Diffusing the Time Bomb PV Completed

@Jack Burnett

[font=Segoe Print]"Yeah...a ploy.”

Jack was breathing a bit heavily, a hard-to-read sort of look on his face. It was a bit concerning, if Rafa were honest. His own facial features quickly found themselves in a bit of a worried expression, tad of wariness mixed in for cautious purposes. Their dispute may have been over for the moment, but that didn’t at all mean that he would be letting his guard down on the Slytherin anytime soon. “Hey, you okay mate?” he said instead, looking over the Slytherin with careful eyes. A few minutes ago, he would have laughed at himself, or sneered, or punched himself in the face for his sympathetic words. Now, those feelings were gone, replaced with – nothing, actually. He had no significant feelings for the other boy. At least, none he could clearly place at the moment. “You don’t look too good,” he continued, a cautious air to his voice. “Hit you too hard, did I? Need the nurse to look over your sorry ass?”

He had been quite taken aback by Jack’s statement regarding his boyfriend. Really, he hadn’t been under the impression that Jack cared at all about his relationship. In fact, the Slytherin had seemed wary of the whole thing during their first little run-in – he’d said some rather scathing words, anyways. At least, that was what they came across as. Whether it was an issue regarding age or sexuality, he couldn’t exactly pinpoint thus far. And quite honestly, he didn’t give a damn about what the Slytherin thought – Jack’s opinions had only distanced the two from any attempts at friendship. So, Jack actually minding his relationship with his boyfriend? Definitely strange words to hear. Not unwelcome, though. “I don’t mind,” he told the other boy. “He’s got nothing to be jealous of, anyways.” It was a prod, but an insult, no less. The first of many. Though, not that of ill-will – more like the kind of banter between friends. Gryffindor friends, in the least.

"Can we, um...can we continue at a later date? Please?"

Well, they weren’t exactly fighting at the moment. If they were, Jack would have figured it out pretty quickly by now. Though, the situation had calmed down a lot, so he wasn’t really sure what Jack was going on about. It dawned on him that, perhaps the fight wasn’t over in everyone’s minds – his words hadn’t exactly been insinuating peace or anything. Unless you knew Rafa well, it was hard to read his banter sometimes. The young Gryffindor shrugged, a bright look in his eye. “Yeah,” he answered. “I suppose I can allow that.” He wasted no time in holding his hand out for Jack to take, offering him some help. The other boy still looked a bit dazed, Rafa noticed – it was growing more evident to Rafa as the moments passed. He said he was tough. “But, seriously, man, are you okay?” He frowned a bit, cocking his head to the side. “Jokes aside, you don’t look too good.” [/font]

"Hey, you okay mate?"

Jack really wished Rafa hadn't asked him that. The inquiry caused the Slytherin to look up from the ground at the speaker, forcing him to notice the streak of worry that had fallen across the Gryffindor's face. An uncomfortable mixture of emotions, including guilt, roiled in his gut, causing his insides to churn. Jack clutched at his stomach in annoyance.

"You don't look too good. Hit you too hard, did I? Need the nurse to look over your sorry ass?"

That warrented a reluctant laugh. It was a shame Rafa probably didn't see the irony in the situation. Jack was fairly certain that the way the Gryffindor was treating him now was causing him worse damage than any physical injury the other boy could have inflicted. With Rafa's newfound concern, he was hurting Jack worse than ever.

"...I think...I'm allergic to your kindness," he chuckled unhappily. Then the redhead heaved a deep, weary sigh.

"Listen, D'Spacito, because I'm only going to say this once: I respect you. I underestimated you and you took me by surprise. That doesn't happen often, which is why I want to repay you with a bit of advice." Though he smiled, it was tight and it didn't reach his eyes, which were pained when they finally met Rafael's. "All jokes aside, from now on, don't be nice to me."

Despite the threatening nature of Jack's words, they were spoken with profound sorrow and sounded more like a plea than a warning. "Don't ever show me the least amount of mercy or warmth or concern. Because I promise you, whatever good you think you may be doing now, you'll end up regretting it eventually." Probably not for the reasons you may suspect, though.

The taller boy's comment about not minding the kiss and his boyfriend having nothing to be jealous about only earned another hollow bark of laughter. "Even if there's no reason for him to be jealous, that doesn't mean he wouldn't mind," Jack countered, unable to help himself. "Emotions are irrational things that blind people to all logic and reason. Just because you may know he doesn't have anything to worry about doesn't necessarily mean he knows that."

