Bubba sat up in his bunk as quietly as he could. He grabbed his watch off of the table and looked at it, it was 2:30. He had been lying there trying to fall asleep for the better part of the last three hours but sleep just wouldn't come. He couldn't even explain why. It had been a good day, he'd had a lot of fun and thought he had tired himself out. And he did feel tired, exhausted even, but sleep wouldn't come. It was incredibly frustrating. He decided he would go for a walk and try to tire himself out some more.

Bubba silently dressed in the same clothes from yesterday. He had left them on top of his chest and didn't want to make too much noise rummaging. Just because he couldn't sleep didn't mean everyone else should have to suffer. He ran his hand through his hair to try to get it into place, he wasn't sure why given that he wasn't planning to see anyone out that late but always tried to look nice. He put on his shoes and silently opened his trunk. He grabbed his phonograph and the first record he could get his hands on. He didn't even know what it was. If he were home he would've just grabbed his iPod and listened to music but muggle technology didn't work here. He had his phone but it was turned off so it wouldn't break. It was only for emergencies anyway. He silently closed his trunk, grabbed the phonograph and record, and quietly crept out of his tent.

He wasn't sure where he was even going. He decided to go by where the barbeque was held to see if anyone was there to share in his misery. There was not, he supposed he was happy for everyone else at least. He decided he was probably far enough from the tents that he could get away with the phonograph as long as the volume was on low. He opened it up and for the first time looked to see what record he had. It'd turned out he'd grabbed The Stranger by Billy Joel. He took the record out of the sleeve and put it on the phonograph, setting the needle. Before he started it, he went over and grabbed a goblet of water.

He sat back down and started the phonograph. It wasn't loud enough to wake anyone but if people were walking by fairly close they'd be able to hear something. He sat quietly through the first song, thinking about, well nothing really, just zoning out. He was brought out of his reverie by the whistling at the start of the title track. He soft whistled along, matching the volume.

@Seren Yong

Seren had been fast asleep... And having a very unpleasant dream. It had led to her tossing a bit in her sleep, and even a little bit of crying, so that tears were leaking down her cheeks a bit, into her pillow. Finally, she jerked upright, eyes wide as she gave a soft sound of sadness. Her young cat, Electra, half-woke and rubbed her cheek against Seren's hand, giving quiet purrs in an attempt to comfort her human. After several minutes, Seren gave her pretty girl several ear rubs to show her she was loved, and that Seren was truly grateful to her kitten for her love.

After Electra settled back down and fell asleep again, Seren carefully got out of her bed and went to pull on a long robe that covered her entire body, and slipped her feet into warm, sheepskin lined slippers. She was considering going to sit on the big couch, and maybe reading for a few hours, but then she heard music.

It was strange music to the girl, very different from anything she had ever heard before on the Wizarding Network, or amongst her parents' records, and she found herself listening in fascination. After she heard the soft sound of the words 'I'm movin' out', and the song ending, she made her decision, and she slipped out of the tent. She listened to where the music was coming from, her expression curious and excited. She followed the sound of the next song, trying to move silently through the still of the night.

When she got close to the barbecue area, she half-paused, uncertain if she should get any closer... And thus undid her luck so far. She managed to trip over her own feet while hesitating, and then stumbled forwards several feet, trying to keep herself from falling. The only reason she did not fall was luck, honestly, and by the time she had stopped moving, she was right near the other person, and his phonograph. She flushed a DEEP red, not that it would be very visible, other than whatever the light of the waning moon might show to the other.

She froze, staring at him. He looked vaguely familiar, like someone she had seen around the Tower and school, maybe, but never really interacted with, and now she was not at all sure what to do, especially given that she had nearly ended up flat on her face in front of him. There was a moment where she froze, almost like she wanted to flee. She took several fast, panicky breaths, but then she whispered "Wh... What are y... you doing out he...here so late?"

Bubba sat at the bench absorbed in the music, looking up at the stars trying to see if he could pick out any constellations - astronomy was not his best subject - when his attention was drawn to a small figure almost literally toppling in view in front of him. It was so dark that she had basically come out of the darkness and had either done a little two-step or just staggered into view in front of him. He was practically certain it was the latter.

It was so dark that he could barely make out her features but he knew that he knew her from the Ravenclaw common room and was pretty sure she was in his year. She looked and sounded absolutely terrified. The first thing Bubba did was reflexively turn the music down. He didn't think it had been very loud but he was afraid that he had woken her up. The music being turned down a little also gave him the impression that she was practically hyperventilating. He could barely hear her ask him what he was doing out there so late.

