A Pyro Performance PV Ruka Tân Finished

Ruka had kept mostly to himself after the summer holidays, too emotional, too sad and angry to really connect with anybody just yet.
Instead he had thrown himself into school work, feeding the Giant Squid, and working on his fire dance in the giant rehearsal room Hogwarts had to offer. 

That was exactly where he found himself that day again, dressed in a black shirt and his dad's old loose grey joggers that sported holes over the knees. His wand was tucked away in his back pocket, his feet bare as they usually were, as he sauntered around the big room, sticking to a quiet corner to practice some moves.
He was in the middle of twirling a wooden stick - burning down from both ends - over his head when he heard the door opening and closing, and he turned to watch a boy entering without noticing him.
Ruka let the burning stick sink a bit, careful not to singe his clothes in the process. He slowly moved towards the other boy, watching him curiously as he waited for him to do something. Usually people came here to practice something - a play, a dance, a song - but this boy didn't really seem like he was about to break into song and dance anytime soon.

Ruka cleared his throat to announce his presence, fingers tingling a little bit as the flames started to gently lick at his skin. "It's the rehearsal room," he said uselessly, voice a little strained against his will. He hoped the other boy wouldn't think him rude for this. "I mean, because you don't look like you want to rehearse anything." He shrugged, giving the burning stick a quick whirl to keep the flames from moving up his arms any further, keeping his eyes on the other boy to try and figure out what exactly he was doing in Ruka's current sanctuary.

What he thought had been torchflame in the dim light proved to be more when, at the edges of his vision, he thought he saw it move. The Slytherin simply wrote it off as just his imagination playing tricks on him until a voice from the fire seemed to clear its throat. Jack jumped up, startled, staring into the flames. Then, as his hazel eyes slowly adjusted, he eventually saw the young man in black watching him just beyond the fire itself.

"Christ, didn't see you there," he confessed, gripping the front of his shirt in shock. Even so, his gaze flickered from the fire to the student and back again, mesmerized by what the other boy might have planned to do with it. He was just wondering if those flames licking his schoolmate's skin must have hurt when he was told that the room was meant to be a rehersal room.

"O-oh, right," he murmured, still entranced by the fire. Then, regaining his wits, he sneered. "What if I want to reherse being your audience? Does that count?" Jack's eyes cut to the burning stick as its owner twirled it to keep the flames under control.

"Is that...magic...?" The words left his lips before he realized what he had said. Perhaps it had revealed ignorance on his part, but Jack couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. Maybe the feat simply looked more dangerous than it actually was.

Ruka could tell that he had startled the other boy, and he couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him at that realisation. He wasn't usually the one to creep up on people - clumsy as he was he usually announced himself way too loudly and way too early to ever be called sneaky, but standing in the shadows and concentrating on the flames he must have been much smoother than usual.

He could see the other boy's eyes drained on the fire tickling his skin, and that Ruka was used to; he had grown up with people staring at him working with flames, so it just made him feel more comfortable in the situation. Usually, he was always the awkward kid in a conversation, but when he was performing he felt like a completely different person, which was also why the other boy's sneer and cheeky comment didn't throw him at all.

"I guess you need some practice with that. You were paying me dreadfully little attention so far," he said with a teasing grin, hoping the other boy didn't think him arrogant or rude. After such a long time staying away from other people, it just felt nice to banter with someone again.
When the other kid asked if Ruka was doing magic, it made him laugh lightly as hw quickly shook his head. "God no," he said quickly, changing the burning wood from one hand to the other to show the other boy the red, burnt skin. "I wish, though. It would probably hurt less, but Charms is one of my worst subjects right now." He chuckled and twirled the stick in the air some more, alternating direction every once in a while, just to show off a little bit as the flames created figure eights in the air. 
Ruka threw the stick in the air once, then expertly extinguished the flames on both ends by closing his lips around them. Fortunately he had brought a few more wooden sticks to practice with because this one had burnt through almost completely and was downright useless to try out any choreographies with. 
He put the burnt stick on the ground and leaned against the wall next to the other boy, eyeing his curiously. "I'm Ruka," he introduced himself, holding up his hand in a sort of wave. "And you are... hiding in here from other people?" He grinned, shrugging his shoulders like it didn't really matter. Because, really, it didn't. It wasn't like Ruka wasn't trying to avoid people in here so they might as well hide out together.

