Closed Making a Mess

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was caught up in a project- again. She really shouldn't be surprised. She'd been here all morning, undisturbed. There was paint all over her, all over the room. Papers littered the floor. She was stuck, and nothing frustrated her more. She had rejected painting after painting. She let out an aggravated groan as yet again the thing she was working on didn't turn out right. She fell dramatically into a nearby chair. She'd been trying to paint the gardens here at Hogwarts forever. It just never came out just right. She couldn't get the right angle, or the right coloring, or the right flower patch. It was infuriating. She sat there a moment, pouting horribly. What was she supposed to do now?

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader had been looking for Ava, they’d recently gotten back to hogwarts and he’d been pretty immediately stress by the work he was likely to have to complete for the yearbook. There was a lot of pressure upon his shoulders and he was keen that spending time with Ava would help. She was a good friend and always made him feel more calm. He liked spending time with her and because of that was looking for her. He searched for her in all of the places she might be, ending up eventually at the arts room, where he realised he should’ve maybe started, that tended to be where she was, like Vader was often found in the accio rooms, she was found in the arts room. He walked in spotting her immediately in the room but what took his attention more was the state of the room. It was chaos, was this all her mess, what was going on. He knew that getting the right shot was always important but he didn’t tend to go this out for it, and why was she? This was chaos, ”Helene? What’s going on?” he stood awkwardly at the entrance of the room, un-keen to walk any further in, incase he messed something up and she got mad at him for it.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava looked up as Vader appeared in the doorway. She hopped up from her seat. "Tiimmmyyyyy!" She whined, hopping through her mess and screeching to a halt in front of him. "Absolutely nothing is coming out right you gotta come help!" She whined, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him into the room with her. "I've looked at this each and every which waaaay," She whimpered, twirling and throwing herself back in her seat dramatically. "I don't know what to doooo you gotta tell me what you think," She lifted her head again to look at him. She pursed her lips and gave him the biggest, saddest eyes she had. He could help her fix this! He just had to.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader looked at her with a small look of concern, and he watched as she came right up to him. He shook his head at her words, he could understand what she was saying, he’d had similar problems on occasion with his photos, but at the very least he didn’t create a mess, he couldn’t, that wasn’t what was possible for him at least. ”Helene,” Vader practically whined as he allowed her to pull him into the room after her. He didn’t want to step further in, at least not of his own accord. ”Maybe you should take a break,” he was looking at it and to him, it all seemed just fine, there was nothing wrong with it, it was all good. But he was looking her with wide eyes and she just seemed so sad by her own inability to get it. ”Why don’t you sit down and close your eyes for a bit? Maybe breathing a bit can help you regain focus? And closing your eyes will mean when you open them you’ll see things differently?” the boy was hoping she’d close her eyes if only to allow him a bit of a chance to tidy up. He didn’t want them to get into trouble for causing a mess. Not when it was just because it was part of the process.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava pouted even more as Vader offered her a perfectly reasonable solution. She knew what he was saying made sense. But he should know that sitting still wasn't exactly her strongest point. She let out a dramatic sigh, leaning against her best friend and looking up at him with her biggest, saddest eyes. "But Timmy," She stuck her lower lip out. "How can I sit still when it's not right." She sighed again, laying her head against his chest. What was she supposed to do? Ava hopped up quickly, clapping her hands as another idea struck her. "Oooooh, I know!" She giggled and spun on her heel. Maybe going through everything again would help! She set to work gathering up her mess and moving it over to the table. She needed it all in one spot so she could look through it.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader wasn’t sure what to do, she didn’t seem to want to listen to him, but he could figure for having known her for a bit of time, and knowing that she wasn’t always the calmest that asking her to sit so that he could tidy up would be quite a big ask. Vader watched her as she sighed and looked at him again with wide, sad eyes and all he wanted to do was help, he needed to fix it. She sighed again and leaned her head upon his chest for a brief second before moving again. Vader wasn’t sure what was happening, but he watched as she began rushing around the room gathering up everything and moving it to the table. Vader remained rooted in the spot he was in, watching his best friend, unsure of what to do, how to get her to stop, this mess wasn’t good, she wasn’t going to figure out the problem like this. ”Ava,” he could hear his voice near pleading with her, using her first name, rather than the name he called her to try to get her attention. ”Stop, you need to take a breath,” he wasn’t sure that would really help her. Maybe sitting down and looking over things would help, ”Are you just going to look over what you’ve done so far?” he motioned towards what she was picking up, ”If you sit and do that, I’ll clean up a bit then we can figure out the problem together?” the boy couldn’t help his concerned and pleading tone.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava had just started sorting her papers when Timmy called to her using her first name. She had gotten so used to being Helene that the switch caught her off guard. She stopped, looking up at him with wide eyes. She listened to his suggestion before turning and looking at the room. "Oh! It is a bit of a mess, isn't it?" She had been so caught up in her own little whirlwind she hadn't stopped to consider that. "Alright! Let's get this cleaned up and then you can help me look through everything!" She smiled brightly before setting about her task. It wasn't long before all she had left was the paints. As she started to pick them up, she accidentally smudged her finger in some purple paint that had gotten onto its container. She looked at her finger a moment before smiling brightly. "Timmy!" She called as she skipped over to him, before swiping her painted finger across his nose and running away giggling. "Got you!" She chirped brightly. "You look so dashing." She teased lightly.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader hated using her actual name but it had the desired effect, she stopped and seemed to notice what was going on in the room. He was happy that she was seeing it, but was a little surprised that she offered to clean it up with him, the boy had thought even snapping her out of it would mean she just sat more quietly and let him tidy up, calming down enough. The Gryffindor was happier about this outcome though. This was a better outcome. She was helping him tidy up. He fought the urge to attempt some spells and he able to do it that way, instead he just did like she did and did it a bit the muggle way, gathering and closing pots of paint, picking up paper and generally returning some order to the room. The boy smiled at her as he cleaned with her, glancing over when she called his name and proceeded to smear paint on his nose. He could feel it as she then ran out of reach so he couldn’t do anything back. Though Vader desperately wanted to tidy the room he couldn’t help the urge to be silly with her. Puffing out his chest and posing a little ”Of course I look dashing!” he had spotted some green paint and dipped his fingers, walking over to her quickly and attempting to swipe it on to her cheek.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava let out a happy squeal as Vader swiped green across her cheek. She giggled, swiping at the fresh paint on her face before attempting to get him back with the same color across his chin. She missed, but gathered her wits and darted off in the other direction. Grabbing a tube of sky blue paint she twirled and started running after him. She couldn't keep herself from giggling like crazy. It had been ages since anyone had played with her like this. She had to make the most of it!

