RP log: Ryuuji and Sarah, part 1 of 2

[nopower-overme.livejournal.com]

((Part 1 - backdated way back, to the morning before the fanfiction shopping excursion))


Knapsack with her research over her shoulder after the notes exchanged, Sarah made her way to Ryuuji's suite on a mission to 'Google' the 'Net' for slash writing. She still thought that word sounded completely ridiculous, but then if it helped determine out how to fight the slasher cults, she was not going to mock it. She was a bit nervous about using a laptop again because they really had to be expensive and she did not want to have to ask Stephen to replace it if she broke it somehow. Shifting the knapsack, she knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in!" Ryuuji called out, having set up his lime-green, custom-built laptop in the living room. Seated on a beanbag in front one of the small transparent tables that dotted the large living room of the suite, he waved a hand casually at the door, making it swing open with a breath of air. Elemental control was fun.

He saved the document he'd been working on, a rough draft of a hero for one of the Christmas games he was designing, and closed the graphics program, instead pulling up the web browser he preferred and heading to the Google homepage. He patted the beanbag next to him and shot Sarah a quick grin, "Close the door behind you and take a seat? I've already got the Net up and running if you want to start searching -- my Net is wired through the Hub, so it goes straight to the dimensional weakpoint, then riffs through that back to my home world or whatever world I want to search in if I specify that. Otherwise, it defaults to dovetailing into the Etha, and that means I'm wired into pretty much anything I could think of because it goes cross-dimensional at that point."

Pause, and Ryuuji flushed a little at how geeky he must have sounded as he got carried away with explaining why he could get Internet so easily, "Uh. Nevermind about understanding it. Just assume that I have better resources than your friend Dib does."

And, you know, that I'm a geek in disguise. Geek undercover. Sans glasses, dorkitude and plus charisma. I'm trying to observe how normal people live to cut down on the oppression and degradation of my kind.

LONG LIVE THE GEEK REVOLUTION!

...Does my mind ever slow down and just think normal thoughts?

Stepping inside, Sarah shut the door as she was asked and smiled, quickly making her way to the beanbag. She set aside her bag and sat, listening attentively even though her look grew more mystified as he continued. Dimensional weakpoints? Riffs? Dovetailing? Was this all absolutely necessary to using a laptop? Oh good, it was not.

“I'm glad I don't have to understand, because there were concepts in there that make no sense to me,” she said with a grin. “So, this 'Google' thing,” she continued and turned her attention to the laptop as she drew out parchment and ink, not realizing she could just type the notes she would be making, “will it tell us about slash stories and slash cultists, or do the cultists keep what they do beyond the stories secret? And you just type the words in and that's it?”

"I think the cultists wouldn't want to have their secret plans spread all over the Net, yeah, so we probably won't find more than slash stories and maybe slash conventions which is where the slash cultists gather up." Ryuuji explained, leaning back and tilting the laptop screen so that Sarah could see it better. Deftly clicking into the search box, he cocked his head at Sarah inquiringly, "What exactly do you want to search for? We have to put in a couple of words, then Google will find us the web pages that have the most frequent recommendations, and we can print out whatever looks the most interesting."

There was a small printer attached to the back of the laptop, nothing more than a thin grey slot that ran about the size of an A4 sheet of paper with liquid paper inside the laptop itself. Ryuuji might be a geek, but he was a competent one.

With great dress sense. And an ass that looked good in leather, not that it was relevant to the moment.

But still worth repeating.

“These slashers have conventions?” Sarah said, wide-eyed. “We might want to know when the ones close to us are, just in case that would be time to be on alert. I wonder if we need some kind of alert system...” She trailed off, and then answered his question seriously as she gave the printer a curious look. This was going to be interesting to see, no doubt. At least the computer was not talking like Dib's had done. “I want to find out who these stories are written about. To see how big a danger this is and to figure out a better way to protect from it. If other people are in these stories, they should know so they can protect themselves. Would just searching for 'slash' be enough, or do we have to be more specific. Do I have to pick the person it would be about?”

...Protect people from slash?

That was kind of an odd thought to Ryuuji. Back home, he was young, hot, single, famous, rich and constantly slashed with people. There was a reason he never Googled himself these days -- he knew he'd mostly end up with RPS aka Real People Slash. And okay, he could maybe sue for slander or libel but since he was openly bi and some of those stories weren't complete rubbish, he didn't think it was worth being jackass enough to fight his own fans over. Instead, he just ignored it.

Still, what on earth was Sarah talking about? Confused, he responded, "Well, slash tends to get written about everyone. If you just search for slash, you'll get a ton of results. Put in someone's name and it'll work better, yeah."

As a side-note, he added, "And yeah, I'm sure they have conventions. Nothing near here, though, not that I've heard of."

At the idea of it being about everyone, Sarah looked worried. “But if it gets written about everyone, doesn't that mean everyone is in danger of being kidnapped and forced to actually do these things? I'm not saying same-gender sex is bad,” she continued, looking at Ryuuji a bit shamefaced, “not at all, it's just that kidnapping people be together just to see the stories played out is wrong, as is making people who aren't gay try to convert with sacrifices. The idea of everyone in danger is a bit overwhelming, as is the idea the slasher cults' magic – which, I do think that's a possibility – is going to force everyone to behave like this. Granted it's all just theories...”

She trailed off and gave him a small smile. “I just don't want to see you or Stephen kidnapped, that's all. So, this searching, all we have to do is type slash and someone's name,” she asked, turning her head to look expectantly at the keyboard. “The question is who? I mean, you don't want to see more of yours, and I wouldn't make you, but if everyone has slash about them... which, how does that work, the slash cultists knowing about everyone? You don't think there are cult members in Hogwarts somewhere feeding information to the outside, do you?!” Now, that was a scary thought.