The clever comment regarding his needing practice as an audience caused Jack to blink in surprise before laughing aloud. "Well-played," he answered, not having heard wit like that struck back at him in a while. Idly, he wondered what house the young man belonged to, He seemed a bit older than himself - perhaps second-year? "I suppose I'll have to up my game, then. Like you said, I need practice." Somehow, all his prior concerns had been forgotten for the time being. He had something - and someone - new to focus on.

Thick brows shot up at the sight of the burned skin. "Shit, was that my fault?" he asked, wondering if his distracting the other had caused the injury. Jack jumped up, rushing over to examine the burn. "Hey, it'd be less impressive if it was magic. I'm guessing all these wizarding kids don't know how to appreciate a good ol' fire show these days since they're probably so used to the magical sort. Is there some sort of charm to heal burns or something?" Maybe Selim had an ointment for that sort of thing in the first aid kit he kept with him. He'd have to ask the snake later.

"Damn," the redhead breathed, watching the fire be extinguished as the performer worked. "You've really got quite a talent, there." He grinned. "Let me guess. Putting oneself in obvious, reckless danger for the sake of showing off - Gryffindor?"

He tilted his head at the unique name introduced to him, thinking it wouldn't be difficult to forget anytime soon. Particularly not paired with that spectacular show.

"Bingo," the Slytherin answered upon being called out for hiding. "Was it really that obvious? What gave it away?" Smirking, he added, "People call me 'Jack' or 'Burnett', though. What about you? You got a last name?" Using people's first names suggested an intimacy to Jack that he wasn't comfortable with - particularly when he was trying to avoid getting attached.

Not that a lack of first names seemed to provide much of a barrier, but it was easier to fool himself that way, at least.

Ruka grinned, pleased with himself as the other boy laughed at his words. Good, clearly he wasn't easily offended. With Ruka's current state of mind he wouldn't be able to deal with sensitive people anyway.
He nodded along with the boy's words, eyes sparkling with the excitement of talking to someone who would keep up the banter.

For a second the swearing caught him off beat - Veronica certainly wasn't one to swear much, and the only time he'd heard Donny swear was when they were about to lose their lives to sea creatures in the middle of the night, which just didn't really count.
However, there was something about the way this kid talked that made Ruka feel more relaxed, like he didn't need to keep up a front with him.

"Nah," he said with a shrug, inspecting his own hand for a second just to make sure it hadn't gone too raw. "Don't worry about it. Sometimes I just kinda... loose track of the flames. I'm so used to it by now I don't even notice the burns until I'm done practicing." He held his hand out as the other boy examined the burns for a moment, smiling as he talked about how kids in the wizarding world didn't know how to approach a non-magic fire show. "Ain't that the truth," he agreed eagerly, rolling his eyes a little bit. "It's like they are so caught up in all this real magic they completely forget that there's some pretty cool stuff going on outside their little bubble as well." He laughed, not saying anything about the boy talking about magical kids like he wasn't one of them.

Ruka got that. He probably understood better than most people at Hogwarts how easily one might feel out of place, especially if you hadn't grown up with all this magic in your life.
Hogwarts was a paradox in that sense - You were never alone and yet lonely in so many other ways.
Instead of getting into that topic, Ruka shook his head. "I usually just go to the hospital wing if the burns are too bad," he confessed. So far he hadn't learned any healing spells yet, and being used to it, he rather fought through the pain than run crying to the nurse every single time he sported some blisters.

Ruka couldn't help a bubble laugh escape his lungs at the boy's accurate observation, and he gave him a proud thumbs up for it. "Guilty as charged," he said, grinning, before giving the other boy a quick once-over. "What about you then? Snarky and moodily sulking in empty rooms; Slytherin maybe? And considering I haven't seen you around before; First Year?"

