Caretaker Cat & Chatter Fox Talk PV Jack Burnett Re-opened

"You called for me, Your Highness?" Jack responded mockingly. He swept into the office, shut the door behind him, and slumped into the nearest and most-comfortable-looking chair. No way was Kit going to get him to be all formal and official with him now. If the American thought his new job title and a position as staff member at Hogwarts was going to make Jack bow and scrape for him, he had another thing coming.

The Welsh boy wanted to make it perfectly clear that nothing was going to be different between them just because Kit now had his own desk and office in the castle at which Jack was attending school. It didn't matter if he was his magical senior, either. No, Jack was going to treat Kit just the same as he always had in the past.

"How are you liking the new job? Oh, and how're Tymiko and Rakiak?" he added for good measure. "Are they magic, too?"

Hazel eyes honed in on the pen and parchment in Kit's possession. "What're you writing? Taking notes on me? Playing psychologist? Therapist?" He smirked. "Or is it school counselor? I keep hearing people saying we need one of those around here badly."

Leaning back in his chair, he put his feet up on Kit's desk and crossed his legs at the ankles, as if daring the caretaker to protest.

"Whatever it is you want out of me, you know it's not going to come cheap. I do trades. Info for info; favors for favors. Sometimes other things if it's equal. But my conditions aren't any different just because you're a staff member here now, got it?"

@Kit Paine

After being bombarded by question after question from Jack, Kit finally looked up from his papers to fix the boy with a slow, knowing feline smile.

"For someone who goes around telling people that information they want from him won't come cheap, you sure are asking a lot of questions," Kit pointed out. "Let’s do this the usual way. For every question I answer, you owe me an answer to a question I ask, so you better not ask questions out of politeness or any silliness like that."

He leaned back in his chair, his mismatched eyes going to the ceiling as he mentally counted. "So let’s see...that was...ten." Kit raised a finger for each response as he began to make them in order to keep track.

"Yes, I called for you. The new job is great~ I'm enjoying it even more than I thought I would. Ty likes the tower, too, since she always loved high places and this one has a great view.

"Ty and Rak are good, but they're trying to associate with me as little as possible, as usual. Yes, they're magic, too, but I think they'd appreciate it if you kept their relations to me a secret. You're one of the few who actually knows about them and while I don't care, I'm sure they would prefer to keep things that way."

He put up a fifth finger as he continued. "I'm not writing or taking notes on you. Nor am I playing psychologist or therapist. I daresay I already know you better than you know yourself, so there's no need for any of that. As for counseling..." Kit inclined his head, pausing with whatever he was doing on paper to meet Jack's gaze and grin. "...yes. But it's not as simple as that. I'm not an official counselor. But no one said one needed to be a certified counselor to listen to someone else get things off their chest that would be healthy for them to do so."

The caretaker paused in his finger-counting to gesture briefly at Jack. "In fact, being certified and designated for such things often puts people off. I want them to know I'm here because I want to be here helping them. Because I enjoy it. Not just because it's a job for me. My main job, after all, is being caretaker of the castle, not the students. The students are more of a...hobby of mine. An interest, you could say."

Though he watched Jack's heels go up onto his desk, he made no move or comment to ask him to take them off. Instead, he lay his papers down in his lap and interlocked his fingers over his stomach as he lounged in his chair.

"Which brings me to your final question. Yes, I understand your conditions won't be any different for me just because I'm a staff member. However, you have to understand I don't have as much power as you might expect because I have responsibilities that come with them. I can't bend rules as much as a student like you might be able to. I'm supposed to know better as an adult member of staff."

The long-limbed young man sat up abruptly. "Now then - for why I called you here. There are a couple of reasons. The first is that I called you here for your own good; to find out how you're doing. Call it counseling if you wish, but I'm mainly concerned for you and your sake."

Chuckling wryly, he added, "As a self-proclaimed caretaker of students as well as the castle, I'd like to get to try to know the kids attending here and help them if I can. I want to get them to talk about their problems if they'd be willing. But for that, I need a starting point. Luckily, with you, we already have that since we knew each other way before either of us knew the other was magic." Setting his papers face-down on his desk, he got up to stretch, continuing to speak as he did so.