He shook his head slowly, fixing the ground with a melancholy grin. "Think about it from his point of view. If you heard someone had kissed him on New Year's Eve, just the two of them alone and with no one else around, how would you feel? Could you honestly say you'd believe him without a second thought if he assured you it was nothing for you to worry about?"

Why was he talking about this? Rafael's relationship was none of his business. Was his mouth just running to keep his thoughts as far as possible from what he most feared? Was he rambling in the hopes of getting the Gryffindor angry at him once more? Was he just stalling for time? Surely he didn't actually care what became of Rafael and his boyfriend. And Rafa probably cared even less about what Jack thought. So why was he still talking?

"There's no way for him to know what you feel for certain. Insinuations can lead to misunderstandings. It only takes the smallest seed of doubt to break through years' worth of a relationship's foundations. So be careful."

Maybe he just didn't want what had happened to him and his ex-friends to happen to Rafa. And even if the Quidditch player disregarded his advice for now, perhaps it would give him something to think about in the future.

Whatever the case, Jack didn't think he could take much more of Rafael. Changing their conversation topic to the Gryffindor's boyfriend seemed to have helped his situation some, as he no longer had trouble breathing and his complexion had mostly returned to normal. Still, he never knew when Rafa might do or say something to cause the symptoms to return - like offering him a hand up.

Pretending not to see it, Jack avoided the other's gaze again as he moved from a crouch to a seated position with his back against the wall. Then he nodded tiredly toward the area beyond the other boy, doing his best to ignore the disagreeable thudding in his chest.

"If you had somewhere to be, now's your chance. The staircase is back."

@Rafael D'Spacito

@Jack Burnett

[font=Segoe Print]"I think...I'm allergic to your kindness."

Rafa found a bit of humor in Jack’s strange analogy – as if kindness could be an allergen. It took a good, long moment for the Gryffindor to realize what the other boy was saying. “What are you going on about?” he asked, his eyebrow raised in a confused, almost impatient way. Here he was, extending the proverbial olive branch, and Jack was already screwing everything up. What is bloody wrong with this guy? Is he socially challenged, or something?

It was about this time that Rafa realized what was going on. He’d seen it on a few different occasions, though it had been long enough ago to have disappeared from his immediate memory. Jack, he finally noticed, often got himself into all these problems with his actions and his mouth [no pun intended], which usually pushed people away from him. He destroyed himself, whether he realized it or not. But the moment he got the opportunity to build a bridge with someone, he pushed them away, too. It had taken Rafa this entire ordeal to figure it out, but he finally got it – Jack was afraid of making friends.

Which was strange, and a bit sad, because he was sure the boy had the capability to be a great friend once given the opportunity. He was smart, definitely, and somewhere within that twisted mind of his was a sense of humor. Pointed in the right direction, he would make a good ally – though, the ally wasn’t very easy to see, clouded by all the mistakes and fear. It was almost as if he were choking, saying things he really didn’t mean or want to say. And Rafa hated it. He absolutely hated watching Jack say these things about himself. It made him feel sick, almost as if he had done something terrible wrong.

"Don't ever show me the least amount of mercy or warmth or concern. Because I promise you, whatever good you think you may be doing now, you'll end up regretting it eventually."

The thing was, Rafa hadn’t done a single thing to warrant such a bad feeling. Punch the Slytherin, yes, but a simple fist to the face didn’t make the boy the way he was today. If anything, it satisfied his strange need for pain. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Jack had been through to make him this way – It wasn’t as if people woke up, fearing commitments and relationships. It was a bit depressing, actually, watching him now – Rafa’s humored look wavered a second, his eyes suddenly laced with confusion, before it was quickly masked again with humor. A strange idea had come to him just then, and being an impulsive child, he didn’t think before putting it into action. “Yeah, sorry, mate,” he commented, his bright voice still present. “I still don’t owe you anything.” He tapped his cheek, right where Jack’s lips had been only moments before. “Especially not after a move like that. You’ve got stones, man.” He shrugged, his hands withdrawing to his pockets and his head cocked to the side, a wry smile on his face. “Anyways,” he continued, “I’ll do whatever I damn like. If that means killing you with kindness, you’d better get ready for war.” The way he said those last words had a threatening air to them – in the least, Jack deserved it. He felt no remorse, instead listening to the Slytherin’s next words with an attentive ear.

