Another Student Scared of Sleep Closed

As soon as the boy's hand touched the ravenclaw's robes, Kaegen twisted away, corkscrewing clear of the hand and bringing himself around to face the threat that had tried to do something to his shoulder. A curse, knife, initiation of an attack? He didn't know, couldn't tell. The twisting dodge had been more reaction than conscious effort, an instinctual movement to bring him clear of the perceived attack. His adrenaline spiked as the lights abruptly dimmed, flickering low as the temperature dropped as suddenly as the shadows rose, knit together and darkened.

It was an abrupt change in environment that was unmistakably coming from Kaegen himself, emanating in waves as the red rings around his pupils, backed by a stormy blueish grey, seemed to shine with surprise, fear, possibly hatred.

But just as soon as it appeared, it faded. The fear melted into the warm light of the torches, the shining red faded to eyes that looked relatively ordinary, and the monster of hogwarts' halls once more appeared to be nothing special. A boy with skin that resembled a terminally ill wonton wrapper, eyes that sported deep shadows, messy black hair, spidery fingers tipped in dull claw-like fingernails, and a general feeling of being faded. His robes weren't the shiny black of most students', but rather a faded black with fraying edges. He looked as though he should be in an infirmary, or maybe a crypt.

"You have got altogether too much courage for such a nondescript heart."

@Kaegen Deathmote

It was amazing how, despite the fact that Jack knew the boy couldn't have been Selim, his reaction to having had his shoulder grabbed was still so similar to what Jack would have expected from his paranoid dorm mate - only Selim probably would have had a knife in hand when he'd turned to face his pursuer. Fortunately, this stranger didn't appear to be armed with any such weapon.

Still, there was definitely more than the redhead expected as he noticed the very atmosphere itself growing darker and colder by the second. It was as if the young man who now stood before him could synchronize them to his emotions. Jack took a step back, one brow raised in perplexity as he put his empty palms up to show he meant no harm.

The rings of red in the other boy's irises were not missed by the Slytherin, especially against the blue-grey storm color of the rest. Jack's own hazel gaze scrutinized the other countenance, determining what he could from its owner's demeanor, nature, and state of mind. What was left for him to interpret quickly shifted into something more neutral as the stranger's initial surprise died down, but Jack knew what he'd seen and felt.

What had that been? Some sort of innate magic? Was this person not fully human, then? Not that that would have surprised the muggle-born boy at this point with how many other mixed-race students he had met. Still, it had him curious. Human or not, he hadn't realized there could have been someone who looked so sickly-looking and deathly pale as Selim sometimes did. His train of thought was soon disrupted by the cryptic words produced from the peculiar student's mouth.

Jack's mouth was only too eager to open in reply. "Courage?" he repeated, sounding absolutely scandalized, as if the other boy had described him with the most insulting adjective in existence. "Impulsiveness, maybe. Recklessness, even. But courage? Nu-uh." He shook his head, indicating he simply wouldn't accept such a description.

"Don't mistake me for one of those stupid lions. I'm a Slytherin and unlike a good deal of courageous Gryffindors I know, I actually prioritize my life first and foremost, thank you very much. I just thought you were a dorm mate of mine," Jack explained. "I suppose I owe you an apology for grabbing out of nowhere. I'm sorry."

The redhead bowed briefly before continuing. "Even if you aren't him, though, what are you doing out and about at this time of night? Isn't curfew soon? You head to your dorm to get some sleep." He certainly looked like he needed it.

Kaegen squinted at the boy, certain that he was wrong. No, that was courage, just then. He took a deep breath, glaring intently at the Gryffindor's face. Not Slytherin. No way.

"You don't smell like a snake, you don't feel like someone from their house. The hat didn't do a very good job, huh?"

There was so much pride, pride in who he was and what he was, Kaegen could almost taste it. The snakes smelled of pride, sure, but not like this. This was a careless confidence that spoke of a lion, of a cat that knew it's own limits, and was surprised when they were matched by another.

Kaegen ignored the apology. He had no interest in pleasantries, just in making sure that this boy wasn't actually a threat. He might be, if Kaegen managed to make him mad, but that was a less than desirable outcome. Still, the fens-born had a talent for making people lose their temper. It was something he had to be careful about.

"Curfew isn't for me, it's for those like you. Do not make the mistake of blending worlds that were never meant to touch. My castle doesn't change with the sun, it remains unchanged by pen and sword. You, however, should be getting sleep."

@Kaegen Deathmote

Jack's brow wrinkled with disgruntlement as he found himself being told by the stranger that he 'didn't smell like a snake' and he 'didn't feel like someone from their house'. It gave him pause, however, as he recalled his own questioning of the Hat's choice.

"Well...the silly Hat did say I was contradictory," he recalled, smirking a bit at the memory. 'Claiming to be honest with everyone, but not honest with himself', he remembered it had told him. Jack wasn't really sure what that was about, but the fact that he was a muggle-born boy placed in a house that valued purebloods was contradictory enough.

He had assured the Hat that he didn't seek power, but it had reminded him that his parents had told him that knowledge was power, and Jack couldn't deny that he did seek knowledge. Furthermore, unlike Ravenclaws, he wished to use what knowledge came into his possession.

The Hat had pointed out how Jack had thought about how Slytherins were associated with dark wizards and evil; but also how, if that was the case, he had every reason to try to subvert that wide-spread belief, since that's what tricksters were known to do. And a trickster was exactly what Jack strived to be - unpredictable, transcending dualities, and walking the line in the middle or 'balance' between extremes. He didn't want anyone to be able to peg him as good or bad, white or black, kind or evil. Jack had made it a mission of his to strike a balance in between...so should he really have been surprised that this young man couldn't peg him as a stereotypical Slytherin?

That was what the Hat had explained as his ambition; to show people he was more than they thought they were. That people were more than they thought they knew anyone to be, including themselves, because everything was more than it seemed on the surface. It just took an alternate perspective to make that clear.

"Maybe I'm just unlike any snake you've ever seen. I know a good many people who would beg to differ about me not 'feeling like someone' from Slytherin," he answered with a soft laugh. "What would you presume to know about snakes, anyway? Their scent; their feel?" the redhead asked, fairly certain he hadn't seen this young man around the Slytherin Common Room or dormitories. How could he presume to know what their house was like if he wasn't one of them? Gossip? Stereotypes? Ideas based on other Slytherin he'd met in the past?

Jack was getting the impression this student, like many people, was under the false assumption that he had any right to judge groups he wasn't a part of based on what he thought he knew of them. A little haughty of him, perhaps, but Jack preferred that to the opposite. It was much more fun bringing the arrogant ones down from their high-and-mighty thrones with jabs of logic and reason than it was to poke and prod at insecure weaklings too low on self-esteem to try to defend themselves.

"'Curfew isn't for you'?" he repeated, looking throughly amused by now. "And why is that? Also, what exactly do you mean by 'for those like me'? Surely you can't expect me to understand without context." He offered the older boy a good-natured smile, hoping for an interesting debate. "And in that vein, surely you can't expect me to agree without understanding. Can you?"

The mistake of blending worlds that were never meant to touch...? His castle didn't change with the sun? It almost sounded like he was speaking in poems or riddles. Normally, Jack delighted in riddles, but this didn't seem like one that was meant to have an answer attainable to him. Were they simply metaphors, then, perhaps? Or allegories?

"See, unlike most lions, I'd like to think I'm a reasonable fellow," Jack told the other boy, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued to grin. "Give me a solid, logical reason as to why I should be getting sleep any more than you should and I will do so without further protest."

Seemed reasonable. This other boy didn't want to just take the word of a stranger, and that was something Kaegen could understand. He probably wouldn't either, after all. The link from him to the other boy was hard to make, the empathy taking conscious effort. He was trying, he was trying to be more like them. It was hard, but it just took a lot of small steps, right? One foot in front of the other, until eventually he found the way to leave his world, to find the safety of the world of men. But portals and paths were beyond him, at least for now.

"The hat picks snakes because they feel like snakes. Their heart beats quietly, with a... mm. A hum. The quiet hum of a hunter, or something that wants to hunt, and you don't have that. You have wit, but it's not fluid? not like a snake. You're an- well, odd mountain, and snakes are smooth valleys."

Kaegen's raspy voice struggled to keep pace with his observations. He wasn't sure if what he had said carried any meaning whatsoever, it wasn't really something he was used to doing. But he didn't exactly have a right to assume this boy would believe everything he said, he had to back some of it up, or at least explain himself. Although, he hardly thought it seemed reasonable to hold himself to the same standards as everyone else. He was hardly just another boy, he was a monster, a monster who didn't lie.

"You're not very logical. There is more than one world, here. There are a lot, actually. Worlds forged of perspective, snaring people under the guise of society, with traps of bias and closed minds. They protect you, they don't protect me. I'm on the wrong side of those protections, and the longer you talk with me, the more you'll slip. That is why you should go to bed. Because the less people there are, the harder it is for your little shields to exist."