Ruka turned away for a second, taking out his wand to levitate the burnt wood over to where he had left the pile of unused sticks, just so it wouldn't be in the way. 
"Let's just say it takes one to know one," he said with a small smile and a shrug. "It's the middle of the day, weather's nice, everyone's outside but you're here, in a big, quiet room, practicing watching me practicing." He chuckled before nodding a bit as Jack introduced himself with his first and last name, which wasn't all that unusual at Hogwarts but still felt a bit strange to Ruka who had never been asked for his last name out on the streets. 

"Tân," he answered, immediately frowning a bit. "Please spare me all the "But you're too pale to be called tan" jokes, I've heard them all." He rolled his eyes a bit before brightening up again. "But I have a feeling you're much too witty for such low level of humour anyway!"

"'Lose track of the flames'? Are you sure that's something a professional should say?" Jack asked with an incredulous grin. "And...you're saying you've gotten used to being burned?" Clicking his tongue, he shook his head in mock disapproval. "Tsk, tsk. Careful - someone might think you’re into pain or something."

Curious, the redhead tilted his head as he regarded Ruka, asking aloud, "Did you grow up knowing about the wizarding world?" He couldn't imagine why a child to whom magic was second nature would choose to take on such a dangerous hobby when there had to be seemingly more impressive things to try at a lower risk.

Upon seeing the burns and having heard Ruka's remarks on getting hurt, Jack's mouth twisted into a sort of frown. He doubted the other boy bothered going to the nurse all that often. The Slytherin definitely had to make a mental note to look up or ask for some burn ointment later from his dormmate.

"Yes and yes, although do you have to put it that way?" the boy asked upon being profiled, pretending to be miffed about it. Planting his fists on his hips, he inquired, "Did I really seem like I was 'moodily sulking' when I came in here? And is that what other houses see Slytherin as? A group of snarky, moody sulkers?"

He tried to keep from snickering at the mental image that conjured up, but it was difficult and some of his amusement escaped him as a snort. "And don't tell me you're familiar with every single student in your year or over. What if I'm just a really short kid for my age? I could be a third year for all you know."

'It takes one to know one' happened to be one of Jack's favorite quotes and he appreciated the use of it immensely. Watching Ruka move the burned stick to the pile of others, he wandered over to pick one up, weighing it in his hands. "Yeah, well...the last time I was outside when everyone else was, I was practicing my wand movements with a stick like this and let it slip out of my hand into the lake, freaking out as if it was my wand." Smirking at the memory, he continued, "A Gryffindor girl yelled at me when I asked her if she knew how I could get it out. But when I made a show of planning to jump in after it myself, she stubbornly tried to stop me - and fell in herself."

He chuckled softly before returning the stick to its pile. "I'd rather not have a repeat of that incident. Say, do you ever worry about accidentally setting your wand on fire instead of one of these?"

Upon being given the Gryffindor's last name, Jack tested it, nodding in acknowledgment. "Tân," he repeated. But the comment about the jokes Ruka got on the name caused the redhead to erupt in laughter all over again. "Seriously? They've said that?" He slapped a palm to his face at the sheer absurdity of it. "Well...there is that kid named Gem Stuart. I don't fancy knowing what jokes people make of his name. But hey, at least you don't have my last name." A new wave of snickers seized him.

"Can you imagine? Every now and then, people will make some stupid comment to me about 'burn it' or something, but if I did what you do..." He shook his head again. "No one would be able to resist saying something about that, no matter how idiotic it would be."

As his laughter died down and he began to regain his breath, Jack waved a hand dismissively at Ruka's compliment. "Oh, stop; you'll make me blush," he sneered. "So what are you practicing for anyway, Tân? Got a performance coming up?"

With every word Jack said, Ruka felt his spirits rising, a smile tugging at his lips every so often; it had been a while since he'd really enjoyed anybody's company and this kid was excellent at conservation; Witty and teasing and fun in a way Ruka hadn't even let himself experience since the summer.

