Closed Melodic

[Vader Hume]

Vader had of course been busy during the halloween celebrations, but he had tried to spot Helene during it. The teen hadn’t seen her at all, and while of course maybe he’d just been busy she hadn’t even approached him. He cared for Helene deeply, she’d practically lived with him over the holidays, was basically his sister and he was a little worried. It was why despite the growing exhaustion, the relief of the halloween celebration being basically over, Vader had known if he didn’t at the very least see Helene he wouldn’t get to sleep. So after leaving the film and a few other bits and pieces in the accio room he’d ventured to the arts room where he more often than not found her. He rubbed his eyes and yawned heavily as he went into the room. ”Helene, you here?” he couldn’t check ravenclaw, but perhaps Isabelle would for him. She was a good friend, she’d do that, but if he didn’t find Helene then he might have to admit defeat and just hope his exhaustion from the last week would let him sleep properly - who knew that a few lost hours in a night would be so bad.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was having a bad day. They seemed to be more frequent now. She hardly felt like herself anymore. She had thought about going to the Halloween feast. Vader was there. He had been working really hard. She knew that. But she just couldn't bring herself to go. Instead, when she'd left the common room, she found herself in the arts room rather than the Great Hall. She sighed. Why did she always find herself here? She shuffled over to the piano and sat down.

For the longest time, she just stared at the keys. What was the point? She was having a hard time seeing colors anymore. She only ever felt even close to her old self when Vader was with her. But he was so busy lately. She sighed, slowly bringing her arm up and placing her fingers on the keys. Her mind drifted again to the Brightstone visit with her father and sister. She played a few keys. She saw her dad's face in her mind, and her heart hurt. She played a few more. She slowly started to pick up speed, playing a soft heartfelt piece. If anyone called to her, she hardly registered it. Shutting her eyes, she lost herself in the music.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader didn’t hear Helene, but when he’d stepped into the room, he heard the piano playing, a soft certainly heartfelt piece and he knew that would be Helene. He’d grown somewhat accustomed to what and how she would play. Her living with him for some of the winter holiday had certainly taken their friendship to a more personal family relationship. His parents had asked on a few occasions if Vader like Ava, saying it in an odd way, to which his answer was always no, but his parents always shared a look. He loved Helene, but she was a sister. The idea of being with her was not interesting to him but he couldn’t help a little nagging thought in his mind that maybe he should like her like that? Was he weird if he didn’t see her like that at all? She didn’t like him like that so maybe it was just his parents getting into his head a bit. He adjusted the cap on his head as he approached, running a hand tiredly through the messy blonde hair. Ava was sat at the piano and he didn’t really want to interrupt the music was soothing and he could feel the tiredness hitting harder. He approached her and cleared his throat a little to get her attention, he was practically at the piano seat looking for an invitation to sit if she wouldn’t mind it. He didn’t want to interrupt her if she didn’t want to sit with him that close. But he hoped she would. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was hardly disrupted from her music when someone cleared their throat behind her. Barely missing a beat she reached back and grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the seat next to her before continuing to play. She was quiet as the music filled the room, and she was quiet for a few moments even after it faded. With a soft sigh, she turned to finally face her probably worn out best friend. "Hey, Timmy," She greeted with a small smile. "How was the feast?" She regretted not going now, even if it was only just because it meant she didn't know how his night had been.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader gave her a little smile when she looked at him. He let her tug him into the seat next to her, before she continued playing. He felt his eyes grow heavy as he just sat and listened to the music, his head bobbed suddenly as he seemed to almost doze off, for a brief second. The music stopped, and he yawned loudly, he raised his hands so that he’d yawn into them. His eyes watered slightly and he rubbed them a little as she spoke. Vader returned the smile, ”Hey Helene,” his voice heavy but a little smile on his features, ”It was good. I think it went well,” Vader replied tiredly, ”I won’t know how well the pictures will turn out, but I think it still went okay. Can finally relax a little,” he added the last sentence as a light joke, he had been very worried and stressed about how it would turn out, he had worried it would go horribly, but it had seemingly gone well and he could actually finally relax a little, hopefully. He had missed seeing Ava at it. Vader yawned again, ”How are you?” The boy asked looking at her with a fond expression, he was tired, worn out and wanted to sleep but he did also want to make sure she was doing okay before he went to bed.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled softly. He looked like he could use a week of sleep. She reached down and placed her hand in his. It always made her feel better when Vader was with her. Which helped when he turned the question back to her. She was silent a moment. "I... I saw my dad." She told him softly, her grip on his hand tightening a little. "During Brightstone... he wanted to see Emily and I." She bit her lip. It had been harder than she'd thought. She couldn't decide if she was glad she'd gone or not. She turned and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't go to the feast," She replied softly. She had known he would need her there. And she had been a coward. She sighed, frustrated with herself.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader smiled softly at her, squeezing her hand lightly when she took his. He let himself settle and relax next to her, the exhaustion was growing but he willed himself to keep awake and keep listening, using the grip on her hand to keep him grounded. He nodded when she spoke, he knew the relationship was difficult, she’d been at his house over the winter holiday because of it. He didn’t say anything just listening lightly, before shaking his head, ”It’s okay,” he replied, ”I wasn’t much fun anyway. I didn’t want the older accio members to think I was slacking,” he had spent a little time with Alice and Isabelle but he’d wanted to concentrate more on his work, making sure they saw him working hard. ”How did it go with your dad?” Vader yawned when he finished speaking bring his free hand up to cover his mouth. He was appearing as interesting as he could but it seemed relaxing was maybe the wrong thing if he was trying to be good and listening well to Helene.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava listened as he reassured her, though she didn't deserve it. She bit her lip, trying to figure out how to describe her time at Brightstone. "I... I still couldn't look at him," She admitted softly. "Emily was really calm and collected. She's brilliant." She let out a strained laugh. "It's no wonder he left us. She's perfect." Ava managed softly. She sniffled a little, sitting up and turning away as she swiped at her eyes. Would she ever stop crying? Her entire world had revolved around her dad, and she just... couldn't help but feel so betrayed. She didn't know why she had to keep being this angry. She didn't like it. She hated it. She hated that she felt this way. She wished she could just turn it off and go back to the way things were, but it was hard. She struggled to pull herself together. Vader was already so tired. She couldn't do this right now.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader listened as she described what had happened with her father, Vader hated the man that man her feel like she wasn’t enough, wasn’t good enough for him to have stuck around. He hated that he was coming back into her life with little real regard to how that might make her feel. ”Don’t say that, he left because he sucks,” the boy assured her, stifling a small yawn. He could see that this was really upsetting her, and so put an arm around her, ”It’s okay to feel upset, it’s just us,” he added, he squeezed lightly, drawing Helene more into him trying to provide whatever comfort he could. He couldn’t help that his movements were slower, that his eyes were heavy with sleep, he wasn’t in any fit state to really be dealing with deep conversations but he could just be there, as any friend should, as any brother should. ”You deserve so much better than him,” he spoke softly leaning his head lightly upon hers.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled slightly as Vader reassured her. She wished she knew why he had left in the first place. She had never thought to ask her Mama, but thinking back on it she knew she should have. She turned back to him as he put his arm around her and smiled as he continued to reassure her. He really was her best friend. He was so sweet, being like this even when he was exhausted. She wondered why she didn't like him the way everyone expected her to. Sapphire teased her about all the time, and her dad had even asked her how she felt about him. She furrowed her brow a little. Was she supposed to like him that way? Did she like him that way? She had never thought about it before.