"...Wait, wait, what?!" Utterly confused now, Ryuuji stared at Sarah, wide-eyed, "Hang on. Slash stories can't make you act a certain way just because of what's written in them. I mean, if that was true, I'd have slept with every major hero and bad guy in my world, judging from what they write about me! Those idiot cultists tried to kill Nightwing and me to turn people gay, but I don't think that most slash fans think of it as a religion. They probably just view it the same way that guys think about lesbian porn. Except, you know, more literary and less visual."

Best to get off that topic because Ryuuji didn't want to start blushing at the memories of Mai trying to get him to turn into a girl so that they could have lesbian sex and have Sarah misinterpret it. Or worse yet, have to explain.

"And er, I guess the slash cultists are just obsessive? Or it's bleedover -- that's the technical term for when information about person A appears in universe 2 though person A belongs in universe 1. Because reality's thin and realities are multiple, so it's easy for garbled or incomplete versions of a story to be carried though, just like how fairy tales are nothing like the original ones they were translated from. For example, did you know that Sleeping Beauty woke up pregnant?" He asked brightly, having had far too extensive a grounding in fairy tales, both sugar-coated and original, when he was younger.

“You're sure the stories can't?” Sarah asked immediately, though she was all too glad to dismiss the theory, as that meant there was less to worry about. “Good.” Then he mentioned killing. “Wait, you two were the ones they tried to kill? I totally misunderstood, I thought they had kidnapped you to make you do things, not be the sacrifices!” Because, after all, Ryuuji had said bisexuals were the sacrifices and she was certain Ryuuji was gay. Now she was just more upset about these cults and even more determined to learn as much as she could. This would probably mean reading a lot of stories.

“Sleeping Beauty was pregnant?” she asked, distracted for the moment and grateful for it, because the idea of all the realities and time travel and so forth always left her a bit boggled. “How did you know that, did you meet her here?” To her, meeting fictional characters was not as strange now as it had once been because she knew they had to be real someplace else even if she had once thought them fictional. She accepted the fact readily – again, just easier that way - and never once thought it might apply to certain people she knew, including herself... and it was going to stay that way.

"No, they kidnapped us, tried to get us to have sex, married us to each other and were going to kill us after the ceremony." Ryuuji explained a little disjointedly, trying to put the memory of Dick's naked body from his mind. Because really, that had been a special sort of hell. You did not need to be put in a small room with the friend you'd been lusting after for months and who refused to admit to wanting you. You really, really didn't.

The bit about meeting Sleeping Beauty made Ryuuji blink and think for a second, "Actually, there was a Sleeping Beauty here but no, I was talking about the story. In the story, the original version, she woke up pregnant meaning she was raped while she was in her sleep. Not exactly waking up with a kiss, is it?"

His mouth twisted downwards with distaste; Ryuuji loathed anything to do with rape.

Sarah's tolerance for slasher cults was zero at this point, especially because in order to clarify her misunderstanding, Ryuuji had to explain it and she did not want him to be uncomfortable. She gave him an apologetic look and nodded, turning for just a second to correct a bit in her notes. At the revelation of Sleeping Beauty, she looked up, her expression mildly horrified, as she had never heard of the original Giambattista Basile version in her reality.

“That's awful,” she said, her look darkening. “I grew up with all the nice versions of fairy tales, actually preferred them because I was young and silly. People never really know the ugly truth under a pretty story when they should.” Hand touched her front for a moment, a gesture that was becoming common with the talisman in place, and then she shook her head to clear it.

“But this Googling, I'd like to try it,” she said, looking for a change of topic.

"...Right." A little concerned for Sarah, Ryuuji reached out to touch her shoulder lightly for a second, a quick, reassuring touch, then turned to his laptop screen once more.

Canting his head at her, fingers poised over the keys and ready to type, he asked her easily, "So, what search string should I enter again?"

Grateful for the concern, Sarah shot him a quick look of reassurance and then focused on the laptop. “Hmm, I guess maybe 'slash writing' – or the word you didn't want me to mention - with someone's name,” she mused, thinking for several moments and unable to decide who they should start with first. “I give up, I don't know who to pick, maybe... try John Dorian or JD?”

Typing it in quickly, fingers moving over the keys at a speed that would make any secretary, Ryuuji ended up searching for 'fanfiction john dorian'. Instead of the expected page of results, though, a white page popped up reading:

Warning: You are violating the school's privacy zone. Please do not attempt to seek information on students. Thank you.

WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!

Out loud as he leaned back from the computer, Ryuuji wondered, "What tree?"

Sarah leaned and looked puzzled. “I don't know, maybe the Whomping Willow... wait.” Then she began to laugh. “'Watch out for that tree' is in a song from a cartoon!” To clarify, she sang it for him, laughter clear until she finished and then looked at the computer. “Does this mean we can't look up anyone, or...” She stopped and winced a bit. “Only you because this is your laptop? Or maybe,” she continued quickly, “we could be less specific and see if it gives us slash stories that way?”

Laughing, Ryuuji applauded merrily, "Very nice singing, Sarah! Now if only I was serenaded like that every time that I got caught looking up something I shouldn't."

At the question about Googling himself, Ryuuji arched an eyebrow, then hit the back button, entering in 'ryuuji otogi fanfiction' and trying for that.

Same error.

"Riiiight." Drawling the word out skeptically, he canted his head back and told her, "Okay. Nothing on students at Hogwarts. So should I try searching for random slash fiction or original slash fiction?"

Sarah pondered this and then sighed. “Original slash fiction? Well, even original fiction might still mean that someplace those people actually existed and could come here and be in danger, right?” Oww, that head twinge. “You can just search for whichever you think will work, every time I try to think about fiction being reality elsewhere my brain aches.”

