio even noticed she was speaking. Typical.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren looked up as someone spoke. He recognized the girl from being in his year, but that was about it. He thought for a moment that she was rather pretty, but then he noticed the cat in her arms. "Oooh, cool, you have a cat." He smiled at her. "You can sit down if you want." He offered, turning back to his work. He continued a moment before he remembered he hadn't introduced himself. "Ren Lockwood." He spared her a quick smile before turning back to the page. He could try to be friendly, but he got pretty caught up when he was working on a project.

 

[Xio Havoc]

Xio was rather struck by how nonchalant the boy acted. He didn't seem very annoyed or anything at her disturbing though, just rather nonplussed. Xio took it as a good sign. He mentioned her cat –whom promptly hissed back, the drama queen– and offered for her to sit down just as she was about to scurry the heck out of there. The offer stilled her though, and the young girl paused for only a moment before taking it up. She settled in beside the boy, letting what felt like an awkward moment (everything felt awkward to Xio) pass before the boy introduced himself. "Xio Havoc," the young snake managed to get in quickly before he turned back. When artists get engrossed in their work, it's hard to break them out of it. Don't take it personally, dear. Her mother's advice came rushing to her in the moment, and she calmed down at the thought. He wasn't purposefully ignoring her, he was just engrossed. Xio looked closer at the drawing. "Is that the castle? I like your style... It's charcoal, right? Your primary medium?" Maybe she just needed to flex her artistic knowledge to start a conversation. Wait. Was that too much? It probably was, right? The boy was probably super annoyed now.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren raised his brow as the cat hissed at him. "Reminds me of my little sister," He commented dryly with a wry smile. "What's kitty's name?" He asked, studying the creature. He had dubbed the thing Rose in his head, but he knew that was unlikely. He smiled as the girl settled in beside him. He was vaguely aware he had slowly shifted his attention to the girl next to him rather than his drawing. "Nice to meet you, Xio." He told her, sketching idly as he spoke. "It's... sorta. It's a castle." He chuckled at himself a bit. "I'm a little weird. Yeah, charcoal. My only medium. I suck at everything else," He joked lightly.

 

[Xio Havoc]

Xio giggled a little at his comment. "Yeah, he takes after my older brother." Xio returned casually, never passing the opportunity to poke a little fun at her brother. Didn't matter if he was there, or not, really. "His name is Beelzebub, after the Devil. I call him Bub." She loved introducing her cat. It was just a very... out there name, and a fun story to tell. "Nice to meet you too." It really was, he seemed friendly enough so far. Hopefully she didn't mess this up.​

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Xio trained her eyes on his drawing as he spoke. "Nothing weird about a castle," she smiled in turn. "Don't most artists specialize in one medium?" As if to prove what she was talking about, she took out the pencil that was holding her bun together. Her hair fell to her shoulders, and she gestured towards his sketchbook. "Um, do you mind if I borrow a paper? I can try drawing a castle too. I can really only struggle my way through with a pencil," she laughed. She really wasn't the best but that was okay. From the little she knew, she thought the boy wouldn't judge her. ​

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren smiled at her comment. "You have an older brother? That's cool, I have an older sister." He listened as she told him the cat's name and chuckled. "That's an awesome name. It really fits." He complimented the cat. If he didn't fear for his hand he might try to pet it. But he knew better. He thought over her comment as she pulled a pencil from her hair. "Sure, I suppose so." He smiled at her question and pulled the spare sketchbook from his bag before handing it to her. "Here. I draw together with my sister sometimes so I always have a spare on me." He offered with a smile.

 

[Xio Havoc]

Ah, so he had an older sister too! "So there are three of you?" Xio couldn't imagine having more than one sibling. Much less two brothers. "Does your sister also go to Hogwarts? What house is she in?" Maybe their older siblings knew each other. That would be pretty cool. She smiled as he complimented her cat's name. It was always nice to hear a kind word from somebody else, even if she knew it was awesome herself.

Xio was glad the boy actually had a sketchbook that he could hand over to her. "Thank you," she smiled at him gratefully. It was good to know she didn't just mess up her bun for nothing. Opening it up to a random page, she started to sketch out an outline of a maybe-sorta-castle. It had columns and points, so close enough. "Do you have a favourite artist?" She decided to make light conversation as she guestimated the proportions of the drawbridge she was adding on.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren nodded. "Yeah. I'm the middle child. And my little sister likes to act like she's the oldest because she's the tallest." He shook his head. "Hopefully I grow so much while I'm away she'll be a foot shorter than me when I go home!" He nodded decisively. "Lily is a Hufflepuff," He told her.

He continued to draw as she set to work on her own. After a moment she asked about his favorite artist. He shrugged. "I don't really have one. I see work rather than people. I have a few favorite pieces, but that's about it. What about you?" He asked in turn. He was really enjoying her company.