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@Gem Stuart

"Jack!"

Oh, no... Jack sighed inwardly as he heard the other boy coming up behind him. Not you too... But with a bitter smile, he had to shake his head. Figures. What else should I have expected from the renowned Gem Stuart?

"Christ, could ya walk any quicker, mate?"

He stopped in his tracks as Gem caught up to him. In truth, the Slytherin was terrified. Stella Dawson had threatened him with kindness, but that was all. Jack hadn't been able to discern any logically sound arguments from her self-righteous declarations that she would be his friend regardless of what he wanted.

Gem, though...in the few minutes he had talked to him, the Ravenclaw had already proved he was not only kind and caring, but intelligent, too. And that was not a combination Jack looked forward to being backed into a corner by.

I don't want to have to hurt you, Stuart, the boy thought miserably. But I will if you continue to pursue this. You're too nice for your own good. You and D'Spacito both.

Clenching his fists at his sides, Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling and meeting the Ravenclaw's gaze. How to do this? The redhead had a policy never to lie, but was being direct the best way to go about the matter? To his great chagrin, he found he still hadn't stopped trembling and quickly hid his hands in his pockets to hide it.

"Ehm... wot... happened back there, if ya don't mind me askin'?"

Urgh...how was he supposed to stand up against this form of torture? How?! There was no way to defend against, combat, or ward off kindness. No proverbial walls could stand up to it. Gem didn't deserve to have been subjected to that little drama, much less Jack in general. How could he turn the other boy away now? And yet how could he face him?

"Are... you okay?" the Ravenclaw asked with a smile Jack thought might have been able to melt a golem's heart with its warmth. Suddenly, the redhead felt his knees about to give way and immediately sat himself down on the nearest bench.

"No, I'm not," he told Gem with an agonized grin, his thick brows steepled in anguish. "You're a good guy, Stuart; one of the best and most formidable I've met at this school so far. I can tell that for myself." He dipped his head respectfully. "Thank you for your concern, but Seilun needs you more than I do. Trust me, I'll be fine."

@Jack Burnett

Maybe he was a little concerned about how strained and uncomfortable Jack seemed at his question, but he didn't let it bother him too much, nor did he attempt to change the subject. Furrowing his eyebrows, he waited for an answer, hopefully one that would explain a little bit more than the humid teenage angst he'd watched right before his eyes. But as he was met with an honest answer, he felt a little more secure about the situation at hand - and Jack, too.

Sitting beside him, he listened to him silently, attempting to suppress the grin that dared splayed across his lips. He never took complements that well, it was sort of hard to when he didn't believe an ounce of it - however, the way Jack was putting it seemed earnest, and maybe a bit troubled.

"You sound like Rafa right now," He chided, turning to look at him with a quirked brow. "Always tryin' ta deflect yer emotions to someone else's, it's bad for you, you know." He nudged his shoulder, tapping his foot on the cobblestone ground. "You don't have ta pretend me bein' all nice means you get to close yerself off." It sort of reminded him of his dad, but in an... obscure way, he couldn't quite describe it. "Tell me wot's wrong, I promise I won't tell a single soul. Cross me heart," He drew an 'X' over his chest, sort of like a way to seal the deal.

"Opelia - she doesn't... want me to help her. So I won't, I fink she needs to have some time ta reflect, y'know?" He pressed his lips together, glancing down at his shoes with a deflated air. "I'm hopin' you're different, right? It's okay to talk about yer feelin's every once in a while."

@Gem Stuart

When the Ravenclaw took a seat beside him, the Slytherin bit his lip so hard it bled. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Was this his karma for having hurt Opeila so?

"You sound like Rafa right now."

The Gryffindor's nickname spoken by Gem caused Jack to visibly flinch and he stared down at his feet. Under normal circumstances, he might have kept up a better facade, but it had been heavily weakened by the barage of emotional turmoil caused by the interaction with Opeila. There was no escape now. He couldn't even stand, much less run.

"Always tryin' ta deflect yer emotions to someone else's, it's bad for you, you know."