"...Possibly, yeah, good point." Ryuuji admitted, remembering the bleedover factor. Just because someone thought they had created the characters didn't mean they would have. And it would be weird to have an idea of someone from slash fiction, especially considering how inaccurate the fic about Ryuuji and Nightwing had been.

So instead of that, Ryuuji typed out neatly, "Slash fiction." Hitting enter, he sat back and grinned at the huge list of links that popped up, "Okay, Sarah? Now we're in business!"

“Wow...” Sarah said in awe at the number count displayed on the page. “There is so much of it Ryuuji.” She sat forward and read the screen, the pointed midway down. “Wait, what's yaoi? Is that another word for slash in...” she paused a moment and then guessed, “Japanese? Chinese? Wow, how am I going to figure this all out if there is so much?” She looked at Ryuuji. “Some of it repeats, right? Now all these fics have people doing, umm, different things right?” Honestly, she had no idea what people did do in slash fiction.

"No, most of it should be original -- it's like romance stories, except instead of a guy and a girl, it's two girls. And yaoi is slash too, and you're right it's Japanese. Though I think yaoi has some special category about applying to characters set in a Japanese setting or created by a Japanese person or something, not sure." Ryuuji shrugged, then scrolled down the list a little further, "Oh, and femmeslash is two girls instead of two guys."

Diplomatically, Ryuuji refrained from mentioning he liked femmeslash better than slash. Could be because he was male. Or because crazed femmeslash cultists had never tried kidnapping and sacrificing him.

That had rather put him off the idea of slash.

“Wait, you mean there are this many sexual things men can do in slash fiction?” Sarah asked, completely boggled. “Or, is there a plot in some of these stories and not just not all about sex?” The addition of femmeslash to this mix did not faze her much as, naively, she did not even consider she could be a target or that there were femmeslash cultists. And even if there were, she was not a bisexual.

She eyed Ryuuji nervously. “You know, I realized I need to read all of this but... I've never read or well...” She flushed a bit. “I really have no idea what slash involves.” By now, she was cringing, because this was so very embarrassing.

"Well, they're different men!" Ryuuji pointed out, slightly exasperated by Sarah treating it like she was studying a weird virus, "Sex tends to vary depending on who's taking part and yeah, there are lots of different things you can do, especially if you throw in kinks. But that should be true for straight sex as well. And yes, I'd hope that most of these fics have plot. The ones that don't are usually marked as PWP which I've heard stands for Penguins With Probes, not that I know -- or want to know -- what that has to do with sex."

Ryuuji took a second to be disturbed by that thought all over again, then went on, "Slash usually involves some sort of plot and sex and plot. And angst and misunderstandings and more angst and maybe someone dying or a happy ending and lots more angst and occasionally this stuff called 'fluff' which means something that's cute and sweet and pointless."

Pause, "At least, those are the patterns I've observed. Did you know those stupid cultists got Nightwing and me to correct their stories for them?"

Sarah really was not trying to treat it that way, she was just feeling more than a bit overwhelmed at the idea that through research would involve learning more about same-gender sex than she knew about sex, period. She listened to the explanation of the various kinds of slash fiction, letting out a small shocked noise at the penguins and connections that did not need to be made

“Now, kinks, as in what you do when you twist a garden hose to keep the water from coming out of it?” she asked, baffled. Oh the frustration of new vocabulary. “And they made you their editors before trying to kill you? I can't believe these people get away with this stuff!”

"..." Sarah was incredibly, insanely naive.

Ryuuji suddenly began to worry just a little about her being together with Stephen.

Dismissing that for the moment, Ryuuji explained with a slightly frustrated hand gesture, "No, no, kink is, um, a label for something non-standard. Standard sex is vanilla. Involving something else, like tying someone up, is a kink. Specifically, bondage. And yes, they read us out stories and we pointed out the flaws, then they tried to get us to demonstrate," Cue a face being made, "And we ended up spending quite a while marking over their stories in red ink. And I teased Nightwing by doing dramatic readings of the worst bits."

Ryuuji snorted, bitterly. "If I never heard the phrase 'weeping cock' in my life again, I shall be a better-tempered man."

“Dramatic readings? Wow, you both handled that so much better than I can see most people doing,” Sarah said, concerned. She then went to ask what in the world that phrase meant but she stopped – for one, he had just said he never wanted to hear it again. Also, she was not such a concerned and caring person without picking up on certain things from others and right now, she was beginning to think Ryuuji had to be frustrated explaining all of this to her.

“You really don't have to explain all of this to me,” she said softly, embarrassed. “I know not knowing most of... the sex aspects would make this harder to do, but you aren't my personal male sex educator.”

"Well, we're friends and used to weird situations. That helped." Ryuuji parried with a light grin, then tilted his head at her. Considering her words, he said thoughtfully, "I don't mind explaining. What bugs me is the way you're treating it -- like it's a virus or alien to you, just because it's two guys instead of a guy and a girl. It still comes down to people and people and sex and relationships are the same regardless of gender. The technical details might change a little, and society reacts differently, but in the end, it still basically comes down to people being people, and it's weird to have you treat it like we're talking about a completely different species."

At this, any crack fun would likely be delayed as this had gone from serious concerns about slasher cults to serious issues related to one of the reasons Sarah was doing this. “Well, Ryuuji, it is 'alien' to me, but I'm not trying to make it seem like it's wrong or odd,” she said, now more than embarrassed. “I mean, I...” she flushed, “didn't have any experience with pretty much any of this before coming to Hogwarts so I just sort of jumped in with the intention to protect and save when the idea of men having sex was... fine, it wasn't odd, but it's... really something that is personally uncomfortable for one specific reason.”