Kaegen furrowed his brow, feeling a rising swell of hatred that ignited the crimson rings that surrounded his pupils, set against the stormy grey of his eyes. His shadow began to loom to twice it's natural size, and it was almost as if he changed in that instance, becoming something much worse, something darker than any boy had the right to be. It only lasted for an instant, it was hard to keep up when he wasn't actually angry. But the effect was still obvious. He had expelled a wave of fear that impacted the very light in the room.

"Different worlds, different people. Rules that help you might not help me."

@Kaegen Deathmote

To be told he had wit that wasn't fluid and that he was a mountain rather than a smooth valley was one thing. Those were, in Jack's opinion, abstract ideas that were subjective to the person speaking them. To be told he wasn't very logical, though? That threw Jack off a bit.

As he tried to get a grasp on what the older student was attempting to convey through his raspy words, the Slytherin gradually began to sense something about him that made his spine tingle, his skin prickle, and his hair stand up.

It was like every animal instinct of Jack's body was alerting him that the young man before him was some sort of predator to be backed off from and left alone. It was similar to the atmosphere change he'd felt the first time he'd startled the stranger, but different this time; more controlled.

Jack the self-preservationist didn't like it; not one bit. However, a more reasonable part of his mind was questioning why. Why did he need to run from this student? What threat did he pose? Magic? He saw no wand out. Hidden, inhuman teeth tearing at his throat? Perhaps.

But the first-year fought to conquer his animalistic self-preservationist mentality with his more logical one. His fingers itched to reach for the wand in his pocket and his hand closed over it, but he didn't dare bring it out.

It was a few moments of deep breathing through clenched teeth before Jack found himself able to speak again. He didn't actually attempt to form words until he thought he could control his voice to sound steadier than his inner panic allowed him to feel.

"Okay, I can understand that." With some effort and a little more time, hazel eyes managed to lock on to the abnormal red rings haloing the third-year's pupils against the otherwise desaturated grey hues of his irises. "Many worlds, each born of a different perspective - perspectives that trap people by making them think theirs is the only one that exists. But who says they protect me?" Jack inclined his head slightly to one side, as if that would somehow give him a better look at his addressee.

"I enjoy slipping between perspectives when I can, eluding others who aren't aware of their existence, much less think to cross from one to another. Did you ever consider that perhaps you may not be the only one on the other side of those protections; those shields? Because that's not what I see them as."

He scratched his head with a timid smile; the best he could do with that foreboding aura weighing down on him like some looming, hungry beast. "To me, they seem more like prisons. I get tired of being around people who are stuck in their closed minds and biases. I feel like I'm forever trying to free them and open their eyes to the other worlds out there when they simply don't want to see them. They're like captive birds who refuse to leave their cages because they've never known anything else and are perfectly content staying right where they are." Jack shook his head in pity, but then looked back up once more, a lively sparkle in his gaze while wearing a grin painted with mischief.

"You seem like fun, though. So has it ever occured to you that maybe someone might want to talk to you and 'slip'? That maybe you're preferable company to all those people who create all those annoying 'shields' defining their own reality while blocking out others'?"

It was taking every ounce of Jack's resolve to hold his ground and continue talking with the calm attitude he was feigning, but he was determined to see it through to the end. "Yes, there are different worlds and different people. But while there might be rules that help me and not you, it's also possible that they're just as useless to me as they are you."

The redhead amicably held out his hand - the one not clutching his wand in his pocket. "You've been speaking all this time as though you're so certain you know who and what I am; what's best for me. But to talk with such confidence about me when the only one who can truly know an individual is themselves - doesn't that suggest that you, too, are trapped within a world of your own biased perspective?"

By that time, beads of cold sweat had visibly begun to form across Jack's brow and collect in small rivulets that ran down the side of his face. Tension sang in every line of his body, but still he held out his hand, determined not to move so much as a centimeter back.

The boy didn't deny their shattering differences, he didn't ignore the fear he felt. But he still thought Kaegen was wrong, or at least, not entirely correct. It was an odd combination of feelings that the ravenclaw was getting from this boy. Usually, people simply rejected what he had to say, and he went about his day. In the rare instances when this wasn't the case, he was usually met with pure curiosity, rather than probing questions about possible holes in his logic. It was different, odd. Odd enough for Kaegen to actually take this boy seriously, or as seriously as he could take anything in his sleep deprived state.