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader laughed lightly as he managed to get paint on her cheek and she tried to get more paint on him, missing as he moved away. But, she ran off in the other direction, grabbing another tube of paint and chasing after him. He darted off, it was a little complicated, the room was not big and it was a little messy so he had to dodge quite a lot but he was looking out for some paint. He liked hearing her laugh and it was what spurred him on. His worry about the state of the room gone, and replaced only by fun. He eventually managed to grab a tube of yellow paint and turned with it pointed at her, he knew that with him holding up paint and her holding up paint they were either going to get paint all over each other or she would start running away. He would leave it up to Ava to try, but Vader was ready for whatever outcome. He had never had this much fun, with anyone. Even more so considering how this had started with her. She was a good friend, one of two friends that Vader had, maybe he had more but Vader was always tentative about friends. But, this, was so much fun.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava skidded to a halt as Vader rounded on her with a tube of yellow paint. She threw a hand over her heart, a look of betrayal crossing her face. "Timmy!" She scolded him playfully, looking at him with big blue eyes. "How could you? I thought you were my friend!" She teased him. Her eyes fell on the color he was holding. It was at that moment that epiphany struck. "Timmy!" She squealed, "That's it! That's it!" She darted forward, grabbing the paint from him and turning on her heel. Within moments she had gathered the tube of purple and the tube of green that she and Vader had already painted each other with. She grabbed a few brushes and skidded to a blank canvas on the floor. She bent over the canvas and set to work.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader stopped a little when she accused him of not really being her friend, old fears and worries flared for a moment before he could remind himself that she had been joking, that she didn’t mean it and it was just something said to have fun. He didn’t however have much time to relax, as it appeared that their messing around had allowed Ava to figure out what she hadn’t been able to. He watch fondly as his friend rushed off and began to work on the blank canvas. Vader glanced back around the room, it was still a mess and since Ava was preoccupied he just went back to tidying, picking up the spare bits of paper and paint and putting when where it needed to go. He took out his wand and cast Scourgify on a few of the spots of paint that had made it to the floor. He had some success with the spell, having to only do it once in some occasions and in others having to do it a few times. However, Vader was happy to just tidy the room, happy that Ava was able to finish off whatever she’d been working on and happy to return this room slowly to how it was supposed to look. He of course didn’t want Ava to get into trouble and hopefully the only evidence of mess was directly around where she was work, and of course on his face.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava hardly noticed Vader moving around her. She was wrapped up in what she was doing. Blue sky, leaving white spaces for clouds. Green for the trees, the grass, the bushes. Purple and yellow for the flowers. The entire thing was beautiful and calming. It was the essence of comfort and softness. She sat back, wiping her forehead and studying her work. She hardly noticed the green paint she smeared across her forehead. She bit her lip as she studied the details. This painting was still missing something... but what? Her brow furrowed as she thought. What else could there be?

