Closed feeling out of place

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan was so far from being someone who was interested in art that finding himself in the middle of the conglomerated arts room felt like he'd stepped into someone's private bedchamber. There were tools in here that was so foreign to him they looked as though they'd be better placed in laboratory. The Ravenclaw liked to think that he had an analytical mind, someone who thought through processes and had reason for doing what he did, and anything to do with creativity and art simply didn't appeal to him. What good was it to make something based off emotion or feeling, something that couldn't be measured or improved. Was "happy" supposed to be a merit of success? How could he be judged on whether what he was doing was right or wrong if there was no intention behind it? Emotions were a side effect of reality, not the main focus.

That being said, Eoghan still had an intention to be here in the first place, and it had to be here because the things he needed couldn't be found in other areas of the school. His ultimate goal was worth putting aside his own confusion, and even if it meant stepping out his comfort zone, perhaps he would as Lilith said, feel good about "unwinding." The Ravenclaw wasn't convinced he was wound up in the first place, but he trusted Lili and he wanted to see if he could explore more about himself. With a small piece of bark in one hand, Eoghan began to examine the tools on offer, hoping he'd be able to find something to work with on his little project.​

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose didn't like crowds, she never had, so it was anyone's guess as to why she kept forcing herself into them. Some people said exposure therapy was the way to go and Rose had no way of knowing if that was correct or not, all she knew was that sometimes, when she found herself in a small enough crowd, she immediately wanted to leave. It wasn't so much the really, really big crowds that bothered her, like at the breakfast table in the morning, or even on the platforms to the trains, but smaller crowds, the one's she couldn't blend into. It had been that way for as long as she could remember, trying to blend into all the tiny places where people wouldn't look for her, or lump herself in with a group of people who wouldn't ask her question because they didn't know her, and the people outside of that group would leave her alone because they didn't know she wasn't with the first group. The more she could stay out of the eyes of other people, the better as far as she was concerned.

This of course meant that when she snuck into one of her little hideaways only to find it occupied with someone else, she froze. Art wasn't technically her thing, but she didn't mind utilising it as a barrier to other people, and sometimes she could do things in here that other people might have frowned upon in general. Like taking her shoes off, which she did. She wasn't used to wearing shoes indoors so much, and she hated when she had to, so she often kept a pair of day slippers in some of the lesser used rooms, just so she could have an excuse. "Sorry, don't mind me," she said, assuming that the Ravenclaw boy, who's name she couldn't quite grasp, would have heard her, and she didn't want to frighten him, but nor did she want to ignore or be rude, as that often lead to confrontation, and she often tried to avoid that. She headed past him for the blue paint and poured some into one of the containers, pulling some long parchment down from the wall before stepping out of her slippers and into the blue paint and walking it across the paper. The coolness felt nice against her feet.​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan was eyeing up the tools when he heard the door opening behind him, and turning his head he spotted a girl he vaguely recognised as the one who'd been blunt to him last year. Rose. Gryffindor. Her tone still rang heavily in his head when he remembered it. Like him, she probably didn't want to be deemed approachable which was perfectly fine in Eoghan's books. The more students he didn't have to interact with the better.

The Ravenclaw was about to turn his attention once more to his task at hand when he realised what Rose was doing, and watched from the corner of his eye as she started to paint.. her feet? And walk across her canvas. He knew it would have been rude to intervene, and given the reverse situation he would have hated anyone asking him about what he was doing. But it was just so strange to him how comfortable Rose seemed to be about creating her art and expressing herself right in the view of another student, that it made him feel as though he was standing in the center of a stage. "Do you know whether anyone would care if these things were taken from this room?" he asked, hoping that Rose knew what she was doing in here. If he could take what he needed away then he didn't need to be in her way in the first place. He held up a small wood saw, wondering how feasible it would have been to hide it in his dormitory without the other boys asking too many questions. ​

 

[Rose Edogawa]

"When Marnie was leader, it would have been okay, but I haven't had time to check who leads now," she said, not wanting to be responsible if anyone got into trouble. She had never personally taken anything from the room, but she also didn't want to tell him that he couldn't because she really didn't know the answer today. If he'd asked her last year, it should have been fine, but this year was not last year, and Marnie had graduated now. She didn't know if the rules just rolled over. She wasn't very good at this, and with him in the room with her, she didn't have anywhere to hide. She was just walking in paint and even that was hard enough, but Kaachan and Touchan had always told her she should try and speak when spoken to. It seemed important. "You're not bothering me, if that's the problem." She realised then that it had actually been his space first, and she stopped walking to face him properly. "Don't worry, I should be the one to leave, I've invaded your space."​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan had no idea who Marnie was, but at least he was gathering that Rose had been here before and perhaps was even part of a club if that was what she referring to by leading. "I.." Eoghan wasn't sure why Rose immediately jumped to the conclusion that he thought she was bothering him, although it wasn't as though she was wrong. "It's not my space," he clarified, one corner of his mouth raising slightly to half a smile. "No, no you should keep.. doing whatever it is that you're doing," he continued, glancing back down to her feet which were now covered in blue paint on the underside. She was going to have to be careful where she walked now, and Eoghan wondered whether she'd had the forethought to bring a towel. Eoghan was unsure where he stood with this girl or whether his initial interpretation of her had been correct. "I only need a couple of things anyway."​

