According to the clock on the wall, it was only about 2 in the morning. She rubbed her forehead, making a slight noise as she kind of hated waking up in the middle of the night. She made her way toward her kitchen on the first floor, trying to be quiet. Mera hadn’t started staying in the dorms yet, still a bit overwhelmed and feeling out of place. She didn’t want to wake her just because she had a nightmare.
She was fine most nights, the incident had been long enough ago that she didn’t find herself looking over her shoulder anymore whenever she went out into the woods to gather supplies. But sometimes it just came out of nowhere and she’d reexperience that panic and fear all over. She always woke up in a sweat with her heart racing. She wouldn't be able to close her eyes again for a while without that fear taking back over, so awake she was...
As she reached the kitchen, she realized the light was already on. Her brows furrowed and she walked in and sighed softly. Mera was already there, sitting at the bay window, staring out at Hogsmeade.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Adeline asked softly.
Mera looked over at her, a little startled that she hadn’t realized she’d entered the room, but then calmed down seeing it was her. Mera had come to trust that Adeline was harmless, perhaps protective, so seeing her here made her feel a little more at ease.
“No,” Mera answered honestly, “My mind is quite….uneasy,” she murmured, leaning back against the glass.
Adeline nodded, “Understandable. I was going to make some tea, do you want some?” she asked her, “Maybe some chamomile will do us both some good, hm?” she smiled softly.
Mera nodded, then watched her as she started to get the water, “Did you have a nightmare?” she asked, noting her state.
“Ah, yes,” Adeline admitted, giving a small sheepish smile, “But I’m alright. Just a dream after all.”
Mera regarded her quietly, seeming to stew on those words, “Our minds can be our greatest enemies if we’re not careful,” she said and Adeline glanced at her but continued to get the stove started to get the water boiling, “Even dreams and nightmares can start to make our lives a real hell-scape,” she looked back out the window.
Adeline took a deep breath, “Yes…. Yes, I suppose that’s true,” she murmured. She knew what the reports said about what happened to Mera’s family. There were no words that could soothe the wounds that were likely left by that, but… "Mera, have you ever tried painting?” she asked her.
Mera’s brow furrowed and she shook her head, looking back over at her.
“I always find it therapeutic on nights like tonight,” Adeline said, giving another soft smile, “As if I can put the darkness in my mind onto the canvas and get it out of me,” she said, “The paintings don’t even usually look that great, but that’s not the point,” She explained, “The point is…. Freedom. Expressing all the things that are pent up and letting the feelings out,” she looked at her as Mera considered it, “Do you want to try?”
Mera looked down momentarily at her hands before looking back up at Adeline, “Yes.”
After the tea finished brewing, Adeline fixed their cups, then led Mera into her private studio. There, Mera stopped for a moment as the lights filled the room. It was a large space with canvases of various sizes, paint everywhere, parchments and inks creating sketches and designs that hadn’t yet been put to canvas. Adeline led Mera over to a corner and pulled off a tarp that was covering canvases that made Mera’s brows shoot up.
Most everything Adeline painted and presented was bright colors, beautiful landscapes, and just happiness conveyed through paint… but these canvases were covered in dark colors… blacks, ink blue, and deep reds…. But in contrast to what Adeline had said, Mera found these canvases with their abstract designs, the expressions of Adeline’s darker moments that she kept hidden away were, “Beautiful.”
Adeline gave a little laugh, sipping at her tea, “I do suppose they say that’s in the eye of the beholder isn’t it?” she said, “But you see there’s no planning in these. I pick the paints that represent what I’m feeling and I just…. Paint,” she said, smiling over at her, “So. Grab yourself a canvas. Maybe we’ll both sleep better after this,” she said encouragingly before picking up a blank one herself and walking over to an easel.
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