Imperfections

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

The way Athena saw it, it was the perfect day to spend her time outside today. She wouldn’t be surrounded by too many people since it was raining a little. But it was her favourite kind of weather, and she felt creative. She also wanted some time alone, to let her thoughts be free while she drew. She packed her things in a small backpack and left the common room, hoping she wouldn’t come face to face with people she strongly disliked. She completely relaxed when she arrived at the cliffs, and settled on a patch of grass, placing her hoodie on the ground before sitting on it in case it was wet.

She smiled as she felt a few drops of water on her face and she used her scarf to cover her head and her sketchbook as she placed it on her lap. On a normal sunny day, she wouldn’t have needed the scarf and hoodie since it was hot, but in a way it gave her some comfort as she worked on her sketches. Plus, anything not to get her jeans wet. She did not want to go through the embarrassment of keeping dirty clothes on, even if it was normal for these things to happen. Once she was concentrated on her work, the blonde smiled and looked at the drawings, flipping through the previous pages and finding the ones she was going to give to certain people. It didn’t take her long to start on the next one, though it was hard doing it from memory. Athena wanted this one to be perfect, but she needed time and patience, because paying attention to details was important.​

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[Nixon Mercury]

The cliffs were apparently out of bounds but that never stopped Nixon from going there, the view from the edge much prettier than most other views in the school grounds, which was certainly saying something. At various times of day he liked to stroll to the cliffs and take a few photos, collecting different snapshots of the same view with different stages of day, dawn, and dusk, wanting to capture the way the mood and appearance of the landscape changed. It was one of the best practices for discovering how light worked, Nixon had found in his self taught photography venture. There was always something different about the photos he took at the cliffs whenever the view crossed his mind, and as he arrived there for the second time that day he expected a different kind of lighting taking over the scenery.

He also expected to be completely alone in this endeavor as the solitude of the cliffs whenever he arrived was one of the contributing reasons he spent so much time there. But with a surprising turn of bad luck he not only saw someone else there, but also one of the last people he ever wanted to run into: Athena Rey-Martinez. She wasn't part of the hufflepuff quidditch team who took over most of Nixon's capability to feel bitter, nor even in hufflepuff house, but he had a whole other reason to dislike her all the same. Athena was Liam's current girlfriend, and though Nixon had never said more than a few words to her, feigning politeness each time, his stomach turned into knots with jealousy whenever he thought of her and Liam together. She was in the way of he and Liam being together, at least for the moment, which gave him all the more reason to avoid her that day and pretend as if her presence at the cliffs didn't bother him near as much as it truly did. He paid no mind to whatever she was doing as he stepped past where she was sitting to get slightly closer to the edge, picking up his camera from where it was hanging on his shoulder and quietly taking a few photos of the view. Just because Athena was there didn't mean Nixon would keep himself from taking the photos he wanted.​