5 Mar 2022, 03:53
Friends are Hazardous to Your Health
Place: Library
Date: March 4, 2022
Time: After classes in the afternoon/evening before dinner
There were many people that Jack did not know, such as the second and first years that had come to Hogwarts after him. Some, however, were talked about rather often by many students and were seen around school a lot. Simon Kincaid was one of those students. By now, Jack had gotten the impression that the boy definitely fit his house of Hufflepuff through and through. No one Jack knew seemed to dislike the guy. He seemed to be friends with everyone. So, naturally, Jack found Simon to be a growing concern.
It wasn't just that Jack feared for himself, which he of course did. He also couldn't help worrying about Simon and the people involved in his life. Didn't they all know what they were doing was detrimental to their health? You couldn't go around just trusting everyone and caring about them. Sooner or later someone was bound to stab you in the back or you were likely to worry yourself to death. How Hufflepuffs survived, Jack had never been able to figure out. Their lifestyle seemed to be a living nightmare to him.
Yet it was some morbid curiosity that drew Jack to Simon when he noticed him one day in the library. He wanted to know just what was so likable and charismatic about the guy. Furthermore, Jack made it his hobby to push people to their limits, so why not Simon? New friends might have been something to avoid for him, but not new enemies, which were always welcome. Thus, the Slytherin made his way over to the Hufflepuff, coming up behind him with raised brows.
"Hey," he greeted casually. "Kincaid, is it? What're you reading?"
@Simon Kincaid
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori
5 Mar 2022, 04:43
Friends are Hazardous to Your Health
Introducing self to @Jack Burnett
While some days served up far too many assignments and threats of upcoming examinations that needed studied for, other days provided him with a bit of calmness. While it was a nice sunny day and most of the rest of the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry made their way outdoors, visiting the Great Lake or the Grounds, Simon Kincaid decided to take to the Library. Sunny days were something that he tended to avoid - with good cause.
He thought about researching some of his questions about the magical world but after a long week he decided to just find a more comfortable place to be and take to one of the chairs near the wall with a book.
It was there he heard a voice behind him, not paying attention at first to the 'hey' but when he heard his last name he glanced up from his book to the Slytherin. Jack Burnett. Simon knew a name to the face but nothing really more. That's how it was with a lot of the students at Hogwarts that were his senior. Normally he stuck with Second Years and below, just for good measure. The older students were more experienced in the world of magic and therefore Simon never wanted to seem ignorant around them.
"Hey, yea. Simon. Simon Kincaid," he said as he lowered the book so he could show the Slytherin boy he was paying him attention. He gave a smile, "Uh, just something to pass the time. It's called "The Secret Sharer" by Joseph Conrad. It's about a young ship captain who finds himself harboring a fugitive from another ship but it's also kind of more complex than that." It was sometimes hard to tell what a book was about without giving away the plot and details so Simon left it at that. "It's by a muggle author, but anyway... what's up?" He was curious if the Slytherin needed any help finding something or anything like that.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
6 Mar 2022, 18:05
Friends are Hazardous to Your Health
"Right...Simon Kincaid," Jack repeated. "Hope you don't mind if I use your last name. First names seem a little too...intimate to me," he explained, scratching the back of his neck. He blinked when Simon told him the synopsis of the book he was reading, surprised the other boy was willing to elaborate so much. Most other kids would likely have just told him to mind his own business or to read the book for himself. Jack nodded, mentally deciding that the situation was more grave than he originally thought.
"I've...heard a fair bit about you, Kincaid," the Welsh boy went on. "If you like to read stories, then surely you know the dangers of making friends, don't you? Yet I hear you make many without what seems to be a care in world."
Without asking, Jack pulled up a chair to seat himself beside Simon. "Why do you do that? The kinder you are to people, the more they can take advantage of you. The more you trust, the easier it is for them to betray you. And, even if they don't end up betraying you, the more people you care about, the more you end up worrying about them until you just end up worrying one hundred percent of the time. How do people like you live like that?"
His brow corregated in concern and distress. "Unless, maybe, you're the sort of person who the saying 'a friend to all is a friend to none' applies to? Are they all just aquaintances to you and you're just friendly to them?"
@Simon Kincaid
Last edited by Jack Burnett on 19 Apr 2022, 05:13, edited 1 time in total.
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori
18 Apr 2022, 02:51
Friends are Hazardous to Your Health
Trying to analyze @Jack Burnett
Simon listened as the Slytherin spoke about his apprehensions concerning friendship and it was quite clear that they vastly contrasted his own. Perhaps in his years, he hadn't had good foundations to help him the way Simon had. Simon had a wonderful mother who had gone from his life too soon but an amazing aunt to help pick up where she left off. He had wonderful teachers to guide him through his studies and strengthen his interests, and he had some fantastic friendships. He had been lucky and it was pretty apparent that unfortunately not everyone experienced the same.
"Ah, I think you and I see it from very different places. The more people in your support system means you don't have to go about life alone. The few that might disappoint you will be made up for by those that stay close and help you through. The ones you lose along the way - well, they're never really gone and besides, a life without love is a life not worth living."
It was hard to believe though that anyone would go through life without having at least one person that they cared about so strongly that they wouldn't form a connection with and Simon watched the Third Year before him, curious about that. "I mean, you must have put yourself out there at some point to some one: a family member, a classmate, a teacher. If you had the misfortune of them betraying you and bringing you down then I am sorry but that's all the more reason to pick yourself up and try again. Life is hard. We shouldn't go through it alone."
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
23 Apr 2022, 04:13
Friends are Hazardous to Your Health
As he listened to Simon's side of things, Jack began to make a face. "You don't necessarily need people from a support system to not be alone, though, right? Enemies make just as fine company. And you can always trust enemies to stay enemies instead of worrying about if they might change their mind about you like friends do." He rested a cheek in his hand, looking at Simon sideways as he propped an elbow on the tabletop. "And how would you know that a life without love isn't worth living? You're probably one of those people who have been loved all your life, so you wouldn't know, would you?"
When the Hufflepuff mentioned that he must have put himself out there at some point, Jack's hazel eyes darkened. "I have," he confirmed. "I used to have friends at my old muggle school. They eventually turned on me. But don't you see? I did pick myself up. And I learned from my mistakes. Only a fool would try again when he knows better."
He regarded Simon curiously. "What about you, huh? Have you never been betrayed or back-stabbed by anyone before? Because it's easy to say such pretty words if you haven't had to deal with such things yourself."
@Simon Kincaid
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori