The Rhythm of Fire PV Ruka Locked

@Alan Vanes

Ruka had worked out a schedule for his practices.

Looking at his weekly classes, it was easy to spot that Monday and Thursday seemed to be the best days for him to take some time in the afternoon to take up the rehearsal room with torches and fire. Working himself into the habit of following a routine was much harder than he had really expected it to be - Aside from classes, Ruka had really never had to live following a schedule - but he found he wasn't doing too badly.

Of course, in the mornings he still had to kick himself out of bed to actually go down to join everyone else for breakfast, and sleep would probably remain a struggle for quite a while still, but he had been eating, had been sleeping as much as he could, had been doing his homework, and he was feeling pretty good about it. All in all he didn't think he was able to expect much more of his fifth day of trying to make the best possible decisions for his life. 

On this particular Monday afternoon, Ruka had returned to his dorm room after classes to change into the all black outfit Jack had given him before the Talent Show - a ridiculously thoughtful gift from Jack's mom - before making his way to the rehearsal room with some torches and a smile on his face.
As he got there, he kicked off his grey sneakers, pushing them against the wall to keep them out of reach of the fire. They had quickly become his favourite pair of shoes, and it remained one of his highest priorities to keep them clean and intact. 

Using Incendio on one of the torches, Ruka started off with a simple routine that barely took him twenty minutes before he got bored of it. He had to admit that, after practicing with Jack as much as he had for the Talent Show, it wasn't quite the same to be going back to doing everything completely by himself again, but he also didn't want to just stop rehearsing.

This was a part of who he was, and something that helped him gather strength and energy in his worst of days, so he wasn't going to ever give that up.

As he extinguished the flame and set the used torch to the side, he could hear the door opening close by, and for a second he just expected it to be someone coming to rehearse something of their own, but as he turned to check, Alan was just entering the room, looking suspiciously like he was hiding something under his bulged out cloak, but Ruka decided not to pay that any attention for the moment.

Instead he lifted his hand in a little wave, offering Alan a small smile in greeting as he approached the other boy with a bit of a bounce in his step. The light pants felt like silk against his skin as he moved, fluttering against his skin with every step, where the long sleeved shirt was too tight to do anything but move with Ruka's torso. 

"Hey," he told Alan, putting his hands on his hips as he came to a halt in front of the other boy. "Almost forgot you were gonna stop by." He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth for just a moment before releasing it again almost immediately. Enough of that. The time of inflicting damage to himself of all people needed to come to an end. "So what did you need? Just wanted to come for a show?" 

A light smile appeared on Alan's lips when he entered and saw that the torches were unlit. It looked like he was right, that Ruka indeed had been in the middle of a break at the moment he arrived which was a nice coincidence. The third year forced his body to relax as the younger and also quite shorter kid made his way towards him and Alan couldn't help when his smile widened slightly, once Ruka greeted him.

"H-Hey", he mumbled back, the singular word tumbling over his lips as he glanced at Ruka. He had already seen it at his birthday, but it had been dark and vague, barely noticeable even, but Ruka looked well. The outfit he was wearing was way different from what he had seen the younger lion wear during his performance at the Talent Show. He remembered the makeshift strips of cloth that he and Jack had wrapped around their arms and Alan wondered if it was for protection or to appear more aesthetically pleasing. He had no idea, but he also had no intention to ask that now. It was something he would have to ponder about at a later time, given that the topic would somehow come up.

He gave a small chuckle when Ruka mentioned that he had forgotten about the fact that Alan would be showing up at all. Alan lightly shook his head and gave him a crooked smile, "D-Don't worry a-about it", he muttered in slight amusement. He had not expected Ruka to remember, after all he had never visited him before during his practice, so it was not like he was used to being visited or was usually expecting someone to come by in the first place.

"O-Oh uhm, no... I w-wanted to g-give you something", he explained biting the inside of his cheeks slightly, by pinching them between his jaw before releasing them again. He had no idea how Ruka would react or whether he was overstepping any invisible boundaries that Ruka had set up between them. But before he could get lost in the worry about things that probably did not even matter, he fixed his gaze on the other kid. As he shuffled around he pulled out the jar from beneath his cloak and presented it to Ruka unceremoniously. The jar was filled to the brim with a thick orange paste and if the second year had any clue about it and paid attention during his first year, he would be able to tell what exactly it was that Alan was handing him.