It felt good to have some decent company again.

He laughed lightly at Jack's observation that 'getting used to burns' was definitely not something people just said, and gave a small shrug in response. "Let them think what they want," he said lightly.
That wasn't usually his stance on things, but things had changed, and now that his dad was gone, did it really matter what anybody else had to say?

He brushed his hands together carefully, the burnt skin tingling at the impact. Maybe he did actually welcome the pain these days, he'd never really thought much about it. "I didn't know magic existed 'till I was nine," he confessed, chuckling to himself at the memory of his first magical mishap. "Got excited and ended up having sparks flying from my fingertips that were definitely not intentional." He grinned, focusing his attention back on Jack to consider his upbringing for a second as well. The boy had definitely talked about wizarding kids like he didn't belong to that group, and he'd seemed mighty impressed by the thought that maybe Ruka was doing actual fire magic, so he couldn't imagine him having grown up in this world. "I'm assuming we have that magical ignorance in common?" he pointed out, tilting his head in question, just in case there was another explanation for Jack's seeming distance from the magical world.

Upon Jack's words about Slytherins and their obvious character trades, Ruka couldn't help a laugh escaping his throat, sparks jumping in his eyes like little flames. "Oh that's almost exclusively what we think you guys are," he said teasingly, nodding in the direction of the window by Jack's side. "There you are, in a big empty room, staring out the window. All that's missing is some gritty background music and you'd be a walking teen-drama." Not that Ruka had ever had the opportunity to actually watch any of said teen-dramas, but that was pretty much what he imagined them to be like. 
He rolled his eyes at Jack's words about possibly being a third year, a bit of fondness seeping into his expression. "A third year who doesn't know that this is the rehearsal room?" he questioned doubtfully, smirking a bit before shrugging it off. He himself was quite short and scrawny for his age so he supposed it was true that he couldn't judge Jack's age by his appearance. 

Ruka watched in interest as Jack walked over to the remaining unused sticks and examined one. Normally he would have defensively told the boy to stay away from his stuff, but there was something about the day and the company he'd been enjoying so far, that made him keep his mouth shut and just listen to what the other boy had to say.

A flash of memory passed through his mind at Jack's story about the lake, his lungs immediately remembering the feeling of being filled with water. "Did the girl get out okay?" he asked, less compassion in his voice than there probably should have been, but he assumed Jack wouldn't just have brushed over any serious injuries. "Last time I fell into the Lake the Giant Squid straight up almost murdered me, it's not a pretty fate." He laughed at his own words, shaking his head like it didn't matter. Like life wasn't such a big thing to worry about anyway. Maybe he'd gotten even more reckless over the summer. Maybe he was supposed to be worried about his lack of empathy right now, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel anything but mild curiosity about Jack's story. "Was there any particular reason you wanted her to think you tossed your wand in the lake?" 

Ruka assumed it was just to mess with her, and he had to admit the mental image of someone freaking out over a piece of wood drifting away in the lake was amusing enough for him to chuckle quietly.

Jack's next question seemed like it came out of nowhere, completely deflected his Lake Story, but Ruka was happy to go along with the flow, taking out his wand and turning it in his hands until he found a scorch mark on the side and showed it to Jack. "It wouldn't be the first time for me to realise a bit too late that my wand is not a stick." He used to be more careful about these things, but after his dad... Well, his attention had been elsewhere to say the least.

Ruka startled a little when Jack burst into laughter over the jokes about his name, but he soon found himself laughing along at the ridiculousness of it. It was nice to talk to someone who thought those jokes to be just as absurd as he did. He grinned as he listened to the redheaded boy, nodding along with his words before snorting out a laugh. "I'd never hear the end of 'burn it!' jokes!" he agreed, rubbing his eyes in second hand embarrassment over other people's low level of wits. "Can you imagine people actually think they're being clever and funny throwing stuff like that at us?" He shook his head in disbelief and walked over to Jack to take one of the wooden sticks into his hands, working on getting one end to erupt in a flame. He wrapped it in some old fabric and fiddled with a match, blowing at the start of a flame until it was big enough to cast shadows on the walls. 

