Open No Distractions

[Vader Hume]

Vader hadn’t slept much in the last week, his sleep pattern had gotten worse, worse than over halloween. He was lucky to manage around five hours a night, and it was never good sleep. He woke up tired, he would be tired all day, right up until he had to sleep again, when it all caught up with him and he spent hours tossing and turning in bed. He was rigidly sticking to his routine but he didn’t think that was helping, he’d stare at the ceiling of his four poster bed blankly as the time passed. But, the yuleball was happening now, the exams were over and he hoped with all that stress gone he would sleep. He would sleep more than the little he was sleeping now, hopefully. Vader was stressed out about everything and he was adding to that stress, with his current stress over not sleeping, what even tonight he still wouldn’t sleep. The boy was in the great hall, he’d had a few coffees in the day, but given how badly too many made him shake, he’d opted for fewer so that his camera would be mostly steady. ​

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Vader rubbed his eyes tired after taking another picture of various students arriving at the hall. He hoped to run into Helene at this event, or maybe Alice or Isabelle. He liked Isabelle, got the impression she liked him too and he wondered a little why he didn’t like her like her. He was a teen, others in his year talked about how much they liked girls now, some were dating, but Vader couldn’t seem to figure it out. An older boy dressed in a nice fitting suit briefly caught his attention and he blushed furiously ducking his head away when the boy even glanced in his direction. That didn’t happen with the girls in their dresses and they all looked nice too. He liked girls, he could like girls. Vader ran a hand through the soft blonde hair and sighed a little, he just needed to focus, push down the weirder feelings in him, he wasn’t that...all he could think of for a moment were the old taunts thrown at him at muggle school, he couldn’t be that, he couldn't risk that happening again. He liked girls, he was just busy, too busy to pursue anyone. Vader assured himself of that as he moved to another area of the room, he needed to focus and just take pictures. He couldn’t get distracted.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava had never really forgiven herself for abandoning Vader during the Halloween feast. She knew she couldn't do it to him again. He was her best friend, and always around when she needed him the most. She had stared at her clothes for over an hour, but just couldn't make herself dress up. She just pulled on a jacket over her pink shirt and shuffled down to the hall. She stuck her hands in her pockets as she walked into the Great Hall. Her eyes scanned the room as she made her through the crowd.

It didn't take her long to spot him. The poor boy looked exhausted. She sighed and walked over, snatching the camera out of his hands and trying to steer him to the nearest chair. "Enough working, Vader." She chastised him, looking at him as seriously as she could. "You're exhausted. You can have this back after you've sat down for a few minutes." She hid the camera behind her back, giving him her best smile. "Let's go."

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader was working hard, focusing on getting the pictures he needed for this event. At one point he spotted Alice with a boy, and let himself feel a little happy for her that she had found someone she wanted to spend time with at the yuleball. He took a quick picture of them and made a mental note he’d hopefully remember to give it to her. Vader rubbed his eyes and yawned a little. He would’ve continued taking the pictures he needed to had the camera not been snatched out of his hands, causing a moment in his tiredness of blind panic. This was a school event, people wouldn’t pick on him now…..he hoped they wouldn't or that someone might intervene. It was the voice that reassured him that it was fine and relief rushed through him. Just Helene. He let out a long, slightly shaky breath before glancing towards her and shaking his head, ”I can’t Helene, I have to work,” he said to her trying to press the importance of the work that he had to do. He shook his head at her, ”I’m not exhausted, just a little tired,” he knew it was a little evident on his features that he was tired but he would never admit to it, not too openly, just a little. He let himself sit down on the chair she’d steered him towards and felt his body relax a little, admittedly maybe she was right, sitting down was nice. The gryffindor sighed a little and let a hair run through his hair. ”Can I get the camera back please?” the boy asked her, with a little smile, ”I can’t slack off, Helene. What if the others see me, not working when I should be,” Vader worried a lot, things had been going well with accio but he still needed to prove himself to them, it was a large task and he was younger than almost all of the other members. So he was sitting and it felt nice and his body could relax a little, let the tiredness seep in but he couldn’t for long.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled as Vader sat, ignoring his protests. "Sure. You drink too much coffee and you haven't been sleeping well. Try again." She put a cup of water into his hand. "You're no use to them if you can't take care of yourself," she chided him gently. "I'm pretty sure one of the others has a date. You can relax a minute." She set his camera in his lap. "After the ball you're coming with me, Timmy." She instructed, planning different ways to help him out.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader shook his head at her, but didn’t say anything about the coffee, most of the time he could realise that the coffee wasn’t helping him much, but he needed it some days. In the morning he’d feel exhausted until that first sip of coffee, it was just helped him function. Vader took the glass of water and just lightly sipped it before shaking his head at her, ”I take care of myself Helene,” the boy rolled his eyes a little at her, he appreciated her concern but she didn’t understand, he was taking care of himself, he was trying to at least. He just couldn’t sleep, he went to bed at the same time every night, tried to wind down, but it just wasn’t working. It went away eventually, and once this evening was over and the school break started he knew he’d sleep a whole lot better. At her words, ”It’s different for them, if things go wrong, it’s my fault not theirs,” Vader said to her, hating that there was a frustration in his tone that Ava didn’t deserve, she was just trying to help and he was just stressed. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes tiredly, ”Where are we going after the ball?” he asked with a confused tone, he had planned to sleep, he had planned to go to bed and sleep, and given her worry he was surprised that she might suggest something else for them to do.​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava sighed as Vader resisted. She'd known he would. She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, yeah," she looked up at him from under her lashes. "You get too stressed over your Accio stuff, Timmy. I just worry about you, you know," she nudged his foot with hers. "Best friends do that." She had started to get an idea, and if he played along it just might work. "The arts room. Nothin fancy." She smiqled at him. She could set things up while he finished here. Or she could snag him another day, depending on how the night went.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader nodded a little in understanding, ”I know Helene, I’m sorry,” he replied with a tired little expression, nodding a little. He knew that Accio stressed him out, he knew he wasn’t coping well with the pressure the position put him under, between it and everything else there was just so much he had to do and so much that he was struggling with. He knew she was just trying to look out for his interests, because sometimes he wasn’t as good at it, but he was trying. ”Okay,” the boy was tired, but after the halloween feast he’d spent a little bit of time winding down with Ava in the arts room and that had then been a great night of sleep. She’d had to help him some of the way back to the dorm, but he had appreciated it. ”I can be there in like an hour?” he then added, thinking about the few other pieces he had to do before he could come join her. He hoped that would suffice and she wouldn’t mind waiting a tiny bit of time.​