Without thinking about it first, she stretched up and gently pressed her lips against his. She lingered a moment, taking in how she was feeling. Her heart didn't skip a beat, she didn't feel nervous. It wasn't... magical like everyone said it would be. She pulled back a bit to look him in the eyes. "Sorry," She apologized with a small grin. "I know you're really tired. I was just seeing something." And she thought she had an answer, but she would wait to see what he did first. Maybe she really was just doing it wrong?

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader smiled tiredly at her letting the silence just linger over them in a manner that was entirely comfortable. He looked at her a little and was surprise when in an instant her lips were pressed against his. His tired mind took a moment to relax and he pulled away from her. Vader had been asked several times by his parents if Ava was his girlfriend, if there was something more to his feelings for her, and while a part of him wondered why he didn’t like her back in that way, he also knew they were good friends first and foremost. He let a light blush cover his cheeks and he shook his head when she spoke, what had she been seeing? ”Helene, I love you, but not like that,” he spoke with a little more alertness than prior. He’d been wondering for a while why even as their relationship grew and developed why he didn’t like her, why unlike others in their year they hadn’t gotten together. He was nervous, did she maybe feel that way about him? Would this ruin his friendship with her? Would she hate him for not liking her back in such a way? Could he force himself to like her back? He’d been clear but perhaps he shouldn’t have been, perhaps she would hate him now. His tired and exhausted mind, felt nervous, it was difficult to place any of his thoughts properly to know how best to approach it, there was too much in his head but he was so tired he couldn’t figure out how to deal with any one thing. He looked away from her and rubbed his tired eyes, he was bracing himself for her to be annoyed, to hate him, to never want to speak to him again. He would mourn the loss of this friendship, the longest friendship he had had ever. He fiddled nervous with the edge of his t-shirt just waiting for her reaction. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled at Vader's reaction, laying her head against his shoulder. "Yeah... Me neither." She told him. She shut her eyes and said. "Everyone says we should. I just don't... See us that way. I thought maybe I was just being dense, but nah." She shrugged. It was a relief he didn't want things to change from what they were. She straightened a bit and smiled at him. She held out her pinkie. "Best friends for always. Nothing more, nothing less. Promise?" Her blue eyes sparkled with a bit of their old mirth. She couldn't imagine not ever having the boy in her life.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader practically held his breath when she spoke, and felt his entire body sigh in relief. The teen was so tired and so relieved that she didn’t feel the same way, that she had been almost testing something. He didn’t mind, it had helped settle his own mind about if maybe he should like her. He let his head settle a little upon hers for the moment. His eyes heavy and falling closed for a moment, the relief really pushing his tiredness toward the edge. He needed to sleep, he needed to go to bed. He was certain to fall asleep now, and hoped that if he went back to the dorm he’d be able to sleep. He raised his head tiredly when she straightened up and he smiled at her and took her pinky, a best friend for always, that he could promise. ”Always,” he replied with a little smile.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled and stood, taking Vader's hand and trying to pull him up with her. "Okay, sleepy. You're going to fall over. Come on, I'll walk you back to your house, okay?" She smiled and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I'm not sure you won't fall down the stairs if I let you leave by yourself." She teased him lightly.