Open Drops of Paint

[Lars van Houten]

While Lars often made do with sketches or doodles in between his notes, his true passion was painting. So whenever he had some free time, he found his way to the Conglomerated Arts Room and grabbed a canvas and some paint. Usually he painted nature, flowers and plants, beautiful backdrops with some animals. But sometimes he liked going more abstract. Usually when he had a lot of feelings to work through, which was certainly the case now. But even after grabbing all the colors that were appealing to him and a piece of canvas big enough to work with easily, Lars couldn't really get started. Something was blocking him a bit, and he sighed, watching as a few drops of paint fell off his brush as it hovered over the canvas. It was almost like his mind was too full for painting, which was something he couldn't remember ever happening before. Aimlessly, Lars let the paint drip down onto the canvas randomly, watching quietly. He hoped it would spark some sort of inspiration in him, but somehow it didn't. His mind kept going to Blake, which made his stomach clench up with nerves. He wanted to see the Slytherin, but had no idea where things stood between them. Had Blake even thought of him, or was he over whatever had been between them already? It hadn't really been anything, Lars told himself. Just because Blake was gay didn't mean he was interested in Lars. But it was a thought he couldn't entirely let go, either.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava had never been happier to be back at school. She wasn't sleeping well, and she knew why, but she was determined not to let it bring her down. She skipped through the halls down to the arts room, eager to find a new project to start for the year before she went to find Timmy or Alice. She paused in the door as she saw someone, and her eyes lit up as she recognized him. "Lars!" She squealed happily, darting into the room and rushing over to hug the tall Ravenclaw.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars' mind was still wandering, but he moved his hand slowly over the canvas, leaving a trail of paint drops that was actually starting to look somewhat decent. He was starting to think of what colors to add when he suddenly heard a high pitched voice shout his name. He looked up in surprise to see a blond blur shooting at him, then it hugged him and he dropped his brush onto the canvas, smearing the drops he'd placed. "Ava." he said, a little winded by how she had slammed into him. "Hi."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled softly, snuggling into his chest. He smelled like paint, which was comforting and familiar. "Laaars, I missed you," She pouted, before pulling back and cupping his face in her hands. "Look at you, you're so tall! My little water lily told me you had grown, but I didn't realize it was so drastic. You look so cute!" She chattered, tempted to ruffle his hair but knowing she would have to jump to do it. She bounced back, giving him his space again and folding her hands behind her. She giggled, rocking on her feet. "How are you? Tell me everything," She smiled brightly up at him.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars patted Ava's back lightly, feeling a little awkward. He'd never been as physical as her, and after not seeing her for a year it felt a little strange to be touching this much. "I was already tall." He reminded her gently, though he blushed a little too. Especially when she said he looked cute. He never knew what to do with that. "I'm alright." He said with a shrug. "There's honestly not much to tell. Hogwarts is ...Hogwarts." He said with a small shrug.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "You were, and you got taller," She teased him lightly, knocking his arm lightly with hers. She nodded at his statement. "That's true. Lily did tell me that you're having a lot of success though! You're a prefect and a quidditch captain," She laughed lightly, bouncing on her feet. "That's really good!" She smiled brightly. "How are you liking it?" She asked, tempted to pull him to a seat nearby and cuddle.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded. "I know. I had to get new robes again this year. I wonder sometimes if I'll just keep growing until I hit the ceiling." He joked quietly, smiling a little. He blushed when Avaria brought up things that had happened to him last year. "I guess. They just kind of picked me for that stuff." He said with a shrug. "It's... alright. Being a prefect isn't like, a ton of work." He paused. "I guess you'd know that. And Quidditch captain isn't too difficult because Minnie is also doing it, and she's really great at it. I just kind of tag along."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "That would be so fun though! Think of all the things you could reach, of all the places you could paint. I bet you could make really amazing murals," She laughed, skipping over to set up a new canvas. She hummed, going about and finding a few paints while Lars spoke. "You're so humble, silly," She laughed, mixing up some paints. "Lily talks about you. You're a great kid, even if you don't think so," She set her brush to the canvas, humming as she set to work.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled slightly at Avaria's words. "Well, so could you. Just smaller murals." He said jokingly. "Or you could stand on a chair." He mused, teasing her a bit. He watched as she set up a canvas to paint on, looking at his own disaster with a sigh. "No I'm not." He mutters. "Lily is just too nice for her own good. She thinks everyone is amazing." He said, painting a big ugly cross over the mess he'd made on the canvas with a frown.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava laughed lightly. "We could team up, you take the high ground and I take the low," She chuckled. She almost laughed about what he said about Lily. "Not true, she hates Tyler," she offered. She glanced up, noting his frown, and stepped over. "Hey, what's with the face?" She asked, looking up to him with concern.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded at the idea of making a mural with Avaria. "Too bad I don't think we'll be allowed to do something like that at Hogwarts." He uttered, thinking it over. He snorted a bit when Avaria said Lily hated Tyler. "Yeah but Tyler has no soul, does he really count?" He said, smiling slightly. But then he frowned again, shaking his head at her concern. "Nothing. It's fine." He said quickly. "I'm just... tired of being told I'm great and deserving of my badges when I know I'm not."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava thought over it. "Well, who says we have to do it here?" She asked, looking over to him. "Where do you live? Maybe we can meet up somewhere and do it over break." She mused, before laughing at his comment. "You know, I almost dated Tyler once, way back when Alice was with Blake. She set me up on a blind date with him and we talked for a little bit, but it wasn't long before it was painfully obvious he was a jerk," She shook her head. She raised a brow at his comment, looking at him again. "Okay, why don't you deserve them then?" She asked.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled as Ava suggested meeting up somewhere over break. It was just like her to take an idea like that and run with it. "Yeah, we could." He said softly, though he wasn't sure how that would work. "Maybe." He added, just to make sure she knew he wasn't sure yet. He blinked when Avaria said she had almost dated Tyler, and then grimaced. "Really?" He asked, trying not to linger on the mention of Blake. "He is a jerk." He agreed. "Definitely the worst person in my year." He added, again thinking of Blake. He sighed when she continued to ask about his badges. "Because I didn't do anything special. I'm barely confident enough to talk to anyone I don't know. I'm not a good prefect." He told her. "Do you miss your badge?" He then asked her.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled, already running through how they could do things in her head. This would really be a great idea, she was sure. She laughed a little as he said Tyler was the worst in his year. "He is, really. Even Blake stopped hanging out with him. I've heard Blake is doing better without Tyler. That's not surprising, really, Tyler seems like the type to manipulate things to make himself look better," She shrugged.

