hh_mirror | flowers and kittens and nothing exploding ((closed, Rory and A))

Rory gave a little smile back. "I think you would." The Doctor had a way of winning people over. (Even after doing something like jumping out of a cake and announcing he'd kissed their fiancee.) "Just, like I said, be ready for him to start rambling on about alien genetics."

He tried one of the satsuma-apricot cookies. "Mmm. These are really good."

"Why would I mind hearing about alien genetics? It sounds interesting and possibly useful." He smiled in acknowledgment of the praise. "I like making those kinds of cookies. I can make a big batch and use different jams for different flavors."

"It is interesting." Rory shrugged. "Providing you can follow what he's talking about. He just tends to go a mile a minute when he's into something, and that's... most of the time."

"I see." Schrodinger had apparently eaten her fill and was darting around the gazebo, while Einstein had rolled onto his back, legs splayed in an utterly undignified manner, head nudging at Rory's foot. "It's good, though, to be interested in things, to be excited and want to learn more. Should I drink coffee before meeting him?" A took one of the cannabis-rose cookies, eating it slowly.

Rory laughed, finishing his cookie and leaning down to pet Einstein. "Not a bad idea. Maybe I should try that."

Speaking of mind-altering subtances, he wondered what to do about the pink cookies. Would A be offended if he just didn't take one? Though, if he was honest with himself, he was a bit curious.

The idea of being offended over such a thing would have baffled A, if he knew. He smiled broadly at the rumbling purr (and, yes, the bit of cat drool!) Einstein produced.

"I drank far too much coffee once," A admitted. "I had never had it, and I didn't really know what to expect. I hadn't really learned, then, to connect abstract knowledge from reality." He grinned sheepishly. "I was very excitable."

Rory wouldn't have worried about it, except that A had been so proud of his experiment. He sipped his limeade, which was, of course, fantastic. "Well, that's the downside, of course. Seriously, though, you don't have to. He's not quite that bad." Most of the time.

"I, I'm sure he would be interesting to meet. I've known many different kinds of people here, and it is always interesting to meet new ones."

He sipped his drink again, and dutifully administered ear-scritches to Schrodinger, who had dashed up to him, yowling. He looked at the cats in amusement. "This strain of catnip is really very strong," he observed. "I will have to warn Kurama, so he isn't surprised if he offers some to Belophoebe." He shrugged and turned his attention away from the results of his gardening.

"I, I would, I, I would like to meet your friend. It sounds like he might say things that would make me think, and have ideas I might not have had otherwise."

"That's what he does," Rory agreed. "He changes your world. You can't help it." His tone was distant, remembering. It wasn't so long ago that he'd been furious with the Doctor - for leaving Amy, and still being the one she wanted (so he'd thought) and generally being all the things Rory would never be and having no idea what he was doing. And now...

...well. Now Rory was changing too.

A had no idea what was behind that thoughtful tone, of course, but it was something he had seen a fair bit of. People often re-assessed themselves as they felt out their niche at Hogwarts.

"Is the world you have now better than the world before?"

Rory blinked, looking up from his musing. "...it is. Yeah." Another little smile. "Apart from the vampire fish and everything, but you won't need to worry about that."

"Are vampire fish something I should have heard of?"

Every now and then he discovered something he didn't know that it seemed like almost everyone else did.

"Oh, no. That's what happened the first time I travelled anywhere with him - he took me and Amy to sixteenth-century Venice as sort of a wedding present, and we ended up having to stop alien fish people taking over the planet. He has a knack for turning up when there's trouble."

A paused to take that in; time travel and alien fish people were a little out of the ordinary even for Hogwarts, but not enough to be hard to swallow.

"And make the trouble go away, or make it worse?"

"Make it go away," Rory assured him. "And sometimes bring it back just to warn it not to mess with him again. ...that one's another long story."

The first part, at least, brought to mind Kusuryuri-sensei's other calling. "Someone who fixes things, then." He refilled his glass, looking peaceful and content. "I, the, I know people here who do that. Fix things."

Rory nodded. He'd almost finished his own limeade, by now. "Good people to know. Is that, people like Professor Kurama and Professor -" It took him a few seconds to remember the other name, and he wasn't sure he'd got it right. "...Kusuriyuri?"

It was impressive, really, that he'd remembered at all, even if he was uncertain with the pronunciation.

"Yes, and other people as well." He held up the pitcher towards Rory, silently offering a refill. "I have learned some ways of fixing things since I have been here that I, it, it, it wasn't what I was being trained for."

Rory offered his glass. "What were you being -?" He shook his head. "No, sorry, I said I wouldn't ask, didn't I?"

Pouring another portion, A shook his own head. "It, you, it's fine to ask. I was being trained to replace the world's finest detective." Not a trace of pride in his words, but no detectable bitterness, either. "I was, I, I wasn't well suited to it."

He took another cookie, one of the pink ones.

It was at this time that a still miffed catified Wishbone came trotting up to them. That new boy made Wishbone made. He turned into a cat, for crying out loud. What more proof do you need that magic's real?

Now all he wanted was a bit of catnip and cuddles with a friend. A could provide both! Hence him being outside.

He jumped on the table with a hmph!, glaring at the castle.

"That -" Rory began, not sure what he meant to say - he had a better idea now of what A had meant, before, and it got worse the more he thought about it. And then he was interrupted by the appearance of another cat. A cat who made an oddly human-sounding noise while jumping up on the table. He blinked. "Oh, hello there."

"Wishbone!" A smiled, recognizing his canine friend's feline form. "I think Schrodinger is trying to climb the railings. The new strain of catnip seems to be stronger than I expected." He pointed to the flaky fish flecked with green herb remaining in the dish on the floor, beside a peacefully lolling Einstein.

Hmph! Wishbone ate a bit of the fish, finding it a bit tasty. Then he wound himself around both their legs, demanding pettings. Stupid new person didn't believe me when I said magic was real. I turned into a cat didn't I? And then he called me a bloodbender! I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound nice!

Okay, talking cat-slash-shapeshifter. That barely registered on the scale of weirdness, any more. "It'll probably take him a bit of getting used to," he said, tentatively scratching Wishbone behind an ear as he twined round Rory's legs. "...I'm Rory, by the way. Hi."

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