She sighed, at a loss. Even now, it was hard to admit to still thinking about things in the past when she was certain Stephen was hers, but she still did think about all of that and that had influenced this whole idea of people being written about, kidnapped and, scarily enough, killed. “There's something I could explain that would probably help, but... you are the first person I've felt able to talk about it to, and I don't want to take advantage of that,” she continued quietly. “I mean, it's more my own issues now than anything about other people because its in the past, but... its why I'm coming off like that. If I treat it like something to be researched and learned about and not the fact that male sex is very normal, I don't think about...” Words failed her and she stopped.

...Wow. Sarah really failed at making sense.

Go to school, go directly to school and don't collect two hundred. And don't come out until you learn to make sense.

Brushing that thought off, Ryuuji focused on trying to translate what she was saying. Hm. Maybe he ought to treat her like she was an alien species?

I come in peace. Please, stop trying to take off my trousers.

Or maybe not.

Okay. Try again.

"I don't really know what your background is, or why it's affecting you so much," Ryuuji started off quietly, ignoring the laptop for the moment, "But if you want to explain, I'm willing to listen with an open-mind. And you know anything you tell me won't travel any further."

A quick pause, barely three heartbeats, "For me, guys having sex is is normal. Or at least as normal as two girls or a guy and a girl. And I like you, and think of you as a friend. That's probably why it distresses me so much when you take that kind of stance -- you might not make mean to make me feel like my lifestyle is under a microscope or like guys wanting each other is somehow wrong, but that's how it comes off. And if there's something that I can help you with or explain to you to get you to stop acting like that, then I want to because I care way more what you think about me than some random homophobic idiot on the streets."

Plus, you took drama. I bet your theatre class had at least one or two queers.

“I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Ryuuji, I'm really sorry,” Sarah said, feeling guilty and even more like an explanation was needed. It might not help anything, but then again maybe it would.

“But, the reason why...” she continued, shifting restlessly because she could not draw her knees up in a skirt. “On the last secrets board, I found out that Stephen likes to kiss men, had even been married to one. At the time, there wasn't very much I was secure about, I wasn't in a position to expect security and I was still dealing with feeling like I didn't really deserve it. Later, I found out it was Remus, but then I was only concerned that Remus wasn't taking Stephen away from me. Now, everything is all sorted out and I know Stephen isn't doing that anymore but... it doesn't stop me thinking about it. I said before that wanting to figure out how to protect people was to keep the cultists from kidnapping people and either making them have sex with people they might not want to or sacrificing them, which it is. But it's about protecting you and others and Stephen. I don't want slash cultists to kidnap him and do anything to him. But I'm still not at all comfortable with the idea of what Stephen was doing with other men, especially because I have no idea what anything other than heterosexual sex involves, and I'm not going to say I know even half of what even that could involve because I am completely inexperienced and naive. So I'm worried for Stephen and you and others, I'm completely out of my league about all the sexual things people can do and I'm embarrassed about that...”

Letting out a breath, she smiled a bit. “There, I think you now know more about me than anyone except Stephen. And that's kind of embarrassing too.”

Unsurprisingly, Ryuuji's first suggestion was going to be that Sarah kiss a girl. Because then at least she'd know what something besides heterosexual sex involved. Though kissing really wasn't far enough, but--

Earth to Ryuuji. Come in, Ryuuji. Stephen will KILL you. Call you out to duel in mud and get your lovely hair so dirty you'll die of shame.

Okay. Clearly, talking Sarah into a lesbian experience and asking to watch would be a bad idea.

Oh well. A guy could hope!

As for the main issue, Ryuuji half-frowned, "Okay. So you're worried about the fact that Stephen's bi? I don't think that you need to be. He's with you because he loves you; nothing to do with gender. I doubt he's secretly lusting after men and using you as a cover to appear normal -- it's not Stephen's style to do something like that. So really, it's not something you need to worry about. Stephen's not completely straight; most people aren't. If you go by the Kinsey scale, that is. It doesn't mean anything he had with a guy, least of Prof Lupin, was so much more special than whatever he shared with you. It's just--"

Cue a flaily handgesture, "People. Again. Like I said, nothing special. People. Professor Lupin shouldn't be more of a threat than any woman would be."

Well. At least now the frogs make sense.

Wait. Frogs aren't romantic.

...Maybe Professor Lupin's Wolfbane had something wrong with it that month?

Okay, time to process all of this. It all made sense of course – sense that Sarah herself did not think she was making in this. She had went from saying she was 'okay' with Stephen doing it when she was not entirely, to not being okay with it and not saying anything, and then to where she was at now with having demanded it stop – hardly a good thing to have changed her mind so much, but she had. She knew it was over, but that had not helped the fact she still thought about it. Having someone confirm out loud that she did not need to take all of this to heart, especially someone whose opinion she respected as much as Ryuuji's, was helpful. Having talked to someone about it, especially because Ryuuji had been so willing so far to explain everything, was even more helpful as this asking Stephen about slash-related things had made her that much more uncomfortable.

“Thank you, for listening and being so patient, especially because I really have handled this all wrong,” she said seriously and then smiled. “So, if I stop treating this all like its something that is going to reach out and bite me, do you think you could still help me? I still need,” she snorted, “vocab lessons, especially when you keep bringing up new words like 'Kinsey scale' – but only if I'm not going to frustrate you. I really meant it when I said my, umm, sexual knowledge was part of why this is sort of an information overload - that has nothing to do with who is doing what. I think you are amazing, you have been nicer to me than most of the people I've known and I'm never worried you are going to endanger me or Stephen like I worried about with other people, so it's really important to me that I'm not upsetting you by helping me with this. I swear, I never meant it to come off how it has and I won't keep treating it this way.”

"No problem with the listening and patience, Sarah -- that's what friends are supposed to do. And if you stop acting like that, I'd be more than glad to help you out with learning vocab. I'm a Potions TA, remember? I'm good with the patience and imparting knowledge." Ryuuji reassured her, then blinked, brow slightly furrowed and curiosity poked into awakening, "Wait. Endanger you or Stephen? Who has been doing that and why?"

Protective instincts at the forefront, he still managed to add casually, "Kinsey scale, incidentally, is a reference to a study done in the '40s where people were interviewed about their sexual preferences and level of attraction to members of their own sex and opposite sex. It basically ended up saying that sexuality isn't binary -- that means, not one or the other -- and there are degrees inbetween. Like, you can be mostly interested in girls but also like guys a little or vice versa, regardless of what gender you are or what you call yourself. The scale goes from zero to six, and most self-described heterosexuals fall between 0 to 3, with 0 being exclusively straight, 3 being fully bisexual and 6 being fully bent."

Sarah found herself incredibly grateful Ryuuji was taking her prior attitude so well, though no less embarrassed and guilty for doing it to begin with. She listened and gratefully absorbed all the information, then shook her head slightly at herself. “I'm seriously one of the most sheltered people in the world,” she muttered, before sighing and answering Ryuuji's prior question.

“Well, it's actually a lot of things,” she explained, and then pulled the talisman at her neck free as she explained about Dream and Jareth and all her fears of that, then the harder explanation of her friendship with Lily and how the fears of Jareth connected. She told him about Crowley, how she knew what the demon had done to Ryuuji and how furious it made her, then explained to him all she had told Stephen on vacation about Lily's situation as she knew of it at the time, stressing even now that while she and Stephen believed Lily a danger, it was the dangers around Lily that Sarah specifically meant.

“So that's what I meant, before becoming friends with you, Lily was the closest thing to a best friend and - really in her case - mother-figure, I've ever had and I had to view her as someone who might let something bad happen to her that would harm Stephen or me or others I care about,” she finished, forcefully trying to keep this reasonable and not emotional like it still was for her. She gave him a smile. “But you, I don't worry about doing that, not at all, and that really means more to me than I can say.”

Listening intently, letting Sarah just get it all off her chest, Ryuuji couldn't help but wince when Crowley was brought up, eyes darkening for a second as he looked down. He and Crowley were friends again, he hoped, but he wasn't sure if it would ever go back to how it had been.

Fragile is the bond that ties people together...

The thought was wistful, but Ryuuji didn't let himself dwell on it, instead continuing to avidly pay attention to Sarah's tale of Tragedy and Woe (in three parts, not counting Intermission, Bring Your Own Popcorn).

The part about Lily confused him -- Ryuuji would never back off from someone because they were dangerous or could endanger him. But then again, he was an assassin. Danger was part of his everyday life.

It was just that assassins didn't usually get hunted down by their victims.

Well. Not the good ones, anyway.

And Ryuuji knew he was one of the best in the same way that a fashionista knows what the new black is magnet always knows which way is north.

With a light pat to Sarah's shoulder by way of comfort, still not totally comfortable with the idea of ditching someone for being dangerous, Ryuuji reasoned that her choices were her business, and that he should be able to accept that. Firmly, his own intensely green eyes locked on her own, he promised, "My problems never bleed over to other people. I don't let anyone hurt on my behalf. Even if something does go wrong that I can't handle myself -- which I doubt -- then I'll take care of it, on my own. You and Stephen are perfectly safe."

Sarah smiled back and then leaned forward and impulsively hugged him. The contact was light and quick, the affection in the embrace stemming from emotions one would have for a good friend, which Ryuuji was now even more to her because he now knew more about her than anyone except Stephen. As Sarah was by nature a tactile person, the gesture came easily to her, even if she was more reserved now than she had once been – and happily, the reservation of sharing with another and being hurt again was not there.

“I know we are,” she said as she pulled back, though she really did not see how Ryuuji could be a danger to them, likely because she knew how much Stephen trusted him – oh, plus not knowing really all that much about Ryuuji at all, like the fact he was an assassin. That did figure in a little bit.

“I'm really glad I met you Ryuuji,” she said and then, knowing this had been somber for far too long because of her, grinned. “After all,” she teased lightly, “how could I not, you let me play with all your techno stuff.”

Letting Sarah hug him without any concern at all, since it was only other males that triggered an anti-contact response, Ryuuji wrapped both arms around her and hugged her back warmly, genuinely fond of this girl who had replaced River in Stephen's heart. It wasn't that he didn't miss River or think himself any less a friend to River because of his friendship with Sarah; it was that he liked Sarah for her own qualities, and knew he would have been friends with her even if circumstances didn't compel him to either like her, abandon Stephen, or be ignorant of that part of Stephen's life.

With a grin, he reached out to tousle her hair as she pulled away, a self-mocking smirk twisting his lips, "Oh, but of course. It's all part of my evil plot to make you dependent on it so that I can start getting Stephen tech-savvy as well, then imprison him in a cybernetic world and take over as Potions Master!"

“Hey, watch the hair, pal,” Sarah joked with a laugh, lightly swatting at his hand. “A girl has nothing if she has messy hair.” She was not wholly unobservant, she did know Ryuuji would find amusement in her teasing protestations about the importance of hair. Her laughter continued as she shook her head.

“Oh Ryuuji, that plan is going to take forever if it relies on getting Stephen tech-savvy and imprisoned in anything to do with modern electronics,” she said, grinning. “Did you hear about the VCR, the book and the butter knife yet?”

"Neither is a guy." Ryuuji struck a pose for a moment, still seated, and gestured at his own perfectly-kept black hair, the high ponytail and headband that kept artfully chosen stray locks of hair from falling flat against his face.

