New Accomodations [Closed RP: Satou, Jasper, the raptor]

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

((Permission to control the raptor granted by its player. Feel free to jump in when/if ever you want, though, and if not I'll just have the dino act as you suggested. Poor Satou. Timeline-wise, this takes place before Jasper realises Alice has come back.))

Following the two horrendous slip-ups that had occurred during his Sorting, Jasper was relieved beyond measure to finally be free of the crowded, suffocating room. (He also had the creeping suspicion he'd been quasi-molested by talking headgear, but pondering that was perhaps best left for another day.)

If Edward hadn't been there to intervene...

Jasper would have to thank him for it later, when his nerves weren't quite so raw. Edward would understand.

In the meantime he had a bribe to fulfill, which was the sole reason he hadn't taken off running for the nearest castle exit yet. Disappearing into the woods for a few days was an appealing thought. Unsurprisingly, he was less keen now on sharing Satou's room—what if he lost control again?—but he fully intended to keep his word for as long as he could. As high-strung as Satou sometimes acted, Jasper didn't particularly mind his new roommate's presence. He was easy enough to keep calm, and seemed pretty agreeable in that state, so ideally it would be smooth sailing from here on out.

Slinging his bag over a shoulder, he lightly patted the raptor's snout and then turned to Satou. "Are you ready to go?"

Comments

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"I what? Oh, ha ha, no, nothing like that, we're not like that, We only went on a pretend date once for my mother's sake."

Not that he hadn't had some rather embarassing thoughts about her.

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't implying anything," he said innocently. "I just assume rooming with friends might be preferable to rooming with a relative stranger." But probably not in this case.

"You didn't wish it were a real date?"

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"Misaki? Oh, no, we just know each other, that's all." To be honest, Satou wasn't sure how he felt. Misaki had certainly been pretty, all dressed up.

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

Jasper contemplated giving Satou a little emotional nudge in what he thought to be the right direction, but it, again, seemed unfair to do so.

He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "If you say so. I'm not good at giving dating advice anyway." Considering his last advice in that vein had been to suggest Edward kill the object of his infatuation. And then planning to do so himself. Oops.

"How is she troubled?"

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"Well, she latched on to me," he said with a nervous laugh, weaving his way through through the Ravenclaw corridors to his room. "She's very lonely and she needed someone to talk to, and she could tell that I had a lot of free time."

That wasn't even a lie.

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

((Is it safe to assume his room is probably fairly disorganised?))

"Being lonely isn't so unusual," he said lightly as he followed Satou into his room, then stepped aside for the raptor, who promptly began stalking around as though trying to sniff something out.

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

((Oh yes. He hasn't been at Hogwarts for it to be a REAL disaster area but it's definitely a mess. Thankfully the house elves will keep it from being unhygenic!))

"No, ha, of course not." He ineffectually nudged at a pile of clothes on the floor. "She's a nice enough girl, just, ha, has some trouble talking to people."

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

"That's not very unusual either," he pointed out with a faint smile. "It's nice you were helping her."

Sure enough there was an extra bed, and plenty of space, so thankfully they wouldn't be living on top of each other. Jasper took a seat on the spare bed and dropped his bag at his feet, glancing around at the clutter with the unmistakable disapproving look of a neat freak.

But it was only half his room now, and his urge to keep his living space inhumanly tidy (no pun intended) might be a source of stress for Satou... Maybe he could neaten the room subtly, one item per day. He did have the patience for it.

"Not a bad setup. This is much nicer than what some colleges offer, even some ivy leagues." Not that he necessarily knew from experience, though he'd attended dozens of colleges. He'd never lived on campus.

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"I had my own apartment, even when I was in college." That might not have been a good thing; he wouldn't have been able to isolate himself as completely in a dorm. "I've never actually shared a room with anyone before. You'll have to tell me if I start to get too horrible."

Living alone for too long, after all, could make anyone start to go a little strange.

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

"Oh, don't worry," he said dismissively. "If you become too unbearable, I'll do the kind thing and kill you in your sleep. I trust you'll extend the same courtesy to me." Nevermind that Jasper never slept. Without missing a beat, he asked, "Did you like college?"

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

The idea of being killed in his sleep actually made Satou relax somewhat. What a relief that would be! It wouldn't hurt and he wouldn't have to fight it.