"Heh. Takes one to know one, am I right?" the redhead answered, a streak of malice corrupting his bitter smile into a crooked sneer. "Are you not the sort of person who's nice to everyone else and tries to help them with their problems to avoid dealing with your own?"

"You don't have ta pretend me bein' all nice means you get to close yerself off."

Yes, yes it does, Jack thought, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as if somehow it would help him get through this.

"Tell me wot's wrong, I promise I won't tell a single soul. Cross me heart." And when the Slytherin opened his eyes again to peer at Gem, he saw that the Ravenclaw was, indeed, crossing his heart with a drawn 'X'.

Jack felt like he'd been stabbed through the gut with a knife. So much for trying to tolerate it. He'd been so worried about Stella this whole time when he should have been worried about Gem. Unfortunately, he hadn't realized such a person existed until right then.

"Opelia - she doesn't... want me to help her. So I won't, I fink she needs to have some time ta reflect, y'know?" He pressed his lips together, glancing down at his shoes with a deflated air. "I'm hopin' you're different, right? It's okay to talk about yer feelin's every once in a while."

God, did he take classes on how to psyche someone out or something?! the Slytherin wondered furiously, running both hands through his already-disheaveled hair. This guy was killing him. He didn't want to trust him, didn't want to like him, but how couldn't he? How couldn't anyone?!

"You - you don't really want to know what's wrong, believe me," Jack managed to force out, along with a dark laugh to hide the unsteadiness of his voice. He couldn't even keep that from trembling now as his throat closed up with repressed tears. "Stuart...if you knew what kind of person I was - what I'd done and why, you'd hate me just as much as Seilun back there. And for good reason, too." He tried to grin at the longer-haired boy, but his heart wasn't in it and he had to wipe his eye on the back of his hand before he could continue.

"I don't - I'm not sure I - I can't handle that right now. N-not from someone as nice as you."

@Jack Burnett

Gem ignored the shot Jack attempted to take at his personality, opting to go quiet until he started to talk again. He never liked it when people made blunt assumptions about his person, it set him off and made him uncomfortable - because what did they know? Nothing, they didn't know anything about him, and he was fine with that... they were usually wrong, anyway.

"The only person I've ever hated in me whole life is Kevin Sheilds, and that's just cos he hasn't made another album wiv My Bloody Valentine since... '91." He sniffed, looking back down at the ground, shifting his shoes around to try and avert the awkwardness from himself. "Look, what I'm tryin' ta say is, I've never really hated someone. I can't hate someone I don't know, and I don't really know you." Even as he said that, he seemed so familiar. He was so sure he'd heard about Jack before, and it wasn't really... good stuff, but even the most evil people could have the right intentions. Maybe he had a bad home, maybe he just... had his fun misinterpreted.

"You can tell me wotever when yer ready, I mean. I'm here for you, even if I don't know ya that well. Everyone deserves to be listened to, right? You're not excluded from that, no matter how ugly the stuff ya did was." He really hoped Jack didn't kill someone, he never liked to eat his words - and yet, he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach that he just might.

@Gem Stuart

The calculating Slytherin did not miss the fact that Gem went quiet at his jab. So there were things that got to Mr. Calm-Kindness-and-Patience. As Jack made getting under peoples' skin one of his most prominent hobbies, he was not about to let that knowledge go to waste. Especially when Gem was getting too close for comfort.

If he had the nerve to try to hurt the Ravenclaw, that was. The redhead wasn't sure he could, at this point. Gem was just so...genuine. It was downright painful.

"Heh...you really like music, don't you?" Jack remarked, looking around the courtyard - at anywhere other than the boy next to him. "Guess you were appropriately named, then."

When he looked at Gem again, his expression was stony and grave with a trace of sorrow etched in his features. "If you can't hate someone you don't know, then isn't it better not to know me? I can handle most people hating me, but..." His voice trailed off. Not Opeila. Not Rafa. And not you. Jack sighed for what must have been the hundreth time. Since when had he started caring so much what others thought of him?

Well...if Gem hating him was inevitable, maybe he could make the most of this time now. Perhaps somehow Gem might be able to understand why he did the things he did, even if no one else could. And maybe not, but still...what was the harm in trying? Things were bad enough as they were.

"You have too good a heart," Jack told Gem, glancing at what he thought may have been his robes in the Ravenclaw's possession. Had he been carrying them around all this time? "It's going to get you hurt sooner rather than later, if it hasn't already. You shouldn't care so much about other people, especially those you don't know too well. Not everyone deserves to be listened to, in my opinion; only those who take the time and trouble to listen to others, and those are far too few." He looked away again.

"You have to look out for yourself, Stuart, or no one else will. If you keep trying to help others and put them first without paying attention to yourself, you'll have nothing left. That's why caring about others is detrimental to your health - especially for selfless people like you."

@Jack Burnett

Life lessons were one thing that Gem had been spoon fed enough of, whether he taught them to himself, or maybe had lectured to him by an adult, be it Leland, his parents, or someone between those lines. Right now, Jack seemed like he was trying to teach him something by holding it just out of his reach, and he wasn't sure if he was bothered by it or if he couldn't give a shit. The lack of feelings his speech brought him, though, must've meant the latter.

"Well, I think you're wrong. Wrong to make assumptions about me, what I fink, how I should act before I 'get hurt'," again, he brought air quotes up with his hands. "I suppose that's what separates us, right? Morality?" He glanced at the sky, then back down at the floor. "I care about meself, I'm workin' on meself, but don't go around thinkin' you've got me all figured out just cos I like to be nice... that's more dangerous than if I were to actually go around helpin' everyone but meself." His eyes brought themselves back up to meet Jack's, a small side-smile tugging the corner of his lips upwards.

"I've got a lot to lose, but- I'm not afraid of losing it, is the fing. Once you aren't scared of losin' anything, once you've lost enough, then that should be enough. People are lessons, whether they teach ya how to behave, or how not to. Self-awareness is key, you've just got to know when and when not ta have it." Shifting in his seat, he stared ahead of himself, tucking a hair behind his ear. It had been a while since he said so much, he guessed now was a proper time to.

"I've got a boyfriend, and I don't think he has anythin' to lose. He's quite a free spirit, maybe... angry sometimes, but he's gentle, he's kind. Kindness isn't always somefin' you learn, neither is community, but he's got it. He's someone to admire, and... I do, I really do. I sorta love him in a sense, a way I haven't loved someone," He shrugged shortly, feeling his face get hot when the realization he admitted that out loud hit him. "He's important, he's somefin' I don't want to lose. He kept me goin', all that. He's a great bloke, really, even outside my heart-shaped-glasses I've got on." He had to stop himself somewhere, rambling about his love life wasn't so ideal in a conversation like that... it was so hard not to yammer on and on about him. "Rafael's one of m favorite people, is wot I mean, he's... great. Maybe you lot could be friends, I think it'd be sweet... ehm-" He paused, "anyway, what I'm tryin' ta say is... I don't think it's fair that you think people who don't listen shouldn't be listened to. You've got to be listened to in order to learn to listen." Listen didn't even sound like a real word anymore.

"So... what is wrong? You never did tell me."

@Gem Stuart

One of the ways Jack attempted to learn about people was to purposely - or accidentally - make a wrong assumption about someone. That often prompted them to correct him and, in turn, tell him about themselves without feeling like they were just giving anything away. However, the Slytherin was pleasantly surprised at just how much Gem seemed to open up about himself - well, at least until he started talking about his boyfriend. Jack wasn't all that eager to hear about Rafael just then, but he supposed Gem's opinion of him was also a part of finding out who Gem was.

"I suppose that's what separates us, right? Morality?"

Was it? The comment reminded Jack about how Rafa had called him a sociopath. He wondered absently if the Gryffindor still thought that of him.

"It's not that I don't have a sense of morals," Jack answered. "I think they may just be different from yours. Or...maybe they're not. Maybe they're just more ambiguous. And maybe I have a different way of abiding by them."

He listened to the Ravenclaw's point of view, fascinated by his way of looking at things. Yes, he agreed with him on some matters, but not so much on others. Even so, he held his tongue for the most part as he gave Gem his full attention, carefully contemplating and digesting what was said.

When not to have self-awareness? he wondered, trying to think of when that might have been best. "Um...when should you...not have self-awareness?" Jack wanted to know.