The mention of those three elements made Ryuuji's eyes light up, the gamer eager to hear what sounded like an amusing tale, "No, not yet. Does it start with them walking into a bar?"

Sarah snorted and shook her head. “No, not a joke, this really happened,” she said, her look growing fond at the remembrance. She had no intention of making fun of Stephen, as she had enjoyed watching him learn about all of these things on vacation. “I showed Stephen a television at the cottage we stayed at and he was not really fond of it, but later he discovered the VCR, which had books right next to it, as well as video tapes. I mean, the fact that he realized the VCR was for projection on the television and had never seen anything like that before was completely brilliant on his part,” she continued, her tone completely serious, because she did think it had been remarkable observant even if the broken VCR had been a tiny bit funny, “ but he thought that books were what could be put in – so he stuck a book in the VCR to watch the history of golf. Then later, after I was certain it was broken, I came into the kitchen to find him at the table with the broken VCR and a butter knife, jamming the knife into the slot like it was some kind of incision and he was trying to perform surgery on the thing.”

She grinned. “It was amazing watching him learn about all of those things, I never felt so smart to know how a dishwasher works. It was fun being the teacher for once.”

Ryuuji liked Stephen. Respected him, even, and Ryuuji didn't respect people easily.

He really did think highly of Stephen.

It was just that the butter knife made it impossible for Ryuuji to not laugh. Helplessly. While doubled over. Choking for breath. Sides aching.

And laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

"He wanted to watch the history of golf? I think his taste in entertainment worries me more than his ineptness with VCRs." Ryuuji deadpanned once he got control of himself again.

“Don't laugh at him!” Sarah scolded teasingly, thwapping him lightly on the arm as he laughed. She could admit to the hilarity too, but still, no laughing at Stephen. “I'm just glad he didn't try to jam a butter knife in other things, like the toaster while it was plugged in!”

She shook her head at the assertion that the book of golf worried him more. “Hey, there weren't very many books there, it was not like he had a huge selection,” she said with a wag of her finger. “Besides, they didn't have golf then, it's how you learn. Actually, I even offered to take him golfing, but we never did. Not that I've ever golfed, but... anyway, it was fun. Oh, and the refrigerator light was his favorite thing, I think, I bet if you mention it he will tell you.” No mocking, just serious, as Stephen had seemed to take to the refrigerator light the best of all.

"He's my friend, I'm allowed to laugh at him." Ryuuji defended himself lightly, shooting her a quick, amused grin at the hit to his arm. It wasn't like it had hurt and she was a girl, after all. So why care about it?

With a head tilt, he asked curiously, "Refrigerator light? Is this one of those things that I have to hear him go on about to get the full impact or can you tell me what's so fascinating about them?"

For the hell of it, he deadpanned, "Personally, I've always been more of a car wash guy myself."

At that, Sarah dissolved into giggles, not at Stephen but at the idea of Ryuuji being fascinated by a car wash. That did remind her Stephen had never seen one of those. Perhaps next time!

When she had caught her breath, she finally did try to explain. “It was just the light going on and off he was most fascinated with, he stood there opening and closing the door until I showed him the little switch that turns the light off and on,” she explained, gesturing with her hands, “and he thought I was terribly smart for knowing it. Really, it might sound like I'm kidding, but it was fun to watch him and see what fascinated him most. You never realize how much you take for granted until you watch someone learn those things for the first time.” She grinned. “I swear, if I thought he would go near the TV again, I'd have you help me convince him to play some video game he'd like, something with animals.”

"...I think the only video games I know are the shooting ones." Ryuuji ended up admitting after a few moment of thoughtful silence during which he'd run over every game he knew.

Giving up on that, he snickered, both hands in his pockets now, "But wow. Seriously wow. That sounds ridiculously cute -- like a five-year-old kid who wants to know where the electricity for the lights come from."

Except, of course, Stephen wasn't five years old. And was much smarter than that.

The laptop screen changed to a screensaver of Ryuuji, Mokuba and Seto all together in one room, Seto typing at a laptop while seated on the floor with Ryuuji and Mokie cuddling on the sofa, but Ryuuji didn't pay any attention to that. He'd forgotten how new Sarah was to laptops.

Well, shooting games would not work well, but Sarah dropped the topic also, as she was not certain she could ever get Stephen to play a video game. Maybe someday on a laptop, if she were persistent. About to reply to the remarks about children and electricity, her attention was abruptly shifted to the laptop's image shift. Not overly startled, she stared at it a moment in puzzlement, not understanding where the image had come from as no one had clicked anything.

“How'd it do that?” she asked, her look just a tiny bit wary until the picture itself distracted her. “Oh, that's you! Who are the other two... wait, I recognize him, he was at my sorting!” she said, leaning in to look with a smile as she pointed to Mokuba. “In fact, I think I still owe him a story as a sorting bribe, something with dragons and technology and swords and puzzles but he never introduced himself so I had no idea who he was.”

"That's the screensaver -- it gets automatically activated when people don't touch the laptop for a period of time, because the screensaver takes less energy to run than most programs do." Ryuuji explained easily, then widened his eyes with surprise at her recognition of Mokuba.

The grin that curved his lips was fond, affectionately proud and protective at once, "That is my younger brother, or, well, half-brother by blood but I'm counting him as a full brother. And the other boy there is Seto Kaiba, my other brother. Mokuba just turned fourteen, and Seto's going to turn nineteen like me in a few months."

“That's neat,” Sarah said approvingly, but her focus was now on learning about Ryuuji's family. She looked from the picture to him and smiled, reminded of her own sibling. “Toby is my half-brother, but I count him as a full brother too,” she said, well recognizing the affection, pride and protectiveness in that smile from one older sibling to another. “It must be nice having them here at Hogwarts.” She grinned. “And I didn't know you and I were the same age, I think I thought you older like people usually think me.”