"I-It's for y-your b-burns... Th-They looked qu-quite painful a-and I th-thought this might h-help...", he muttered, speaking slower than usual as if he had the urge to choose his words wisely. He had no intention of stepping on Ruka's toes, he was simply worried that the younger kid got hurt on a frequent basis and was not tending well enough to the results of his practice. It did not look like he had gotten a single one of them treated in the hospital wing, so Alan was only able to hope that he would appreciate the gift and not get mad. As the third year stepped into the room, he closed the door behind himself before glancing at Ruka in a mix of hope and nervousness while he searched for any sign of discomfort in the other boy.

@Alan Vanes

Ruka rolled his shoulders lightly as he approached Alan, the smile on his face small but steady. He could see one reflected on the other boy's face too and took it as a positive sign; He didn't think he'd ever seen Alan display anything but cheerfulness and slight anxiety, but it was still nice to know that the other boy seemed genuinely happy to see him, even if Ruka didn't quite understand it.

As far as he was aware, he had given Alan the bare minimum of attention thus far, had joined him for meal times without actually holding up much of a conversation and had probably shown far less interest in him as a person than he was supposed to. Then again, it wasn't like they were close friends exactly, and was there really a rule on how much interest you needed to show in your House mate? So far, Alan didn't seem to be inclined to complain about Ruka's rather abrasive behaviour, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?

Doing a little twirl on his way over to the other Gryffindor, Ruka chuckled lightly at the feeling of cool air against his heated skin. Despite the new clothes Jack's mom had gotten both of them, working with fire still came with the danger of burning his hands and making his skin boil with the heat of it.

He came to a halt in front of Alan, putting his left hand against his right upper arm in an almost sort of sheepish gesture at being told that the other Gryffindor intended to give him something. No doubt it was whatever was hidden beneath his cloak, but Ruka's eyes didn't stray there, stayed focused on Alan's face instead. "It's not my birthday," he blurted out dumbly, tilting his head to the side in confusion. He wasn't used to people giving him things for no reason, was still trying to come to terms with the gold necklace Jack had given him and the various clothes curtesy of the Burnett family.

Being told that Alan had something to give him made him want to immediately refuse, but maybe he had just misunderstood the situation anyway; Maybe Alan just wanted to hand him something to forward to someone else? No, that was stupid, he could have just as well sought out that person then.

Before he could go through further reasons for why Alan would want to give him something that wasn't necessarily a present, the other Gryffindor had pulled forth a jar of orange paste that Ruka recognised immediately from having learned how to make it himself just last year. He could still remember thinking how useful it would be during practices, but had then never actually cared to make some for himself, always just perfectly content with letting his burns heal out the way they had all his life - Without any additional care.

"They don't hurt that much," he said quickly as if to somehow apologise for not having taken proper care of his burns thus far. The sight of the jar called Jack's claim that he wasn't taking care of himself right back into his mind. How was it possible that there were so many little things he was supposed to do to treat himself the right way that he had never even really considered before? How could he have possibly missed all those tiny solutions to everyday issues?

Having grown up just having to deal with things had made him so oblivious to the fact that maybe there were ways to make his life easier than he was making it for himself. Just because he could survive without extra help didn't mean he had to. He didn't need to let pride take him into an early grave the same way it did his father.

He had a chance to be better.

"I mean," he chuckled slightly, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly as he took the jar from Alan's hands. "Thanks, Alan, that's... It's great, really." He shot his fellow Gryffindor a genuine smile before opening the jar and sticking two fingers into the paste before smearing some of it across the back of his hand. He immediately felt the concoction cooling down his skin, stinging a little bit across fresh burns as it sped up the healing process immediately.

He looked up from his hand when he heard the door closing behind Alan, assuming for a moment that the other boy had just left like that, but he was still here, still just looking at Ruka as if he was unsure how he was going to react to such a present.

"Seriously," he said with a grateful smile on his face. "This is fantastic. Really helpful." He closed the jar again, reaching a hand out to pat Alan's arm a little awkwardly. "Did you make it yourself?"

The words from the other Gryffindor, his initial reaction to receiving a present struck him and Alan quickly shook his own head quickly, as if the wave those thoughts the other kid had away and chuckled a bit nervously. "It's n-not s-supposed to b-be a b-birthday present," he explained quickly, reaching up to scratch his neck nervously with the hand that was not holding the jar of burn removal paste. He did not understand why it must be someone's birthday to be receiving a gift but he assumed that perhaps birthdays were known for the day to get presents so perhaps that was the reason as to why Ruka was confused.

