sortinghat_rp | 04 [backdated to the early morning of the 19th]

[Sherlock waits patiently then joins him when beckoned. This is fun~]

Well, that's your brain. Mine doesn't work that way. I'm sure if you stopped eating so much you'd equalize and see it's really rather superfluous.

No, I didn't punch Bruce. He just has a thing against Tony being hurt.

Or, y'know, I could do what other people do in that situation: pass out. I'd say you must photosynthesize if I didn't already know how dark your room is. You're just some kind of medical wonder.

Oh yeah, that. Thanks for reminding me that I can use that as ammunition if Tony starts being a git again. Haha. "If".

[He stops abruptly, listening closely to see if a sound he thought he heard was real or merely imagined. He hears the stirring again, and waves urgently.]

I think that's coming from the first year dorm. C'mon, we've got to get out of here before we have company.

Medical wonder or wonderful?

[He smirks. He waits quietly while John detects the threat to their escape and nods at the new need for urgency, bolting across the open area as quietly as possible.]

[John rushes to get the door open as quickly and quietly as he can. He manages to pull them through the entrance and bring the door shut, slamming his back against it. Just in time, too; the faint sound of slightly confused voices chatter behind the closed door. John pants a quiet but gleeful adrenaline-fueled laugh.]

Both, sometimes.

[Sherlock chuckles beside him. This is the best way to start the day.]

Well, mission accomplished, John. Well done. Early still but I believe we could easily find a place to sit while the morning banquet gets itself prepared.

[The giggles finally begin to subside.]

Yeah, alright. At least now we only look very suspicious, instead of INCREDIBLY suspicious.

You owe me for this, though. If someone had caught us, we'd both be in loads of trouble, and all I did was wake up and try to get you out of there.

I wouldn't have let them punish you. Had someone found us I would have bolted slowly enough to have been caught and say I came to beat you up. Having earlier punched Tony, they would assume I was in a state of mental distress and dealt with me without further involvement of you. If asked how I got in, I'd say I observed someone entering and learned the key. Nothing would lead back to you or anyone else. No worries.

[John blinks in confusion and opens his mouth to speak, comes up with nothing, and shuts it. Then he tries again.]

Well, that's... that's certainly an elaborate if rather odd plan. I don't know if I should be flattered or utterly baffled. Right now it's a little column A and a little column B.

Hardly elaborate. Just appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Do you need anything from your room before we head off now that you've safely escorted me into the hall?

Er... no, no I think I'm fine. Though again, can't really be expected to be thinking too clearly this early, so I could be wrong. Besides, if I went back in while there are people in the common room, I'm sure I'd get questions on what I was doing out so early.

What, a young man can't utterly destroy the plumbing in the public restrooms instead?

[Sherlock starts walking down the halls. He hasn't slept but that doesn't matter~ Things to do! Tonys to avoid~]

[John scoffs, but follows.]

Like I'd let them think that.

As long as they see me at breakfast, it doesn't matter. They'll think I just left when they did. You might be incredibly wrong about people not noticing you, but I know for a fact that people find me completely unassuming and gloss over me.

And yet you've managed to get yourself a reputation. I think perhaps you like proving people wrong.

"Reputa-"...

[He flushes as he realizes what Sherlock may be talking about.]

Ah. I didn't know you'd heard the nickname. And if I prove people wrong, well, show's them right for making assumptions.

I've researched you. You were a test subject after all.

[he smirks back at him.]

I'm sure just being a Hufflepuff you deal with all sorts of assumptions.

[John grins a bit in response.]

"Were"? So I'm not anymore? Willing to admit it's rather nice having actual friends instead of just research subjects?

[The grin turns a bit dry and sarcastic at the mention of Hufflepuff.]

Ah, yes, everyone's obsession with calling Hufflepuff the dumb also-rans of the Wizarding World, and of course all the jokes. I'll never understand why so many people forget that one fourth of everyone who goes or went to Hogwarts is or was a Hufflepuff.

Could be worse. You could be a Slytherin trying to live down that particular reputation. Though, in your case, that probably wouldn't be an option.

[He's certainly glad he chose Ravenclaw all things considered...]

I stopped taking scientific notations on you. One day I just.. enjoyed it. Us taking and just doing things. And now it's a little late to pick back on the habit. So by my own mistakes, I think I have admitted it.

Well, it's a habit I'm glad you've kicked. There's nothing wrong or shameful about enjoying the time you spend with friends. That's not a mistake. I like you and the things we get up to too, y'know.

Even when you shock me awake and all I can do is hurl a pillow at your face.

It could be a mistake. It just hasn't proven itself to be one yet. You can't prove a hypothesis, you can only attempt to disprove it.

[John squints in thought, then looks up at Sherlock with a cocked and curious brow.]

So is there a point where you'd declare that mistake hypothesis completely disproved, or will this be running as long as we know each other?

[Sherlock gives that a thought.]

All lives end. All hearts are broken. Caring is not an advantage.

I think, from an intellectual standpoint, there is really no arguing the point. Attachment will always lead to pain.

It's whether that still quantifies as a mistake, I suppose, that matters.

[John worries his lip a bit, thinking about Sherlock's rather bleak words.]

Well, then, that's why going at things from a strictly intellectual angle's just not going to cut it. You need emotion so you can look back on it all at the end and see if it was all worth it. You need a mix. Sort of like how the body can't take pure sodium or pure chloride, but put them together and you've got salt.

[Sherlock smiles at his use of chemistry.]

That's a fair enough point, I suppose.

Well, glad to hear it makes sense at all. Honestly, I think the only reason the salt thing popped to mind is because I'm thinking how nice it'll be on the eggs at breakfast.

You're downplaying your intelligence. No need. But as you seem to be hungry, let's not hesitate to get you to the banquet hall.

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