"Nah, you already told me that you were my age." Ryuuji pointed out, deciding that Sarah must have forgotten it. "When's your birthday, actually? I turned nineteen in Feburary."

The mention of Toby would have made him blink if he hadn't just been informed of the whole mess with Jareth, so instead, he accepted that with a warm smile. "Brothers are awesome. Even if it's a bit weird to find out at the age of nineteen that you're not actually an orphan."

Sarah snorted at herself, having forgotten that exchange. “Oh, my birthday was the 23rd of July, the Sunday after Stephen and I left on vacation,” she said with a smile. “So it was sort of a multi-purpose thing, getting away from the school and celebrating my birthday. He,” she grinned at the memory, “gave me Twinkies for my birthday cake... do you know what those are?”

That revelation made Sarah pause in surprise. “So wait, you didn't even know they were your brothers until recently? Wow, I can't even imagine that.” The fleeting thought that Toby would have been safer had that been their situation was gone as soon as it came. “Did you actually meet here at Hogwarts?”

"Oh man, I missed your birthday?!" Ryuuji looked honestly dismayed by that, ashamed of himself for having not known that before, "And yeah, I know what Twinkies are. Rats. Anything you could like for a late present?"

He cocked his head at her inquiringly, explaining casually as he did so, "And well, Seto and Mokie and I are all famous in our world. We'd interacted and stuff before. We just didn't know that we were related until my father apped here and told us."

Pause. "Not the best of ways to find out, but that's why they're sharing my suite with me, basically."

“Hey, its okay, I didn't tell anyone when my birthday was, Stephen found out with those sneaky super-secret ways of his,” Sarah said with a laugh, eyes dancing. “I lent him a book with an inscription that had my birthday in it without realizing I did it. You really don't have to get me anything and if you are going to insist, you can pick whatever it will be, I know you have good taste.”

At the revelation he was famous, she grinned. “Hmm, so I know a famous person? Now you have to give me your autograph on my favorite t-shirt or something!” she demanded teasingly and then added, as she was interested and completely unaware that the parental unit in question had been Squibbed before she had arrived – or why he had been, “and your father is here too? I'd love to meet the rest of your family sometime, especially as I don't think I've met Seto or your father.”

"Well, alright then. But it's going to be something good to make up for it being so late!" Ryuuji insisted, mind instantly starting to work at what he could possibly get her.

The mention of autographing her t-shirt made him laugh, slanting her an amused look from bright emerald eyes, "Yeah, sure. I'd rather sign cloth than body parts any day."

Cue a wince at the memory of the idiot girl that had asked him to sign the inside of her thigh while in a very short skirt, sans underwear. As far as seduction attempts went, that had been spectacularly unsuccessful, though he'd mentally given her points for sheer guts.

Or maybe it had just been desperation.

The question about his father had Ryuuji's eyes widening, the gamer wondering what Stephen had told her, "Er, actually, my father's been squibbed." To forestall any further questions, he hastily added, "And I don't mind that. We didn't exactly have the best reunion anyway since he'd been dead for three years before he apped here."

On to more cheerful topics!

Like the decidedly uncheerful Seto?

"And Seto you can meet anytime! He's got the room across from Mokie's, and Mokie's room connects to mine just like Seto's connects to the study, but Seto spends most of his time in our spaceship lately." Ryuuji grinned, thinking fondly of the spare-faring vessal.

“Okay, fine, it is your gift, but now you have to let me get you one for your birthday since I missed it too by not knowing you then,” Sarah insisted, smiling but stubborn and then snorted with laughter. “People actually asked you to sign their bodies? Oh, that would have been interesting, especially because I bet...” the rest was lost in laughter thinking of women randomly flashing their cleavage and men their biceps for Ryuuji's signature.

As she simply thought Squibbed candidates went back to wherever they came from, she just looked a bit sad for him for a moment that his dead father had left again, mainly because she had no idea that the person in question was the Evil Clown. That look soon faded at the mention of a spaceship, which made her eyes go round.

“I can't believe you have a spaceship, that is just amazing,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her. “You show me all your techno stuff and help me do research and listen to my problems, have great hair and a spaceship. Seriously, whatever I have done to have the coolest friend ever, I'm glad I have.” Mostly teasing in many of those examples, she was very serious about him being the coolest friend she had ever had, and not for his tech toys or most of those other things but because he was kind and funny and had been good to her.

"But that's different, you didn't know me when my birthday came around! Whereas I was already friends with you when your birthday happened." Ryuuji laughingly protested, then arched an eyebrow at her, putting on his most martyred look. "Oh yeah. It's kinda a standard thing back home. One really freaky stalker-fan asked me to sign her body with a tattoo gun but I told her I wasn't lisenced to wield it. I'm just a game designer, not 007! Which resulted in her telling me that I'm sexier than James Bond, which still wasn't flattery enough to get me to tattoo her."

Cue a quick smirk that softened into a smile, sweet and sincere as he reached out to flick her forehead, "It's not just my spaceship. Seto and I share it. It was a Sorting bribe, actually, but I do have great hair, yes."

Ryuuji preened for a moment, flicking his ponytail over his shoulder, and laughed, "And I am utter epitome of cool! If I was any cooler, I'd belong in a teen movie!"

A tad more seriously, Ryuuji told Sarah, "But I am glad we're friends. Really."

“Doesn't matter, I insist I get to give you a present too!” Sarah said, shaking her head as more laughing hit her. “Oh that is terrible, random people asking you to tattoo them, I think I'd run and hide someplace if someone asked that of me! Though I do think you could well pull off James Bond, I could teach you to shoot if you like,” she said with a grin, once more obviously unaware that Ryuuji definitely did not need the lessons. “and then you can go around the Ravenclaw common room ordering your martinis in a well-tailored suit.”