"Not really practicing for anything," he admitted, tiptoeing in a circle around Jack while casting patterns of light in the air with his flame. "It just... gets my mind off things. Sometimes you just need a bit of distraction, you know?"

@Ruka Tân

At Ruka's declaration that people could think what they want, Jack had to admit inwardly that he was impressed. There weren't too many people around their age who knew the wisdom of that concept, much less who could maintain that kind of indifference when it came to peers and how they were percieved. Even if he knew it was stupid, Jack himself put up a facade of sorts in order to influence what his fellow schoolmates thought of him.

It reminded him of a line in a song - it gets lonely when you live out loud. Did Ruka get lonely choosing to be himself rather than worrying about and altering his lifestyle to be accepted by others? It would have been thoughtless to ask. "Heh...maybe you're less of a show-off than I pinned you for," he conceded instead.

The Slytherin clasped his hands behind his back, not wanting to get in the way as he watched Ruka. After another thought or two, he decided to remove his robes and placed it over a chair off to the side to ensure it didn't accidentally catch fire or something. All the while, he listened to Ruka's story concerning how he learned about magic, fascinated by the other boy's discovery.

With a light laugh, he pointed out, "Sparks are rather fitting - not just for someone who plays with fire, but for a Gryffindor. Last I checked, that was the element of your house. Suits you, too." Dazzling, daring...but also easily extinguished, if one wasn't careful.

The mention of 'magical ignorance' made Jack sneer. This Gryffindor was sharper than most others he'd met if Ruka had managed to pick that bit up in what little Jack had said about it. "Yeah, sorta," he answered. "I didn't know real magic existed until just before I was sent to get my school supplies. I guess a few years back I used magic without realizing it to make my arguing friends shut up. But my parents didn't explain what they knew about the accident until much later because they didn't want me to get any premature ideas about trying things."

He shrugged. "I'm muggle-born, so I guess I can see their reasoning. Still, kind of annoying to start off so far behind most other people in this school. Especially when the founder of my house probably would have kicked me out himself if he'd still been alive." Tilting his head at Ruka, he inquired as casually as he could, "You...wouldn't also happen to be muggle-born, would you?"

Entranced by the sparks that danced in the Gryffindor's eyes when he laughed, Jack almost forgot to pay attention to what Ruka was laughing about. When it finally sunk in, he snorted, shaking his head at the ground.

"Okay, look," the redhead spoke up, trying and failing to keep a smile off his face. "First of all, not all of us are teens yet, so that's a little unfair. But the drama...that I won't deny."

The image of the scene he must have caused with Opeila in the courtyard the other day came to mind unbidden. Following soon after was the memory of Gem trying to comfort him after before Jack had intentionally turned the Ravenclaw against him, too. That sobered him up real quick and his smile finally began to fade.

Ruka's question about him being a third year wouldn't let it, though. "Oh, shut it," he laughed, taking off his tie and balling it up to toss at the Gryffindor with dismal results. It really was nice having someone around with a matching sense of humor.

Just don't get used to it, a little voice at the back of his mind warned. It made Jack wished he could shut up his own thoughts.

And then Ruka was asking if the girl had gotten out okay. "What? Oh." At first he worried that the Gryffindor was extremely considerate sort who worried more about others than Jack thought was healthy, but then he caught the other boy's tone and found his worries eased.

"Yeah, I jumped in after and got her out," he murmured, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "It was just at the edge, so we must not have been far or deep enough to disturb the squid. But are you kidding me, right now? You actually had to deal with that thing?" This Gryffindor had definitely had some adventures, that was for sure.

"I think I would have just fainted and drowned or died of fright on the spot. How did that happen?" One would have thought school staff would be more cautious about having a Giant Squid on school grounds, especially if it was prone to attacking students. But then again, Jack thought bludgers were just as dangerous if not more so, so who knew what their standards for hazards were.