 

[Vader Hume]

There was something pretty satisfying about the process of tidying up and not just because Vader was tidying up using a bit of magic whenever he needed to. He put all of the strewn paints together in one tray and then wandered over to Ava and placed it down in front of her, she was still painting, it had stopped a little, but he just continued to tidy. He gathered up all the other attempts and placed them together near to where Ava was working, he moved the furniture that had been moved about into more or less the right place. He liked doing this. There was the occasional paint stain that was definitely fresh enough that was something he could clean up. Vader was sure that the elves would’ve tidied this room, but he didn’t want to give them more work than necessary especially when it was something he could fix and tidy. He was able to work well, until the room was at a far more presentable level. Until it was far better, he wandered back over to Ava, ”Have you figured it out yet?” the boy asked, as he sat down on the floor next to her, looking at what she’d painted, ”It’s really nice Helene,” he was looking at it, hopeful that it was everything that she’d been hoping to do. But he couldn’t know, to him it looked fine, to her maybe it didn’t. He knew in his own photography that something that was probably fine wasn’t always fine.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava glanced up as Timmy came to sit next to her. "Thanks," she gave him a small smile before turning to look at it again. "But it's still missing something..." She furrowed her brow and scanned it again. It came to her then. With a small gasp, she leaned forward and signed the bottom of the painting with a simple word. 'Helene'. Sitting up, she smiled and offered the brush to Vader. "Now you," she pointed to the space just below her name. "Right here," she smiled widely as she waited for him to sign as well.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader looked at her as she then wrote her name and offered the brush to him. The boy shook his head, there was a little room for his name, but of course the name that he had for Ava. The boy shook his head a little, ”But I didn’t do anything Helene?” the boy questioned, why would she want to ruin her really nice painting with his name, not even if it was the name he preferred. It didn’t instill much desire in him to ruin her picture with it. ”This is yours, I can just look at it,” the boy assured her. He didn’t need to sign it, he liked looking at it, and he was happy to have helped her finish off her painting. Happy to tidy the room to ensure that she was able to do her art in the relative peace that he could offer her. Vader just gave a little smile at her and shook his head again. If he did sign it, she’d probably regret it. He didn't want to ruin his friend's painting.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava pouted a bit and set the brush down. She turned so she was facing Vader, looking serious. "Vader," She stated, "All of them were pretty. But I didn't want to keep any of those," She gestured at the pile of rejected paintings. "You know why? I was trying to capture the gardens, sure, but none of them were personal." She smiled at him. "This one? It's all the colors we painted each other. It's soft and warm, and it feels like home." She reached over and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I haven't had a best friend before," She told him plainly. "But it's really nice. That's why I want you to sign it. Because you made the painting work. Am I making sense?" She smiled brightly at him before picking up the paintbrush and offering it to him once more.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader looked at her when she said his name, and nodded as she spoke. He listened along as the girl looked towards the painting. It was the colours they’d painted with each other, it was nice and it was like she described soft and warm. It felt and looked nice. The gryffindor didn’t quite believe that Ava had never had a best friend before, he had never had a best friend before either. Ava was his favourite person at school. They had so much fun together, and he liked spending time with her when they did anything. He had enjoyed going to see a muggle movie with her, spending time with her at the dances, building a treehouse. He tentatively took the paint brush when she offered it to him, and in the space she had left for him wrote Timmy. The boy leaned back out and stared at it, ”You’re my best friend too, one of my first actual friends,” the boy admitted quiet. He hadn’t ever really spoken to people at hogwarts about the bullying he’d received at his last school, though he could imagine that a few people had maybe figured it out. ”Thanks Helene,” he looked at her holding the paint brush to give back to her. ”You’re really really good,”​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was uncharacteristically quiet a moment before taking the brush from Vader and setting it down. She'd suspected sometimes that he used to get bullied, but something in his words confirmed it in her mind. Of course, she was only assuming. But Ava tended to act before she thought it through. Moving quickly, she threw her arms around the boy and buried her face in his neck. "I know how it feels, you know," She murmured quietly. "My mama used to compete in gymnastics. She was away a lot before she got sick. We lived with my Gramma. She would take me to school when mama was away." Ava smiled a little. "The other kids thought it was funny, I guess. They would push me down and tell me no one could stop them because all I had was my old granny. Then there was the time they glued feathers all over my new coat because I was a bird."

She let out a soft laugh. "People can be really dumb." She told him gently. "I don't know what all happened, but it won't anymore because we're friends now and I've got your back. We'll stay in the treehouse and build legos and ignore all the stupid people." She pulled back, giggling brightly. "Okay?" She smiled widely at him. Being with Vader was nice. She'd made lots of friends since coming to school, but with Philip busy and Alice so popular, Ava couldn't help but enjoy the time she spent with Vader. She enjoyed being with all her friends, of course, but somehow this felt different.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader was a little surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug, she was speaking quietly but he listened along. He hadn’t realised that she had been bullied and made fun of like he had. Kids were mean, and Ava’s grandmother was just doing her best for Ava and her whole family. He didn’t know what to say to it, he didn’t feel as comfortable talking about it. He wasn’t sure that she’d even realise, ”They used to make fun of my name a lot,” the boy muttered quietly not opting to give any more information away but opting instead to just give a little, since she had been so open and honest with him, he needed to be open and honest with her. The gryffindor nodded at her as she said that people were dumb, ”They are,” the boy said in agreement and just listened as the girl continued. He didn’t want to tell her that it had happened again, maybe not that badly but the encounter with the older girl who’d hurt Abian stayed clear in his mind. Ava was such a good and nice friend, he didn’t want to say that it had happened, since it was unlikely to happen again, right? ”Yeah,” he agreed letting himself just enjoy her company, ”Thanks for being my friend Helene,” the boy added quietly, ”Maybe we could go play for a while? Go outside?” he was sure that they could remain in this room and spend as much time to paint and spend time in this room with her, but maybe they could spend a little time just playing outside, get some fresh air. ​