Kaegen said nothing as the boy kept talking, kept hammering the point home that he was different, somehow. That he saw those worlds of perspective and didn't like them, that he was trying to find a way out because of what, boredom? Boredom hardly existed in Kaegen's world, it was yet another testament to their differences, to the different worlds they walked. He talked about people being willful prisoners, implying he saw the shields of perspective as something restrictive, rather than protective. This boy had no desire for safety, no want for castle walls and wrought-iron doors. That much, at least, was obvious.

At the very end, he pointed out the obvious, that Kaegen was trapped as well. Yes, he knew that. It infuriated the half-vampire, made him scream in the pitch of night from the towers of Hogwarts. He was very much trapped, very much tangled up in darkness and death, monsters and misery, the dripping walls and ceilings of a place where no one with any sense would want to stay.

"Yes, they are prisons. But prisons work both ways. You look through the cracks in the walls, see shadows of something you think is freedom, and try to break free. The people around you are content because they have the common sense to not leap from their oak tree into the mouths of the hounds. It is easy to slip down, it is hard to climb back up. I am that down, that monster. You want to go the other way."

The torches flickered slightly as the Ravenclaw's eyes lit up for a fraction of a second. A sore spot, his own entrapment. His left hand curled up into a tight ball, mostly hidden from view behind a fading sleeve.

"Yes. Clearly, I am also trapped. I'm trapped somewhere you don't want to be, I'm trapped somewhere I don't want to be. I'm trapped by the dark places of this earth, weaving webs through my head until it threatens to split. Do you want to die, snake? Look for wealth, climb your way to better worlds. The gutter washes away the writhing shadows of dreams that didn't fit into the world of the dreamer. The bird who flies from a cage straight into a window, was that a smart move, do you think?"

@Kaegen Deathmote

If Jack had meant to talk down the other boy from warding him off with his oppressive half-breed aura, he seemed to have said the wrong thing. The older boy's eyes lit with the terrifying light characteristic of his kind, this time apparently triggered by true vexation rather than surprise or as a warning.

The redhead's offered hand went ignored as the dhampir curled his own into a fist unseen by the first year. Even if his sleeve hadn't concealed it, Jack would have likely been too preoccupied to notice. By that time, it was all he could do to continue standing his ground, withdrawing his hand to hold his head and shuting his eyes tight as if that could keep his fear at bay. It didn't, of course, but it made it marginally easier to concentrate on the older student's words rather than allowing his own fright to completely overtake him and his senses.

"I...don't want to die," Jack expressed with some difficulty as he attempted to unclench his gritted teeth. "...But neither do I want to live a lie. Maybe...it would be a mistake to slip down...but..." He hesitated then, struggling to open at least one eye in order to meet the third-year's. "...Who are you to decide where I truly want to go? ...Whether or not I...would think the mistake worth making to meet you, monster or otherwise?"

He shut both eyes again and shook his head in disagreement, his inner strength slowly being drained from him by mental exhaustion in the face of the other student's fury.

"...Wherever you are," he managed to utter, "...Wherever you're trapped, you...you should still know." Jack took a deep breath, trying to steady his rapidly-beating heart. "...You don't have to...be alone. I don't know if...you're trying to push me away...for my own good, but...heh..." With a herculean effort, Jack somehow managed to force himself to meet those striking red-lit eyes once more, combating their imposing wrath with a feeble, yet steadfast grin.

"...I think I could...tolerate this prison...if I had decent company." he reasoned. "Could you?"

"Your reality is no more a lie than mine. And as for who I am to tell you what decisions you should make? You may as well ask hunter who he is to recommend where to stalk for prey. You do not want to meet me, I know this much."

Kaegen shut off his emotions enough to calm the storm that burst from him in waves. He had made his point, and yet, he hadn't. This other boy was still determined that he wanted to make his own decisions, ruin his life, and for what? To see a different sort of truth? To live in a prison with Kaegen for company? Company was something friends kept, and Kaegen had failed utterly to keep friends. He had spent how many years chasing a friend? He had given everything, and it had ended in that friend looking him in the eye with fear.

She came back, but it wasn't the same. She was a soap-version. Not the real one, not the one he had known. He hadn't known this boy for hardly half an hour, and now this sort of an offer? It was ridiculous to conceive of. It was too outlandish, too thick with thorns of plotholes and logic that didn't meet itself anywhere that made sense.

"I don't have to be alone? Oh, and you'd know? Find this place yourself, find my world and then come to me and tell me that I don't have to be alone. You exist with people, people talking, friends coming and going. Flickering lights and fireflies, you're applying logic that doesn't work where I am, it doesn't apply. Your offer isn't valid to someone like me, regardless of your intentions, you are wrong."[color]