"Classes made me uncomfortable," he admitted. "Always being watched, judged, that kind of scrutiny, who could handle that?"

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

Given that no one could die at Hogwarts, it had been an attempt at black humour. Perhaps it would've been more effective if Satou was aware of the no-kill spell. His reaction was maybe a little disturbing.

"By who? Your classmates were probably too preoccupied with their own worries to notice you. That's how most people are. Though I suppose it's the instructor's job to scrutinise and judge... your work, anyway."

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"Everyone watches me," Satou muttered darkly. "I can feel it. I can hear them laughing. They're always talking about me and laughing! Why else would I shut myself in my room?" He realized what he'd just said and tried to recover himself. "Ha, ha, I'm just joking, of course."

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

Of course he was joking. Jasper decided not to even comment on that part.

"When you come with me to take a look around the castle, you know—in a few days, whenever—you should point out anyone who makes you uncomfortable like that," he said in what he hoped was a kind enough tone not to make Satou defensive. "So I can... better understand."

Satou would point out everyone, he suspected. Possibly even people who weren't there.

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

He gave Jasper a suspicious glance; was this mockery? But he didn't voice his misgivings.

"I will, then. I haven't met very many people here."

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

He was being perfectly serious, but refrained from pointing that out. It would only make him seem more suspicious to someone who was already overly paranoid.

"Chances are you know more than I do." That was meant to be encouraging. "And I've heard some aren't worth knowing." Satou and the Invisible Man should definitely never meet which means they totally should.

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"I met someone nice when I was getting dinner once," he said a little shyly. "She gave me a scarf."

Oh, that poor, poor scarf.

"And the man from the past who showed me the way to Ravenclaw."

By whom he meant Yukimura.

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

((Sooo I've started the NHK anime, and I'm loving how weird it is. His delusions are strangely cute, like the yelling appliances.))

Said scarf was hopefully being laundered regularly. The fact Satou must have made enough of a positive impression on someone to warrant a gift was heartening. There was hope for him yet!

"Sounds like you've met some of the good ones. What do you mean by, 'from the past'? Is that a normal occurrence here, time being messed up? My two family members here are actually from the past, too. Somehow..."

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

((They left it out of the anime, but in the book and the manga Satou had rather a taste for drugs... no wonder his appliances talk to him! And OMG Yamazaki. I love Yamazaki so much and would give good BPAL to have one.))

Thanks to the fastidiousness of the house elves, the scarf in question was kept clean and fresh, and with Jasper sharing the room, would be spending more of its time in that blessed state.

"From several hundred years in the past, or so he said. Sanada Yukimura. Famous warrior. He might have been lying, of course."

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

((He's just now been introduced, crying at his desk, ahahah. Aww, and Satou isn't a complete social leper after all...))

Jasper recognised the name, naturally. When and if he ever met the man in person, he'd probably be surprised by Yukimura looking much younger and... well, prettier... than the fearsome daimyo he was always pictured as.

"That's a weird thing to lie about," he said skeptically. "Of course, no physical records would exist to prove his identity. Maybe he's an overenthusiastic cosplayer?" Thankfully he had more tact than to ever accuse Yukimura of that to his face.

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"Maybe. He seemed very calm and confident about it, though." Of course, Satou's only real first-hand exposure to cosplayers had been that trip to Akihabara... "And he didn't seem as much intent on impressing me as I'd expect a cosplayer to be."

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

"That could all be part of the persona..."

Their Japancentric conversation reminded him of something else he'd been wondering. He shifted to lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a faint frown. "This may sound strange, but are you speaking English right now?"

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"I don't speak English," Satou admitted. He'd done very poorly in the subject in school, and what he had learned hadn't stayed with him.

[j-whitlock.livejournal.com]

"I understand Japanese," he said, demonstrating by saying it in Japanese. "But to me you're speaking perfect English," he finished, in said language.

He glanced over at the raptor, who was currently making himself a nest out of Satou's clutter. "Can't understand the dinosaur, but I could understand the dog, Wishbone, at my Sorting. Do we all sound like we're speaking Japanese to you, then?"

[hikikomoriways.livejournal.com]

"I never really thought about it," he said, looking confused. "Of course you'd be speaking Japanese, otherwise I wouldn't understand it. But you're telling me you're not, and people aren't?"

It was a very strange idea, but then, this was a very strange place.