Open No Time For That

[Vader Hume]

Vader was having his first own experience of the halloween feast with a date. The accio leader had never expected himself to be on of the people with dates, but he found himself with one. The date being his girlfriend. However, Vader didn’t think he would be much fun, since he had to work anyway, so he definitely didn’t have time to be sitting around, eating snacks and dancing. It worked out okay for him, even though everything was fine and he liked spending time with her. He liked spending time with Isabelle, but he had work to do, he didn’t have time to sit with her, and it would definitely mean he’d get out of kissing. They hadn’t really done so much as a cheek kiss but he even then it had always felt weird. But thankfully, he, being the editor of accio, meant he could wander off and go take more pictures. He knew he was boring her, he knew she probably hated it, but he had a job to do, he’d said that he would be as much fun as that. Vader had wondered off again, she’d said she needed to get a drink and vader had used that to be able to walk away and go take more pictures. He’d been stressed about balancing the two, and he’d been at the dance longer than Isabelle, he was yawning a little and quite visibly stressed, but it wasn’t going too badly. He hadn’t really worn a costume, just stuck with his usual clothes which had looked odd next to isabelle. Vader stood at the edge of the dancefloor and began taking some pictures of it. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by any of it. He still had to get all of the pictures. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava had mainly wanted to sit in her bed and sulk tonight, but her father had found her a costume and she wanted to at least tell him she'd been seen in it. Sighing as she got dressed up, Ava made her way down to the great hall. Without really thinking, she found she'd gravitated towards Vader. Huh. Well, that was useful and relieving. She leaned up against the wall next to him, knowing he hadn't seen her yet. She'd wait until he was done. And maybe she could startle him a bit. For a photographer, he was surprisingly unaware of the world around him when he got behind the camera. She wished she'd thought to grab a snack or a drink before she came over, but it was too late for that now. She waited patiently for Vader to notice her presence.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader finished taking the picture that he wanted to and turned to find another spot but stopped short at who was behind him. ”Helene!” he said with a surprised and startled tone. He hadn’t noticed her come in behind him, he hadn’t noticed her at all, but he certainly was now. SHe was wearing a white dress, a wedding looking dress. She looked very pretty, ”Wow,” was all he could say. Girls were objectively always pretty to him, he knew that Isabelle was pretty too. He couldn’t seem to get to the point of finding her pretty and liking her where Ava had once described and a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he tended to find boys prettier, but he squashed that with a shake of his head and by running a free hand through his blond curls and lightly tugging on a few strands. He looked back at her, with a tired expression, ”Can I take your picture?” Though he was very close with Helene, he still thought it polite to ask her before he took her picture. He held up his camera with a little smile on his features. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled at Vader's surprise. She gave him a sad smile as he asked for her picture. "Of course. That's pretty much the only reason I came down. That way I can show dad I wore his costume and left the dorm, then go back and finish reading my book." She teased, striking a pose. "Well, one of the reasons, anyway. How are you tonight?" She asked, not missing that he wasn't with Isabelle. "Are you alright?" She meant it in more ways than one, and she was sure he would pick up on the double meaning behind her words. Maybe. He did look pretty tired.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader was a little surprised when she said she was only there for a picture, he wasn't sure whether or not to believe that all to be the truth or maybe a little joke. Regardless, he took a picture when she struck her pose. He pulled the camera away and focused on it before looking back at her. He couldn't help the glance round to where he had left Isabelle, he felt bad for just walking away but he had a job and the evening wasn't exactly going well in his mind. He didn't feel anything, he liked Isabelle, but he didn't like like her. It had been months since he'd asked her out, weeks since he'd told himself that it would come with time but it wasn't. He also didn't want to admit to Ava that it was another thing loosing him sleep. Another thing which sat on his mind in the dead of night, the failure that he was. He looked away from Helene, down to the floor, "I'm a little tired," came the simplification, when that was just the tip of the ice berg for him, especially since he hadn't slept a wink the night before this. "Plus I think Isabelle might be a bit annoyed at me, you know spending all of my time working, but I have to work," Vader sighed and finally looked back at Ava, he felt a little anxious that she might push more into it, his hands shook lightly from the worry of that and from the lingering coffees. "Would you want to maybe dance? I promise after I'll take a little break," he hoped to get the attention of him, and perhaps let Helene enjoy herself a little more. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava knew Vader wasn't telling her everything, but she also knew she wasn't going to push him. She laced her arm through his and gave him a warm smile. "Aw, no, I'm sure she understands." She told him. She grabbed one of his shaking hands in hers, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "Vader," she murmured, moving so she could whisper in his ear unheard. "Whatever you're keeping to yourself, you're safe with me," she told him. "You don't have to tell me, I promise not to pry." She pulled away, keeping his hand in hers and lacing their fingers together. "Come on," she encouraged, "Let's dance."

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader looked back towards where Isabelle had been and then back at Helene. He let her take his hands and he tried his best with a frustrated groan for them to stop. He listened as she spoke to him. He didn’t know what she could be possibly going on about, he wasn’t hiding anything….nothing. Vader just shook his head, ”There’s nothing Helene, I promise. I’m just tired,” he told her with it only being a half lie. He was tired, but his mind was filled with so much. He smiled slightly as she laced her hand with his and nodded, he could spare a dance, he had time for that. The teen led her out to the dance floor. He was a little concern Philip might see this and think something and he was terrified that seeing that might cause Philip to spread around the lie which Helene had said. It was after all completely false. He didn’t however want to bring him up, just in case that upset Ava and Ava deserved to have a good evening. He danced with her and gave her a little tired smile. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava gave Vader's hand a reassuring squeeze as he told her he was just tired. She wanted to believe him, but there were so many signs against it. Whatever was happening, he didn't want to admit to it. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they danced. It would have been so much easier if there could just be something there between them, but Ava couldn't help the small part of her that wished she was with someone else right now. She shook her head to clear it. She wasn't going to bring up Isabelle, either. She could see how hard Vader was trying with her. "You know what we need to do?" She started, "We need more legos for the treehouse," She gave him a wry grin. "I think we can get papa to send us something really epic," She wrinkled her nose at him.