And then the Ravenclaw launched into his admiration of his boyfriend. The Slytherin gripped at the edge of the bench and tapped his toe lightly against the ground, simultaneously wanting to listen and to tune Gem out at the same time. When the other boy's face got hot, Jack's felt his own start to burn up a little as well and he kept his eyes fixed on a spot on the ground as he waited for Gem to be finished.

"Anyway, what I'm tryin' ta say is... I don't think it's fair that you think people who don't listen shouldn't be listened to. You've got to be listened to in order to learn to listen."

You've got to be listened to in order to learn to listen. That was a pretty good point; Jack hadn't thought of it that way before. But then Gem was calling him out on his having avoided the subject of what was wrong and he cursed the Ravenclaw silently for being so attentive.

"...Remember when you said you've got a lot to lose and you're not afraid of losing it?" Jack asked, kicking at the ground to release the restless energy that had begun to eat away at him. "Well I am. I know what losing friends is like. And I don't want to feel that way again. What I did to Seilun back there - it's better for us this way. At least if she hates me now, she won't get more attached to me than she already was. Isn't it smarter to nip things in the bud before they start?"

He laughed mirthlessly; mockingly, tapping his forehead with the heel of his palm. "What am I saying? You have a boyfriend. How could you know anything about that?"

His hazel gaze finally slid over to view deep brown once more. "If you love him in a way you haven't loved anyone...and you don't want to lose him," Jack said, leaning in closer as he lowered his voice, "how can you say you're not afraid?"

@Jack Burnett

As patient as Gem was, being mocked right in front of his face wasn't something he took so well. He didn't show it, rather, he did a good job hiding it, keeping the smile on his face and all. He tilted his head, craned his neck out so he was looking at Jack from the bottoms of his eyes. He didn't say anything for a moment, thinking to himself, wondering how it was possible for someone to be so miserable. He'd seen this all before, and the result was less than admirable.

"Then you're afraid of growth," Gem said, "and you'll never learn to improve your life, only the way you deceive people." He gripped the bottom hems of his sweater, his heart quickening with anxiety. His chest felt heavy, and it only felt heavier when Jack leaned in a bit too close for comfort, his muscles tensing up with the unsettling feeling of being asked a risky question.

Narrowing his eyes, he sat up and whipped some hair out of his face, clearing his throat to rid the lump in his throat that had began to make its presence known.

"Because," he stated, "If I've got to fear losing him, then it isn't worth me energy, that's why." He didn't like Jack's tone, not one bit. He felt like he was being challenged, prodded at, like he was trying to break him open and taunt him. Well, that wasn't going to happen. He went quiet again, maybe out of a faint discomfort, or maybe because he knew something ugly was going to happen - he didn't know, but he trusted his gut feeling. Maybe he should leave.

@Gem Stuart

The Slytherin admired the Ravenclaw's attempts to keep up his smile; he knew better than most how painful it could be to maintain such an expression, after all. But it was Gem's following statement that made him really begin to question himself.

Growth? he pondered, eyes narrowing at the brunet. "It's not growth I'm afraid of," he protested. "How can there be growth in being hurt by other people? By those you care most about? Isn't it better not to care in the first place?" He observed Gem's hands cling to the edge of his sweater. "Then nobody can hurt you. And you wouldn't have to fear losing anything because you wouldn't have anything to lose."

Jack wondered if Gem had begun to regret coming after him yet, let alone ask him what was wrong. He watched and waited as the Ravenclaw took a moment to gather himself before answering Jack's question.

The Slytherin's eyes widened a bit. Then he smiled, nodding in slow approval. "Good answer," he declared. "For that, I would have liked to tell you something, but I think it's best you hear it from someone else first. So I'll leave you with this instead."

Leaning in closer, the redhead closed his eyes to give Gem a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling back and getting to his feet. He had regained enough energy to escape properly this time, he thought, and he was going to need it.

"There. Now we're even," Jack told Gem. "And if you don't know what I mean by that...you're a smart eagle." He reached out to ruffle the Ravenclaw's hair as he began to walk past. "I think you know who to ask."