"Y-You're w-welcome," he mumbled with a small smile as he let Ruka take the jar from him. Curiously he watched on as Ruka went on to apply some of it onto the back on his hand. The smile spread when he heard that Ruka actually liked the gift that he had received and his eyes lit up, making the eyes appear in a bright green while he nodded again. "I d-didn't make it m-myself, s-since I'm not very good w-with potions but I a-asked the professor for it," he explained and was still relieved that the second year appeared to like the little present. "You w-wouldn't have wanted t-to put something I p-personally brewed onto your s-skin-", he admitted jokingly with a small chuckle as he glanced at the copper haired lion.

@Alan Vanes

It seemed like Ruka's confusion over receiving a present only confused Alan in return, like he couldn't understand at all why the younger boy would question getting something when it wasn't even his birthday. It was still a strange concept to Ruka that sometimes people would just give someone something for the mere sake of getting them a present. "It's not?" he asked, eyes wide as he looked at Alan with blatant curiosity in his eyes. If not as a birthday present then what was it supposed to be? Just a little something by-the-by?

Apparently so.

"This is really thoughtful, Alan," he said genuinely as he smeared the Paste across any raw, blistered part of his skin, nodding along as the older boy talked about how he had asked their Potions teacher to make it for him as he wasn't the best at Potions himself. "I would've taken the risk," he joked back, a bright smile on his face as he closed the jar of orange paste again before carefully putting it down on the floor, against the wall where his shoes stood neatly lined up.

"But I'm still glad to know this one works and won't burn my skin off even more." A small laugh escaped him as he dabbed his fingers across the back of his hands some more to make sure the paste went everywhere it was supposed to go. "Thank you," he repeated again, nodding gratefully to make sure Alan understood how much he appreciated it. "Mind me asking what... what made you think of getting this for me now?" It wasn't like he truly questioned Alan's intentions, but he didn't understand why his upperclassman had suddenly decided to go out of his way to do this for him. Had he only just recently noticed Ruka's scars and burns? Had he been talking about him to someone? "It's just really unexpected, is all." He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders lightly, offering Alan a genuine smile. "You really didn't have to do this for me."

Alan would shake his head again when the other kid asked him to re-confirm the fact that it was not a birthday present. "I do-don't even k-know wh-when your birthday i-is, so i-it would n-not m-make sense", he reasoned with a shrug and a genuine smile. He hoped that this made enough sense and was enough reason for Ruka to believe that this was just a nice gesture rather than serving a bigger purpose.

He laughed a bit when Ruka mentioned that he would have taken the risk of using a tincture that Alan had brewed himself. "I w-wouldn't if I w-were you," he would say honestly with a amused snort. Or perhaps he would if he really needed the potion? He had no idea actually, but it was certainly safer to decline. Of course Ruka would ask how Alan had gotten the idea of getting the burn healing paste now out of all the time they had known each other. Alan bit his lip nervously and rubbed his neck sheepishly as he glanced at Ruka. "W-Well I saw y-you a-at the t-talent show a-an it looked qu-quite dangerous," he muttered, admitting why he had thought of the gift. He had never seen someone dance with fire before and while it looked amazing, alone watching had him tense and full of adrenaline, ready to cast the extinguishing charm in case Ruka got hurt.

@Alan Vanes

Ruka hummed thoughtfully when Alan pointed out that he didn't even know when his birthday was. "That makes two of us," he said lightly, an air of amusement accompanying his words. It made enough sense that Alan wouldn't be giving him any birthday presents without even knowing when it would be adequate for him to actually hand it out, so Ruka could accept that. It truly was just a friendly gesture meant to help him with something he struggled with on a regular basis. His words about Alan's present having been extremely thoughtful were drenched in sincere gratitude.

He laughed a bit when Alan again made it clear how unwise it would be to trust any concoction he had made himself, making Ruka shrug lightly. "I'm not too bad at it, myself," he explained, lifting the jar of orange paste up for a moment to observe its contents before putting it safely out of the way on the floor to fully be able to focus on the other Gryffindor. "I just never... I don't know." He lifted a hand to sheepishly rub the back of his neck, averting his gaze for a moment. He wasn't sure why exactly he'd never thought of trying to make something like this for himself aside from the fact that he had just been far too used to just letting his burns heal by themselves. He'd never needed any magical aid before so his mind had never even considered it until now. "Anyway, it's perfect. I'll take it everywhere with me." He chuckled, smile still stretching his lips wide as he listened to Alan's explanation for why he had gotten the idea for this gift now of all times.