At being asked if there was a reason Jack had wanted to fool the girl, the Slytherin looked away, his face heating up with some shame. "Eh...I was bored. Not all of us have fire to play with when there's nothing else for entertainment," he answered, forcing a smirk.

"I, um...I don't usually play all that nice with others. But between trying to get someone to like you and getting them to hate you, the latter's a lot easier. Plus you can learn a lot more about someone's true colors when they're upset or angry." He shook his head again, thinking back to that day. "I never thought she'd try to stop me, though; not when she already called me out on having a bad reputation and definitely not when I was being so deliberately stupid."

Eager to get his mind off the topic, he carefully looked over Ruka's wand as it was handed to him. He was just as astonished by the fact that Ruka had actually singed his wand before as he was with the fact that the boy trusted Jack with it so quickly and easily. "It's a miracle you've managed to save it each time," he marveled. "Maybe it knew it would have to be flame-resistant if it chose you as its wizard."

When Ruka moved to take up a stick, Jack took a step back to give him space, but not too far. He was too fascinated by the process with which the second year got a flame going. "Yeah...I don't know what people think is clever anymore. I still have trouble believing Ravenclaw is supposed to be a house of intellectuals a lot of the time," he sighed. "Maybe I just haven't met enough or they're smart in a different way than I can tell, but...in general, it boggles my mind how much Hogwarts students are mentally similar to muggle kids."

He looked up at the Gryffindor with a smirk. "I have found some exceptions, though, for which I'm eternally thankful. I don't think I'd be able to get through the year if no one had the wit for a sense of humor."

Jack stared at the growing flame as Ruka blew on it, gently coaxing the fire until it was a burning blaze that danced all around the room, throwing light about willy-nilly. He turned in a slow circle of his own while the fire-player stepped around him, mesmerized by how it never seemed to show up in the same place in the same exact way.

"Yeah...I definitely know what it's like to need a distraction," he chuckled softly. "That's kind of how I ended up in here. And you know...I'm glad I did."

@Jack Burnett

Ruka took a moment to mull over Jack's words about him being a show off. He'd never really thought of himself as one, but Jack was right in pointing out that the fire dance he was doing wasn't just for his own amusement rather than to get other people's attention.
At least 'show off' seemed to be off Jack's list of top five words to describe him with for now, which made Ruka smile in a sort of relief.
Despite just having proclaimed that he didn't really care what other people thought of him, a small part did care about Jack's opinion, no matter how shortly they've known each other.

Ruka watched attentively as Jack removed his robes, clearly trying to reduce the fire hazard. "I'm just glad it was sparks and not, well, snakes or something like that," he told the other boy with a laugh, thinking back on the way it had felt to let the sparks spring from his hands, how people had cheered, clapped and gasped in fascination. "Happened in public too. This way people just thought it was a performance trick. Got me quite a lot of tips if I'm being honest." He grinned, trying not to read too much into Jack's words about the element suiting him. 

Was it a compliment or just an observation?
 Did it really matter anyway?

Instead of pondering over it any more he just listened to Jack's story of his first magic experience, his mind reeling with images of what the boy was describing. He had actually made his friends quit arguing by accidentally using magic? That sounded like a horrifying first encounter with magic. "You must've been terrified," he pointed out, his voice free of any sympathy Jack probably didn't want from him anyway. It was just an observation, just what he would have probably felt if he'd witnessed a couple of friends seizing their argument mid-sentence without knowing why. Jack might not have elaborated on how it happened exactly but if it was a big enough experience for him to connect it to magic, then it must have been pretty frightening. 

When the question came to his upbringing, Ruka tensed a little bit, unsure if he was really ready for this conversation. However, Jack was probably the only person that had made him feel comfortable in at least a couple of months and he found the words coming easier to him than he thought they would. "My mum was a witch," he answered, starting with the easier topic first. "But I never knew her. She left maybe a few days after I was born. It's shit, I don't even know when my birthday is." he laughed bitterly before shrugging his shoulders. "My dad was a Muggle." 

Was.