Ava nodded at his explanation, that made sense. "I'm surprised Lily wasn't a prefect, as well. Wasn't she teaching a few younger years to bake for a while?" She grimaced as he asked about her badge. "I regret a lot of things," She murmured sadly, turning back to her painting. Philip, taking a year for herself, the list went on.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars couldn't help laughing a little as Avaria talked about Tyler, there was some guilty pleasure in making fun of him. But the smile dropped off his face the moment she brought up Blake, and he thought back to their conversations, to Blake's secret. He wondered if that had been a factor in the falilng out between Tyler and Blake. "Yeah, I guess." He said vaguely, not wanting to sound like he knew anything in particular about Blake. Lily was a much safer subject. "I expected her to be one as well." He said quietly, shrugging. "She would be good at it, the whole role model thing. Just like you." He told her with a small smile. But when she said she regretted a lot of things, he hesitated. "Do you regret... leaving last year?"

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava sighed a little at his question. "Yeah, I do." She looked away. "One of my dormmates died just before school started, I wasn't here for any of my friends, I had to face it alone, and when I came back to school this year one of my closest friends dropped out of their final year because of it." She sighed. "I lost my badge, two of my friends, now Alice is dating Elliot and she doesn't need me either, one of the other girls in my dorm is really hostile towards me. It's a mess," She sighed, shoulders slumping a little as she looked away.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars winced as Avaria laid out the reasons for regretting her year off. He wished he hadn't asked, it sounded pretty awful. "I'm sorry about your friends." He said softly. "I'm sure Alice still needs you, you need more than just a boyfriend." He told her quietly, ignoring the strange feeling he got at the confirmation that Elliot had a new girlfriend. "And if a girl is mean to you you should go to your head of house." He told her with a small shrug. "I bet Professor Josephs would help if she knew." He then paused. "Did... you spend time with your dad, at least?" He asked her, as he knew that had been her reason for leaving.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Alice shrugged a bit, not knowing if she would bring it up to the Professor. It might be kinda pointless. She nodded at his final question. "Yeah, he took me around to look at colleges. I'm not sure if I'll go, I decided I want to be a watercolor tattoo artist," She brightened a little. "I've been coming up with a few designs, I think it would be really awesome." She smiled a bit at the thought.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled as Ava told her she wanted to eb a tattoo artist. Somehow, it seemed to fit her. "I'm sure you'll be great at that." He told her with a shrug. "Remember me when you're famous." He added slightly jokingly, nudging her a bit. "I have no idea what I want to do after Hogwarts. Something with art, maybe. But... I don't know what." He admitted. He hadn't let himself think about it a lot, partly because it was slightly terrifying to think about.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava laughed lightly. "Thank you!" She looked at him. "I bet I could design a tattoo for you," She murmured. "You don't have to get a tattoo, of course, but I could give you the design," she snapped her fingers, nodding her head and moving back to her canvas. "Well, I've spent the last year looking into tons of art colleges, if you wanted you could always go to school to learn more while you decide what you like to do," she offered, humming a little as she worked.