It had been a while since Mahlioz had willingly gone outside during break. A while since she'd taken some time for herself, rather than lose herself in studying or violin or a good book. It wasn't that they didn't like those things - they'd been getting way better at violin since they'd started practicing more often, and it was no surprise to anyone who knew them that they loved reading. But it was about time for a break of some sort. Letting herself be bored, her mind wander, and perhaps her feet too.
Consequently, they put on some warmer clothes than usual, slipped on their green converse with rainbow laces and decided to go outside (they'd been feeling more prideful lately, more okay with showing off a bit more about themselves - though perhaps rainbow laces were a bit subtle. they ignored that. it was enough for them). February, unfortunately, was cold, and though it was thankfully not raining or snowing at the moment, there was enough wind that Mahlioz felt it was better to stay in the courtyard.
It was rather surprising how many students were out here even in February. Mahlioz knew extraverts existed, obviously - her best friend was one - and a lot of them liked the outdoors (quite a few introverts liked nature too) but this was frankly kind of ridiculous. In fact, she was starting to regret her decision (why hadn't she brought a coat) when she noticed a kid crouched in a corner of the courtyard.
They had something in their hands that Mahlioz recognized rather quickly. It wasn't necessarily rare to see someone with a sketchbook in the wild, but it was always interesting, and the third year gave up on their plans to retreat back to the warmth of the castle for an opportunity to meet a fellow artist. A floor-gremlin artist. You know what, they couldn't blame them, the floor was comfy sometimes.
Mahlioz approached them, wondering how to go about it. It was always like this - finding someone cool, not knowing how to talk to them. Even that one time when she and Mells had drawn it had felt awkward for a good while. "Sorry, uh - are you drawing?" Now that she thought about it, they were quite close to the ground, and therefore her shoes, and therefore her laces - oh gods, what was he going to think? Probably nothing, she was probably overthinking, but - and maybe it wasn't a sketchbook at all, just a normal writing book, maybe they were writing -
Okay, nope, shut up. Agh, interactions! Three years at Hogwarts and she still sucked at them. "Would you mind if... could I see?" If only the Slytherin had brought their own sketchbook to draw in, maybe they could have asked to join. Or would that have been weird? Perhaps it would have made the query to see a bit more understandable. Whatever. They had to stop overthinking. They were here to see yummy art.
