Of Feathers & Fire pv

Fridays were not Ruka's usual practice days, but the term was slowly coming to an end, exams were over, and there wasn't as much need for studying and homework anymore, so he had decided to make as much use of the Rehearsal Room as he could while he was still at Hogwarts.

He had changed into the black fire retardant clothes with the fire fox pattern he and Jack had gotten from their mother for last year's Talent Show, had gathered two torches and the fire fan he had been gifted by Winnie's mother, and made his way down the stairs with a bounce in his step. The end of the school year always filled him with excitement; Getting away from the castle, the people, the dangers. He was eager for that train ride back home.

So as he made his way to the Rehearsal Room, Ruka hummed a toneless melody to himself, barely paying attention to the people he passed in the hallways. Only when he neared the large double door that hid his destination did he slow down, cease his humming. It wasn't a time that a lot of people would be seeking out the Rehearsal Room, usually, but he still didn't want to risk interrupting anybody with an inconsiderate and loud entrance. So he pushed the door open carefully, was about to set foot inside the room when he heard a melodious voice being echoed from the high walls. There was a girl, by herself, and the song she was singing was hauntingly beautiful, enthralled him for a long moment as he just stood there and listened.

Something inside him told him that he wasn't supposed to be there, that he should move away and give the girl some privacy, but he couldn't pull himself away. Ruka had always admired artists of all sorts, had always found it hard not to dedicate his whole attention to them. He couldn't move, not really, not until the song was over and he found it in himself to finally enter the room and let the doors fall shut behind him. "Wow," he said quietly, would have applauded had it not been for the torches and fire fan occupying his hands. "That was beautiful."

Carefully, he stepped closer, pupils widening in recognition as he got his first glimpse at the girl's face. "Santario, right?" He didn't really know the girl personally, knew of her more than anything. Slytherin, Duellist, same Year as his brother. Anything beyond that was just hearsay. "Sorry, I didn't mean to... That was a beautiful song. Beautifully sung, too." He offered the girl a smile and bent down at the knees to place his torches on the ground. The fire fan was still clutched in his left hand. "Mind if I stick around to get some practice in, too?" He remembered Kazuo asking him why he didn't ask anybody else to sing while he was practicing. "Always nicer to dance with music than without."

@Santario Martin

His presence had clearly not been expected, and Ruka couldn't blame Santario for reacting rather startled to it. His eyes followed the movement of her hand clasping something over her chest. He recognised the gesture easily from the way he held onto his own locket to calm himself down more often than he liked to admit.

His compliment was accepted, though the way her cheeks flushed spoke of slight embarrassment, which made sense considering she had chosen the Rehearsal Room at this particularly quiet time of day. She probably had not meant for anybody to hear her. With a small nod of acknowledgment when she confirmed her name, Ruka let out a light chuckle when she admitted to not knowing his. "Well, we haven't really met," he pointed out, dismissively waving the hand holding the fire fan to the side. "It's Ruka. My name, I mean." The additional explanation was a habit by now; At times people didn't quite recognise the word as a name and he didn't want Santario thinking he was talking nonsense.

A bright smile spread across his face when she agreed to him sticking around to do some dance practice as well. Usually he liked to stay by himself, though this seemed like a good opportunity to step outside of his comfort zone again, after such a long time of caution, paranoia. "Oh, it's..." He hummed quietly, moved towards one of the walls to kick off his sneakers there and drop his torches. Carefully he pulled his wand from the left pocket of his trousers and aimed a well practiced Incendio at the wicks of his fire fan, eyes glistening with delight once they were alight.

Turning back towards Santario, he grinned brightly, then spun around himself twice, circling his wrists in a way he had learned made the flames create beautiful patterns around him as he moved. He came to a halt, bowing shallowly at the waist and chuckling. "Fire Dance," he finally titled it, lifting his fire fan into the air to twirl it above his head. Working with it was very different from just using his torches, but Ruka found he was enjoying figuring out all the things he was able to do with it. "Unless fire makes you queasy," he added, taking a quick step back, just in case he had crossed Santario's comfort zone. "In which case I can put the fire out and just practice the steps without." Which wasn't quite the same, but he didn't want to make the girl uncomfortable with anything he was doing.

At Santario's words about being able to hum, vocalise or play the piano, Ruka smiled brightly, obviously excited about the thought of getting to hear some more music of any kind. "Whatever you feel most comfortable with is fine by me," he told her sincerely. "Don't feel like you need to give me something to dance to. I can work with anything you throw at me, I promise."

@Santario Martin

The formal way in which Santario responded to his introduction made Ruka want to laugh - It reminded him too much of other people, Evelynn, Flash - but he suppressed the urge to instead offer the girl a smile and a nod in acknowledgment. If his hands hadn't been full with his equipment he would have offered her his hand to shake. However, as she didn't make a move to offer her's either, Ruka felt like she wouldn't hold it against him.

As he kicked his shoes off and dropped his torches, Ruka was aware of the eyes on him, so he took extra care of the way he moved when he twirled his fire fans around. It seemed to have paid off when Santario commented on it having been the most stunning thing she had ever seen. It put a delighted grin on his face, eye sparkling with genuine excitement. "It's really quite beautiful, isn't it?" he agreed reverently, letting his gaze drift to the playfully flickering flames.

Santario's agreement to accompanying his dance was followed by her moving towards the piano as Ruka stood and watched, a sense of tranquility filling his senses once the first chords sounded through the room. He let his eyelids flutter shut for a moment, lifted his arms to stretch and let the music fill his veins until it had replaced everything else. He moved carefully as he slowly twirled his way to where he had dropped his equipment so he could pick up the second fan and set the wicks on fire with the help of the first.

He gracefully moved back towards the piano, would offer Santario a smile if she looked his way, then let the melody guide his movements; The slow rotation of his wrists would cast a beautiful trail of flames into the air as his feet gracefully tiptoed in a semi-circle. Each time the intensity of the music built, Ruka would leap, turn to his side midair and land on the balls of his feet with a shallow bend of his knees. The minor hiccups in the music didn't bother him - There was a passion in the melody he could work with, could move to, let the fire dance to with their insistent playful cackling, the blazing trails of burnt orange and red illuminating everything around him like a near soundless firework.

Despite the fact that he had told Kazuo that he usually got too lost in dancing to hear the music anyway, it seemed to be the only thing he could really focus on at this point in time. His steps became more confident the longer Santario played, until he had worked out exactly when to repeat which moves. He lost himself in it right up until Santario would stop playing, which was when he would come to a halt as well, taking a moment for his body to slow down again. A wide smile would spread across his face, forest green eyes sparkling with awe. "Beautiful," he found himself saying, slightly out of breath. "Thank you, that was..." He lifted his left arm, wiped some sweat off his forehead with his sleeve while taking care not to set anything on fire. "You said you're only practicing? That was amazing. How long have you been playing?"