He found that Jack’s statement about Gem, while clouded with that same reluctance that had gotten him into so much trouble, did hold some truth to it. People got offended easily, he had learned, and just because he was fine with it didn’t mean Gem was, too. Though, unbeknownst to Jack, Rafa wasn’t too worried. There was always the possibility that Gem would get angry, but the context of the situation was too obvious to be mistaken for anything other than a mess. It was hard to believe that they’d split over such a matter. “Yeah, I would,” Rafa said in answer to the Slytherin's question, an air of confidence to his voice – he one-hundred-percent believed and supported the words coming out of his own mouth. “He’s not what you think, you know. If anything, you’d better pray he doesn’t find out. I may have given you a free pass this time, but Gem?” he grinned. “If he ever finds out about this instance, he’s going to kick your ass in.” Because, Gem was like that – he was sweet and loving, until you gave him a reason to hate him. The Ravenclaw could just as easily grow cold and deadly to all who crossed him.

It was then that Jack alerted him to the movement of the stairs. Thank his lucky stars. He quickly checked his watch, his eyes dancing in anticipation – 12:07. Missed it. He groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he muttered dejectedly, his eyes brushing the stairwell with an aggravated gaze. Well, that was just too bad. Rubbing his eyes, he turned back to the Slytherin – there was no need to stay any longer. Though, he did have one more loose end to tie.

“Before I go – “ he stepped forward, grabbing the boy’s shirt and lifting him into the air – his gaze burned with all the ferocity he had stored up in his eleven-year-old body, an absolutely deadly look burned across his features. “If you ever, ever pull something like that again,” he growled, his voice enough to give an ogre a panic attack. With this, he considered his threat for a moment, a thoughtful look infusing with the burning anger. “I’ll end you.” He would leave that up to the imagination of the Slytherin – end his reputation, end his good time at Hogwarts, end his self-esteem. God forbid he end the guy’s life, but if Jack wanted to imagine it, then he supposed it wouldn’t hurt anything.

Curtly dropping the boy on the ground again, he took his hands and wiped them on Jack’s shirt, his face going back to the casual look it once held. “Happy New Year, then,” he commented absently, turning to grab his books. His steps, once quick and hurried, had now been reduced to a slower pace. There was no need to rush now. “Oh, and don’t call me D’Spacito,” he called drily after the boy, his pace never stopping. “The name’s already bad enough with the song.”

Rafael has left the thread.

[/font]

Not having expected Rafa to care what he was 'going on about' in the least, much less actually attempt to puzzle it out, Jack didn't bother answering. In fact, part of the reason he had uttered those words in the first place was simply because he thought they would only make sense to him. Grinning to himself miserably, he shook his head at his predicament. Unfortunately for the Slytherin, that predicament just got a whole lot worse once the uncomfortably sharp Gryffindor seemed to figure it out what he'd meant by his allergic comment anyway.

It was the basis of Jack's deepest secrets; his greatest weaknesses; his darkest fears. And Rafael bloody D'Spacito - a Quidditch-playing, violence-prone, brawny big-shot - had been the first to discover this simple truth. Not without a great deal of problem-solving, critical-thinking, people-reading, and major skill in all of the above, either. Jack wouldn't have seen that coming in a million years. Perhaps it was the popular student's experience interacting with so many others that had given him such insight as to see right through Jack's schemes, but regardless of how or why, Rafa now had information on the redhead that no one else had yet learned.

He guessed how twisted Jack's warped mind had become; how he attempted to get people to hate him not only to make a connection other than a positive one, but also to punish himself for hurting others in order to do it. Of course, Jack didn't know Rafa knew until the Gryffindor voiced his threat to 'kill him with kindness'. At that single phrase, the Slytherin visibly paled several tints lighter, the blood draining from his face. All traces of his smile - amused, upset, or otherwise - were banished from his features. For a fleeting moment, there was only a stark expression of pure horror bleaching his entire countenance.

Soon after, he quickly recomposed himself, closing his slightly-ajar mouth. However, his color had not completely returned and Jack felt more dizzy than ever. What had he done? What had he done?! Selim's previous warning about underestimating his enemies came back to echo in the redhead's brain. He should have known better than to think he had had Rafa all figured out - than to think that he wouldn't be able to figure him out. Especially not when he had practically handed the guy the key to his demise in the form of his cryptic comments and request while assuming Rafa wouldn't know how to use it.

Breathe. Breathe! Remember to breathe! he told himself, attempting to take as slow and deep a breath as he could. If he didn't, he was worried he would lapse into hyperventilating from the panic suddenly flooding his comprehension. Struggling to regain focus, he tried to understand the words that Rafa was speaking to him. About a 'Gem'...?