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose shifted her weight awkwardly, her blue-painted feet pressing lightly against the parchment beneath her. She glanced at Eoghan, trying to gauge his tone or expression, but as usual, people were as indecipherable to her as an ancient rune she'd never studied. Kaachan and Touchan had always said she should give people the benefit of the doubt, but it was hard when she could barely figure out if Eoghan was annoyed, amused, or just confused. "Well, okay then," she said slowly, unsure of how to react to his nonchalant approval of her messy activity. "But, uh, if you're going to take stuff, maybe don’t let anyone catch you walking around with a saw. That’s bound to raise some eyebrows." She gave him a faint smile, hoping it landed somewhere between lighthearted and not-annoying.

She turned her focus back to her feet, lifting one and placing it down again on the parchment. The wet paint was starting to dry in patches, and she wriggled her toes, thinking about how she'd have to clean up before heading back to the common room. The last thing she needed was a lecture about leaving paint trails in the corridors. "You can use this corner if you want," she added after a pause, gesturing vaguely with her hand toward the space beside her. "I’m not territorial or anything. I mean, unless someone else is, in which case, you’ll have to deal with them, not me." Rose grinned slightly at her own joke, though it quickly faded as she realized she might have just confused him more.

This was why she stuck to herself—much easier than talking. And people often tolerated her more this way.​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan glanced down at the saw in his hand thoughtfully. While he didn't intend for anyone to see him with it, he supposed there would be a good chance someone did catch him with it and start asking questions he'd rather not answer. Rose seemed to wave toward an empty area she deemed fit for him to use, and quietly he resumed working on his wood piece. Rose was chattier today than she had been the last time they'd run into each other, and maybe this was a good sign that like him, other students were settling down now that they were no longer first years. "What do you do with your.. foot painting?" the Ravenclaw asked, not looking towards the girl but instead focusing his attention on making sure the slice of wood was straight and even as he carefully cut through the log. It was a few inches in diameter, but the neater he could make it the better his project would turn out.​

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose looked up from where she was walking her pain across her paper canvas, her toes curled tightly to try and get a nice bunched look into he pain. She tilted her head, squinting at Eoghan as he worked, the rhythmic sound of the slicing through wood drawing her attention. "It's technically toe painting, I guess," she corrected, though it was gentle as she wasn't trying to be rude, just let him know what she was doing. "I like the feel of the pain on my feet, and I like to be barefoot when I can. It's not really something I can do normally so," she didn't have anything specific for this painting planned so she was mostly waiting to see what would happen, she never had much of a plan and mostly just liked seeing how it would turn out. Maybe she should have joined the art club, but she didn't like crowds and she didn't like forced participation either, so if she could avoid all of that and still use the art room, that was really her preference, which might have seemed funny, because she could easily get lost in a crowd and she didn't like having conversations with a one on one like she was now. It wasn't so bad at the moment though because neither of them were really focusing on the other, more occupying space together and she could appreciate that. "Do you do a lot of woodworking?" Amory had inspired her to try and make friends, but she wasn't really sure how to really do that. Did you really just talk to them?​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan nodded as Rose explained to him it was technically toe painting, although by the looks of it, her foot was certainly now covered in paint. The Ravenclaw couldn't relate to wanting to be barefoot, although he thought he'd seen one of the older girls walking between classes barefoot too so maybe there were a few strange souls out there who didn't mind the cold stone underfoot or getting splinters in their heels on their way to breakfast.
"Woodworking?" Eoghan repeated, trying to think of the word in Finnish. It was strange how often he got to use his mother tongue in this school to the point that sometimes it took him a moment to follow what other students were saying, especially if they were words he didn't often hear. "Erm, no. Not at all," he said after a moment. "I've never tried to make anything before, at least not like this. I thought it would be good though because it should last longer," not to mention the materials were easier to get than most. "I just need it to be a flat piece," he explained, lifting it up to show the Gryffindor when he'd finished cutting off the majority of the wood. The slither of wood was now a few millimeters thick, which was perfect for what Eoghan needed it for. "Do you have any spare paint?" he asked, realising that was what he needed next.​

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose still wasn't terribly comfortable around people, and unless she was up in the air she often found them difficult to deal with. She leaned alittle closer to inspect the piece of wood he was working on, brushing a strange of hair from her face. "That’s actually really smart - making something that’ll last. Better than parchment for whatever you’re doing, I’d bet. And it’s looking good so far," she added with genuine curiosity. She was curious what he was making it for, but didn't really know how to ask without making it sound like it looked so ridiculous she couldn't figure it out. And she didn't want to offend him or anything. At his question, she straightened up and glanced at the mess of paint pots scattered nearby. "Spare paint? Oh, yeah, definitely," she said, reaching over to pick up a couple of small jars. "What color are you thinking? I’ve got red, blue, and some weird greenish-brown thing that was definitely not what the label promised." She held them out toward him with a playful smile. "Go wild - just not on your toes, that’s my thing."​