Closed New Friends

[Kairi Kennedy]

While Kairi had been genuinely tempted to just hang out and spend all of her time with Daiki, but she wanted to try and expand her circle. Deciding to sit out in the sunlight and just people watch, Kairi picked up one of her floral coloring books and walked down to the courtyard. She sat on the steps- scooted over to the side properly so that she could watch and color without being in anyone elses way. She hummed softly, seeing groups of people coming and going. She wasn't sure she was ready to approach a group on her own, so instead she just kept coloring, waiting for someone interesting- and on their own- to appear.

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose had been wandering around the common room, feeling increasingly isolated. She'd tried to engage with her roommates, but they all already had a connection to each other and were caught up in their own activities, they didn't really have any time for her, so they had been sort of leaving her out of the feminine bonding moments. After a while of that, she decided she needed to escape the cluttered and somewhat chaotic space of the common room for a bit of fresh air. She made her way to the courtyard, hoping to clear her head a little and find a bit of a quiet spot where she could just exist, since she missed her siblings so much and they both seemed to be doing fine. She noticed the sunlight streaming through the trees and thought a change of scenery might lift her spirits. With a bit of apprehension, she settled on the steps, trying to immerse herself in the peaceful surroundings and hoping that being outdoors would help her feel more connected.

She soon spotted another girl sitting alone on the steps, a quiet figure with a floral colouring book. She hesitated for a moment, feeling the sting of being unintentionally side-lined by her roommates. Shyness tugged at her, but she pushed it aside, determined to make a connection. With a soft breath, she approached Kairi, trying to muster up her usual confidence despite her unease. “Hi there,” she said, her voice gentle and a bit hesitant. “I noticed you’re colouring, and I thought I’d come say hello. Is it okay if I join you?” She wasn't an artist herself, but it looked like it was a fun activity anyway.​

 

[Kairi Kennedy]

Kairi looked up when she heard someone speak, and smiled softly. "Hello," She greeted, shifting slightly so she was more angled towards the new girl. "It's... Rose, isn't it?" She asked, thinking that it was the girls name, though she couldn't remember what house. She motioned for the girl to sit with her. "I'd love it if you'd sit with me." She pulled out a second coloring book and offered it out to Rose.

 

[Rose Edogawa]

"Yeah, and you're Kairi, right? I remember you from sorting," she said, taking the offered colouring book and looking down at it. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with it, colouring wasn't really her thing, was it? She looked around, glad that, for the moment at least, they appeared to be on their own. Rose wasn't very good with crowds at the best of times and she didn't want to have to move if someone was going for a walk because they were now taking up quite a bit of space together. "I don't... know what to do?" She said softly, almost in a whisper. Was it strange that a young girl didn't know what to do with a colouring book? Only she'd spent most of her time not sleeping either eating or up in the air. Her family had been playing quidditch together since before she was even born. She bet she'd spent more time in the air than most people at the school even despite her age.​

 

[Kairi Kennedy]

Kairi nodded. "I am," She replied, pleased that she'd remembered the name right. She kept coloring, and at the girls question she shifted, using the point of her pencil to point at the page Rose was looking at. "So, we're coloring." She offered. "You pick the colors you like from the pencils, and the color in the lines," She showed Rose the page she was working on. "You can do anything you want. It's really just a calming activity for me, and an easy way to explore your creativity. There's no right or wrong way to do it." She smiled at Rose. "Does that make sense?"

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Not really, but Rose didn't know how to explain to the girl that it didn't. She understood that it was a colouring activity, but she couldn't see how it would be calming? Trying to pick the right colours and stay in the lines sounded incredibly stressful, but Rose didn't want to say that either, instead, she nodded, and picked up the blue pencil to colour the background blue. As long as she didn't have to make any kind of specific decisions she was sure she was going to be fine with this, probably. "Oh, this is a quidditch game," she realised, as she looked at the darkened lines of the colouring book. "Will this move when I'm finished?"​

 

[Kairi Kennedy]

Kairi nodded. "Yeah, a little bit, but mostly just something subtle. I don't like the big movement coloring books. Just something to make the picture seem more alive." She explained, taking a page she'd finished and showing it to Rose. It was a flower field, with the flowers swaying gently like a soft breeze was blowing on them.

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose would be glad to see the picture move, though she was less into subtle and more into grand gestures and big things. She had never held much care for the subtle things in life, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate some of the small things that life threw at her. She picked up the orange pencil and started adding a bit colour and texture to the cloak one of the beaters was wearing. She could tell it was the beater, obviously because of the positioning, but most because of the beaters bat. "Oh, okay, this will be interesting when it's finished then because subtlety isn't really Quidditch strong suit, so if this picture is subtle, I'll be very surprised."​

 

[Kairi Kennedy]

Kairi giggled, her baby blue pencil sketching softly over her page. "We'll just have to see," She replied. She couldn't help but smile again at her new friend. "So, Rose, tell me about yourself," She asked, eager to learn more. "What's Gryffindor like?" She wondered, thinking of her own common room and how cozy it was.

 

[Rose Edogawa]

The moment she was asked about herself, everything about her seemed to slip away. He pencil stilled on the paper she was colouring in and her eyes went wide. She didn't know what to say to the girl, because she didn't know anything to say. How was she supposed to describe herself? That she was half American? That her mother was the Tengu's Coach? Except that wasn't about her, uhm, she bit her lip, trying to think about anything she might be able to say that would give her even a small hint of a personality, but she couldn't come up with anything, and so, to ward off the ocean of panic that started to rise within her, she looked back down at her drawing and continued to colour it in.​