She laughed, not swatting away his hand as he flicked her, just grinned more. Amused at his preening in an affectionate way, not a mocking way, she assuming a perfected look of stage horror at the comment about teen movies. “You mean you haven't been in a movie?” she asked, and then flailed about exaggeratedly. “Quick, find a director and a producer, we must rectify this terrible, terrible void in the cinema immediately!”

Despite the teasing, the brilliant smile she now wore was completely genuine at his words. “I'm glad too, Ryuuji.”

"Uh, well, if I ever think of anything I need, I'll tell you." Too bad everything Ryuuji really needed weren't the kind of things you could buy as gifts. Sarah's offer to teach him how to shoot made Ryuuji quirk a grin at her, touched by the wholly unnecessary promise, "I have well-tailored suits! But I promised Nightwing I wouldn't get drunk anymore after I turned him into a kitten while drunk, so maybe I should stick to ordering chocolate milk. You think that would be okay?"

Clasping both hands over his heart, he played along easily, "Oh Sarah! You must agree to co-star with me, you must! I cannot think of any lady more skilled at the theatre arts than you -- together, we shall become stars!"

He laughed again, and winked at her, "And then, you'll have to learn how to not run away and hide when crazy fans accost you."

At the mention of turning people into kittens while drunk, Sarah was lost to laughter again, holding her sides. Oh, now that was too much. “You turned him into a kitten? Oh my God,” she got out once she had calmed a bit. “Yes, maybe chocolate milk would be best. I swear, Hogwarts really does make people drink and do bad things. So yes, you can have your milk shaken and not stirred, maybe even as an ice cream float.”

Still grinning, she posed. “We will turn the wizarding world on their ears with our fabulous skills and charisma.” She then mimed putting sunglasses and a hat on. “No no, my friend, I will teach you how to go out in disguise so the masses will not notice you. Because really, big sunglasses and a ballcap? Are completely stylish and just so obviously a good disguise.” She rolled her eyes and then laughed. “Really, you never tried such a lame disguise, did you?”

"I was drunk!" Ryuuji defended himself, laughing sheepishly even as he said that, "And he made a cute kitten. And I turned myself into a kitten as well so that I could play with him so it wasn't massively unfair or anything." The mention of an ice-cream float made his eyes light up, "Yeah! Ice-cream is high on sugar and energy, and therefore much better for you than alcohol is anyway. And it doesn't kill brain cells."

Acknowledging her pose with a quick round of admiring applause, he widened his eyes at her, "Big sunglasses and a ballcap? Why, those disguises are practically genius! In my world, it's considered very rude of celebrity figures to not appreciate their cheerleaders and stalkers and fans, so I rarely bother with any disguise at all. I just go out as me and smile."

Pause. "If I stopped smiling, maybe that would count as a disguise? I'm not sure anyone would recognize me when I'm unhappy."

“Hey, believe me, I'm not judging you at all, I know well the evils of alcohol and the crazy things it can make you do!” Sarah exclaimed, still smiling but even now wanting to facepalm and cringe in embarrassment over that night. “And I think its cute you made yourself into a kitten too so he would not be lonely or feel it was too unfair. So long as you aren't turning people into kittens anymore!” A firm nod in agreement on the ice cream, luckily enough having eaten recently and therefore not wanting it badly after her own suggestion.

“I would recognize you, Ryuuji, don't worry,” she said solemnly, though her expression was still happy. “And wait, you have cheerleaders?”

"That sounds like a story." Ryuuji winked at her, elbowing her lightly in the side, "C'mon. Share. What did the evils of alcohol make you do?"

The question about the cheerleaders made Ryuuji snort, casting her an amused look as he quickly tapped a random key on the keyboard of the laptop, "Yeah. Three of them, actually. Two girls and one cross-dressing guy and no, they weren't my idea at all. They just randomly decided to dress up like cheerleaders and follow me around. And then there are my fanclubs."

He wrinkled his nose at her, "They're crazy. Did I ever tell you about the time that they kidnapped me by knocking out my limo driver and taking his place?"

On the screen, a photo of Montaro and the two girl cheerleaders was displayed, Ryuuji gesturing at it with a quick, impatient wave of his hand. "There. Cheerleaders. Who were good for my ego and bad for my sense of privacy." Pause, then a snicker, "Also good for my sense of style, since I had to make sure that I looked good from every angle what with them watching me from every angle."

“The evils of alcohol made me decide it would be the best idea ever to send notes while I was so completely sloshed I don't even remember what I wrote,” Sarah explained, facepalming then. She really did not want to go into the details of it, mainly because it involved Stephen and some very personal things that she likely would never have said while sober, as well as the Lily-aspect that she would just end up depressed about. “Now I only drink in small quantities, away from parchment and quill and always with Stephen there to make certain I don't make a complete idiot of myself.” Except for that time in Ravenclaw sitting in Stephen's lap when she had not been drunk and he was, but yeah, Ryuuji could probably be spared that too.

She stopped facepalming to look shocked at the limo story and then laugh at the picture of the three cheerleaders. “I can't believe they followed you around dressed as cheerleaders, that's just too funny and a bit shocking. Seriously, though, when were you even allowed to have a private life between cheerleaders and crazy people kidnapping you in your own limo?” She gave him a curiously look, head tipped. Her mother had been relatively famous for an actress and her life had often found its way into papers – sometimes tabloids rather than the news. “As much as I wanted to be an actress, I always thought that part would be hard.” A laugh. “Then again, I doubt I would have had cheerleaders to follow me around!”

((part two here))