Nodding along with the other boy's words, Ruka found his smile faltering a little bit. He wasn't used to people looking beyond the glamour and excitement of his fire shows to see the scars they left; The was something almost a little uncomfortable about that. It didn't help that it immediately made his thoughts race to Flash tracing the scars on his hands as if they were something valuable somehow either.

"I guess it can be pretty dangerous," he admitted with a small shrug and a chuckle. "I'm quite used to it, though. Still, it's gonna be much easier to take care of burns with that Paste now. Gonna save me some pain." With a little laugh, Ruka turned away to return to his unlit torches, picking them up and twirling them around a bit as if to get himself back into a practice state of mind. "Did you want to stay and watch for a bit? Or were you heading out again?"

"You.. d-don't know y-your b-birthday?" he could not help himself but ask, so surprised by that revelation from the second year. "D-Didn't a-anyone ever t-tell you?" again, another question and Alan only after asking both of these questions realized how rude it had been to ask about all this. "I'm s-sorry! You d-don't have t-to answer either of th-those questions-", he quickly apologized, eyes widening in shock. How had not wanted to overstep any boundaries and he knew that the two of them barely knew each other so certainly this was not a topic they could discuss right? Were they friends? Kinda, but also not really because the two of them had not much in common yet. He liked Ruka sure, but they never established the fact that they were friends now. Not like George and him had done when they met in the owlery. He would study the other boys expression, hoping not to see him mad now, or sad.

He would quickly nod, when Ruka mentioned that he would bring the jar everywhere with him."That's g-good," he complimented the made decision with a shy smile. He was happy that Ruka appreciated the gift and truly hoped he now saw it as a nice gesture rather than it being something more than that. Again he would nod when Ruka mentioned that it would help take some of the pain away if he applied it after getting burned. When Ruka invited him to watch his eyes widened. "C-Can I?", quickly followed by a, "S-Sure, I w-would l-love to!" Wh-Where do I sit so I d-don't bother y-you?"

@Alan Vanes

Ruka raised his eyebrows in vague surprise when Alan commented on the fact that he didn't actually know when his birthday was, even asking a follow up question like he was genuinely interested in the answer before apologising, probably because he thought he was being nosy. The Fire Dancer, however, didn't think any ill of the questions; Quite on the contrary, he almost found himself feeling flattered by Alan's interest despite the fact that Ruka had made the comment as a joke.

"I don't," he confirmed with a little shrug, shaking his head as if to underline his answer. "Sometime in summer, I suppose. Last week of July, maybe? First week of August? My mum didn't let my dad know how old I was when she left me with him." That was maybe the pretty answer he could give in a response to the question; From what Ruka knew it wasn't like his mum had bothered to talk to his dad at all before just dropping a baby outside his tent over night, so there had been no opportunity for his dad to even ask for Ruka's birthday.

"I never thought it was all that important anyway. I know that by the end of August I'll be at least a year older, that's really all that matters, isn't it?" He had never had a reason to do anything for his birthday anyway, like people usually seemed to be doing. He'd never received presents or had a party or even knew people who may have wanted to congratulate him, so what would the point in knowing have been anyway?

"And you don't have to apologise. If I don't want to answer a question then I won't. You can ask anything you want to." An encouraging smile was shot Alan's way as Ruka prepared himself for resuming his practice again. With the jar of Burn Healing Paste set to the side and Alan having confirmed that he would have liked to stay and watch, Ruka was eager to get back to his routine.

Pointing at the wall where he had left his shoes, Ruka nodded lightly. "Best stay against the wall there. Wouldn't want you to accidentally get burnt." He waited for a moment to give Alan enough time to find a comfortable position before he set the tips of his torches on fire with a practiced Incendio.

"This is still a bit sloppy," he told Alan as he started to twirl around himself while juggling the two torches between his hands. "It's not a fully thought out routine. I was really just messing around a bit." With a little chuckle he stretched his arms to his sides and let the torches move in circles as he attempted a leap through the air, safely landing back on the balls of his feet with a bright grin on his face. He fell into silence then as he concentrated on a few consecutive jumps and twirls, flames dancing through the air around him as he moved his arms and hands accordingly. It didn't take very long for him to finish the small routing he had been working on, and he turned to face Alan again with a silly, exaggerated bow and a slightly breathless laugh.

"What do you think? Could still use some work, but I'm getting pretty good at jumps, I think." He nodded confidently before he extinguished the torches, dropping them on the floor before he sat down next to Alan with a smile on his face. "Juggling is still a bit difficult but I'll get there."