Closed Feels like going backwards

[Elio Zephyr]

The last few weeks for Elio had been insane. In truth, the entire year had been, and if he thought back even further things had been strange since coming back to Hogwarts. He was no longer that young little boy who would spend all days climbing trees and throwing his friends in the lake, now he had pressures and responsibilities and people he didn't want to let down and hurt and worst of all, he felt like he'd gone backwards in his own mind. He didn't know where he was or why or how he was meant to go forward from here in an attempt to actually start figuring it all out. He knew he couldn't be the only sixteen year old in the castle feeling this way, but it was a first for him, especially given that Elio thought he'd known himself very well before even coming to the school. He was blasting a song loudly into his ears as he had been doing for most the last couple of weeks in an attempt to ignore the world going on around him. hoping it would help for him to focus on himself instead. He knew that it was likely the arts room would be empty, unless of course Alexis was hiding in there again from one of the other seventh years, but after making sure the coast was clear he knew he had the space to himself where he was just free be himself. He stood in the centre of the room, eyes looking around at all the work the other students did when they came in here, the mixture of painting and sculptures and a few photos across around the place too. He let himself close his eyes with a smile on his face. It was hard to know what to do when there were so many people around him, but right here right now he was free to do what ever he wanted. He began to move his shoulders and arms a little in time to the beat running through his mind. He was no dancer by a long shot, if Elsie ever caught him it would be incredibly embarrassing, but he was alone here and that meant he was free to look as stupid as he felt like. He knew he wasn't going to crash into anything so let himself get into the song more, dancing whatever came to mind as he tried to shake off the worries from the last few weeks especially.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was having a rough time lately. She knew she had made the right decision. She knew she needed a year with her dad. But she would miss her friends here. Zephry, Vader, Christian, Elsie, Alice. There were so many others here, so many people Ava loved. But she also loved her dad. And she wanted him to know her. She sighed. But what was school going to be like without her? Would anyone really notice she was gone? Vader was always so busy, and Zephyr had so many other friends, he probably wouldn't even miss her.

She sighed, gathering her things together and making her way to the arts room. She needed some time to herself, to sort out her thoughts. Alice didn't really seem to need her either... Ava bit her lip, watching her feet as she walked. Even after she had talked things out with Vader, Ava couldn't help but feel like no one really needed her. Philip could barely be considered as loving her. He loved the idea of her. Zephyr had his person, he didn't need Ava. And Vader... she had thought he was her person, he was her other half, but he... didn't. And to think she had been so wrong about her importance to him hurt her more than she wanted to admit. That he had lied to her for so long about everything didn't help either. She had thought she was special to him, that they were a team, but in the end there was nothing special about her. She was just like everyone else. He had never trusted her enough to tell her what he was thinking. It wasn't until he had kissed Goku that he had been able to talk to her.

Goku. That was another thing. Vader had barely mentioned Goku to her, either. She felt lost. Maybe she really needed this year away. No one would notice she was gone. Vader already needed Goku more than he had ever needed her. Philip was mean. And Zephyr had his person. Alice was surrounded by so many people that honestly Ava just felt like another face in the crowd. What was there for her here?

She paused as she stepped into the doorway, tilting her head to the side. "Zephyr?" She asked, curious as she watched him dance.

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio didn't want to think. Or really he didn't want to overthink which he found was something he was very good at. If something didn't make sense then he wanted to know why because if he didn't understand it then how could he make it any better? He knew he was young and he wasn't expected to have all the answers but that didn't make it any easier to actually accept. He'd let himself go completely while listening to the music, eyes still closed for the most part but as he began to turn he'd opened them, watching the colours around the room begin to merge as he lost his focus. For a brief second his heart fell out of his chest when he spotted someone in the doorway who had clearly caught him, but his face lit up in a smile when he realised who it was. He didn't stop the music or his weird dancing, instead he turned the moves into some that sort of looked as though he was beckoning Ava towards him. He did so while still crossing the gap between them, holding out his hands towards her. He wasn't surprised to see Ava around these parts, this was more or less her territory anyway and the most of the paintings in the room were probably hers. He took her hands, lightly pulling her into the room with him until they were back in the middle, before giving the Ravenclaw one of his ear buds so she had at least some idea of what he was listening to. Maybe he was in her way and she had better things to be doing than dancing with him, but for that brief moment he didn't want to stop. "Tell me this doesn't want to make you move," he said, a little too loudly given their proximity, but the Gryffindor continued to make his own dancing extra dramatic for his best friend, it becoming something fun to get involved with as well as something he could just let go.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava couldn't help but giggle as Elio moved towards her, setting her things down so that by the time he had... danced? over to her, her hands were free and she let him pull her back towards the middle of the room. She giggled again, taking the offered ear bud. "Ooh, this is fun," She chirped brightly, starting to try and copy his weird dance moves. She had no idea what he was doing, or even what she was doing really, but she was enjoying it.

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Zephyr was laughing as Ava tried to copy his dance moves, if they could even be called that. It looked more like he was trying to avoid being hit by something rather than anything remotely good, although it was still fun and it was most certainly taking his mind off things. The Gryffindor took her hands in his, twirling her round underneath his arms dramatically before pulling her closer towards him again, all while mouthing the lyrics to the song playing in their ears. He knew they both had a lot on their chests at the moment, but inside these four walls it was like they had a few minutes they could actually just be themselves and nothing more. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled, letting him twirl her before stepping in close and laying her head on his shoulder, breathless and giggling. "This is fun, thank you Zephyr," She pulled back, smiling and brushing her hair from her eyes as she resumed dancing. "Do you always come hide in here when I'm not looking?" She teased.