He had meant to answer but her appearance and demeanor were such that all he could manage was a, "Hey, you ok over there?" His voice was warm and it would've been clear that he wasn't making fun of her but was actually concerned that she was having a nervous breakdown of some sort.

@Seren Yong

Seren flushed even redder as he turned down the music, and spoke. She probably had made a complete idiot of herself, already, just with her entrance alone. She still wanted to run and flee, because she hated looking stupid, and also because she just generally felt nervous and panicky around strangers. She pulled her robe tighter around herself, suddenly wishing she had been smarter and gotten dressed, as it was chilly and also she was with a mostly unknown boy.

But she had not really PLANNED this out at all, had she? She just got curious and went. Impulsivity, a habit she thought she might need to curb, given that. But she did not know how to fix the problem in the moment. All she knew was she feeling vulnerable and idiotic, and that was just going to be the situation for the moment.

She shrugged, a little, and said "I... I tripped a little. I... I am ok, I think." She shifted a little, and finally moved over to a spot to sit down, close enough to talk but far enough that she, if needed, would have time to get up and run. Her posture screamed of her nerves, such that she looked rather like a rabbit ready to run. But she was trying. "Wh...why are you h...here though?"

In this light, Bubba couldn't be sure but it looked like the girl had gone roughly the color of a Roma tomato. He knew that frame of mind, being prone to bouts of anxiety himself he saw the signs. Fight or flight. Well, maybe not fight but stay or run as far away as possible and pretend nothing ever happened. As she pulled her robe tight around her, he was also reminded of another feeling, being cold but breaking out into a sweat because you're nervous and embarrassed, maybe even scared.

He was torn. On the one hand, he wanted to put her at ease and be supportive, but on the other hand, he didn't want to talk down to her and be insulting. She finally sat down which was progress. Well, she sat down but she looked like the sound of a twig snapping would send her halfway to Glasgow. She asked why he was there for a second time and he decided it was time to at least answer that question. "Well, you see," he began with the most deadpan expression he could manage, "I figured that the center of a camp full of wizards would be the perfect place to use my phonograph to spring a little trap." He wished he had a mustache to twirl and he thought a maniacal laugh might be too much. "And now I've got you, I've ensnared you so that I may now do my dastardly deeds." He looked at her with a smile reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter (though he probably hadn't nailed it).

Then his face lightened into a rogueish grin, "Nah I'm just kidding, after three hours of staring at the top bunk trying to sleep I needed a change of scenery. I hope the music didn't wake you."

@Seren Yong

When the young man began to respond, she tilted her head. The first part of his answer had her eyebrows coming together in confusion. A phonograph for a trap? Her expression began to get really worried... What if this was ANOTHER trick that could get her in trouble with a Professor? She was worried enough after her INCIDENT in the Astronomy Tower, and the last thing the slender girl would want is to risk that again. It had not occurred to her that there could be trouble for being out so late, until now. After all, this was Summer, not school, but... It was run by the schools.

Did they still have a proper curfew? She really was not sure and did not want to get into any trouble.

And then he made the comment about his dastardly deeds and she darted to her feet, her skin going from that red color to an INCREDIBLY pale color instead. She looked ready to run, her expression terrified. She began to breath heavily, as if she was about to panic. "Wha... Wha..."

And then he turned it around, calling it kidding. She froze, her expression one of complete confusion, trying to figure out if she trusted this strange young man, after that. She was shivering a little from her stressed nerves, and she stared in silence. Finally, she slowly sat back down, but her anxiety remained on her face, even more present than before. "I... N...N...No, you did not wake m..me. I was h...having unpleasant dreams... Wh...What is this m...music? I do not kn...know it."

As he looked back at the girl Bubba could tell that his attempt to make her laugh and break the ice had been woefully unsuccessful. He hoped that there were no loud noises in the next few seconds because she looked like she was ready to flee like a deadbeat dad the minute the first child support payment came due. He decided a change of approach was needed, his normal approach was not working and despite his considerable charm, the poor girl was absolutely terrified. He wondered what in her life had happened to make her so scared of her own shadow. Bubba had anxiety issues of his own but he'd never had anything like this. He felt sorry for her. He didn't like treating people like they were fragile. He felt that doing so did them a disservice. How else could they grow past their fragility if everyone handled them with kid gloves all the time? On this occasion though, he would back off a little.

His expression changed to one of sincere kindness. He was doing everything he could to put her at ease. "Ok, seriously, try to relax. You're so nervous you're making me nervous and we're not even doing anything wrong." He paused, not sure how to go on. This was not his normal thing. He wasn't used to being so serious. "I don't have any dastardly plans, don't have any minions." Note to self, he thought, get some minions. "I'm just a guy sitting at a table." He was really bad at this but at least he was trying, he just wasn't sure where to go from here. He wasn't good at normal conversation. "Second-year Ravenclaw, right? Me too. Seen you around but don't know your name."

He focused all his energy on radiating calmness and kindness. "Why don't you just take a deep breath and tell me your name, ok? I'm Bubba. Just please don't get up. I'm afraid you might stumble and do yourself a mischief."

@Seren Yong

Seren licked her lips, her eyes focused on Bubba, making sure she could see everything he did. She did not move much, but her head tilted as she listened to him speak, not responding at all, at least verbally, for the entire time he was speaking. When he suggested she relax, she tried... She really did, but she was not very good at it, largely because she was just not really good at relaxing in general, especially around a stranger.

His question about her being a Second Year Ravenclaw earned him a slow nod, as she shifted a little to cross her feet at the ankles, hoping that she looked proper enough, given everything.

When he finally finished talking, Seren tilted her head the other way, her expression more thoughtful than it had been before. She contemplated everything the boy had said, her fingers softly tapping against the edge of her seat. She considered the sincerity of his words, and finally she nodded again, and gave a slight smile... More than she had given, at the very least, so there was that. She took a slow, careful breath before she spoke.

"Seren. I am Seren. You are correct about us being in the same year and house." She spoke slowly and carefully, as if trying to prevent potential stuttering by pure slow control alone. Her cheeks HAD pinked a little again at the comment about hurting herself. "I apologize for my misunderstanding. I... Was not expecting that comment."

And she had had enough of strange boys being and doing things that made her nervous this year, honestly.

Finally, Harpo spoke. Not stammering words that were coming either too fast or too slow, but actually something approaching normal conversation. He could tell it took a lot of effort to force herself to talk at all but at least she was talking. Bubba looked at Seren as she spoke, making the effort not even to blink. He didn't want to do anything that could alarm her further, not that he really knew what wouldn't. He didn't think he'd ever met anyone so nervous. She had at least given him what looked to be an attempt at a smile, it was better than nothing really. He wondered if she was like this around everyone she didn't know or if it was just coming across him in the middle of the night. He wanted to know but he also knew that asking her was definitely among the worst ideas he could have at the moment. Her name was Seren, fellow soon-to-be second year and Ravenclaw. "Nice to properly meet you Seren," he said with a smile.

"I'm sorry I made you more nervous, I try to put people at ease with humor, obviously it backfired here." He said apologetically. He was used to being able to charm and disarm, he supposed even that had to have its limits sometimes.

He turned his attention to the phonograph, where the outro to The Stranger was playing. "To answer your question, this is The Stranger by Billy..." He trailed off and looked wistfully off into space for a moment as the next song, Just The Way You Are started to play. It was about thirty seconds before he came back and realized he'd been cut off in mid-sentence. "Sorry about that," he said hurriedly, trying to cover it off. "Like I was saying, this is The Stranger by Billy Joel, he's a muggle musician from America."

@Seren Yong

She reached up to run her fingers through her hair in a gesture that could have been nervous OR embarrassed, because right at this point she was feeling some of each. Her misunderstandings and confusion had led her to look like an idiot who had no sense of humor, and she had probably convinced this young man that she was the biggest, clumsiest fool who he had ever been unfortunate enough to meet.

None of that showed on her face, though, other than through the fingers in the hair. As she relaxed some, her expression went from showing everything to showing almost nothing, a politely friendly (or at least that was her intent) mask that hid her emotions, if they were the sort to be seen as 'rude' in certain circles. Even the previous pale and blushing tones had faded.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am, I suppose, not very experienced with humor being used in such a way."
Her tone matched the expression, now, as if she had suddenly grabbed control of her emotions, and was refusing to let them affect her speech. Of course, her insides did not match her outsides, but she was doing her damndest to keep that in. Perhaps if she could learn to keep the mask on more, she would be mocked less at home, after all, and practicing with someone who seemed nicer would be easier than with other people.

When he began to introduce the song and who the artist was, she allowed a proper and polite amount of curiosity to enter her expression to encourage him to continue. When he paused, she lifted her brows, waiting... And when he finally finished, she made a soft sound of interest. "A Muggle musician? Oh how lovely! I've never had a chance to properly hear Muggle Music before! I would sometimes hear tidbits of music, snatches of the refrain or what have you, when I was near windows at home and cars passed playing it more loudly than usual. I have always been ever so curious about it."

She did not speak about why she never got to indulge her interest, nor did she speak about other music. She felt it was safer to just leave it there...