"I want to find out more about the school as a whole and make it a safer place, especially with Ty and Rak here. I've heard too much about hags and spiders and other mysterious problems that I'd like to help with. And on that front, I figured you could help me, what with all you know."

Before Jack could open his mouth to protest, he added, "You're observant. You have plenty of information you're too busy or selfish or cowardly to use to help others, don't you? Or maybe you're incapable of using it, limited as you are being a kid and a student at this school who risks getting expelled if he steps too far out of line. But that's where I come in. I can help them where you cannot."

The caretaker walked around to the front of his desk, stopping beside where Jack had put up his legs so he could lean against the edge of the furniture and cross his arms over his chest.

"So, to start with...how are you getting along? Making friends?" Kit inquired, his demeanor fond. The way he said the word 'friends', though, might have suggested to Jack that he knew more about the boy's vehement thoughts on the term than he pretended to by using it so casually.

"I hear you got and lost an adopted brother. Who's that? And what’s this I hear about you claiming people as 'possessions'?"

@Jack Burnett

Jack made a face at Kit's response, but shrugged in grudging agreement at the proposed exchange of questions and answers. "Sneaky bastard. Fine. If you’re generous with your answers, I’ll be generous with mine," he offered. "As for Ty and Rak, I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to be associated with you, either. Which is why I haven’t told anyone I know you yet."

He would have to be more careful about what he asked from then on; not to mention what he answered. He wasn't sure he trusted the school's staff; not even Kit. Perhaps especially not Kit.

When Kit mentioned students being more of a hobby or an interest for him, Jack raised a thick brow. "Yeah...because being a hobby for someone is better than being a job for them," he remarked, trying to point out the flaw in Kit’s logic. "Self-proclaimed caretaker of students, eh? Not sure when you started caring about me, but I’m not about to spill my guts so easily. Most people won’t, so good luck with that." Jack scoffed. "Doubt most people would care to just open up about their problems, let alone to a shady guy like you who acts like everything’s all smiles and sunshine all the time. Don't you know that's the best way to scare people off around here? Don’t answer that; it was rhetorical. I forgot we weren’t supposed to ask those."

Growing restless, the boy took his heels off the desk and got up off the chair, folding his arms behind his head as he began to pace the room.

"Let’s see...you asked about me having plenty of information I’m too busy, selfish, or cowardly to use, right? I guess I do. But so does everyone, I’m pretty sure," he commented with a shrug, staring firmly at the ground. "If you’re just coming to me because you think I’m easier pickings than the rest of them, you’re sorely mistaken."

Stopping to throw Kit a dirty look, he continued, "Next - how am I doing. Pretty terrible, actually. My contractual partner killed someone I cared about over the summer and I still have no clue why. I don’t even know if said partner is sorry about it or not." He continued pacing again, this time absently heading over to inspect Kit’s cabinet.

"You asked if I’m making friends. No, I am not, and for good reason. Even my possessions are causing me problems and if they were my friends, I’m sure it’d be a heck of a lot worse." He slid a hand down his face and sighed with quiet weariness. "I have a contractual partner, a dorm mate, and a new older brother who is currently at home learning muggle homeschooling with my family, so no need for you to worry about him. His name is Ruka Burnett-Tân since you asked and he was in Gryffindor. He’s a year older than me and though he was shorter than me when we first met, I hear he’s gaining fast."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes, I have people I call my possessions...though as of late I’ve stopped calling them that because I’ve come to see how little they are actually mine." This, though spoken lightly, was accompanied by a visible, defeated droop of his shoulders that spoke volumes more than his words. "Ruka isn’t here. Flash and I are avoiding each other. And I don’t know what the heck is going on in that head of Fangs’."

He jerked back abruptly to meet Kit’s gaze. "I answered five questions of yours so far. What are the five others you have for me?"

@Kit Paine