Ah, yes, Jack had heard about Gem before, especially while he had been researching Rafa in order to send him the false love letter supposedly from Alex Tyler. It was good to reaffirm that this Gem - Gem Stuart, if he recalled correctly - was the boyfriend Rafa was so adamantly fond of.

Getting his ass kicked in? That didn't scare Jack. At least not as much as someone knowing how weak kindness made him. If he had to pick between the two, he would have chosen the former any day. And since it was so much easier to kick a hated person's ass than it was to be kind to them, well...perhaps there might have been a way to salvage the situation yet.

The fact of the matter was that now Rafa knew how to hit Jack where it hurt the most. But, again, two could play at that game. The Slytherin hadn't wanted to resort to such tactics, especially if it dragged a completely innocent third party into the mix, but Jack was getting desperate. Besides, Rafael had told him to get ready for war. And didn't the saying go that all was fair in love and war?

Eager to see the Gryffindor finally distance himself so they could be done here, Jack perked up a bit once it looked like his peer was going to make his exit. He seemed to have been getting overly optimistic, however, because before he knew it, the muscle-bound brute was manhandling him again; likely to intimidate and assert his dominance. Perhaps it was better that Rafa didn't realize it wasn't his brawn and physical strength more so than his knowledge and mind that gave Jack reason to feel intimidated.

Let's see if you're still keen on mind games when it's much easier to satisfy your angriest, base urges by resorting to simple, mindless violence, he thought. He profoundly hoped that Rafa's frightful understanding of his words had only been a lucky guess or perhaps a one-time coincidence. Kindness is simple enough to wield in theory, but it's not so easy to actually use against your enemies. Oh well...I trust you'll discover that soon enough.

After all, Rafa had said if he had ever pulled 'something like that' again. Those terms were far too ambiguous. Did Rafa just mean if Jack tried to kiss him again? Gem's name hadn't been mentioned at all, so presumably, he wasn't off-limits. And what, exactly, did Rafa plan to do to 'end' him if he so chose to? End in what way? As someone who bent words toward his will a great deal, this sounded like a lot of bluff and bluster to Jack.

There were far too many ways to interpret the supposed threat...and just as many ways to interpret what he was being warned against doing in the first place. How could he be expected to know specifics if Rafa didn't give them? Answer: he couldn't. And, therefore, it couldn't be his fault if his own interpretation failed to match up with the Gryffindor's intended message. Jack was just working with what he'd been given as usual.

This time, he knew better than to let his big mouth get carried away as a result of the pressure and anxiety the stressful situation was placing on him. He kept his lips firmly sealed throughout the whole display of raw power and even managed to resist the horribly enticing temptation to roll his eyes at the end of it. This was particularly difficult when Rafa made a big deal of wiping his hands on Jack's shirt as if worried the Slytherin would infect him with cooties or something else. He yearningly wanted to ask the Gryffindor if he really thought that wiping one's hands on an enemy's shirt was the most efficient way to clean off said enemy's contaminants. But yet again, he bit his tongue.

"Oh, and don’t call me D’Spacito," Jack heard Rafa command as he departed. "The name’s already bad enough with the song."

The speed and ease with which Rafa reverted his firey, dangerous warning glare to the neutral, casual, default expression he usually wore did not escape the Slytherin's notice. Those abilities, in addition to Rafa's disarming skill to speak so warmly to his opponent while roughing them up, gave Jack a clue as to just how good an actor the Quidditch Chaser could be when he put his mind to it. It was a dangerous mind if it was used well enough...but Jack knew all too well the damage that the influence of irrational emotions could cause even the most intelligent of people.

Normally, he wouldn't have wished that fate on anyone, but if Rafa was going to threaten him with his worst fears, he was going to fight back tooth and nail with all known resources in order to survive. It was really a shame, though. All of that could have been avoided if the Gryffindor had simply forgone being stubborn for once and just done what Jack had asked, thinking no more of it after.

Alas, that was not how people usually worked. Particularly this strong-minded, defiant Gryffindor who seemed willing to go against the grain even when no one else would. Complexion still pallid, the redhead took hold of a staircase railing and attempted to ease his way back toward his common room.

"Well...if you do end up being nice to me and you turn out to regret it, you can't say I didn't warn you, little birdie," he murmured softly to himself as he took each step one at a time.

"I hope for both our sakes that you choose to fall back on your typical M.O. the next time we meet. Because if you decide to start doing what I specifically asked you not to instead, you're going to find out just how destructive a cornered, desperate animal can get..."


@Rafael D'Spacito