This was the first time he talked about his dad after the summer and he needed to use the past tense now. It was a gut-wrenching feeling.
"He never told me anything about magic until I first started showing signs, and even then it was all 'Be careful, don't try to use it by yourself', so I know what it feels like to be behind everyone else here." He sighed a little bit and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was at the start.

Ruka shook his head off the dark thoughts and instead laughed at Jack's words about he wouldn't deny his aspect of drama. "Well excuse me for trying to make you sound more edgy and mature," he said teasingly, shooting the Slytherin a wink before he concentrated for a moment on a loose thread on the sleeve of his t-shirt.

When he looked up again, harmlessly continuing the banter with Jack, he soon found himself under attack by the Slytherin's tie, and he laughed brightly as he warded off the piece of fabric by waving his hands through the air like he was swatting at a fly.

His laughter died down for a moment as they talked about the girl who had fallen into the lake, but it seemed to him like nothing majorly happened, and the fact that Jack actually jumped after her to get her out really spoke more to Ruka than whatever reason he'd had to make her fall in in the first place. 
"Oh, yeah, I swear I thought I was gonna die that night," he told Jack with a little huff, memories of the adventure rushing back through him. "My friend and I... we snuck out at night trying to find sea creatures, and the Squid bumped our boat a bit too much. When I fell in it tried to pull me down, kept me under the surface long enough for me to swallow a lot more water than my lungs would have liked." He chuckled like it was a fun memory, but in all honesty none of it made him feel all that good anymore - Almost dying in his first year at Hogwarts wasn't exactly what he'd planned, and not even the thought of Donny cheered him up, now that he had practically avoided his only friend here for the past few months. "We got caught too, so not only did I fight for my life that night, I also got punished for it by having to scrape owl crap off the Owlery floor for hours." Ruka snorted at his own misfortune before turning his attention back on Jack's own story again.

The way the boy talked about it, Ruka didn't exactly see much harm in his actions; he hadn't wanted the girl to fall into the lake, and they were close enough to shore that she probably hadn't ever been in any real danger anyway, so Ruka just nodded along to show he was paying attention. 
It was the words about making people like and hate you, that Ruka found way more intriguing than a stupid prank gone wrong; it sounded like Jack was deliberately closing himself off from people who might actually like him, like he was almost scared of building a deeper relationship with anybody.
Ruka couldn't say he was able to judge the boy on this; after all, Ruka had never actually had any friends himself, and the only one he'd made the year before he'd been ignoring since the start of term.
Still, Jack didn't exactly seem like he was trying to make Ruka hate him. "Not to burst your bubble, but you're doing a really shit job trying to make people hate you if you're using the same tactics on them that you're using on me right now," he pointed out, grinning at the Slytherin and nudging his side with an elbow. Noticing, however, that it clearly wasn't Jack's favourite topic, Ruka decided not to push it if the other boy didn't want to elaborate, instead opting to scratch a little bit at a tiny burn blister on his wrist. 

He laughed slightly at the thought of his wand knowing to be fire resistant, nodding at the idea. "I guess they do say the wand chooses the wizard," he pointed out before focusing on the unused sticks again, moving carefully as to not accidentally hit Jack with one.
As the other boy talked about wit and intelligence within the houses, Ruka couldn't help but snort loudly at the mention of Ravenclaws. "I swear, Ravenclaws can quote you a whole text book but the second you ask them anything relevant to real life they become blubbering messes." He hadn't exactly had a lot of contact with Ravenclaws, but the ones he had met all seemed to be more book- than street smart, and having grown up on the streets himself, Ruka couldn't help finding that to be painfully boring.
He looked up at Jack when he talked about the exceptions he had found so far at Hogwarts, and hoped strongly that he had proven himself different from the sea of single minded sheep around this school as well.
Twirling his lit up torch around over his head, Ruka came to a halt when Jack confessed to needing some distraction as well. He smiled lightly and held the burning stick out between them, urging the other boy to take a hold of it as well. "Come on," he said, grinning encouragingly. "I'll show you a couple of moves. I swear there's nothing quite like throwing fire around the room to get rid of some pent up anger."